Zero to Peak: Ascension Online

Earlier in the afternoon, in an apartment at Section 2.6, Lady Flux drafted a letter to Destiny Spider, the head of the Liberation Force. In it, she requested that the new adventurers be restricted from exploring new gates in the Gamers' Realm, citing concerns about their safety in relation to a planned attack by the Unds.

Twenty minutes later, she heard a knock on the door.

Lady Flux was seated at her dining table, enjoying a nice hot cup of tea. As she stood, her full skirt—which had been folded above her ankles—gracefully descended to the floor. She walked graciously toward the door, the red silk of her gown swaying with every movement. The dress featured a fitted bodice with a corset back closure and thin straps that delicately supported the garment over her pale shoulders.

The apartment door swung open under the gentle touch of Lady Flux's right hand on the grip. Standing on the other side was a mailman—an unusual visitor.

"A mail for you, beautiful Madam White," the mailman said jovially, a tad overexcited to see Lady Flux.

Normally, Lady Flux's mail would be kept in her designated mailbox in the building's mailroom. For the mailman to deliver a parcel directly to her apartment held a hidden meaning. After the mailman had gone and she had returned to the privacy and comfort of her apartment, she undid the parcel's envelope and found a letter hidden underneath. She had a guess as to its origin and wasn't surprised that this person would do something like this, despite her having sent him the letter in a digital form.

The letter was an exact physical replica of the one she had sent to Destiny Spider. An "approved" stamp was firmly pressed across the text. The sender's address was absent, and the mailman didn't provide any information about who had sent the parcel.

Lady Flux was neither bothered by the sender's identity nor worried about their location. She was certain, without a doubt, that the letter was from Destiny Spider. She settled back into her seat at the dining table.

Apart from the times she would speak to Destiny Spider in person, this was the fastest reply she had ever gotten from him. The previous fastest response she had received was twenty-three hours later.

'I'm now sure that he is aware of the secret attack the Unds want to unleash,' Lady Flux's thoughts wandered. 'He must have calculated the risks and possible valuables that could be lost during the battle. He didn't act as I expected him to. It seems he accepts these new adventurers as valuable assets that shouldn't be lost.'

She shook her head upon realising a point she had missed. 'What if this act of accepting my proposition is just him setting up these adventurers to become collateral damage during the attack?'

Unfortunately, she couldn't predict if the head of the Liberation Force had an ulterior motive for accepting her proposition.

'There is no way he would want to involve himself in this battle, and it's not like he would lead the aliens to Bangyu restaurant,' she reasoned. 'No one can breach the restaurant. It's like a candle walking into an iron forge furnace. I'm sure the aliens are aware of that.'

'Spider's thoughts are always mysterious, and he doesn't like to be open with everyone,' she mused. 'He operates as if he works for a clandestine organisation unknown to the Liberation Force. Does Spider really have the interest of humanity at heart, or is he gradually leading humanity to its doom?'

Lady Flux sighed, her thoughts on Destiny Spider having provoked a deep annoyance. She couldn't get a headache from mere thinking; she was far too powerful for that.

The following days were uninteresting. Ivan kept to his routine on the days he could do so. It didn't take him more than ten hours to recover from the soreness of the raid on Thursday.

Roger continued the crusade around Section 1 along with the clergymen of the Church of Serenity. No one noticed the absence of a number of clergymen. The Church's crusade saw them visit the poorest areas in Section 1, and they not only spread the gospel of the goddess but also supplied relief goods to aid the residents of these poor zones.

The crusade lasted for nineteen days. Meanwhile, the adventurers regularly raided gates in the Gamers' Realm. There was a two-day gap for rest after each day of raiding. However, the adventurers didn't raid new gates; they revisited the previous two they had explored. But for people like Elliot who joined because of the unification programme, the Vate Prison Realm was a new gate to be raided for him, Paulo, and Lauren.

Unfortunately, during the raids, the trio didn't learn from their past mistakes. They still revolted against Wanyama's lead and would stray from the team to raid on their own. During any raid at the Vate Prison Realm, there was always a quarrel and sometimes a fight between Wanyama's group and Elliot's over how the resources would be shared. Wanyama's group always got the larger number of kills—a tremendous gap in output compared to Elliot's group. As a result, Wanyama's group earned higher loot drops. The trio wanted a claim in the loot drop Wanyama's group earned.

Unfortunately for the trio, they couldn't impose their supremacy on Wanyama's group. They also grew hateful towards Ivan after witnessing the amazing strength he bolstered and the impressive gear he owned. They just couldn't believe that a humble, unwealthy person was better than them. At one point, Lauren suggested that they try to buy Ivan's gear for a hefty sum, but the two males in her group ridiculed her for the idea. Their egos wouldn't let them try to buy Ivan's gear, as that would mean they agreed that Ivan's gear was superior.

Wanyama and his entire adventure group went on gate raids four times within the fourteen days. The fourteenth day was the second rest day after the fourth raid for the adventurers. On this day, Roger returned from Section 1. The Church of Serenity had ended the crusade in the early hours of the morning, after which they sent Roger back to his home region.

Roger arrived outside Ivan's apartment at 14 minutes past noon. Ivan had yet to leave for Greg's Martial Arts Centre. Ivan welcomed Roger into his apartment. Roger was not alone in his visit.