Moon's Labyrinths

Chapter 287

Armstrong city had been the only foothold of humanity outside Earth and the only source of an important form of energy, the moonstones . But now, this majestic city had lost all its luster . Large holes were all over its walls .

A group just dumbly stared at the miserable state of the city as if they were looking at a large grave .

The city resembled a mound where worker ants entered and exited, the monsters being the ants . This scene was the biggest proof that monsters had stolen Armstrong city from humanity .

The group was watching the city from a distance, and every one of them was full of killing intent . They were armed to the teeth, and every inch of their bodies was covered with armor .

They were the Moon people .

Plu-El, who was leading the group, stopped glaring at the city and raised her hand . It was the signal that everyone had been waiting for, and the Moon people started to move .

This was the first time earthlings would go into battle alongside the Moon people .

***

“You want us to create a diversion?”

“That’s right . ”

The Mayor nodded, and Plu-El gave her affirmation too .

A meeting was happening in a building in the ancient city . The aim of the meeting was to decide how the upcoming fight would take place .

“I want your people to be as flashy as they can be . Draw the monsters’ attention, and lead them outside the city . While you do that, we’ll try to locate our target . ”

It was a feint operation .

They weren’t trying to take back the city or kill all the monsters . Their goal was to find and recover a few items . In consideration of the objective, this was the ideal plan . If the Moon people were successful, the number of monsters inside the city would decrease by a lot . This would make it easier for the Connectors of Armstrong city to search for Plu-El’s Device and Gems .

The Mayor spoke again .

“I would like your side to attack from the south, and we will attack from the North and from inside Armstrong city . ”

“We aren’t the only ones who will create a diversion?”

“We want our enemies to disperse into multiple locations . It’ll make our plan much easier . ”

Plu-El thought that the plan wasn’t bad . Even though the two groups had formed an alliance, mixing both sides to create teams would be asking too much .

It didn’t matter whether they had let go of the feelings of the past or not, there was a high chance that they wouldn’t have great teamwork .

‘This is why he set up multiple diversions . ’

With multiple diversions, monsters wouldn’t focus their attacks only on the Moon people . Moreover, the mission wasn’t to engage the monsters, but to bait the monsters out of the city . The risk to the Moon people was low .

Plu-El didn’t find any reason to turn down this plan .

“Alright . We accept that . ”

“Thank you . ”

The Mayor looked a bit relieved as he thanked her . He then continued to explain his plan .

“The plan is simple . The descendants of Planote will attack from the south, and a portion of Armstrong’s Connectors will attack from the north at the same time . ”

The Mayor wanted to show respect to the Moon people, so he referred to them as ‘the descendants of Planote’ . ’ It was what the Moon people called themselves .

It was a small detail, but even a show of such small respect could only be beneficial to their relationship . The Mayor was well aware of it .

“When enough monsters have gathered around the north and south regions, the other unit of Armstrong’s Connectors will invade the city . They will fight the monsters left inside the city and prevent those that have exited from re-entering the city . ”

From the explanation, it was clear that the third unit would be facing more danger than the other two .

Armstrong city was damaged, and its walls were riddled with holes . However, the dome around the city remained strong .

It meant that the group within the city, the third unit, could be surrounded from all sides when the distracted monsters returned . The people in this group might die, but it was a necessity .

“Then, the third unit will infiltrate the city hall, kill the nearby monsters, and retrieve the city hall’s safe . The speed at which they carry out their mission determines how much casualties we take . ”

Someone let out a gulp .

“When the third unit has recovered the safe, they will send a large signal into the sky . All Connectors will then retreat . If we reach that point, victory is ours . However, we have something to discuss before we move . ”

The Mayor looked at the Moon people .

“From what I remember, many of you can use the portal . May I ask how?”

In the beginning, when Armstrong’s Connectors had clashed with the Moon people, the Moon people had split up into multiple groups while retreating . These groups had then dispersed into seperate tunnels and instantly vanished . This implied only one thing: several of the Moon people had access to the portal .

If the Mayor could find out how they did it, the chances of this plan’s success would significantly increase .

Hearing the question, Plu-El and Aruwen looked at each other and nodded . Then, Aruwen took out a Gem from his Device and placed it on the table .

“Yellow Gem?”

None of the Connectors in the room looked impressed by the yellow Gem on the table . All of them were high rank Connectors . They had graduated from using Rainbow rank Gems a long time ago .

However, it was said that appearances can be deceiving .

“No . This isn’t a Yellow Gem . ”

“Then what is it?”

When Plu-El said it wasn’t a Yellow Gem, all of the Connectors became curious . However, the answer that they received was beyond their imagination .

“Flesh Gem . It’s a Gem made from the corpse of those you call Connectors . ”

Everyone froze, incuding Sungyoon .

“Corpse?”

“Yes . ”

The Moon people were calm, but this wasn’t true for the Connectors . Their gazes toward the Moon people turned menacing .

“Did you use the Connectors you killed . . . ”

“No . We made it from the corpses of our dead comrades . ”

The hostility went down a notch . Sungyoon, who had asked the question, let out a sigh of relief .

However, the words didn’t dissipate the newly-developed chilly atmosphere .

“Do you mind giving us an explanation?”

“Sure . The act of making Gems from corpses must be profane in your culture . However, it’s different for us . Your people lived on Earth without much external threat . Unlike you, we had to deal with monsters every day . Each day was a struggle to survive . ”

The Moon people either let out a sigh or furrowed their brows . Some even cursed under their breaths .

“In such a situation, what would you do if you found out that you can acquire new powers using the dead bodies of your comrades?”

The Connectors of Armstrong city didn’t say anything . They could feel the harshness of the Moon people’s lives through Plu-El’s words, and it wiped away all of their complaints .

“We now understand your situation . ”

The Mayor spoke .

“We didn’t mean to judge from our pedestal, and we’re sorry for creating such an unpleasant atmosphere . ”

“Given our different living conditions, it’s to be expected . Thank you for understanding . ”

“Then can you explain why you showed us the Flesh Gem?”

“I will . ”

Plu-El pushed the Flesh Gem to the middle of the table so that everyone could get a good look at it .

Even if they understood why the Moon people had made that choice, a couple of the Connectors flinched at the sight of the Gem .

“The special characteristic of a Flesh Gem is quite simple . It can copy the ability of another Gem and use it once . ”

Everyone realized the implications of such a powerful ability .

The Mayor quickly asked the next question .

“It can only be used once?”

“Yes . ”

The Connectors of Armstrong city swallowed their disappointment, but they quickly accepted the information .

‘It’s to be expected . If one could infinitely use the copied abilities, it would be a cheat ability . There’s no way something that broken exists . ’

Sungyoon soothed his disappointment as he asked a different question .

“Does the rank of the Gem matter?”

“It doesn’t . However, if one copies a high rank Gem that one can’t handle, the ability degrades . We could use the portal numerous times because we had used the Flesh Gems to copy the ability of my Gem . These Gems can be only used once, so we sparingly used it . ”

Sungyoon looked down at the Flash Gem .

“Do you have any more of the Flesh Gems imprinted with the ability of Ms . Plu-El’s Gem?”

“We have a few . Once the ability is imprinted, it can’t be overwritten . That’s why it isn’t good to copy the ability beforehand . ”

“It means you do have some . Can’t you open a portal to Earth using the Flesh Gem?”

“The Flesh Gem has its limits . It can only reach places on the Moon . Earth is too far away . It’s impossible for a Flesh Gem to perfectly copy the ability of a special Gem . ”

“What are the special Gems?”

One of the Connectors asked the question .

“As the name implies, these Gems are special . Mr . Sungyoon has the Royal Gem . My Gem, which we are trying to recover, is the Shaman Gem . Aruwen has the Warrior Gem . Then there is the Mage Gem, which went missing . They are the four special Gems . In the old days, when we ruled Earth, the ruling class of our people possessed these Gems . ”

Sungyoon gazed at the Royal Gem with a new look in his eyes .

‘I knew it wasn’t a normal Gem, but I never expected it to be a Gem used by the ruling class of an ancient civilization . ’

He wanted more information, but he couldn’t ask those questions right now .

It seemed Plu-El knew what Sungyoon was thinking, so she shook her head from side to side .

“I’ll give a more detailed explanation at a later time . Right now, we have urgent matters to attend to . ”

“Let’s do that . ”

The Mayor, who had been staring at the Royal Gem like Sungyoon, agreed with Plu-El’s suggestion .

“How many Flesh Gems do you have?”

The answer to this question came from Aruwen .

“We do not have a lot . When we ran away from Fabion’s attack, we didn’t have the time to gather all our Gems . ”

“It means we can’t conduct guerrilla warfare using the portals . ”

Another one of the Mayor’s hopes had been dashed . He did his best to keep the disappointment off his face .

“Alright . Let’s get back to the main topic at hand . I’ve laid out the general outline of the plan . Let us discuss the details . ”

The meeting stretched out longer and longer .

***

‘It’s about time for us to move . ’

The Moon people and the Connectors’ group on the other side had to move at the same time . They watched the hour hand of their watch move from twelve to one .

Click!

Signals appeared on both sides as the Connectors on standby and the Moon people moved at once .

Flash!

Light simultaneously appeared in the southern and northern regions of Armstrong city .

The Connectors and the Moon people started to kill the monsters that had been aimlessly moving outside Armstrong city to find any humans .

The men and the women mobilized for this plan were elites .

The small groups of monsters roaming outside the city didn’t stand a chance against them . Moreover, the monsters outside the city weren’t strong .

This advantage for Armstrong’s Connectors and the Moon people didn’t last too long .

Pa-soo-soo-soo!

Dust erupted into the air as monsters started to come out of the city in droves . They looked like ants pouring out to protect their queen .

Even with the weak gravity of the Moon, it felt as if the ground was rumbling because of the movement of the monsters .

If air existed on the Moon, they would have heard a deafening noise . Both the Connectors and the Moon people gulped when they saw this incredible sight . Their bodies shook, but their fighting spirits didn’t diminish .

Plu-El and the leader of Connectors’ group raised their hands as they gave the same signal .

[We’ll slowly retreat . Don’t panic . We’re here to buy some time . ]

Initially, they hadn’t held back while slaughtering the small groups of monsters . But now, Armstrong’s Connectors and the Moon people slowly retreated as they clashed against the tsunami of monsters .