The moment the God Warden's announcement about Data Vault Alpha echoed through the merged CommNet, Genesis Outpost #7's private channel absolutely exploded with cheers.
It was like their favorite sports team had just scored the winning goal in the championship game against their most hated rivals.
Bigtony77: YEAH! Ryan Stone! You are the man! Blue Falcons! Take that, Crimson Crows!
Princessfluffybutt: Oh, wonderful! Mr. Stone is so brave and clever! Maybe he can find a Data Vault full of lost kittens next! Go Blue Falcons!
Confusedcarl: My elbows are doing a victory dance! One vault down! Ryan Stone is our hero! This is almost as exciting as when I found that perfectly round pebble!
Emma_Sage_Thorne [Private #7]: Excellent work, Ryan! That puts serious pressure on Outpost #12. We're tracking another potential Vault signature in the western sector. Jennifer and I are en route.
Even Scarlett "Red" Viper sent a brief, approving message in the private channel:
Scarlett_Red_Viper [Private #7]: Well done, Stone. Speed and initiative are key. Maintain the momentum.
Ryan, basking in the virtual cheers [and Scarlett's rare praise], switched over to the merged CommNet channel. He was very curious to see how the Crimson Banner, and especially their arrogant leader Tom "Shadow" Kane, were reacting to this early setback.
For a few moments, the Crimson Banner side of the CommNet was conspicuously silent. It was the kind of silence that usually comes after someone has said something incredibly foolish and is now realizing it, or after a loudmouth has just been spectacularly proven wrong.
Ryan imagined a lot of surprised sputtering and dropped datachips over in Outpost #12's virtual headquarters.
Then, Tom "Shadow" Kane's reddish text finally appeared, colder and sharper than before, his usual bluster replaced with a thinly veiled irritation.
Tom_Shadow_Kane [Crimson Banner]: An amusing start, Blue Fledglings. A single, lucky break. Do not think for one moment that this… insignificant event… seals your fate.
The Crimson Banner merely allowed you a head start to make this tedious 'scramble' marginally more interesting.
Ryan snorted. "Allowed us a head start? Right. And I 'allowed' that Custodian Sentinel to try and blast me into next week." Kane was clearly trying to save face, but the excuse was laughably thin.
Kane continued, his tone dripping with forced confidence:
Tom_Shadow_Kane [Crimson Banner]: In fact, while you were fumbling with your first little trinket box, I, Tom Kane, have been productively securing a true prize. Perhaps this will clarify the situation for your limited avian intellects.
And then, another booming announcement from the God Warden cut through the CommNet:
God Warden: Attention All Resource Scramble Participants! Tom Kane Of Genesis Outpost #12 [Crimson Banner] Has Successfully Secured And Initiated Extraction From Data Vault Beta! Current Score Update: Outpost #7: 1, Outpost #12: 1! We Have A Tie.
The momentum in the CommNet shifted instantly. The cheers from Outpost #7 died down, replaced by a fresh wave of anxiety. The Crimson Banner members, who had been momentarily stunned, erupted into triumphant roars.
Crimsonbannerfan01: KANE! KANE! KANE! HE'S THE MAN! TOLD YOU BLUE FLUFFBALLS HE WAS JUST WARMING UP!
Crimsonbannergrunt07: That's how the Crimson Banner does it! Effortless superiority! One-one! You Falcons are going down!
Ryan frowned. Kane was fast, he had to give him that. Securing a Data Vault so quickly after Ryan's own capture meant he was either very good, very lucky, or had some serious help.
Probably a combination of all three, especially with that S-Tier "Strategic Mimicry" Aptitude. Maybe he'd even seen how Ryan [or another Blue Falcon team] had approached their vault and copied the strategy.
The pressure was back on Outpost #7. Scarlett reported in the private channel that her team had encountered heavy resistance near another potential Vault location, not just from local fauna, but from what looked like an organized squad of Crimson Banner players, probably sent by Kane to block them.
Ryan, however, wasn't impressed by Kane's speed. He had his own advantages. He pulled out the Resonance Key he'd found in the ziggurat.
Its ability to amplify and focus ambient energy signatures, now integrated with his Lore Scanner, was about to come in very handy.
"Okay, little magic wand," Ryan murmured, holding up the Resonance Key. "Forget Vault Beta. Where's the next one? Show me Vault Charlie."
He focused his will, channeling his energy through the Key. The metallic rod hummed, and the Precursor symbols etched on its surface glowed faintly.
On his internal Neural Symbiote Map, the existing icons for the Data Vaults pulsed, but then a new, fainter signal began to emerge, pointing him in a different direction towards a heavily overgrown, almost swamp-like area on the far side of the Forgotten Overgrowth, a place his map indicated was a derelict Precursor hydro-electric plant.
It was a long way off, and the energy signatures around it were chaotic and dangerous. Perfect.
"Gotcha," Ryan grinned. While Kane and Scarlett were likely battling it out over the more obvious Vault locations, he'd go for the dark horse.
He set off at a rapid pace, his Level 4 stats and enhanced Agility allowing him to move through the dense jungle with surprising speed. He encountered more of the local wildlife, spiky, multi-legged horrors, venomous flying things that looked like angry pineapples with wings, and a few more Vine Ghouls.
He dispatched them efficiently, not stopping to extract unless they were particularly unusual or dropped something shiny. He was on a mission.
He took down a particularly nasty-looking Bio-Luminescent Raptor [Level 4, all teeth, claws, and an annoying habit of spitting glowing goo] that tried to ambush him near a murky river.
His god Interface chimed.
Enemy Defeated: Bio-Luminescent Raptor [Level 4]
+110 God Points [Np] Acquired!
Sufficient Np Acquired For Assimilation Level Advancement!
Assimilation Level Up! Level 4 -> Level 5!
All Base Stats Increased By +5!
+3 Flex Essence Points Awarded!
Assimilation Level Progress [Level 5]: 5/1500 Np
Ryan actually stumbled for a second, not from an attack, but from sheer surprise. Level 5! He'd hit Level 5! The NP from that Raptor, combined with all the other miscellaneous kills he'd racked up while traveling, had pushed him over the threshold!
A powerful surge of energy, even stronger than the last level-up, flooded his body. He felt like he could punch a hole through a mountain. His base stats all got another hefty +5 boost. He now had a grand total of 15 unspent Flex Essence Points [12 from before + 3 new ones]. This was incredible!
He quickly checked his new status:
Ryan Stone
Assimilation Level: 5 [5/1500 Np]
Title: God Purifier [Rank 1]
Stats [Base before bonuses]:
Vitality: 31*
Agility: 32*
Strength: 38*
Intellect: 59* [This was getting ridiculously high!]
Spirit: 59*
Flex Essence Points: 15 [Unspent]
Influence: 6
Threat Level: Highly Dangerous Individual.
He was now, officially, a higher level than Tom "Shadow" Kane. And Kane had no idea.
A fierce grin spread across Ryan's face. The race to the finish line, Data Vault Charlie, had just gotten a whole lot more interesting. And he had a very good feeling that the Crimson Banner was in for a very big, very blue surprise.