Chương 352: 352

I think I see it!" Mark said, into the comms, flying in front of the ship Quark suddenly enhanced Mark's vision, and yup. There it was. Mark said, "We're here!" Isoko floated beside him, Full Platinum, asking, "Where?" Mark pointed into the distance.

"See that purple dot?"" Not really," Isoko said, humming." Confirmed," Eliot said, through the comms.

"Purple buildings floating in the sky, with golden trim. Looks like Purple Palace to me." They had flown for 3 days toward Daihoon to get here. It had been an easy flight, crossing through air layers and water layers, but this was only halfway to the destination of Kabberjaw. They still had a few more air layers to go, past this one, and then it was a big step into Kabberjaw's water layer.

Isoko hadn't been able to hold onto the air around the ship when they went into the drink, but that was an unreasonable ask at Isoko's skill level. Didn't stop her from trying. That whole event seemed to have been particularly annoying for Isoko, because she had lost all control over everything around her when the only thing around her was water, but that was normal for Shapers when they were divorced from their element. But she could walk into the ship now, without hurting herself or anyone else.

That was a vast improvement. She had even toppled an inquisitive butterfly kaiju out of the sky, away from the ship, when it tried getting too close. It was a simple cat 1, but it was still a kilometer wide. Isoko had been thrilled about that, and so had everyone else. Mark got to take a 'break', watching some shows with the team inside the actual lounge, while Isoko was on watch. It had been a nice break. Mark still didn't sleep, though. And now they were here, near dragon lands.

Just for a flyby, to check out one of the listed sites on Elkatracks' map, to see if these dragon-led lands were the real deal, or if Kabberjaw was some sort of trap. The Dreadnought flowed forward and soon they were close enough to Purple Palace to actually see it, in person. Quark identified possible issues everywhere, from the turrets on towers, to the big purple dragon roosting on top of the 'palace' and looking their way, to the aircraft taking off from the sides of the place, aiming at them.

Mark kinda just stared at the palace itself, and marveled. It was several tens of hunks of amethyst, the whole place measuring about 47 kilometers across, all mashed together into a floating beauty of architecture, nature, and power. The main column of the place ended in a big open area for the dragon at the top, who was purple-scaled, just like the Palace, while the Palace itself was a bunch of apartment buildings and spires and catwalks and deep waters.

In fact, now that Mark was looking at all of it, he saw that gravity must have been weird around the place, because the center of the amethyst crystal was a sphere of water, and the crystals jutted up from that, while greenery spilled off of a thousand waterfalls at the top of every jumbled spire and flowed with the water, down to the center of the place. Mark said, "Holy shit that place is cool." Isoko asked on the comms, "Could we go inside?"" Probably not," Eliot said.

"Mark? Wanna handle these hails? Here:" A male voice crackled through the comms, "—peat, state your intentions, unidentified vessel!"" Hello," Mark said, "This is Mark Careed and Friends, and the vessel Dreadnought. We are passing by on a task toward Kabberjaw and wanting to see what dragon culture is capable of, instead of all the propaganda we were always hearing about back on Earth and Daihoon. Purple Palace was on the way, and I gotta say, I am really glad we stopped by.

That place is one of the coolest places I have ever seen." Silence. Mark floated in front of the Dreadnought, alongside Isoko, waiting. Mark looked to Isoko. Isoko shrugged. Mark waited. There were 4 ships sailing toward them, taking up positions in front of Purple Palace. Floating geodes of purple crystal took shape behind those fighter ships, floating into place beside the Palace, the turrets warming up… Hmm. And the dragon was looking at them, head raised, body still laying down.

The Dreadnought was currently 84 kilometers away from the Purple Palace, and David had slowed the ship to a halt. Comms could reach this far, easily, but not much else besides that. Mark doubted those weapons had enough of a punch to cross the distance. A female voice came over the line, "You are allowed to fly by, but not to stop. Our weapons are tracking you. Do not dally." Mark asked, "You guys need help with stuff? We're on our way to give appliances to Kabberjaw. Engines and stuff.

We don't have the materials to make the engines, so if you have materials then we can make stuff, but we don't have anything extra right now." Eliot spoke up, "I'd need metals. I can supply plastics myself. But metals are not possible to make out of thickened air." Isoko nodded eagerly. She wanted to see the inside of that place, too.

"… Your eagerness to help is noted, but we will not be partaking of anything at this point in time—"" We need water purifiers!" said a man's voice.

"Can you make water purifi—"" Pay no attention to that. Thank you for stopping by. Do not stop by." Eliot said, "I can make the stuff in under 5 minutes if you have materials. No charge. I'm just looking to help! I'll make them super simple, too, so you can check for any possible bugs or whatever." The dragon huffed on top of the central spire, and then put his head back down, though his eyes remained open.

Mark wasn't sure how he knew that it was the dragon speaking in the comms, but that's what he figured happened when a strong, masculine voice echoed in the airwaves, "Kabberjaw's prices are too much and I doubt we will get a better deal than materials-cost, so let them make us things and then go on. No names. No intel. No meeting in person. Engineer, pass on the schematics you need. Figure it out." The female voice begrudgingly said, "Yes, sir." The 'Engineer' said, "Eliot Cybersong!

I'll have your materials delivered to the white side of the Palace, on a cargo ship to meet you out there!"" Sure, Engineer," Eliot said.

"We'll park the Dreadnought over there— You do mean the parts where the crystal is mostly white, right?"" Correct! There's the white side and— Ah. That's intel. I'll have to stop there, but… Don't get inside of the purple line. It's rocks floating in the air; can't miss 'em. That's when gravity starts to pull toward the Palace— I'll have to stop there, 'Commander' is… Well anyway! We absolutely need water pumps! … and say, do you think you could do some solar cells, too, and maybe…"

The list of requests went on, and Eliot agreed to them, soon listing off what he needed to make those things, that Purple Palace needed to provide. David began to move the ship, angling over toward the white side, while Eliot and the Engineer spoke. Mark and Isoko mostly put themselves between the Dreadnought and Purple Palace, watching the place as the ship took them around. The Palace was so cool. It was all tall buildings and low waters and a certain elegance that invited mystery. People were everywhere.

This place was alive and healthy-looking, for sure. Mark wanted to go in there, to walk on the weird, curving domes that were kinda like courtyards, and to see what lay below the waters. There was stuff down there, for sure, because the waters of the Palace were glowing slightly, with a blue radiance. Quark marked it off as possible Cherenkov radiation, but there was no way to really tell without getting closer, since wards could cause a whole bunch of things to look like things they were not."

The scanners of the ship picked up that glow easily enough, sir, and making the waters look like nuclear wastes might cause people to pause." Quark said, "So it could be a warning light, or not." Mark asked, "Could there actually be a giant nuclear generator under there?" Quark had no answer." Eliot?" Eliot spoke up, "The stuff they want me to make is to clean up radioactive waste, but maybe not? I'll know more based on whatever materials they send up." Far down below, a ship was getting loaded up with crap.

Broken screens, ruined rebar, bent iron I-beams from skyscrapers. Some metalshaper down there was ripping apart most of the stuff in a frantic dash to get the job done fast, turning the metal into ingots, while others were casting spells on the metal to do… something." Ideas on those spells they're casting on the metal? Lola? Tartu?" Lola spoke up, "Anti-radiation spells."" That's correct," Tartu said, "But those spells date back to the Reveal.

There are better spells these days, which means these people are far out of touch with normal reality."" Old televisions and metals, too," Eliot said." Isolationists, for whatever reason," Lola said, "They are probably all family, or at least split up into a few families. Can we get a population analysis from someone? Quark? Eliot's machines?" Mark nodded, for Quark's benefit. Quark spoke up, "I estimate no more than 50 people, because most of those people down there appear to be illusions.

That courtyard over there and the courtyard we saw on the way into the place both had the same woman walking with the same child across the courtyard, carrying a bushel of apples." That caused everyone to pause. Lola said, "One family? Maybe 3, just to keep the interbreeding to a minimum? Perhaps they accept new people every once in a while." Isoko said, "I changed my mind. I don't need to go down there." That seemed to be a normal sentiment among the crew.

Soon, the envoy ship lifted off of the Purple Palace's flight deck and angled up to the Dreadnought, carrying with it a few tons of raw, mostly ingot-shaped metals, and assorted bits and bobs. The tiny envoy ship was completely remote controlled, according to Isoko, long before it got into Mark's range. Mark said, "Prepare for a possible bomb, just in case." There was no bomb. The ship, which was all of 10 meters long, dumped off metals onto the deck of the Dreadnought. Eliot couldn't Manipulate the metal at all.

It had too much radiation in it. So Tartu came up to the deck and did some Domains that cleared the metal completely. Soon, Eliot was sending down load after load of product after product, the envoy ship rapidly moving goods back to the people down below. Eliot almost offered them more stuff, because this was obviously a humanitarian trip, and that's what everyone was soon saying on the comms, privately, but Lola had some good advice. Lola said, "These people seem to be doing the best they can, as do most exiles.

Do not denigrate that hardship. Do not offer them 'stuff you think they need'. Ask them if that is the full list of needs, and do not push to give more when they tell you 'no more'." Isoko asked, "But what if they're all like… slaves or whatever?"" Then we help them improve their lives and leave them be, or, we become crusaders," Lola said. Sally said, "I certainly don't get any 'slavery' vibes from them."

So Eliot finished off the list of goods, taking about 30 minutes to do it, and then he asked, "We'll never be back this way. If there is anything else you need, ask for it, and we might be able to provide it." Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings. The Commander's voice came over the air, strong and serious, "Thank you for your help. We have everything we need. Please be off." The Engineer had a strangled sort of voice as he said, "Buughhhh…"

And then he spoke coherently, graciously, saying, "Thank you for your help." David put the Dreadnought in drive, and slowly, gradually, they left the Purple Palace behind. The floating turrets and the squadron of fighters never stopped eyeing them, but that was fine, because Isoko and Mark kept themselves between the Dreadnought and the Purple Palace the whole way. That much was just basic politeness… sort of.

Mark and Isoko were soon hanging out above the back of the ship, above the big stone plate that served as the final shield of the rest of the ship, just watching the fighter jets. Soon, they were out of sight of Purple Palace, and headed towards their appointed crossroads of Endless Daihoon. Derek was at the controls right now and he was also navigating, so he spoke in the comms, "Crossing in about 20 minutes."" Mark to the forecastle," Mark told himself, and everyone else listening.

Isoko flowed in the sky alongside him, smirking, asking, "What's the next layer?"" Looks like another air layer," Derek said, "But if Mark can ego us far enough we can skip a few layers. Might end up right inside Kabberjaw's water layer." Isoko focused hard, saying, "I'm gonna keep the air bubble this time! I swear it." Eliot spoke out, "It's okay if you can't, Isoko, and I would prefer you not even try.

That much water crashing down on us is not as easy to withstand as slipping into the water and leaving the air behind."

"… Then I can at least let the air go slowly?" Isoko tried.

"… Sure sure," Eliot said. Soon, David was back at the wheel, Derek was fully Unioned with himself and the entire length and area of the ship, and Mark focused on a Union of Purpose; to get to Kabberjaw. The dreamlands beyond the edge of the sky were a roil of earth and water and wind, and surprisingly, a bit of fire and stone. Eliot said, "I think Kabberjaw is water and land, so Purpose us plunging into the surface of an ocean, and not coming up from the bottom of the ocean. The second version would really… hurt.

We'll survive it but we're not gonna be happy, okay?"" Heard and understood!" Mark called out.

"Proceed!"" Here we go," David said, and the Dreadnought flew forward, into an edge of reality and then beyond. Mountains exploded to the side, all volcanic and full of rage. Rivers became oceans on the other side. Air held around the Dreadnought, and Mark held onto that reality with solid, adamantine Purpose. Isoko tried to hold on with Purpose, too, but the more she tried the more her Purpose flinched at Mark's own control. She wasn't about to overpower him, though.

PL 92 slapping at PL 98 was still a tough battle of wits, but the ship was not in any danger. Next time Mark was gonna have to ask Isoko to simply not— Something clicked for Isoko. And suddenly the air held around the ship and Isoko Unioned with Mark instead of against him, their Purposes fully aligned. Isoko stared, experiencing the moment.

Her Full Platinum and the wind in the sphere around the Dreadnought tore at the Dreamlands, breaking them completely as the ship sailed on— And then Isoko lost it, fading, faltering. The dreamlands encroached again, but barely. Mark's Purpose was smaller than Isoko's Purpose, but it was a lot stronger. A lot of air fluttered away from the ship, inundating the dreamlands and turning soil and water to sky, for a little bit.

Mark caught Isoko in a basket of adamantium, which was about as much as he could do these days. Her own Sky Shaper kept her in the air away from Mark's solid surface when she wasn't actively counteracting that impetus. Isoko floated in the basket, utterly spent. Mark said, "You had it for a bit."" It's fucking exhausting. My mental…" Isoko blinked, oriented, and sat in the air above Mark's basket catch, saying, "My mental fortitude can't handle all of that. Everything turns slippery after a while…

But I really had it, didn't I?"" Yup!" Lola spoke up, "The rest is training, Isoko, just like Mark has already undergone." Isoko grinned.

"Yes, ma'am." The dreamlands soon cleared, revealing the surface of an ocean that was not moving fast at all. A real layer. The water was super clear, but it was still clearly water, and underneath that water was solid darkness, riven with red light; an ocean floor with volcanic activity." Kabberjaw already?" Mark asked. Seemed right. The Dreadnought hit the edge of the layer and Isoko tried to hold onto the air as much as she could.

She managed to dent the water with an air bubble, causing the Dreadnought to get stuck, just outside of the layer. Isoko rapidly apologized, and then let go, not thinking that 'not being able to enter the water' was even a possibility. Soon, Isoko was hiding her face as she held on to a handle from Mark, as water enveloped all of them, the ship practically 'crashing' into an ocean's surface. And then something weird happened.

The Dreadnought bobbed on the surface, and air appeared overhead, and the dreamlands seemed to fade into the far distance beyond a brilliant blue sky with white, fluffy clouds. The ocean was deep 'below' them, the water dark blue with depths, and gravity was pointed that way. It looked like they were a boat on an ocean, which seemed so very wrong.

Mark looked left and right, trying to find the edge of the layer and all the dreamlands beyond, but all he saw was ocean, everywhere, and a rocky series of islands ahead, lifting up from the waters like forest-covered teeth, or perhaps the horns and skull and bones of a great dragon. Some of the bones floated in the sky, too, which was super weird. It had to be Kabberjaw itself.

Kabberjaw was too big to make any sense, and Quark estimated the distance toward Kabberjaw as 320 kilometers, meaning the island-like bones were each tens of kilometers wide and more than that tall." Oh my gods," Isoko whispered, feeling a deep, amaz ed awe as she took in the sight. Mark felt the same way. He was excited for whatever this was. According to the vectors of everyone else they were also excited, awestruck, and thrilled." So we're obviously in Kabberjaw's layer," Mark said, "But are we, really?

Where are the edges? Anyone?"" No idea," Tartu said.

"Do you think those are actually dragon bones?"" Big fucking dragon!" Sally said." Probably a dragon named Kabberjaw, ya think?" Eliot asked." Where is the way out, though," Mark said, redirecting the conversation. Derek said, "I think it's an enclosed layer." Another Derek said, "I heard about them in a story once. Everyone was trapped in a… a what was it called—"" Pocket dimension!" several Dereks said at once, in recognition." OH!" Eliot exclaimed.

"Ohhh! Neat!"" Oh my gods," Tartu said, " It is a pocket dimension." Derek continued, "If we try to leave we'll get turned around and hit Kabberjaw again. So everywhere away from Kabberjaw is 'into Endless Daihoon', but we won't be able to go that way… So it's kinda like a trap, but not? There has to be a trick to it." Andria spoke out, "Purple Palace spoke of trading with Kabberjaw all the time, so I agree there has to be an easy trick… And I would like to know the trick before we go further in.""

I agree," Mark said, "Let's turn around and try to leave." Tartu said, "It's probably an ego-shield-switch to be able to leave. If you have it on, then you can leave, but if you don't have one, then you're stuck."" If that's how it works it makes this place… Huh," Andria said, like it was a question, "Really safe?" She asked, "Can anyone feel the Fear of Endless Daihoon right now?" Mark smiled a little.

"Not at all."" Awesome," Andria said, relaxing well. David asked, "We turning?"" Yes," Mark said. An hour of testing later and the theories were proven correct. When Mark and Derek did not have their Purpose going, sailing away from Kabberjaw had them entering open sea, and then eventually finding Kabberjaw on the horizon in front of them. But when Mark filled the Dreadnought with the Purpose of leaving Kabberjaw and then coming right back, they entered the dreamlands when they got out of sight of the dragon bones.

They turned right back around and went right back into the open, blue seas of the pocket dimension that was Kabberjaw. Salty spray and sea air broke against the hull of the Dreadnought, with Mark and Isoko leading the way at the prow of the ship. Mark said, "Full ahead! Into the jaws~"