Chương 98: Chapter 97 - Alpha (LIX)

Ayu was nervously observing the cabin from afar. She knew Alonso's life or death was being discussed inside. For some reason, she felt really anxious. Did she care for Alonso that much? Well, he was interesting, and she really wanted him to survive this challenge so they could spend more time togeth— I mean, train together. Yes. He was an excellent sparring partner. Half the Oasis population, she reckoned, was watching the cabin from a distance, some more subtle than others, like rich-kid Wang Jun.

That said, no one dared go near the cabin or send any probing waves inside—understandably, since everyone valued their lives. The minutes dragged on, and Ayu knew it was bound to end soon. Usually, these briefings didn't last long. And then it happened. The door opened. Siddharth stepped out. His composure was calm, but his face didn't look... pleasant. Was that good or bad? She couldn't tell. A minute later, Chiara emerged. Her face was collected, as usual, a poker face she wore so well.

But Ayu could catch a flicker of worry in her expression. That probably wasn't good. But... how bad? Ayu waited, her heart beating faster as Chiara locked eyes with her and walked straight in her direction. It felt like seeing the doctor to return after an important check-up. Chiara nodded as she passed by, without a word—until she spoke directly to Ayu's mind." The combat is on, but now Alonso may survive. Tell him to prepare for the fight and give it his best. He must prove his worth.

He will suffer, and this will be a hard blow for him. I trust you to be by his side after it ends, to help him recover and settle. The fight will happen around 2 pm." Ayu stood there, wide-eyed, unsure of how to react. A part of her was immensely relieved that the worst outcome could be avoided. Chiara seemed to have really stood up for Alonso; after all, she knew how hard it was to make Siddharth bend a rule. But… why did she still feel uneasy? A fight with Siddharth? He will suffer?

She knew there would be repercussions for what Alonso did, but the idea of him fighting Siddharth still worried her. She took a deep breath and tried to collect herself. As long as he lived, it would be fine. With that, she turned and headed back to her cottage to deliver the news. Alonso let out a long exhale, hot air escaping his mouth. His body was fuming, and he sat shirtless in lotus position in the middle of Ayu's cottage.

The air around him was hot, and the more than 30 kilos of shark meat he had scavenged were down to only 8 kilos left." How do you feel?"" Now? Let's see… my heart's ready to burst, and every muscle feels like it's been ripped apart and set on fire. My vision's a blur, everything's spinning, and I'm pretty sure I saw a shark in the corner. But hey, nothing much, really."" Well, that went pretty well. Your body is adapting quicker than I thought.

I guess the enhancements from the orbs have evolved your body to be much more adaptable and durable, especially your mind. A normal human would've died in seconds after that last burst."" A normal human? Stop comparing me to that, Houston, it's no longer a valid reference. We both know I stopped being one a long time ago. Now, we need to figure out—what are we?

"Alonso took a deep inhalation, filling his lungs with air." How much time has passed?"" A little more than 12 hours. Siddharth should have arrived already, if he came today. If not, we have 24 more hours."" Let's assume the worst-case scenario. What odds do we have?"" What do you take me for? Omniscient? How the hell would I know?

"Houston berated him but laughed." That said, your current self could easily defeat an Ayu even if her current stage progress was doubled. So as long as Siddharth is weaker than that, we should be fine."" What countermeasures do we have for EM control like Chiara's?"" Chiara controlled you easily because when you fought her, your stage progress was just over 2% while she was over 3%.

That said, her control is still insane—every hypothesis I have about how she did that would require a level of control and knowledge we definitely don't have. But our style is different from hers, and while doing what she did is hard, protecting against it is much easier—especially for us."" So what exactly is our countermeasure?"" Well, I am glad you asked. First, when someone attempts to interfere with our neural frequencies, we initiate an adaptive EM Wave Shielding.

It's not just any shield; we deploy dynamic frequency modulation across multiple bands simultaneously. The core principle here is to alter the phase shift continuously while maintaining a high amplitude at critical nodes, effectively scrambling any attempt to synchronize their signal with ours. The shielding frequency undergoes stochastic variation, which—" This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there." Houston —" Alonso cut in." Got it.

Went through your thoughts—quicker."" Have I ever told you how much I hate it when you do that?" Alonso exhaled again but couldn't help a grin forming on his lips afterward." Every time I do it, Houston. But hey, you do the same. Anyway, why does this approach seem so specifically targeted to Chiara?"

"Trust me, kid, I'm not worried about whoever your opponent is, but Chiara will be the death of you." Alonso shook his head and continued, trying to steady his body with a breathing exercise." I still can't believe you just threw Fake Reality into the 'only for emergency' pile. You know how long it took me to develop that?"" Took us both. And yes, two weeks. But that's life, Alonso. Sometimes you have to learn to let go of what you hold dear for your own good." Alonso's face twitched."

Sometimes I forget how wise you are, Houston."" No worries, I'll always be here to remind you. So, EM Cloaking, Fake Reality, Simulation, Stealth Reckoning—all of that is basically garbage. It requires too much precision and is too easy to see through. We can't rely on techniques that fragile. We need something reliable, without an easy counter, something we can perfect endlessly without the fear of it failing one day. And that's what we're doing.

That's why I replaced Cloaking with the Interference Field—it's much more reliable. It works no matter who's targeting you. Sure, they may know you're there, but they won't be able to see you clearly. Just a blurry space is all we need. That's enough to counter simulation, sense control, basically anything they throw at you. With that, you're effectively EM immune to anyone on your level, or even slightly higher."" Yeah, yeah, I know. But it still hurts to part with Fake Reality.

Such a cool skill, with such a cool name."" Hey, it's still there. It's just… like your childhood toys. They did their job, but now it's time to grow up, Andy."" Andy? Who the hell is that?"" Never mind. Just focus, alright? Trust in the new style. Right now, I'm confident you can kick the ass of anyone in the Oasis, even with your eyes closed." Alonso shook his head, then noticed someone approaching, picking up on the incredibly faint vibrations through the ground." Ayu?"" Yes."

Alonso remained as calm as he could, noticing an image being sent to his mind. It was Ayu, showing a cartoonish image of herself opening the door. He responded by sending back a mental image of a thumbs up. As Ayu entered, she was hit by a wave of heat straight to her face. Since when had her cottage turned into a freaking sauna? Anyway, her eyes landed on Alonso, sitting in the middle, smiling at her—shirtless, sweaty, and with smoke still radiating off his hot, incredibly sculpted body.

For a moment, she totally forgot why she had come in as she stared at him, unable to tear her gaze away. Damn, focus! She almost slapped herself right then, feeling her face flush slightly. But why the hell is he shirtless in my place? Well, whatever… She quickly sent him an image of Siddharth being back, but then noticed Alonso's expression—calm? Wait, what?! She ended up frowning as all he did was nod and send back an image of a clock and a battle scene. Seriously? Ayu kept staring at him, incredulous.

Where's the panic? The fear? How the hell are you so calm? Did Alonso seriously believe he could win? Did he think Siddharth was just another opponent like herself? Fucking idiot. She sent him an image of Siddharth absolutely beating the life out of him—showing Siddharth as strong and powerful, just as he truly was. I mean, it's Siddharth we're talking about. The strongest in the Oasis. The hero, the leader, the damn legend. And here was this kid, nodding confidently like it was all fine.

Talk about ignorance being bliss. Alonso sent her another image—a thumbs up. Thumbs up? Was he serious? You're okay with dying? You've made your peace? Did he even know anything about Siddharth's skills? She shot him back another image, this time of Siddharth totally crushing him a hundred times over, bodies strewn around, skulls rolling on the ground. She even slapped a big 100% on top with a skull for emphasis. Do you get it now? But Alonso just nodded again, still calm, and— laughing?

The hell are you laughing about? Now she was getting worried. At this rate… he's going to die. He won't survive even the first exchange! Then Alonso sent her another image—this time a stack of coins and him paying her back with a full bag of gold. Wait… what's he saying? The debt he owes me? He thinks he's not going to die because… he still owes me? This… this guy.