Pioneer of the Abyss - Book 3 - Chapter 25 (Patreon)

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Table of Contents

Click the following link for the 1357 word chapter 25:

https://docs.google.com/document/d/11QHC4CCq7mHrMDu2T7tTRH3gvxPrqxvNjhHSfjg5GyM/edit?usp=sharing

Or you can read the unformatted version below:

Aqua

When I open my eyes again, I find myself appearing inside of a private room specific to my person. The one that everyone logs into and can directly change themselves. But I don’t bother with that as I open the invite sent to me by the association behind the Official Pioneer Games before finding myself appearing in a private room with an open view into a much larger room that has hundreds of people in it. All while a screen appears in front of me with the rules of this particular game on it.

Sky Conqueror

Description: All Official Pioneers will be dropped into an endless sky on an airship with nothing but clouds above and below them, and countless bird monsters scattered across the skies. Each of the bird monsters will have a ribbon attached to them that is worth points for the Official Pioneers, and can be used to upgrade the Official Pioneers’ airships. The Official Pioneer with the most points by the end of the game wins.

Participants: 300

Game Duration: 3 Hours

Rule 1: Ribbons grant the Official Pioneer points according to the following colors upon claiming them and placing them within their ship’s storage: Common White – 1 point, Uncommon Green – 2 points, Rare Deep Blue – 3 points, Epic Purple – 5 points, Legendary Orange – 10 points, Mythical Red – 25 points, Catastrophe Black – 100 points.

Rule 2: Ribbons can be consumed, reducing the Official Pioneer’s points by placing them inside of the airship’s engine to upgrade the Official Pioneer’s airship into the following upgrades: Enhanced Speed – 100 points, Enhanced Durability – 100 points, Enhanced Recharge – 100 points, Enhanced Battery – 100 points, Airship Cannon – 250 points.

Rule 3: Official Pioneers may attack other Official Pioneers to eliminate them from the game and steal the ribbons in the Official Pioneer’s storage. Slaying an Official Pioneer automatically adds a permanent 100 points to the killer’s score that cannot be stolen.

Ruler 4: Once only thirty minutes remain in the game, a level 1500 dragon will appear with a crystal clear blue ribbon tied somewhere on its body that is worth 5000 points.

Victory Condition: The Official Pioneer with the most points at the end of the 3 hours wins.

Reward Pool: Planetary Mana Increase, Planetary Air Quality Increase, Ownership of the Planet Toxicalla, Introduction of New Wildlife, Ownership of the Pseudo-Planet Skyfa, etc…

My eyes skim over the rules, since I’ve already read them all before. But I still make sure to at least read them a little to make sure none of them have changed. Then, after confirming none of them have changed, I focus on the Reward Pool at the end.

Hmm.

The air quality of an ocean world isn’t quite as important, considering the fact that most of the people on the planet don’t even breathe the natural air of the planet. Most of them breathe through oxygen they bring to the planet.

The mana increase is useful, and the new wildlife could be useful.

As for ownership of the planet known as Toxicalla? That could be a useful resource.

Toxicalla, from what I have heard on the news recently, is a planet whose Pioneer died but has now been opened to the rest of the universe. And since it is a planet with a lot of natural resources, it seems to have been made into a reward for Official Pioneers through the Pioneer Games.

The planet itself has no humans on it whatsoever, and it is not habitable by humans in the first place. It is entirely just for resource gathering.

As for why it’s worth so much?

The planet is filled with poison everywhere.

The oceans? Made of poison.

The monsters? Poisonous.

The wild animals? Poisonous.

The plants? Poisonous.

The air? Toxic to breathe.

Absolutely everything on the planet is poisonous. To the point that anyone who tries to enter the planet without any protection most likely won’t leave it alive.

That said, the resources on the planet are extremely plentiful. Whether it’s the minerals, the stone, or the plants. Everything is extremely expensive. So the planet is a treasure trove.

Although it would cost a lot of money to set up an efficient method to harvest it all. Especially since the monsters won’t care about any human’s protections against the poison. They’ll attack, and they’ll destroy any protections against poison someone might try using.

As for the other planet I see on the list?

Skyfa is one of the unusual sky worlds. Which is considered a pseudo planet.

The Pioneer who was sent to that planet had a very… unfortunate… experience.

They died the moment they were sent there because they were stuck on a single sky island, unable to go anywhere. And eventually they were killed by a traveling monster flying through the skies that bombarded the entire island on a whim.

The pseudo planet itself is pretty much just the remains of a different planet whose core had somehow evolved into a sentient monster. During the core’s evolution, it erupted with electricity and clouds that completely eradicated most of the planet, leaving just scraps of it behind in the shape of floating islands in the sky. All of whom are charged with a sort of electromagnetism that allows them to float without hurting anything on them. Meanwhile the clouds around the core are filled to the brim with lightning, making it extremely dangerous for anyone to get anywhere near close to the core.

Unlike Toxicalla, Skyfa doesn’t have all that many resources. What with it being a sky planet.

At most, the flying monsters can be used for resources. And some of the islands have some unusual fruits growing on them. All of which are charged with electricity.

The planet still has some value, though, because it is beautiful. So it would most likely end up becoming a tourist attraction planet.

Making it the polar opposite of Toxicalla.

As for whatever other rewards are in the pool? The description here only shows the top rewards, so the rest of them won’t be as good.

I purse my lips for a moment before deciding that I kind of want Toxicalla. Simply because of the resources on the planet being useful for Oceana.

Also, my parents would probably want some of those resources. They would help with developing Oceana, and they would help with their own matters.

I could give some of the resources to them to thank them for helping manage Oceana. And if they don’t accept, I can still offer them a discount on it.

Of course, the chances of getting ownership of Toxicalla isn’t all that high out of the pool of rewards. Not unless I get first place. At which point there will probably be a pretty decent chance of getting it.

While the final rewards after the game ends are random, the odds an Official Pioneer pulls from are different depending on their ranking in the game. So the odds of the first place player getting at least one of the top rewards is pretty much guaranteed, while getting more than one is still pretty high.

Which means that I will have to win first place to have a good chance at getting Toxicalla.

Skyfa would be kinda nice to have too, but nowhere near as nice. Since all Skyfa would give me is a tourist location. Not much in terms of actual usable resources.

It’s not like I can just hand my parents the money from the tourism. There’s no way they’d ever accept that.

I tap my chin in thought while looking out the window at the Official Pioneers gathered in the main waiting lobby. The shared one that all Official Pioneers can enter before the start of a game.

Well, whatever. It’s too early to think about the rewards.

For now I need to think about how to win this game. And it’s obvious just from looking at the people down there that at least half of them are scouring the main lobby looking for someone.

Most likely me.

Time to see if I recognize anyone here before the game begins.