• At Shandris' base, she herself was preparing another group of troops for battle. All I can ever do is sit back and chill. However, everything lasted shortly when one of the soldiers informed Shandris of the British and Russian forces being ready to lay siege on all of us. And they've got animated!

    Soren Whisperwind: The British are very fierce out there. I have no idea if we can ever stand our ground long enough.

    Me: The Dawn of Asia are one of our closest allies; they should be around here right now.

    Soren Whisperwind: Well, Shandris recently told us that they WERE nearby. We shouldn't be that far from meeting up with all of them. Our combined strengths should have no problem dealing with the animated and the rest of Crassus' forces.

    Me: Agreed. Besides, I've been a zealot all my life.

    Soren Whisperwind: What do you mean?

    Me: I've been fighting tyrants day and night. All the tyranny that I was forced to suffer as a child.

    Baruch van Austins: I know how that feels. I've also been a zealot all my life.

    Soren Whisperwind: So you're both saying that you two had suffered abuse?

    Baruch van Austins: I always hated it. I've been fighting adults years before. Apparently, I might be wanted by the law right now in the other cities, but at least I'm safe in Barton.

    Me: Convict? What are you talking about?

    Baruch van Austins: I've been hearing reports about children being abused even in foster homes. I took initiative and I broke into a lot of foster homes, killing all the adults and saving children. I had a bunch of friends that would help... and we raised them like our own siblings.

    Me: I haven't burglarized much foster homes, even though I did the same like you did. Children had nowhere else to go, so I had my clan brethren to take them in and try to train them as fighters in the future.

    Soren Whisperwind: Where are they, now?

    Me: Baruch and I have that covered.

    Baruch van Austins: Don't worry, man. Most of my other brethren have agreed to stay back and peacefully train the children as fighters. Children are not slaves and I would do anything to help them get into combat, even with the animated!

    Me: Same. But really, if you're an escaped convict, then---?

    Baruch van Austins: [cutting me off] Don't worry; the adults I have killed are in the real world; this is the world of Gaia, so I haven't committed crimes in this place lately. I only kill anyone suspected of abusing little children and I am not afraid to tear them apart with my bare hands if I had to!

    Soren Whisperwind: What about you, Dave? Are you an escaped convict?

    Me: Yes, I am. I killed a couple of my Roman masters back in this one town named Oblivion. Just so you know, Oblivion is under harsh rule from the Romans lately. I tried to liberate all the other slaves, but they were soon captured and I merely escaped with my life. Well, it took me a while to find a portal that transported me to India, but I soon realized that India was now controlled by the British. So guess what I had to do? Back to forced labor that the British had to make me do... and I didn't escape till a week later. I had nowhere else to go but Barton Town, so I had to lodge there.

    Soren Whisperwind: Hmmm.... sounds like Crassus seems to be going with his plan to world domination. His forces seems to be moving quickly.

    Baruch van Austins: Did you kill any British officers?

    Me: I killed many. First, I was refusing to create their own products. One of them ordered me to resume my work and I refused. I had to burn my identity pass and one of them struck me in the face, so I bashed him in retaliation. By the time I grabbed one of their machine guns, all of the other British people came running to stop me, but I gunned them all down and quickly made my escape, killing any British officer who tried to stop me.

    Baruch van Austins: You're a badass, Dave. Just so you know, I have an idea.

    Me: What?

    Baruch van Austins: We can return to these worlds and expect the authorities to find and try to capture us. We can always come back and kill as many of the tyrants as we can to liberate all the others. First, we should start off with just the two of us, then we can incite some reinforcements of our own. What do you say about that?

    Me: I love the sound of clashing fists in the morning.

    Baruch van Austins: Same.

    Soren Whisperwind: You guys are crazy. You'll both end up being killed!

    Baruch van Austins: We can always set up our own base somewhere in those worlds. If we plan to stop Crassus' forces from spreading worldwide, then we can also stop other places from being ruled and have their independence back. The best way to achieve independence is to overthrow all these corrupt governments.

    Soren Whisperwind: Well, still.... you two can end up being skinned alive. I wouldn't risk it if I was alone. I'd rather be surrounded by a powerful army to crush them all.

    Baruch van Austins: Eh, suit yourself, Soren.

    [all of a sudden, Shinon Stormrage comes to the three of us]

    Shinon Stormrage: Hey, we need to meet up with Shandris!

    Soren Whisperwind: Why?

    Baruch van Austins: Is there a problem?

    Shinon Stormrage: One of the soldiers told Shandris that the British and Russians have returned for another invasion. Now Shandris needs all of us on the battlefield to aid her ASAP. Come on, let's go!

    Me: We're on our way!

    [all three of us began to get our supplies and followed Shinon and the others to the battlefield]

    (End of Chapter 9, Part 2)