The Mech Touch novel Chapter 791

The ancient city of Mulak presented a contrast between permanence and adaptation. From his own observations and from Pirisa’s narration of her spotty understanding of its history, Ves gathered that the city had been erected a long time ago.

Mulak used to look different. Tall structures covered in gleaming silver-like alloy, with every function supported by a bevy of electronics and machinery. The city used to be settled in this arid, mineral-rich region to extract valuable exotics before shipping them to other cities set up as industrial centers.

That happened a long time ago, when contact between the cities used to be frequent. The breakdown of transportation vehicles over the centuries made contact with other cities less and less viable, until each of the cities eventually wallowed in isolation amid rusting structures and decaying technology.

In fact, Pirisa showed a distinct measure of surprise when the Vandals idly mentioned that they knew the location of over fifty cities like Mulak! Most of the inhabitants today didn’t even know the existence of other cities, while the cadre working directly for the chosen of the sacred gods only heard of a couple of other settlements ruled by other sacred gods.

"Are the other settlements that you know of ruled by their own sacred gods as well?" Captain Clarissa asked.

The Swordmaiden officer had been content to let the Vandal eggheads ask most of the questions, and only occasionally plied the exobeast rider with critical questions.

Pirisa scowled as she continued to ride on top of Naeduvis. "As far as I am aware of, every city is ruled by a pantheon of sacred gods. There is no way for a city to survive in these challenging times without the protection of a sacred god that has generously offered its protection to the population."

"What threatens the cities?"

"What else but other gods? The lands outside the walls of our hallowed cities are the domains of wild gods and their aberrant godlings cast out in the thousands. They hunger for flesh, and consider humans such as us as delicacies."

The fleet hadn’t spotted any of such beasts from orbit, but then again the astral winds made it exceptionally difficult to identify any details smaller than a big city that spanned for at least a kilometer.

"Are these wild gods of the same kind as your sacred gods?"

"Absolutely not!" Pirisa thundered back with an indignant expression, and Naeduvis released a low roar as if the beast took offense as well. "The wild gods are degenerated spawn, squandering their godly gifts to satisfy their base urges. They are a menace that prowls the lands away from the cities, preying upon every traveler or people who attempt to found new cities. Only through the blessing of our sacred gods are we able to defend against the mindless aggression of the wild gods."

The Vandals and the Swordmaidens both looked horrified. If the rest of the surface of the planet had been claimed by exobeasts similar to the sacred gods but with no restraint, then it was no wonder that the descendants of the original crew hadn’t been able to gain dominion over Aeon Ccorona VII.

"Do wild gods ’choose’ humans as representatives?" Ves asked.

"Most do not. They are ignorant spawn, and prefer to eat our kind first. However, there are some wild gods who are older and more cunning than the average of its kind. They choose a representative among the wildlings that stalks the lands. They are twice as ferocious in combat, but are still no match for elder sacred gods such as Hokaz and Naeduvis."

Naeduvis roared her approval at her rider’s statement.

"Wildlings?"

"They are like us, but not. They are cursed people, deformed by the gods and left to fend for themselves in the lands. Most end up in the bellies of the wild gods, but some have succeeded in tricking these brutes into becoming their lackeys. That is when the wildlings are at their most dangerous. When the wild gods band together with the cursed people, they cast their greedy eyes at the cities. The wild gods would love nothing but to gorge on the blessed people who possesses the purest blood, while the wildlings eagerly wish to take a city for themselves."

The amount of history and information that Pirisa had revealed stunned them all, so much in fact that they hardly took in the sights as they continued to walk along the broadest boulevard. The tall structures grew even taller, and some of the buildings appeared to have taken the place of other ones as their architecture looked distinctly different.

Most of the structures consisted of housing but not too many shops and workplaces. A city with a population of well over a 100,000 people all needed to do something, but the districts they passed looked a bit too small. They hadn’t spotted any farms, but the existence of grocery stores and market stalls selling various Earth-derived foods proved that this city definitely got their food from somewhere.

One implication about the wildlings stood out to some of the Vandals. Dr. Tillman followed up with a question of her own.

"These wildlings.. are they human? How can they survive outside of the cities and their antigrav fields without getting crushed by this planet’s heavy gravity?"

"Antigrav fields? Gravity? What are these words you speak of?"