Chapter 341

All the Connectors gathered there were tense. However, their minds were resolute. The Connectors had left behind a small elite force to defend the stake and Armstrong city, while the rest started moving as per the plan. Following the orders, the Connectors got into their Moon Surface Vehicles.

But, the high rank Connectors, including Sungyoon, didn't follow suit as the Mayor had called them.

“Please take this.”

The Mayor gave each of them a black box that had no engravings. It was as large as one’s palm, and its appearance was solemn as if it were an urn.

“What is this?”

Sungyoon opened the box. His gaze fell on several Gems lined up in a row.

‘Gems?’

They weren’t normal Gems. Sungyoon’s eyes widened when he realized what they were.

“Mayor! This is...!”

“You guessed correctly, Mr. Sungyoon.”

The Mayor spoke in a solemn voice.

“They are Corpse Gems.”

Corpse Gems were Gems made out of Connector corpses. Everyone’s face stiffened as they looked down at the Gem they held.

“… You guys completed it.”

“We completed it?”

The Mayor had handed out a release form to all the Connectors who were about to go into battle. The form stipulated that their body would be donated to the cause if they died in the battle. Their bodies would be used as ingredients for the Corpse Gems.

“Many signed the release form, and they passed away bravely fighting in the war. We followed their will to make the Corpse Gems.”

The Mayor spoke with a heavy voice.

Sungyoon raised one of the Corpse Gems. The Gem felt cold and metallic, and he could feel the coldness permeate into his skin. The surprising sensation made Sungyoon wonder how could a Connector’s body could be processed to create such an item.

“A lot of you here also signed the release form. Despite signing the same agreement, you might feel guilty or terrible about using these Gems. However, I want you to remember the sense of duty you felt when you signed that form. These people felt the same way, and they would've still willingly given up their bodies if they had been given the choice again.”

“We’ll accept them with thanks.”

Russell closed his eyes, then made a cross on his chest. His sense of righteousness was much stronger than that of the others, and so, the sacrifices of the dead Connectors had deeply moved him.

Everyone followed his action. Those who believed in a religion made gestures to pray for the dead, who had sacrificed themselves to bring peace to humanity. Those who followed no religion paid respect to these heroes.

Since they were about to start their mission, they didn’t have much time to pay their respects. So when everyone finished giving their respects, the Mayor spoke in a solemn tone.

“The creation process of Corpse Gems has a high failure rate. These are all the Corpse Gems we were able to make. Corpse Gems have five different types.”

The Mayor took the box of the Connector nearest to him. He started to raise each Gem as he explained. The first Gem he raised was red, but it wasn’t a Red Gem or a Ruby Gem.

“This is called the Blood Gem. It's made from the blood of a Connector.”

Everyone looked down at the Blood Gem in their own boxes.

“It increases the abilities of a Connector. It’ll allow you to use Gems that you normally can't use and push past your limits as a Connector.”

A few Connectors in the place possessed and used Diamond rank Gems, the highest rank Gem. They wouldn’t have much need for the Blood Gem. However, some Connectors here had hit their ceiling. The Blood Gem would allow them to use higher rank Gems that they previously couldn't use.

“The next one is the Heart Gem.”

The Mayor picked up a pink Gem. Since there were no pink Gems amongst the normal Gems, it was easy to identify that his Gem was different.

“It's made from the heart of a Connector, and it increases the performance of the Gems you possess.”

Sungyoon had a Gold Gem with an ability similar to this one's. One of Jungbum’s keepsakes, the Gold Gem had saved his life several times in the past.

“The next one is called a Brave Gem.”

It was a gray Gem.

“It's made from a Connector's brain. Since Corpse Gems are unlike normal Gems, they can escape their users' control. The users might get harmed instead. This Gem acts as a control. In some ways, this is the most important Gem. Please take this to heart. Do not use the other Corpse Gems without activating this one.”

When they heard about the dangers associated with using, a serious expression appeared on everyone's face.

“This is the Bone Gem. It's made out of the bones of a Connector. In a place with very little magical energy like Earth, with this, you can use the full power of a Connector. This Gem is the reason the descendants of Planote could operate with no restriction on Earth.”

“Doesn’t that mean we have no need of this Gem here?”

One of the Connectors asked the question.

“We’ll be fighting this battle on the Moon. Even if a lot of magical energy here has been transferred to Earth, it isn’t enough to decrease our power.”

“Correct. That's why we thought about excluding this Gem. However, we changed our minds in the end. A lot of unpredictable events are happening in succession right now, so we want you to have it as a precaution.”

After getting the answer to his question, the Connector nodded. He thought that the Mayor's words made sense. They had no idea what would occur in the future, so they had to be prepared for everything.

The Mayor carefully put the Bone Gem back into the box.

“The last is the Flesh Gem.”

It was a yellow Gem. No, it was more apt to call it a brownish yellow color.

“It's made from the skin of a Connector. Unlike other Corpse Gems, multiple Flesh Gems can be created from one body.”

That was why, unlike the other types of Corpse Gems, there were multiple Flesh Gems in the box.

“A Flesh Gem is a disposable Gem. Its rank doesn't matter. It's capable of copying an ability of any Gem once.”

“Can it be used on a Diamond Gem?”

“It can be used on Diamond Gems and also on special Gems like the Royal Gem. Of course, each of the special Gems has multiple abilities, and you can copy only one of them.”

The Connector who had asked the question let out a whistle. From the Mayor's words, he could tell that Flesh Gems could turn the tide of a battle.

“Let me call upon you for a favor later, Mr. Russell.”

“I’ll have to ask Mr. Bruce for his Gem.”

“What about the Princess’s Diamond rank Gem? What ability does it have?”

“Now that I think about it, the Knight’s party members received Diamond rank Gems.”

“He said it's possible to replicate the abilities of the special Gems. We should work to get those abilities first.”

The Connectors crowded around Sungyoon’s party for access to their Gems.

“It's good to copy the abilities of our Gems, but you should get a variety of abilities. You never know what might occur in the battle.”

Russell made the Connectors get in a line.

“Flesh Gems don't care about ranks. Therefore, we also brought low rank Devices where you can slot in the Flesh Gems. You can use one of these Devices if you're out of space for your Gems.”

After the chaotic atmosphere cooled down, everyone acquired the abilities that they wanted to have.

“Are you all done?”

At the Mayor’s question, all the Connectors nodded. After a moment of hesitation, the Mayor looked at each Connector in front of him as if he wanted to remember their faces.

“I wish you Godspeed.”

The Mayor gave the order.

The Connectors started heading out and into the battle.

***

The heavy wheels moved. The Moon Surface Vehicles, which were carrying the Connectors, were moving as a caravan, and they were speeding across the surface of the Moon.

There were a great number of vehicles, and each vehicle was filled with high ranked Connectors. It was a powerful force.

Moreover, combat vehicles traveled alongside the Moon Surface Vehicles. They were the vehicles carrying the Mana Knight cannons.

A prototype of this weapon had been created before Armstrong city fell. Since then a lot of research and money was sunk into improving the weapon. This was why the cannons performed reliably now.

The Connectors within the Moon Surface Vehicles did their best to pass the time.

Some read books, and some slept. There were people, who prayed, and people were listening to music. They all had their own way of passing their time.

Sungyoon was in the same boat, and it was obvious as to how Sungyoon would pass his time.

As always, Sungyoon was staring at a picture.

Of course, the subject within the picture was Shinhae. He could look at it at days on end, and he wouldn’t get tired of looking at his cute daughter.

However, this picture also contained Jimin, who had become a new family member.

The picture contained the smiling faces of his wife and daughter. It was a magical talisman that gave him strength just by looking at it.

Puh-uhng!

The sound of a cannon being fired could be heard. It seemed another monster had tried to approach the caravan.

It seemed it wasn’t a truly dangerous monster. It didn’t need the attention of the Connectors.

The Connectors were used to this now. They didn’t even look out the window as the cannons took care of the monster.

It was the same for Sungyoon. He continued to look at his picture.

However, he soon raised his head as if he had remembered something.

‘We should be getting there soon now.’

Their destination was the other side of the Moon. The stake existed in front of Armstrong city, and this tower existed in the exact opposite location of the stake. It was located at the backside of the Moon.

The surface of the Moon was slightly larger than Africa. This was why it wouldn’t take long to reach the destination with a Moon Surface Vehicle.

This was the case If one went straight towards their destination. However, the Moon had many craters created from the impact of asteroids. This was why they couldn’t head to their destination in a straight line.

Thankfully, the front surface of the Moon had been clean. However, the backside of the Moon was peppered with craters. This was why their progress drastically slowed down.

Sungyoon calculated the date.

‘I hope we get there soon.’

The Moon was getting fairly close to Earth. He had no idea what kinds of calamity Earth was facing right now.

‘It would have been great if we could have used the space sh.i.p.s.’

However, the risk was too high.

In the past, they had used the platform on the stake as a landing spot, and Armstrong city had been under the control of humanity.

Despite this fact, there had been errors. Some Connectors had landed amongst the monsters and died. If he thought about what could go wrong, the approach from space was too dangerous.

‘I’ve never been there, so the portal is useless.’

In the end, they had to travel through the land route. This was why Sungyoon’s party members were on edge.

They didn’t openly express their worries. However, they had gone through life and death situations together, so they could tell how each other felt.

Geeek!

At that moment, the Moon Surface Vehicles came to a stop. Everyone stopped what they were doing.

- We’ve arrived at our destination.

It was the words that they had been desperately waiting for.

Everyone quickly exited their Moon Surface Vehicles.

When they got off, they could see a tower. They saw a tower on top of a structure that looked like an anthill.

For some reason, the structure looked very ominous.

At that moment, everyone wanted to dash into the tower to find out if there really was a way to stop the Moon.

However, there were too many monsters around the tower, so it wouldn’t be an easy task to access the tower.

“There are so many!”

Tim let out a sigh.

Everyone had the same thought, but they soon firmed their resolve once again.

Everyone followed Russell’s signal as they got into a battleline.

“Is everyone ready?”

Russell yelled out loud. The Connectors either raised their hand or they nodded their head in the affirmative.

“Good. You guys already know the basic plan. Do not do more than what was planned. Do not do less than what was planned. Just follow the plan to the tee. Do you understand?”

“We already know that!”

“I am confident in you all. As you probably know, he doesn’t have much time. We wasted way too much time in getting here. That is why I will speak no further.”

Russell turned his body around. He took in the sight of the tall tower.

It seemed the monsters had seen the Connectors. They were rushing towards the Connectors.

Russell summoned his weapon. The other Connectors summoned their various weapons.

Russell raised his sword high in the air.

“Let’s fight those bastards! Kill all the f.u.c.k.i.n.g monsters!”

[Ooh-wahhhhhhhhhhh!]

It was like a scene from a movie as the Connectors charged towards the massive army of monsters.

The battle for the fate of Earth started in earnest.