Global Sign-in: 10x Multiplier with the Strongest System!-Chapter 66: BlackTech

"We’re stopping here," Master Abraham said as the vehicle came to a halt under the shade of a large tree that had grown out of the sidewalk concrete, right before a four-story apartment building—if that was even what the building was.

"Where are we going?" Roy asked, reluctant to get up from his comfy seat. Suddenly, this entire training ordeal started looking like a bad idea. The workload was just too immense.

Master Abraham tapped on his vehicle console. "Today, we will be retracing the track followed by the field mission team. We should find out what happened to them earlier, as the more days pass, the less the chances they have for surviving."

Roy let out a heavy sigh. Master Abraham sent the map data to a circular device, called a holoRadar, that could fit in a palm. He handed one to Roy and kept another for himself.

Roy inspected the device. It had metallic corners and was quite bulky, built to withstand impact and resist water and moisture. He flicked the circular lid open, and a blue holographic image of the Earth appeared. When Roy clicked a thick button on the side, the image zoomed in, and the path to their destination was charted.

Roy briefly checked out the path, attempting to get familiar with it. Lucky for his high-school brain, the visual was easy to understand.

"Sweet."

Master Abraham held a dataPad, which seemed thinner and longer than regular communicators, but he could stretch it out to increase the screen size and aspect ratio. From a sensor atop, the living blue sphere that was Hillary was conjured atop, albeit smaller.

Proceeding, the master-student geared up, donning their assassin-like tactical get-up. This time, they also wore proShields, a black tech device that emitted a pulse-like coating over an individual, shielding them from projectiles and fast-moving objects, powered by batteries made from energy crystals.

Blacktech was the same type of technology proudly sponsored by irregulars and executioners alike that helped push the age of civilisation to the next step in just sixty years since the advent of God’s Abyss. Other examples of black tech were: the protective dome and camouflage factor of the city and districts, along with the military vehicles.

"How come we don’t get to camouflage?" Roy asked, having tested out the proShield and been briefly lectured by his master on the importance of blacktech.

"We do." Master Abraham stretched out his left hand slightly and clicked one finger somewhere on his hand. Right then, the material of the black suit faded to be entirely transparent. Only the parts of the C-Class Executioner that weren’t in the suit, like his head and upper fingers, were still visible.

Roy’s eyes widened, and he quickly replicated his mentor’s actions, exclaiming in awe, "Whoaaaa... Cool."

"However, it drains the EC-battery quickly," Master Abe said and shut it off. "Compared to the coolant that keeps you from sweating so abyss creatures don’t catch your scent, it’s of less importance."

Shin!

Roy switched the camouflage off and sheathed his netherstone dagger in the holster and strapped it to the back of his waist. "Gotcha."

He placed the holoRadar in one of the suit’s pouches and stood before the mirror for at least a minute, nonchalantly striking poses he thought looked cool.

"Are you done?" Master Abe asked flatly, glancing back at Roy with his hand on the door of the APC.

Roy awkwardly straightened his back and followed behind.

"Hillary, this baby’s yours for now," Master Abraham said and slammed the door shut. Immediately, the camouflage activated, and light bent around the vehicle, reflecting the surroundings on its near-transparent surfaces.

...Just across the road, hidden between bushes and other obstacles, a creature watched the two humans as they walked stealthily and conversed.

"Huuu... Huuu... Huuu..."

The creature’s breathing was heavy, and it followed them closely. Its mouth moistened due to the sight and scent of human flesh.

Master Abraham suddenly paused and glanced across the road.

"What’s the problem?" Roy whispered, clandestinely grabbing onto his dagger.

"..." Black Zero watched silently for a few seconds and continued forward, saying in passing, "Stick close." 𝙛𝓻𝒆𝒆𝒘𝙚𝓫𝙣𝙤𝒗𝙚𝓵.𝙘𝙤𝙢

Roy nodded strongly and increased his pace to make sure he matched that of his master.

Glancing at the chainsword strapped to his master’s back, Roy couldn’t help but ask, "Master Abe, how does blacktech fare against abyss gates? Are the weapons in your Array, including your chainsword, black tech? Is that why it doesn’t jam and become unusable when closer to abyss gates?"

Abraham glanced at Roy, a bit annoyed at the boy’s increasing habit of asking a flurry of questions at once. However, he knew this was a good thing and a good sign that he was willing to learn. He could only be unlucky if he had a mentor who shut him down instead when he asked these questions.

"None of my weapons are black tech. Blacktech can get a bit closer to gates than normal tech, but all stop working eventually. These weapons were given as a gift from A-Class Executioner, Supreme-General Alexandria..."

Roy’s jaw dropped. ’Supreme-General Alexandria?!’ This wasn’t someone he needed Chris to tell him about. Everybody knew who she was. If one searched the holoNet for the meaning of the word ’badass’, her portrait was what was going to show up.

It was said that the day she defeated her Level 50 final boss, becoming A-Class, she subjugated five Rank 2 Gates and one Rank 3 Gate alone in the span of forty-eight hours with her NAZI.exe!

Before that, she was always mocked on the forum for her funny system name and title, but after that event, all they could call her was ’Mommy.’

"...The weapons she makes can withstand whatever makes abyss gates the bane of technology."

Roy glanced at the high-tech pistol strapped to his thigh and muttered, "She’s so goddamn cool."

He remembered something and chuckled. "I remember when Supreme-General Alexandria got married last year, the forum mourned for two weeks!"

Master Abraham’s eyebrows wrinkled slightly.

"What forum?"

"You’ve not heard of it?" Roy’s eyes widened in unpleasant shock.

He shrugged. "No wonder you’re so clueless about what’s trending. You’ve been living under a rock."

"I don’t care much for the holoNet."

"No, no, no. That won’t do." Roy clicked his tongue repeatedly and tapped his master’s shoulders twice, adding, "Turns out, I’ve got something to teach you, too, Master Abe. You see, the forum is magical and wondrous—"

"Hide and get down." Master Abraham cut Roy short and pushed him deeper into the shade of the fallen building they walked beside and forced him to crouch.

A second later, a heavy gust of wind made their hair dance, and Roy didn’t look up, but the massive shadow of the avian creature that just passed by made his blood run cold.

"CAAWWW!"

The unknown abyss creature let out a loud cry, warning off any potential opponents and marking its territory.

Roy shook the fear off his body and wanted to peer forward just to catch a glimpse of the creature, but Master Abe’s hand covered his eyes almost instantly.

"Abyss creatures of that threat level can feel eyes on them and sense danger. When they set their eyes on you after noting your presence, they won’t stop until they’ve hunted you down," he said.

Roy pried Black Zero’s hand off his face and wore a frown.

Already knowing what the kid was going to ask, the middle-aged man continued, "You can only look at them through side glances. They must never be the focus of your gaze."

Roy listened carefully and sighed at the end. "Noted."

Slightly far behind, Roy was watched as he laughed and spoke smugly, heavy mouth-breathing and the sound of ruffling leaves and grass underfoot were the only sounds the creature tailing them made.

After walking for about a kilometre, Master Abraham took out his holoRadar and observed the path. He looked for signs of the field mission party and found nothing more than tire tracks still.

"Why would they drive so deep into a fallen city?" Master Abraham muttered. "That wouldn’t be smart... at first glance."

Roy groaned a bit. They had been hiding, crouching, and cutting down smaller weak beasts they came across for over twenty minutes now, and he was already growing tired.

Now deeper into the fallen city of the old world, Roy couldn’t help but feel a bit melancholic, considering how far humanity had come, only to then be rewarded with gates to a dark realm appearing every single day with twisted creatures pouring out to reap lives and wreak havoc.

The duo walked another ten minutes when they came across a street with dilapidated tall buildings; however, thick, silky webs strung from one place to another, forming a web spanning the entire street!