System Wars: Here Comes the Heroes!-Chapter 35: Contrasting quests

[Notice: Quest Objectives has been identified.]

[Defeat Salbanbo Contractors: 0/100]

[Defeat Salbanbo Shift Managers: 0/23]

This chapter is updated by freēwēbnovel.com.

[Defeat Salbanbo Regional Manager: 0/1]

[Protect the Lumenlithic Civilians: 127/127]

'Alright, that's not...too terrible of a quest,' SK thought to himself as he saw the quest window. 'Let's just hope this next part works as intended.'

[Ping! Additional Quest Objective has been added: Make a Heroic Entrance]

'Say what?'

___________________

"Interloper, identify yourself!" Alpha-887 shouted. "Why do you interfere with our business transaction?"

Normally, the discovery of a previously unknown resource or the breakthrough of a new technology was a cause of celebration for the Salbanbo. After all, this just meant new and possibly lucrative sources of profit.

However, when such moments of discovery were accompanied by would-be disruptors of profit acquisition, those jubliant feelings immediately sour into extreme bitterness.

The type of bitterness that could only be washed with blood and freshly harvested organs.

"I am known as Plaitknight," the shining armored warrior declared while banging his fist against his breastplate and realeasing an echoing sound that shook every hover tank in the area. "And the shield of justice cares not for ill-gotten gains that are earned from the suffering of others!"

"Justice? Justice?!" Alpha-887 roared indignantly at that particular word, a sentinement echoed by his fellow Salbanbo salarysoldiers. "An abstract concept that gets in the way of profit! Limits gains! But easily bought. Name your price, Platiknight; this is your only opportunity for a bribe."

"Bribe? Bribe?!" Platiknight repeated in an equally aghast tone like Alpha-887. "Justice has now price and will never bend, buckle, or yield to the coins of villainy!"

"Ewww. An activist," the Salbanbo salarysoldiers sneered.

"Are you truly rejecting this generous offer?" Alpha-887 asked in an unbelieving tone. "Do you not realize that you are outnumbered? That your resources are lacking in comparison to our own?'

Emphasizing this point, the Salbanbo salarysoldiers beared their rifles and prepared to fire when ready.

Just because their blasters failed to break the strange blue energy barrier, didn't mean they would fail to puncture a few holes through Platiknight, right?

"A true hero is never alone!" Platiknight answered back with gusto, while pointing a finger upwards.

"Huh?"

Following Platiknight's prompting, Alpha-887 and his collective regiment looked up towards the sky...

"What the-"

BAM!

"-GAH!"

...only to get completely blindsided when Alpha-887 and his hover tank got impacted by a giant boulder made of sand. The aforementioned Salbanbo regional manager was nearly flattened by the sand boulder, taking a surprising amount of damage as the coarse grains snuck into sensitive components and started to make a mess of things on a microscopic level that would roll into macroscopic damage. As for the previously mentioned hover tank, it was smashed into the ground by the sheer kinetic force of the sand boulder.

The reactions to this sudden turn of events were rather mixed amongst the Salbanbo salary soldiers.

"Regional Manager!"

"Has his account been terminated?"

"What a waste of assets!"

"The insurance premiums alone will be outweigh the benefits!"

"Wait, he's alive!"

While the reactions from the Lumenlithic weren't as mixed.

"Ha! Take that, stupid robo-lizard!"

"May the magma take you!"

"Wait...damnit! I think he's still alive."

However, both parties would soon be flabbergasted when they realized what had happened to the young Lumenlithic woman that was held captive by Alpha-887.

"Wait! The asset has gone missing!"

"Where did it go?"

Rumble, rumble!

"No way..."

Once it had dawned on them that the sand boulder had somehow swallowed the young Lumenlithic woman, everyone's eyes turned to see if she had perished from the impact.

"Wait a minute, what the fuck?"

Only to get gobsmacked as they saw the boulder of sand moving like a giant slime towards Platiknight's energy shield.

"Incoming payload!" the ball of sand called out with a clear voice. This new voice wasn't as heroic-sounding as Platiknight's voice, but one could sense a feeling of energetic righteousness laced within.

"Prepare for entry!" Platiknight declared while subtly tapping his foot against his platinum shield.

For a brief second, a small hole opened up in the barrier, allowing the ball of living sand to bump the edge and dump a Lumenlithic within its borders.

More specifically, it was the Astral Lumenlithic woman that Alpha-887 had originally attempted to keep as a trophy.

"Bisma! You're okay!"

"Buh, that was dizzying," Bisma muttered as she lay on the ground and attempted to get her bearings. "Wait, I'm not dead?"

"Make way, make way!"

A Lumenlithic dressed in medical garments quickly made their way over to Bisma's side and performed a quick medical exam to determine that nothing had broken off or chipped after her capture and subsequent rescue. Once they had confirmed everything was okay, they asked the one question that was burning in everyone's mind right now as they helped them get back on to their feet.

"What the heck happened?"

"I...think that the sandball just saved me."

"The sandball? How?"

"I don't know..."

Curiosity and disbelief now growing in the cores of all the Lumenlithic present, they directed their gazes towards the aforementioned sandball on the other side of the barrier protecting them.

However, it wasn't going to be a sandball for much longer.

"How is that sandball not falling apart? It doesn't make sense!"

"The scanners can't make head or tail of the ball either; this is an unpredictable market!"

"Wait, something's happening..."

Before the eyes of the Lumenlithic people and the Salbanbo soldiers, the sandball suddenly began to wiggle and shake like an agitated water balloon about to explode.

Hell, some of the Salbanbo soldiers and Lumenlithic civilains watching were expecting it to explode...up until a pair of giant arms manifested from the sandball and smashed down on to the ground, followed by the sandball lifting itself into the air and manifesting a pair of legs directly beneath it.

The sandball then began to grow and reform itself until it had completely transformed into a giant golem made of sand, complete with hollow eyes that seemed to burn with rage.

While this was happening, Alpha-887 managed to finally get back on to his feet with some assistance and address this second interloper.

"What fresh loss is this?" Alpha-887 roared with fury over everything that happened in the last five or so minutes. "Who are you?!"

"Who am I?" The sand golem rumbled in that same energetic voice from earlier as it stood up straight, in sharp contrast to his sand-like body. "I am the fury of defiled worlds, the hammer that swings against the knee of tyrants!"

As the sand golem introduced himself to the increasingly fearful Salbanbo soldiers, he visibly grew bigger and bigger.

"I am Gaia Mask! And I am here to put a stop to your villainy!"

After making this declaration, Gaia Mask swung his fists down hard and absolutely cratered two of the hover tanks in a single blow.

...

[Ding! Quest objective completed. A bonus will be credited at the end of the quest.]

'Oh good lord, that was embarassing...'

[Oh, you know that felt good.]

'Yeah...and now I have to fight a whole bunch of cyborg lizards. Great.'

...Cue the eye catch...

Skill: Gaia Guardian

Description:

A skill that allows one to tap into the power of the [Earth] element across the universe. As long as the user is surrounded by dirt, stone, metal, sand, or anything that can legally constitute as being [Earth], they can convert their body into a matching substance, simply coat their bodies with it, or absorb similar substances to enhance their size, strength, etcetera. This skill is most effective on planets where the user can place both their feet on the ground.

... Now to a completely different scene...

[Notice: Quest Objectives has been identified.]

[Take down the Salbanbo Freighter-Carrier: 0/1]

[Free the hostages.]

...

High above in the atmosphere, Tin Star had been given the task of bringing down an entire warship of bad guys all by his lonesome.

'Woo! Looks like I'm in for a hell of a rodeo!'

While most other people would definitely balk at such an absurd demand, Tin Star was confident he could do it.

After all, there wasn't much difference between hijacking a train and hijacking a spaceship, right?

'Now let's see, most ships usually got something like an exhaust port or maintenance...bingo!'

From where Tin Star was falling, he could see that there was a small opening at the top where heat was being constantly expelled from the ship.

In space, it served as a means of keeping the ship cool during transit.

Down here in a planet 's atmosphere though, it was nothing more than a fancy entrance.

'Alright, gotta time this just right...'Tin Star thought to himself as he pulled his pistols and aimed it at the exhaust port. 'NOW!'

BANG!

Using his abilities, Tin Star significantly slowed his descent by causing the bullet in his gun to explode with much greater ferocity than normal. At the same time, the bullet had blasted open the exhaust port's cover, allowing him to slide right into the starship.

Now all he had to do was simply deal with the insides.