Stacking My Abilities

Seeing the approaching ray of blue light, Tyler Anas smiled in relief. Sheathing his sword, this family head stood up.

Wearing relaxed expressions, the settlement leaders stood up as well.

​​

"So. Is there a party going on?" That ray of light halted before the floating canoes, revealing Jeff inside.

"Sure. Let\'s have a party inside." Liam chuckled and shook his head.

With Jeff\'s return, the atmosphere surrounding the sanctuary lightened up.

In a moment, the group had returned to the conference room on the 4th floor. Except this time, a certain unwelcomed member was missing.

Also, they had to serve themselves for water and coffee now. Most people were still returning here.

"The East Berrystone settlement wishes to join the sanctuary. We wish to become an external branch." Oracle spoke first.

People turned their gazes at the girl. Well... This was unexpected.

The eyes of Telepathy and Gardener glinted as well. In a second, they\'d made a decision. These guys quickly turned their gaze towards Jeff.

"Thickford wishes to join the sanctuary as well."

"Picone as well."

"Ooookay..." Liam nodded at Jeff.

Jeff: ...

"Okay... So Jeff..."

"Yes?" Jeff squinted. He suddenly got a bad feeling about this.

"You may not know this, but the previous keyholder had prepared three successions."

"You. Me. And Atlas... In that order."

"I know it now..." Jeff nodded.

"So do you accept to become the third keyholder of the sanctuary?" Liam slid an envelope to Jeff.

"Uhhh... No thanks." Jeff firmly shook his head.

In his mind, Jeff sighed in relief. \'Good. So this time, I\'ve not been elected as the new keyholder, against my will...\'

"That\'s what the people would prefer. Got to admit, you have much more approval than I do."

"Yeah... I\'ll still say \'no thank you\' to this one." Jeff felt a little bad to turn down this sincere offer.

Just a little though.

"You know me. Management isn\'t my thing."

\'Also, my main focus is stacking my abilities at the moment...\' Jeff added in his mind.

"It isn\'t my either..." Liam raised his brows and sighed.

Jeff: ...

Liam: ...

"But I guess I have no choice. I\'ll probably find a successor soon anyways. Erhm." Liam murmured.

"So." Liam turned to the settlement leaders. "I accept your requests. We can discuss the details later."

Liam put on a smile. But everyone could see that Liam\'s smile was forced. At the moment, Liam was not looking forward to the lengthy discussions.

"For now..." Liam looked outside.

"Right. The sanctuary clearly needs your directions right now. We can talk later." Oracle stood up.

In a moment, it was just Liam and Jeff in this room now.

"Alright Jeff." Liam looked at Jeff with a complicated gaze. "If you don\'t mind, please hand over the nuke."

"What nuke?" Jeff put on a smile and innocently blinked.

"You can\'t just place a detonable nuclear warhead in this city?! This is madness!" Liam looked at Jeff with a serious gaze. "What if an accident happens. I know it\'s unlikely. But what if the unlikely does happen!"

Jeff\'s cheek twitched a little. "Fine. I\'ll hand it over, but it won\'t be free."

"Good." Liam\'s expression relaxed a little. "What do you want?"

"I want to know how to detonate a nuclear warhead."

"You\'ve got more than one?!"

Jeff: "... I will neither confirm nor deny this possibility."

"Why?!"

"Oh I don\'t know." Jeff leaned back. "If aliens invaded one day, I\'d be able to fly to their mothership, blow it up with a nuke, and save the world. Or maybe I can blow up an evil god with the nuke or something."

"That\'s farfetched Jeff."

Jeff shook his head and chuckled. Remembering those terrifying gazes, Jeff clenched his fists. "The void exists now. There are deity-like beings over there, who are plotting for this world. If these deity-like beings exist, why can\'t aliens exist."

Liam raised his brows. "Deities..."

"Yep." Jeff nodded. "If those beings manage to enter this world, we are fucked. End of story. No comebacks."

Liam pointed at Jeff with a flicking finger. "I\'ll get back to you on this matter."

At this moment, Liam\'s aura changed a little.

Jeff could tell that Liam was trying to mimic the old keyholder. Not there yet. But Jeff could see a trace of the old keyholder in Liam.

"So Jeff. Is there anything else I need to know?"

"Yeah..." Jeff stood up and looked outside. "I might be gone for a couple of months. Maybe half a year."

"Why?" Liam raised his brows.

"It\'s for a family visit..." Jeff\'s expression became a little concerned. "Before, it wasn\'t possible. But now, I think I\'ve got what it takes..."

"Where\'s your family?"

"Hamster City."

"New Hamster on the east coast?"

"No. Hamster in Europe."

"So you are going to fly across this continent, then across the Atlantic." Liam asked with a \'Are you serious\' expression.

"... I think so?"

Liam: ...

Jeff: ...

"Hey. I could choose the arctic path." Jeff sighed. "It\'s hard, but I have to do it. Who knows how they are doing..."

"I was just talking to Mr. Anas actually... About a backup plan in case you lost..." Liam sounded hesitant to say these words.

"Fair enough..." Jeff nodded.

"If you wait for a month or two, we will be able to teleport you to Europe."

Jeff looked at Liam with a raised brow.

"This the first promise of the third keyholder of the sanctuary." Liam gave Jeff a reassuring nod.

"And if you fly off, you won\'t get lost above the ocean? It\'s fogged up out there." Liam added.

"Yeah... I\'ll count on you on this one." Jeff nodded. "I\'ll leave it to you, Mr. Keyholder."

...

...

A month later...

Berrystone suburbs...

Thump! Thump! Thump!

A towering cyclops walked down a highway. With each step, this monster left a deep footprint onto the asphalt ground.

Behind this monster, a wave of monsters followed like a tide.

"I am Lord Thunder! From this day onwards, this city shall be my!"

"Die human!" The cyclops slammed its bone club down at the puny human in its way.

Slam!

Asphalt pieces exploded into the air, leaving a deep pit behind.

"No. I think not." Jeff instantly appeared before this monster\'s giant eye. \'Good thing I stayed...\'

PUNCH!

BAM!

The monster exploded into a cloud of black mist.

"Lord Thunder is dead!"

"Run!"

"Impossible!"

"Ah! Monster!"

Seeing this result, the S-rank followers fled without hesitation. The wave of monsters turned around and dispersed as well.

[ Unique Quest: Energy Collection (Incomplete) ]

\'Close interface.\'

Looking at his hand, Jeff sighed. \'One punch...\'

Looking at the fleeing monster, Jeff raised a hand. A sphere of golden energy inflated before Jeff\'s palm.

"Good bye, invaders..."