The System’s Harvester

I wasn't connected to their server at all. -Then...- It meant that, from the eyes of the local server, after I arrived and my system stopped trying to connect to it, I didn't exist.

Without realizing it, my lips started to curl. -That means not only can the administrators not identify me, they can't set system restrictions on me, and...- "The server's security measures can't target me..." My biggest worries vanished in the blink of an eye.

But as a smile spread across my face and my gaze shifted up toward the administrator, his expression warped with horror, and he gripped his sword so hard the handle creaked, and his knuckles turned white.

"So," It was that expression of fear that made me feel like a lion standing before a fawn. "Mister administrator.. now would be the time to set down your-"

But he didn't let me talk. *FWOOSH* Instantly closing the distance between us, the tip of his sword slammed into my chest, and the ground turned blurry. *CLINK-WHOOOM* The next thing I knew, I slammed into the city's outer wall with a bang. *WHAM-CRRRACKLEE*

Cracks instantly ripped through the wall as it shattered, bending outward to try and catch me while a mix of metal and concrete was ejected into the forest on the other side, and I was surrounded by dust.

*crRUNCH* Casually ripping myself out of the mix of metal and rock composing the wall, I gently massaged my neck before looking up toward the presence I felt hovering in the air. -So that's how it's gonna be...-

*Fwip* Instantly ducking, a glowing line was drawn through the wall straight through where my neck was before the surrounding area melted and exploded. *CRRRUMBLE*

"You know, for an administrator, you're really bad at gauging people." Bending my knees slightly, I instantly vanished before the wall shattered, finally giving way, and I reappeared in front of the man. -Let's see if I can use a bit of mana...- *VWOOM* A slight pressure instantly appeared in my abdomen before racing through my body and gathering in my fist.

Throwing every drop of my momentum into the punch, I instantly blew through the thick armor plating on his stomach as if it wasn't there before stopping my fist a hair's width from his skin.

But it wasn't because I cared about his life.

*CR-RRACK* As the armor over his abdomen was literally turned to dust, the impact continued into his body, reducing his organs to a uniform mush and his spine to a conglomeration of dust before he simply disappeared, ripping through the sound barrier several times over as he was launched over the city.

As I slowly began to fall, I gently shook my hand back and forth to shake the tingling sensation while keeping my eyes on his limp body zipping through the sky before he plowed through a series of towering glass buildings and disappeared into a cloud of debris at the base of the railgun.

-Hmm... That was quite a bit weaker than it would have been with the upgrades, yet my hand tingles more...- Looking down at my hand as I fell back to the ground, several ideas passed through my mind, but at the end of it, I chalked it up to me not knowing what I was doing. -At least I stopped my hand before it got coated with blood...-

*Thum-Crackkle* Eventually landing on the roof of a concrete building not far from the wall, cracks quickly spread beneath my feet.

But the owner of that building was quite lucky. *woooOOOSH-CRUNCHHHH* As a sudden gust of wind was blown past me, the buildings between the wall and me were ruthlessly smashed beneath the massive upper section of the wall. -That wall is far more sturdy than I thought it'd be...-

Even after the beating it took, only a relatively small section collapsed, and it still stood over a hundred meters tall at its lowest point. -It's a shame walls don't mean anything to creatures beyond a certain level, but I have to commend whoever made it...-

Idly staring up the wall, my eyes eventually drifted toward the blinding sun directly overhead before I finally shifted gears. -In any case, I should try and head to the airport...-

Although I was almost certain I couldn't make use of Diana anymore after she seemed to recognize the avatar and could see our exchange from the street, my priority had shifted to simply blending in until I could figure out how to tame my aura. -Depending on where the evacuation is to, I might be able to go to the Tower where that researcher was... Even if they won't tell me any specifics, I'm sure they'll at least tell me the basics...-

But while those scenarios idly floated through my mind, I had to get moving, hopping off the rooftop before making my way up the road, using my memories of Diana's GPS to guide me toward it. -She said she came from the airport, so all I have to do is backtrack the GPS...-

It was surprisingly simple, the only risk was that she lied about where she picked up the car from.

But she thankfully wasn't.

Coming up on a field of vehicles, orderly lined up into several lanes, I stood on a rooftop and overlooked hundreds, if not thousands of people.

However, they weren't humans. -Oh my...-

Among the crowd, only a small percentage were actually human, with the rest being at least partially dwarven, elven, demihuman, or even part druid. -Humans and druids can breed?-

It would have been an understatement to say it was just eye-opening, but instead of being intimidated by the mountain of things I would have to learn about, I was oddly excited. -Earth really is a whole different world now...- Looking over the conglomeration of countless races I had never known to live on the same continent as one another, like elves and dwarves, I couldn't help but wonder what kind of unbelievable advancements Earth had made.

With the conjoining of so many races and the advanced sciences of Earth, not even the sky was the limit.

But, the way than the perfect combination of technology and ingenuity came to bear its fruit was.. sometimes a little odd.

Eventually passing over the crowd and continuing toward the airport, I came up to a series of unbelievably massive buildings nearly eight stories tall and lined with glass, and hopped onto the roof to look over a massive series of paved runways.

However, at the base of one of the longest runways I could see, my eyes settled on it... The monstrosity that I truly had to question the reasoning for.

It was a silver ship at least two hundred and fifty meters long with a massive, elongated center fuselage and two larger width sections off-shooting from either side near the back that thinned out all the way to an array of comparably tiny thrusters.

It was clearly a ship meant for speed, with four wings: two small but wide ones near the front and two much larger ones that were slightly raised and ran the length of the rear compartments in the back.

But it didn't seem to be lacking in comfort either, with the dozens of entrances and exits that were open exposing a warm yellow light inside with a partially carpeted interior. -I guess it's some kind of luxury ship... I bet it was mostly designed by humans too.-

Not that I was complaining.

-I wonder what the inside is like.- *tap-Wooosh* Jumping off the rooftop, I fell all the way to the tarmac before landing with a crack. *Crunch*

It instantly pulled the attention of everyone around, but my eyes were glued to one man in front of me. A tall brown-haired human with slightly green eyes like that of an elf. "Are you in charge of leading the evacuation effort?"

He immediately froze before looking me up and down. "W..What are you-"

*Riiing* A high pitch ring instantly echoed through the airport over a series of intercoms. "Attention everyone. We have received orders from the United States Military to begin preparing for evacuations. The first evacuation will take place in twenty minutes using a K5 Continental Airship and will first be used to evacuate high-priority personnel, such as international mercenaries, priority military personnel, and graded researchers. ID will be required and verified with the System in order to get on board. Everyone else, please rest easy; the military is already on their way, and there is currently no apparent threat.."

The moment he paused, a raring chatter erupted from the crowd inside the building.

"Unfortunately, communication in and out of the city is still troublesome, even through the system, so I will be relaying orders from Washington D.C. as the evacuation unfolds. Those who are to board the first airship, please go to International Dock A3. Please remember, you will be ID'd. The more you give us trouble, the longer it will take to get you all evacuated." *Click*

Silence instantly fell over the tarmac as the people hastily bringing things in and out of the airship paused their work with confused expressions.

But after a moment, a glow illuminated their faces and they all simultaneously looked down at their systems.

Including the man in front of me.

But as he looked up at me with a look of skepticism, I confidently gave him a carefree smile.

One would be surprised how far confidence could get you, especially when it was genuine. "C..Could you.. provide me with ID?"

I swiftly shook my head before looking him in the eyes. "If you want my identification, you may ask the Church for it."

He immediately tensed before lowering his gaze away from me. "I.. apologize. I don't know why I even asked."

-Perfect...- My smile slowly widened. -That girl's misunderstanding is really coming in handy...-

"Please head into the airship, I'll add you to the clearance list... What name would you like me to use?"

"Please use Lestir." Although it had been a while, I tried to speak in a slightly posh manner like a noble would.

It felt horrendously unnatural, especially considering it was the first time I had to put on an act in a few hundred years.

But thankfully, the skills acquired and refined over hundreds of years of integrating into the societies of countless worlds didn't just disappear because you stopped for a while.

After the man nodded and eventually let me easily walk past, I looked up into the sky, reminiscing about the old days of having to sneak into different cities and kingdoms with the mission of destroying them.

-How long has it been since I needed to sneak into something..?- Taking a deep breath of the cool fresh air, I finally lowered my gaze to the airship and what appeared to be the entrance. -It's oddly refreshing...-

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