[...Isn’t that right, sister?]
’So, he knew,’ Zhya muttered upon hearing Wally’s message, conveyed through a Zinger Shriek. She wasn’t surprised at the fact that Wally could communicate like a Zinger. It was merely sound, at the end of the day. And as long as one trained, the Wittral of the past too could have managed it.
’I guess you felt obligated to reveal it to him, Inala.’ She thought, not disappointed in the least. After all, she too revealed her identity to the empyrean Snappers. Of course, when she thought of the situation during which Inala met Wally, she could understand his mindset.
It was before the Third Major Disaster. And even though Inala was confident, in the off chance he failed, there should be someone who will rise to the challenge and face the Celestial Boar. The one with the power and motive was Wally.
Once Zhya’s true identity is revealed to him, the Cooter Clan and Quip Clan will be able to cooperate seamlessly. After all, with the passage of the Royal Zinger, Zhya controlled the Quip Clan. Similarly, Wally would eventually control the Cooter Clan too.
It made sense why Inala revealed the truth to Wally and why he made arrangements for the Quip Clan to support his growth.
’As I thought, you are running late.’ Zhya thought for a moment and then assumed her Pranic Beast form. And then, there was an internal rumble as her body turned jet-black, revealing the Bolt of Transcendence nervous system.
State of Harmony—Zinger Roar!
Around the same time, Kenzar Echo grunted, having already been ready since the start. His three Natures synchronised, building up power before unleashing their effect.
State of Harmony—Piezo Rush!
Pieze Rush created a stream of Piezo Slips between all the Homing Satellites of the Zinger Guard, as long as they were within stitchable range of each other. It created a network that allowed the transmission of sound waves at breakneck speeds.
It was a strategic asset in that upon activation, it allowed the Quip Clan to communicate throughout the network without issues. There was more than enough bandwidth in the Tangible Piezo Slip lines to facilitate such a volume of soundwaves.
It could be used as a means of communication in times of war, allowing the Quip Clan to be aware of events happening far beyond what they could realistically perceive, from regions years or even further apart in terms of travel distance.
Also, it doubled as a pathway to carry the Zinger Representative’s Zinger Roar.
The moment Kenzar Echo activated his State of Harmony, Zhya’s Zinger Roar slammed into the closest Quip Tower and began to travel from one Quip Tower to another.
In Kenzar’s mindspace, all Quip Towers appeared as dots. He linked the dots to create a pathway for the Zinger Roar to reach the Varahan Empire. He then selected a dozen Quip Towers around the Varahan Empire and connected them.
This way, once the Zinger Roar reaches them, it could continue to loop between the twelve towers. Thanks to this, they didn’t have to worry about timing, since the Zinger Roar took a while to reach its destination.
They could simply keep looping the Zinger Roar in the destination region and release it from the closest Quip Tower on their targets.
That wasn’t all. Kenzar began to outline multiple such loops in the vicinity of the Varahan Empire, as Zhya was launching multiple Zinger Roars. Each Ringer Roar would loop between a set of Quip Towers in proximity.
And when necessary, Kenzar would reroute them to the outlet. This way, the attack would be spontaneous on the target.
If they didn’t have to use it, the Zinger Roars would keep looping until they lost all power. They were soundwaves, which had a property to disperse, even when condensed and focused by the Zinger Representative’s State of Harmony.
Therefore, the Zinger Roar lost a bit of its power upon every Quip Tower it passed through. Since its might was already weaker than if Zhya were to unleash it at the scene, as the top speed the Quip Towers could handle was only six times the speed of sound, Kenzar had a plan. Or rather, his State of Harmony existence exactly for this.
Tertiary Nature—Prana Stitch!
Its functions in the State of Harmony were the most important, for it was responsible for the connection and adhesion of the abilities.
Kenzar began to route multiple Zinger Roars to the same loop, and once they arrived at the loop, the Quip Towers gradually synchronised and combined them. The sound frequencies were first synchronised and then superimposed.
Radio towers on Earth did this too.
As the Zinger Roars looped around, they gradually became one. And once combined, the Quip Towers began to expend their stored Prana to add to the Zinger Roar’s speed.
Secondary Nature—Accel Hurl!
This was applied in the State of Harmony, turning the Quip Towers into transceivers with the capability to add some power to the Zinger Roar. This way, it didn’t lose much power even when transmitted over super long distances.
The combined usage of the Zinger Guard’s and Zinger Representative’s State of Harmony was the Quip Clan’s trump card. It allowed the Zinger Representative to attack from absolute safety and ensure her attacks reach the target, no matter how far it was.
That wasn’t all. This was merely the open secret trump card. The Quip Clan had secret bases in the skies, all hidden amongst perennial clouds created with the Influenced Region of the Major Treasure of Flight.
Quip Towers existed there too, forming a network in the sky. And this was a secret even from Quip Clansmen. Only the leaders—the four Gold Grade Pranic Beasts with the suffix of Echo—knew about it.
If the Quip Clan was truly triggered, then Zinger Roars would rain down from the skies!
"Phew!" Kenzar Echo breathed a sigh in relief upon seeing a Zinger Roar reach the first loop, ’We managed it before the Empyrean Snappers arrived. Now, we can attack them when necessary.’
Before things escalated with the Empyrean Snappers, Kenzar Echo intended to gather at least a couple dozen Zinger Roars, the more the merrier. The Quip Clansmen at the scene were told to buy as much time as possible.
With Zhya taking the helm of the Quip Clan, she first addressed their weakness, which was a lack of top fighters. They had a decent amount of Gold Grade existences, with new ones emerging at a decent pace, it was lacklustre when compared to the Quip Clan’s expansion and the sheer scale of its operation.
Forget the Gold Grade existences. There was a lack of even the Zinger Aristocrats. The Quip Clan had expanded to such a massive scale, and there was no sign of it stopping anytime soon.
And hence, in response to whatever threats they might face, Zhya harnessed all the Quip Clan’s capabilities in reaching a State of Harmony, not just for her, but for all four Gold Grade variants.
Among the four State of Harmonies, the Zinger Guard’s and Zinger Representative’s were economical. However, that couldn’t be said for the other two. Not only were they not economical, they were crippling.
Whether it was the Zinger Princess or the Zinger Prince, they would either die or become fully crippled upon unleashing their State of Harmony. And of course, the result was in proportion to the price.
Arriving at the border of the Varahan Empire was Kenka Echo, his expression mildly irritated as he landed on the branch of a Decodus Tree. Reverting to human form, his palms trailed across the bark of the tree, for a moment focusing on their patterns.
The Quip Clan was pretty invested in Decodus Trees, for they were touted to have the map of the entire Sumatra Continent. It used to be a Mystic Tentacle exclusive fact, but Yahard Tusk confirmed it upon getting the power of a Mystic Tentacle.
He didn’t live long enough to access a majority of the Mystic Tentacle Race’s secrets. However, his confirmation was what fuelled the Quip Clan’s investment in Decodus Trees.
Kenka Echo was the one who took the lead on the subject matter, and as a result, alternated between the Varahan Empire and the Mud Viper territory bordering Ennoudu Plains.
"I don’t have to care if the two sides wipe each other out." He raved a little before calming down, analysing the situation, ’No, the Cooter Clan and the Wean Clan will cripple each other. If it sparks a full-blown war, this entire region would be doomed.’
The Third Major Disaster was absolutely devastating, but it only consumed the top combatants of Sumatra. The forces created by the top combatants were left intact, with enough contingency measures that they’ll produce their top combatants eventually in the future.
However, if these forces were to fight and destroy each other, Sumatra would lose a majority of its combat strength, "We’ll lose the moment the Continental Invasion begins."
"Are you..." The Zinger Aristocrat accompanying him stuttered in shock and asked in disbelief, "Are you considering it? Are you considering using your...your..."
"State of Harmony?"
"If nothing else works, then yes." Kenka Echo nodded solemnly, "Every player will be reduced to a mere chess piece the moment an ultimate existence appears. They’ll be reduced to a life of hiding once again, just like in the past."
"You...won’t survive if you use it." The Zinger Aristocrat said with reddened eyes, "I’m not even sure you could endure it long enough to succeed. Remember when you tried to see if it worked last time..."
She shouted, "Your Natures barely synchronised when the pain left you unconscious for a month!"
"Why are you acting like I’m the only one making the sacrifice?" Kenka Echo chuckled as he lightly tapped her forehead, "Aren’t you on the path to becoming a Zinger Princess? Your fate is actually sadder than mine."
"At least I would go out in ultimate glory." He announced, his eyes mildly erratic. A few seconds later, he calmed down, "So, don’t sport that expression, alright?"
"I...don’t like it," The Zinger Aristocrat shed tears, "We’re not their nannies. Why should we pay the price for their stupidity?"
"That’s the position we have taken on Sumatra." Kenka Echo smiled wryly, "For our benefits and the continued growth of the Quip Clan, we need Sumatra to grow strong, stable, and rich. Otherwise, we’ll implode due to our voracious expansion."