Chapter 153: Technoman
Darren White was a Technopath. A superhuman with the unique ability to mentally communicate with and control all forms of technology.
The drones all around him were special machines that he had created himself. Each one of them was fitted with a high-level medium-sized Magic Crystal from a Disaster Rank Red Gate Boss! The crystals powered the drones as well as the lasers that Darren had built for each one of them, and they were his primary weapon for fighting monsters in the Gate!
For most superhumans, getting so many medium-sized crystals would have been impossible since they were so expensive, but Darren’s family was so rich that he was able to buy all of this using only the pocket money he received for the past few months!
Darren chuckled when he saw the curious looks on the faces of the others and hit his fist on his chest grandly!
"Never fear, for Darren the great and mighty is here! You must all be shocked by my power, but I have sworn to only use my abilities for good! I shall follow in the path of my idol! The great Technoblade! I. Am. Technoman!"
Jason put his hand on his face and groaned! For a moment, Jason had actually been impressed by the drones and how slick they looked, but the moment Darren opened his mouth, all that was thrown right out the window! It should be a fucking crime to say stuff like that so confidently!
Darren kept his pose for a few more seconds before he finally turned to Jason quickly!
"How was that, boss? I was cool, right!?"
Jason gave Darren a deadpan expression and Darren deflated comically! Darren really thought that was a cool introduction! He even kept his abilities a secret for so long just so he could introduce them so epically! Jason saw the expression on Darren’s face and sighed when he realized that Darren was actually feeling bad that Jason didn’t think it was cool. He just patted Darren on the back and spoke in resignation.
"Alright, alright. You were a little cool."
Darren immediately puffed up again at that bit of praise and Jason laughed slightly at how quickly his mood changed. What a crazy bastard.
"Ohh, so you’re a technopath, bratza! That’s amazing! I have never seen anyone control technology before!"
Ricardo spoke up from the other side of the clearing while looking up at the multiple drones circling overhead. He stretched out his senses to see what was powering the drones and was surprised when he noticed a decent-sized Magic Crystal inside each one of them! Those crystals would have been at least three hundred thousand dollars each! That meant these ten drones cost more than three million dollars altogether!
"Ooh~ And you even fitted them with magic-powered lasers! You’re really rich, aren’t you bratza!?"
Darren gave a closed-eye chuckle while rubbing his finger under his nose pridefully. But Jason could see a slight blush on his face as he enjoyed the bit of praise from the older superhuman.
At the side, Henry was looking up at the drones with a completely different expression on his face!
’What the hell? What the actual fucking hell!? What was the meaning of this shit!?’
Henry had already been feeling horrible that he would be overshadowed by Jason in his assessment, but he was willing to overlook Jason’s involvement since he was certain that he would at least be the second-best in their group! There was no way this chubby boy would be able to outshine him! So what the hell was this!?
What the fuck were those drones and how in the world was something like this allowed!? It was cheating! Fucking cheating! Henry knew he was stronger than Darren! He was far more powerful than that chubby bastard! If they were to fight without their gifts right now, Henry would win ten times out of ten! But those drones were cheating! How in the world could anyone fight against ten drones that could shoot magical lasers!?
Henry looked down at his two water bottles and suddenly felt an intense surge of uselessness pass through him! Maybe he should have asked his parents to buy him something fancier?
He turned to glance at Darren and Jason who were talking to each other and he knew that he had truly lost here. He just wanted this entire thing over with already. This was some bullshit!
At the side, Darren looked Jason over with a curious gaze before asking him what he was going to use to fight. Darren remembered that Jason had some ocular ability, so was he going to fight as a brawler?
"Oh, right."
Jason suddenly spoke up like he just remembered he needed to use a weapon to fight and waved his hand to the side and caught a longsword that appeared beside him. Darren’s eyes widened in shock when he saw the sword! It was an intricate blade with a fantasy design that Darren didn’t recognize! The blade was pure silver with a black pommel that had the structure of a dragon’s head. Darren had stars in his eyes as he looked it over!
"Did you get that from an artefact dealer, boss!? And where did it come from!? Do you have a spatial ring!? Oh my god, it has a dragon-based design! Can I hold it, please!"
Darren was practically salivating at the sight of the weapon and Jason gave it to Darren and allowed him to look it over. Darren grunted once he collected the sword and cried out as the sword tip fell to the ground with a thud! It was so fucking heavy!
"I-I can’t lift it, boss!"
Darren cried out with a red face and Jason just laughed as he took the sword back. Jason was an S Rank and Darren was only an E Rank, so their difference in strength was far too great. While Jason didn’t feel any weight from the sword, Darren felt like he was trying to lift a freaking anvil!
Jason was still not an expert at handling bladed weapons, but he knew that the monsters in this Red Gate were weak, so he didn’t have to exert himself too much to handle them. One or two strikes would be enough to kill any one of them.
Ricardo and Rosa both eyed the sword Jason had with critical gazes and after a while they both determined that it was not a danger to their mission. Ricardo clapped his hands and then spoke up.
"Since we’re all ready. Time to call on the beasts!"
Doon!
Ricardo spread his mana out in a wide wave that shot through the forest and the silence in the forest was suddenly assaulted by the sound of a loud monkey cry! The cries grew louder and more intense as time passed and it wasn’t long before the first of the monsters broke through the foliage and reached the group! The spider monkey was a terrifying-looking thing. It had the upper body of a monkey and the lower body of a spider with eight legs. Its skin was black and it had six eyes arranged along its forehead. When it cried out, its sharp elongated fangs were visible for everyone to see!
"Holy shit, it’s ugly as fuck!"
Darren cried out from behind once he saw the monster that broke through the foliage and Jason laughed. Ten more monsters appeared from the trees and Jason spoke up calmly.
"Darren, how much damage can your drones do?"
"T-They can cause serious wounds to D and C rank beasts, but I don’t know if they can hurt a B Rank."
Jason nodded and turned to Henry.
"Can you fire projectiles with your water?"
Henry was shocked that Jason would talk to him so suddenly, but he composed himself quickly and nodded.
"Yeah."
"Alright, Darren focus your fire on any beast that breaks off from the pack and keep them in front of us. Henry, use your water to handle the monsters far away."
Jason gave out orders as he started walking forward.