There were a few more photos taken as they sat and ate, watching the work.
The crews were really hammering through the construction, and though the buildings were simple, Karl saw that there was a logic to the design. What they were building here didn’t look like a fancy rural temple or a holy spot of any sort. It looked like a storage warehouse in the middle of nowhere, which could have belonged to a defunct mine or even to the furthest branches of the nearby coal mines.
Making it look like an unimportant industrial facility as a disguise was a much better safety measure than just keeping someone powerful enough to deter intruders on staff.
The work was going much faster than Karl had expected, and the set of warehouses were nearly finished by the time that it got dark.
By then, Rae was finished as well, and she had made a simple black version of the outfit that Dana was wearing for Overlord Niall, with the same adaptive ability for the coloration. It was a beautiful set, and it would allow his stealth skills to become even more effective.
“Gentlemen, would you care to join us for dinner?” The Minister of National Treasures asked just before the sun set.
The overlords were still with Karl’s group, sitting around eating baked goods and telling jokes. They had met with everyone who was on the site, but only because everyone came to them. At no point since they had taken a seat had any of them gone more than five metres from the containers full of baked goods.
But there was a full feast prepared for the workers, and Doug had called someone over to bring out the desserts for everyone to share, now that it was looking unlikely that Dana could eat even one more cookie, and he had hidden a full container of his favourites in his storage bag.
He wasn’t the only one. Karl suspected that everyone had at least a small container of sweets in their storage bags now, but there were still entire piles of containers full of them.
The cameraman was there again, doing short meet and greet style photos with the Elites and the workers. Normally, those always made Karl laugh when they came out in the newspaper because they looked so forced, but the workers were enthusiastically greeting them all, and profusely thanking them for the help in obtaining tables full of sweets. The cameraman wasn’t making videos, so it didn’t matter what they were talking about, and a joking conversation between a Royal Rank Elite and a steelworker about their favourite type of cake made for great photos.
Once dinner was finished, Team One made their way to one of the supply helicopters, and left on whatever mission they had been assigned to next.
That was the last order of business for the evening, and everyone retired to their tents as twilight turned to full dark.
Karl had thought that the Overlords would be leaving with Team One as soon as their business was finished, as their helicopter was still waiting for them, but they set up camp in one of the new buildings to stay the night.
Karl woke in the middle of the night to the feeling that something was wrong. Rae was awake, and she didn’t see anything, but she was uneasy about something.
He waited in his hammock, ready to equip his armour the moment there was something solid to go on.
[Incoming] Rae reported, and Karl silently got out of bed, not wanting to wake the others until he knew what the situation was. He waited in his hammock, ready to equip his armour the moment there was something solid to go on.
[Incoming] Rae reported, and Karl silently got out of bed, not wanting to wake the others until he knew what the situation was. His team wasn’t on watch, so it wasn’t his job to respond right now. He just wanted to make sure that whoever was on watch had noticed the threat.
[What do we have coming?] Karl asked.
[Big flying things. Probably Drakes. It’s hard to tell from this distance.] She replied.
Karl crept out of the tent to see what was going on with his own eyes, and easily spotted the flight of large winged things near the horizon.
Their body temperatures were high, making them easy to spot in the cool evening air, but they were still close to ten kilometres away.
“Something caught your attention?” Overlord Johann asked as he walked up beside Karl.
“There is a flight of what looks like drakes headed this way. I can’t pick out the numbers yet, but at least six. Rae informed me of the intrusion into her sensory range.” Karl explained quietly.
Johann nodded, then tossed a black coat on over his shining armour.
“They will know which Overlords are here soon enough, we don’t need to give them more time to plan. Just keep calm and don’t do anything rash. There is a sort of ritual and protocol to this, if it really is Drake Riders, or other humans on flying mounts,” the Knight explained.
Karl shrugged. “The last time I met with Drake Riders, they attacked on sight.”
Johann chuckled. “That might fly at Awakened, or even Ascended Rank, but a battle between Overlords with our movement skills and area attacks can cover dozens of kilometres, and rage on for hours, causing massive collateral damage.
If they came and indiscriminately attacked us at that power level, we would do the same to them, and our nation is much larger. Theirs is a highly populated island.”
There was a short pause, and then from behind Karl, Niall’s voice spoke softly.
“Commanders lead with valour, Princes can be headstrong. But Kings maintain their dignity and Overlords keep the peace. Those are the customs when dealing with other humans. Dealing with beasts is much more simple. If they left their territory, there is a reason. Find out what it is. If you’re invading their territory, then might makes right. If you don’t have the power, you have no right to be there.”
That made sense to Karl. Humans might not be able to unite or even really get along, but when it came down to it, they were still the same species, so they did show each other some consideration.
If this was an incoming flight of Drake Riders here to try to claim or get a shot at the dungeon to advance some of their members, then it was likely possible that they could come to a peaceful agreement.
The flight was coming closer now, and it was clear that there were twelve of them in total, and there were two Overlords with the group. The others didn’t seem to be as strong, but their auras could have been hidden by the two leaders of the group. “So, do I just wait here behind you while you talk to the leaders of their flight?” Karl asked.
Niall nodded. “Just wait behind me, and keep your beasts in their hiding spot. If they think they’re going to be jumped by monsters, they might attack before they realize that they are with us, and that will turn this whole area into a war zone.”
None of them was likely to fare well if there was a large-scale fight between Overlords here in the camp, and the workers wouldn’t take a single hit. With that in mind, Karl called Rae back before the Drakes were close enough that they were likely to be able to identify her.
When the drakes were a kilometre out, Overlord Johann set a light spell over the area outside the camp, signalling the visitors in, but none of the Overlords’ mannerisms said they were confident that this would not end in violence.