I Need Wives For My Gacha System
Chapter 74: Arriving At The Rendezvous( - -74)

Chapter 74: Arriving At The Rendezvous(Chapter-74)

The next day, Rex was at the gates of the city even before the sunrise. The entire surrounding was dark and was getting colder. Zoe chose to leave separately. Rather than spending a fortune to transport all of her personnel through the teleportation tower, which would have cost an exorbitant amount of money, she opted to leave from her own territory. They had already discussed and agreed upon a designated location where they would meet up before heading toward the gate.

For this journey, Rex carefully considered his means of transportation. Instead of relying solely on teleportation or tamed magical beasts, both solutions which he didn’t have nor could afford at the moment for an entire army, he used a combination of magically enhanced vehicles and a small airborne unit. His convoy consisted of reinforced war vehicles, modified with protective arrays and speed enhancing runes. These vehicles were sturdy and could handle both rough terrain and were a common means for travelling with an army. Alongside the war vehicles, he also brought a light aerial transport, a specialized flying craft powered by wind and fire magic, used for scouting ahead and rapid communication, the only thing was he only had one at the moment.

Rex sighed at how poor he was that is without depending on his mother. He couldn’t help but think of when his wine would be released. As for his personnel, Rex brought along his private army which had already been split earlier, with a portion sent to aid Austin. The remaining force available to him was smaller but still well trained and efficient. Though there was no Callan who was the best out of them, they were still a special force which were better than all the others among the city lord army. The rest included, some guards which were handpicked from the city lord’s army or rather his army. It was to be said that he had done a rough cleansing through them, seeing their talents and also their loyalty. Loyalty could still be increased so he had constructed some training which would help with this to Ayana.

Alchemy and medical team were a small group but they were necessary. Along with that a few Engineers/Blacksmiths & Artificers, their role was to maintain the vehicles and equipment and last but not least a few researchers. These researchers were the one who were the most knowledgeable about these gates.

Waving his hand at Ayana who was left at the gates of the city, he moved out of the city. She was left to manage the city. Even though he took out most of his personals, he made sure to keep handpick more capable guards from his army for Ayana to use. He had to leave the management of his territory in capable hands especially with the looming Robertsons Family sneaking around.

Rex’s convoy departed at dawn, the magically enhanced vehicles speeding across the vast landscape at a pace that left most creatures unable to keep up. Their journey took them through a variety of terrains open plains that stretched for miles, dense forests teeming with wildlife, and rocky outcrops where the terrain became rough and uneven. The war carriage, glided over the rugged paths with ease, while the airborne unit provided a bird’s eye view of the surrounding area, scouting ahead for any potential dangers.

Though most beasts were unable to match their speed, there were instances where they had to stop. Some creatures, drawn by the noise and movement, attempted to block their path. Rex and his team dispatched them quickly. These skirmishes, served another purpose. Rex had brought along a contingent of hand picked recruits from his army, and this journey became an opportunity for them to be trained in real combat. His elite private squad took the lead in guiding and testing the new recruits, ensuring they learned proper coordination, battlefield awareness, and teamwork. It was a practical way to temper their skills while also making travel between his and Zoe’s territories safer for the future. Clearing out these beasts, even slightly, would improve the route and make future expeditions easier.

The journey between his city and Zoe’s was not one that had been frequently travelled, and the path was far from optimized. While not outright hostile, the region still had obstacles that could pose problems for future trade or military movement. With ideas in mind, Rex ordered his forces to clear out some of the more problematic creatures and make minor adjustments to the road where possible. This was not a full scale infrastructure project, but even small improvements would make future trips smoother if there were any. And Rex knew that there would be some. Since Zoe had contacted him and they had established a cooperative relationship, trade opportunities, joint expeditions, and even potential military collaborations would become possible. But all of that was for later right now, the gate took priority.

They made great progress by the time dusk settled, arriving at the agreed upon rendezvous before darkness fell. There was enough room to set up a makeshift camp on the flat field. His soldiers immediately went to work preparing provisions for the night, arranging the cars in a secure pattern, and establishing defensive perimeters. While the scouts alternated between keeping an eye out for potential dangers, the engineers made sure their vehicles were kept in optimal condition.

As the night deepened, the distant rumble of approaching vehicles signalled the arrival of Zoe’s convoy. Her forces were a combination of heavily armoured transporters and specialized caravans, which housed academics, artificers, and other experts, in contrast to Rex’s more militaristic army.

Zoe herself arrived in a large vehicle, a heavily fortified transport, despite it’s size, it was both mobile and defensible. As her convoy came to a halt, her forces quickly integrated into the temporary camp, setting up their own sections in an orderly manner. The difference between their two groups was evident, Rex’s forces were more combat oriented, while Zoe’s carried more researchers and specialists. Even though Rex’s forces had diminished, a border city was still a border city, they had more military strength than other cities. His private squad being the best source of this strength.

As the two leaders met in the centre of the camp, Rex took a moment to glance at Zoe’s forces. He could already tell that while his army was superior in terms of strength, her forces carried knowledge and technology that he lacked. Even before, his forces didn’t tell him of any anomaly of the appearance of a gate whereas Zoe’s forces did. He looked at the talents of his researchers specialized spacial research and saw that the talents were mostly the same what he lacked was technology. With the two groups successfully merged, preparations for the expedition into the gate could begin in earnest.

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The following morning, as dawn broke over the horizon, both Rex and Zoe as well as the their personals who were going into the gate were present. Rex and Zoe saw each other. Zoe approached Rex, her expression carrying a bit of concern. As they stood near the camp’s centre, Zoe glanced toward the looming gate in the distance and spoke. The air was thick with anticipation, and the faint glow of the spatial rift pulsed ominously in the distance.

"Brother Rex, are you going inside the gate" "Yes. What’s wrong?" Rex replied, his tone calm. Zoe was a bit hesitant to speak on the matter so Rex said in order to assure her.

"Just speak your mind, what’s wrong"

"You... don’t have any cultivation anymore"

"Wouldn’t it be dangerous?"

Before she had approached him, she had already learned of his situation. Of course even before she knew of the infamous son of the Grimes whose cultivation had become wasted. It was just that she didn’t know that it was also Sarah’s brother, well cousin but it still remains the same.

"We wouldn’t necessarily be fighting"

Zoe nodded thoughtfully. It was true. When going inside the gates, the leaders especially Barons like themselves didn’t usually engage in combat. If they had specialized raiding groups dedicated to clearing gates, they wouldn’t even enter personally. Instead, they would simply send their forces in while observing from the outside. But it was obvious that both of them didn’t have these. They were just small starting barons.

"That is true" Zoe said and then, after a brief pause, she added,

"I’ve never gone into a gate before, so I want to know what’s inside."

Her curiosity was evident in her eyes.

"Do you know how these gates are formed, Brother Rex?" Zoe asked, clasping her hands behind her back.

"I know some things"

Even though he had gone into one before, he didn’t know most knowledge about it. He was in the darkness regarding this matter.

"Well, the researchers can explain before we go in"

"Do you mind a small lecture before we enter?"

"I don’t mind."

One of the lead researchers from Zoe’s group which was the best researcher in comparison between both camps, a middle aged man with thick glasses dressed in a suit designed for fieldwork, stepped forward. He adjusted his tablet before speaking.

"Gates, they are highly unstable spatial phenomena, appearing seemingly at random" "However, through years of research, several theories have emerged regarding their formation"