The Almighty Search Engine Chapter 11 Origin Of The Hunter Act 6 Finale Part 4

The way Ivankov had blocked all those attacks from the beginning was through the help of a item gained through the dungeon.

More specifically it was the one time reward given to people that had cleared the third floor of the goblin cave for the very first time.

[The Box Of Protection]

It is a magic item a tool to be specific that had the effect of erecting a dome shaped barrier around its user within a 100 meter radius.

The barrier could block attacks up to a specific damage threshold, meaning that as long as that threshold was not broken the barrier would not break either, but all of this doesn’t just come for free, the box itself consumes a small portion of mana depending on the power of the attack that hit the barrier.

This mana can come from two sources.

By either the user himself or by a energy source that can be inserted into the box namely the mana stones that came from the monsters.

Obviously Ivankov hadn’t been using his own mana as fuel to power the box, with his mana pool the sniper shots would have been enough for him to be drained completely dry let alone tank shells or helicopter missiles.

No, the power source he was relying on obviously stemmed from the mana stones gained from the monsters, to be specific it was a mana stone found within the first floor of the dungeon.

This mana stone compared to the mana stones found in the lower floors was pitifully small the size of a fingernail but even then it was still capable of blocking all those attacks from before, the amount of energy consumed was merely 3/4 of a single mana stone evident by the cracks and color that remained.

This couldn’t be called neither good or bad, Ivankov at the very beginning hadn’t expected much from the box, he had initially filled it to the brim with mana stones from the first floor thinking that only a single volley would consume every single stone in the box never did he expect such a result with so little consumption, he had originally been extremely wary that entire time ready to leap into the dungeon gate if things went south.

Luckily he didn’t need to do so, having witnessed the result of his gamble it made him sure that he and his daughters could stall a very long time.

After all these mana stones were merely the ones coming from the first floor, they absolutely paled in comparison to the ones gained from the second and third floor which made him even more confident.

To top it off more would be coming soon.

-Haha…this will buy us some more time, I don’t know how long those guys will attack us but at least for now they won’t be able to break through the barrier with the amount of mana stones I have on my body…

And Ivankov was right.

Not soon after the general issued more orders, being completely infuriated and having his pride wounded, the general threw caution out of the window and ordered his men to completely decimate that barrier.

After a while of firing and launching missiles he soon calmed down, having no idea how the barrier function he couldn’t just aimlessly fire at it until it broke, by this point they would run out of ammunition first before being even able to put a dent onto that barrier.

Because of this the general started to put other plans into consideration.

First of all he once again tried to talk with Ivankov and negotiate with him, since force didn’t work he had no other choice but to talk it out with Ivankov, but to nobodies surprise nothing much changed, even after the general assured the safety of Ivankov and his daughters and swore that they could leave in one piece, Ivankov still did not budge from his position, it was as if everything he heard fell on deaf’s ear, the general was even angrier because of it but quickly distilled his anger and abandoned the negotiation plan since it didn’t work.

Next he tried a lot of other different approaches, first he tried to put one of his man through the barrier and see if he could enter, this was actually was his original plan when he couldn’t break the barrier with his weapons but since he didn’t want to put his men into unnecessary risks he first tried to negotiate again ultimately failing and giving him no other choice but follow through with his original idea.

Of course this one failed as well, the barrier not only blocked projectiles but it also blocked other beings from entering as well, after this many other ideas came forth such as digging under it or climbing on top of it, putting large amounts of explosives in one concentrated spot or even just trying to push it in hopes of bending it somehow.

The barrier was tought and it was not until orders came down from HQ that the general stopped trying to break the barrier on his own.

In the end it was decided that a official representative would be send to this area to talk with Ivankov. The army was order to split only keeping the minimal amount of shoulders in place to watch the gate and Ivankov.

This was ultimately what Ivankov hoped for, with the constant bombardments and attempts to break the barrier Ivankov was starting to get worried about how long they could stay inside the dungeon, he was even planning to maybe leave with his daughters and find another dungeon so they could amass power in peace but because they already spent so much time inside the goblin cave and amassed a lot of knowledge about, they feared that they would need even more time to adjust towards the other dungeon gate and would so waste time or even the opportunity to reenact revenge against that earth bending awakened.

Remember Ivankov and his daughters weren’t the only people who were right now amassing power like this, the awakened including the earth bending awakened were aware of the effects of the dungeons, many similar cases had already popped up over the world with large amounts of people either claiming the dungeon or even just building a organization centered around the dungeon itself.

It was already a miracle that Ivankov could monopolize a dungeon only with 3 people including him, if it was not for [The Box Of Protection] they could have never stalled for so long until they amassed enough power, but even then Ivankov understood that things wouldn’t end so peacefully, right now they were fine and well but there would be no telling when their Mana stones would run out or their barrier would be broken by a powerful attack, the people were growing everyday, there would come a day when the barrier he was so proud of right now would snap and tear like a piece of paper.

He could feel it in his bones.

And as such, the moment the government representative appeared and came to negotiate with Ivankov he said this.

-I want to join your government, I am willing to disclose every bit of information and knowledge I have regarding the dungeon and even am willing to give you some of the items acquired from the deeper floors, but that is only under one condition, I want to make my own organization connected with the government

As he spoke, the representative was obviously surprised by the sudden proposal, but because the representative was a slick and experienced man he quickly calmed down and thought this proposal, he was thinking quite a bit and just as he was about to give his answer.

-Think  carefully mr, representative at the current stage I maybe one of the only people on earth who has ventured so deep into the dungeon, at this rate it won’t take long for the other countries to catch up, I would say a minimum of a month or two would required until the other countries especially china catches up to my clearing speed, at that point I predict that america would stand no chance clearing the dungeon as fast as china since they have so many people who venture forth meaning more chances to win the lotto and far more man power to overwhelm your army, and this isn’t even mentioning the awakened who will also soon start to become even more powerful and troublesome then they are now, with my help I can help you nurture more and more explorers ensuring the survival of this country, you only need to give me the right to open my own organization that is also connected to your government, dont you think this deal is good as is ?

-…

In the end the representative completely lost on what to say, the points Ivankov had made were very valid and already concerned the upper echelon of the country a lot, with the help of Ivankov this problem could be relatively solved quickly if they make all the right decisions, and on top of that Ivankovs own condition wasn’t even that bad, since he said that he would bind himself with the government it meant he would fall under them and follow their orders, in fact this could be a immense benefit !

-I have not enough authority to make such decisions please let me go back to the HQ and discuss with my superior, I will come back immediately after I get my answer.

-Very well, I wait for you, but be aware that this offer has a limited time, I am not staying here forever and if you reject me, I have no other choice but to return to my own country and offer my services there instead, do consider my words.

-Uh..

The final bit of information Ivankov gave disturbed the representative quite a bit especially since he couldn’t see any bit of doubt or worry when Ivankov told his intentions, he kepts those words in mind turning around he quickly made his way back to the HQ.

Now.

There were many reasons why Ivankov would do something like this, most of these reasons stemmed from the fact that Ivankov simply acknowledged that he did not have enough manpower to complete his goals.

It would take far more people then Ivankov and his two daughters to complete what was he was about to do.

On top of that he needed also a safe place for both of his daughters to go back to in case anything happened to him, and finally Ivankov just simply couldn’t think about anything better as he wasn’t good at anything other than fight and leading people.

-I did all I could, now all thats left is fate playing its tricks.

And just like this even more days past the representative talked with his superiors, and through this a wide and long discussion was held, meetings after meetings were booked until this topic finally reached one of the highest authoritarian positions in this country.

The president of the united states.

-Hmm…well, we can’t lose and we can’t let the awakened win either, I don’t like where this is going, but if this is the only way for this country to keep up with this race and remained unharmed…then I agree…

The vice-president stood up clearly in shock as he looked at the president wide eyed.

-Then mr.president you mean ?

The president nodded, standing up and putting his hands behind his back before looking out of his window.

-Yes, Micheal Ivankov, from today on words he will be the leader of the department of dungeons, what will come out of this…lets hope its going to be good.