Black Hole: The Book of Iratus, Episode 26

Chapter 251

The rest of the group finally came to the entrance of the building. The old rabbit man was the first to speak.

Clamor, "I'll have to admit, having a large group might have saved us. Those mindless things stood no chance against a proper fighting force."

Tempestas, "Is no one going to point out that the entire city is on fire?"

Iratus, "If everyone is here, let's get out of here as fast as we can."

The group would leave the castle and walk through the winding pathways all the way to the city, which was mostly ablaze. Now that they had a good look, they saw the monsters known as Ashborn walking through the city. They and the metalhead creatures were fighting each other, with the metal skeletons launching their oil over their foes, which, against these non-flesh creatures, tore through their bodies while the ashborn grappled and burned away the metalheads.

Iratus could feel the massive fire as the fur felt like it was transferring the heat directly under his skin.

Iratus, "These things are the worst!"

Fractura, "Then move, come on."

The party moved to the back of the city, where it was not only the least on fire but also the path they came in from. They did their best to avoid both groups, though with such a large group, a few monsters had to be slain to move forward. Soon, their exits were blocked by the Ashborn. The lizard-looking, ash-making creatures then started to close in on the group. Luckily, like most monsters in the Nexus Prime, they were like mindless drones that threw themselves at their enemies. Resonantia pointed towards a house that wasn't on fire, and the group stood in front of it and stood in a half-circle formation to fend off the monsters.

The burning city was bad enough, but once the ashborn got closer, Iratus struggled to face them as his eyes watered from the heat, and he instinctively tried to get lower to do something to stop the horrible pain that was the extreme heat.

Iratus stabbed up and cut right into the chest of an ashborn, its skin feeling like it was a concentration of ash. From the side, Aestus jabbed her spear into it, and it started to fall apart and fall to the group.

As the nine folk stood in their group, easily fending off the ashborn, another ashborn appeared, but this one was tall, bulky, and took the form of a bipedal crocodile. Instead of ash for a body, it was flesh that glowed from the light underneath it. The most standout feature of this creature was that unlike every other monster, other than the gray masks, this thing wielded a large axe, the size of which was on the edge of realistic functionality and on the border of cartoonish fantasy. The burning ashborn walked up to the group, towering over them at 8 feet tall, and lifted its axe into the air.
(244 cm)

Clamor was the target, and he braced himself as the axe was swung down and clashed against the rabbit man's great sword. Clamor was forced back onto the ground. Iratus stepped in to fill the gap, and he stabbed forward and into the creature. The monster was durable, but a stab wound was still something. The burning ashborn backed up and removed itself from Iratus's blade. It came back and made another attack, which had such a long telegraph that Iratus sidestepped the attack.

Iratus thoughts, "This thing isn't as hot as the ashborn, but it still hurts to be around."

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Chapter 252

Iratus jumped to the monster's side and slashed across its armpit, then swung his blade around to jab into the back of the creature's knee. The searing pain from the other ashborn made Iratus back out and away from the monsters, but by this time Clamor was up and slammed his sword into the burning creature, which dropped it to a knee. Several ashborns swarmed into the circle and forced Clamor back with their heat. From the side, Resonantia moved out with Fractura to encircle the remaining foes. The shark girl launched a volley of arrows to slay most of the ashborn on the other side of the line, Tempestas and Ignis, to finish off the enemy group with only two ashborn and the burning one remaining.

Before the giant could be surrounded, another horde of Ashborn began to pour into the street. Everyone was backing out of the street, with Iratus, Aestus, and Clamor still trying to slay the giant while also backing away from the street as well. The burning ashborn was following the group and swung its axe at the three in front of it, and they just back away. When the creature attacked for a second time and missed, Aestus and Clamor stabbed into the ashborn near it and slew them. While Iratus closed the gap and tried to grapple with the giant's arms.

The giant pushed Iratus back and readied itself to attack again. With yet another wide telegraph, Aestus and Clamor were able to stab into the giant, which made it change trajectory and slam its axe into Clamor, bagging his metal armor but dropping the rabbit man. Aestus ripped out her spear and stabbed higher, while Resonantia, from far back, fired an arrow that also slammed into the burning ashborn. When the large creature stumbled, Iratus ran to the side of it and cut across its other underarm.

The giant used the handle of its weapon to slam into Iratus's head, while Aestus stabbed again into the creature's side and managed to hold the creature in place. Clamor slashed across the leg of the creature, which made it fall onto one knee, which gave Iratus an opening to attack and cut into the back of the creature's neck. The monster finally fell, and the three ran to meet up with the others.

The nine of them finally left the city, and as they got onto the road out, Iratus spoke out.

Iratus, "Hold on, shouldn't we make sure that the fires don't burn the forest?"

Ignis, "There is no action we can take to minimize or even combat fires."

Fractura, "Just say there isn't anything we can do."

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Chapter 253

The group made it to the summoners tower so that they could get patched up by Fractura and Ignis, with Fractura handing out some of the last medicine to prevent infections.

Fractura, "You people wouldn't believe how easily wounds can become infected."

Aestus, "Oh, we know."

Fractura, "I expect a worthy payment for all of our sacrifice."

Tempestas, "You mean treasure? Not like it is of any use."

Fractura, "If I ever do get out of here, this is just free money. Otherwise, I need to find a way to melt these down for their practical use."

Tempestas, "What the bloody tongues could you use gold and silver for?"

Fractura, "Well, since you asked, silver has antimicrobial properties, so silver is great for silverware and medical equipment. Heck, I bet it could be used for water purification as well. As for gold...uh... I guess electronics?"

Venatio, "Thermal insulation. Gold can reflect infrared radiation. Get some gold foil, and we might be able to make our own space draft."

Aestus, "What is a spacecraft, and how can we build one?"

Tempestas, "Now look what you've done! Now we have to explain space and aircraft to them."

At the hot springs, Iratus found a nice little pool to sit in. Victoria, Aestus, Ignis, and Resonantia joined him.

Victoria, "One less threat to our family."

Aestus, "Now we just have to deal with them fire freaks!"

Iratus, "And the giant treeskin monster and the ebony monster...and those insect panther things might become a problem."

Aestus, "Phooy."

Resonantia, "Victoria and I can use range to deal with most of them. We could set up some sort of trap."

Iratus, "Dig a large hole and sucker them into it."

Ignis, "While monsters beyond a doubt have no self-preservation, Ashborn is one of the few that do have a mind. Leading them into a hole has a high probability of not working."

Iratus, "Then we just lead them to an area where we can kill them easily."

Victoria, "Honestly, as long as we fight in greater numbers, monsters rarely pose a threat."

Resonantia, "Then we can take it easy and slowly wittle away their numbers. Then we can take control of Last Mistake down south too."

Iratus, "Then maybe I can finally reach the coast!"

Victoria, "Are you still on that?"

Ignis, "This one believes it to be a desirable goal, for I too wish to have access to the ocean."

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Chapter 254

The next day, the three non-tower folk came by to take some of the treasure as payment. Fractura took a lot of copper and metal coins, while Tempestas took a lot of silver coinage. Finally, Venatio took the collection of delicate, hand-painted porcelain charms. Clamor didn't take any treasure and just demanded more food.

Fratura, "Can we also get back to our routine RPG gaming?"

Iratus, "Yeah, whatever."

Fractura, "You don't have to be rude about it."

Iratus was going to respond, but instead just walked away. After the others left, Iratus and the girls put into motion a plan to kill off the ashborn across the river. With a large number of recently made arrows and bolts, the group would find places to set up kill boxes by holding up broken walls and makeshift fences with the debris. It may not have been perfect, and sometimes it would fall apart, but it was enough to deal with the ashborn on the outskirts of the burned city.

Outside the city, beyond the border, was a thick layer of gray ash caked in charcoal and still burning coals. The castle was still standing, but only as a skeletal frame with no substance left.

The hills and bridge area were clear of ash, while the plains were scorched black with piles of ash scattered about. There was even one metalhead centaur left, still fighting and still dropping ashborn.

Off on the sides of the plains, trees still stood with only some burn marks, and the majority of ashborn was inside the burned remains of the city.

It took several days to clear out one section of the burned city. On the 110th day since Iratus came to Nexus Prime, the tower folk had to go travel inside the city to lure more ashborn. They took another day to build a wall of random things; most of it burned, but it was a small wall of garbage that could work. Near the wall was an area filled with more debris with a path for the group to move through. Finally, there was a second wall, or more of a half-hearted attempt to make a fence as an emergency escape route.

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Chapter 255

The 112th day came, and they started their campaign to clear out the city. The outside kill box may not have been the most efficient thing, but it worked enough to lure in Ashborn. Inside the city, with fewer standing buildings, it was harder to trick the ashborn as they could understand something. They were a lot more keen on avoiding the wall and had an easier time avoiding the spear line the party would make as a last stand. After some tinkering with their wall and tactics, the group would finish off a small section of the city. Once they had access to the castle, they were in a far better position to kill Ashborn with the winding path that was good enough for a long, hold-out siege.

The castle itself only held a few ashborn as well as the burned corpse of Determinationis.

Iratus, "Aren't these things supposed to convert others into themselves?"

Aestus, "Do all monsters do that?"

Resonantia, "Look at the lizard traits they have. Sure, we have seen two examples of people-like ashborn, assuming that the crocodile person was a person beforehand, but should we assume most of these things were once people?"

Ignis, "Perhaps a slow metamorphosis into a proper ashborn?"

Iratus, "Maybe?"

Victoria, "As for the corpse, we killed Determinationis, not them. Maybe they have a process for that, and a normal corpse won't do. There is also the possibility that since she was a gray mask, that prevents her corpse from becoming something else."

Resonantia, "Many things to think about."

Aestus, "And what about the other monsters now?"

Ignis, "As far as I know, most monsters do, in fact, use the person as a base for their transformation and reproduction."

With careful planning and engagement, the rest of the city was eventually cleared out of ashborn and while it took another 3 days, the ashlands created by the ashborn would halt and leave the rest of the land untouched.

After a few days of rest, work would continue by focusing on the southern city known as Last Mistake. The preparations were better here, for many buildings still stood and the resources from the city were more plentiful. The group could use many more wooden beams and broken walls to create choke points, and after two days, they were ready to fight the giant treeskin monster.

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Chapter 256

The group waited until it was the 119th day to start their initiative. One long road with some barricades blocking off alleyway access, with several traps, holes, and spikes littering about. All of this culminated in a path to a large, damaged inn that was set on fire when the group was ready to take Last Mistake.

Iratus, Resonantia, Victoria, and Tempestas were the ones who came to Last Mistake that day, and their assault began with using range weapons to pull in the treeskins; their bark-like skin only helped a little against the arrows and bolts, with the durability of the treeskin being the greatest challenge to overcome.

The tree skins were split up, with Iratus and Tempestas drawing their attention. The treeskins were led into the street where the traps were, which did little except give the two an advantage in killing the creatures. Once they headed into the tunnel with the Inn in view, the other two would rain down their ranged projectiles, killing most of the treeskins. In the back, slowly moving forward, was the monstrous treeskin. The spider's lower body and its four arms made it an eight-limbed creature, though two of the arms were just spears. The face still looked like it had a face plate given how it looked, and of course, instead of the smooth bark skin of a normal treeskin, its flesh was that of mangled and twisted-looking wood. Its female-like form contrasted against its ugly and deadly look as it towered 9 feet tall.
(2.7 meters)

The holes and spikes were never meant to kill the treeskins, only slow them down, but they worked too well as the monstrous one would move past their kin and continued forward. Iratus and Tempestas ran back to the inn, now dangerously in flames, and in fact, Resonantia and Victoria had to start moving out of the inn. The road had several dead treeskins, mostly from arrows and bolts, while most of these monsters started to reach the inn, where the monstrous one had already started climbing on top of it and digging in. The party had already snuck away to another street when the inn collapsed.

Iratus, "Wait, should we see if we can't do more damage to that thing?"

Resonantia, "We are out of protection. How about we don't risk it?"

Victoria, "Let's just get further away and look at things."

Tempestas, "We have that trap path; how about we take a look through there?"

The other girls gave an unenthusiastic look but agreed anyway.

There were a few monsters stuck on spikes, but as a group, the party was able to slay the few stragglers. The bulk of the horde that was left started to move out of the inn and towards the group with the monstrous treeskin. They shook off the wooden beams and wooden walls and looked around to see the party, and it too started to head their way.

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Chapter 257

After launching several arrows and bolts, the group finally left the area and headed towards the gatehouse. Unfortunately, the treeskins were hot on their trail as the group fled. At the gatehouse, Iratus got everyone into position, and he and Tempestas formed a wall as the two others laid their ranged attacks into the treeskin horde, which was already nearly depleted.

Resonantia and Victoria had several empty quivers by the end of the assault, with their remaining ammo running out by the time the only treeskin left was the monstrous one. The large creature already had many arrows and bolts sticking out of it, as well as many burn marks, but it didn't seem to slow it down at all.

The creature came up to the tight path and attempted to reach inside the gate, but of course the group easily backed out while stabbing at the creature's limbs. Suddenly, the monstrous thing quickly hauled itself over the wall onto the other side, with the group barely ducking into the gate in time.

Iratus, "Distract it! Tempestas, come with me."

Iratus and the badger woman ran back into the city and into the nearest caved-in building. The monstrous treeskin would come back around to the other side once again, and then the two ran back out to sneak up on it as the two girls still in the gate yelled and screamed at the monster to get its attention. Iratus began his attacks in the creature's underbelly, which caused it to back out and spin around, knocking around Iratus while the other three got to work attacking and dealing damage to the monster.

The fight quickly ended when Iratus was thrown onto the ground and the girls carried him back into the gate. All the accumulating damage was taking a toll on the treeskin, as it was slowing down so considerably that it only barely managed to hit Tempestas, sending her backwards and onto the ground. The creature climbed over the wall once more, but it struggled and even fell down when it went over.

Seeing this, Iratus dove into the creature and started to hack away at its neck, with Tempestas helping. The other two were very careful in their approach, mostly staying away as they were not in the right condition to fight at this level. As the treeskin stood up, Iratus and Tempestas continued to stand on it, attacking. The monster shook and slammed itself against the wall to shake them off, and when they did eventually fall to the ground, Resonantia and Victoria came at it with their swords and stabbed into its side. The creature had enough strength to lean down as Iratus stood back up and slammed its spear arm into him. Iratus was on the ground again, but before the monster could rip into him, it fell over from all its wounds, just oozing sap-like blood.

The creature would continue to twitch, so Iratus was dragged away from the battle, and everyone fled from Last Mistake. Amazingly enough, the monstrous treeskin was still able to crawl after the party for a considerable distance before expiring.

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Chapter 258

Iratus was not able to do much for the rest of the day or the day after. The tower folk spent a few days making sure Last Mistake was clear of all treeskins, and on day 124, they prepared themselves for a new task.

Arrows and bolts were being mass produced, while another batch of papyrus paper was made the next day. Meat was smoked, rations were made, and on day 126, Iratus, Ignis, Aestus, Fractura, and Clamor headed south to see if they couldn't discover the ocean.

Aestus, "Does the beach actually have to be on the other side of a tropical jungle?"

Fractura, "Absolutely! It wouldn't be easy if it wasn't."

Clamor, "A trial we can easily overcome if we put our minds to it."

Fractura, "Here we go."

Clamor, "Excuse me? Do you have something to say?"

Fractura, "Oh no. Please do go on."

They each cast a murderous stare at each other.

Iratus, "Fractura, could you tell us more about the outside of Nexus Prime?"

Fractura, "How else can I say everything is more advanced? Lights and machinery. massive buildings that touch the sky, vehicles traveling at five times the speed of a horse, and larger ones that go even faster. Flying vehicles and ships that travel in-between stars."

Clamor, "We've heard all of this before."

Fractura, "Wait, were you there during one of our RPG games?"

Clamor, "Among other days."

Fractura, "Well, how about round two then? On one of my days, I woke up in my mansion, which was connected to two other mansions that were on a different planet. I have months worth of stored food at all times, with the heating being whatever I wish. Of course I had to share my house with a number of other family members."

Iratus, "Sounds like how the people of Providence live."

Fractura, "It is the dominant lifestyle in the galaxies. For lunch, sometimes I hit one of the restaurants and travel to a gate and look at a massive list of every restaurant, each only at most ten minutes away."

The hyena man would go on to explain the moving of food and resources on a massive scale, the automation and the dangers of going too far and destroying an entire economy, and even go over some random jobs. These concepts and the continuation of being told about these things were easily taken in by the others. Aestus had struggled with these ideas due to how her primitive life was basically a whole other reality devoid of such concepts, wherein the others could understand machines and even computers to a degree as they were not too far removed from their own technology; most of it was just scaled up.

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Chapter 259

The trip to the coast was rather peaceful, with several new locations to explore at a later date. The group saw several small fishing villiges, a number of waterfalls, tropical birds, and other wildlife, as well as some giant boars the size of a truck. Across the river, which was gaining quite a bit of girth, the group saw a wide section of bamboo groves. The river was wide enough that they saw a boat rental dock with several damaged boats from a more technical time period.

Fractura, "I claim those boats; they are mine now."

Aestus, "You can't do that."

Fractura, "Well, I said it, so it must be true."

Aestus, "That's not fair."

Fractura, "Welcome to life."

Iratus, "Just another thing we will have to look into."

Fractura, "Oh, a professional boat builder, huh?"

Ignis, "They don't look too different from my own people's ships."

Fractura, "Honestly, if you know some basic ship repair, that would really help."

The path opened up into an actual road, and more digital-age buildings came into view. Gas stations, bus stops, a motel, and a telephone booth. There were also a number of long-since abandoned cars and other vehicles all around the road, some even in the wilderness. The jungle terrain gave way to a less tropical environment, similar to the sub-tropical location of the stone tower.

Finally, after a few hours, the beach came into view, and a whole ocean was sprawled in front of the group. The river came out into a large bay, with one side on a penensula that looked like a walled place of some kind. To the west, there was more beach and coastline, with the tropics turning into woodlands that were similar to the area north of the stone city, or ruins now. In the bay itself was floating a large, bulky battleship. Ignis gasped when she looked over the ship.

Aestus, "One of your people's boats?"

Fractura, "One of their first battleships by design. Not bad."

Ignis, "The Anguis Marinus!"

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Chapter 260

Fractura, "And?"

Ignis, "The Anguis Marinus disappeared in a small sea. There came a day when it had a minimum crew on it because a number of new naval cadets wanted to learn about our new battleship class ships. For this reason, we suspected that many pirates stormed and took it. It wasn't like it was kitted out for immediate naval combat or even for being boarded. The pirates would threaten the young men and women, so the few crew members would acquiesce and submit. I don't know whatever happened to the ship or its people or if my nation ever figured out what really happened."

Fractura, "I've heard strangers from history."

Ignis, "I was going to be one of the cadets, but my family was too meager to afford the trip, so we decided to decline the offer. I must launch an excursion into that vessel and discover what secrets it covets."

Fractura, "Maybe at another time. Right now, I'm more interested in that tropical bar over there."

Iratus, "Also, can it wait another two hundred days or more?"

Ignis, "With careful preparation, we can search safely. Hire the others to accompany you and slay any abomination."

Clamor, "So metal boats do float on water. I wonder if boats made of stone could too."

Fractura, "Yes, they could. They just need to create a greater buoyant force than their own weight. Oh no, I just thought of what our next session is going to be about."

Iratus, "And it sounds like it will be amazing."

Ignis looked back at Anguis Marinus for a moment before sighing and walking with the others to the tropical bar.

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EPISDOE 26: END

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Episode 26 End Character Sheet
Name: Iratus Lionheart
Species: Mousefolk
Age: 14
Coverings: blonde fur, white gambeson (many repairs, some leather patchwork, a lot of minor damage, and torso tear), leather gloves, tactical vest, tailorcraft backpack, leather plate helmet
Weapons: Long Sword, 3x Knifes, Short Sword
Equipment: belt, belt bag, water skin, leathercraft backpack, 2 bags, 33 oval copper coins, 7 small silver bricks, 6 gemstones, 20 fine silver coins,20 fine gold coins

Wounds: Shoulder, stab wound (minor), Stomach, stab wound (minor), torso brusing, (slight debilitation)

Relevant Community Stash: a fire starter, whetstone, several leather items, 3 glass jar, 1 fish net, fishing gear, primitive sewing kit, trowel, woodcutting axe, a bunch of small wooden figures, wooden dice, metal scrap, lots of rusted metal, several small fish nets, a strange device (Gameboy-like device), sandpaper, compass, sextant, some bedrolls, a tent, lots of rope, a large barrel, 3 hide paper (parchments), 80 cloaks and other clothing materials, some primitive medicine, some fabrics, 6 carts, 11 tattered tents, skin drum

Armory: 10 wooden spears, 56 short swords, 53 knifes, 25 daggers, 34 metal spears, 2 hand bombs, 21 rusted weapons, many armor pieces, ruined metal armor, semi-automatic rifle (no ammo), box of unknown ammo, 4 hunting traps, 3 snares, 2 pistols (no ammo), 12 unknown bullets
Aestus: leather vest, leather helmet, metal spear, short sword
Victoria: scrap metal breastplate, leather helmet, metal spear, short sword, crossbow, flashlight
Resonanita: breastplate, metal helmet, metal spear, short sword, compound bow, flashlight
Ignis: leather helmet, metal spear, crowbar

Treasure: 88 oval copper coins, 33 oval silver coins 74 ancient metal coins, 20 fine silver coins, 44 fine gold coins, 23 fine copper coins, a tarnished silver brooch, a small ornamental figurine, a handful of sparkling glass beads, a small wooden trinket box, a few antfolk tapestries, some antfolk art, 107 copper lion coins, 5 silver lion coins, 14 gold lion coins, 115 wolfen metal coins

Home Base, Tower: Large Storage Area (many crates, clay pots, and wooden chests), Basic Workshop Area (lots of tools, woodcarving tools), Kitchen Area (many tools, many cutlery items, pots&pans, makeshift grill), Library, Armory, Infirmary Room (surgery tools), Guest Quarters, Master Bedroom (proper bedding), Six Bedrooms (proper bedding)

Outside Base: Butchering Hut (modern butchery kit, smoking rack), Tannery Hut, Underground Storage Area, Garden Area (fenced in)

Books: 3x woodworking books, weathered leather-bound journal, war game booklet, sketch book (from warband), Special documentary on Nexus Prime #34, 16 Broken Tower documents, Bathhouse Reviewers (entire 80 book series)

Year 0, Day 126

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#25        Gray Masks

Special documentary on Nexus Prime
Author: [DATA ERROR]
Report #: 25
Gray masks are an imaginary foe that takes on a fake biological body. These shadows wear gray masks and anything that can obscure and cover their non-existent bodies, for when someone sees their etherealness, they cease to exist in this plan of existence. Even death by physical trauma would banish their bodies and blood.

These things act as a hive mind and can even think and plan. They create traps, ambushes, or even alter the terrain, like digging a trench, to better their odds. They can defend themselves to a small degree in opposition to their lack of self-preservation. These entities are held together and commanded by conduits who lead them into battle and pick out their targets. Conduits as well as their maker is another discussion I will cover later.

Within a dream that is inside of a dream, the shadows exist, or maybe not, and then they do. Perhaps they exist and don't exist at the same time, but they can be extracted from dreams and pulled into reality. Organic life sees these beings as shadow people. shadows with a person-like outline. Inside the Nexus Prime, these shadow figures are instantly enslaved to the hive mind created by Kollektivi, and thus, a new gray mask is born.

Gray masks are just a soldier for another's agenda, all of which I will write on later. Through their imagination, they can see the minds of others and what makes a person who they are in a certain way. They are their own beings despite having a hive mind, and they sometimes struggle with maintaining their existence even within our Nexus Prime. One can see why the gray masks are the greatest threat to those who live, as they are the smartest of all'monsters' in here.

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