Well, even if he wanted to deal with Niflheim immediately, he didn't have the means to do so. After all, he didn't even know where they were located.
Xiao Zhen had told him that they would be in the vicinity of LA, but that wasn't much to go on. He wondered if it was even possible to rule out the ocean, but he quickly scraped that thought.
If the rest of earth was simply a playground for Damien, the only place he had to be wary of was the ocean. Even before the World Awakening, more than 80% of the ocean was unmapped and unexplored. The world's terrain had changed since then, and nobody knew what had happened to the ocean.
The only known fact was that it was dangerous. The cultivation of beasts was much simpler than that of humans in the sense that they didn't need to level up until they reached 4th class. As long as they ate other beasts, they'd gain power.
And so, when the massive oceans of the world came into contact with mana, and the animals within it became beasts, one could only imagine the chaos that would ensue.
In the past 3 or so years, sea travel became an entirely unviable option. Boats would immediately get attacked by rampaging beasts even near the shore, and the journey would only become more dangerous when they arrived further at sea.
And it wasn't just the native beasts born on earth that would be a problem. Dungeons weren't around for the benefit of humans, rather they were there to support some sort of balance within the universe, at least this is what the denizens of earth figured out from otherworlders they met in dungeons.
And if gates didn't discriminate, then it was obvious that some would open within the ocean. These gates would go untouched and uncleared, and eventually, they would lead to dungeon breaks.
Beasts within those gates would flood the sea. Two possible situations would occur from that point forward.
The first scenario was when the gate was aquatic in nature and new species of beasts with varied strength would enter the ocean's ecosystem, either propagating or ruling within the area.
The second was when the gate wasn't aquatic in nature. In this scenario, the beasts that break through the gate would, in most situations, end up drowning or being crushed by the pressure of the deep seas.
While this may seem to be a better outcome, it wasn't. The corpses of these beasts would be feasted on by those already living in that ecosystem, providing greater strength to the already existing beasts.
In the deepest areas of earth where humans could never reach, there were potentially an innumerable amount of 3rd class beasts lying in wait.
Damien wanted to visit the depths of the ocean one day and see if he could find anything interesting but now wasn't the time. Maybe once he was finished with the Niflheim business or after he finished his adventure in the Cloud Plane he'd return for this purpose.
Taking his thoughts off the ocean, Damien decided to check the land areas surrounding the city. And he had to say that he was truly shocked by what he saw.
Before his fall, he'd never left Los Angeles, and after the World Awakening, he didn't even have the mind to watch the news. Even Elena was the same. Due to this, their view on earth had remained relatively untarnished.
But even when Damien simply flew around the other areas of California, he could see the vast differences in both geography and population.
Major cities like San Diego or San Francisco were relatively untouched, as their large population meant they'd always have heroes there to protect them from any major damages, but most smaller cities were in ruin.
Damien had just been thinking about the evolution of normal animals into beasts that occurred within the ocean, but he'd made an oversight when considering the surface.
Even if humans were the most dominant species, that didn't mean there was a lack of animals by any means. Within the countless forests and even the smaller ecosystems that existed, there were many beasts. And with the way the instincts of a beast worked…
Damien shuddered at the thought. How much of humanity had truly been decimated already? Even if the strongest and most populated areas maintained a sense of normalcy, what about the rest? How much land had been lost to beasts?
Thinking about areas like the Amazon Rainforest that were dangerous to humans even before beasts existed on earth, Damien felt that the situation was much more concerning than he originally thought.
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Still, it wasn't like he could do anything about it. Even if he tried his hardest, it would probably take years to clean up even just the Amazon. He couldn't imagine shouldering the weight of the world and being a hero who saves everyone.
Damien chuckled at the irony of his situation. In general, his worldview was already on a planetary scale. He was thinking about traveling different worlds and participating in massive battles.
Yet, his view of earth was still so narrow-minded. Perhaps it was the effect of living in Apeiron for so many years, where peace reigned and order had been established.
All the while, Damien was still flying around California searching for the Niflheim headquarters. It was one of the largest states in America, so he was essentially searching for a needle in a haystack. Plus, even if he could cover all of California in his search, it would by no means be instant.
He had already spent an entire day flying at his fastest speeds and he'd probably only covered 20% of the state. His power level was still at most enough to destroy a city.
But Damien was long past the point of getting fatigued with only this much. Sleep was a luxury for him, not a necessity. Damien continued to search throughout the night and even into the next day without rest. He only stopped when his mana capacity was getting low so he could recharge.
And his ceaseless effort finally paid off. Damien was getting bored, so he circled around Sacramento one more time before heading back to Los Angeles. However, he soon stumbled upon a swamp region that seemed to span until the San Fransisco area.
Wanting to explore the strange terrain a bit, Damien slowed down his travels. It was then that he finally noticed the inconspicuous dome-like structure that existed within the swamp.
It was extremely easy to miss, as even its color blended with the murky water, but Damien's perception was too high for such camouflage to work. Ironically, he would have found the area easier if they had used some sort of illusion for concealment.
Damien completely hid his aura before carefully approaching the dome. Something about the structure just screamed "evil villain base" to him. Maybe it was all those comics he read as a kid.
Damien didn't rashly enter the dome, since if he was correct about its origins, there were bound to be 3rd classes inside. He simply waited in the air, using his vector control to refract light and become invisible. Along with the earring artifact that hid his presence, his concealment was almost perfect.
This wasn't a method he used often, since he had Rose, an illusion expert, by his side, but it was still convenient at times like this. Damien waited patiently for hours, watching for any movement on the outskirts of the dome.
And finally, he found what he was looking for. A grotesque man with a globular body and antenna on his head emerged from the dome, flying to some unknown location.
'So this is what they meant by alien. Well, he definitely looked like something out of a crappy sci-fi movie.'
Damien continued to watch for the next day as many different people who used to be humans exited and entered the dome. It was enough proof for him that this location was indeed a base of Niflheim.
Whether it was the main base or not was yet to be seen, but the old men from Asgard had mentioned that the leaders of Niflheim had situated their main base in California for convenience.
All that was left was for Damien to go inform his companions about what he found. He wanted to infiltrate the base and learn of the plans they had for earth before taking any offensive action or even informing the guys from the Cloud Plane.
Their relationship, at best, could be called a partnership. There was no underlying trust that built a foundation for them, only respect for each other's strengths. Damien had to confirm whether the worlds of those old men were true before he made any drastic decisions.
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Using his naivety against him wasn't something Damien would allow, and if it happened it wasn't something he'd take lightly.
Though the old men didn't know it, Damien was still in the process of separating allies from enemies.