Angel Monarch

Chapter 351: Antarctica

The southern expedition proved uniquely bizarre. They had basically no intel about Antarctica's state after the Last War.

Prior to the Apocalypse, Antarctica accommodated billions of humans who had relocated there centuries ago.

Before space exploration became the norm, Earth suffered from serious overpopulation, but as the southern icecaps melted, a solution arose.

Each continent sent millions of 'undesired' humans, and they built cheap cities which could support themselves.

Large corporations owned these cities and used their population as slave labour.

The Antarcticans tried rising up against their oppressors, but each attempt failed miserably. Their slavery continued until the space exploration began.

Slowly, year-by-year, decade-by-decade, people forgot about the Antarctican population. The automated defenses continued keeping them in line until eventually those failed too.

Their population continued growing, and when they had enough, the Antarcticans freed themselves, killing all their oppressors, destroying their factories, taking over their homes.

From then on, Antarctica fought for its freedom, and barely a decade later, the other continents accepted its sovereignty.

They eventually matched technological advancements on other continents, later leading to their own space exploration.

The Antarctican vessel became the best, since Earth's magnetic field was the strongest at its poles. Their vessels needed to surpass the physical drawbacks of their position.

Their citizens, once enslaved, now lived lavish lifestyles. They assembled their own military, which mostly used long-range missiles and gigantic aircraft carrying thousands of drones.

Its isolation meant Antarctica seldom needed mechanized or armored infantry, which, as it turned out, was a horrible oversight.

In the Last War, they managed keeping their casualties minimal, by being mostly passive and defensive… This couldn't be said about the Apocalypse…

When Gates opened across Antarctica, the lack of infantry became noticeable quickly.

All the high-tech missile guidance systems, or aircraft and drone navigation, failed. They had no real defence against the monster hordes.

Cities fell one-by-one. Billions died within months. The destruction was incalculable.

But from the rubble, the survivors rebuilt their cities. They adapted to their new world, just like they did centuries ago. The Antarcticans possessed strong will, so it's no wonder even the Apocalypse couldn't break them.

Damien led the first expedition to Antarctica, and soon they found the survivors. Together, they established communication and shared information about Earth's state.

Antarctica stayed united after the Apocalypse, but they had no means to travel far distances, like Vicky's ability. They also needed to sort out monsters before finding survivors on the other continents.

They tried sending people to South America, but an Abomination resided near its southern tip, so every mission ended in failure.

The Antarcticans felt ecstatic upon learning how well Europe fared. For the past 30 years, they thought everyone else inside the Solar System had died, making them the only humans left alive.

Like the few South American cities, they also happily sent envoys so they could establish a closer connection with other continents.

Damien led the first expedition to Antarctica, accompanied by his wife Agnes, David, Cassandra, Percy, his girlfriend Morren, Kathy and his boyfriend Conrad.

They didn't really have outposts, since after discovering the Antarctican city-states, they mostly lived behind their makeshift walls.

Damien didn't change at all since the last time Vicky had seen him. He was still a Transcended with white hair and beard.

What Vicky noticed was a change in his behavior. His usual coldness seemed to vanish, and the fierceness, hidden anger didn't penetrate Vicky's body, when those icy-blue eyes stared down at her.

But the most surprising change was Damien's mouth. There was something wrong with it. His mouth twisted to both sides, curling up almost as if… He was smiling!

The facial expression felt uncanny on the older man's face. Like something out of a horror movie.

"Don't worry about it, Princess! You get used to after a while!"

Said a female voice from behind Damien. The tall black woman looked unfamiliar to Vicky, but she could guess her identity just from the cunning grin spreading across her face.

Her hair color was different since the last time they met, but Kathy changed both her hair color, style and even her eye color each day.

Now she sported light blue dreadlocks, held in a ponytail, while her eyes were a beautiful, dark hazel combined with bright red.

She looked unnatural. Judging by her waist to hip ratio, it should be physically impossible for her body to support the size of her bust.

Despite this, she walked straight, hand-in-hand with a handsome, absentminded man.

Vicky's acquaintance with Conrad developed gradually after Malta, primarily via reports. His reports were always perfect, highlighting a lot of battle details and tactics they should've used.

His reports were somewhat fun and educational, unlike Percy's or Kathy's, which were a few sentences at best. Sometimes they just promised to send it later, then never actually wrote it!

Conrad was a tall, muscular man, with light gray, weirdly gentle eyes. His skin held onto a dark tan, which was strange since they came from Antarctica, which got little sunlight this time of year.

He had no hair, and the top of his head held lots of tattoos, each depicting a different type of weapon.

After Kathy's remark, Conrad leaned in and whispered… Or at least tried to whisper, but his booming voice echoed in the entire facility!

"What do you mean, you get used to it? I'm still scared whenever he turns to me! That smile is unnatural!"

Damien glanced back, which caused Conrad to yelp and hide behind Kathy. The dark-skinned woman just sighed with exhaustion while shaking her head.

Upon hearing Conrad's words, the next couple came through the portal, absorbed in their amused laughter.

Percy and Morren looked like one side of the same coin…

After the Ouroboros Cohort fell apart, since they lost more than half of their members, Morren could finally live out her most wanted desires, and wore whatever she liked!

Right now her one side of her hair was buzzed down, while the other freely fell to her shoulder, partially covering her face.

She also dyed it yellowish-orange, or maybe that was her real hair color… Vicky wasn't certain, but either way it looked weird!

This hair style wasn't anything new, but her other facial modifications were…

Mouth, nose, eyebrow and ear piercings covered her face. From her neck, a bright red flame tattoo crawled up the side of her face, reaching and circling one of her orange eyes.

She wore an outrageously tight pants and crop top, which revealed and accentuated most of her curvaceous body.

Next to Morren, Percy seemed like a trash diving raccoon. She was nearly a head smaller and even had less muscle than her girlfriend.

He sported a black mohawk with purple stripes, matching his purple eyes. His flame tattoo, similar to his girlfriend's, was dark purple instead of bright red.

The short, vicious-looking man walked up to Conrad and pulled him down, so he could whisper into his ear.

"I don't know how can you think Damien's scary… Have you seen her wife? She's like one of those Abominations we saw at the Titan Peninsula, except her attitude is even worse! If pregnancy makes you such an emotional mess, then…"

Before he could've finished the sentence, Morren reached over and pulled him away by his ear.

"Then what?!… What if I get pregnant? What will you do? Leave me, eh!?"

While still holding onto Percy's ear, she continued to shout, while the raccoon desperately apologized.

Vicky just raised an eyebrow at this strange interaction between lovers. Despite their apparent argument, Vicky noted their joyous expressions… This was a game for them…

She tried wrapping her head around it, but no matter the efforts, it didn't make sense to Vicky.

"Don't think too hard, little Vicky. We lived with them for a year and still can't make sense of their interactions!"

David's voice instantly brought a bright smile to Vicky's face. Her mother's long-time friend didn't change much during the year.

His black skin became more scale-like, and he still had no hair atop his head. His viper-like eyes were now a constant purple. His long tongue had a slit in the middle, also similar to a snake's.

"Uncle David!"

She shouted in excitement, jumping off Astrid's neck and into his arms faster than anyone expected.

Out of everyone, Vicky spoke the most with Uncle David and Aunt Cass, plus Kim and Sam, but she had no serious conversations with either.

David and Cass always asked about her wellbeing and emotional state. They helped especially a lot, when she felt depressed about Bran's death on the first Peacemaking Celebrations.

A long embrace ended when Vicky withdrew, her gaze confused, scanning her surroundings.

"Is Aunt Cass not joining us? I thought she would come too?"

Vicky's voice sounded heartbreakingly sad, but just before tears appeared in her eyes, she felt an ample chest press into her back, while long, slender arms pulled her into a hug.

"Oh, my dear! I arrived well ahead of them. My excitement proved too much to handle, so I returned a week early… I have been watching over you and the 'new family member' for a while now!"

Cass whispered the last words, so silently even David couldn't hear them. But Vicky understood everything, and immediately guessed who the 'new family member' referred to.

With a wide smile, Vicky spun around and was about to hug Cass, but getting hit by the woman's allure stopped her.

From everyone gathered there, Cass changed the most. Through hard work and many trials, she achieved something nobody else, not even Sera managed yet… She Evolved to Stellar Rank!