Being the King of Ibadan wasn't exactly Game of Thrones. It was more like being the moderator of a subreddit that was constantly on fire.
Bhy Khay sat in the penthouse office of Cocoa House, staring at a holographic dashboard that hovered over his desk.
[CITY: IBADAN (Tier 1)]
[POPULATION: 45,200 Survivors]
[DAILY TAX REVENUE: 4,500 Coins]
[HAPPINESS: 42% (Low)]
[TOP COMPLAINT: "Why are the zombies glowing blue?"]
"I didn't conquer a city," Bhy Khay sighed, rubbing his temples. "I acquired a customer support ticket queue."
"At least the taxes are good," Zayn said from the couch. He was polishing his [Windforce Bow] with a piece of silk from a loot drop. "We have enough coins to upgrade the Guild Hall to Level 3."
"We need to spend it on infrastructure," Elara argued, looking at the city map on the wall. "People are starving in Apata. We need to buy [Food Synthesizers] from the System Shop."
"Food is a crutch," Bhy Khay muttered, scrolling through the menu. "If we feed them, they won't grind for XP. If they don't grind, our tax revenue drops. It's basic economics, Elara. Hunger is a motivator."
"You're a tyrant," Elara said, but she didn't stop him when he clicked [PURCHASE: AUTOMATED TURRET DEFENSE SYSTEM].
"I'm an optimizer," Bhy Khay corrected. "Besides, dead people don't pay taxes. Security comes first."
Suddenly, the room turned red.
[SYSTEM ALERT: SERVER MERGE INITIATED.]
[CONNECTING TO: LAGOS SERVER (REGION 1)]
[WARNING: LEVEL DISPARITY DETECTED.]
[LAGOS AVERAGE LEVEL: 15]
[IBADAN AVERAGE LEVEL: 8]
"Lagos?" Tomiwa stopped sketching. She looked up, her charcoal stick snapping in half. "Bhy Khay, you know what Lagos is like offline. Imagine it with superpowers."
"It's a PvP zone," Bhy Khay realized. "While we were building safe zones and farming zombies, Lagos players were killing each other."
He stood up and walked to the window. In the distance, toward the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway, the sky was cracking open.
"The barrier is down," Bhy Khay said. "The bridge is open."
[GLOBAL ANNOUNCEMENT]
[PLAYER "THE GODFATHER" (Lagos) HAS ENTERED OYO STATE.]
[MESSAGE: "Nice village you have here. I'm claiming it."
"Village?" Zayn stood up, offended. "Did he just call Ibadan a village?"
"He's taunting us," Bhy Khay equipped his dagger. "He wants us to get angry and rush him. It's classic troll behavior."
"So what do we do?" Elara asked, her staff glowing.
"We ban him," Bhy Khay grinned. "Let's go to the Toll Gate."
The Guru Maharaj Ji Village sat right at the entrance of the expressway. It used to be a spiritual sanctuary. Now, it was the border between two worlds.
Bhy Khay and his team stood on the overpass, looking down at the highway.
Coming up the road wasn't an army. It was a convoy.
Leading the pack was a massive, modified Danfo Bus. It had spikes welded to the bumper, a turret on the roof, and saw blades spinning on the wheels. Behind it were a dozen luxury SUVs, all painted in matte black.
[FACTION: THE SYNDICATE (Lagos)]
[LEADER: THE GODFATHER (Lvl 18)]
"Level 18?" Zayn whispered, checking the stats through his scope. "Bhy Khay, I'm Level 9. You're Level 10. That guy is nearly double our stats."
"Levels are just numbers," Bhy Khay said, though he tightened his grip on his weapon. "Gear and Intelligence matter more."
The convoy stopped fifty meters away.
The door of the Danfo slid open. A man stepped out.
He was wearing a white suit that was impossibly clean for the apocalypse. He had gold rings on every finger and held a [Golden Cane] that pulsed with purple gravity magic.
[THE GODFATHER]
[CLASS: GRAVITY LORD (Unique)]
"So," The Godfather looked up at them, adjusting his sunglasses. "This is the 'City Lord' of Ibadan? A kid with a dagger?"
He laughed. His men laughed. Even the Danfo seemed to laugh as its engine revved.
"I expected... more," The Godfather sighed. "I heard you killed a General. I assumed you had a tank. Or at least a suit."
"I prefer practical attire," Bhy Khay called down. "Suits stain easily when you're gutting people."
"Feisty," The Godfather pointed his cane at the overpass. "Here's the deal, kid. I'm expanding my territory. Lagos is too crowded. Too many try-hards. I need a vacation home."
He spread his arms.
"Surrender the City Token. I'll let you keep the University as a reservation. You can play pretend-King there."
"And if I refuse?" Bhy Khay asked.
"Then I delete your account," The Godfather smiled.
He tapped his cane on the asphalt.
[SKILL: GRAVITY CRUSH]
The air pressure suddenly spiked.
CRACK.
The concrete overpass Bhy Khay was standing on groaned. Invisible weight slammed down on them.
"I can't... move..." Elara gasped, dropping to her knees. It felt like ten sandbags had been placed on her shoulders.
"Zayn!" Bhy Khay struggled to stay standing. "Shoot him!"
Zayn raised his bow. His arm shook violently under the gravity.
TWANG.
The arrow flew, but it was slow. It dipped mid-air, pulled down by the gravity, and hit the ground ten meters short of The Godfather.
"Projectile weapons?" The Godfather chuckled. "Physics is my bitch, kid."
He waved his hand. The arrow lifted off the ground and shot back at Zayn.
THWACK.
It hit Zayn in the shoulder.
"ARGH!" Zayn fell back, clutching the wound.
"Zayn!" Elara screamed.
"Gravity Magic," Bhy Khay analyzed, his mind racing even as his body was crushed. "Range is useless. Melee is suicide. He controls the fundamental force of the battlefield."
"Tomiwa!" Bhy Khay shouted. "Draw a balloon!"
"A what?" Tomiwa wheezed, flat on her stomach.
"Helium! Anti-gravity! Draw it!"
Tomiwa, shaking, drew a massive balloon on the concrete.
[LIVING INK: HELIUM BALLOON]
The drawing materialized. A giant red balloon tethered to Tomiwa's wrist.
The moment it appeared, the upward force of the helium fought against the downward force of the gravity.
It didn't lift them up. But it neutralized the crushing weight just enough.
"Move!" Bhy Khay shouted.
The team rolled backward, off the overpass, falling into the grass below.
[GRAVITY ZONE EXITED.]
They gasped for air.
"He's too strong," Elara coughed, healing Zayn's shoulder. "We can't fight him head-on."
"We don't need to fight him," Bhy Khay looked at the Danfo bus. "We need to crash his server."
He looked at the expressway. It was a straight line.
"The Godfather controls gravity," Bhy Khay muttered. "But gravity has a weakness."
"What?" Zayn asked, pulling the arrow out.
"Velocity," Bhy Khay said. "If you move fast enough, you escape orbit."
He looked at the [Danfo Bus].
"Tomiwa, can you draw an engine?"
"I can draw a rocket," Tomiwa grinned weakly.
"Elara, can you make an ice ramp?"
"I can make a highway," she nodded.
"Good," Bhy Khay stood up. "We're going to play Mario Kart."
He turned to the team.
"We retreat to the Toll Gate. We lure him in. And then... we launch him back to Lagos."
[QUEST STARTED: DEFEND THE BORDER.]
[OBJECTIVE: DEFEAT THE GODFATHER.]