Displaced

Chapter 132

BRRRRT! BRRRRT! BRRRRT!

The grating cry of Blake's morning alarm dragged him unwillingly from his much-needed slumber. Getting up on mornings like this was a much harder task than it had been on Earth. Back then, he'd just stuck his cellphone across the room, forcing himself to at least climb out of bed for a moment to turn it off. That had usually been enough.

Now, however, he could just turn the noise off with his mind. The temptation was there and growing stronger by the second.

He'd gone to bed extra late, largely because of all the work needed to get Gabriela and the Flying Toaster underway last night, plus other crisis-related activities. Then, despite trying his best to fall asleep—or perhaps because of it—he'd spent far too long just staring at the ceiling and stressing about everything. When he'd finally crossed into the land of slumber, it had been well into the early morning.

He glanced at the clock, blinking away the gunk blurring his vision. The numbers looked blurry, and he had to strain until he could see the time flashing from across the room. He cringed at the sight. Another night of practically zero sleep. Even with his upgraded body, he felt like a slug run over by a steamroller.

Still, despite the protests of his body and mind, he rolled out of bed. On another morning, when things weren't so dire, he'd probably decide to throw his schedule to the wind and sleep until well past noon. Oh, how he missed those days when he could sleep far too late, spend the afternoon watching videos online, and then play games until it was almost dawn. Those good old days, when life was simple, fast food was a few taps on his phone away, and dragons weren't potentially going to invade the rest of the world.

Today, however, he needed to get up, regardless of his body's protests. Beyond the general dragon emergency, there was something else he needed to be awake for—something specific. He was sure that if he thought about it hard enough, he'd remember what that thing was.

It was...

It was...

Right, the cabinet meeting. Today was sure to be an interesting morning. After all, this was the morning of the first cabinet meeting since the dragons had made themselves known to the world. Blake would get the "honor" of informing his subordinates that a portion of their stupid, silly religion was actually accurate. Dragons did, in fact, exist.

There would be so much to talk about after that; Otharia would have to enter as close to a pre-war state of readiness as the nation could manage and get there as fast as possible. The meeting was sure to go long, and then there'd be follow-ups and consultations, and... He felt exhausted just thinking about it.

* * *

"WHAT DO YOU MEAN WE'RE RUNNING OUT?!" Blake hollered, leaning over the table and pounding his palms against it so hard that it shook. "HOW CAN WE BE RUNNING OUT OF CRYSTALS?! HOW?! THEY'RE FUCKING EVERYWHERE!"

He felt stunned. Bushwhacked. Betrayed. He felt like he could barely think past his incredulous rage.

"L-Lord, I—"

"WHAT PART OF 'THERE'S A BUNCH OF HUGE-ASS DRAGONS THAT COULD FLY DOWN HERE AND ROAST EVERYBODY ALIVE AT ANY TIME' DO YOU NOT FUCKING UNDERSTAND?! YOU THINK THEY'RE GONNA STOP AT THE BORDER AND POLITELY WAIT FOR US TO GET READY?! NO! THEY'RE GOING TO SHOW UP TO BRING FIRE AND FLAMES ANY TIME NOW, AND IF WE DON'T HAVE A FUCKING ARMY READY TO MEET THEM, WE'RE FUCKING TOAST! YOU UNDERSTAND YET?! CAN YOU GET THAT THROUGH YOUR THICK SCYRIAN SKULLS?!"

"We've been doing everything we can to locate more veins," Leo informed him.

"OH REALLY?! BECAUSE IT SURE SEEMS TO ME LIKE 'EVERYTHING' WOULD INCLUDE TELLING ME ABOUT THE PROBLEM! DON'T GIVE ME THAT 'WE TRIED SO HARD' SHIT! YOU DIDN'T THINK IT WOULD MATTER! THAT'S WHY YOU KEPT IT TO YOUR-FUCKING-SELVES UNTIL IT REARED ITS UGLY HEAD TO BITE ME IN THE ASS!"