For a second seeing the lack of movement on the street Tatiana had a small hope that someone would contact the authorities But then her hopes instantly deflated She had been staying in this place for a few days now with her girls and knew that wasnÆt the case Unless someone of authority showed up the people wouldnÆt move to help This town was still too new too competitive
Uh The military man was just looking at the short blonde man with wide eyes But before he could speak further a yell cut him off
Ethan You canÆt just kill him
Of course the blonde man Ethan said with a smile But I knew the man who could resist my attack wouldnÆt die from a petty ambush such as that You sir please step aside I have business with this man
Ethan was talking to Baloo Shrugging Baloo just patted the military man on the back and then took several steps back But when he touched the manÆs back Tatiana would have sworn that she saw a flash of green like a small snake slither out and down the manÆs collar
Tatiana would have likely caught more of it had she not noticed that Baloo was barefoot Was he always barefoot Her eyes widened Did he smelt metal barefoot That would be incredibly dumb
Uh um unfortunately I have another appointment so I must bid The military man began but Ethan cut him off
Not so fast Let me see if you arenÆt just all talk then eh Ethan started forward quickly speeding up to a dead sprint As he arrived in front of the military man his right fist flashed forward to smash into his jaw
The military man took a step back arms flailing But as she watched one of those arms abruptly contorted and came down tight to the manÆs face It flicked out knocking the punch aside and then shot forward in a jab The jab smashed into EthanÆs face
Blood sprayed out of EthanÆs broken nose likely done in by EthanÆs own forward momentum as much as everything else As the military man straightened looking down at his hand in confusion the cloaked man rushed forward
Brother Ethan You scoundrel how dare you strike a man of God
Finally the military man seemed to decide that the emotion he should feel is arrogance He put his hands on his hips and snorted Tatiana almost wanted to roll her eyes It was obvious that this wasnÆt a character that could so expertly execute an attack like that Tatiana would be surprised if he had a single Skill above Lvl 50 She glanced at Baloo curiously
Did that mean that Baloo was assisting somehow But why
Did you not see him run into my fist I was only stretching Or did you want to fight Let it never be said that Derek Lundain Commissary Officer refused a challenge of an honest duel
TatianaÆs eyebrow twitched Commissary Officer Was this man a cook
We are from the United Church of God the masked individual said glaring over at Derek Ethan was on the ground rolling back and forth and holding his nose Do you know the hornet’s nest you just kicked If you think we donÆt have connections to the Federal Police youÆve got another thing coming I assume you are in FretarchÆs District We can make a call within an hour that will have you out of a job
The arrogance was truly short lived and disappeared like a popped bubble I I grrk
Derek grunted as his body contorted again making him lean abruptly backward A plasma slug from a pistol shot up missing his head by inches Slowly he turned his head and looked down at Ethan who was looking up at him with a face that was glee rapidly turning to shock and horror
Derek and EthanÆs gazes locked Derek seemed mostly puzzled but Tatiana didnÆt really have the angle to see the full expression on his face But EthanÆs quickly became flooded with dread
Finally with surprising abruptness Derek turned and power walked quickly away not glancing back The robed figure stepped forward to Ethan checked on him then seemed to be intending to follow Derek when Baloo stepped forward
Probably enough violence for today right Baloo said his voice soft But instantly the posture of the robed figures stopped in their tracks Perhaps whoever that was they heard it too That below that innocuous question was a threat
And especially after so recently being foiled by the random cook the robed man hesitated
Then Baloo turned to Adrea For someone who doesnÆt want to kill your friend sure fires a lot of guns
And then he turned and walked away After a brief hesitation as she watched Adrea going to EthanÆs side to dab at his bloody nose Tatiana followed after Baloo
Chapter 519
They had basically reached RandidlyÆs fake home when he realized that it wasnÆt a coincidence that she was following him Feeling largely awkward that he hadnÆt acknowledged her before now Randidly turned around and regarded Tatiana Truly she looked extremely out of place in a steel working town like this He supposed that it made sense for her to hang around Washington D C where she would need to interact with the nationÆs elite but the System had made a farce of her presence here
She stopped as he turned around regarding him with the same wariness that she had shown before at the party There was a wall there one that he didnÆt fault her for He was a strange individual and he had certainly participated in some strange and violent situations Even more worrisome he suspected that she had the angle and a sharp enough gaze to catch some of his interference with that poor fool Derek
To RandidlyÆs surprise she spoke first Why did you save him
Randidly blinked then laughed Her expression darkened as he did so so he stifled the laugh as best he could and kept it a chuckle They would have killed him if I had not Humanity has a lot of enemies It’s easy to forget it here but we donÆt have enough wiggle room to waste effort on internal struggles And I believe a human life should always have inherent value I protected a life need I more justification
Something in her face eased as he was talking although he couldnÆt determine what of what he had said had reached her She simply nodded breathing out a long sigh Feeling an oncoming silence Randidly galvanized his meager social skills and said So how are you doing
Instantly he winced because it sounded just like a cheap come on But this seemed to just make Tatiana sag further Expelling another sigh she looked up at him and said You certainly are more than I expected It hasnÆt been good I suppose youÆve heard that the edges of a suburb were reported to be sighted to the west Until further notice I am to remain here and scout new arrivals to the Zone for our business
Tatiana gave Randidly a penetrating look At that moment he felt like she was looking with every ounce of effort she had trying to penetrate and see what lay underneath the surface of him What sort of character was he
Randidly didnÆt blame her in the least He felt abruptly self conscious that he was ostensibly a simple steelworker but he remembered that he had gone along with the line that he was also a former front military fighter In addition he wore a strange combination of leather and denim that would have meant he was a biker prior to the SystemÆs arrival but in current Zone 1 just made him look savage
Obviously his feet were dirty and bare the skin callous and browned from long years now without shoes
In addition Randidly made a mental note about the expanding Zone If what Tatiana was saying was true there would be what might be a large population boost coming into Zone 1 in the recent future Which meant two things that military forces might be heading in this direction and also that there might be population boosts in Zone 32 as well The first was a headache the second was oddly intriguing Snuffing out both trains of thought he focused on the task at hand For now he planned on conducting another search for the Creature tonight Other things could wait
To his surprise TatianaÆs gaze turned soft as she finished her examination Look thank you for interfering at the party Just as a warning that Tooya might be a nameless prick but on his friend’s list is someone with real clout Even my partner is scared If they come after me they sure as hell would come after you
Randidly frowned and Tatiana had a knowing look in her eye But Randidly suspected that she misread the reason he was upset Obviously dealing with almost anything a single person could throw at him would be relatively straightforward The problem was that this unnamed individual might use government forces to deal with him Which might bring him to GhostÆs attention