you realize that makes me wonder whether YOU are the group that is hurting these people No one else has even noticed they were missing
Shocked Randidly blinked at her Did she really think But Tatiana laughed and slapped his shoulder lightly Before she got over her giggles both her and RandidlyÆs watches beeped and flashed red
Frowning down at it Randidly almost didnÆt notice that Tatiana took it in stride and pressed a button on the side A voice began speaking out of her watch
Warning This is not a drill We have breaking news Approximately two hours and seven minutes ago a military bunker was attacked by an unknown terrorist assailant The assailant himself did not appear to use exosuits but his accomplice had an extraordinarily powerful energysuit that made him glow and emit vast amounts of heat
In the course of his actions the terrorist killed a dozen employees at the facility even taking the time to execute sick civilians that were being treated at the facility Attached is a depiction of the terrorists If you see this man please contact the authorities immediately I repeat this man is highly dangerous and
Before the message could continue Tatiana touched the button again A face appeared above the watch a cruel and haughty face with a strong nose and bright orange hair Randidly frowned Not that it was a problem that he possessed an illusion that was labeled as a fugitive but there was something profoundly disturbing about the whole thing
Why had the location he had attacked been called a military bunkerÆ Was it just a coincidence or
This was you guys wasnÆt it
Randidly jerked upwards staring at Tatiana Her face was very close to his Her eyes were bright She looked down and tapped the button again The holographic display changed to a fuzzy approximation of his Lava Golem It was crouching on the ground above ripped metal that had previously been a drone She hummed softly and pressed the watch again The display went dark
What Randidly asked trying to scramble to figure out what to say
Your hands smell like blood Viking How many did you kill Tatiana said not looking up at him
Randidly took a step back and looked down at his hands How could she
Then she reached out and took his hands in hers She was looking at Randidly with a face filled with worry Jesus are you a war veteran or not Look I didnÆt mean to sound so accusatory IÆve seen these people If this was you it was the right thing I just want you to know I trust you
Randidly looked at her That feeling was back This was becoming intimate the way they treated each other WasnÆt this fast They had only known each other for a little over two months
Randidly cleared his throat you sound like a Unity Church member talking about trust all the time
She punched him in the gut
Chapter 548
The problem with the truth Randidly knew was that once it was out it was impossible to take back If he were to tell her the truth there would likely be repercussions that were difficult to predict So at the time she asked Randidly had simply said that yes they were related to that man He refused to say anything more
They had fucking held hands through the whole talk Well less a talk and more her asking questions and him looking at the ground
What the FUCK was he doing Randidly didnÆt have time for this
So now sitting in his workshop Randidly considered
The Creature was here likely fueling some arm of the Unity Church or the Zone 1 government to perform experiments by taking body parts The details of which were difficult to understand Why on such a grand scale Why would a gym be included in the blueprints Why had the media found out about it so quickly
Obviously to locate him But who would have the power to request that
Randidly needed more information Part of that would come with being around people but he needed to be around higher ranking individuals To understand the power structure he needed to be a part of it Based on what Davey had told him creating drones would get him there
Meanwhile there was the problem of Tatiana both personally and what she stood for She had obviously used that vivid language in her accusation on purpose to incite a reaction in him Curiosity was clear in her eyes It was slightly emotionally cruel but some part of her worried that Randidly truly might be that cold blooded killer
Well wasnÆt he
Randidly shook his head This was wildly off topic
Beyond just telling her the truth there was the problem of what truths to tell That he was that orange haired man That he was Randidly Ghosthound Or just that he was from another Zone
A waste of time Randidly announced So he closed his eyes and focused on himself There were growing feelings towards Tatiana There was nothing he could do about that But he could set them aside for now Above personal issues finding the Creature was the most important
Briefly he considered trying to just sneak into the locations of high Tiered citizens but then he felt somewhat at a loss What was he even looking for The information he needed was likely to be disguised Although it was a tenuous plan focusing on drones gave him concrete goals and a path that he could follow These other ways that was the domain of people like Mrs Hamilton This was not his strong suit
So Randidly got to work
Besides he enjoyed it
Two days later Randidly emerged from his workshop disheveled and found Henrik This version of the Skylark left the man silent So much so that Randidly worried about whether he had made a mistake But then he was passed 400 00 and was told this was exactly what they needed Specifically RandidlyÆs version of the Skylark weighed the same amount as the previous version but he had been able to boost the thrust of it by almost 200%
Of course it could only maintain this increased boost for brief periods Otherwise it would overheat Or it would shake so much that the internal components could come out of line But it was a bit of progress nonetheless
Much of the inspiration for it had come from the recently acquired drones But he had only gone through two of them and was able to figure out several ways to adjust the runes inside of the drones Once he went through them all
But before he focused more directly on his plan to adjust the runic language he needed a product that would bring predictable income to him That would make it much easier to plan out how to proceed
Afterward Randidly returned to his underground base to train Honestly these past two months in Zone 1 he had spent a lot of time working on ancillary things He had gotten a bunch of PP in the process but letting the performance of his other Skills was not an option Especially because the invitation from Helen was for around four months from now
Shivering Randidly got to his spearwork It was a reassuring movement to stab with a spear These were his roots not literally and reminded him of simpler times in the Dungeon with Shal RandidlyÆs lip curled upward He wondered whether Shal would be his match when he returned to ShalÆs world It was hard to judge now how strong his teacher was
Especially because Randidly had the sense that something changed for Shal during the events at the end of the tournament He thought about asking Lucretia about it but decided against it mostly he didn’t want to ask because it meant they would need to talk about what would happen to Lucretia when he returned to that world
Receiving a generic request to meet from Karlito Randidly stopped his training early and headed back over to the shanty town When he arrived he was extremely surprised His old shanty was being dismantled by some locals They were putting up a more traditional house in its place
Karlito walked up next to him Did you hear the news
What that the neighborhood is being gentrified Randidly asked wryly looking around This whole area of town was shifting A lot of the buildings closer to town were already demolished and rebuilt in a much more enduring manner It was clear from the quality that these were being built to stand for a while
Well there is that but no Karlito said He was chuckling now barely restraining a grin on his face While one hand held his belly with the other he lifted a newspaper clipping and presented it to Randidly He scanned it quickly