Chapter 30: Blatant Challenge
That young man was a Pioneer, and that was just in this camp alone. In the other cramped camps, there were sure to be others too. Uhtred could see similar internal dynamics playing out across the remaining safe structures in the sector.
Meanwhile, far in the distance, Scorpion and his gang still occupied the vast majority of the pavilions. Yet these local Pioneers, who technically outnumbered Scorpion if they chose to band together, had not made a single decisive move to attack and try to overwhelm him.
The major reason Uhtred identified for this hesitation was the restrictive nature of the System’s no-killing rule within Zone 0. Because an attempt on Scorpion’s life was impossible inside the safe zone, it completely rendered null any plan to overwhelm him with sheer numbers.
Scorpion knew he could not die inside Zone 0. The absolute worst the other Pioneers could do to him here was inflict physical injuries.
In a standard fight between individuals of similar levels, it was easy for one side to die in a clash due to superior skill, a sudden stroke of luck, or environmental variables. But it was an entirely different scenario when that chance for death was capped by the system.
To overwhelm Scorpion under these rules, the difference in raw power had to be vast. The threat of violence had to be so absolute that Scorpion would feel entirely overwhelmed by the inevitability of the pain alone.
As things stood, Scorpion knew that no one currently present in the refugee camps possessed the attributes required to bypass his guard and cause him that level of severe, unmitigated trauma.
As if mirroring Uhtred’s internal deductions, Dennis spoke up, causing Uhtred’s opinion of the older scholar to rise even higher.
"...Only someone significantly more powerful than Scorpion can cause him to feel threatened by the mere idea of injury," Dennis said. "The threat of physical dominance has to be absolute. It has to reach a point where Scorpion knows, with absolute certainty, that there is no way for him to best his opponent."
Dennis’s flat eyes remained locked onto Uhtred as he spoke. His calm voice seemed to be the only sound left in the immediate area. The surrounding men had completely ceased their murmuring, their attention fully captured by the professor’s bold analysis.
"The question now is..." Dennis leaned in slightly, his gaze piercing. "...are you that much more powerful than Scorpion?"
A collective, heavy silence fell over the immediate crowd. Even the politician on the stone ledge seemed to have caught the tail end of the statement. His frantic speech died out as the entire crowd went dead quiet. The Level 3 Pioneer standing beside the politician stared with intense, calculating eyes, waiting breathlessly for Uhtred’s response.
No one in this sanctuary liked the passive, suffocating state of submission they had been forced into. The mere possibility of someone arriving who was capable of taking on Scorpion and shattering the status quo filled the desperate men with a sudden surge of hope.
Before Uhtred could offer a response, however, a loud commotion erupted from the distant sector where Scorpion and his camp held sway. The sound of piercing shrieks from a lot of women cut sharply across the open air, drawing the immediate attention of every single overcrowded camp in the vicinity.
Thousands of heads turned toward the gang’s territory. Scorpion’s men had marched a group of captured women out into the open, lining them up at the edge of their perimeter.
Striding directly to the front of the gang was a tall, well-built man, his hand aggressively tangled in the hair of one of the crying women.
Uhtred recognized him at first glance. It was the same guy he had seen during his initial freefall from the sky. The one built like a professional athlete who had been closest to him during the descent.
So he’s Scorpion? Uhtred’s eyes turned incredibly cold. He shifted his stance and began to stride forward out of the crowd just as the athletic man began to shout across the distance.
"New Pioneer!" Scorpion yelled, his eyes scanning the crowded outer structures. "Step the fuck out!"
His gaze flitted across the ranks of the refugees before quickly locking squarely onto Uhtred, targeting him before he had even fully stepped out of the crowd.
Their eyes met across the distance, and a flash of recognition flickered within Scorpion’s eyes, though there was still some analytical look in his eyes. It was clear he remembered Uhtred’s figure, but he didn’t explicitly recognize his face.
Uhtred didn’t say a word. He simply continued to walk forward, heading directly toward Scorpion’s camp with a measured, unhurried pace.
"Stay right there!" Scorpion barked, his grip tightening on his hostage.
But Uhtred didn’t stop.
Seeing the total lack of compliance, Scorpion unhesitatingly grabbed the woman’s arm, yanking it backward at a brutal angle until she let out a sharp, agonizing shriek of pain.
"I said stay right there, or I’m going to snap her arm!" Scorpion roared, a twisted, arrogant smirk breaking across his face. "I know I can’t kill her here, but I sure as hell can break her right in front of your face! Are you going to just stand there and watch as someone innocent screams because of you?!"
Uhtred’s gaze shifted to the woman’s face. Her teary eyes were locked onto his, pleading with immense desperation for him to make the agony stop, begging him to halt his advance so that the pressure on her shoulder would be relieved.
Uhtred briefly considered forging forward regardless of the hostage play, but a cold, calculating thought crossed his mind. He paused in his tracks, standing perfectly still in the middle of the open clearing, waiting.
Seeing Uhtred come to a complete halt, a wide, triumphant grin stretched across Scorpion’s face and he let out a mocking hiss.
"So you’re just another one of those fools who are still bound by the rules of the old world," Scorpion laughed, shaking his head. "I heard from the border guards that you were supposed to be some kind of unstoppable monster, yet here you are. Completely hung up over some random woman you don’t even know, when you could have just stepped forward and tried to do whatever the hell it is you came here to do."
Scorpion’s expression soured, turning thoroughly annoyed as he stared at Uhtred’s compliance. "You and I... pioneers like us, we’re a completely different breed than the rest of these common sheep. So why the hell do you limit yourself so pathetically?"
Uhtred stared back, his eyes completely flat as he let out a slow, weary sigh.
"What did I honestly expect anyway?" he muttered to himself, his voice completely devoid of emotion. "Anyone who manages to establish dominance this early has to have some kind of trick up their sleeve. Either they are completely broken in the head, or there is something very special about them."
He looked up, his flat gaze locking onto Scorpion’s smirking face. "I guess you’re just the former. You’re simply not alright in your head. You’ve coddled yourself into fancying that you’re fundamentally superior to everyone else here."
A faint, dangerous chuckle escaped Uhtred’s lips.
"Well... I suppose that makes things much easier for me... The exact same supremacy and weird ego thing you have going on right now... that is your fatal flaw," Uhtred stated as he grasped the pole of his obsidian star-metal battle-axe from the ground and pointed the blade towards Scorpion in challenge.
"I challenge you to a direct battle, Scorpion," Uhtred announced in a loud voice, enough that everyone, even the other camps heard very clearly. "If you are truly as ’supreme’ as you seem to believe, then a duel should pose no problem for an elite like yourself..."
Uhtred stared Scorpion dead in the eyes.
"Your goons are watching. The entire sector is watching. What are you going to do now?"
