When Rein walked out the door, she found a handsome blonde-haired man leading a group of thirty soldiers, each with Guided Arrows drawn.
"Oh yeah, I'm a cultivator and a bad muthafuckin' cultivator at that. Bring it bitch." Larkin grinned, shimming back and forth in the crab dance with twenty of the Guided Arrows pointed at him, "I'll clamp you to death."
The other arrows were pointed at Steve, aiming at them with a small arrow on the drugstore roof.
"You're pretty arrogant." A blonde female soldier scoffed, "You're staring down dozens of cultivation attacks, and you're clowning around? Even if you're strong, we have numbers."
Leo agreed with her, but when he saw the brunette walk out of the building with equal calm and confidence as Larkin and Steve, his anger turned to fear. "Lower your weapons!"
"What!?" A bearded soldier gruffed, "You're going to have us lower our weapons in front of cultivators? Sorry, but that's not happening--not in the apocalypse.
I'm with Sarah. They may be strong, so we should take advantage of our numbers."
"They don't seem like our enemies, Brandon." Leo swallowed nervously, "We should try talking this out, and we can't do that if we're aiming weapons at each other."
Originally, he thought the lanky man was an arrogant idiot and that the Asian man on the roof was weak because he had a tiny arrow pointed at them. So he had his people draw big arrows to show their strength.
However, the Asian man's confidence didn't change, nor did the crab man's arrogance.
Seeing the calm, rational blonde walking into the open was the nail in the coffin. It sent waves of dread ripping through his body. These people were confident for a reason!
"Platoon leader, we should kill these people." A man with a German accent said, "It's not personal. We're liabilities, and they're liabilities."
"I agree with Carl." Sarah said, "I'm not risking my life with unknown variables."
Rein stepped past Larkin as they talked, studying the blonde-haired man. He was smart enough to get her message. After seeing that Steve had successfully hidden the others she turned to the soldiers. "Leave."
Leo seized, hearing her words, but the others didn't back down.
"Are you serious?" Sarah snorted, brushing blonde hair from her eyes, "You're just as arrogant as that clown!"
"I won't draw this out as a farce." Rein said coldly, "You can leave peacefully or face the consequences of staying."
"Let's go!" Leo ordered, "We're not prepared--"
"What part of liability don't you get?" Carl asked coldly, "I'm not turning my back on these people and getting shot in the back."
Brandon pointed his arrow at Steve, noting that only one of them was ready to attack.
Rein sighed, thinking through scenarios to put an end to the situation. The problem was that she wasn't supposed to know about the Lainwright soldiers. She knew because she was part of the trusted demonstration groups; the other scavengers were scavenging to the east for the next two weeks.
Since their existence was confidential, she couldn't explain who they were without incorrectly seeding the thought Immortals knew about their families.
The best thing to do would be to make an example out of them for threatening her. However, she couldn't without destroying sensitive relationships with Lainwright.
Unfortunately, while she thought of a solution the Lainwright soldiers forced her hand.
"FIRE!" Brandon roared, jolting everyone into reflexive action.
WhooOOoooShhHhoooOoosSHh!
Multiple arrows shot at all of them simultaneously, cutting across the air.
BOOM!
The soldiers closed their eyes when extreme wind pressure pushed them back.
When the dust settled, they saw a weakened wall of warping Qi separating the two people.
"REIN, WHAT ARE YOUR ORDERS!?" Steve yelled.
Brandon, the burly, bearded soldier shooting at the Asian, eyes widened in astonishment, hearing his voice. He turned to a building 50 feet away and saw his target pointing an arrow at him.
"Did these muthafuckas just try to shoot us?" Larkin asked, the world catching up to him, "I think these muthafuckas just tried to shoot us."
Rein's mind was overloaded with information in an instant, trying to think of an order before she had to hold the angry jester back. Running out of options, she yelled out. "Leave this to me!"
"That means you, too, Larkin." Rein said coldly, looking at the jester, pointing a clamp at the soldiers, "Follow your orders."
Larkin clicked his tongue and spat on the ground. "Ya'll are lucky you didn't meet Carcinus' wrath."
Leo shuddered, seeing the large barrier still blocking the group and the panicked soldiers around him discussing how to get around it. "Stand down, soldiers!
"These people won't let us live, now!" Sarah yelled, her brown eyes panicked and trembling, "We need to fight back!"
Brandon pointed another arrow at Steve, staring him down. "That shield is weakened in the center!"
The right side of Rein's face twitched, hearing their words. It was clear that they couldn't hear the leniency in their voice.
"FIRE!" Carl yelled.
More panicked soldiers fired their arrows at her shield, breaking through it and forcing her to throw up another at lightning speed. She needed time to think!
The panicked soldiers didn't process how absurd it was that she threw up another one of greater intensity in a split second, so they fired another volley.
Moreover, Brandon and two others kept shooting arrows at Steve.
Rein's uncharacteristic patience and cool-headedness dwindled rapidly, and her twitching face turned crimson in anger. "GAHHHHhhHHHhhHHHhH! YOU'RE SO FUCKING STUPID!"
"AGHhHHhhHhhhHhhHHHHhHH!"
Rein released her cultivation base, dropping all thirty to their knees, clutching their throats.
"I'm throwing up barriers to [think] on the fucking battlefield!" She snapped, enraged, "Don't you think that's odd? Don't you think someone who can just stand here and block dozens of cultivation attacks from thirty people is way out of your league?"
"I-It's just a barrier." Brandon stuttered, not thinking, "W-Why would we--"
BOOM! CRaaaCk!
The brunette didn't take kindly to the man's words, so she made the barrier smaller and smashed it down on the man's back, cracking the ground as she knocked him out.
He spasmed on the ground, so she waved her hand, making him glow red. Everyone who could see him was shocked, seeing his wounds healing and his breathing stabilized.
They could also use Minor Healing. However, they couldn't do so with even a fraction of her speed or efficacy. So their knowledge of what she was doing put their power differential into perspective!
"The only available answer to my words was [I'm sorry, I'm stupid as fuck, please spare us], you idiot!" Rein stomped, turning to the soldiers, "Look at our clothes--does it look like we're injured? Starving, wretched, or depraved?
Despite it being the fucking apocalypse, my teammate looks like he just got out of a business meeting! Does it look like we're struggling to survive?"
All the soldiers froze in disbelief, seeing Steve wearing name-brand fitted clothing with business shoes instead of boots. He was clean-shaven and had a professional haircut from Addison.
"Yeah, that's right--now look at you." The short-haired brunette scoffed, "You're soldiers that don't know how to follow orders, and look like they've gone through a crash course in hell!"
-
"KyahhHHHhahhhHhahhHH!"
"I'll kill you!"
"Come here, bitch! I'm gonna rip off your limbs and beat you with them!"
"DIE!"
-
"GAH!" Rein stomped in frustration, hearing the sick running through the area. She was not in a good mood, and she was going to let the Lainwright soldiers and the sick know it.
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