"Where?!"
On one corner of a ruined structure here in the abandoned place of this world, Sen was interrogating the one-armed Darkgen Pilot. He didn't look like a Corrupted denizen of this world, a Dark World denizen most likely.
I just don't know what they call themselves and they really haven't introduced themselves when they first appeared according to Nysia. That was why she settled on calling them Darkbugs as it was the first thing she thought of upon seeing them and it's the most convenient for her.
One thing is for sure though, this guy is from one of the thirty tribes which the Principal mentioned. Each tribe seemingly had different pathways but they all use the same Source Energy which is the Dark Energy. Could it be related to the Transcendent Pathway? Or that's just the true nature of that world?
One day, I really need to step my foot on one of the higher worlds to check it.
With a suppressed grunt which was seemingly enduring the pain he was currently feeling, Sen's question towards the Darkgen Pilot bore no answer.
Well, I expected that but at least this confirmed that there really are Darkgens around this place according to the reports.
Earlier, seeing that we got a captive, Sen volunteered to interrogate him. I let him do it since he's too eager to do it and it's kind of boring to let me handle everything. Right now, I'm the strongest among them so I will always aim to end any conflict faster than drag it out to lure whoever's with this guy.
It was still dark so I had them choose a place we could settle that could be defended well and had at least three escape routes. With Sen already taking the first credit for volunteering as an interrogator, the other four eagerly split up to find one place which fit my description.
Everything here was an abandoned ruin of a country from the previous era. Even if there's someone living near here, they would surely run away if there was a fight amongst Metagens.
A few minutes after the four set out to look for a place, Dali reported that she found one which checked all the criteria I put out.
Settling into that place to interrogate and wait for the sun to rise, the Metagens we were using was put back into its compressed sphere state. The material compression technology really eased a lot of hardships that we would've taken to hide those 10-meter tall Metagens.
In this place devoid of any allies apart from us, It's dangerous to go out when it's still dark. If I didn't allow them to scout earlier, we would've been spotted and reported to whoever's with that Darkgen scout. Though it would be ideal to have them all come and be dealt with all at once, I need to know why they're here first.
Smuggling? Mining? Planting something?
I can guess a number of things but none of those will be confirmed unless I see it with my own eyes.
This is supposed to be an easy mission, right? Three days and we're out. But just arriving at the place, we already encountered a Darkgen scout and there's probably more.
Since this place is kind of away from the remaining civilization. We have a limited range of communication. I wouldn't be able to contact Nysia from here using the holographic phone but I could send a distress signal to her or the three Heroes I got in contact. It would send a simple message about my location where I send the distress signal.
However, that's something I would only use when truly needed and it's not like I wouldn't have any way to contact Nysia.
? After around 30 minutes of interrogation that resulted in nothing, the Dark World denizen died while laughing at Sen.
Well, we just have to scour the place where he appeared. Something was probably happening at this place.
It hasn't been long since that scout was captured by us. If the other Darkgens were at a certain distance from here then they still didn't know that he was already compromised. Now's the ideal time to check on them but should I go alone or take one or two of them with me?
Ah. It defeats the purpose of having them here if I go alone, right? They wanted credit and good impression from me, let's use them then.
Having decided that, I turned towards the 5 Elite Members of the League. The other four were tense when I stood up from where I was sitting. Only Sen was somewhat downcast from not producing any results. That's disappointing, true but he's beating himself up over something uncertain since the start.
"I'll take the two of you with me, we'll go on foot to search the place and will not engage upon discovering something. We will only determine if the place is devoid of any enemies. The three of you will stay here. Make something out of this place to turn it into our hideout for the time we will be here. We'll be back before noon."
All of them saluted and waited for my next words. Even Sen. He suddenly had a hopeful expression upon him thinking he will be picked again since he's one of the two Rank A. However, I won't pick depending on rank but based on their awakened abilities.
I refreshed my memories of their profiles. I need someone who could react to any situation and someone who wouldn't be easily suspected as an enemy if he was spotted.
Well, anyone is good since I still don't know what I should expect.
With the Darkgens possibly doing something here, patrolling using a Metagen with only our team present at this location wasn't ideal. That would be suicide for them.
Well, I could escape on my own but these guys, I should at least keep them alive.
"Nell and Oni. You're coming with me."
Hearing their names being called out, the two were overjoyed, though the other three were dejected, they started carrying out my command to make this place our hideout.
After putting on a black robe to cover our bodies wearing the uniform of the League, I set out from the hideout with the two, putting Oni who's the tallest between us three in the middle.
Nell is a woman in her early 20's who could be called a prodigy in this world. She has a high chance to become a Core Pilot after all. Compared to Sen who's already past his prime age and the others who were still Rank B in terms of Brain Capacity, she only needed a little push to raise her Rank to S.
Being a Core Pilot, she would receive more benefits than what she's getting now, especially having her own Specialized Metagen.
Oni on the other hand is a man who's true to his name, he looked like an oni. I didn't mean to judge but that's just how he is. He could scare children just by standing on one corner that's why half his face was covered by stretching his turtle neck shirt.
He's in his 30's but I guess if his Brain Capacity got another boost, he might also reach Rank S but considering how hard it is for them to advance a stage, it's already a feat to reach Rank B and Gold-rank.
Taking the two of them with me, we looked like a group of vagrants searching the wilderness for hope.
Of course, we didn't fully expose ourselves. It's night and the place was only illuminated by the Moon above.
Err… that moon also looked darker than normal. Probably because of the Invading Forces using that as their base.
I have the Orb of Concealment with me so if anything goes wrong we will retreat immediately.
An hour into our walk and scouting, I've come to a realization that this world was once a thriving world with many civilizations existing. The discovery of regenium might have increased the quality of life, it also led to the endless conflict until it reached this stage. Sounds like the same dilemma that was happening in some places on Earth.
Well, the difference is, here the resource is seemingly inexhaustible that's why its value is unimaginable.
"I picked up something from that direction."
Nell pulled me out of my overthinking as she pointed to the west. Her ability is called Enhanced Senses, it's a bit weak compared to control-type abilities but it's extremely useful for reconnaissance and combat. As a Gold-rank, she claimed that she only has Enhanced Smell and Enhanced Hearing for now and it's not passive, she needed to spend Meta Energy to activate it. She's the one most suited to be a Scout but I guess she didn't want to be one.
In any case, she understood her ability pretty well that she could apply it properly to any situation.
Following where she pointed at, we changed our direction to head towards the west.
Still wearing the black robe over our bodies, my Adaptability also started to pick up something the closer we got to her estimated place. We went up to a higher vantage point to see clearly
The sun still need an hour before it peeked out from the horizon, as long as no one has the same ability as Nell or there's no scout constantly scanning the area, we wouldn't be spotted
When we reached the highest point, Nell pointed somewhere. I followed it and saw figures stealthily walking in and out of a ruin. It's not just one.
"That's probably a Black Market, however..."
Oni commented as his gaze also went to another direction where a Darkgen with the same model as the one I took down was standing.
A Black Market that caters to the Darkgens? Good. Very good.
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