The Floran Colony (18)

"Wait!" Lenny stopped Peri that was about to walk away. "You still need to help John to find a colony." Lenny spoke.

"I know. I won't back down on my promises."

"And I should just trust you?" Lenny reached for his revolver.

"It's your choice whatever you trust or not." Peri readied her spear.

Both stared at each other. The intensity of the standoff was so great that the Florans behind Peri just kept silent and watched as things unfold.

"Wow, I just came and I'm witnessing a quite good show." A voice suddenly could be heard coming from inside the BSS Outpost.

Lenny and Peri turned at the source.

They watched as a young man with red hair and wearing a formal black suit emerged from the backdoor together with two soldiers wearing an armor that was colored with a mixture of blue and green.

The armors were obvious a lot less bulky than the Syndicate soldier's armor, but this soldiers' aura was a lot stronger and threatening.

"Jevil..." Lenny recognized the young man at first glance.

Even though he was half dead drunk when he met him, he still was able to remember that person, after all, it really left some deep impression.

"Lenny, good to see you. How long since our last meeting? Three or should I say four days?" Jevil smiled warmly and approached Peri and Lenny. "And... Who might this lady be?" Jevil curiously glanced at the female Floran and then at the kids behind her. "Wait... I think I saw you before?" Jevil had the impression he had already seen Peri before.

"Yes, I was one of the Underworld Facility's employee for quite some time." Peri was unsurprised that Jevil didn't know her, after all, she was just another employee, and Jevil was a very busy man.

"Oh? Maybe I remember you from some report or something alike." Jevil stopped trying to remember since it would probably be useless. He always had a lot of employees and he didn't have time and neither the will to remember about all of them.

"What are doing here?" Lenny suspiciously stared at Jevil. "It's pretty far away from the nearest Ancient Gateway."

"Oh?" Jevil saw the suspicion and cautiousness in Lenny's eyes. "Do I make you nervous, unsettling?"

"Yes. After all, you are quite a big deal, and you are now in this forsaken place. It really makes people wonder..." Lenny casually smiled, but his hand was still gripped at the revolver in his holster.

The soldiers that were at Jevil's side all turned their sights at Lenny and lifted their guns.

"Nothing much, you know..." Jevil waved his hand and the soldiers lowered their weapons, but they kept staring at Lenny, waiting for any harsh movement so that they could open fire.

"I'm here to meet with... Oscar." Jevil was looking at Lenny's expression when he said that so he saw the subtle changes in his expression when he said the name Oscar.

"What's your relationship with him?" Lenny's face became expressionless as he coldly asked. His hand gripped harder on the revolver.

"Nothing much, I think." Jevil started to tease Lenny. "You can say that I'm a business partner with his... Boss."

"Ferris... Laparte...?" Lenny's face became ugly to the extreme with the mention of that name.

"Yes, that's the one."

"Business partner with that blue Novakid's boss?" Peri, that was being ignored all this while, spoke up. "That means you are involved in the case of my tribe being hazed to the ground?" Her grip on the spear strengthened.

"Perhaps..." Jevil flashed a subtle smile at Peri.

Peri's eyes squinted as she slowly lifted her spear.

One of the Rebellion's soldier saw her moves so he pointed his gun at her while the other soldier pointed the gun at Lenny that just had drawn his revolver.

"Now, that's a standoff." Jevil's smile became wider. He looked completely unaffected by the tense atmosphere he just created.

"You better explain yourself... My patience has a limit and my finger is very restless today, I might start to fire some bullets here and now." Lenny stared at Jevil.

"..." Peri silently agreed with Lenny.

"Oh... The tension is rising up. I like this. I really, really like this." Jevil's eyes flashed with madness. His smile was as big as it humanly possible.

"Master..." One of the soldiers tapped at Jevil's shoulder.

This move of the Rebellion's soldier woke Jevil from his... Peculiar state.

"Sorry about that, I was just teasing you guys. Come on, how about a laugh or two to ease up the atmosphere?" Jevil innocently chuckled.

Both Peri and Lenny stood there, emotionlessly watching Jevil, with their weapons ready.

"No, I wasn't involved in this operation at all." Jevil said to Peri. "And my relationship with Oscar is just because both of us work under someone that is part of the Letheia Corporation." Jevil turned back to Lenny.

"You? Letheia Corporation?" Lenny was unconvinced. "Why are you with Nova Rebellion's soldiers then? The Nova Rebellion and the Letheia Corporation are usually at odds with each other to the point they kill when they see one another."

"It's... A long story. One that I ain't got time to tell you." Jevil dodged Lenny's question.

"Oh...? But I have plenty of time." Lenny doesn't want to let Jevil go without explaining.

"Yes, you have." Jevil seriously nodded, but then casually smiled. "But I think he doesn't?" Jevil was talking about John that was still on the ground.

Lenny glanced at John and saw that even though the RIL syringe had done its job, the wound was still very serious and John needed medical attention.

His expression became ugly as he looked back and forth, between John and the smiling Jevil.

"Alright..." Lenny placed his revolver back to the holster. "I'll leave... This time." He turned his back at Jevil and crouched by John's body.

"Hey, cowboy, not that fast." Jevil squinted his eyes.

"What do you want?" Lenny angrily turned and stared at Jevil.

"You have something that belongs to me, you know." Jevil's eyes flashed with a cold light.

"I don't have anything."

"It's inside Oscar's PIPS." Jevil said. "I know you are with it."

Lenny glanced at the PIPS that was on his pants' pocket. "I don't think I have the obligation of giving it to you." He won't give it back to Jevil even if it might cause him to die. There's a lot of things that he needed inside Oscar's PIPS.

His hand went toward the revolver in his holster, once again.