CH 40: Baiting

Moments ago, as Noah entered the grounds of the second test, he realized that they were transported to a jungle once more. The exact nature of their location eluded his understanding. Not understanding if they were being transported to a new place or entering a virtual reality that simulated their heads.

"Can you still feel the pull?"

— Yes. It's far stronger in this place, as a matter of fact.

The knowledge gave him the realization of all he desired to confirm. Everything was indeed real, no form of virtual reality engine was in play here. That… or their minds were being warped so vigorously, their perception thrown completely off, that they were unable to distinguish reality from mental simulation. A possible prospect, as it was the workings of an advanced civilization beyond anything he had ever encountered.

Then let's go kill 'em all.

The mission was quite simple, all things considered. 

Kill and Devour.

Once he was able to siphon enough energy from his enemies, then he would finally be able to accomplish the single greatest goal that had been haunting him for so many years, throughout his stay on this desolate planet. 

Well, that was how it was supposed to go, but— 

Shit!

Faster than he could witness with his own eyes, his senses flared alive and made him feel more than he could have seen with his eyes alone. Immediately, a chilling and sickening feeling crept up his spine, warning him of incoming and inevitable danger. 

Every bit of his senses rang simultaneously, sublimating for the first time in a long while. His perception heightened to such a degree that, for a moment, he felt time slow down to a crawl for him as he observed each and every detail with his eyes and enhanced senses. 

The muscles all over his body tightened and thousands of extremely small dark tendrils, like the finest silk threads, ejected out of his undulating armor and merged to form a semi-circular shield. Once the object manifested into existence, it stood right in front of him, ready to shield Noah from the incoming danger. 

Damnit!

Deafening noises followed the sound of multiple explosions as the shock of a thousand galloping horses blasted through Noah's body and he found himself propelled more than a dozen meters away from his previous location. All the bones inside his body rattled like the tail of a rattlesnake from the lethal shock of the impact, however, he hadn't sustained any significant injuries thanks to the shields he had deployed. The minor wounds that accompanied the shock were now visibly healing as he oriented himself once more.

Noah didn't even bother to look behind him and identify the identity of his attacker. No, he spun on his feet and ran as fast as his powers enabled him to, making sure to throw off his trail by moving in unpredictable and irregular paths. As he ran, his armor bulged and two eerie red eyes formed on the bulge of his back armor, shifting as they observed the scene behind. Meanwhile, a screen popped up in Noah's side vision, connecting his mind to the eyes, allowing him to see the scenes the eyes of the Parasite Queen were able to witness.

Immediately, he was able to identify the perpetrator; he couldn't help but curse at the top of his lungs at the sight as he mouthed the name of his attacker. 

"Knightframe."

Over the horizon, he could see one hulking giant of steel standing around 5 meters high. It was one of the mechas that belonged to the pirates.

The test that he found himself in was not a battle royale between men in power armors but a no-holds-barred match where basically everything was allowed, even using mechas. 

Noah immediately assessed his chances of victory and determined that they were minimal, at least at this distance where he had no avenue of attacking.

The saving grace was that this mecha was not designed for ground warfare. Much less one in a forest filled with so many obstacles wherever you sight reached.

He doubted he would have been able to outrun a mecha on even ground but the terrain helped him to mitigate the disadvantage somewhat. 

.

.

.

Once time flowed back to normal, the bullet time Noah was temporarily experiencing due to the heightening of his senses ending, he continued cursing away like a sailor as a heavy missile missed him by mere inches and detonated far away. 

He was sure that he could recover and win the fight if he put his mind to it but it would be a painful fight with more to lose than gain. 

However, Noah wasn't just running aimlessly and helplessly at the moment. Whenever he moved, he would make sure to barrel straight into any massive tree he could find in his path.

This barely slowed him down but it was a nightmare for the humongous Knightftame to outmaneuver due to its bulky frame.

Furthermore, he had another goal for running so frantically. The mecha was nothing more than a hunting hound, herding him toward a certain predetermined destination.

An ambush was most likely awaiting him somewhere out there; the mecha was maneuvering him to that location.

However, he didn't sweat. That was already in his calculations.

— Do you really wish to gamble?

"Life is always a gamble."

The only thing that confused him was that— the hound chasing him was pretty unskilled, all things considered. 

———

In the depths of the forest, where Omid and his crew made camp, the mood was extremely somber and drenched in silence.

"Captain… The prey is approaching. Do we advance?"

Nineteen. 

Out of the nineteen, the majority who survived were foot soldiers rather than mecha pilots.

This did not come as much of a surprise for Omid; after inquiring he realized that all the mecha pilots had been more or less compromised after going through the first mission.

Even so, this was a huge blow for his crew, and at any other time he would have been devastated by this result but now… Omid clutched the small core in his hand with unending glee, his face reflecting his mind, as he sat on the cockpit of his Knightframe.

The death of his soldiers? Nothing more than an afterthought for him as he glanced at the core. 

Once he exited this gate after finishing this mission, he would probably become the hegemon of this part of the galaxy with the strength this core would grant him. He was about to become a powerhouse like no other.

"Everyone… Surround him from all sides and put him down as swiftly as possible. Be careful though. I do not know who we are facing but it does not matter. The only thing that matters is that he is eliminated."

His voice was calm, hiding the excitement reverberating in his mind, "As for me, I will digest the rewards in preparation for the next phase of our plan. Whatever you guys obtained, I will not ask them of you. You just have to do your job and reap the rewards you guys have obtained."

The pirates, who had been worried, all released sighs and gasps of veritable relief. None of them had managed to obtain a core but even so, they had been rewarded with small condensed essences.

These essences were useless to people like Omid who were equipped with the ability to use Dark Matter but in the Market, it could sell for hundreds of thousands of credits.

The reason?

It allowed those who swallowed them to open their minds to the cosmos and finally observe Dark Matter for themselves and gain the insight to influence that energy. 

Of course, the reason such things 'only' sold for hundreds of thousands rather than millions was because the belated opening of their senses to the illustrious Dark Matter was filled with so much impurity and deficiency that it did not matter much in the long run and whoever opened their senses instead of being born with it would never amount to much. 

The pills were also a form of psychedelic drugs and the chances of someone losing their mind as they entered into contact with what was theorized to be a higher dimension were extremely high.

Unsafe, risk of brain death, limited potential. 

So many faulty points and yet the pirates were holding it like it was the greatest treasure to them. That's how the ignorant usually worked after all. 

"Don't take those pills now as it will make you helpless. Those who received mecha training can choose one of the empty ones. As for the last mechas, leave them here. We will find a way when we go back. I already disabled the navigation system so they are unusable."

There were 21 mecha and only 19 pirates. Even then not all of them were equipped with the capability to use the mechas as they had never been trained so.

"Understood!"

Once he finished giving all the orders— The Scorched, his Knightframe, started trudging away from their group, veiling itself in isolation.

For one, while he wanted to completely assimilate the core to his Mecha now, such a thing could not be done simply because he wanted to. The only thing he could do now was change the core and let his frame adjust itself gradually to the power that the new core would provide him while he also did the same and attuned himself to the power of the Earth Core.

He would need to find people he could trust and a skilled mechanic to rework his frame in its entirety so that it could truly become suitable to the core and draw the greatest amount of power from the core binding. 

Should I contact Gepeto through Cassim?

Omid shuddered at the thought. He was sure that Cassim would not develop greed for his gains. His other fellow pirates had higher chances of backstabbing him than their leader. He was honorable and just that way, a trait he liked as he could exploit it as he desired.

But Gepeto…

Omid discarded the thoughts and focused on the situation at hand. The reason why he was not following his subordinates and wanted to power himself up as fast as possible was simple.

Omid was feeling threatened.

He realized this through the last trial but those trials were fair and merely gave a slight handicap that could theoretically be overcome if they utilized all of their powers and potential.

If the mission was 19 vs 1 then… He couldn't even imagine what kind of monster they would have to face ahead.

Please, guys. Die for my sake and send me the information I need to destroy that guy.

His eyes were cold and ruthless. He was too close now to his goal to falter on his path. Too close to simply give up and gamble with his life. To succeed, he would willingly sacrifice everything and everyone.

He could always create a new pirate group. But he could not revive. He needed to survive; then he would rule this galaxy.

———

(AN: What do you guys think of Omid? I wanted to develop him enough to not make him too one dimensional.)