Chapter 162 - Bullshit Reward

"Hey! Oliver! It's all clear!"

Jack called out to the tree branches where he had left Oliver. But, there was no response. Suddenly, coming from the bushes behind him, something tapped his back.

Turning around forcefully, Jack drew his sword and pointed the blade directly at his unknown assailant.

"Oi. Calm down, man," Oliver spoke in a soft voice as he held the blade with two fingers.

"You shouldn't sneak up on people like that. It's not good for my heart, you know. And, it's especially not good if you get cut because of it."

"Alright. Chill," Oliver said as he dusted himself, "What do you mean it's all clear?"

"Oh," Jack answered as he started to go down the path back to the camp, "They want to thank us for our help in saving their comrades. So, you know, they aren't pissed at us."

"That's... great..?"

Suspicious of what Jack had just said, Oliver didn't know how to react. He had successfully planned for things going south, so much so, he was ready to kill people the very moment he felt like it.

With Strider by his side, Oliver followed Jack into the forward camp. From there, he noticed that nearly everyone was staring directly at them.

Being the center of attention was definitely not something an assassin would want.

Regardless, they continued forward as they reconciled with the small group of soldiers they had previously saved. With them leading the way, they soon entered a small tent. Inside of which was a man smoking a rather large cigar.

"Ah, welcome."

The older gentleman greeted Oliver and Jack as they entered the tent. The other soldiers that brought them here immediately stepped out as soon as they finished their duty to bring them here.

However, the thought that popped into Oliver's head at this very moment wasn't anything particularly noteworthy.

'Man, this guy's lungs are shot.'

The large cigar and the deep yet hoarse voice indicated this man's consumption of tobacco. It didn't help that the very moment they entered the tent, Oliver could smell the intense odor of the cigar.

Perhaps it was Oliver's own opinion on the matter, but he noted that the older man was not going to live any longer.

Clearing his throat of the smoking aroma, Oliver spoke up.

"What do you want with us?"

His voice expressed some aggression and hostility towards the older gentleman standing directly in front of him. Despite his initial impressions, Oliver wouldn't mistakenly lower his guard because of some idealistic promise.

"My men spoke of your merit in battle," the older gentleman answered, followed by a rather rough cough. "I would like to thank you for saving them. Based on the reports, I assume you two are evolvers?"

Throwing Jack a glance, Oliver expressed his doubt of the situation at hand. How they answered would serve as the foundation of the conversation moving forward.

"Yeah," Jack answered with rather shaky confidence, "But, we aren't all that strong."

Oliver couldn't really tell what Jack was going for with that response. By mentioning they weren't a big threat, these people would then underestimate them.

It was a well-enough tactic, Oliver admitted. However, it wasn't something that Oliver could use to scare people. They, unintentionally, went for a more friendly route.

"I see," the old man leaned back on his chair, which creaked slightly at the shift of his weight. "Still, you saved my men. You have my thanks. And, as a reward..."

The old man heavily coughed mid-way through his sentence. After a rather slight recovery and a sip of water, he stood up and opened a nearby drawer.

"I would like you to join us."

Handing both Oliver and Jack each a form, the old man had a big smile on his face. It was as if he was proud of what he was doing, which was rather ill-received by both of them.

"You want us to join you? That's your reward?"

Oliver's face turned into visible disgust as he heard the words coming out of the old man's mouth. He couldn't help but think that this was some prank.

"It's the only way I can guarantee your protection in these trying times. We could use all the manpower we can get to accomplish our mission."

"You're joking, right? We saved your people from a swarm of rodents. And, you want us to ask for your protection? If anything, it should be the other way!"

With the absurdity of the older man's suggestions, Oliver swatted away the form. Jack, on the other hand, was similarly upset. However, he didn't do anything that would escalate the situation any further.

As Oliver let out a deep breath, he turned around to leave the tent. However, upon doing so, the flap suddenly opened. Then, armed men holding their weapons stormed into the tent, effectively surrounding Jack and Oliver.

Despite Oliver's rather disgruntled appearance, he was calm.

The sudden turn of events wouldn't startle one that had a living devil inside him. He was calm, but one voice inside him was pushing him to do something.

'Kill.'

The voice that rang in his head wasn't his, nor was it the devil's. In fact, it might be a combination of both of their voices.

Regardless, Oliver stifled his inner demons for a little while as he wanted to wait for what the old man would do in retaliation. Even in such a precarious situation, Oliver knew better than to kill everyone in one-sided manslaughter.

"You have us surrounded. What do you want?"

A steeled yet eerily calm voice came out of Oliver's mouth as his face visibly darkened. He was trying his best to shut down his own killing intent.

"Join us. This isn't a request."

In response, the old man's hoarse voice suddenly pitched to a threatening one. He clearly didn't know who he was messing with.

"Jack. What do you think?"

Oliver didn't want to kill people out of pure spite. Furthermore, doing so in front of Jack was rather unprofessional. He was an assassin. Not some deranged killer.

"Do what we normally do," Jack's mouth inched slightly to a smile, "I recognize disrespect when I see it. But, let's tone it down a bit, yeah?"

"Tsk. Fine," Oliver's straight face turned into a wicked smile, "If they screw us over later, it's your funeral."

Hearing what Oliver and Jack were saying, one of the soldier's fingers inched towards the trigger.

"Now."

Seizing the opportunity, Oliver pulled [Wolf's Fang] from his inventory and activated Wolf's Pride. With his Strength and Agility increased, Oliver shifted out of the soldiers' sight.

In an utter surprise, one of the soldiers flinched and took a step back.

The first mistake.

Appearing behind the soldier who flinched, Oliver used this moment to trip the guy off-balance. Which he successfully conducted with a simple yet delicate leg sweep.

While Oliver was doing this, Jack pulled out his Mana Pistol and shot at a nearby soldier. The blue bullet appeared with but a single thought, clipping the soldier on his shoulder.

The two then continued to execute a beautiful display of teamwork that took their opponents for a loop. As Oliver brutally threw the soldiers off-balance, Jack managed to dodge attacks while firing bullets. The two knocked out the soldiers in a matter of seconds.

"Reconsider your offer?"

Oliver appeared in a lunging position as he poked his dagger at the old man's chin. And, almost at the same time, Jack pointed his gun directly at the old man's forehead.

Knocking out and incapacitating all the soldiers that had surrounded them, the feat was nothing but extraordinary. Oliver didn't even break a sweat while Jack's heartbeat stayed the same.

"You killed them?"

With two weapons locked onto him, the old man tensed up incredibly. He had no idea evolvers were capable of so much damage, let alone these two teenagers who were half his age.

"No," Jack said calmly and offered a sincere smile to express his honesty, "I stunned them. He probably knocked them out and injured them slightly. I promise you that whatever I did is significantly better off than what he did."

That definitely wasn't an understatement.

Oliver's methods were a lot more brutal than Jack's. Jack simply controlled the gun's output and stunned them with each shot. It was akin to that of a rubber bullet, while Oliver's attacks were a completely different story.

Well, that didn't really matter now.

"So, here's what's going to happen," Oliver said.

But then, much to the old man's surprise, Oliver removed his dagger from the old man's neck. Then, he stood perfectly still and stared, eyes unblinking.

"We're leaving."

"Seriously?" Jack asked as he lowered his weapon.

"Yeah," Oliver answered with a relatively casual voice as he turned around and left, whatever merciless expression on his face vanished without a trace.

As Oliver left the tent, Strider, who had been resting all this time, followed his master out. Then, confused as to what had just happened, Jack followed after giving the old man a quick, sincere smile.

"Hey," Jack said as he caught up to Oliver, "We're seriously going to leave it like that?"

Oliver smiled and shook his head. It was as if this was his plan all along.

"Yeah," he answered, "It may not look like it, but we're sowing some seeds for the future. Who knows, maybe someday they'll actually help us. Then again, maybe not."

"Pretty sure you're just messing with me. There's no way you'd thought that far ahead."

"Hey. We left unharmed and didn't have to go killing anybody. Your hands are clean. Take that as a victory so that we can move on, yeah?"

"Right... Fair is fair. Before we leave, mind if I say something to a friend first?"

"Make it quick."

The time difference between the Tree and Ark City was a few hours apart. Despite leaving a lot earlier than Oliver had originally planned, the sun was starting to set. Moving around in the dark might not be the best idea.

Fortunately, just a few minutes later, Jack returned. The three of them had finally gotten back on track as they left for the city center.

As Oliver walked at a casual pace, his mind drifted as to if Rynold would actually show up to help him or not.

"Damn it."

After a few hours since Oliver left, Rynold had gotten frustrated in the process. He couldn't wrap his head around why he had failed multiple times over. It just didn't make any sense.

"You're rushing it," Prominence Alpha butted in, "You're not gonna make any progress if you're going to keep speeding things up."

"No shit," Rynold answered with much frustration, "I just thought it'd be much easier this time. But, the metal won't make the shape that I want it to make. The consistency during the alloying process keeps messing up. The damned Mana Crystal won't even fit to the specifications."

Rynold was flustered beyond compare.

Scattered around him were numerous scraps of metal that had been the result of failures. Despite the Spirit of Fire's help in this regard, Rynold just grew more frustrated every time he failed. What's worse was the fact that he wasn't improving in the slightest. It was as if Rynold were in a slump.

"Buckle down, human," Prominence Alpha's rather prominent voice echoed within Rynold's head, thus forcing him to calm down. "It's not easy making something new entirely from scratch. You knew that before even taking in this project."

Clicking his tongue, Rynold sat down on a nearby stool. He was frustrated, sure, but the best he could do right now was to work through this.

"Damn it."

Grabbing the [Hammer of the Worthwhile] once more, Rynold approached the same table he had been working over for the past few hours. Letting out a deep sigh, Rynold steeled his determination once more.

This time around, Rynold was going to give it his all.