Chapter 20 -- Leave or help

Lex was pleasantly surprised to out the capabilities of Angela.

{Where you always able to do this ?} he inquired.

{Nope, it came with the full system unlock} Angela replied before going on to say

{And before you ask , i can't just give you rewards for free and i cant give you useless quests just so you get rewards}

Lex would be lying if he said the thought of taking advantage of Angela didn't cross his mind. However he was still happy with what he got.

{Will i evolve if i complete this quest } Lex asked as he continued walking towards Linda and Tina.

{Yes you will} Angela confirmed.

Lex wanted to complete the quest as fast as possible because he could not wait to see the rewards. Completing Angela's quest would mean completing the other system quest , which would mean Lex would get double rewards.

{Angela i might need to tell my whole team the truth pretty soon}

{Why would you do that ?, i thought you were only telling Adam} Angela questioned

{Correct me if I'm wrong but the more quests I complete the more powerful I become. The more powerful I become the harder it will be to hide my strength, especially from my team} Lex answered as his mind drifted off into deep thought

{You have a point there, but i would advise you not to tell them about how your system is different. Just say the hybrid stuff but keep me secret.}

Lex nodded as he started to think about how he will break the news. He trusted his team with his life, the only person he was not sure about was Michael but it was impossible to keep him out of it.

"Hey guys" Lex said with a smile while waving at the two girls. Tina was giggling, which made Lex think he interupted an important conversation between them. Something also told him that the conversation was about him on account of the smile on Tina's face.

"Hey 'Captain' how you doin' ?" Tina said as her smile grew with every word. Linda on the other hand was playing with her shinny green hair while facing the ground.

"Im great Tina uhh Laura summoned us to the tent" Lex said while stealing glances at Linda.

"Ohh sure thing, lead the way boss. That's where the locals from Rion are staying." Tina said in her cherry voice. Lex imagined that she and Adam would make the most perfect couple.

"I was wondering where the people where" Lex said to Tina while in his mind , a commotion was arising ' She is quiet , she is never this quiet , is it me ? She was talking before i got here so it has to be me, i interupted her , she is probably pissed off at me '

At the same time in Linda's mind ' do i really like him ? would he even like me back ? i mean he has never shown it and if he did he would have said something that night at the convenience store '

After a couple of meters, Lex and the two girls met up with the rest of team Cursed as they made their way to Laura. They found her standing outside the large tent and she went in when the team approached.

After entering the tent , Lex saw about 40 humans sitting there in silence.Most of them where wearing normal clothes used for farming while a few wore metal armour similar to that of knights. Lex could sense that the armoured humans had more force than the others but not enough for them to be Cultivators.

"Who is your leader ?" Laura questioned the villagers . They all however did not answer and just glanced at one of me men wearing armour.

That man stood up and took a step forward. He was very tall with dark skin and had muscles on top of his muscles. His har was brown and cut short.

"Our village elder was killed yesterday. My name is Rocky , i am the new chief . I would like to thank you for saving my people."

Rocky declared with a bow. He had the deepest voice Lex had ever heard, to the point that Lex thought his throat was damaged.

"Nice to meet you Rocky. What can you tell me about the lions that attacked you ?" Laura appealed.

"Nothing new , we only know what we told the base during the distress call. Last week a few rank 1 beasts attacked, but we where able to take care of them. Then they started to increase in numbers every day until yesterday the four rank two lions came. It took 10 hunters and the previous chief to kill just one and the chief later died from his injuries."

The attention of team Cursed moved to Lex at that point. They all wore confused expressions. Lex knew what was going through all their minds and Adam was about to ask something when Rocky continued talking.

"The funny part is that they did not immediately kill us all , they instead imprisoned us inside the city hall. Every five or so hours one lion would come and pick off one person." Tears started to appear in Rocky's eyes before he finished his story " just today they took my son, the only family i have left...." he sniffled

"I'm sorry for your loss" Laura comforted " but we need to move forward. A military cargo plane is coming in an hour , gather all your belongings and..."

"We are not going anywhere , this is our home and if it comes down to it we will die trying to protect it." Rocky passionately remarked while the rest of the villagers nodded their heads in agreement.

Laura knew that there was no use trying to convince Rocky and the others. She saw the passion in his eyes, he had lost something that meant the world to him. Leaving the village would mean they lost all those who sacrificed themselves and their home at the same time.

Laura and the team left the tent to talk outside in private.

"What do we do Laura ?" Jessica asked

"Ask your team captain, we are still on the same mission" Laura replied while motioning towards Lex.

"Our primary objective is already complete. We have already passed the mission. Chasing after the secondary objective would mean helping the locals and also ultimately extending this mission for about a month at the very least."

"We have a choice here. Either we go back home and leave all these people to die trying to save their home, or we help them."