CH70:  BYPRODUCT SKILL

This is passion work. So, I would really appreciate it if you leave behind a review when you're done reading.

***

CH70: BYPRODUCT SKILL

"So, do you agree to him joining?" Colonel Balogun suddenly asked Special Agent Olise in a low voice.

Special Agent Olise didn't immediately answer. Instead, a frown appeared on his face.

"Are you sure about this, Kola? This won't be just the muddy grey area anymore. You might be pushing him to the edge of the shitty black. You and I both know nobody gets close to that Abyss without getting stained. You and I are no different despite our appearances."

Colonel Balogun sighed. "Even if I don't push him to it, the Abyss will come to him, especially on the path he's on. There's nothing I can do to get him off the path. Since he's going there anyway, I might as well chart a better course there for him. One that can make it easier to navigate."

"Anu isn't going to agree, you know?" Special Agent Olise commented.

He was one of the few people outside of family that knew of Anu and Kola's marriage.

"Of course, I know. That's why I came to you."

Special Agent Olise looked at his 'friend'. He shook his head before saying, "Looks like you've thought this through. Fine. If you're sure about this, I'll back you up. The kid has shown he can carry himself well enough. I just hope you don't regret the outcome."

"Me too." Colonel Balogun said.

The two ended their conversation and moved close to Special Agent Danjuma.

"Hey. You've been examining him for a while now. How's he looking?" Special Agent Olise asked.

"Well, I don't know. I'm not a doctor. I can't tell you anything except that he's alive. I can't tell you if anything is wrong with him." Special Agent Danjuma replied.

"If the kid didn't become a soldier, he would have made a very good surgeon. If he said he did something, he definitely did. For now, let's get him to a secure hospital and let a professional check him." Colonel Balogun said.

Special Agent Danjuma shrugged. He brought out his phone and call for a MEDEVAC helicopter.

**

At various locations in Onitsha, Agents of the DSS were seen bringing out crates after crate from each of the location. All were being transferred to the branch office in the city for processing.

Initially, the Police chief was annoyed that such a big raid was conducted without the police's involvement. He was about to grumble and make some noise when the NDI sent him a file.

After reading the file, he kept his complaints to himself.

He knew if the information in the file was made public, the already strained reputation of the police in the city would become worse.

The file contained the names of police officers on the NDz payroll and corresponding evidence.

**

Operation PythonSlaying was considered a massive success.

Not only was the Duke arrested and the NDz destroyed, but two other large gangs were also eliminated. After the capture of their men and leaders in Onitsha, the two gangs had pretty much been crushed into extinction.

The intelligence acquired during the Op, from different sources, had led to the arrest of various individuals, many companies also coming under investigation for various crimes. The NDz had helped these people and groups in crimes such as Money Laundering, Tax Evasion, Assassinations etc. Now was the time for them to pay the consequences.

Finally, the intel gathered had helped the progress of some of the NDI and DSS's other cases, with them making significant breakthroughs.

The NDz in other states were also crushed. Even if some individuals escaped, they wouldn't be making any waves soon.

All in all, it was a good night for all Defense-Security organisations involved in the Op.

**

The Next Day.

Korede got out of bed early as usual and went on with his routine. At around 7:30 am, he was done and was seen looking out from the apartment balcony. Events of the previous day were still playing in his head.

Finding out that a high ranking officer in the Nigerian Military was secretly supporting the NDz and that the NDI had set up and 'owned' the biggest gang in the country were huge revelations to him to various disturbing degrees.

Choosing to trust the NDI, Korede was able to rationalise the actions of the intelligence outfit and see things from their perspective.

'Since the Mob became known, they've done a lot of things to separate the criminal underworld from the larger society.

The ROE for the gang wars was mostly championed and enforced by them. Criminal activities affecting innocents have dropped.

I don't know how they achieved it but the crime rate in their host states have shown a significant reduction.

Illegal drugs and weapons within or entering the country reduced.

They've ensured that the country was only a transit for illegal goods and not a consumer.

From this perspective, one can deem this NDI project as a success.

Also, as long as there's light, there would be darkness and shadows. No matter what the security outfits do, criminal organisations will always exist. If that's the case, perhaps, management might be the best option to take.' Korede mused.

After rationalising and convincing himself a bit, Korede felt a little better. He turned his focus to the other matter.

'But what can we say about the officer who's working with criminal organisations in his personal capacity and sells arms to terrorists. What is he trying to achieve?'

Different scenarios played in Korede's head. Using the limited information he had, he was able to filter some out. As he was about to delve deeper into the ones left, Korede heard Aon shout.

[Stop! Stop!! Stop!!! Damn it]

Korede was surprised. 'What's wrong?'

[Can't you warn me before using {Increase Speed} to increase your thinking speed? The jumbled up mess in your head is bad enough, increasing the speed made everything worse. Give me a heads-up next time so that I can block off the connection to your mind.]

'What? Thinking speed can be increased by {Increase Speed}?' Korede was shocked by the revelation. He probably didn't hear Aon's following statements.

He quickly looked at his mindspace and discovered the receding Will Strength from the script. If he had been a second late in checking, he wouldn't have noticed a thing.

'Thinking speed, increase speed. Of course. Why didn't I think of that?' Korede berated himself for not noticing something so 'obvious'.

'If that's the case…'

His eyes lit up as an idea occurred to him. He activated {Increase Speed} again. This time, he focused on his leg.

Although the injury wasn't healing at speeds visible to the eye, Korede could tell it was healing faster from the itchiness he was feeling. Korede had figured the injury would completely heal in a week. Now, if he could keep this up, it would heal in just over two days.

Just as he was about to celebrate his discovery, he felt something was off. This feeling intensified as Aon snickered at him in disdain.

He quickly examined himself and noticed what was wrong.

'Of course. I should have known it wouldn't be that easy. The Will strength I just managed to recover is almost used up again. Looks like the consumption of Will Strength for this is too large. Using {Increase Speed} for something like this is inefficient and not worth it.'

Korede knew the reason for this. He said to Aon.

'Law of Balance, right?'

[Of course.] Aon concurred. [What you just got is called a byproduct skill. A lot of your Will strength is consumed doing other things first before this byproduct skill you want is obtained. More Will strength would then be consumed to isolate it and keep it running. Hence why it is inefficient.]

'Byproduct… Like in Chemistry?'

[Yeah. I looked into your memories regarding chemistry. Though your knowledge is shallow, the discipline your species came up with is quite interesting.]

'Any chance you can tell me how it compares to related disciplines of other species?'

[Some are better, some are worse. Can't tell you more than that.]

Korede rolled his eyes. It was the same as not telling him anything as always. He quickly shifted his focus back to the previous discussion.

'Byproduct huh? Since Aon is using Chemistry as an analogy, the principles used in byproduct must apply.'

Korede concluded. He tried to recall his past knowledge on the matter.

'If the desired product is the byproduct of a particular reaction and its yield is so small that it makes the production from such a process inefficient, conditions can be imposed on the reaction to make the byproduct the major product or, at least, improve the yield of the byproduct. Alternatively, an entirely new reaction would be found that yields the desired product as its major product.

From this, I have two options. One, find a way to shorten the current activation process to reduce the amount of Will Strength spent on activating the byproduct skill. Two, I can find a way to make this byproduct skill a true skill of its own, having its direct activation route.

Until I can figure out how to make either of the two work, it would be too inefficient to apply {Increase speed} to other forms of speed that I'm thinking of.'

Korede shook his head. Since he completed the Balogun Family's Ancestral training regimen, Oro Akogun, he had not spent much time training to improve his strength. Now, it seems he would have to start a new form of training.

'On the bright side, I have the {Training Space} to help me with that.'

Korede released a breath. The path to success was more often than not determined by the effort one puts in the background.

[Seems explaining it in a manner familiar to you was effective.] Aon said smugly.

'You do know you could have just told me earlier rather than snickering at my failure, right?'

[Where's the fun in it if I told you everything? Isn't figuring out yourself more fun?]

Korede shook his head. Continuing to argue with Aon would just be a waste of breath.

Korede put the matter of the byproduct skills to the back of his mind for now. He would revisit the issue later. This had also caused him to pause his musing into the intentions of the 'traitorous' officer aiding the NDz.

For now, he just enjoyed the view.

Unbeknownst to him, Aon had played a small prank on him. It wasn't a bad one, after all, it was for his own good.

By now, Aon knew to block off his connection to Korede's mind the moment he starts to think. It would rather be stuck in a maze than in the youth's mind at that moment.

At the time it noticed Korede was deep in thought and had unconsciously triggered the byproduct skill to increase his thinking speed, it had exaggeratedly shouted just to call his attention to it rather than what it claimed.

This wasn't the first time its Host had used the Will Tactics, so it knew what to expect. Aon did what it did rather than just tell him about it because it felt Korede was the kind of person who learnt better when he figured things out himself instead of being told.

[Also, he needs to build up his knack for comprehension. At higher levels, understanding your abilities through better comprehension would be the only true way to improve one's strength] Aon muttered to itself.

With nothing on his mind, Korede enjoyed the view of Onitsha from his balcony as his mind went to rest.

About thirty minutes later, Korede received a call from Special Agent Ndike.

[A.N: Please, don't forget to leave a review of the work to encourage me. Your opinion matters to me.]