Free Web NovelChapter 148: Chapter 147 - Mastering Dispel(Part 3)
Point-of-View: Neo Cronje
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Hm? Inoka’s calling me...it’s barely even been ten minutes since I left, wonder what he wants? I brought him a fresh supply of beer and cigarettes only yesterday, so it can’t be that.
"Yeah, hello? What’s up?" I inquired, as I answered the call.
"Neo? Could you come back here, like right now? Something kinda crazy just happened," He replied, sounding bemused.
Something crazy? Based on his tone, I don’t think it’s something bad, otherwise he’d probably sound more panicked or urgent.
"Uh, what happened, exactly?" I asked him. freёwebnovel.com
"It’s kinda hard to explain over the phone. For starters, I ran into Anarchy a couple of minutes ago and-..."
"Wait, what!?" I exclaimed in disbelief, before opening a portal and jumping into it, emerging in the middle of the Outliers’ campsite, where Inoka had walked onto from the woods.
"Oh, you’re here," He remarked, before hanging up.
"What happened!? Anarchy was here!?" I inquired urgently, as I grabbed his shoulders and shook him.
"Woah, easy there! Relax, she’s gone now. I’ll tell you everything that happened, so chill out," He responded, as he sat down on the grass.
Wait, she?
"Okay, yeah, you’re right...I need to calm down," I replied, before taking a deep breath and exhaling slowly, "Alright, I’m all ears." freeweɓnovēl.coɱ
"Right, so while I was walking through the forest to clear my head, I found myself near the boundary of the barriers, where Anarchy showed up and...," Began Inoka, before continuing and explaining what happened.
I must say, it was kinda hard to believe...our biggest enemy showed up out of nowhere and gave him help with what he needed help with the most. But he has no reason to lie, especially about mastering Dispel...
"So, she just helped you and then...left? Just like that?" I muttered in bemusement.
"Yup, pretty much."
"And you’re sure she’s a woman?" I asked him curiously.
"Mhm, I’m positive. When she used Synchronicity to show me how using Dispel feels, I felt everything that she was feeling. And I felt a slight weight around the chest area, and nothing hanging below the crotch area," He remarked confidently.
...yeah, I guess that’s pretty solid proof of it.
"Hm...once you master it and use it on one of the captives from Chaos, we’ll be able to find our her true identity," I surmised, feeling a sense of dread now that the answer was well within reach.
"Yeah, that’s true. She said that she’s someone I know and trust, so I have a bad feeling about it. Of course, that could’ve been a lie for the purpose of making us doubt or suspect someone innocent," He sighed wryly.
I really don’t like the sound of that...there aren’t many female members in Harmony who are friendly with the Outliers. In fact, the only ones I can think of are Kiyana and Liling...no, like he just said, that assumption might be exactly what Anarchy intended us to surmise from what she said.
There’s no reason to believe that everything she said was true, she could easily have put in that one lie to cause us trouble.
"Hey, don’t tell anyone else about that part, her saying that she’s someone you know and trust. We don’t want to spread distrust and paranoia, after all," I reasoned objectively.
"Yeah, I figured as much. It shouldn’t be too long before we find out exactly who it is, so there’s no point in prematurely pointing fingers without proof," He nodded in agreement.
"Is there anything else she said?" I asked him.
"No, I think I covered everything. By the way, I’m pretty sure there’s a listening device or something here...the fact that Anarchy showed up exactly then and there is proof of it, and she also mentioned that she got the Synchronicity idea from me, meaning that she knew about what we spoke about regarding linking you and Dieter using that technique," He informed me grimly.
"Damn it, so she could be listening to us right now for all we know...should we search the area? Or would that be a fruitless effort?" I wondered with a frown.
Crap, we probably should’ve sweeped this area and searched for something like that after Lucifer attacked the Outliers in the nearby town.
Where could something like that be hidden, anyway? Inside, or maybe under, one of the RVs? It rains here pretty often, so that’s the most likely answer...well, unless it’s a waterproof device.
No, what am I thinking, it’d have to be near something with a power source, otherwise it’d have run out of charge ages ago.
"Hey, you good? You look like you’re spacing out," Remarked Inoka, waving his hand in front of my face.
"No, just thinking...once the others get back, have them thoroughly search both the exteriors and interiors of the RVs, even if they have to break the floors or walls to find something. There could very well be a listening device hidden somewhere," I informed him.
"You know, I remember someone suggesting that possibility after our fight against Lucifer, but we just sort of laughed it off as far-fetched," He sighed with a wry smile.
"I considered it too, but doubted it since I’d been present for the whole process of purchasing and then bringing the RVs here, there was never a moment where anyone would’ve had the chance to plant something. But...what if they planted it after I brought the vehicles here?" I suggested in response.
"Which would mean that, whoever did it, is one of the people who’ve been here. Besides us Outliers, Fenris, X and the construction crew, the only others I can think of are you, Kiyana, Mike and Liling.
Safe to say we can rule out Fenris and X, since they only got here recently, also because Fenris is a guy, and a fair bit taller than Anarchy is," He surmised, before shaking his head and adding, "I shouldn’t be trying to come up with suspects, or we might end up suspecting someone innocent. For all we know, we’ve missed or overlooked an important detail somewhere."
He’s right about that, but I know how he feels, I can’t help but consider who Anarchy might be. But once he masters Dispel, we’ll have a definite way of identifying her, so we just need to be patient...
"Just relax and don’t think about it. Focus on mastering Dispel, so that we can crush Eden and rescue the Outliers they’ve captured," I remarked, placing a hand on his shoulder.
"Yeah, I know. Also, about that...X mentioned that two of those Outliers are-," He began.
"Yeah, she told me too. That pop star, Astra, and the red haired guy whom Tara let slip from her grasp in Wales," I nodded in response, "I’ve informed the higher ups about them, but they’re saying to rescue them anyway. They figure that, if we can make allies of them, they could prove to be useful."
"I don’t know about that...regardless of how strong they are, everything I’ve heard about them is really off-putting. The red haired guy is an unapologetic rapist and murderer, while Astra apparently gets off on burning and slicing up people to death," He sighed apprehensively, before adding, "That Condition technique is probably the only way to keep them in check."
"We don’t have anyone who can use that technique on our side though. If we did, the higher ups probably would’ve had it cast on all of you," I informed him with a wry smile.
"Yeah, I can definitely see that...but I doubt you’d have convinced Aurora to join Harmony and give up her free will," He pointed out with a chuckle.
That’s true, and she’d probably have killed me if she realized I was trying to trick her. And with her sharp senses, she’d likely have been able to suss that out with ease.
"Oh, looks like the others are back," I remarked, as Fenris and Zoraiz emerged from the woods.
"Wow, you don’t look as bruised and battered as usual," Inoka greeted Zoraiz, as they approached us.
"Yup...still in a whole lot of pain though," He replied with a wry smile.
"I have to admit, this has been a lot of fun! I’ve never trained with another person before this, it’s way better than training alone," Grinned Fenris, his tail wagging.
"You never trained with your pack? How’d you learn to fight?" I responded in surprise.
"Oh, I just watched them fight and copied their movements, and besides that, it was pretty much just self-training," He recalled sheepishly.
"I see...the fact that you’re this skilled without being trained by anyone is really quite something," I remarked with an impressed nod.
"I mean, aren’t all Werewolves supposed to be naturally good fighters, like, instinctively or whatever? I don’t really get it, though," He shrugged in response.
"Huh, Aurora’s kinda the same, isn’t she? No one trained her either," Chimed in Zoraiz.
"She’s kind of a special case though...oh, speaking of which, here she is," Nodded Inoka, as Aurora appeared from behind the trees, with Alexis wearily dragging her feet behind her.
"Alright, I’ll be going now. Get to searching once everyone’s washed up and rested a bit," I instructed Inoka.
"Sure, got it," He replied affirmatively, flashing me a thumbs up, before I opened up a portal and left...
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