Free Web NovelChapter 76: Chapter 75 - Scouting(Part 1)
Point-of-View: Aurora Pretorius
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"How long do we have to sit here and do nothing?" I sighed, feeling bored.
"Tch, we’re not ’doing nothing’, we’re scouting! There’s almost no doubt that there’s an Eden hideout over there, we have to wait till someone emerges and then try and capture them," Tara whispered back with an annoyed look.
She’s really rude to the others, but isn’t that rude to me...Alexis said it’s because she’s afraid of me or something.
Anyway, it had been about ten hours since Neo brought us here with a portal, and I was really bored. We were in India, in a forest by a small river. Once Neo brought us here, we met one of the Harmony agents here and he led us to where they suspected an Eden hideout was located.
Apparently, in this area, Harmony had set up a base a few years ago, and there had never been any signs that Eden members were here...but a couple of days ago, they spotted an unfamiliar Meta-Human in a restaurant.
The same Harmony agent who led us here followed the unfamiliar Meta-Human from the restaurant afterwards, until he came upon this place. The person he was following apparently slipped in behind the waterfall, so it seems likely that there’s an Eden hideout set up inside there.
Further evidence is that, when we got close to this area, there was a strange feeling, like we were subconsciously trying to avoid going further.
It’s a Dark Skill technique called Ward, and it’s a sort of barrier that keeps people away. It’s only mildly effective on Meta-Humans though, so once we knew what it was, ignoring it was easy enough.
And we were currently hiding up in a tall, thick tree, with a lot of branches and leaves to cover us, while we kept an eye on a waterfall...specifically, it was the cave behind the waterfall that we were interested in.
That’s where the source of the Ward barrier was coming from, so the hideout must be in there...going inside to peek and confirm it is apparently too risky though, so I had to stay put. Unfortunately, there was a strong wind blowing towards us, not to mention the running water, so I couldn’t use my sense of smell to my fullest.
As a result, I was putting more focus on my hearing and sight, keeping a sharp eye out while listening for any sounds in the area around us. That said, keeping this up non-stop is mind-numbingly boring...
"It’s not unusual for those who live in hideouts and bases like this to not come out for days...so keep that in mind and stop being impatient," Sighed Tara, as I began fidgeting.
"Can’t I just unleash my Aura for a bit or fire a Negative Blast at the waterfall and see what happens?" I mumbled lethargically.
"No, please don’t...Monsters are fairly common in India, so keep your Aura suppressed," She replied with a look of exasperation.
"So, what? I can handle Monsters just fine, I did so for months when I was living in a cave," I grumbled in response.
"Yes, well, beating a few Chupacabras isn’t that big a deal, you know," She countered objectively.
"Yeah, but still, I-...wait, hold on a second, I think I heard something," I frowned, as my ears perked up.
"Huh, really? I don’t hear any-."
"Shhhhh!"
"Wha-...hey, don’t shush me!"
"Be quiet, I’m trying to listen!"
As she finally shut up, I focused all my senses...yeah, there’s no doubt about it. There’s seven-...no, eight...-of them, heading this way. They’re about two hundred to two fifty meters away and closing in. They’ve got us surrounded. I can both smell and hear them...
"Hey, what it is? Do you sense someone?" Inquired Tara warily.
"Yeah, eight people, they’ve got us surrounded and are closing in...," I whispered quietly.
"I see...point out their positions to me. And let me know when they’re within twenty meters of us...on my signal, unleash your Aura, but only for just a couple of seconds," She instructed me.
"Okay, got it," I replied with a nod, before subtly pointing each direction in which I could sense someone approaching.
"Tch, all these trees are in the way, this might be a bit tricky," She frowned, as they got within a hundred meters of us.
"Really? Fine, I’ll take care of it."
"Huh? You will? How?" She responded in bemusement.
"Hm? Well, you said that they’re in the way, so I’ll just get them out of the way right after I unleash my Aura on your signal."
"Uh, if you really can do that, then okay."
She really thinks I can’t get rid of a few trees? Now I’m a little annoyed...
"Okay, they’re about thirty meters away...twenty-five...alright, most of them are within twenty meters now," I informed her.
"Great...release your Aura on three...one, two, three!" She prompted me in a sharp whisper.
I then unleashed my Aura while simultaneously activating my dark cat-shaped shroud, which I’d named...
"Now, Combo Skill: Shadow Cat," I muttered, as I then rapidly expanded the shadowy arms and swung them across outwards, and cutting down all the trees within a fifty meter radius, before expanding the palms of my shroud and smacking away all the cut-down trees before they could fall, as yells of alarm and panic began ringing out around us.
"Holy f-...okay, uh, my turn," Said Tara in bemusement, before adding as she sent several thick tentacle-like streaks of water zipping out in each of the directions I’d pointed out, "Alright, Aqua Skill: Water Whips!"
A second later, more panicked cried rang out, before she pulled back the water whips, which were firmly wrapped around each of those that I’d sensed.
"They’re all Meta-Humans," I observed, as I used Appraisal.
"Yeah, and I don’t recognize any of them, so they’re almost definitely from Eden. Tch, how’d they know where we were?" She grimaced with a look of concern in her eyes.
That’s a good point...the fact that they each snuck towards us at more or less the same pace meant that they likely expected us to be here...
"The only one who knew about this particular vantage point was the guy who led us here, right?" I inquired quietly with a frown, making sure that none of the captives could hear us.
Tara had bound them well, they won’t be able to attack us in their current positions.
"Well, yes...but it’s possible that someone followed us while he showed us the way," She responded skeptically.
"Only one way to find out...," I muttered, before turning to the captured enemies and addressing them as I took a gamble, "You really thought you could sneak up on us? We already know that our ’guide’ was in on this, so we knew you were coming. Even so, your sneaking-in efforts were so clumsy that I’d have sensed you coming even if I didn’t know!"
"Wh-what!? How did you know!?" One of them blurted out in disbelief.
"Idiot, shut up!" Another one hissed in alarm.
"No way...he was a traitor?" Mumbled Tara in shock.
"Seems so...now, then, I have a hunch," I stated, before firing a Negative Blast at the waterfall, blowing away the falling water briefly and giving us a glimpse of what was in the cave behind it...absolutely nothing.
"Hey, what are you doing, you’ll attract more enemies!" Snapped Tara indignantly.
"Huh? Didn’t you get a look at the cave when I blasted the water away? It’s a hollow, empty space, there’s nothing there," I informed her.
"...well, excuse me for not having superhuman, cat-like eyesight."
"Oh, right. Anyway, do you think they’ll talk?" I asked her, as I eyed each of the captives.
Most of them looked defiant, I don’t think they plan on talking...well, except for one of them, the one who’d confirmed my suspicions that the guy who escorted us here was in on this...
"No idea, I’m not very good at interrogation...I just end up breaking them before they can answer my questions," She shrugged in response.
Yeah, that’s hardly surprising.
"I’ve never interrogated anyone, but I guess I can give it a try," I remarked, before shifting my attention to the captives, "Answer our questions or die, you pick."
"We won’t say a word to you Harmony scum!"
"Yeah, that’s right!"
"Exactly, both Harmony and Eden can go straight to hell!"
Wait, what?
"Eden? Huh? Hold on, who exactly are you people with, anyway?" Frowned Tara in bewilderment.
"Hey, you said too much!"
"Don’t give them any information at all, keep your mouths shut no matter what!"
"Understood!"
"What did I just say!?"
"Yeah, but-."
"But nothing! Shut up, now!"
"Um, okay, but you’re talking the most right now!"
"..."
"..."
Oh, they’re done.
"Maybe I can try some mind control," I suggested quietly, before starting as Tara subtly nodded, "Dark Skill: Compel."
I’m going to have to use a high amount of Aura output to properly affect Meta-Humans with this technique, here goes-...
"She’s using a Dark Skill to try and control us!" Yelled the one that I was targeting...before biting his tongue off and killing himself.
"Shit, no-...!" Began Tara, before trailing off as they all followed suit...except for one, who was trembling in terror, clearly unable to go through with it.
As I shot towards him, Tara noticed and undid her water whips, and as he fell to the ground, I swiftly restrained and pinned him down, making sure that he couldn’t move.
"L-let go of me-...!"
"It’s obvious that you can’t kill yourself like the others just did. Answer our questions and you won’t die, we’ll take you back to Harmony for further interrogation," I stated in a clear, icy tone.
"Hey, let me break something so that he really gets the idea, like a couple of fingers, at least," Requested Tara, as I sensed an unpleasant, murderous feeling coming from her...she’s really violent, huh...
"N-no, wait! I-I’ll talk, just...just please don’t kill me!"
"Tch," Tara clicked her tongue in disappointment.
"Okay, first question...if you’re not a part of either Harmony or Eden, then who exactly do you work for?" I inquired, as I pressed my claws against his neck.
"O-our leader calls us Chaos, a-and we’re a faction of Meta-Humans made up those who’ve secretly defected f-from Harmony and Eden! I-I disagreed with a lot of Eden’s policies, and was approached by one of my colleagues about this, a-and I agreed to join! Th-this was supposed to be a simple mission, I-I didn’t sign up for this!" He wailed in despair.
"What!? A third faction of Meta-Humans consisted of members who’ve betrayed the other two factions!?" Exclaimed Tara in disbelief, before adding with a worried grimace, "Shit, this is bad...all this time I thought it was just one double agent we were dealing with, but...there being multiple traitors makes it a lot more plausible that the Meta-Orb project was leaked. Hey, you, what exactly is the objective of this so-called Chaos faction!?"
"O-our leader wants...wants to tear down the old faction and establish a new world where Meta-Humans no longer live in secrecy, a world where we can do as we please without worrying about antiquated rules. Both Harmony and Eden’s objectives contradict that. So for the sake of changing the world for the better, both organizations will be destroyed!"
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