The Author's POV - Chapter 284

Simply put, neither party could afford that.

“So, what do you think about my offer?”

The real intent behind the meeting was to buy enough time for both organizations to recuperate.

At least a major part of it was that, however, Wahid ‘aelah wasn’t lying when he said he wanted 876.

After all, he was the person responsible for injuring his Vice-Leader, as well as Tasos. This was also excluding the many high-leveled individuals that were a part of the Monolith.

Just one person alone had weakened the Monolith so much that they were forced to call out for a truce.

Though Wahid ‘aelah was smiling, the rage contained within that smile could vividly be felt by everyone in the room as the air around him thickened up considerably every time he mentioned 876.

“I’ll tell you what, I’ll make this offer even juicier. From what I’ve heard, you guys seem to be close to developing portals but can’t quite get there yet, right?”

“Right…”

Julia cautiously responded.

Although they had made a breakthrough in portal technology over recent years, they had still not quite perfected it yet. At least not for commerical use.

“Good, how about this, I’ll do you one better, in exchange for revealing what you are missing, as well as proposing the truce, I want you guys to help us find 876. How about it? Not a bad deal, right?”

This was merely a customary proposal.

Everyone in the room here knew that humanity was close to developing portals. At most a year or two, and they would achieve it. The only reason Wahid ‘aelah proposed such a deal was so that it made it seem as though both parties were on equal footing.

He knew just how prideful the people before him were.

“…”

At his proposal, deathly silence enveloped the room as no one spoke a word.

The silence continued for a while before Octavious finally opened his mouth.

“Let me discuss it with the other heads.”

“Go ahead.”

Waving his hand in the air, a black barrier formed around the five heads of the Union, completely covering them whole. This was a sound barrier that was made to prevent anyone from overhearing their discussion.

Once the barrier completely enveloped them, the first one to speak was Maximus.

“We should take the deal.”

“What!? Why?” Daphne stood and protested. “I’ve been thinking this for a while, but this offer is ridiculous. Did you guys forget that if not for him both Amon and Monica would’ve died?”

For the others to think about sacrificing someone who single-handedly dealt so much damage to the Monolith as well as saved the backbone of the Union, Daphne couldn’t understand why they were even thinking about going through with the deal.

Coldly looking at Daphne, Maximus spoke up.

“Daphne, let me ask you. What are we supposed to do in our job?”

“Our job? It’s to keep as many people as possible safe.”

Daphne quickly responded without any hesitation.

Maximus nodded at her answer.

“Correct, our priority is the lives of the citizens. If the war continues, a lot of lives will be lost.”

“…so you’re implying that we sacrifice the person that saved our members for the sake of stopping the war between us and the Monolith?”

“Correct.”

“But…”

“Maximus has a point.”

Julia chimed in with a complex look on her face.

She too was uncomfortable with this decision, but at the end of the day, if this was the price to pay in order to stop the war, she was willing to go through with it.

“What, you too?”

A shocked look appeared on Daphne’s face.

Casually looking at Daphne who was beside her, Julia sighed.

“Daphne, like Maximus said, our job is to save as many people as possible. Sacrifices will be made in the process, and you should know better than anyone since you are one of the seven heads.”

Julia’s words hit Daphne like a thunderclap. Every word that she said was right. Daphne knew that, yet she still couldn’t come to terms with the decision.

“But…still. I feel that what we’re doing is wrong.”

“Daphne.” Octavious finally spoke up. With every word he spoke, the barrier around them would tremble slightly.

“You are one of the heads of the Union. Sympathy and those types of emotions are unnecessary.”

“Our priority is the well beings of humanity. Although I acknowledge the fact that 876 has made great contributions to the Union, from what the reports stated, his power is meaningless, around rank range.”

“Saving him would do no good for us, just think of him as a sacrifice for the greater good of humanity.”

“…”

Listening to Octavious’s words, Daphne bit her lips.

Although she wanted to refute, she knew that in the end, the decision was not up to her.

Furthermore, every word that Octavious held some truth to it.

At the end of the day, they were individuals who needed to make sacrifices for the sake of humanity.

Emotions such as sympathy and the likes were unnecessary for individuals like them.

What they needed to think about was the best course of action to take for the sake of the Union and humanity.

Everything else was secondary.

“Alright, let’s vote now. Those in favor of the proposal, raise your hands.”

***

[Caissa headquarters.]

“Damnit, what should we do now?”

Pacing around the room, Smallsnake was in a state of panic.

“Calm down Smallsnake, let me think.”

Seated on the sofa, I tried to calm Smallsnake down.

Forcefully quelling my rage down, I tried my bests to remain calm. There was no point panicking now. Wouldn’t do me any good. Rather, it was better to think about my next course of action with a calm mind.

After a while, turning my head towards Ryan, I asked.

“Ryan, let me ask you something. Do you perhaps have a way to tell if the tracker is functioning or not inside of my head?”

“Are you asking whether I can tell when the tracking function is back on or not?”

“Yes, exactly that.”

“Mhhh, give me a second.”

Swinging the chair around, Ryan’s fingers once again danced on the keyboard in front of him. This continued for the next couple of minutes before he turned around and nodded his head.

“Seems like it. As of right now, there is no connection between the chip and any external source, so I can tell you that no one is tracking you.”

“That’s good.”

Crossing my legs, I started to ponder to myself.

‘If Ryan can tell exactly when the connection between the tracking software and the chip is on, then this allows me to know when exactly the hunt for me will start. This is good. At least this way I won’t be ambushed out of anywhere.’

The moment my bounty was put out, I knew that I could no longer stay in the human domain. I had to leave.

With my current strength and abilities, I could no longer stay here. It was time for me to start focusing on myself.

Originally I had thought about returning to where I was before, helping Kevin and the others just like before.

But my experience at the Monolith made me change my mind.

I realized that my mentality was wrong.

All I was doing was merely babysitting Kevin and the others. How ironic. Kevin was the protagonist and yet I was babysitting him from behind.

It became apparent to me that Kevin did not need any babysitting. Even though the plotline had changed, he was still the protagonist. He was the one with the system and amazing talent.

What did I need to help him for?

If he couldn’t even overcome the challenges that lay ahead of him, then what was the point of him being the protagonist? I was not his babysitter, nor was he someone that needed to be under my watch.

It was time to abandon that mentality and focus on myself.

I needed to become strong.

Stronger.

Strong enough so that the likes of the Union and the Monolith could no longer oppress me.

As my thoughts paused there, lifting my head up and staring at Smallsnake, I resolutely stood up.

“Smallsnake, start making preparations.”

“Preparations?”

Walking towards the entrance of the room I nodded my head.

“Yup, we’re going on a long trip.”

—

End of volume [2]/Part -1