Chapter 322: Lt. Colonel Umar Farouq [2]
"Who are you?" A voice asked in a deep and cold manner.
Standing behind Leon, Talia and Daren already entered a heightened state of combat as they equipped their new modified VX-09 Emberfist Gauntlets without hesitation.
Daren equipped the gauntlets on both hands, while Talia equipped it only on her right hand while her left hand now pointed her modified Rail Pistol at the D Rank Ascended who was the owner of this hideout.
She knew that a shot from the pistol was likely not going to do anything to him, but she pointed at it him nonetheless.
She was ready to use Neural Projection at any moment.
BADUMP! BADUMP!
The both of them felt their hearts beating fast.
At the same time that they stared at the mercenary, in a subtle manner, they also paid attention to Leon, waiting to see his reaction.
Which would it be? Peace or violence?
In the end, Leon choose peace and harmony as he smiled at the mercenary that he’d been tracking for a while.
At such close range, Lt. Colonel Umar Farouq looked even bigger than the pictures.
Leon had a hunch that as a Geneform, he likely had the racial bloodline of a Black Bear because he was massive. He looked like a Giant, towering above the 3 of them even from the other end of the hideout where he stood.
Leon was not intimidated though as despite being attacked, instead of reacting angrily, he casually inclined his head to study the area of the wall where the fingernail just detonated in a violent explosion.
He had a curious expression on his face.
"Was that...?"
He looked at the Lt. Colonel again, focusing on his hands this time and this was when he noticed that the Lt. Colonel already removed one of his black gloves, exposing his left hand.
And his last finger on his left hand was missing, leaving a bloody stump that was already rapidly healing and re-growing.
Leon smiled. "Yo, did you just cut off your finger and turn it into a bomb?"
"What kind of ability is that?" His eyes gleamed with curiosity as he looked at the Lt. Colonel. "Your profile says you’re a D Rank Gene Augur," Leon’s eyes glinted. "You’re a Gene Augur of the Bioforger Specialization right?"
The tall black Lt. Colonel’s eyes narrowed.
Leon laughed. "You don’t have to be so hostile, it’s funny really. The very first enemy that I fought and killed in this world had a D Rank Artifact of the Bioforger Specialization, I didn’t expect to finally meet a real one after so long".
His black eyes gleamed. "Tell me, how does the ability work?"
Instead of answering...
Bzzz!
Orange ADE swirled slightly around the Gene Augur’s body, focusing on his eyes and Leon interpreted that he was probably using his Bio-Scan ability.
After about 5 seconds, the veteran Lt. Colonel focused on Leon again with a dangerous gleam in his eyes.
"You dare come to my hideout alone with just you and those 2 bums," he snorted. "Are you arrogant or you’re just stupid?"
Leon shrugged. "Maybe both, but please, don’t insult my friends".
Lt. Colonel Umar Farouq smiled. "Or what?"
Leon craned his neck slightly, then he sighed and said. "Or this".
Bzzz!
His ADE flared slightly.
Miniaturization!
Within less than a millisecond, a toy-sized gun that was inside Leon’s pocket elongated to become a full-fledged Terra Nova 71 Rifle in his right hand.
Leon looked the mercenary in the eye. "Look, we’re not your enemies, but we can either do this the easy way or the hard way, depending on which one you want". He smiled.
The Lt. Colonel’s brown eyes gleamed slightly as he looked at Leon, he focused on the grayish white ADE swirling around his right hand then he snorted. "You’re the Mechanist that that fool keeps on talking about, right?"
Leon smiled again. "If by that fool you mean Colonel Garfield, then yes".
Lt. Colonel Umar Farouq no longer looked at them as he walked towards the Eastern end of the room before sitting down on the bare ground.
He looked at them again, then he asked. "How did you find my hideout? Even that bastard doesn’t know here".
Leon shrugged. "I have my means".
Farouq stared at him coldly, then he asked. "What do you want?"
Leon immediately looked aghast. "Wait, he didn’t tell you about what I’ve been wanting since?"
The Lt. Colonel just looked at him.
Leon sighed. "Wow man, what a sorry job he did, and he said he tried his best!" He gnashed his teeth, then he sighed again. "Now that’s a long story that’s going to take some time," he looked around. "There’s no chair to sit down?"
The Lt. Colonel just looked at him.
Leon groaned. "C’mon man, you’re richer than this".
In the end, they had to sit down on the bare ground in front of the Lt. Colonel to narrate the entirety of Leon’s ambitious plan to him. And of course, they excluded the part that they were doing it mostly to help Leon meet his Ascended Counter, they told the story only from the morale point of view.
At the end of it all after Leon was done explaining, the Lt. Colonel looked at him and scoffed. "You want to assassinate Bill Zefyr with what, this?"
He looked at Daren and Talia and shook his head. "Pathetic".
The duo felt offended but they wisely kept quiet.
Leon didn’t look offended though as he just waited for the Lt. Colonel to continue. Based on his personality that Garfield already explained to him, he expected 90% of what already happened so far.
And just like he expected, Umar Farouq explained.
The seasoned mercenary scoffed again. "If it was that easy to assassinate Bill Zefyr, plenty blokes out there would have done it..."
"But I’m not them". Leon interrupted him calmly.
"...including me". He finally completed his sentence.
Leon was still unfazed as he said. "I’m not you too".
"..."
For a few seconds after that phrase, the 2 D Rank Ascended just stared at each other in silence.
In the silence, the tension quietly built.
Lt. Colonel Umar Farouq suddenly extended his hand forward, making Talia and Daren flinch only for a mechanical bot hand to emerge out of the floor, carrying a brown cup of sizzling hot coffee.
He took the coffee from the mechanic bot hand, making it recede back into the ground, then he raised the cup up in a provocative manner and seeped calmly while still fixing his gaze on Leon.
Then he finally broke the silence as calmly, he said. "Boy, watch your tongue around me".
"Did Garfield not tell you about my temper?"
Leon smiled. "Actually, I’ve been looking for D Rank Ascended to spar with and since I saw your ability, I’ve been itching to fight you so why not?"
"..."
"..."
"....."
...
[Like I told you guys, I’ve been feeling a bit feverish and yesterday, maybe due to my medication it broke my body down completely and I couldn’t write at all. I’m trying to make up for lost time today, so please pardon if there’s a slight drop in Chapter quality today.]