Chapter 323: Lt. Colonel Umar Farouq [3]
The Lt. Colonel’s eyebrows twitched as he stared at the Mechanist.
He opened his mouth to speak, then he closed it back and leaned against the wall before asking in a calmer tone. "What exactly do you want?"
He looked exasperated.
Leon didn’t hide his disappointment as his lips twitched. ’C’mon old man, you old geezers are supposed to be headstrong and full of pride’.
’You’re not even that old like Garfield!’
Despite his thoughts though, he couldn’t just force the mercenary into a fight. He sighed, then he finally explained.
Leon’s face finally became serious. "Colonel Garfield told me a lot of things about you, including the fact that you’re also interested and heavily invested in Bill Zefyr’s death and have been hunting him for some time now".
"He also told me about your influence and your myriad resources and channels especially in the underworld," Leon’s eyes gleamed. "If I’m to achieve my goals and do things, I need certain connections in the underworld and I figured that I can get them through you".
"You don’t have to worry about my strength," he said calmly. "I won’t stop till I kill Bill Zefyr, and I can. You can be assured of that".
"If you doubt, you can ask Ren Nora".
Hearing that name, the Lt. Colonel’s eyebrows twitched slightly but he maintained his silence as he listened carefully.
Leon continued. "To convince you of my ability to assassinate Bill Zefyr, I have a demo mission that I need your help with to convince you".
Leon’s black eyes gleamed slightly and seeing no objection from the Lt. Colonel, he continued. "I have an enemy in the Omnicore Federation that I want dead by all means".
Lt. Colonel Umar Farouq’s eyes constricted slightly, becoming deeper and even more unfathomable.
Unfazed, Leon continued. "From what I heard, you have connections and channels to infiltrate the Omnicore Federation without being seen".
The Lt. Colonel immediately snorted. "Who told you that? That bastard???" He raised his voice for the very first time in anger.
But Leon was unfazed as he continued. "You don’t have to worry about the price. List your price, I’ll pay".
He smiled. "I don’t know if he told you but as you can see, I’m a D Rank Mechanist. I can boast that I’m one of the best construction experts in the world".
"Your payment can also be to seek out my services," Leon looked around at the hideout. "This place of yours especially needs a lot of work and revamping to look presentable as a true hideout".
"Remember, it’s not every day that you can seek out the services of a Mechanist as skilled as I am".
The Lt. Colonel’s mouth twitched slightly. "I’ve not agreed to your request yet".
Leon shrugged. "C’mon man, why are you hesitating? Is this not literally your mandate? Fighting against terrorists and the Omnicore Federation?"
"Well, guess what? That’s my mandate too".
"In case you don’t know, I’ve killed a lot of terrorists, including one of the most high-profile leaders of the Extremist Movement in recent years". He looked him in the eye. "Can you boast of doing the same thing?"
"Now I want to assassinate Bill Zefyr, and all I need to increase my chances is your help and you’re overthinking it?"
"C’mon man, it’s for the better good".
The Lt. Colonel’s mouth twitched again as he looked the Mechanist in the eyes, then he shook his head. "I can tell that you’re not very experienced about matters of the world, you sound very naïve".
He finally stood up with his cup of coffee and looked down at them. "It’s not as easy as you think to assassinate Bill Zefyr, and it’s definitely not as easy as you think to infiltrate the Omnicore Federation and come out unscathed".
Leon, Talia, and Daren also stood up, looking at him.
"Who exactly is your target in the Omnicore Federation?"
"Joe Curry".
"I don’t know him".
"It doesn’t matter if you know him or not," Leon shook his head. "From what I know, he secretly funds a lot of slave trades in different Waste communities around the world. He lives in a very low-profile manner that many people don’t know that he’s a D Rank Ascended".
"His activities affected a Waste community that I’m close to, and since then, I’ve been wanting to hunt him down and end his activities once and for all".
"So all of this is just because of some vendetta?" Umar Farouq snorted. "Naïve".
Leon didn’t back down though as he immediately retorted. "But you also sought your own vendetta, right? You hunted and killed all those we betrayed you and your crew..."
"Stop right there!" The Lt. Colonel growled.
Leon didn’t stop. "You murdered all of them".
"I said STOP!"
BZZZ!
His ADE flared violently, making Talia and Daren to take a step back.
Yet Leon didn’t stop as he looked him in the eye. "With all due respect sir, you have no right to tell me not to pursue a blood feud when you’ve done the same. You have no right to stand at such a high moral ground".
For the first time, Lt. Colonel Umar Farouq looked genuinely annoyed.
"Bastard!" He cursed under his breath. "You stalk me like a creep, you enter my house uninvited, you destroy my wall, and now you’re even debating with me, what the hell boy!" His eyebrows twitched in annoyance.
Leon defiantly looked him in the eye for a few seconds without blinking, then he suddenly smiled sheepishly. "I’m sorry for annoying you old man, but I just need your help and according to Garfield, this is the way to get it".
The veteran mercenary looked aghast, then he gritted his teeth. "That bastard!" He cursed.
He walked towards the wall and pressed a hidden button, and immediately the hideout changed, literally as it transformed into an entirely different place as hidden LED lights appeared above, illuminating everywhere with bright colors. Even as a bed and multiple chairs emerged out of the ground.
Leon looked around, stunned. "Wait, you knew we were stalking you?"
The veteran mercenary snorted. "Don’t underestimate the instincts of a veteran D Rank Gene Augur. I couldn’t pinpoint it, but I felt that something was wrong, that was why I left the hideout in combat mode after I entered".
"I didn’t know it was you though, I thought it was some enemy".
"With how the tone of the conversation has changed," Leon smiled. "Is that a yes?"
The Lt. Colonel looked at him and snorted again. "Not yet".
"I’ve not told you my price yet".
’Eh?’ Leon’s face fell.
Seeing the look on his face, the Lt. Colonel rolled his eyes. "You thought this was charity? Think again boy".
...
[Happy new months guys! Also, Special Appreciation to Shadesworn, clark_dadel, and Darks4int for the Golden Tickets, thanks for the new month support already!]