My Tribrid System: More than a Monster

Chapter 528

"What was that about, Van?!"

"...."

Crossing his arms over his chest for a moment, Van lifted two fingers into the air.

The instant he did, another mechanical limb sprouted from behind his back, joining the first.

They whirled through the air like snakes, their metallic bodies twisting and coiling as they remained poised to strike at any moment.

"Firstly, who gave you the right to put your life in danger? Who gave you the right not to call any one of us to come help?"

As he spoke, the first limb lunged towards the Tribrid, forcing him to tilt his head to the side as he watched it rush past.

Then it coiled back around with much faster speed, forcing Ray to jump to the side just in time.

Only for a thin string to shoot out, piercing the boy in his shoulder.

"I’m your best friend. I have studied you long enough to know how to handle your ass. What did you think? Because you are growing stronger, I won’t be able to discipline you?

"Your mum isn’t here anymore, so the job to keep you in check falls directly on me."

Before Ray could move, an electrical discharge passed through the string and rushed into the boy’s bloodstream, causing him to tremble for a moment.

With a flick of his wrist, the string was pulled back out, and the limb returned to Van’s side.

With a click of his tongue, the tech genius lowered his fingers.

"...And also, that was for disturbing my focus with your stupid laughter. Haven’t I warned you to stop cackling like a hyena? You ruined my project, and now you have to pay for it."

It didn’t take more than a second before the Tribrid regained control of his body.

Clenching his fists open and closed for a moment, the corner of his lips slowly curled upward.

"How long has it been since I left, and you think you can boss me around, punk?"

Ray practically vanished from his spot, closing the distance between himself and Van within a jiffy.

The extra limbs reacted instantly, moving even without Van giving them a command.

However, they were just too slow.

Ray whirled to the side and drove his elbow into Van’s side, sending the tech guru almost flying.

Albeit, before he could, his limbs stabbed into the ground, anchoring himself and preventing him from going anywhere.

"Fuck you, Ray. Must you hit so hard? If I wanted to go all out, I would have summoned my suit. Ouch... my side is aching tremendously."

The Tribrid stuck out his tongue and made a silly face.

"Learn to respect your elders."

"Speaking as if we aren’t the same age, fool."

Ray hissed and began walking towards his bed, reaching for his cup of tea.

But then his eyes narrowed as he heard the sound of mechanical whirring.

Turning around, he watched as the extra limbs crumbled into thousands of mechanical spiders.

"Hang on, what brings you here?"

"Didn’t you hear what I said? Your stupid laughter ruined my conc—"

"I might not be as smart as you, but I’m definitely not a fool. I’m your best friend, dumbass. So I know that’s not why you are here.

"Even if the whole world is exploding, whenever you are working, you wouldn’t hear at all. As if you are in a trance of sorts. So unless you are like me, you couldn’t have possibly heard me laugh from your own room."

Folding his arms across his chest, Ray’s eyes narrowed.

"Out with it already."

Van smiled before rubbing his hair.

"Man, having a werewolf best friend can be annoying. When did you become this smart? You were usually all brawns and no brains, no offence."

"Offence taken."

Van waved his hands dismissively with a click of his tongue.

"I just need your help to complete what I have been working on."

Ray’s brows lifted into the air for a moment.

"Help? Uh, bro... I might be powerful, but I don’t know how to operate your junks. I’m the worst person you would meet for su—"

"Will you let me finish?! And don’t call my techs ’junks’ again, otherwise I will cut your tongue out."

"I wanna see you try. Junk master."

A vein began to throb at the side of Van’s head, but he quickly took a deep breath and exhaled.

"That’s right, you need my help, so keep your cool." Ray grinned.

But then he tilted his head in confusion.

"Still, how may I help you?"

Van massaged his temples for a moment while closing his eyes and mumbling under his breath.

"How did I even befriend this fool?"

Ray definitely heard his mumbling, but choosing not to make an issue of it, he simply slid his hands into his pockets and waited.

With a tired sigh, Van lifted his head back up.

"During the Invasion, I realised that you have a skill or something that can help you locate the hearts of the Aberrants, yeah?"

Ray was all the more confused, not understanding where this was headed.

"Yes? I can locate their hearts. Why?"

"For our expedition, to maximise our chances of survival, I was working on a tech that could help us in this battle. But no matter what I do, I just can’t seem to figure out a way to locate their hearts.

"My brain keeps crashing. No matter what I research or what I work on, it’s just not working. Hence, I came to you."

Ray rubbed the back of his head.

"You’re the smartest person I know on Alcatraz here. If you couldn’t figure out what you need, how can I?"

"That’s because I’m missing a key ingredient. Hence the failures."

"..."

Ray’s eyes lit up with realisation.

"Oh?! And I’m guessing that this key ingredient is me?"

Van clicked his tongue and then turned around to begin walking away.

"Kindly come with me to my room. I need your help, Ray."

With a slight yawn, Ray began following after the tech genius.

"Did you even have to ask?"