Chapter 168 - The Insignia

"Do you have any idea where we're going?"

The three of them had been wandering aimlessly for quite some time. And, right about now, Jack has had enough of it.

"We're a few minutes out of the city. You don't recognize this place, huh?" Oliver answered.

"What's there to recognize?"

Surrounding them was a thick forest that had nothing but green. From where they were, Jack could barely spot anything distinctive out of their surroundings. It was all a giant green mess.

"Besides," Jack added, "The training camps for us soldiers were deep underground. We barely get to leave the place. And, even if we did, there wasn't a forest like this one anywhere near the city."

Having been in training for most of his life, Jack hadn't had much experience roaming the outskirts of the city. There wasn't a need for it, considering how relatively peaceful Ark City was. With that said, though, thanks to Jack's training, he knew there wasn't a forest within miles of the city.

"I'm pretty sure that hasn't been there before either," Oliver observed.

As the trio reached the end of the forest, a large metal fence blocked their path. And, just beyond it, was the city itself.

Knowing what would happen if they carelessly exposed themselves, Oliver and Jack decided to hide in the meantime. They took a spot where they had a better view over the metal fence.

"Thoughts?"

"They blocked it," Jack answered, "Never thought they could do that, but... they managed to block off the entire city center. Whoever ordered this must've been scared off their asses."

From where they were standing, Jack had every reason to be amazed. The metal lattice of a fence stretched beyond what they could see. And, to add to that, there was some barbed wire out front for added protection. It was clear whoever did this didn't want anything coming in.

Unfortunately, these people have never met Oliver.

"Well, whatever that fence thing is, they're overcompensating," Oliver confidently scoffed. "It won't stop any of the stronger ones out there. Or, me."

Ending on a simple statement, Oliver dashed out. Shadowing Tread equipped, he maneuvered through treetops and soon landed on the other side of the fence. The whole thing took about three seconds. And, from there, he turned around to face Jack and waved.

"That bastard...," Jack inwardly cursed.

However, before he could catch up, Jack caught something out of the corner of his eye. Shifting his head slightly to look at what it was, Jack's expression immediately darkened.

'That idiot!'

Since Oliver didn't notice what was coming his way, Jack took it to himself to help the guy out. After all, they would both be screwed if either one of them ever got caught.

With hurried footsteps, Jack hopped over the fence and got to where Oliver was. Unfortunately, when he was about to talk to Oliver, someone rudely interrupted.

"Alright, no sudden moves! Hands where I can see them!" a voice boomed over from a megaphone.

"Damn it," Jack cursed as he slowly raised his hands. He knew how bad things would become if he didn't follow the instructions.

Unfortunately, Oliver wasn't as willing.

'These guys...'

As Oliver slowly turned around to face whoever had so foolishly ordered him around, his brows immediately narrowed at the sight of the culprit. That was because he had seen this person around before. However, his memories seemed to have failed him.

With that said, Oliver took a step forward to try and 'reason' with these people. But, out of the blue, Jack whispered something that only Oliver could hear.

"Don't do anything stupid," he said as he stared menacingly at Oliver.

It wasn't something that Jack would say. However, considering the situation, he genuinely had no choice but to say something so obvious. He knew how Oliver would react, and this was the only way for Jack to stop the situation from escalating any further.

"Alright," Oliver whispered back, annoyed. "What's your plan then? You're not suggesting that we surrender to these chumps, right?"

Weighing their options carefully, Oliver knew they had no choice but to fight. Whether Jack liked it or not, the reality of the situation was: they wouldn't have another chance if they got caught.

As the soldiers slowly approached with their guns pointed directly at Oliver and Jack, Jack audibly swallowed a mouthful of dry air. The tension in the air started to weigh on him as Oliver stared at him, waiting for an answer.

"Jack?"

Both of them turned to whoever called out Jack's name. Which, coincidentally, came from one of the soldiers that had recognized Jack. Unfortunately, Jack didn't know who this guy was.

"Do I know you?" Jack politely asked while carrying a blank look on his face. Even if he had recognized the man by his voice, a helmet still covered the soldier's face.

"Wow," the soldier said with a disappointed tone to his voice. "We hang out every day for the past few years. Then, one day, you suddenly disappeared. Now you come back forgetting the guy who helped you out for most of your career. You think you'd know a guy."

Turning his head slightly to look at Jack, Oliver noticed the guy did not know who this person was. Jack seemed completely baffled as his brows narrowed in utter confusion.

"Hey!" Oliver whispered, "You really don't remember?"

"No, I don't," Jack felt a bit lost, "What the hell do we do now?"

As Oliver thought of a plan to escape, another soldier came up to him. He closed in on Oliver and stared into his eyes, intimidatingly.

"You. Haven't I seen you somewhere before?" the soldiers asked as he eyed Oliver from head to toe.

Oliver, not responding well to the man's threats, glared back.

"Probably in bed with your mom," he mockingly replied. Then, Oliver proceeded to spit on the man's eye with relative gusto. Threatened at gunpoint or not, Oliver severely disliked being looked down on.

Turning around, the soldier frustratedly wiped off the spit in his face. He had never seen blatant disrespect before. While he hurriedly cleaned himself up, the other soldiers who had their guns pointed at Oliver switched off the safety on their guns.

They were ready to cut Oliver a new one. Before they could, however, the man that Oliver had spit on raised his hand to stop them from doing so. He then proceeded to give out a hearty, arrogant laugh.

Slightly confused, Oliver raised an eyebrow in suspicion.

Then, out of the blue, the soldier turned around swiftly while throwing a punch directly at Oliver's cheek. But, despite the surprise attack, Oliver casually shifted his weight back ever so slightly. Oliver, without effort, could see the slow punch coming from a mile away.

Dodging the soldier's attempt to deck him in the face, Oliver took a step back. The soldier then proceeded to barrel towards the ground as the weight of his punch threw him off-balance.

From Oliver's perspective, it was beyond pathetic.

The soldiers, who were watching the man fall, tried to stifle their laughter. However, there were still some mumbles of stifled laughter head, thus severely irking the man's anger.

"Alright," the soldier angrily yelled as he got up, "You think you're so clever, huh? Then, how would you try this on for size?" Directing his anger at Oliver, a small flame suddenly appeared at the man's palm. From there, he shouted, "fireball!" with extreme emphasis.

The spell would've been impressive if the man had the firepower on par with his declaration. Unfortunately, that wasn't the case.

To Oliver, the Fire-Attributed Spell was nothing but a tiny flame.

The soldier threw the fireball at Oliver as his mouth curled up to an arrogant smile. He was sure his 'impressive' attack would put this bastard in front of him in his place. However, with a swat of Oliver's hand, the fireball immediately disappeared.

Right now, Oliver had every opportunity to act smug in front of this guy. Despite his wanting to do so, however, Oliver decided not to. Ignoring this arrogant piece of work to his failures, Oliver searched his inventory for an item that would absolve this situation altogether.

"There we go," Oliver mumbled as he pulled out a shiny piece of metal, along with a chain attached to it. Even though he was against pulling this thing out, the situation had left him with no other choice.

This shiny piece of metal was none other than the Cole Family Insignia.

As Oliver pulled the medallion out of thin air, most of the soldiers stood in awe. They hadn't expected to see a random stranger have this meaningful Insignia. What's more, was the fact that this man was an evolver as well.

"I'm sure you all know what this means," Oliver announced ever so proudly. "So, if you don't mind, I'd like to leave with my friend here."

Immediately after saying his piece, the atmosphere suddenly dampened. The words that followed the appearance of the Insignia were somewhat lackluster. Luckily enough, though, the soldiers seemed to have remained respectful. Well, most of them, anyway.

"What are you idiots doing?!" the soldier that Oliver humiliated spoke up, "That thing's obviously fake! Don't listen to this bastard! Keep your guns on them! I am your superior officer, damn it!"

The flustered superior officer didn't seem to hold any more respect from his fellow soldiers anymore. With the appearance of the medallion, who could blame him?

"With all due respect, sir," the soldier that had called out to Jack politely said, "By law, we are to follow the orders of a person from the noble families. And, judging by the look of things, the medallion that person is holding is genuine."

Oliver turned to Jack for confirmation, to which Jack wholeheartedly nodded in agreement.

With Oliver's relatively conflicted upbringing, he wasn't one to take advantage of his authority. In fact, he didn't even know that he had such authority.

Despite Oliver being unaware, however, it was true that the noble families have authority.

Ark City was a city-state primarily focused on business, which meant the richest families were the ones with political power. While these families each have political power in their own regard, their power depended on their respective wealth and overall stake in Ark City's economy.

Jack's confirmation gave Oliver the confidence he needed to proceed. With a better understanding of the situation, Oliver decidedly went along with his rather impromptu plan.

"Shall we get going?" Oliver politely asked as his mouth formed a sly smile.

The soldier that had called out Jack nodded in confirmation. From there, the soldiers directed both Oliver and Jack to an escort vehicle, bringing them to the soldiers' camp.

"Why didn't you use that thing in the first place, man?"

Within the vehicle, Jack and Oliver relaxed a little bit. However, out of nowhere, Jack suddenly asked a question that Oliver had hoped he would ignore.

"Didn't want to," Oliver gave a lackluster answer, much to Jack's disappointment.

"We could've sailed on by if you had used that thing in the first place," Jack expressed his opposition to Oliver's thoughts, "Those soldiers back at the forward camp would've shit themselves if you showed that thing back then."

Getting annoyed, Oliver shot Jack a glare.

As much as he could help it, Oliver didn't want to talk about his family. It simply wasn't a thing he had cared to mention, nor was it important to him in any regard. Oliver simply wanted to say silent when it comes to these things.

"I didn't even know that my family had that much authority," Oliver mumbled as he sighed, "I know they had some say in things, but never to the point of everything."

"People don't realize it, but those nobles have way too much power," Jack commented as he eased back, "Sure, they govern the city-state fairly. But, there are times when I can't help but wonder if there's a tipping point to their fairness."