Chapter 071

In the huge pile of rubble that was once the place that stored all sorts of Beyonder ingredients, a figure pushed aside the debris that was on top of him, and groggily tried to sit up.

This figure was Alvin. Though he was immune to the flames, and the cover he dove under saved him from the worst of the blast, he was still heavily injured. He felt a few ribs broken, along with a twisted arm and ankle. His back was also feeling quite sore.

Suddenly, he heard a sharp whistle. He knew it was the signal Gordon would give when it was time to end the raid. Alvin limped out of the pile of rubble, carefully not to alert whoever threw that fireball that he was still alive. But he did not see anyone anywhere nearby. He tried to walk normally, as he went to the rendezvous point, where Gordon was.

When he reached close to Gordon, he saw that Hannah, Raleigh, Rico, and Donald were already present, standing behind Gordon while two people stood before him. Alvin quietly went forward and stood behind them.

"My people are all here now. We can start" said Gordon dismissively.

"I will go first. What is the big idea of attacking a branch of our intelligence unit? This is a provocation towards Intis!" yelled a middle-aged man with brown hair standing opposite to Gordon.

"Now now ambassador, before you start pointing fingers, I have to ask something" said another middle-aged man with black hair standing to the side. "How many Beyonders were present in this compound? If the answer is more than 6, we have a problem"

"Try doubling that. You would still be off, but that number is much closer" said Gordon.

"It seems that Rosago has stepped out of his bounds. I will take care of this matter" said the brown-haired man.

"Haha! Bakersfield! Did you think that we will believe that?" said the black-haired man laughing.

The brown-haired man, Bakersfield stayed silent for a few seconds and said, "Name your conditions, so we can put this behind us"

"All right then. First, the Zmanger Gang can still exist, but with a maximum limit of 6 Beyonders and no more than 2 Sequence 8s. This was something you originally were supposed to follow" said the black-haired man.

"Anything else?" he asked stoic faced.

"You mentioned that Rosago seemed to have caused too much trouble. I agree. I think he shouln't be allowed to have any Marionettes in Backlund. Wouldn't you agree?" asked Gordon.

Bakersfield looked at Gordon, and said, "Alright. Anything else?"

Gordon and the black-haired man looked at each other and shrugged.

Bakersfield then said, "Now it's time for my demands. First, all the extraordinary characteristics that condensed from the corpses or Beyonder's should be returned. They do not belong to the Zmanger Gang, but to the Intis Republic. Rosago misappropriated them, but we should fix this, and do the right thing and have them all returned to Intis" he said.

"A few Sequence 7 characteristics shouldn't be the reason for detririoting relations between Loen and Intis" pressed Bakersfield in response to the duo's silence.

After brief eye contact, both of them nodded. Gordon turned around and gestured to the 5 behind him. The other 4 tossed some Beyonder characteristics to the ground, so Alvin was also forced to do the same with the Pyromaniac characteristic he had taken.

"Well, I thought that some petty items aren't enough to demolish the relations between our two kingdoms, and I was right" said Bakersfield pleased.

"Captain? Can I keep this crossbow?" asked Alvin softly. In the brief moment of time he was wielding the crossbow, he had grown to love it. The crossbow he found in the storage was of excellent quality, and though it was a bit worse for the wear after what he put it through, he was convinced he could not only get someone to repair it, but also replicate it for him.

"Likewise, I have to request to leave behind any weapons, arms, and armaments, as they are military secrets of Intis" just as soon he asked Gordon so, which led Alvin to believe he was still listening. So, he promptly dropped the crossbow, which shattered immediately.

While the crossbow was strong, it wasn't meant to be used the way Alvin did. He used it to smash at least 3 people in the head, and while he was immune to the fire, the crossbow was not. Hence, when Alvin dropped the crossbow, it immediately broke.

Bakersfield continued his bullshit about the great connection between Loen and Intis without skipping a beat, but his rapidly digesting Provoker potion showed how mad he was.

After a few more flowery words by Bakersfield, and little back and forth negotiation, the terms were agreed upon. The Zmanger Gang would not be targeted by MI9, of which the black-haired man was a representative, or the Church of Evernight. The Zmanger Gang would no longer be operated by Rosago, and Rosago wouldn't be allowed any Marionettes.

There were also a few conditions involved that Alvin couldn't understand. Bit having already done his part, he stayed silent.

He had independently killed 4 Hunters, a Provoker, and a Pyromaniac, while had been an integral part in the killing of two more Pyromaniacs. And he had rendered assistance to Rico's kill of the Provoker too.

Alvin's pockets we're bulging, due to the dozens of items on him. It didn't look like Bakersfield knew that he had sneaked into the storage just yet. Rather, from what he learnt from Donald, the Ambassador directly had shot flames against the storage building, as if he was trying to hide something.

Alvin recalled the words he had seen, wondering if that had anything to do with the Ambassador's attack.

After the details we're all hashed out, Gordon nodded to the man from the MI9, and started walking away. Alvin could rapidly feel more and more of his Provoker potion being digested as they were all walking away. Confused, he turned around to see who was being provoked. He then spotted the Ambassador, who while still looked calm, would sometimes glance at Gordon with dislike.

"So Gordon's demeanour and the Nighthawks aloofness provoked him. But Gordon's was mostly quiet throughout. So he came expecting an argument, but was met with silence, and this he feels provoked? Also, his feelings of anger and resentment are against Soest. Gordon is part of this group. And as I am part of the said group, I get feedback from the provocations made by another individual of the group? So in converse, would provocations made against an individual also be considered a provocation against the group he is part of by the provoker? So if two individuals who are part of different groups detest each other, they would pull their entire group and put them in the same positions?" wondered Alvin.

As he felt the Provoker potion completely digest, Alvin somehow felt what he just learnt was an important tool in the minds of Conspirers.