Surprise Kidnapping [6]

The Wasteland was always described as a place where nothing happened.

For the most part, it was.

Most people didn't have jobs other than scavenging. If they did have jobs, it was likely that they were being exploited for pay that didn't match the amount of effort they had to put in. 

The people were all poor. Anyone from the Wasteland who made money would leave the Wasteland as soon as they did. There were only a few people willing to stay in this hell of a place and help its people. 

Those people were the reason why the people of the Wasteland ended up with cities to live in. Before them, the 6th Stratum was a place of small villages and shelters where people took shelter in shacks and buildings of their own creation.

This was a world that was hard to consider a part of Earth due to its atmosphere.

The majority of the population still chose to live in small camps of people they trusted and led mostly nomadic lifestyles, but there were around fifty major cities where they could rest their heads if they ever had the desire to settle down somewhere more peaceful.

Gastle was one of them. 

Located in the northern part of the western hemisphere, Gastle was a city with a cooler yet generally unchanging climate. It had a population somewhere around ten million but didn't look the part. After all, it was as compact as such a populous city could be. 

Gastle was built for the purpose of protection. It was surrounded by high walls made of fortified aetheric cement and could only be accessed through two points that were secured by a private military force. 

Some people considered it a prison disguised as a utopia, but its citizens felt differently. They would defend the city no matter what was said about it, because for them, this "prison" was the only thing keeping them alive. 

It was created only fifty years ago by a woman without a name. She told the people to call her the Old Lady, which most did, but they also used a more proper title. 

The Witch Doctor. 

Though she wasn't a traditional doctor or a medical professional, her Original Gene gave her a miraculous ability to heal. Rather than profiting off of that ability, she used it to establish a force, further her medical skills, and establish Gastle.

She wasn't the kind of ruler who sat behind a desk and allowed the city to run itself. She was a part of the community. She lived in a rickety shack just like everyone else, and if one desperately needed healing, she would always open her doors. 

Perhaps that was why her law was so respected. Gastle was a great place to live, as there wasn't much crime within the city's walls. That also meant there were strict restrictions in place for its people, including quite an early curfew, but it was lenient enough to be mostly respected.

Time passed as if it didn't exist and a fleet of aircrafts reached the city's vicinity.

Whoosh!

The winds kicked up several tens of kilometers from the border as the zephyr touched down. The rest of the fleet circled in the air above, knowing that the main ship would be back in the air shortly. 

The plane had two doors in the front, two in the back, and one that led to the cargo hold. In this case, the door that opened was the last, creating a ramp from the back of the plane to the ground. 

Standing within were Gio, Ricky, and Raymond.

"I don't think you need an explanation about why we're this far. Your truck might've broken when we grabbed it, but I'm not heartless enough to make you walk all the way there," Raymond said. 

At this point, there was no need for extraneous conversation. In the time before they landed, they'd had all the conversation they needed.

As Raymond spoke his words, two members of the crew approached, wheeling a bike to them. It had large tires meant to find grip in the sand and soft suspension meant to ride over bumpy and unpaved roads. 

"It's good enough to get you to the main road pretty easily, and when you get there, it's a straight shot for Gastle."

Gio nodded. He was familiar with the city, so he didn't need to be told. 

As he got on the bike and ushered Ricky to get on behind him, he looked over at Raymond with a small smile. 

"Well then, until we meet again."

"Right. I'll see you in a few months."

With only one more nod, Gio revved the bike to life and took off. Within moments, he was already a distance away from the zephyr.

Watching him, Raymond could only sigh. 

"Are we sure that isn't a grown man in a child's body?"

He asked the question to seemingly nobody, but an answer came regardless.

"I was watching through the security feed. I was also thinking the same thing, but I ran his code. He's registered."

"And?"

"Thirteen years old. There's no record of a mother or father, so he was probably dropped somewhere in the Wasteland and picked up and registered by someone else."

"They couldn't find his parents through lineage analysis?"

"Nobody tried."

A woman materialized from the shadows around Raymond like she was nothing more than a shadow herself. Her outfit was completely black, as were her hair and eyes. Her skin, on the other hand, was as pale as paper.

"He's a Wasteland orphan. Who would do a lineage analysis on him? He's been scavenging since he was six, so his records are relatively complete. We can be almost completely certain that he isn't anyone important."

Her words were based on nothing but facts and confirmed information, so Raymond wasn't doubting her. Yet…

"We can hardly say that's true, right?"

The woman shrugged.

"He knows too much to be normal, but it's also at a level where he could've learned it from someone else who came down here before us. We can't say for certain he has connections to higher Strata."

"Right…"

Once again, she didn't lie. Nevertheless, Raymond's gut feeling didn't change. 

'Even if that child is a nobody, he's a nobody who dreams big. The moment he saw me, he had already hatched a plan to secure himself the Blood Serpent Poison. It was a material he was already looking for, but…'

It had to be known that for ordinary people, poison from a Tier 5 monster was considered a catastrophic threat. Even a single drop could melt the entire body of an unfortunate victim.

'The look in his eyes wasn't that of someone planning to commit murder. He didn't seem like he was targeting people at all. However, he absolutely had a target.'

There was something in the Wasteland that he needed to kill, something that required Tier 5 poison to fell. 

"Keep some people on him. Don't interfere with him, but if it looks like he's going to die, pick him up and bring him back."

The woman's eyes widened slightly. 

"You're interested in him?"

Raymond watched the bike disappearing into a cloud of dust in the distance. 

"Well…"

He didn't want to act too sure of anything quite yet, but…

"Let's just say that, in my opinion, it'll only take a few more years for that kid to enter our world."

Not the world of the military, not the world of the higher class.

Raymond spoke of a different world altogether.

That was the world of Sequencers that normal people could never fathom.