"I mean, I don't feel like lying to you will do us any good." Wu said, holding onto Lera's hand and squeezing it once before he stepped forward. The woman turned to look at him, and the lack of the power from his body immediately made her feel uneasy.
"You are not mistaken." She replied, her arms crossed over her chest, and Lera couldn't help but notice how big those things are compared to hers. Heck, even Ver above average-sized ones are a lot bigger, "I don't feel like fighting today, so I can send you on your merry way once you have explained yourselves."
"We are just tourists here!" Wu smiled, pointing to the great views behind them, "The views are absolutely stunning, and we have always wanted to come and visit!"
The eyebrows of the Sky Guardian danced once, and she burst into laughter, nearly folding over. In the meanwhile, Lera glared at Wu with despair.
"HAHAHAH! That's an intriguing answer, as expected!" She said, pointing a finger at him, "Much more fun than those idiots in the camp! Come! Let's do some tourism then!"
THAT WORKED?! Lera sat down and picked up her stuff and her jaw from the ground. Perhaps from now on, Wu should just take care of absolutely everything.
"My name is Kaire Jin, and I am a member of the Sky Guardian Corp." She said, reaching a hand towards Wu as he smiled and reached his hand forward too.
He felt a small jolt of warmth when their hands made contact, and as expected, she's probing him through physical touch. Her smile seemed rather forced, though Wu couldn't say he didn't enjoy having such a beauty treat him this way.
"My name is Wu." He said, as Kaire nodded stiffly and let go of his hand. Clearing her throat, she gestured towards the massive footprint not too far away from them as Wu continued, "Nice to meet you."
"Nice to meet you, Mr Wu." She said, a tone of respect suddenly coming out of nowhere. Wu and Lera shared a confused glance before going along with it.
"So...what sort of work do you do here?" Wu asked, "I am sorry for peeking like that, but we got curious as we walked past the river."
"It's a preliminary investigation of sorts." Kaire explained, glancing to Lera whose eyes are locked onto the two of them before she focused her attention towards Wu, "I was hired by this Company called Inner Earth, and their sub-branch in the Kingdom of Talonia found out about some of the deposits left behind in the streams which interact really violently with the Wave, and the headquarters hired me to investigate."
"Right." Wu certainly wasn't expecting such a straightforward answer, "Yeah, it's really interesting isn't it? I don't think anything like this before is discovered anywhere else?"
"Not that I know of! No." Kaire nodded in agreement, "But as I said before, even though the company only wanted to collect more of the Fuel Rocks for sale and research, I thought there must be something deeper and more profound behind all of this. What do you think?"
"I am by no means an expert in something like this..." Wu said, moving his hand in a wavy motion and laughing dryly, "Just a wild idea. Water flows downstream and brings along whatever, right?"
That throwaway line appeared to have completely changed Kaire's world view, and she slammed her right fist into her left hand with her beautiful lips forming an excited circle.
"You are so right!" She said excitedly, and Lera finally understood what the hell is going on here.
Kaire Jin has 100% mistaken Wu for somebody else, and that's why she's treating him with the utmost respect to a stupid degree, like an underling tending to a visiting boss. She was not convinced when Wu told her his real name, and when she couldn't sense a hint of power from within him, that's when the entire dynamic of their entire interactions changed.
However, just who the hell did Kaire think Wu really is? What kind of an individual can make a Sky Guardian Corp member act like salesperson eager to impress their manager?
What's even crazier is that Wu typically speaks with those cryptic references and strange phrasing, which only exacerbates the entire situation. Even Lera knew that the stronger an individual is, the more weird and eccentric they tended to be.
This will not end well...Lera sighed and facepalmed as both Wu and Kaire turned to look at her. Wu seemed confused, and Kaire actually seemed mortified to have disappointed the companion of Wu.
"Please! Let me show you more!"
Then, Kaire took Wu and Lera around the camp, showing them the basic infrastructure built up to package and transport the Fuel Rocks. When Wu asked who came up with this terminology, Kaire couldn't actually give him an answer, chalking it up to somebody in the Kingdom of Talonia that's responsible for this.
Lera tried to warn Wu multiple times about the nature of the situation, but every time she tried to do so, Kaire became more desperate at trying to impress him, to the point that Lera straight up gave up after the three attempts.
Three is the magical number of science after all.
After enjoying a meal at her quarters, Kaire then showed Lera and Wu a place that they can stay for the night when the chariot that left earlier that day has finally returned.
The worker made a tired groan as he leaped off the chariot, and when he saw Lera, Wu, and Kaire talking casually and walking side by side, his jaw nearly dropped onto the ground. Just what the hell is their boss doing with the two fugitives of Varous?
Worse yet, even he knew the gap in power between his boss and the rest of the miners, so even if he pointed that out, she would have thought that he's threatening her. But if the Kingdom of Varous found out the Inner Earth's is housing the two fugitives on the run...Kaire may be able to get away with whatever, but the rest of them will never be able to do so!
When he told the truth to the rest of his workmates, nobody believed him.
So as the misunderstandings confounded more and more, Wu became the first one to throw out the suggestions of sustainability during the meal.
"Kaire, have you thought about the future?" He said as Kaire poured a drink of forest juice in his cup, "About how the actions of today may impact the future?"
"I..." Kaire lowered her head slightly, "Honestly, it's a question that I have wrestled many times before. Being a dropout from the Sky Guardian Corp...I wonder how much longer can I keep taking advantage of this all before I was found out."
Wu and Lera shared an awkward glance, and he certainly didn't intend for the conversation to go in this direction.
"I mean...thinking about how completely stopping the flow of the river water here will impact the environments far downstream." Wu said, bringing the topic back to the matter at hand, "Having a steady flow of water, while setting up a dam at various points, will allow you to extract the Fuel Rocks with higher efficiency, without impacting the environment."
"But if I can get my job done today, why should I actively slow down my progress?" Kaire asked with genuine confusion.
"It's about a long-term perspective." Wu explained, thinking back to his sustainability modules in the third year of university, "The environments and the ecosystem is susceptible to rapid changes in a short span of time, and that can have unintended consequences..."
"Well, if it's a river that needed bending, I will do it without a second thought." Kaire said, her eyes determined, "I do not fear those unintended consequences!"
Damn...so she's one of those climate change deniers...Wu sighed lightly, and Kaire was about to say something when suddenly, one of the workers knocked on her door.
"I apologize, but please excuse me." Kaire said, and left Wu and Lera in the dining room.
There were sounds of muffled dialogue through the wooden door, and Lera poked Wu before she whispered in his ear too.
"Um...I think she mistook you for someone else..."
"You don't say..." Wu murmured back, "I am trying to resolve this peacefully."
"Yeah. About that..."
There was a loud shout from Kaire as the ground shook violently once, and the worker scrambled away with his tails between his legs as she stomped her way back into the room.
"I...I can't believe what he just called you two!" Kaire said, her eyes locking onto Wu's face as he sat up tall and looked back, "They said you are fugitives from Varous! Can you believe that?"
"Well...I am sure that they are tired from a day of work." Wu smiled, when Kaire suddenly charged forward with blinding speed. Before Lera could react, Kaire's right hand had already grabbed around Wu's neck, pinning him into the wall of her quarters.
"AH SHIT!" She cursed loudly, throwing the powerless Wu through the dining table as she pumped her fist in the air, "FUCKING YAN! ARGHHHH!"
"Cough...cough..." Wu sat up difficultly and tried to catch a breath, though his wind was completely knocked out of him. Lera quickly came to his side as Kaire slowly turned around and pointed a finger at him.
"You." Kaire said through gritted teeth, and her green eyes looked like that of a goblin with her twisted expressions, "I thought you are Yan, the Lostless Monster!"
"I don't know what that is..." Wu said, struggling to get up, "I told you, we are just tourists! Plus, who the hell is Yan?!"
"The jobs of the Sky Guardian Corp members are to watch over the day-to-day activities of the world. We are to maintain order, keep the peace, and keep the world running as it should." Keira said, forming a fist and placing it over her left chest, "However, there are two groups of people we do not touch. The first: the Ten Heavenly Pillars. And the second: Yan, the Lostless Monster."
Kaire glared at Wu and Lera before a surge of the Wave filled up her entire fist, and she prepared to disintegrate the two in a single blow. How could they have subjected her to this shame?!
To this day, she still remembered the words of wisdom for those that have encountered Yan, the Lostless Monster, and they described him to be one with powers as deep as the ocean itself, yet as tranquil and untouchable as the air around them.
Appearing completely powerless, while omnipotently powerful.
Plus, his name is only Yan, and he shared the same heritage as Wu with black hair and golden brown skin.
Due to the sensitiveness of the work that Kaire's doing here, it genuinely wouldn't be surprising if he suddenly decided to rock up, and someone of that caliber will obviously pick a simple one-syllable name and act like a tourist!
"ARGHHH!" Kaire growled, "I will kill you, and hand you over to Varous!"
"Sure, you can." Wu said as Lera prepared to fight back, "But how about a deal?"
"What could you possibly offer me, powerless Wu?!" Kaire cursed, marching forward and picking Wu up by the collar. Lera tried to attack, but she simply flicked her hand once, and the body of Lera was sent flying out of the window into the bush outside as she screamed and flailed her arms around.
"Lera!"
"Don't worry. You are the one I want." Kaire said, the pressure around Wu's next firmer and firmer by the second, "Now answer me!"
"Trust me, I have heard that exact phrase way too many times." Wu said, smiling even as he felt like a heart attack is imminent with how nervous he is, "You only cared about getting paid by Inner Earth, right?! So let me help you find the source of the Fuel Rocks! How does that sound?"
Kaire's eyes twitched a few times, and she finally sighed in resignation and dropped him onto the ground.
"Just fucking get me paid..." Kaire said, rubbing her temples, "And if you don't..."
"Right right! I get it." Wu said, putting both hands up.