Thus he was laying onto the devastated asphalt of the road which led straight into the villa, the place where Captain Stark should be now residing.

Yet here he was, resting over this devastated battle field. Yes, because due to the multiple cracks and holes all over it, this section of the street was even in a worse state compared to this now apocalyptic world.

His body was now cut in half, and ironically so he still survived. His energies lasted enough for his upper half to quickly heal before him dying of blood loss. Yet, now, without his legs and being completely exhausted he was completely at the mercy of the alien.

However even in such situation he couldn't but smile a little.

In the end he did his best, he tried everything he could to stop an enemy whom he already knew to be stronger than him. From the initial bluffs to using everything he's got.

Now before him he saw such unfathomable alien full of scars, tired and gasping for energies.

[AN: since Xeno does not really breath but absorbs nano-energy from the environment.]

"You won, you have my respect. I know you are probably going to kill me at this point, but please let the innocents out of this.

They have yet to be contracted with the system, they are harmless. If you let them be, even in the future they won't probably come back for you.

Promise to let these humans be and I will give you useful information about the 'hidden quest', how about that?"

The young android was desperate to fulfill at least part of his duty as a soldier. If he couldn't guide them, he at least wanted to protect them.

This deal he was trying to make wasn't something so light as it might seem.

He was trying to make an agreement with an individual now declared enemy of the Union. Stark was breaking his own military code, the penalty was that in case of premature death he was neither to be avenged or properly buried. His belongings would be confiscated and his descendants exiled.

It was indeed, a serious matter. Nonetheless he chose the greater good over himself. It was true that now his situation was in such a critical state that there wasn't much hope for him anymore.

However he still had his honor to maintain, which he decided to put away in favor of these civilians.

'To be trying to to strike a deal with me… He must be crazy, I am but a total stranger to you, how can you be sure that I will maintain such promise in the first place.'

After the demand of the android, Xeno started to analyze the situation. Was it possible for the enhanced human to have an ulterior move other than simply feeling sympathy over these primitive beings?

Surely the Union could invest over them, by providing their aid these simple humans could become much stronger. They basically were easy targets to recruit into their ranks.

They would become loyal to their saviors, obeying their orders without questioning them.

This indeed seemed something the Union would do.

'Enough, all this reasoning is pointless anyway. I won't chose between one and another. I want both.'

Thus Xeno started to walk toward the motionless body of Stark.

Without uttering a single word he concentrated a small amount of energy over his right shoulder.

Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

A small, gray stone cube was floating above it. The strange artifact was emitting a bright blue light and pulsating with energy, as if absorbing it from its surroundings.

It was none other than the room which Xeno received as a reward from No.2345.

Xeno had discovered that this object not only could become a living room, but it could also be used as a spatial object.

As it wasn't recognized by the system as a 'tool', probably being more ancient than the system itself, it came quite in handy. Since he had to leave all his other spatial objects back at the outpost.

He then quickly stored the now dead legs of the android inside it, and proceeded to put him unconscious before going inside the villa.

"I know the likes of you. As I already fought such an intense battle years ago.

You are longing for power, to dominate the others and conquer anything that presents on your path.

However fear and chaos cannot overcome everything.

A ruler must remain true to himself to be properly called so, I believe you won't go back on your words.'

Xeno though of these last words as the ramblings of a dying man. Moreover, even if there was some wisdom behind them he really didn't care much. The alien wasn't going to promise anything in the first place.

However this was partly a mistake. Xeno is undoubtedly the winner of the fights, he gets to decide if Stark lives. Yet he has not entirely control over his death.

As the alien kept slowly advancing forward, the android was still pressured, awaiting for an answer.

Yet as the seconds slowly passed by, and only silence could be perceived from the alien, he finally understood.

The alien didn't want to kill him. He had another goal in his mind. The possible outcome of him being captured could be many.

From him being tortured, being used as a hostage or even being a studying subject. None of them seemed a positive result.

"So you are doing it the hard way… For all the innocents I have wronged today I am sorry.

I hope the Union will avenge both me and you.

Farewell."

Ended the small speech the android made a quick, yet strange movement, as if biting something inside of his mouth.

He felt a cold liquid going down his throat, even if in small quantity he already knew that was enough.

Then nothing.

Anything of this did escape the keen senses of Xeno. The moment he perceived the strange gnashing of the android, he understood his mistake.

He should have just played along with him, promising what he wanted him to. Then was needed just a simple betrayal.

He had no honor to begin with, lying to a stranger wouldn't have changed anything.

However this wasn't his style, Xeno prefers things done quickly, silently without much complications in between. His action often preceded his words.

However in this case, his silence only revealed his true intentions.

'I shouldn't be as mad with myself thought. This is all experience, I need it to improve myself. With both the fight and how it ended, I gained a good amount of data to reflect on.

I won't repeat the same mistake again.'

With Stark's death, Xeno was now free to obtain his prize. Humans, or better, the birth of his first personal cattle.

For Xeno not only humans but sentient beings in general were a great asset. Not only they could become lessers, which means absolute loyal servants. But now they were a meaning of trade with No.2345, from which he could get valuable knowledge to increase his combat power. As from what he witnessed today, he was in need of new fighting techniques and skills.

Thus Xeno quickly grabbed the remaining upper body of the android, searching for the tool that created the barrier. With it he would be able to control both its functioning and granting permission to those that wish to enter or exit.

Under a small pocket of his suit, Xeno found a small, rectangular black box. It was very plain and simple and had two buttons on top of it, one green and one red.

Strangely enough as soon as he picked it up, an azure holographic-like panel appeared inside on his head.

Thus he started to understand why it costed so much.

It mostly needed as an information catalog, listing how it actually worked and a pile of names, probably the ones that could access the barrier.

Lastly, it even mentioned how it was a special upgradable tool. Yet you could only do so at the special shop of the conquest game.

Then Xeno injected a small amount of nano-energy into the box, pointed it toward himself and pressed the green button and walked toward the huge villa that was facing central park.

It was a four-story building that belonged to the actual president of the Earth government. However it was not currently being inhabited by its rightful owner.

Even if recently built, the project of the villa was actually inspired by the style of the Ancient Romans. As not only it had an ample garden, adorned with well pruned trees, but even adorned with marble statues. From its size alone, one could guess that it had a good number of rooms and a spacious atrium.

Furthermore it hasn't been infested by the parasites, as the barrier had been set since the start of the game.

Xeno quickened his pace, as once inside the villa he could calmly determine his future plans.