Caity quickly got off the SUV. Cara followed her right behind. Further down the convoy, Charlotte and the Security Troopers dismounted as well. Their rifles were ready.
At the same time, dozens of York Troopers slowly closed in. Yes, these were visitors, but they also knew very well that if these visitors suddenly opened fire and disturbed Apollo, the only way these sentries could live was if they disposed of the intruders quickly.
Caity glanced at the York sentries. Their weapons were locked and loaded, but Caity ignored them. She slowly walked toward the steps of the Sun Throne. One step. Two steps. Suddenly, one of the sentries placed himself in front of her.
“Sir, please hand me your weapon before you enter.”
Caity glanced around briefly to find that Aryan was suddenly nowhere to be seen. Immediately, she knew what was going on.
“No.” She said quietly. “Move aside.”
“Sir.” The sentry repeated. “Your weapon.”
“I am a personal guest of Lord Apollo himself!” Caity suddenly raised her voice. “Move aside at once or feel my wrath! Last warning!”
The sentry didn't move, so Caity pulled out her Defender-C and shot him in the head.
Blood splattered onto Caity’s cheeks, adding a strange sense of beauty to her form.
“How dare you!” Across the field, dozens of York Troopers raised their weapons, ready to fire. The Security Troopers did a similar thing. Neither Cara knew Charlotte knew what was wrong with Caity, but they stood by her nonetheless.
The life of a single World Alpha local was nothing.
Caity stood right there, unfazed by the Mexican standoff.
One second.
Two seconds.
Just as some of the troopers from both sides were about to lose it, a familiar figure suddenly appeared.
“Wow wow! I was gone for one moment and look at what happened!” Aryan walked up out of nowhere and reassured both sides. He turned to the Alpha Troopers. “Troopers, put down your weapons. They are not your enemies!”
The troopers lowered their weapons at once. No hesitation.
Caity suddenly grinned. Yes! She made the right call!
She waved her hand and the Security Troopers stood down.
The moment Aryan ‘mysteriously’ disappeared, Caity realized something was off. When the sentry stopped her, she was sure this was a test.
She has barely set foot into the mansion, and the testing has already started.
In an environment like World Alpha, someone’s weapon was that person’s most valued object. Mutants that could kick ass with their minds were a whole different topic, but for human beings like Caity, their weapons were their lives.
If Caity handed over her weapon just like this, then that was telling Apollo one thing: she was willing to make concessions. But why would she need to make concessions if she had a huge faction behind her and countless forces willing to avenge her if she was killed here? Huh?
Unless she was lying about that...
On the other hand, by shooting the sentry just like that, Caity was sending Apollo a whole different message. I respect you. That’s why I came all the way here and that’s why when your minion wanted my gun and thus disrespected me, I warned him. But at the same time, I’m not afraid of fighting you. Your minion repeatedly offended me, so I killed him. Simple as that.
Sometimes, a girl had to stand up for herself. Caity knew she was dancing with the lion. If she wanted herself and her comrades to walk out of Camp York alive, she had to be fast.
Just like Caity expected, Aryan came out before things really got ugly and put an end to everything. Somehow, all it took was one word from him to have all of Apollo’s personal guards back off. That meant one thing: Aryan was in on this too. He might have been nice and helpful to Caity on the trip, but when things got serious, he was still the Camp York Mutant.
Caity had no doubt if her cover was blown or she lost her value, Aryan would be the first to hunt her down and make her pay for her deceptions.
In just a few moments, countless thoughts have run past Caity’s head. When she said not anyone could be an envoy, she wasn’t lying.
Aryan held his hand out in invitation.
“Please. Proceed.”
Caity nodded before glancing at Charlotte. “You stay here with your men. I’ll just bring Cara inside with me.”
“Yes sir.”
Caity, Cara, and Aryan started walking into the Sun Throne. They came across several maids, who paused and welcomed Aryan upon seeing him. The few sentries did a similar thing. Finally, Aryan pushed open the door to a large hall.
There, at the end of the hall, sat a man.
Perhaps it was the name, or perhaps it was everything she has seen and heard, but Caity expected Apollo to be a lot of things. Tall. Muscular. Menacing and deceitful at the same time. She couldn’t be more wrong.
The figure in the seat was a young man in his twenties. He was in a T-shirt and a pair of jeans. His eyes were covered by a pair of dark sunglasses. Two blonde girls were on his sides. They looked beautiful. Healthy. Both of them were in clothes so revealing they made Caity, a girl, blush slightly. Then again, she wasn’t the straightest woman.
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Aryan lowered her head gently.
“My lord, this is Colonel Hunter of Fortress Alpha. She has personally agreed to come here and discuss with you matters regarding both of our factions.”
The young man tilted his head and slowly removed his sunglasses, revealing a pair of golden eyes. “Colonel Hunter,” He said quietly. “I have heard a lot about you.” Even as he spoke, his eyes were running across Caity’s armor-clad body. An intrigued look in his eyes.
“My lord.” Caity lowered her head gently. Not too humble, but not too rude.
A sentry pulled over a seat for Caity to sit down. Cara stood tall behind her.
“Colonel,” Apollo grinned as he watched Caity move. “welcome. I have heard about what happened at the door. I apologize for the mess. Please sit.”
Mess? You really need to work on your acting! Caity smirked inside, but she kept her head down, without a word. But Apollo wasn’t ready to just let this slide. He waved his hand, and two York troopers dragged in a somewhat familiar figure.
He was the leader of the group of sentries that stopped Caity at the gate.
“Dogs are supposed to bark at the intruders,” Apollo declared viciously. “but when they start barking at the wrong people, it’s time to replace them with more obedient hounds.”
He flickered his fingers. Immediately, the York captain knew what was going on. Horror appeared on his face as he opened his mouth. “My lord, you told me to…”
He never finished the sentence before a dot of flame appeared inside his body and quickly consumed him in less than a second.
No screams. No ashes. Just like that, a man was gone.
Even worse, the man was a loyal follower of Apollo, and Apollo executed them for no reason at all other than to showcase how much of a badass he was. If he wasn’t a Tier 3 Mutant, he would be dead a long time ago.
“I hope that’s enough to ensure there’s no bad blood between us.” The arsonist added. His eyes were trained on Caity, trying to find any trace of fear within her, but Caity Hunter wasn’t the teenage girl she was back on Earth.
She kept her face straight, knowing there was no room for weakness.
“That’s more than enough, my lord. Let’s move onto more important matters, shall we?” Caity wisely shifted the topic, playing the part of a polite but impatient envoy. “Mr. Aryan said you wanted to personally discuss with me the terms of the trade agreement. What are you proposing?”
Suddenly, Apollo grinned.
“Indeed. What Aryan said is true. However, before we start, we need to make sure of something.” He stood up slowly. His thin body wasn’t strong in the traditional sense, but the power it contained inside was overpowering.
“We need to make sure you deserve to be sitting here, talking to me as an honored guest.”
“My lord…”
Apollo waved his hand, and a figure emerged from another room. He was a young, dark-skinned man. His head was completely bold. His steps were slow but steady as he came to a stop beside Apollo.
“This is Caleb.” Apollo gestured. “Tier 2 Mutant. He has multiple psychic powers, including telekinesis. Now, one of his skills in the arsenal is the ability to detect lies.” He smirked. “Now, please, tell me about your faction. If it’s true, we will keep talking. Otherwise...let’s just say I can imagine a lot of fun things to do to you...”
Standing behind Caity, Cara could feel her heart sink. Damn it! She should’ve expected this! A faction that survived this long into the apocalypse had no reason to be easily trusting. A faction that had unlimited resources and manpower? No wonder they would want to verify that! And with a human lie detector, nonetheless!
The Generation III Phasewalker quietly looked around the room. The 4 Camp York sentries were already a problem. The presence of Apollo, Aryan, and Caleb completely shut down the chance of fighting out of here alive. If things went wrong, the best they could hope for was a quick death.
She quickly reached her hands into her pocket and felt something metal.
After seeing the atrocities in Camp York, she would be an idiot to hope for mercy from Apollo and his peers if things went south.
“Well then,” Apollo waved his hand. He could see the anxiety on Cara’s face, and that made him really, really happy. “please. We are all waiting.”
The Colonel nodded politely. “Very well.”
“I came from a faction whose location I will not tell you, but it hasn’t really been affected by the Mutations. I don’t know its exact population, but it’s in the millions.”
From Caity’s view, this was not wrong. She was talking about the United States of America, which hasn’t been affected by the mutations at all. It had hundreds of millions of people.
Apollo glanced at Caleb, who shook his head.
“It’s a lie!” The self-proclaimed sun god suddenly slapped the table. Immediately, the York Troopers reached for their weapons.
“Wait!” At the moment, Caleb didn't have time to be all mysteriously silent and cool. “That’s not what I meant! I was saying that wasn’t a lie!”
God...this was just awkward. That, kids, was why you should use words!
“Oh!” Apollo bit his lips in embarrassment. When he saw the expression on Cara’s face, he expected Caity to be lying. Wait...if Caity wasn’t lying, then she was really backed by a huge faction! And millions of people...how many Mutants were there? How many Tier 3? How many Tier 2? And perhaps even Tier 4 or Tier 5?
If that was true, he was just an ant before that faction!
Even if they weren’t hit by the virus and they didn't have any Mutants...millions of people! If everyone came marching at him with a stick, they could overwhelm him, exhaust his power, and beat him to death!
Immediately, a humble expression climbed onto Apollo’s face as the man gave Caity a smile. “Please continue.”
Caity glanced at Caleb. She was swearing inside. God! She almost thought she was made! Taking a second to calm herself, she continued.
“Our faction is expanding into new territories. Unfortunately, our technology is not as advanced as the peak UEC designs, but for less advanced products, whether they are food or materials, our industrial system can provide as many of them as you may need.”
Also true. Interdimensional territories were territories nonetheless.
Apollo quietly nodded in acknowledgement. This Colonel Hunter probably came from a backwater area of the UEC that was fortunate enough not to be touched by the mutation. After that, the local officials probably organized this area into a faction and made themselves the leaders.
That was possible. After the UEC Fleet was destroyed, the satellites were all lost. Apollo had no idea if the same thing that happened to them has happened to everyone else across the planet.
“We don’t have any Mutants,” Caity added. “which is why we are focused on gathering UEC weapons and vehicles to add to our ranks.”
If this faction has never been hit by Mutations, how could there be Mutants? Made sense.
That was the point where Caity finished. What she said wasn’t completely informative, but it was enough to prove to Apollo he wasn’t dealing with a fraud. The man glanced at Caleb one more time, just to be sure.
“She wasn’t lying.” This time, the Tier 2 Mutant used words. Wise call.
“Very well,” Apollo smiled warmly, almost apologetically, as if he was trying to make amends for his previous rudeness. “in that case, let’s talk business. Here’s a list of things I was hoping your party can secure for us.”
A York Trooper walked up and handed a piece of paper to Caity. Caity looked it over. All sorts of food and drinks. Not surprising. Wines. Chocolate. Coca Cola. She was a bit surprised when she saw a large number of burgers and water meant for the common people, but she quickly realized they weren’t for the starving populace outside. They were meant to feed Apollo’s personal troops.
“Should be fine.” Caity returned the piece of paper into her pocket.
“And what do you want in exchange? As long as we can provide, we will.”
On a brief glance, it seemed like Camp York couldn’t really provide the Phasewalkers with anything. Their weapons and gadgets were nothing compared to what the Phasewalkers could find from the UEC forts and settlements. Their biggest weapon, the Mutants, wasn’t something the Phasewalkers could just trade for either.
All Caity said was one word.
“People.”