OLD-WORLD EXTRA

Chapter 360: No Equals

Chapter 360: No Equals

?

[It's adamant.]

Emir chuckled at Lyra's comment who easily caught on to what he was thinking about.

[That it is.]

[By the way...]

[What?]

[You seemed to hit it off with that guy. Should I be worried?]

He rolled his eyes.

[Shut up and drive, I'll go check up on the students.]

[I will, my prince~.]

Sighing at her shenanigans, Emir left the driver compartment and entered the open living compartment after crossing the main door.

It was a long hall with two benches sitting on each side, parallel to each other.

He had all the 'named' there alongside a few 'unnamed' just to abide by his fair persona... even though he cared not for their lives.

"Does anyone know where we're even going? I bet-!"

"There no world where Prof. Judas would've allowed us to go on a field-!"

"I would've liked Miss Morgiana to have popped my wasteland cherry instead!'

His entrance caught the attention of many, leading them to turn quiet, leaving only a few in the back that talked, who quickly shut themselves up after noticing the change in atmosphere of those around them.

The last of them was beet red as everyone heard his less than 'ideal' words.

"Everyone."

Clap, clap!

But everyone forgot about it at once, as his voice and his clapping made them snap their heads towards him, immediately shutting themselves up.

Emir nodded.

"Now that your excitement has died down, I bet your rationality has taken over and questions naturally formed. So please, if you have any, do ask them now."

Though he spoke to those in front of him, his voice echoed through all the student-housed APCS, as did the words of the students themselves.

It was to allow them to hear everything, but unfortunately for the students in the second and third APC, they could only listen to the questions, not ask them.

Those who realized that could do nothing but blame their luck.

"Sir!"

Sofia was the first to raise her hand, and Emir gestured for her to speak.

"Where will we be going exactly?"

"Outpost three near Corp Plaza. Next."

"...That outpost? Isn't it too dangerous?"

A random student's follow-up question was answered by another sitting next to him:

"Not really, even though it's right next to the front lines, we've got the Army to protect us." "Right, but still, it's scary."

"Eh. I for one, didn't think I'd ever see the Corpo's natural habitat."

"Idiot, we ain't going there, only passing by."

Murmurs spread as a reaction to his answer, but the serious ones continued to ask their questions at a fast pace:

"Is it okay that we'll be skipping all our classes today?"

"I contacted them beforehand, and they all agreed to this."

"Everyone, Sir?"

"Yes."

"Even Judas?"

"Even him."

"Thank you for answering."

He had successfully assured them that he had it all taken care of, but his thoughts were not so convincing:

'I told them a few minutes before we left, but it'll be fine; Morgiana only bothered telling the principal, so they'd better appreciate me.'

An 'unnamed' was picked to ask next.

"What will we be doing?"

"Join cohorts of Trauma Team respondents and Watchers. Protect them as they extract hunters and/or heal them. Basically, you'd be the reason every hunter paid for life insurance."

" ||

That answer got an even wilder reaction out of them, but as they saw his gaze turn stern, they quietened down without saying anything.

Max, who had his hand raised since early, was picked next.

"Will there be a competition?"

"No comment. Just do your best."

Grumbling under his breath, he looked away in disappointment, seemingly calmer since they last interacted.

'Goooooooood. I've made progress in training this dog.'

Next to get picked by a now-grinning Emir was Elijah.

"Will we choose our own teams?"

"Yes. Max of three."

Another 'unnamed' was then picked and asked:

"Why sir?"

"Because it's best to have five in a cohort when confronted with small spaces. One stays in the middle, acting as a spotter with their information gathering device, two in the front, acting as vanguards, and two in the back, protecting your flank from chasing monsters."

Another:

"So we'll be the vanguard and flank?"

"Yes, those in the Trauma Team are experienced spotters. They'll lead you well."

Another:

"You sound really experienced, sir. Did you dive a lot?"

That student mixed in a personal question, but Emir didn't mind; he was actually going to use

it to figure out something he had been interested in knowing for some time now.

[Ly, how many times was it?]

[Seventy-seven times.]

Inwardly nodding, he answered:

"Quite a bit, I must've done it around eighty-one times."

Immediately activating his Temporal Perception, he scanned the 'named' faces.

Arthur showed no reaction. Neither did Max, Ava, or Xavier.

Quinn, on the other hand, was obviously surprised. Sofia's brows moved slightly while Elijah and Aria shrugged their shoulders, understanding that he lied there for a reason.

And that he did.

In that world of slow, Emir had figured out who read his file, or at least those who were smart

enough to try and dig into his history, searching for anything that would help in their agenda. Whether it was Quinn and her quest to find a weakness or Sofia and her understanding of her

"muse."

The world's protagonist, Arthur, should've been among those who pried into his past, but it seemed that he wasn't smart enough for that; in fact, his AIS must've done it behind his back.

'He's really useless... I can't-'

[Emir, rogues are on the prowl, twenty kilometers in front.]

His musings took pause as he registered Lyra's words.

'... Looks like Arthur found competition.'

Turning back, he stepped away from the confused students and reached the driver's seat, his

eyes scanning the center console.

Thirteen blimps showed themselves on the radar, not approaching and maintaining the

distance between them.

[They're not as dumb as I thought.]

[Right, they're checking us out right now; do we puff our muscles?]

[No. Kiera, leave and throw those hyenas a skull.]

[Understood!]

Not even hesitating for a moment, Kiera swerved out of the formation, going full speed

towards the pirates.

[Bossman... can I ask why?]

Emir snickered at that nickname, long since choosing to accept it as one of his many titles,

and answered the green-haired Leo:

[It's best to avoid using our abilities in public. And these guys know what they're doing-

tracking us before we neared the front lines.]

[Ah, so that place is a free-for-all.]

[Exactly, Jack. Everyone there knows about Celestials, even the average citizen living in the

small settlements near the outposts.]

[Huh, that's kinda nice. I almost wish that-]

Evan joyfully commented, but Sarah angrily shut him down:

[No it isn't! I... They use those settlements as breeding grounds to endlessly pump out army

cadets. There's nothing nice about it!]

Surprised, Evan was about to apologize, but Emir interrupted them:

[We'll talk about this later, but for now, focus up! Kiera is only a few kilometers away.]

[Yes Sir!]

Two blimps on the radar neared each other, one from both convoys.

[Ten seconds till contact...]

And they kept getting closer.

[Nine... eight... seven... six... five...]

But just as she reached five seconds, the cruiser in front of her stopped moving, completely

causing her to pass it in that single moment.

[They're behind me!]

Kiera screamed, warning the others, but she didn't need to as the cruiser quickly accelerated

to full speed, sticking behind her.

[On my tail, do I try to shake them off?]

[No need; they didn't shoot; it's probably them being cautious.]

Emir's words immediately calmed her down.

She believed everything he said, even if it was something outlandish like the sun would rise

from the west or that Earth was covered by a 'fog.'

It was as if she saw him as a God who spoke no lies and only truths.

Now this was nowhere near that level of ridiculousness, so for her calm to return was natural.

"WHAT DO YOU WANT TO SAY?!"

And it indeed was the truth as one of the cruiser's passengers stepped out to the roof, his hand

waving a massive hologram of a white flag.

[What should I do?]

[...Reveal yourself.]

Kiera did as she was told, leaving Lyra to telepathically drive the cruiser, and got to the roof

with no gun in hand, only a ring-sized skull with two horns protruding out the front.

"WE ARE NO EQUALS!"

She roared fiercely and threw the skull at him.

"...You?!"

The surprised rogue easily caught it, and when he took a look, his face turned dark.

"GO, NOW!"

He rushed back down in panic as he screamed at his lot to leave, and leave they did, getting

out of there as if they were never there in the first place.

[...Well, that reaction was a bit more than I expected.]

[A lot more. They knew all about us.]

Emir slowly nodded, agreeing with Lyra. 'I guess they were not dumb at all.'