The Almighty Ring

“I need Energy Crystals. I don’t need much, only about five million of them,” said Jiang Fei. It was a number that 0543 had provided.

“Is that so.” Straz hummed. He had been attempting to establish a connection with 0543 but had failed repeatedly. Jiang Fei was desperate but he was smart enough to never reveal his emotions to Straz. Straz was also desperate since 0543 would not respond to his hailing. If he tried to delay talking to Jiang Fei, Jiang Fei himself might realize something was up.

“I cannot make this decision myself. I need to contact my superior. Perhaps you should talk to the leader yourself,” said Straz as he disappeared from the oval hall.

“F*ck you. If it weren’t for Isabella, I would not be taking this from you!” Jiang Fei thought. Jiang Fei was careful; he did not allow any of his emotions to leak out. Even when Straz had left the room, leaving him alone, Jiang Fei still expressed a calm and relaxed posture.

The moment of silence in the oval hall was both frustrating and annoying to Jiang Fei. He was in dire need of Energy Crystals and had no time to waste! A few minutes later, Straz returned to the hall with Z0-11 walking behind him. They were exchanging words with each other but it was inaudible. Then again, he could not be bothered to listen to what they were saying.

“Are you sure?” Z0-11 asked. The two of them were still talking to each other, out of Jiang Fei’s earshot.

“Yes. There was no response.”

“Mhm. This is as expected. Even so, your carelessness had cost us dearly.”

“What should we do now?”

“No matter. This is not your concern anymore.” Z0-11 shoved Straz away and came into the hall. Straz followed suit with his head hanging.

“I assume you were informed of my request?” Jiang Fei pushed. Time was a luxury that Jiang Fei could not afford at the moment.

“Yes. However, I am curious to know. What are you going to do with five million Energy Crystals?” Z0-11 spoke. His monotonous, synthetic voice was dull and emotionless, which ticked Jiang Fei off a little. At the same time, Z0-11 was flicking its fingers, directing a beam of energy straight toward Jiang Fei’s ring.

“Haven’t you heard of the phrase, curiosity killed the cat? Back to my question, will you or will you not help me? It’s a simple yes or no question,” said Jiang Fei.

Jiang Fei was so preoccupied with Isabella’s issue that he was completely oblivious to the energy beaming toward the ring. The ring actually produced visible blink of light, which faded just as quickly. Not long after, another beam of energy was fired out from the ring, which was received by Z0-11. At that moment, both Z0-11 and Straz’s eyes glowed faintly with a blue light.

Even if Jiang Fei had failed to notice the invisible beam of energy fired between Z0-11 and the ring, he could still see the faint glowing lights that were coming from both Z0-11 and Straz.

“Yes. We will help you. Please wait here. I shall have my men gather the requested Energy Crystals,” said Z0-11. Both Straz and Z0-11 quickly paced out of the oval hall.

Alone in the hall, once again, Jiang Fei could not help but feel relaxed. It was a feeling of acceptance. He was only a fighter of Level 4, standing in the middle of someone else’s lair. There was nothing he could do but die should Z0-11 suddenly wish for his death.

…

“I cannot believe he’s been keeping this from us. What should we do?” Straz asked when both Z0-11 and Straz were out of the oval hall.

“Mhm. Jiang Fei had played us quite well. Isabella was already useless to begin with!” Z0-11 laughed coldly.

“I blame myself for believing in Isabella for so long,” said Straz angrily.

“Leader, what should we do next? Should we just–” Straz stopped talking as he made a gesture which suggested terminating Jiang Fei right there and then.

“NO! HE IS NOT TO BE HARMED!” Z0-11’s sudden roar caught Straz by surprise.

“Jiang Fei is nothing but a parasite to us now. Why is he allowed to live?” Straz asked.

“I have my reasons. You are not at liberty to ask,” Z0-11 barked before turning its back toward him.

“So, are we supposed to just hand him the Energy Crystals?”

“Heh. Yes. But it’s not going to be that simple,” said Z0-11. Its eyes glowed with a faint blue light.

“Take the information and send it over to the other party. Make sure they know everything about Jiang Fei.”

Straz eyes glowed with the same hue before he nodded.

“I see. You are orchestrating this entire facade,” Straz answered with a satisfying tone, as if he had understood something.

“That,” said Z0-11 before it turned back to face Straz, “is just the start.”

“Go and make preparations. I will delay Jiang Fei for as long as I can,” said Z0-11 as it walked toward the oval hall.

“Yes, leader.”

Straz immediately left Z0-11 alone as he headed toward the internals of the base to start Z0-11’s plan against Jiang Fei.

“Mr. Jiang Fei. We will take some time here. Bennette Straz is currently assisting the gathering process,” Z0-11 said when it reentered the hall.

“Thanks,” said Jiang Fei with a big fake smile. It was inevitable. There was literally no one else on Earth that could help Jiang Fei.

“No thanks necessary. We are allies. It is but expected of us to help each other in times of need.”

Z0-11 was deliberately trying to waste as much time as it could to stall Jiang Fei. It brought up idiotic topics of conversation that Jiang Fei found extremely dull and drab. Even so, Jiang Fei had to wait. He could not leave the base without first acquiring the requested Energy Crystals. Even if he was having a panic attack, he had to force himself to laugh and nod at Z0-11’s nonsensical conversation.

While Jiang Fei was as nervous as a mouse in a room full of cats, Straz was getting as busy as a bee.

Straz was not getting busy gathering the aforementioned Energy Crystals. They were all already arranged neatly and was ready to be transported at any moment, even if Jiang Fei had not requested them. Straz was actually getting busy preparing a special route. He was going to spread the information about Jiang Fei, everything about him to the other factions of the Unknowns.

The other factions were skeptical about it when they first got hold of the information but it was proving to be too alluring to let slide. Thus, since the Unknowns were all Androids, powered by powerful computers, seconds after they had received the information, the leaders of the other factions decided to look into it. After scanning the location of Winter Islands via a powerful satellite and a sent scout team, the information was proven to be true when Nina and Sylphy defended the house where Isabella was being treated.

Isabella was the one entity that all the Unknowns hated. How many of their “brethren” had she killed? Now that they knew that Isabella was unconscious; a sitting duck in a pool of water; they would never let this once in a lifetime chance to slip away.

While the enemies were readying their armies at home, preparing to launch a second attack on Winter Islands, Jiang Fei was still waiting for the “promised” Energy Crystals on the moon base!