Chapter 109: Tiko’s True Intentions

Still at the same location (the north side of lake Takengon), at 17:16.

The sun was beginning to set, and the air turned cool as a gentle breeze blew. The surrounding area looked chaotic—scattered robot parts lay everywhere, and blast craters pockmarked the ground.

Lunaris emerged from the lake.

"PWAH!!"

She gazed toward the lakeshore, shouting and waving at Yinyin, who was busy inspecting her robot.

"YINYIN~!"

Yinyin paused and looked toward the lake—Lunaris was about 30 meters out from the shore. Yinyin waved back, smiling as she saw Lunaris had caught five fish using the top of Calestina’s umbrella.

Lunaris swam toward the shore, and at that same moment, Wuxia arrived. Wuxia placed Laventia down next to Calestina, who was still asleep.

"Yinyin, if you have any medicine, give it to Laventia" Wuxia said.

"Okay~" Yinyin replied.

Yinyin stood up and walked over to Laventia. Meanwhile, Wuxia activated her bracelet and checked the map, noticing her teammates gathering to the east.

"Huh? Why are they gathering in the east?" Wuxia muttered.

"It’s only about 1.2 meters away from here, too."

Moments later, Wuxia saw on her radar that her teammates were heading her way. She narrowed her eyes.

"Hmm..."

"W-why do they seem to be moving so fast?"

Wuxia looked toward the east—the silhouettes of three vehicles came into view in the distance. The sounds of engines and horns blared loudly.

"BEEP~! BEEP~! BEEP~! BEEP~!"

Slowly, the silhouette reveals two blue Esemka Bima 2.5 pickup trucks driving on the left and right sides of a black Soflo Jeep Gladiator 6x6, with some distance between each vehicle. The Jeep has two red headlights that resemble the eyes of a monster. 𝒻𝑟ℯℯ

Someone could be heard singing from the roof of the jeep:

"OOO~, DIE DIE~ CORRUPTORS MUST DIE~"

"That voice... Don’t tell me..." Wuxia said, her expression impassive.

Perched on the roof of the jeep was a man named Aswarman Darmia—30-year-old man, 187 cm tall, and weighing 86 kg (with a muscular build). He had a fair complexion and a sky-blue wolf-cut hairstyle. His eyes were unique, featuring heterochromia: the right eye was blue, while the left was brown. A silver Snake earring weighing 1 kg adorned his right ear, while his left ear sported a silver Gemini earring shaped like two women embracing a sphere marked with the Gemini symbol.

He was dressed in a black tank top under a black denim jacket, black jeans with holes at both knees, and round sunglasses. On his feet were the "Raja Ampat"—the most expensive shoes in Indonesia—featuring a slip-resistant and design inspired by the underwater beauty of Raja Ampat.

He sat cross-legged, looking relaxed as he sang.

"WATER FOR WATER, DUST FOR DUST, AND BLOOD FOR BLOOD~ ALL THIS JUST TO GET THE GOLD~"

In the pickup beds of the Esemka trucks, Wuxia’s own members could be seen using their hands to create a musical rhythm.

"YEAH YEAH YEAH~, DIE DIE DIE~ CORRUPTORS MUST DIE FOR THE NATION’S PROGRESS~"

The Jeep’s horn blared again, punctuating the final beat of the song.

"BEEP~! BEEP~! BEEP~! BEEP~!"

When they were 15 meters away, the vehicles came to a halt, ramming into the already wrecked motorcycles. Aswarman stopped singing and smiled at Wuxia.

"Hey~, My gorilla woman, how have you been~?" Aswarman asked.

"You playboy... What are you doing here? Aren’t you supposed to be holding a concert in America? Why are my members with you, and where did you get an Esemka trucks?" Wuxia demanded, her expression and tone icy.

Aswarman jumped down from the roof, walked toward Wuxia, removing his glasses and tucking them into the neckline of his tank top.

"Geez, you have so many questions, you really ought to ask how I’m doing first~" Aswarman said

Wuxia turned toward Yinyin.

"Yinyin, can you still track them?" Wuxia asked.

"I’m being ignored!?" Aswarman said, sounding disappointed.

"Sure, Nur managed to get the data and has already sent it to Le Pitung and Ndo Srikandi," Yinyin replied.

"Good, We’ll head straight there after this," Wuxia said.

Wuxia turned toward Aswarman—he immediately smiled happily, but Wuxia’s gaze was fixed on something behind him.

"Beti, are all the civilians and members safe?" Wuxia asked.

Beti Darmia—a 26-year-old woman, 170 cm tall and weighing 50 kg, with a fair complexion, brown eyes, and a brown bob cut. She was wearing a T-shirt featuring a pink beach design from Lombok, sky-blue shorts, and blue sandals with a palm leaf pattern.

"Y-yes, Sis!... The civilians have been evacuated to the city park, and all the members are safe," Beti replied.

All the members who had ridden in the Esemka trucks stepped out and stood in a neat formation. Wuxia smiled.

"Thank goodness, I’m glad you’re all safe."

Aswarman suddenly appeared right in Wuxia’s line of sight.

"HEY! DON’T IGNORE ME!" Aswarman shouted.

"Oh my, I forgot you were here" Wuxia said with an indifferent expression.

"You’ve got to be kidding me, right?!... I’ve been here the whole time!" Aswarman said, annoyed.

"Well, you didn’t answer my question, so I thought I was talking to myself" Wuxia replied.

"Ugh!... And here I was missing you, but you act like you don’t care" Aswarman said in a sad tone.

"Don’t lie! I won’t be fooled again—two weeks ago you said we were going on a date to Pink Beach in Lombok, but you ended up going with your bandmates instead!" Wuxia said with angry expression.

Hearing that, Aswarman suddenly remembered the promise—he straightened up and stepped closer to Wuxia. He held both of her shoulders, then used his right hand to pull something from his right pocket jeans—showing her a souvenir he had bought in Bali.

"I bought this special charm for you" Aswarman said, revealing an earring with a beautiful design.

Wuxia was captivated, and her cheeks began to blush as she looked at the design: a couple warmly embracing a love-shaped logo.

Aswarman held the earring up to Wuxia’s right ear.

"Hahaha, look, it really suits you~" Aswarman said with a laugh.

Wuxia was speechless—blushing, she took the earring and turned her back to him.

"H-hmph! Do you think I’m going to forgive you just because of this!?" Wuxia asked.

"Hahaha, no need to be shy~ just admit that you forgive me..."

Aswarman spread his arms wide.

"... And come here, give me a hug~" Aswarman said.

Startled, Wuxia turned around, dropped her weapon on the ground, then ran and leaped toward Aswarman. But mid-leap, her expression shifted to anger, and she struck Aswarman across the face with her right fist.

"BUGHH!!!"

"YOU IDIOT!!! YOU THINK I’D ACTUALLY DO THAT, HUH!?" Wuxia shouted furiously, her face flushed red.

While they were bickering, Tiko—who had been captured by Aswarman—sat in the pickup bed of one of the Esemka trucks.

"Damn it! I was so sure I’d boosted my motorcycle’s speed enough, but I never expected those women to have reinforcements—and reinforcements have a Falcon drone that can lock onto targets from 50km away, firing rounds at unnatural speeds!" Tiko thought to himself.

"I already contacted Raven, so why hasn’t my backup arrived yet?! Did he not notice my signal?!"

"Fuck! I paid them every last cent I had! Are they trying to betray me!? If they are, I’ll expose their identities!"

Tiko heard Wuxia and Aswarman arguing and peeked out from the side of the truck.

"Are they fighting?" Tiko wondered.

"If so... this is the perfect chance for me!"

Tiko tried to stand up, but for some reason, his legs felt weak, and he sank back down.

"W-WHAT THE FUCK!?—W-what’s happening to my legs!?" Tiko thought.

He looked down at his legs.

"T-thank goodness... I thought they’d been cut off~" he said in relief.

A man appeared from the right side of the pickup bed.

"Oh my~... looks like someone’s trying to make a run for it~" Gastion said with a grin.

Gastion Darmia—a 28-year-old man, 160 cm tall and weighing 50 kg, with a fair complexion, brown eyes, and a hairstyle featuring blonde bangs—was dressed in a T-shirt featuring a pink beach design from Lombok, sky-blue shorts, and blue sandals adorned with a coconut leaf pattern.

Upon hearing that mocking tone, Tiko instantly flew into a rage.

"YOU LITTLE BRAT! WHAT HAVE YOU DONE TO MY LEGS!?" Tiko demanded angrily.

Hearing this, Wuxia stopped her ranting, and everyone turned their attention toward the source of the voice.

"Hm? What’s going on?" Wuxia asked.

Aswarman stood up.

"Oh, that..."

Aswarman walked toward one of the Esemka cars. He grabbed Tiko by the collar and effortlessly hoisted him up, much like a mother cat carrying a kitten by the scruff of its neck.

"Look, I caught him just as he was trying to run away," Aswarman said with a smile.

Aswarman let go, and Tiko dropped straight onto the ground. Wuxia narrowed his eyes and approached angrily.

"You!—"

Wuxia crouched down, grabbed Tiko’s collar with his right hand, and yanked him close with a tight grip.

"Were you the one colluding with that criminal!?" Wuxia demanded furiously.

"H-hmph! W-who knows?" Tiko replied, his expression and tone betraying an attempt to suppress his fear.

Without hesitation, Wuxia slapped Tiko hard across the right cheek.

"Answer my question! Or else I’ll rip out your fingernails!" Wuxia snapped.

"H-hmph!... You think I’m scared?! I’ve got an army and mercenaries backing me—you think you can hurt me? You’re the ones who are going to be wiped out! ...Besides, who are you people? Think you’re some protected organization? You’re probably just some low-life outfit from the IndoDarkSide, right?" Tiko asked condescendingly.

Wuxia was startled and loosened her grip.

"He knows about IndoDarkSide?!" She thought.

Suddenly, a knife appeared from Tiko’s right side and pressed against his throat.

"Just answer! Otherwise, the other side of this blade will tear up your skin!" Aswarman said, his expression and tone menacing.

Tiko gulped.

"A-ALRIGHT ALRIGHT!!!—I’LL ANSWER IT!" Tiko shouted.

Aswarman slid the knife back into its sheath.

"Good~" he said with a sweet smile.

"Yeah, I worked with them to overthrow the Central Aceh Regent’s administration by forming the Night Rider organization..." Tiko replied.

Wuxia tightened her grip again.

"WHAT!? SO, YOU’RE THE ONE WHO CAUSED THE CENTRAL ACEH REGENT’S DEATH!?" Wuxia asked, looking angry.

"T-that was our original intention, but things didn’t turn out that way," Tiko answered.

"What do you mean?" Wuxia asked.

"So, in short... when we attempted the assassination, we thought we’d succeeded, but it turned out we hadn’t. When the lights came on, it certainly looked like the Regent was dead, but upon investigation, we discovered he had been replaced by a humanoid robot" Tiko replied.

"We didn’t know who had caught wind of our plan—that’s why I pretended to investigate the case and tried to spread the story that the Regent was away on an overseas business trip,"

"I see. That’s the reason we came here, too—we heard that news. Daddy ordered us to guard this place, and Tia managed to detect that one of the ’Roots’ was here..." Wuxia thought to herself.

"Why did you oppose Night Rider?" Wuxia asked.

Tiko’s expression turned anxious.

"B-because... I was afraid my business would be exposed..." he answered softly but clearly.

"What kind of business?" Wuxia asked.

"U-using the lake water... t-to create AI robots..." Tiko replied.

"Hee~ I see. So, you’re running an illegal business, huh?" Aswarman asked.

Tiko nodded.

Aswarman began lightly but repeatedly punching the back of Tiko’s head.

"You wanted to steal water from this lake to develop AI. You tried to pitch the business to the Regent, but since he wasn’t obsessed with money, he turned you down because he knew it would disrupt the lake’s ecosystem, right?" Aswarman asked with a cheeky grin.

"Y-yeah."

"I see... Hey, tell me—how did you manage to steal the water without the Regent finding out?" Aswarman asked.

"I... I rented five modified road tankers and picked them up secretly in the middle of the night" Tiko answered.

"So, you’re the one who established the rule that no residents are allowed out late at night unless they have permission from the local police, right?" Wuxia asked.

"H-how do you know about that? when you aren’t even from around here" Tiko asked.

"Simple, I asked the local residents" Wuxia replied.

Aswarman stopped hitting Tiko on the head—he crouched down, grabbed Tiko by the hair, and forced him to face him.

"Now, show that woman where your boss is hiding!" Aswarman said, his expression and tone furious.

"A-alright, I’ll take them there!" Tiko answered fearfully.

Aswarman let go and smiled.

"Good~"

Aswarman stood up and turned his back on Wuxia and Tiko.

"Alright, I’m leaving matters here to you guys—the Squirrel Squad" Aswarman said.

"Wait, where are you going?" Wuxia asked.

Aswarman glanced back.

"I’m heading to Banda Aceh" he replied.

"What are you going there for?" Wuxia asked.

"Mmm, I’m looking for a woman~" Aswarman replied with a mischievous grin.

"GRRR!!! YOU WANT TO ADD ANOTHER WOMEN!? YOU ALREADY HAVE FIVE WIVES—INCLUDING ME—YET YOU STILL WANT TO GO LOOKING FOR SOMEONE ELSE!?" Wuxia demanded, suppressing her anger.

"Hahaha, just kidding, just kidding~ I just wanted to see the look of jealousy on your face~" Aswarman said with a smile.

"Y-You idiot! Who’s jealous?!" Wuxia snapped.

"Hahaha, you really are cute when you’re being teased~" Aswarman said.

"E-ENOUGH!—just tell me what you’re going to do there!" Wuxia said.

Aswarman smiled, then turned around.

"My manager embezzled our concert funds, so I have to catch him!" Aswarman replied, his gaze sharp.

~To be continued~