Chapter 44: Human Kill Count

Arlo happily replied as another round of popcorn was stuffed into his mouth, seemingly lowering his ability to notice the shift in the room.

"I said, I have been with her for a week now. She took me in as her personal intern," he replied.

Silence reigned for a moment as they all quietly looked at one another. One of them even had his popcorn drop to the ground from shock.

"Hehehe, being able to stay in the Boss’s house for a week and even being accepted as her personal intern."

"Aren’t you a pretty lucky bastard, aye?" a young man who looked burlier than the rest asked, scrubbing his nonexistent beard as Arlo opened his mouth and received another stuffing of popcorn.

"Well, I would not call myself unlucky..."

"So tell me, you have only known the Boss for a week, huh? Have you undergone your Cyber Transfusion?"

A young man wearing spectacles asked, a small book resting in his left hand as he turned his bright green eyes toward Arlo.

"Yep. Around three days ago," Arlo answered. He did not think that was anything worth hiding.

"That is pretty fast. You really are her personal intern, then?" the young man said, only fully believing Arlo after hearing that he had already fused with his own cybernetic enhancement.

"I also have a question to ask..." a muscular young man said as he grabbed the shoulder of the person closest to Arlo and flung him into the air.

"You piece of shit!"

The one who had been thrown roared in fury but still managed to land on both legs, relatively unscathed.

"So tell me, tell me," the man said, wrapping an arm around Arlo before moving closer to his ear, but he soon stopped and looked around the room after noticing that all the young men were leaning in as well, their ears practically stretched toward them.

"Give me and my brother some fucking privacy, you bloody assholes!"

Andrew cursed, causing all of them to turn their eyes to the side and pretend they had not heard anything. Andrew then leaned back toward Arlo.

"So, I want to ask, in all of your devil-forsaken luck, have you had the chance to, um, enter the Boss’s room?"

"Huh?"

"Andrew, you bastard!" screams erupted from all of them as they turned toward the burly dude and pushed him off the sofa.

"Why are you all reacting so crazily? It is a simple, innocent question..."

Andrew protested as he struggled not to get dragged away, but he was soon pushed onto the ground.

"Tch, at least it was worth the shot," he said, finally giving up as he grabbed a cup of popcorn and waltzed toward a door at the side.

"Do not mind that piece of shit. He is full of shit," they said to Arlo, who nodded, only for all of them to suddenly lean toward him again.

"But we are all curious about the answer to his question. So... did you?" they asked together, and Arlo could not help but snort inwardly.

He was starting to realize just how shameless these men were.

"No, I did not."

"Huuuu..."

"Huuuuuuuu..."

An instantaneous sigh of relief followed from everyone, but their eyes narrowed as they all turned toward the door where Andrew had disappeared and could hear an even louder sigh of relief from within.

"Andrew, you bastard. Still sneaking into our conversation..." the pink-haired young man roared as Andrew snorted coldly from the other side.

"Shut up, Pinkie. You are all just as interested as me in the matter, you sneaky bunch of cowards!"

Andrew roared back, and after the sound of his footsteps faded into the distance, he finally left completely.

"You know you all lack brains, right? You did not even ask the young man for his name," the one wearing spectacles said calmly, causing them all to turn toward Arlo, who had just had another handful of popcorn stuffed into his mouth and was currently chewing away without a care.

"It’s Arlo. Arlo Eclipsion."

"Where are you from? Some fantasy land?" another commented as Arlo took in another mouthful of popcorn.

"Oh, thank you."

"Does anyone know where the hell I threw my card? I cannot find it," an annoyed voice rang out through the room.

Much to Arlo’s surprise, he recognized the young man, who also spotted him at almost the same time.

"Arlo!?" Fat Con asked in shock as Arlo tried his best to force down the popcorn but failed, leaving him with no choice but to wave back.

"You know him, Fat Con?" one of the men asked as Connor Rhys walked forward, the same person who had helped Arlo pick up his weapon and armor on the spaceship.

"Yeah, he was the guy I told you all about. The humorous guy who almost challenged the Captain."

"Uh? I thought that one was long dead?" another voiced in surprise, causing Arlo’s eyeballs to twitch repeatedly.

"Guess he survived, and he even managed to become the Captain’s personal intern. He really does have some shitty luck."

"Still, anyone know where my damn card is? I feel like I would die without having a doughnut right now!"

Fat Con said, bulging red veins appearing on his forehead as his strange addiction to doughnuts began acting up again.

"Nah."

"Nah."

"Nah."

"Why not try asking Tim? He might know, being the card hauler of the house," another said, and Fat Con disappeared through another door.

"So, you are all Captain Ennessa’s crew?" Arlo asked, and they all nodded.

"We are all members of her crew, although some of us do not go on missions," the one wearing spectacles said, causing Arlo to furrow his eyebrows.

"So what do they do if they do not go on missions?"

"We make slight modifications to the things used on missions."

"Some work on the guns, others modify the cyber suits, while some conduct better analysis of the mission area from here and deliver vital information back to those on the field."

"Quite a lot of things, actually. Anyway, I am Alvaro. Alvaro Eowyn," he replied while introducing himself.

"Secondly, why does my kill count matter here?" Arlo asked, the question having piqued his curiosity from the moment he walked in.

"Because the kill count determines your hierarchy and command within the house."

"The higher your kill count, the more you rank up, gaining access to more missions, better weaponry, and better cybernetic skill transplants."

"It is a ranking created by the Boss herself," he explained. Arlo nodded.

"If I am last in the ranking because I have no kills, then I wonder who holds first place..." Arlo asked as Atrius turned his gaze toward him before looking back at his book.

"He is right beside you," he replied, causing Arlo to turn to the side, where the pink-haired young man was currently tapping away at his phone.

"Oh, it is him?" Arlo asked, looking at the pink-haired guy who had originally questioned him.

"Surprised? Want to know what my Vorath kill count is?" the man asked, and Arlo nodded.

He really was curious.

A ranking where taking the lives of Vorath granted someone greater prestige only showed him just how much of a psychopath Captain Ennessa was.

"Two hundred and fifty-four!"

"WHAT!?"

Arlo screamed in shock as he looked at the pink-haired man, who tried everything he could but failed to conceal the smug grin spreading across his lips.

He even unconsciously puffed out his chest.

Still in disbelief, Arlo turned back toward the spectacled young man, who looked at him before nodding.

"That’s exactly it."

"I’ve killed around 70 Lower Anouk Realm Vorath and 54 at the Higher Anouk Realm. Don’t care much for those at the Noir Realm," he added as Arlo’s brain rapidly processed the words.

Lower Anouk-grade Vorath were the type that had torn his head apart in the virtual realm, yet the pink-haired young man had already killed 70 of them.

And one Higher Anouk Realm-grade Vorath would be an even more powerful Vorath, belonging to the next superior tier beyond the creature that had already killed him.

Just what type of hideous creature was something like that going to be...

"Of course, it is not a day’s work," Pinkie replied as Arlo slowly regained his composure.

"Let me guess, you’re a Third Core Enhancer," Arlo asked, but Pinkie shook his head.

"But soon, I will be. I am just a single step away from that stage."

"You could say I am a pseudo-third awakener," Pinkie replied, and Arlo nodded.

"If your Vorath kill count is two hundred and fifty-four, then I wonder what your human kill count is..." Arlo asked, causing everyone in the room to jerk their heads toward him with their jaws dropping in shock.

"Hahahaha, that is a funny joke..."

"Good one, kid..."

They replied while laughing it off, and Arlo did not bring up the matter again, even though the young man wearing spectacles still had his eyes fixed on him.

"Killing an innocent human during a mission will lead to imprisonment by the Orano Enhancer’s Offense Force."

"Depending on how serious the case is, it can range from two months to life imprisonment, so do not even think about sacrificing a human during any of your missions with the Boss."

"If that happens, you will face at least two months in jail. A special jail for special humans," he cautioned in a serious tone before swiping to the next page of the book.

DRIIIIING

DRIIIIING

Suddenly, an alarm rang throughout the entire room, causing Arlo to turn his eyes toward Alvaro, or more specifically, the band around his right wrist.