Chapter 296: Marine (Bonus)
"Oof."
Coughs echoed out as Sergeant Cherie was startled awake after Sylas tossed him against a tree. When his vision cleared, all he could see were a pair of cold green eyes staring back at him.
The Sergeant was startled and tried to scramble back, only to realize that there was a tree in his way.
"Don't waste my time," Sylas said coldly. "Do anything ridiculous and I'll just kill you directly."
A cold sweat permeated Sergeant Cherie's back. He had just witnessed Sylas' strength firsthand. This man had parried a dagger with his fists alone. How could anyone even begin to match up to such a thing?
Seeing that the Sergeant was obedient, Sylas began asking his questions.
"What is the current situation in York City?"
"I... this..."
The question was too broad. He didn't even know how to start, let alone where to finish. "Take your time."
Sylas crossed his arms. Seated across from Sergeant Cherie in the damp soil, he looked so vulnerable and yet not at the same time. Every instinct the Sergeant had to attack was forcefully suppressed and ground to dust in a single instant. This man was too unfathomable.
Without a choice, he could only begin to explain, talking about how three Portals had appeared in York City: one in the middle of the city, one on an island opened by a City Lord, and the third on the ocean floor, protecting the City Lord from a direct confrontation with the government.
Sylas knew all of this already, but he didn't interrupt. He assumed that there would at least be some difference between what a real high-ranked government official would know versus what a few lackeys of Legacy would know.
All things considered, Sergeant Cherie was still a Level 9 and likely on the government's docket for the next few they would help reach Level 10.
As expected, Sylas was quickly proved correct because the Sergeant let slip in his words that there was some conflict underlying all of this.
"A York University professor? Why did you mention something like that?"
Everything about Sergeant Cherie's explanation seemed fine until he brought up something seemingly unrelated. He only mentioned the professor in passing, saying that he was responsible for mapping out the ocean floor and was a part of the task force designated to figure out a way to clear the underwater Portal before things became bad. But the way he mentioned it just seemed out of place.
Normally, it was something that could be easily glossed over. But for Sylas, it stood out like blaring warning signs.
"Uh, yes," the Sergeant panicked suddenly, wondering if he had said something that he shouldn't have. However, seeing Sylas' gaze, he realized that he wasn't going to be able to get away with it. "Professor Broussard is very important to the government, and it could be said that he's the second in acting command."
Sylas' expression flickered. He had some understanding of this man. He was quite young as well, being 33 years old from what Sylas recalled, and he was likewise a tenured professor. They had had some interaction in the past and had some collaboration related to aquatic serpents.
Professor Broussard was a marine biologist and was especially interested in the changes to the ocean when it was so near a city as large as York City. There was no doubt a great amount of pollution and things of the like that the ocean had to suffer thanks to their strive for modernism.
Other than this, Sylas didn't know much about him. He never really wasted his time trying to understand people much. What he did understand came naturally.
If he had to summarize his impression of Professor Broussard, it was...
Fake.
If there was one thing Sylas was certain of, it was the fact that this man played a character. As for what his true self was like, Sylas didn't know.
But the fact that his position in the government was so high shocked Sylas. He had remembered wondering in the past why the government of York City was subsidizing such fringe research all the time; he had overheard more than one jealous conversation between angsty academics about that very topic.
'Could it be that the government was heavily investing in ocean research from the very beginning?'
Sylas had hit the nail right on the head. What he didn't know was that one of the main reasons the Sixth Summoning was lost was because the powers had neglected the oceans too much. There was no rule that said Portals could only appear on land, and because of that, they were easily overrun from regions they least expected.
By the time they realized that things had to change, it was too late to make a lasting impact. Professor Broussard was just one investment they had made toward correcting this wrong. "That still doesn't explain why you mentioned him," Sylas said coolly.
This man couldn't have become a Sergeant by being an outright moron. By Sylas giving him such an open-ended question, his instinct should have been to pretend as though he was telling everything he could while actually hiding as much as he could get away with. He should have left the burden of unearthing the fact on Sylas. But he hadn't. That was odd.
"This..."
Sergeant Cherie looked into Sylas' eyes but saw nothing but an abyss staring back at him. He coughed, feeling a great pressure. He didn't know what it was, but talking to Sylas felt heavier on his heart than any General he had spoken to in his entire life.
"These are just petty rumors; I have no confirmation," Sergeant Cherie spoke, kicking himself inwardly. His superiors had already told him to stop gossiping so much, but what else was there to do in the barracks besides talk shit and fuck? "But it's said that Professor Broussard had a falling out with a fellow marine biologist, and that might be related to the sudden appearance of the new City Lord."
Sylas' gaze flashed with a dangerous light.
Cassarae's mother was a marine biologist.