'How the heck did he find me in my human form? Wait, why is he a she…? No, I observed his female form in Sanrey Plains. No, that's not the point!' Maroppa's brain short-circuited for a few seconds upon seeing Inala toast a drink to her.
"It has been a while, bro."
"It…has been indeed." Maroppa hesitated before speaking with an awkward tone, "How…did you recognise me?"
"I know you very well." Inala smiled and shifted seats to Maroppa's table. That wasn't a lie, since he had the Mudropper data.
He only had Orakha's memories which were accessed by Gannala. But in Maroppa's case, he had her child's data. And that data contained all the inheritance passed down by the Mudroppers generation after generation.
Whether human or Pranic Beast, Maroppa's behaviour patterns remained the same. When Inala observed Orakha and intended to use him to figure out what the woman with him was saying, he was surprised to see that he was able to understand what the woman mouthed better.
Some thought later, he figured out that it was Maroppa. Hence, he decided to see her immediately, since he had plenty to say to her.
"Is that so?" Maroppa quickly controlled herself as she recalled the time when she gave her egg to Inala, 'It seems he knows more about me than what I assumed until now. Dammit! He's become more psychotic than before. I can clearly feel it! Why the heck did I want to meet him before?'
Maroppa almost had a nervous break. Even though Inala did nothing, and didn't even unleash his presence, the fact that he was an entity currently being influenced by five natures showed through his gaze.
Only the Boar King had such a gaze. Hence, Maroppa felt the jitter, wishing to run away from the place immediately in response, 'The last time we cooperated, he asked for my child. What the heck will he ask this time?'
"Aren't we the best of buddies?" Inala let out a cheerful laugh and twirled his female form's long hair, "I just want to catch up with you and tell you about some things that you need to urgently know."
"Did…you use them?" Maroppa had a bad feeling as she asked, "The Sandy-Grey Bombs. Did you use them?"
Seeing Inala's gentle smile, her expression collapsed as she asked with trembling lips, "H-How many did you use?"
"Eight," Inala said casually, watching Maroppa behave as if she was experiencing a heart attack, "You should relax, bro. The effects wore off in a day, just as you intended."
"No, by then, an entire region would have been destroyed." Maroppa trembled in fear, for the last time her race did that, the Mammoth Ancestor and Mystic Empyrean Tentacle pursued them relentlessly to cause mass slaughter.
'No, calm down. Both of them aren't on Sumatra anymore.' Maroppa felt like Inala's presence alone threw her off sync, unable to focus in the slightest.
"The destruction was only on the level of a large island." Inala then began to speak about the fake tale he had weaved about Loot's existence, "So, at present, you have been captured and devoured by Loot. I helped the Boar King not chase after you anymore."
"What is your proof regarding it?" Maroppa tried her best to calm down as she asked, inhaling and exhaling with force to regain her composure, "This might very well be a lie you made up."
"He's currently in this city." Inala said, watching her expression collapse in absolute fear, "If you want, we can visit him."
He then pointed at the Inhibition Needle placed on the table before Maroppa, "Don't you think you should have thought about it?"
'Right! If the Inhibition Needle is here, then how is Inala displaying the presence of a Free Human?' Maroppa stared at Inala, 'I was so caught up that I forgot to think about this.'
"It's thanks to this," Inala extended his hand and displayed the ring on his finger, "The Boar King gave it to me."
"Do you not need this anymore?" Maroppa asked and inched her hand towards the Inhibition Needle, intending to pocket it, since it was very valuable. But right as she was about to grab it, the Inhibition Needle flew towards Inala who casually poked it in his forehead and watched it automatically merge into his skull without even having to use Mystic Bone Art.
It had soaked up enough of Inala's Prana to do something so simple on its own.
"I will behave in such a way your lie won't be exposed. Happy?" Maroppa sighed upon seeing the proof and resigned herself to such a troublesome fate.
"I also need a few more Sandy-Grey Bombs…" Inala asked when suddenly, Maroppa's face turned serious.
"No, over my dead body." Maroppa shook her head, "I won't be making any more of them, no matter what you say."
"Okay, that's fine." Inala casually let go of the matter and instead changed the topic, "I need your Prana and Lifeforce, as much as possible. I'll be repaying you twice the amount of Prana and Lifeforce, so you don't have to worry about anything."
"Why do you want something like that?" Maroppa felt her legs tremble this time, 'What the fuck is this insane bastard planning now? He ripped out his organs the previous time he sported such an expression.'
"Just a bit of refinement." Inala said and patted his stomach, "Those three objects you refined are here. I'm planning to fuse them to my skeleton. Having Prana influenced by your Primary Nature will make the process easier."
"You…think I'm gullible?" Maroppa glared at Inala, "Do you think you could take advantage of me like before? I'm no longer the same individual as before…"
"You reached the Gold Grade and have the Tertiary Nature of Cultivator." Inala said without missing a beat, 'I have enough of your data to infer just based on minor fluctuations in your facial features. I'm getting more answers from your face and body language than your mouth.'
It was why Inala talked about a bunch of topics that would rile up Maroppa. Because through that, he was able to confirm his hypothesis, judging that Maroppa had evolved to reach the Gold Grade and had successfully obtained the Tertiary Nature of Cultivator and not a Nature that allowed her to just take on a human form.
"Like before, I'll give you a proposal you cannot refuse." Inala let out a smile, "You…do you want a Secondary Nature?"
"What?" Maroppa was stunned to the point her throat felt strained. Words refused to come out as she stared at Inala in disbelief, "You can do something like that?"
"I know you're insanely perceptive." Inala inched forward and made eye contact, "You can feel it, right?"
"My Natures."
"Is…what I'm sensing true?" Maroppa felt the absurdity of the situation, "How is this possible? This just doesn't make sense. Three is the limit. And that rule is absolute."
"I haven't broken the rule." Inala smiled, "It's just that my two genders act as different bodies. And both bodies have three Natures respectively."
"Haah! This is bollocks!" Maroppa groaned as she fell silent for a good while, observing Inala's smiling face. She scanned the latter from top to bottom and finally asked, "But, what about the influence?"
"A small price for power." Inala said spontaneously and asked, "So, do you want it?"
"A Secondary Nature?"