"That's what I would like to know," Nick said with a severe voice. "Your friend told them where I was. Your friend tried to fucking kill me!"
Carl gritted his teeth.
"Shut up!" Irwin shouted from the side. "This is all your fault anyway! You were the one that led this thing to us in the first place! Mark was not the one who killed you! You were the one who killed Mark!"
"That was not my fault," Nick said with a seething voice. "I acted just like your leader. If they saw me, they would have seen him as well."
"You were up there for way longer than Carl!" Irwin shouted as he aggressively gestured to the west. "I saw Carl coming down way earlier than you, and I even saw him going back to get you! You were the one that led this thing to us! You even knew that it was coming!"
"That's because I'm a Senser," Nick answered. "From what I've seen, one of these things has the power of a fucking Fanatic! If that thing had seen me, we wouldn't have been able to hide in time! That thing would've arrived within a fucking second!"
"Then, how could you possibly say that this thing didn't see you if it was that strong? For that matter, why didn't it arrive within a second? As far as I can see, there was nothing coming towards us until you punched the ground like a lunatic!" Irwin shouted back.
"I can assure you that they have already noticed us before that. If it weren't for me, the two of you would be dead right now!"
"Quiet!" Carl suddenly shouted, looking at both of them. "Arguing like this won't achieve anything."
"He's the reason why Mark is dead now!" Irwin shouted, throwing an accusatory finger at Nick.
"And how do you know that?" Carl asked, looking at Irwin. "I've looked at the sea for longer than him before, and nothing happened. The reason why I told him to be quiet is because the area is very open behind the cliff, and there is a high likelihood that an Extractor from the city might be here."
"They run experiments on the sea all the time, and I've seen Extractors even swimming in it before. Why didn't they get found out? Are you telling me that Nick is more noticeable than several Extractors standing directly in front of the water?" Carl asked.
"Then, it was bad luck, sure," Irwin said, not letting up. "However, the thing could have still seen him while you were coming back."
At that moment, Carl put his hand on Irwin's shoulder while looking him in the eye.
"Mark was my friend as well," Carl said. "I'm also filled with anger due to his death, but accusing Nick of being the reason for Mark's death will just end up with more deaths. As it stands now, there is no evidence that supports Nick being the reason for the appearance of this Specter."
Irwin gritted his teeth and clenched his fists.
Then, he glared at Nick with fury.
Nick just looked back with narrowed eyes.
Then, Irwin turned around and walked out of the formation of boulders.
"I'll keep a lookout," he said with repressed anger and hatred.
Of course, he just wanted to leave Nick's presence.
If he stayed, he might not be able to keep himself in check.
The next moment, Carl turned to Nick.
"Nick, I need to know what happened and what you saw. You keep saying 'they'. Are you saying that there was more than one?"
Nick looked at Carl with narrowed eyes.
"Do you think keeping this guy from blaming me somehow makes me feel indebted to you? You forget that your so-called friend told them where I was and that he wanted to kill me," Nick said with a venomous voice.
"Nick, just how there is no evidence of you attracting these things, there's no evidence of Mark telling them where you are. You are still here, right? By your own admission, one of these things has the power of a Fanatic. If Mark told them where you were, you wouldn't be here right now. Maybe he told them an incorrect location."
At that moment, Nick froze.
What the fuck did Carl just say?!
No evidence?!
This fucker Mark told them where he was, which immediately made Nick's ability fluctuate! Even more, that thing stopped right on top of Nick's location before it created a crater exactly where he was!
Nick fell completely silent as his eyes, opened widely in fury, looked into Carl's eyes.
No fucking evidence, he said!
'Oh, I get it,' Nick thought as his eyes slowly narrowed. 'This traitor Mark belonged to Solace, and if Carl admits that Mark tried to kill me, Solace might be in huge trouble!'
'This is about money, huh?' Nick thought as his hot anger turned into cold hatred.
'While friendship between businesses always relies on mutual benefit, I would have believed you to be smarter, Hera. Is this how you taught your vice-CZE? He sees that Solace might have to pay a bit, but instead of paying and securing a continued partnership, he's supposed to completely ruin the alliance just so that you don't have to give Dark Dream something?'
'Or maybe you plan on getting rid of me so that you don't have to pay anything.'
'How disappointing.'
'I genuinely considered you my ally,' Nick thought coldly.
"I see," Nick said with an eerily calm voice. "That's how we're doing this."
Carl furrowed his brows when he heard Nick's words.
In fact, right now, Carl was concerned.
The shift in Nick's demeanor was way too abrupt.
"Are you planning on silencing me?" Nick asked coldly.
Carl's eyes widened in shock.
"Is your friend aiming his gun at me at this moment?" Nick said.
"You think you can catch me? After not even those things managed to get me?"
Nick looked deep into Carl's eyes with confidence.