"FUCK!" Grey’s voice boomed, a cannon of air shooting out of his mouth that ripped through the skies and nearly the clouds above that. But by the time it got that high, the force had dissipated so much it only caused the smallest shift.
It was like even the clouds were trying to remind him how small he was.
Grey, however, didn’t give a damn.
He looked down and met Thi Lan’s gaze. "You left a way out for yourself, right?"
Thi Lan’s gaze dimmed.
"Right?" Grey asked again, more forcefully.
"The only way out from under the contract is for the threat to be eliminated or for arc one to be concluded."
"And what does that mean? The eliminated threat part."
"There are only two paths to do that explicitly outlined in the contract. The first is that I surpass the average strength output, measured in average core stats, of the main attacking Races. The second is... more complicated."
Grey just stood there, waiting for her to explain.
"There are a few very specific names outlined that I am not allowed to speak of. However, there are seven from the Dormaji, eighteen from the Syrn, and two from the Volthari. If I kill them, the threat is also considered neutralized."
Grey frowned. It sounded as though she only knew them by name.
In that case, the only way to tell if they were the ones was to use a method that Grey hadn’t used in a very long time. It was essentially a scouting method of the Genesis System that told you someone’s name and their Class.
The trouble was that... well, there were two reasons Grey hadn’t used it in a very long time.
The first reason was because the last time he used it, he got his teeth kicked in by "Sir Terran", the bastard of the Valdi Dukedom. Of course, Grey got that one back in blood quite literally, but he had fallen out of the habit of doing so because offending the wrong person at the wrong time wasn’t worth it.
Especially when his natural feel for someone’s power through his Resonant Sense worked a lot better anyway.
The second reason he didn’t was because he felt a lot of resistance even when he had the thought of doing so. For example, the last time he had the itch was, of course, when the aliens attacked Zone 234.
But he could only guess after the fact that they weren’t even in the Proving Class yet. It was like they had protections against being scanned or something.
And those guys were the bottom of the barrel.
Whoever the contract had outlined for Thi Lan to kill to be free were definitely at least one level above them. Whatever protections they had would be far superior.
But... there were also good odds that they would actually be making their way here. Otherwise, they wouldn’t have been named.
That said... there was a chance the contract was slimier than that and had named those Thi Lan would never run across.
"Are you sure the ones named will show up?"
"I made sure of it." Thi Lan said. "It’s written in. I’m actually a lawyer by trade, though I don’t know if that’s all that helpful here..."
"The Genesis System will enforce it." Grey said, self-assured.
Amunet stood off to the side all the while, looking at Grey with hints of concern. He had just been laughing like a madman just moments ago. How could he be speaking like he was fine now?
"Good." Grey eventually said. "It seemed like I haven’t been enough of an asshole. What do you think, Nebb? Have I been too nice?"
Nebb blinked and then grinned. "I think you have."
"How many gnomes are in this place?" Grey asked.
Nebb’s head bounced from side to side as though he was calculating something.
"Not many. And we’re scattered. The city does not like Savage Races gathering, and the only safe place to stay is the city. We are probably a population of only about 2000 or so. At least half of those are non-fighters.
"It will also take days to reach the city without transport. The only fast way to the city is the outpost, but it costs a ridiculous amount of credits for teleportation, and the Bishop will definitely lash out if he senses such a large amount of space being used.
"Getting to the city that way will basically make us public enemy number one."
Grey’s eyes suddenly brightened. "Your outpost can do that?"
Grey had already known there would have to be an outpost here. The outpost back in zone 234 was triggered after he beat the region boss, and Thi Lan had already done that.
If it wasn’t, then he would just go beat it now and do the same thing.
However, what he hadn’t known was that there was a quick teleportation back. The question was... if the outpost would be open.
He had seen the outpost close on him before, but he assumed that could only be done by the Producers.
There was no reason for Thi Lan’s Producers to have the same hate boner for her as his had himself.
But... would her Producers hate him too? It was hard to say.
"How far is the outpost from here?" Grey asked.
"It’s very close. The space restricting formation is actually using it as an anchor." Thi Lan replied. "It’s where we’ve been regrouping, but the attacks are coming faster. And... we’ve already lost a lot of people."
Grey nodded. "Let’s go."
Thi Lan nodded. By now, her leg was decent enough to limp on.
"Amunet, you carry her. We need to be quick."
Amunet definitely wanted to make a joke about Grey being a gentleman for once, but she chose to hold off. Now wasn’t the time.
They raced toward the outpost, and as expected, it wasn’t far at all.
When Grey got inside, though, he couldn’t help but blink.
"Well... long time no see, Grey."