Once people started talking about Halon and Astralis Requiem, being in that environment became much more interesting for Lohan.
Through conversations, he discovered that the importance major financial groups were placing on Halon was far greater than he had imagined.
Since they knew that being the first to complete something yielded an achievement with an exclusive reward, even if Halon was a player with a Common Base, that achievement alone would give him a significant advantage over other players of the same level.
And considering that he had killed another Player, the chances of him being a Common Base Player were almost nil, which led to the hypothesis that he had at least an Epic Base.
And a Player with an Epic Base or higher was something these groups would fight desperately for, since Players with such bases were rarer than gold.
Unfortunately, they had no information on Halon other than the assumption that he was part of the Astralis Requiem Guild, since these alerts occurred very close to one another, making the possibility of this being a mere coincidence very low.
When classes ended, Lohan headed to the bus stop, keeping his posture slightly hunched so as not to attract attention, though his muscles already radiated a vitality that was hard to suppress.
As the transport flew over the clouds toward the Lower Zone, he looked at that ugly scene of dark gray clouds completely covering the city, with old, dirty, and dilapidated buildings emerging, conveying the gloom of that place.
As he descended into the outskirts, the foul air, heavy with heavy metals, tried to invade his lungs, but the [Digestive Filter] acted instantly, transforming the toxicity into a neutral breeze as he walked through the gray, decaying streets.
That was when his [Instinctive Perception] picked up a rhythmic, chaotic vibration coming from a side alley, followed by muffled, desperate screams.
Lohan stopped, adjusting his protective mask, and among the shadows of crumbling buildings, he saw three burly men dragging a small, frail body into the darkness.
The owner of that body struggled feebly, but the men’s brutal grip prevented any attempt to escape.
Lohan hesitated deeply... his muscles tensed, ready to act, but his rational mind held him back. ’If I interfere and draw more attention than I should, this act of kindness would backfire on me, landing me in even more trouble...’ he thought, worried about the things he was already having to deal with.
Lohan didn’t consider himself a kind and righteous hero. When he was younger in the other world, he dreamed that a hero with superpowers might appear and heal his frail body, but that hero never showed up.
While studying medicine, he dreamed not only of helping himself but of using the knowledge he’d acquired to at least help others who had problems like his, but that too had disappointed him.
As intelligent as he was, he wasn’t quite at the level of the next Stephen Hawking, who won people over with his extreme intelligence. He was well above average, considered a genius, but not a prodigy like so many others.
As a result, his intelligence wasn’t enough for people to overlook his disability; they treated him like a pitiful creature, treated him like a waste of the family’s money, and called him the worst names imaginable.
After being treated like trash by so many people in his previous world and by the memories of being treated even worse in this one, he felt he just needed to live his own life and let people deal with their own problems.
However, as he instinctively focused his gaze on that spot, he noticed the thin arms and the desperate agility of the body being dragged away, and he felt sick.
The familiarity of it hit him like a punch.
’If I’m not mistaken, the one being dragged into that dark alley is the little thief who tried to rob me a few days ago, the boy who had a hungry brother and sister waiting at home...’
Lohan remembered the silent gratitude he’d seen in that child’s eyes when he gave him the nutritional supplements.
He thought of the little children who depended on that boy, who was still young enough to depend on someone older.
He thought of how disappointing it was to realize that no matter how much he wanted help, there was no one to help him in this cruel world.
Then he looked at his own hand and felt terrible.
’I used to dream that someone with the ability could help me, free me from what tormented me in my time of need... but now that I have that ability, am I going to become a selfish piece of shit who only thinks about his own personal gain? Would you be proud of who you’re becoming, Lohan?’
He let out a long, heavy sigh, already knowing the answer without even having to think too hard about it.
Feeling the Mana circulate warmly through his internal channels, preparing to integrate with Halon’s stats.
"Sigh... you really do have a knack for attracting trouble, kid..." He muttered to himself.
Resolved, Lohan clenched his fists, feeling the density of the membrane manifest beneath his skin, ready to activate the exoskeleton at any moment of crisis, as he walked silently toward the alley, planning how he could handle this while attracting the least amount of trouble for himself.
Lohan stopped at the entrance to the alley, where the darkness was so thick it would hide any crime from the average human eye, noting the irony that a society so technologically advanced still had places where technology didn’t even reach far enough to ensure the basic safety of the most vulnerable.
He activated [Thermal Vision], and the gray world of the Lower Zone was replaced by shades of cool blue, revealing four heat signatures pulsing ahead. Three of them were large and aggressive, surrounding the fourth, which was small and flickering.
Through [Spatial Echo-Location], he sensed a vibration of metal... one of the men pulled something heavy from his waist, likely an iron pipe or a cheap vibrating knife, and spoke in a threatening tone.
"Where’s the rest of the cargo, brat?" The man’s hoarse voice echoed off the peeling walls, speaking with the same arrogance that people from the Upper Zone used when addressing the Lower Zones.
Analyzing the situation, he realized that these men weren’t ordinary thugs as he’d imagined, but vultures from the outskirts—a kind of local mafia focused on stealing whatever they could from the already impoverished people of the Lower Zone.
Despite his fear and the desperate situation, Lohan saw that the little boy still stood his ground as he replied. "Let me go! I already told you there’s no rest of the loot—people aren’t foolish enough to walk around with valuables on the street anymore, Frank. Everything I managed to steal, I’ve already given to you!"
"Hahaha, really, Oliver? Then tell me, what’s that thing shining out of your backpack?" The man with the vibrating knife in his hand said, pointing at the little boy’s backpack with disdain.
Oliver, the little boy, was startled to hear that, instinctively covering his backpack and looking at it to check if nothing was actually leaking out, but seeing nothing, he felt a tightness in his chest.
’Shit...’ He thought desperately.
"Mwahaha, I told you he was just a stupid kid, boss. With your intelligence, there’s no way he can hide anything from you!" One of the other men, a bald man covered in technological implants where his hair should have been, laughed.
Frank laughed too, proudly. "You’re still too naive, Oliver. Come on, open that backpack already and give me the rest of the goods you stole. I know you’re a good thief—don’t think I’d be foolish enough to believe you only managed to steal $100 in a week. If you don’t hand over the $150 quota... you won’t make it out of this alley in one piece."
Lohan saw the fear of disappointment on the little boy’s face, but knowing there was no way out, he grabbed the backpack and prepared to open it.
Lohan was shocked to learn that this little boy managed to steal the equivalent of $150 a week in the Lower Zone, but knowing that this charade had to end now, he prepared to go deeper into the alley, only to be interrupted by the sound of an engine approaching at high speed, followed by another, and another.