"Bzzz"
"Bzzz"
The tiny earpiece in Oliver’s pocket vibrated. The sensation brought him back to reality, focusing his mind on the present. His eyes quickly scanned his surroundings, and he nodded at the elderly man who had caught him. Swiftly, he extricated himself from the man’s grasp and landed on a tree branch.
Everyone stood on the tree canopy, watching the giant flood dragon flying just above them. The furious dragon was about to unleash another water attack in their general direction.
anwhile, Oliver occasionally glanced at Lin Yue’s barely visible face, not taking the dragon seriously. His mind was consud with thoughts about her.
Not just any thoughts, but thoughts about how he should end her.
After all, his ideology was that enemies should die. As soone who had experienced a cruel reality, he knew he couldn’t afford to be kind to his enemies.
As his thoughts raced, Oliver picked up the vibrating earpiece and pressed it into his left ear. Imdiately, Root’s familiar voice greeted him.
"What happened? Are you okay?" His voice was laced with concern.
"Alive and well," Oliver replied concisely.
Root sighed in relief. "Ah!"
"Could..."
"No." Oliver cut off Root’s question before he could even finish.
"Okay."
Root understood the seriousness of the situation and fell silent, but he maintained the earpiece connection, waiting for further communication.
Due to their close proximity, everyone heard Oliver’s conversation with Root. The elderly n relaxed slightly, realizing Oliver wasn’t an enemy. He didn’t seem like soone who had intercepted the flood dragon to capture it before they could.
One of the white-haired old n lowered his hood, revealing his face, and asked, "Young man, who are you?"
anwhile, another man stepped forward and swatted away a glowing ball of water heading their way. A glowing mana armor ford over his hand as it collided with the water ball, deflecting it. Still, the tree they stood on trembled under the pressure.
Oliver had to channel golden mana to his feet, increasing his adhesion to the tree to stand stably. Then he looked directly at the old man who had asked the question.
’I am the guy who is going to kill you...’ That’s what Oliver wanted to say.
But he changed it to sothing like, "I am Oliver."
In truth, the nonsense he padded it with made it impossible for them to truly understand what he said.
"I am the greatest crab hunter of the ninety seas and twenty-five oceans. The best warrior of the sea and the supre hero of n. The owner of the best car in the world. The great, wonderful, handso, the one and only Oliver."
They waited until he completed his introduction and stared at him weirdly.
But this was a lake...
There were no ninety seas. Nor were there twenty-five oceans.
What was a crab hunter?
A guy who catches crabs?
Why was he a hero?
And what in the heck was the best car in the world?
Multiple questions scrambled their thoughts.
Still, they breathed a sigh of relief, realizing he was just a weirdo.
Even Root, on the other end of the call, felt his brain rot from the nonsense Oliver had just spouted. Silently, he controlled the boat and activated thermal imaging to get a better look at what was happening below.
anwhile, the old man who had spoken with Oliver offered an awkward smile.
"We are sorry for the inconvenience we caused. We were hunting the flood dragon, and it escaped our encirclent. I hope your friend is safe." The old man apologized.
"Yes, he is, but not thanks to you. If I had been a little late, my friend would have been turned into minced at. Is this how Oblivion operates? Do you have any consideration for human life, which could be lost due to your reckless actions?" Oliver blad them, preserving his eccentric image.
While they talked, the other three jumped off the tree, moving closer to the flood dragon, encircling it.
"I am sorry for the distress we caused. I apologize. Please forgive us." The man didn’t take Oliver’s words to heart and apologized once again with a pleasant smile.
Oliver was creeped out by the respect he received.
Was Oblivion such a nice guild?
Even Oliver, who knew them from his past life, felt like sothing was wrong.
’Is it because of the caras?’
Root was observing the situation from the sky. Every one of their actions was being recorded.
’Are they being nice because of the caras?’
Oliver smiled, seeing the amicable smile of the elder.
’A seasoned public relations expert,’ he silently judged.
Instead of thinking it was their true sentint, Oliver naturally considered the most negative option. ’If that’s the case, I can push them even more until they reveal their nasty little side,’ he decided.
Oblivion, in his past life, had worked with Nova Rift and Indra to trap and imprison him. At that ti, they didn’t possess the heroic nature of a guild or empathy. They were a guild driven by a lost cause, much like Lin Yue, into the depths of hell. As far as he knew, Oblivion and many heroes had fallen at the hands of the demon during the ti he was imprisoned.
Lin Yue was one of humanity’s peak powerhouses. And yet, she too was killed by the people she trusted.
So, he didn’t believe for a second that the old man was speaking the truth. Certainly, sothing nefarious was hidden beneath the smiling face.
To unearth that, Oliver spoke.
"You can’t just apologize and wash your hands clean. You need to give compensation. Let think..." Oliver paused for a while and continued, "...Emotional damage. Physical damage. Injuries. Damage to the equipnt. Damage to the car. Everything will probably add up to a million. No, five million creds. You have to pay for that."
Oliver declared, leaving no room for negotiation.
anwhile, the old man talking to him was exasperated.
’Where is the car?’
’What emotional damage?’
’What injuries?’
’Why did it jump from one million to five million?’
Oliver’s demands perplexed him. He was asking for too much.
"Isn’t that too much..."
Before he could finish, Oliver interjected.
"How is that too much? You know I could have died just then and there," said the immortal man, exasperated. "My friend could have died. We could have lost everything," he added in utter dismay.
Oliver played the drama queen well.
"What would we do if we were dead? Can we eat freshly made ice cream? Can we eat the delicious barbecue of rank S bovine beasts? At least, will we be able to eat crabs? Sigh. Death is the worst thing that can happen to a living person."
Oliver shook his head to show his disappointnt. Indirectly, he was saying he expected more from the guild.
Although his words lacked substance, his emotional outburst almost convinced the old man that they were doing sothing evil. He was swayed to give the requested amount and be done with it. Still, his remaining rationality held him back from doing so.
"Young man, I can understand why you are angry. But we can’t compensate you now. Please co to our clan house with this card." The old man took out a business card and gave it to Oliver. "The hunt has nothing to do with the guild. So, you can co directly to for compensation," he added.
The card was white with tiny letters printed on it. It had the na, phone number, and address of the old man.
Oliver glanced at it but didn’t bother reading. He didn’t care about that at all.
His goal was to make the ’kind old man’ angry.
"Are you trying to trick ?" he asked in light of his perceived failure. "You are trying to avoid responsibility, right?"
"No, of course not."
"Yes, you are."
Oliver argued back, listing why he thought so.
anwhile, the flood dragon roared and slamd against the people encircling it, sending them flying back. Although they were all A-rankers, they still couldn’t stop it.
The old man talking to Oliver felt the situation worsen. His mind rapidly spun to find a way to avoid Oliver. But Oliver didn’t allow him to leave, asking and confronting him about his compensation. He was behaving like a leech who wanted to suck his victim dry.
’He should be called the best leech instead of the best crab hunter,’ the old man complained.
Then he pursed his lips and jumped away from the tree. He’d had it with the damned kid. Any more of that and he’d develop hypertension.
Oliver watched the man disappear into the darkness, disappointed.
This was not the outco he was expecting.
He thought he would be thrown away, beaten black and blue, or ignored.
However, contrary to his expectation, neither happened.
In fact, he was treated politely. The old man even agreed to pay compensation for sothing they had no control over.
’Was this really the Oblivion he knew? Or is it the Lin family?’ Oliver was confused.
He wanted the damned people who tornted him to die, especially the young lady, Lin Yue. But now, he didn’t really hate the old man.
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