Chapter 195: 195. Back to Work
The desert Remained the sa.
Sa brutal heat. Sa endless sand. Sa two suns hanging in the sky like they were judging him.
Owen walked through Zone 12 alone. His body still ached from the hunt. His CE had recovered to 4,200 overnight—not great, but functional.
He’d been walking for six hours. No water. No food. Just sand and the steady drain of his energy reserves.
A drone floated nearby. Recording everything.
"Don’t suppose you brought snacks?" Owen muttered.
The drone didn’t respond.
"Yeah. Figured."
He kept walking.
---
By midday, Owen reached the oasis.
It looked different now. Two of the predators that used to drink here were gone—probably casualties from the hunt or other prisoners. The water level was lower. The vegetation around it sparser.
But it was still water.
Owen approached. Drank deeply. Filled his containers.
Then he sensed sothing.
A signature. Familiar. Approaching from the south.
He turned.
A figure erged from the heat shimr. Female. Cat-like features. Silver fur.
Yalira.
She walked up to the oasis casually. Like she owned the place. Sat on a rock across from Owen. Stretched her arms above her head with a satisfied groan.
"Hey, False Fist."
"Yalira."
"You look like shit."
Owen almost smiled. "Thanks. Really appreciate that."
"Just saying." She pulled out a strip of dried at from sowhere and started chewing. "Heard about Gorvax. Sorry."
Owen’s jaw tightened. "Yeah."
"He died well, though. Took the Right of Offering. Forced Raxka into a one-on-one. That’s so old-school shit." She offered him a piece of the dried at. "Want so?"
He took it. "Thanks."
"Don’t ntion it."
They ate in silence for a mont.
Then Yalira spoke again. "So what’s your plan now? Back to hunting?"
"Yeah. Need to climb the ranks. Get back to where I was."
"Where were you? Like, top thirty sothing?"
"Twenty-three. Now twenty-two." Owen chewed slowly. "Apparently other people died during the hunt, so I went up despite hiding."
Yalira laughed. "Classic Prison World. Get rewarded for not dying."
"I guess."
She leaned back on the rock. Closed her eyes against the sun. "You know what the average rank climb per month is for new prisoners?"
"No."
"Five spots. Maybe ten if you’re lucky." She cracked one eye open. "You climbed forty-sothing in your first three weeks. Then survived a hunt. People are watching you."
"They were watching before."
"Yeah, but now they’re really watching. The viewer numbers tripled during the hunt. Everyone was betting on whether Raxka would catch you." She grinned. "Lot of people lost a lot of credits when she didn’t."
"Glad I could disappoint them."
"You should be glad. Higher viewer engagent ans bigger credit bonuses. Your kills are worth more now."
Owen perked up slightly. "How much more?"
"Depends on the kill. Routine predator kills? Maybe twenty percent bonus. Dramatic stuff? Could be double or triple." She grinned. "And if you take down sothing really impressive—like a Lifer faction lieutenant? You’re talking about hundreds of thousands per kill."
"Hundreds of thousands?"
"Sotis more. The galaxy loves underdog stories. False Fist versus the established Lifers? That’s pri entertainnt."
Owen processed this. The math was still impossible—he needed to scale up dramatically to hit a billion credits in five months. But more credits per kill helped.
"Why are you telling
this?" he asked.
Yalira opened both eyes. Looked at him directly. "Because I’m bored. And you’re interesting. And honestly? I want to see if you can pull this off."
"Pull what off?"
"The pardon. Actually earning a billion credits. Getting out." She shrugged. "Hasn’t been done in years. If you do it, it changes everything. ans the system isn’t completely rigged. Gives the rest of us hope."
"And if I don’t?"
"Then you die. Or you stay forever like the rest of us." She stood. Stretched. "Either way, watching you try is the most entertaining thing that’s happened here in years."
Owen stood too. "You want to team up?"
"Maybe. Depends." She walked over to the water. Drank. "I work alone usually. But I’ve been thinking about changing that up. The hunt made
realize sothing."
"What?"
"Solo prisoners die during hunts. Always. The ones who survive long-term form alliances. Even temporary ones." She turned to face him. "I’ve avoided alliances because I didn’t want to share credits. But sharing credits beats being dead."
"So you want to ally up."
"I want to consider it." She walked back to him. "Tell you what. We hunt together for a week. See how it goes. If we work well, we make it official. If not, we walk away. No hard feelings."
Owen thought about it. Yalira was Tier 5, five-stars. Sa as him. But she had years of experience he didn’t have. And she’d just shared valuable information without asking for anything yet.
"Alright. One week trial."
"Cool." She extended her hand.
He shook it.
"So." She grinned. "Where to first?"
"Was thinking Zone 12. Desert. Decent hunting, manageable Crucible King presence."
"Boring." Yalira’s grin widened. "Let
show you sothing better."
---
She led him north.
Not toward the desert’s deeper sections. North. Toward the boundary with Zone 8.
"Where are we going?" Owen asked.
"Sand serpent breeding grounds."
"That sounds like a terrible idea."
"It’s a great idea." Yalira walked confidently. "Sand serpents are Tier 5, four-star solo. But during breeding season, the alphas co out. Tier 4, two-star minimum. One alpha kill is worth what, fifty regular serpent kills?"
"Maybe."
"Definitely. And the alphas attract followers. So we kill the alpha, the followers scatter, and we pick them off one by one."
Owen considered. The strategy was solid. But risky. "How many alphas?"
"Usually two or three at the breeding grounds. Plus maybe twenty regular serpents."
"And it’s just us."
"Yeah."
"Against potentially three Tier 4 creatures and twenty Tier 5s."
"Yep."
"You’re crazy."
She laughed. "Probably. But I’ve been doing this for four seasons. Trust ."
Owen sighed. "Alright. Let’s do it."
---
The breeding grounds were impressive.
A massive depression in the desert. Like a bowl. The sand here was finer. Lighter. Constantly shifting from movent beneath the surface.
Owen counted CE signatures. Twenty-three. Three of them Tier 4 range.
"Plan?" he asked.
"Standard pack hunting." Yalira pulled out two small devices. Crude. Hand-built. "Sound emitters. Different frequencies. We split up. Make noise from opposite directions. Confuses them. Forces the alphas to choose which threat to address. We pick off whichever one cos for us individually."
"Where’d you get those?"
"Made them. I’m good with my hands."
Owen took one of the emitters. "Okay. Which side?"
"You take the east. I’ll take the west. Activate on my signal."
"Got it."
They split up.
Owen circled around the eastern side of the breeding grounds. Stayed on the dunes above. Watched the sand below.
The serpents were aware of sothing. Their movent patterns showed agitation. But they weren’t sure where the threat was coming from yet.
His comm buzzed. Yalira’s voice. "Activate now."
Owen pressed the device.
A high-frequency screech filled the air.
The sand below erupted. Multiple serpents surfaced. Confused. Looking for the source.
On the western side, Yalira’s emitter sounded. Different frequency.
The serpents split their attention. So went east. So went west.
The largest alpha—massive, easily forty ters long—chose west. Yalira’s direction.
The two smaller alphas ca east. Toward Owen.
’Two Tier 4, two-stars. Against .’
Owen activated Dragon’s Eye. Tracked their movents. Both serpents were burrowing fast, approaching from below.
He tid his jump.
The first alpha erupted. Massive jaws wide. Owen jumped. Avoided the strike. Ca down on its head with a 200 CE Cosmic Impact Fist.
CRACK!
The skull cracked. Not killed. But stunned.
The second alpha erged behind him. He spun. Dragon’s Breath. 250 CE.
Black flas poured down its throat as its mouth opened to strike. The flas went deep. Burned its insides.
The alpha thrashed. Choked on its own burning organs.
The first alpha recovered. Lunged again.
Owen used Montum Shift. 7 CE. Appeared on its back. Rode it briefly as it tried to dive back into the sand.
He drove a 300 CE fist into the joint between its head and body. The structural weak point.
CRACK!
The neck snapped.
The alpha collapsed. Dissolved into light.
[KILL CONFIRD: SAND SERPENT ALPHA]
[CREDITS EARNED: 75,000]
[BONUS: VIEWER ENGAGENT -
25,000]
[BONUS: ELITE KILL -
30,000]
[TOTAL CREDITS: 2,586,000]
The second alpha was still thrashing. Dying slowly.
Owen finished it with another Cosmic Impact Fist.
[KILL CONFIRD: SAND SERPENT ALPHA]
[CREDITS EARNED: 70,000]
[BONUS: DOUBLE KILL -
20,000]
[TOTAL CREDITS: 2,676,000]
The smaller serpents that had followed the alphas scattered. Confused. Without their leaders, they retreated underground.
Owen breathed heavily. His CE at 4,047.
His comm buzzed. Yalira. "You good?"
"Two alphas down. You?"
"Big alpha dead. Took a beating but I’m alive. Couple of regular serpents fled my direction."
"Sa here."
"et
back at the rim. We’ll pick off the stragglers together."
"On my way."
---
They spent the next hour hunting individual serpents.
The kills were quick. Efficient. Each serpent worth 9,000 credits with the bonuses.
By the ti they’d cleared the breeding grounds, they’d killed eleven more serpents combined.
Owen’s credit total: 2,832,000.
He’d jumped from rank 22 to rank 19 in a single afternoon.
Yalira whistled when she saw his ranking. "Damn. You really are climbing fast."
"It’s sothing."
"Sothing? It’s a lot. Most prisoners take months to climb three ranks at this level."
They sat on a dune. Resting. Drinking water from their containers.
"This was a good idea," Owen admitted.
"Told you."
"How’d you know about the breeding grounds?"
"Been here four seasons. You learn things." Yalira leaned back. Looked at the sky. "You also learn what’s worth the risk and what isn’t."
"Like alliances?"
"Like alliances."
She turned her head to look at him. "I think this could work, Owen. We hunt well together. Different styles, but compatible."
"Yeah. I noticed."
"Want to make it official? Skip the trial week?"
Owen considered. He liked Yalira. She was direct. Skilled. Honest about her motivations. And she had years of experience he could learn from.
"Yeah. Let’s make it official."
"Cool."
A notification appeared.
[ALLIANCE REGISTERED: FALSE FIST
YALIRA]
[SHARED CREDIT POOL: ACTIVE]
[VIEWER ENGAGENT:
15%]
Yalira grinned. "Bonus engagent already. Galaxy loves a new alliance."
"Galaxy needs better hobbies."
"Don’t they all."
They sat in comfortable silence for a while.
Then Yalira spoke again. "Owen?"
"Yeah?"
"Sorry about Gorvax. For real."
"Thanks."
"He was a good partner?"
"He was." Owen looked at his hands. "He was the only person here who knew where I ca from. Who understood what I was fighting for."
"Tell
about it soti?"
"Maybe."
"Fair enough."
She stood. Stretched. "Co on. Sun’s going down. Let’s find shelter. Tomorrow we hunt so more. Get you closer to that pardon."
Owen stood too. Followed her.
His CE was recovering. His credits were climbing. His viewer engagent was up.
The grief was still there. The loss of Gorvax still ached.
But he was moving forward.
That had to count for sothing.
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