Chapter 1535 (2/2)

Edraine nodded. “You are correct that our ability to gain this information and offer it to him will reveal a bit of our strength… but I suspect it won’t be as much as you think. Men like the Commandant… he might now suspect that you have someone near his power behind you, but there is no way that he will expect me.”

Edraine revealed a sharp smile as she finished her words. Just the movements of her lips and tongue were enough to release weak waves of force in the room. As always, her image was quite impressive. No wonder she had subdued the duo in the bedroom so easily. The scroll on the table trembled and rolled. Randidly slowly nodded his assent. “Alright then. I’ll send a message to the Commandant.”

*****

Elohamore Huzzhleigh adjusted the cuff of his guard’s uniform. Then he reached up and unbuttoned his collar. Immediately, he heaved a deep sigh of relief; he appreciated his position as a member of the Nexus Security Force, but the requirements for the uniforms were notoriously strict. Sometimes, a day of simply patrolling became near-torture.

Even now, his partner Kadan glanced around quickly to check for a superior when she saw him unbuttoning the collar. Then she gestured toward the clock with a small smile on her face. “Are you cutting out early? Heh, maybe a special night planned with Mrs. Huzzhleigh…?”

“Fuck off, Kadan,” Elohamore rolled his neck. Due to him being more bestial than humanoid, the neck hole was barely capable of containing the thick muscles of his upper torso. His windpipe was forced to give up some of its space to compensate.

“I’m just saying, the last time I saw you this excited-” Kadan said with a widening grin, until the noise of her words was briefly blanketed by outside noise.

BOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!

A rumble went through the ground and their guard post. Instantly, Elohamore’s face went white and he quickly rebuttoned his uniform. Kadan tightened her belt and then leapt to her feet. Both grabbed their weapons as they hurried through the door and into the outside world with all thoughts of clocking out forgotten.

Ding!

Behind them, the warning light flicked on several seconds too late.

Very quickly the duo rushed toward the source of the reverberation. Powerful confrontations were unfortunately very common in the Nexus. Even worse, the Nexus Security Force had no legal right to intervene in these sort of situations, when the image power indicated that the upper crust of the Nexus was moving.

Elohamore knew that this would be a difficult incident as soon as they arrived at the source of the shockwave. The explosion had come from the Suaycloak Lounge, a swanky gambling establishment in the district that Elohamore and Kadan patrolled. They were a bit below the bottom of Bray Street, so this area wasn’t the truly posh portions of the Upper Nexus, but it was exactly in these sorts of mixed neighborhoods that seedy establishments thrived.

The grand, five-meter tall doors of the Suaycloak Lounge had been smashed to the side so forcefully that the portions of the wall where the hinges had been attached were now cracked and crumbling. Elohamore made a note of that; in situations like this, the security forces were essentially highly-paid appraisers. They tried to calm whatever confrontation was going on, but they were really just here to record who broke what.

Later, they would send a missive to the culprit with a carefully tallied bill.

This sort of job always left a sour taste in Elohamore’s mouth, because it was a far cry from what he had thought he would be doing on the security force. But he breathed in as deeply as he could manage and strode through to the interior, which was set up like a jazz club.

A man with black hair, a metallic grey torso armor, and bare feet was glaring over at a four-armed man who was trembling in the corner. People scrambled to the side, trying not to be pierced by those locked gazes. The black-haired man smiled. “Did you really think I would just let your show if disrespect go…?”