Bab 265: 261: A Plague of Phantoms: Peddlers of Monsters II
Chase
"So is someone going to tell me how this all started?" I asked my friends once Cross had walked off.
Sin and Damon were standing off to the side, away from everyone else. Sin made sure Pogs was right beside him so the evo didn't get triggered by the soldiers nearby. Louie, KC, Haws, Nate and Angie were puttering about the area to make sure that everything was ready for presentation.
"It's my fault Boss." Sin said then motioned to Pogs. "There was a problem earlier with some soldiers and scientists when we were bringing in the cages. One of the scientists got in the way so Pogs punted him away. I managed to handle it then but the soldiers came back and taunted Pogs."
"I see…Where are Astrid and Alberto?" I asked. Sin sighed and looked to Damon.
"Patrolling the forest where the King's glaive is parked. With Iris on her…special mission…Astrid didn't like the idea of your Grandfather, Bo, Indy, Madilyn, and our guest being left unguarded." Damon explained. I nodded and scratched my chin.
"Smart idea. Wish I thought of it." I said.
"What do you want to do now?" Sin asked. I looked around the area we were given, it was obvious that the space was given to us as a afterthought due to the placement at the back of the center. It also looked slightly smaller than the spaces of our neighbors.
"Help the others get everything ready. We'll start getting customers soon." I said then turned and looked to Jiggle's Orgarai squad which were still stationed in the rafters. "Normal, Rubis! I want you two standing guard at Jade's stall. Cobalti, Exotic! Perimeter guard. Be mindful of the difference between intruders and customers."
The four Ogarai all trumpeted in response and they all jumped down from the rafters, landing with loud thud that echoed through the center. They all hit the ground running and rushed to fulfill their duties.
"Oh, by the way Boss, we got that crate marked Ogarai weaponry over by Jade's stall." Sin spoke up. My eyebrows raised and I smiled.
"Good! Rubis, Cobalti, Exotic, and Normal come back real quick!" I called out and rushed over to Jade's stall.
I quickly saw the crate that Sin mentioned, hard not to. It was sitting in front of a small stack of crates with other enchanted items that Jade was intending to sell today. Jade's stall was the kind you'd typically see at a market with one of the glass cases from the shop sitting next to it. Both were already has a bunch of items displayed in them. Necklaces, bangles, rings, and daggers of varying materials with prices for various enchantments posted next to each type of item.
Brining my attention back to the crate I was looking for I grabbed a nearby crowbar and used it to open crate then smirked deviously. The Ogarai squad arrived at this point and I pointed to the open crate and looked back at the squad.
"Rubis reach into the crate and pull out the items inside. I made them especially for your squad." I said.
"Oh!" Rubis exclaimed then rushed over to pull out the weapons.
While anyone looking at them wouldn't necessarily call them weapons. The weapon in question was a knight's shield from the dark ages in Europe. It was about two feet wide and three feet tall, decorated with the crest for Sho'lajah Artifact Company on the front and made out of processed manacite. The backside of the shield had more than twelve dozen runes carved into it. It also had a cubed recess from the top of the arm strap, inside that recess were multiple barrels bolted together in the form of a new type of gun barrel that I was calling a Gatling gun barrel. The barrels themselves had two dozen runes carved into them as well.
As Rubis pulled the first of the shields the other Ogarai were basically chomping at the bits to look at them. He held the shield up and quickly strapped it to his least dominant arm. He smiled as he held the shield up in the light and then looked to the others in his squad.
"Well pass the rest out." I said with a smile.
"Yes Star Shaper!" Rubis exclaimed then reached back into the crate and pulled out the other shields and passed them out to the others. When he handed his last squad mate a shield there was still one in the crate. Rubis looked confused for a second and looked at me. "That last one is for Jiggles. I'll give that to him later. Those weapons are called Shield Busters. They are both defensive weapons and mid-ranged weapons. They are special with two types of enchantments on them. The first one is spell that creates a magic shield to block attacks and the second transforms the shield buster into a fully automatic cannon. It's powerful and rare so be careful with them."
"OF COURSE STAR SHAPER!" The Ogarai squad exclaimed.
"Dismissed!" I exclaimed. The Ogarai all rushed off to their assignments.
I looked around to see how everything was going. Louie with KC on his back was putting the finishing touches on the cages with Haws and Nate. Jade was behind her stall making sure everything was displayed perfectly. Damon and Sin were dashing between the cages helping the other guys. Seeing that everything was coming along I smiled until a thought suddenly creeped into my mind.
'Wait…did I leave the girls back at Arosaka center?'
"CHASE GAELBORG KINGSTOOOOON!"
All the hair on the back of my neck stood on end as everyone in the area turned to look towards the source of the voice, though I already knew who's voice that was. I turned around and Saw Jane stomping towards me with a blade made of ice. My eyes widened as I saw the murderous glare she was giving me.
"SHIT! JANE! CALM DOWN!" I exclaimed and held my hands up defensively.
"YOU LEFT US!" Jane barked as she started running towards me.
"WAIT! JANE! LISTEN TO ME!" I yelled then ducked as Jane's blade slashed where my neck had been. "SHIT! LPP! YOU NEARLY CUT MY HEAD OFF!"
"I KNOW!" Jane bellowed then came at me with a flurry of slashes. I managed to dodge all of them then turned and ran away. "AND STOP CALLKNG ME LPP IN PUBLIC!"
"HELP! PSYCHO PRINCESS!" I yelled as I raced around our presentation area behind chased by Jane.
"YOU'RE THE LAST ONE HERE WHO CAN CALL SOMEONE PSYCHO! YOU STAR BRAINED DUMBASS!" Jane bellowed and slashed at me. I narrowly dodged her strike and jumped behind Haws for protection.
"Whoa! Jane! Calm down!" Haws exclaimed and held his arms out defensively. Jane skidded to a stop in front of Haws and narrowed her eyes at me.
"Jane, I'm sorry I left you and Angie behind but Sin said the next world War was about to kick off. Which it was." I explained. I blinked a couple times then looked around and frowned at Jane. "Wait…where is Angie?"
Jane's anger cooled immediately and she looked back towards the way she'd came from and a look of panic shrouded her eyes when she didn't see Angie.
"SHIT!" Jane and I both exclaimed and started to run towards the entrance until rounded the corner of another company's presentation area and ended up having to skid to a stop when we saw Angie being escorted by Turak'Kahn, Viola, and their guards down towards our area.
"Lose someone?" Turak'Kahn called out as the group neared. Jane and I both looked sheepish as Angie approaches with crossed arms.
"You both left me…I should be mad but Louie was communicating with me about how bad things were so I will forgive you Chase for rushing off." Angie said. She looked to Jane and gave her a motherly glare that made Jane stiffen. "You however, I am cross with. Leaving me alone in a foreign country by myself. You're lucky your parents showed up and found me when they did."
"Sorry Angie…" Jane apologized.
"That explains why Louie wasn't asking where you were…." I said softly then looked to the Pharaoh and queen. "If you two are here then that means the other royals are probably not far behind?"
"Most are actually stopping at Justice Technologies presentation right now. Or rather being corralled that way." Viola said. I arched a brow at that comment.
"We'll tell you in a moment. Lets get back to your area. I don't like the way these scientists are staring at me." Turak'Kahn said. I nodded and motioned for everyone to follow me.
As I started back towards my company's area I could see what the Pharaoh meant when he said the scientists were staring. As we passed I saw furious glares from scientists from smaller techno-splicing companies and soldiers alike. The scientists and company representatives looked at the Pharaoh and Queen like starving hackles looking at a dingy bone with a sliver of meat on it.
I paid them no mind or at least pretended to. Secretly I was stealing glances at the presentations of companies as we walked. There was a distinct difference in the way the American companies were displaying their evos and the way we were. They had a singular aquarium with maybe one or two evos inside as samples. While our entire stock was stored safely inside the cage gateways.
Once the party reached our area Angie's eyes lit up when she saw Louie chasing after KC who was Chasing one of Nate's Orkands around the Lunar Liger Shark gateway. KC was giggling and laughing as he chased the larger evo, it obviously was playing along and pretending to run so the little guy could keep up.
"Awww…" Jane and I both said in unison. Angie smiled even brighter when the Orkand 'tripped' and KC was able to catch his quarry. He beamed proudly when he lightly tapped the Orkands leg then giggled and rushed over to his father. Angie looked back to me and I smiled and nodded.
"Go be with your family. It'll be a minute before we have any work to do." I said. Amgoe hugged me kissed me on the cheek.
"Thank you Chase, but don't forget you're part of my family too." Angie said then rushed over to her son and husband. I was touched, and a lot more than I cared to admit.
"I'm surprised you're letting that child out of King's glaive, considering…." Turak'Kahn said. I motioned to the various evos thar we had around our area, three of them my personal ones.
"He's just as protected here as he is on King's glaive. Pluses he's one of our mascots." I replied.
"Yes I can see that." Turak'Kahn said.
Viola suddenly gasped drawing Turak'Kahn, Jane, and mine's attention. When we all turned to see what she was looking at we saw her staring at Jade's stall. She made a beeline for it and gasped when she saw the jewelry Jade already had laid out.
"Huh…not like Vi to get excited by jewelry…even enchanted ones." Turak'Kahn said, sounding intrigued. He walked over to the stall and stood silently behind his wife. I shot Jane a look and she simply shrugged.
Jane and I followed after her parents. Viola was marveling at one of Jade's necklaces. It was a simple one made in gold. It had thick and wide bands connected by silver rings that made up the whole thing with little embellishments here and there. For Jade it was a pretty plain piece however Viola looked absolutely enthralled by it.
"Turry! Do you see! Do you see!" Viola gasped as she pointed the necklace out to her husband.
"Yes my love, but I don't really know what it is I'm seeing." Turak'Kahn admitted. Viola huffed and pointed to the necklace.
"How could you not! This metal work…this style….it's Alderki!" She exclaimed.
"Wait what?!" Jane and Turak'Kahn exclaimed and leaned in closer to get a better look at the necklace. Jane's eyes widened and she groaned.
"How could I not notice that sooner! This is Alderki metal work." She confirmed. I frowned and looked to Jade who was blushing immensely.
"Ummm…what's Alderki metalwork?" I asked.
"A very ancient and rarely used style of smiting. Difficult to master but if it is anything made with it is on par with national treasure grade artworks." Turak'Kahn said.
"Huh…that explains a few things…" I said then looked down at the rings I had on my hand.
"My family has been practicing that style of smiting for generations. We're silver smith's by trade though." Jade offered.
"Oh my gods! Does that mean that our mana-locks are made with Alderki techniques?" Jane asked. Jade shook her head.
"The mana-locks were just old flintlock that Chase enchanted. The mana-revolvers were made with Alderki metalwork techniques though." Jade replied. Jane looked down at my revolver, the special triple barreled revolver: Dia Caos. Which was secured in a specially made holster and strapped to my hip.
"Is Chase's new revolver?" Jane asked. Jade nodded which made Jane groan and sag her shoulders. "He always gets all the good stuff."
"It's like I'm blessed by a wishing star!" I gasped in an exaggerated tone. Jane rolled her eyes in an equally exaggerated fashion.
"Don't get cute, it doesn't suit you." She quipped.
"So we're alike in that regard. Neither of us are cute." I teased. Jane's face went bright red and she looked like she was getting ready to lose it. The fact her parents were standing beside her was probably the only reason she didn't. Instead she huffed and looked to Turak'Kahn
"You mentioned earlier that all the other royal were being corralled towards Justice Technologies, Father. What did you mean?" Jane asked. Turak'Kahn's expression turned from amused to serious.
"The other stalls nearest to them seemed to have the way deeper into the center blocked with excess materials and supplies. The ones in charge said that they weren't able to finish getting ready in time thanks to disturbances from your company. So most have no choice but to sit and listen to pitches from Justice Technologies until they finish clearing the way." Turak'Kahn explained.
"Then how did your group get as far in as you did before we found you?" I asked. Turak'Kahn smirked and crossed his arms.
"We walked around and went the long way." Turak'Kahn replied. I blinked a few times then frowned.
"Wait…the other royals could all get around the like roadblock but they're too lazy to walk the extra steps?" I asked. Turak'Kahn shrugged and looked indifferent though I suspected it was to avoid voicing his opinion of that sort of attitude in case it would be used against him later.
"Either way its going to be a while before anyone from other countries makes it this way." Jane said.
"If at all…" Jade spoke up. All eyes turned to her and she looked sheepish for a brief moment. "…we already know that all the companies here are under Justice Technologies control since the owner is the president. What's to say as the day goes on we won't find more roadblocks to keep the royals and military officials away?"
"You're right…and Beaufort is petty enough to do that." I grumbled. Viola hummed happily as she looked at Jade's pieces
"Well that's their loss. Gives me more time to browse." Viola commented.
"But it could mean bad news for us…might be time to consider sabotage…" Jane said. My eyes widened and a devilish smile spread across my face.
"Sabotage? Say less…" I said.
"I am immediately regretting opening my mouth." Jane said then pointed a finger at me and hissed. "No deaths! No explosions! No convoluted plots!"
"No promises!" I replied with a grin.
"Chase!" Jane growled in a low tone.
"Fine! I promise no one in this building will die…or explode…in a convoluted way." I promised. Turak'Kahn laughed loudly and shook his head.
"So there will be people dying in mundane explosions then?" He asked jokingly. Jane groaned and pinched the bridge of her nose then looked to her mother.
"Is it too late to join the clergy, Mother? I think I'd do amazing as a priestess to Isis." Jane asked. Viola only chuckled and kept looking over Jade's wares.
"Don't worry Jane, I'm not a psycho. There are more than one way to sabotage a group of egomaniacs."
Status Power Mingguan
-- Peringkat
Power 
-- Power
stone