Seed of Titan-Chapter 176: Oscar-Worthy Performance

Outside Drai’s house, the leader of the extraction team whispered through his earpiece, "Everyone, remember, no lethal blows. Our order is clear: bring the boy back alive by any means, or if that’s not possible, stall for time until reinforcements arrive. Based on his personality assessment, he likely won’t get too large and risk destroying the neighborhood or harm his neighbors. But if he still does so, he’ll be an easy target for Sting, so don’t worry. Now, prepare to breach. In three... Two..."

But before the team leader could finish his countdown, the front door swung open. This startled the leader along with his members who had a clear view of the front porch.

"Everyone, to the front! Assume Containment Formation B!" the leader hurriedly ordered before readying himself for combat.

As more dark figures congregated in the front yard, a large man slowly stepped out of the door. He wore a dark hood and carried someone on his shoulder, who seemed to be bound by thick, white threads. Obviously, the captive was Drai, and the one carrying him was Max.

While the team leader was trying to make sense of the unexpected turn of events, Max suddenly clicked his tongue and grumbled, "Fucking slowpokes... No wonder the boss keeps dumping all the grunt work on me."

He then walked toward the front gate while mumbling in annoyance, completely ignoring the dark-clothed figures standing around.

The leader was utterly perplexed. He glanced around to see if any of his subordinates knew this man or could make sense of this strange situation, but all of them looked equally confused as they stared at him, waiting for orders.

After a moment’s thought, he stepped forward and warily asked, "Who are you?"

Max halted in his tracks and gave the leader a side-eye. Then, to everyone’s bafflement, he shifted his gaze and continued walking out as if he had merely been glancing at a fly.

Although the leader was hesitant, this stranger’s blatant disrespect spurred him to lunge forward.

Upon grabbing Max’s upper arm, he realized that the newcomer’s large frame wasn’t just for show, as underneath the hood was a physique that promised violence. But having made a move already, he boldly barked, "I said, who the fuck are you!?"

Once again, Max halted his steps before turning toward the man bugging him.

"Wraith," he gruffly replied. His expression was that of bored annoyance, the kind one might wear upon being asked to explain an intermediate math problem to a toddler.

"Alright, Wraith—tell me what you’re doing here and why you’re bringing away the boy," the leader ordered while glancing at the unmoving, bound person on the man’s shoulder whose appearance closely matched their target. Behind him, his team members stood vigilantly, ready to aid their leader at moment’s notice.

"And why should I do that? You retards should’ve known better than to question your superiors," Max boorishly replied, causing the extraction team to flinch. The man’s blunt remark made them half-seething, half-apprehensive.

Noticing his subordinates’ agitation, the leader raised his hand, signaling them to stand down. He then asked, "What do you mean by superior? I’ve never even heard of you or seen you before."

Hearing this, Max shook his head sardonically. "And why would you be privy to my name or presence? Do I answer to you? Are you above my boss? Hmm, perhaps you’re trying to undermine his authority. Tsk-tsk, how brazen..."

The man’s sheer audacity unsettled the leader, so he asked with a noticeably more subdued tone, "Then may I know who your immediate superior is?"

Picking his ear with his pinky, Max nonchalantly replied, "Nero."

Almost instantly, the whole extraction crew froze. The team members gave the newcomer one last glance before looking away nervously. Meanwhile, the team leader had to pick up his jaw from the floor before he hastily straightened himself and lowered his head, making sure to keep his gaze down.

"Pardon my offense, sir! I didn’t realize you were acting under the Regional Supervisor’s orders!" he frantically apologized.

Max silently looked at the now-timid leader. Unbeknownst to all these people, he was actually dumbfounded by their extreme reaction. He truly hadn’t expected that mentioning the name of the person that caused Drai to be banished into Siyeun Mountains would be such an effective deterrent.

From what Drai had told him, he deduced that Nero likely held a pretty high rank in the Order, which was why Max had deliberately mentioned him as his "superior". But after seeing this kind of reaction, he figured there was more to the man than his position, which bothered him slightly.

However, Max’s acting had been surprisingly impeccable, so none of the extraction team even suspected that they were being deceived. Even now, no one had let out a single noise, fearing that "Wraith" would get further annoyed and end up reporting them to his notorious boss.

Recovering his bearings, Max decided it was time to initiate the finale, so he said, "Tell me your name."

"Rhys, sir," the team leader replied, his voice quivered a bit.

"And who’s your immediate superior?"

This time, Rhys raised a brow before answering, "I thought you knew already, sir."

Noticing the man’s concern, Max quickly improvised. "Boss Nero only told me about the core mission, and none of the non-essentials. Why? Are you doubting me? Do you want me to tell Boss Nero that your team’s tardiness almost cost us our target? Just so you know, this boy had long sensed that you were coming. If not for my swift actions, he would’ve been gone by the time you arrived. There’s a reason my powerful ass was forced to sit idly around this dumpster for weeks—Boss Nero feared that you lot would fail such a vital mission. It doesn’t help that our latest assault on the academy went badly too."

Max’s tirade seemed to convince Rhys, as he bowed repeatedly while pleading, "Please, sir, have mercy. I’ll make sure not to repeat our mistake and punish my guys for this particular one. And since you’ve completed the mission already, I’m sure there’s no need for Supervisor Nero to hear about the trivial details."

Fearing that words wouldn’t be enough, Rhys rummaged his pockets and pulled out a small green gem that instantly caught Max’s eye.

"Please have this, sir. It’s merely a meager artifact I received from completing our previous mission, but I hope it can mend our soured first meeting," he said while offering the gem.

Even Drai’s ears perked a bit upon hearing this. But after a brief deliberation, Max waved his hand dismissively. "Keep it, Rhys. Just knowing your good intentions is enough. Fine, I’ll keep the matters today to myself. Perhaps I’ll even praise your team a bit since my mood just got better," he said with a faint reassuring smile. 𝑓𝑟𝑒𝘦𝓌𝑒𝑏𝑛𝑜𝘷𝑒𝘭.𝒸𝘰𝑚

"Thank you, sir!" Rhys deeply bowed, followed by his team members, who had been watching their interaction from a close distance.

"So, who’s your immediate superior?" Max asked again.

"Ah—that would be Chief Viper, sir," Rhys hurriedly answered.

"Viper, huh? I haven’t talked to that fellow for quite some time. Maybe I’ll pay a visit later."

Rhys simply nodded, silently hoping that the man wouldn’t end up complaining about his team. Although Viper wasn’t as notorious as Nero, she was still pretty vicious by the Order’s standard.

Max then gave Rhys a firm pat before walking out of the gate. None of the extraction crew dared to move until the man was clearly out of the vicinity.

As his subordinates murmured quietly to one another, Rhys adjusted his earpiece and spoke through it. "Sting, are you still in position?"

"Yes," a female voice replied.

"Did you see a person who just walked away from the site?"

"Yeah, a large man with a person on his shoulder, right? I’m watching him now. Want me to shoot him?"

"No, idiot! That’s Nero’s henchman you’re looking at!" Rhys blurted in panic.

"Oh, really? Why haven’t I seen him before?" Sting’s voice questioned.

"I haven’t either. But based on his words and demeanor, he might be Nero’s hidden right-hand man," Rhys inferred.

"Huh. Well, with our higher-ups getting increasingly factionalized, it’s pretty understandable for someone like him to keep a few hidden cards. But what is his minion doing here? Don’t tell me..."

"Yep. He interrupted our mission and even took away our target. I believe Nero put him here as a backup, but looks like he’s aiming for some reward or merit points, as he could’ve just handed us the target and reported back. Otherwise, why would he trouble himself with the transport? Man, if only he wasn’t under Nero, we would’ve taught him a lesson already, especially after seeing that punchable mug of his."

"Heh, he must be some real son of a bitch then, since I rarely see you get this heated. Damn, now I wish I was there instead of freezing my ass out here."

"Too bad the climate here is rather warm. Your flat ass could really use some ice to pad it up, Sting."

What followed was a string of loud curses, forcing Rhys to lower his earpiece’s volume. Moments later, Sting spoke again with her normal volume.

"Hey, I’ve lost track of that guy. Are you sure he’s really Nero’s minion? You know he was heading toward the outskirts instead of our teleportation spot."

"Oh? Well, maybe he’s going for another errand first before returning," Rhys guessed.

"What kind of errand is so important that bringing a vital target back becomes a second priority?" Sting questioned, getting suspicious.

"Who knows? Maybe it’s something Nero personally commissioned."

"Did you even check his mark, Rhys?"

"No. I actually thought about doing that, but at that point, I had annoyed him a lot already, so I figured it was best not to ask, especially since that guy’s confidence never wavered at all. If he was just acting, he should’ve been a movie star already."

A brief silence ensued before Sting’s voice was heard once more.

"You guys can go ahead. I’ll go check on him."

Rhys frowned and said, "Just get back here, Sting. What if you end up irking him and we get reported to Nero? Wraith said the target almost escaped our grasp if not for his interference. We should just thank our luck and let him be."

Rhys waited for a reply, but even after a minute had passed with him calling for her periodically, Sting’s voice was still unheard. He then pondered briefly and eventually turned to his team, who were still murmuring nearby.

"Everyone, listen," he said, both through his earpiece and directly, which garnered his crew’s attention. "I just finished talking to Sting. She found Wraith suspicious and decided to check on him. I don’t quite share her suspicion, but we can’t let her face that guy alone. Best case, he ignores her and carries on. Worst case, she incites Wraith’s wrath, and in turn, Nero’s displeasure. And you all know what Nero does when he’s displeased with something. So, let’s all follow her now."

Some of the team members were unsure if this was the right course of action, and a few of them were still pretty intimidated by Wraith, particularly due to the man’s presumable closeness with Nero. Still, orders from superiors were absolute in the Order, so they all complied and began heading toward the hilly outskirts, with Rhys leading the way.

Moments later, the group arrived at the foot of the hill. It didn’t take them long to spot an area of interest, as a few noticeable traces of a fight were clearly seen there.

"Leader, look," said one of the members, pointing at the ground ahead.

Rhys hurriedly inspected the scattered metal pieces there and quickly realized that they were Sting’s tranquilizing missiles that had been smashed apart.

"Damn it, Sting! Why did you fight that guy!?" he remarked frustratingly.

"Leader!" another voice called, prompting Rhys to come over. His brows furrowed as he examined the thick, white threads dangling off his subordinate’s arms, thinking, ’Did Wraith try to bind Sting? Did she manage to dodge these?’

Just then, a loud shriek silenced the whole team, who warily turned to the source. Rhys, on the other hand, swiftly dashed toward the screaming woman and questioned, "What happened, June!?"

Instead of replying, June pointed toward the nearby cliff wall, guiding Rhys’ gaze. Instantly, his face darkened.

Embedded on the cliff wall was a female figure that wore his team’s attire. Although her limbs seemed intact, her body was reddened, for her head had been replaced by a pinkish mush that gushed blood.

Rhys leaped high and carefully dislodged his long-time partner’s body, bringing it to the ground while the pinkish mush remained stuck to the rocky wall.

Even with her head missing, Rhys still completely recognized the petite figure he so often embraced amidst his grueling missions. He then hugged the body tight under the horrified gazes of his subordinates.

That night, a heart-wrenching bellow continuously echoed throughout Pontia’s outskirts.

***