Seed of Titan-Chapter 90: Making a Deal

Seeing that he was almost at the halfway mark of his skill’s total duration, Drai couldn’t help but feel nervous.

’If this guy doesn’t go away soon, my long cooldown will prevent me from freely roaming the campus,’ he thought.

"Hey, why aren’t you saying anything? I’m being nice here by telling you the whole plot, but are you just going to ignore it?" Donk shouted from below.

"If you’re really being nice, you shouldn’t speak in code," Drai reprimanded. He still had no idea what Donk was trying to say by feeding him this cryptic information.

"Like I said, I’m only repeating the information that I heard from others, so I don’t know about the details. But shouldn’t you recognize what the codes refer to since you’re the one involved?" Donk questioned.

"How could I figure them out when the only clue is ’working together’ and ’rekindle’?! I’ve worked with a lot of people during my stay here, even the two people you’re currently holding!" Drai replied rather impatiently because he felt that he was wasting his skill duration for nothing. If given the choice, he’d rather use the remaining duration to try breaching the crimson dome so that the professors could help them deal with these intruders.

"Well, I did forget to mention that the team leaders were specifically told to secure the Anomaly and whoever this Manic Friend is. If I remember correctly, it has something to do with an ongoing research back in our base."

Upon hearing the word ’research’, Drai suddenly had a bad feeling.

’Is this related to Professor Ravi?! But I haven’t told anyone else about our deal except for my friends. And I don’t believe that any of them would voluntarily spread this secret, especially to these robed weirdos.

’Other than my friends, there’s mom and dad, but it’s unlikely that they have anything to do with this. And Uncle Jack definitely knows too since he’s always around, is it because of him? But the professor could also reveal it by himself. Did he perhaps speak about it to someone with connections to this group? Or was someone monitoring us all this time?’

Drai scratched his head in frustration, unable to reach a definite conclusion regarding this whole matter.

"Looks like you’ve figured out what the Order was referring to," Donk said upon seeing Drai’s expression.

Drai looked at Donk suspiciously, wondering what he had to gain by revealing this.

Sensing Drai’s suspicion, Donk sighed helplessly.

"Look, baby heretic. I know what I’m doing is suspicious, but this is really for my own sake, okay? You saw how Venus treated me earlier after I lost to you. Well, most of the other members treat me like that on a daily basis back in our base."

Drai was speechless. He thought that regardless of Donk’s absurdly low intelligence, there was no need to be mean and condescending toward him. Perhaps his slowness had annoyed others, but it wasn’t his fault for being that way.

Seeing that Drai was paying attention to his words, Donk continued explaining.

"I know I’m just a disposable pawn for the Order, but that doesn’t mean that I don’t despise the fact that I’m always being looked down on and toyed with—the current me, at least. My other version is just too accepting and doesn’t know better.

"But you’re different. Although I was still dumb when I fought you, I can clearly remember that your eyes were clear, devoid of ridicule and contempt. You did laugh once after I enlarged my left hand, but I know it was spontaneous and not because I was dumb—although my other version did get angry and thought you were mocking me."

At this moment, Drai could somewhat sense Donk’s sincerity. He thought about it for a second and decided to trust the poor guy a bit. He then shrank until he was only twice his original size, attempting to reduce his skill’s eventual cooldown.

"Thanks," Donk said as he eased his grip on Christo’s and Jian’s necks but not completely releasing them. After all, he was still using them as deterrents in case Drai changed his mind.

Jian and Christo immediately gasped for air since they had been quite suffocated by the choke. They didn’t dare to try escaping though, as Donk only needed a quick squeeze to render both of them incapacitated or even dead.

"Go on," Drai said to Donk after seeing that his two friends were okay.

"So, in exchange for informing you about your situation and letting your friends go later, I’m asking you a favor. If the team leaders successfully secure you and you somehow end up fine in our base or even join our ranks, please take care of me. It shouldn’t be a problem since you’re really strong and will likely climb the ranks fast."

Drai didn’t think he would voluntarily join this sinister Order, but he couldn’t be sure that he wouldn’t be forced against his will.

"Okay. If I really end up joining, I’ll do that. But how do I even take care of you?" Drai asked worriedly, thinking that he might not be able to handle the slow Donk.

"Don’t worry, I’m not so dumb that I need to be spoon-fed or potty-trained. Just try to prevent others from harassing me and maybe treat me with some candy once in a while. You can take me as your subordinate or something if it makes it easier to do," Donk said.

"Hmm... Sure. Anything else?"

"Well, if you’re able to evade capture, then there’s no need for anything—unless you decide to attack our base in the future. In that case, please spare me. And use my dumbness as an excuse if you need to justify your action to your allies," Donk added.

Drai didn’t feel the need to mull over it and simply nodded.

"Good. You should really go now. Either you hide or inform this Manic Friend, it’s up to you. But once we teleport back, nobody should be able to follow us, so keep that in mind."

Drai was actually still not completely sure that Manic Friend was Ravi, but at the moment, he couldn’t think of anyone else that might be useful for whatever research the Order was conducting, so he figured he would just check on the professor just in case.

"But how do I enter this dome? Do you have a device that will let me pass through?" Drai asked Donk.

"No, we don’t have that kind of device—at least not that I know of. The ones who are responsible for the inner dome must have directly teleported inside. You have to figure it out by yourself. I can’t help you," Donk replied, shaking his head.

Drai nodded and started walking to the barrier, getting ready to attack the dome again until he could crack it.

However, at this moment, a sudden voice made him turn around. He looked at his friend whose neck was still held by Donk.

"What did you say?" Drai asked, making sure that he had heard the words correctly.

With a hoarse voice, Christo replied, "I said I can help you, Drai."