Chapter 87 - Knowing The Situation

After a clicking sound which meant that somebody answered the call, Aldrin heard a barely audible voice. 

Because of the Dimensional Clone's distance from Carlos, he failed to hear what the other party said.

However, finding out that it's not the device to open a Dimensional Rift but in fact, a way for the man to contact somebody else pulled some pins clogging his head. After sighing in slight relief, his ability to think clearly somehow returned and the panic alarming inside his head toned down.

"He might not have the device but if his phone can be used, the one he's contacting is also inside this fortress. A possibility that his companion is the one holding onto that device."

By birthing a new doubt in his head, Aldrin commanded his Dimensional Clone to draw closer.

At the moment, Carlos still hadn't sensed that someone was watching and following him.

From Aldrin's observation, the middle-aged man appeared restless as if something didn't go according to his plan.

Ten seconds later, the Dimensional Clone successfully crept closer, allowing Aldrin to hear the middle-aged man's voice and the one he's in contact with.

However, the eight minutes duration of the Dimensional Close was about to reach its 1-minute mark.

It spent two minutes going from where it was summoned towards their building. Another two minutes to circle the building, checking each window. Lastly, a minute and a half eavesdropping on their conversation and the few seconds it took him to get out of his shocked state.

And to chase after the middle-aged man, close to a minute passed.

After staring at his current IDLE Points that's still over 8000, Aldrin settled himself to spend a few hundred of those to continue spying the middle-aged man.

There's a possibility that the man might disappear if he chose to resummon the Dimensional Clone after all.

Having reached that decision, he began straining his ears to understand what they're talking about.

"—that's your responsibility, Carlos! You confidently said that the whistleblower is among the trainees."

"I get that! Didn't I say I'm going to take responsibility for this blunder? I risked my neck by staying too long in the cafeteria to see and check every trainee. But he's not among them. Not one of them clicked with what I remembered that day." He paused and scratched his head, clearly frustrated at the turn of events.

Little did he know that the guy he set out to find was listening in on his conversation. If he had looked back even once earlier, he could've caught the unusual giant ant following him.

Now, Aldrin had it plant its body on the ground while hugging the wall. That way it wouldn't be caught by his line of sight easily.

Besides, with its duration about to run out, he could just let it vanish into nothingness as soon as it was spotted. 

"Risked your neck?! We're the ones who risked our necks for you! F*ck! Commander Yun is a scary superior who can sniff out a spy from one unusual move! I'm already thinking of escaping this fortress and my brother, the city. In the first place, it's your fault that someone managed to leak out the information about the device. You will not be traced there so just go out after completing your job as the guest Energy Refiner. Go sort yourself out. I'll throw this phone away."

With that, the call between the two ended. Or rather, the man on the other side of the call ended it abruptly without waiting for Carlos' response.

In short, he was left to fend off for himself.

Aldrin, who successfully caught everything that was said exhaled another sigh of relief. Moreover, he watched as Carlos frustratingly threw the phone away and destroyed it by stomping on it with all his might. Perhaps if he's not wary that someone could be alerted if he used his refined energy to vent his anger, he'd have done that sooner.

[The Dimensional Clone will disappear in 10 seconds]

[9…]

[8…]

[7…]

After seeing that countdown notification on his phone, Aldrin used the remaining time to continue watching the man.

He got the answer to his question. However, he still felt uneasy.

As it turned out, he's truly the target but for some reason, the middle-aged man failed to identify him.

Perhaps, if their gazes successfully met and Aldrin's memory of that disaster got triggered, resulting in the fear nestling in his body to burst out at that moment, Carlos could've suspected him.

It's clearly a brush of good fortune that Irina and Clark muddled his head during their dinner. Otherwise, the situation could go differently.

Someone stronger than will be running after his head. Although he's aware that he'd still act the same; using his Dimensional Clone to investigate, the middle-aged man's actions would be different from what he witnessed.

[0…]

[The Dimensional Clone has disappeared]

[Closing Dimensional Clone Interface…]

The image of Carlos still furiously stomping on his phone was the last thing the Dimensional Clone caught in its eyes before the shared vision disappeared, returning Aldrin's senses to his room.

"… I survived this day. However, that man will stay in this Training Camp. Moreover, if I tell Janet about him, I don't have concrete proof to back up my claims. Wait, I have one! The audio file!"

Realizing that point, he immediately accessed it and played it. Not only to check that it's still there but also to confirm that Carlos and the man talking in it are the same.

"He believed I'm not here so in the meantime, I'm actually safe from him. He will not do anything that can put his life in jeopardy…"

"Should I catch him myself and treat him as a challenge for myself? He's at least a middle Stage 2 Energy Refiner… If I continue progressing, there's a chance for me to be as strong as him."

Somehow, he picked up confidence and guts to even think of making someone who could kill him easily back then as a challenge to overcome.

In his mind, it's also a way to repay the guy back for the terror that he felt. If he could do it by himself, then why not? If he succeeded, he could send him to the authorities without drawing any attention to himself.

"Or I can take the easy way out of this predicament by relying on Janet exposing my secret identity as the whistleblower."

"Let me put off this decision later… With the Guardian Ant and the Essence Grenades, I will aim for at least three Dungeons tonight!"

The thought of getting justice for those dead people in the Southern District disaster passed by Aldrin's mind. However, he knew that the man was only following orders so even if he died, the real culprits still live outside. Moreover, he's never an ally of justice. As long as he and those he cares about survives, that's more than enough for him.

There's no need for him to step into a conspiracy that the higher-ups were already solving.

After refreshing his mind for a few minutes, Aldrin laid down in his bed once more and started the Idle Adventure's first run of the day!