Chapter 233: mercenaries

“God! How long is this passage really? We’ve been passing it for over 5 hours already, my whole body feels sore”. Dickson grumbled as he angrily kicked a stone lying at the side with his new prosthetic leg.

“I’ve not even had my bath, gosh, I can literally see the odor oozing out of me materializing physically. And I’m damn hungry already”.

“You’re not grateful that we didn’t encounter any exobeast. Sometimes, I feel that your brain is filled with mud”. Clark quickly shot at him with words.

“With those clumsy legs of yours, you really think that you can fight. I already told you before, if we encounter an exobeast and the going gets too tough, I’m abandoning you without hesitation”.

“Yeah, I know, how many times will you repeat that? Who needs your help?” Dickson replied sarcastically.

“Haha, what a joke. I can’t believe I’m hearing that from the one who cried on realizing that he survived after being saved by me”.

Dickson was shocked. “You knew?”

“Why wouldn’t I know? I was f*cking tired but I was still alert. Do you think I’m a clumsy soldier like you? I just kept quiet to give you face, that’s all”. Clark replied coolly.

“Oh…!” Dickson could not help but feel embarrassed. He coughed awkwardly before turning to look at Clark with a weird expression on his face.

“Why are you looking at me like that?” Clark quickly asked on noticing his look.

“Umm, please, can you promise me not to tell Anna about that?” He asked with a pleading expression on his face.

“Forget it, I don’t have the energy to mock you. You don’t need my help, I’m cool with it, but narrating everything to her is the first thing I’m doing when we finally converge back with them”.

Clark replied with a gloating face, as his steps developed more swagger in them.

Seeing this, Dickson could not help but get annoyed. Thinking deeper into it, Clark already saw every version of him, both the version where he saw himself as invisible and his current weak form.

To him, his most invisible form was when he was a gladiator. As the vice-captain of the then widely acknowledged strongest gladiator team and having a soldier like World dominator as his teammate, he felt on top of the world.

Comparing then to right now where Clark had to take care of him, he finally concluded that life was really unpredictable. From opponents, they were now close comrades.

Though these were the thoughts in his head, he could not afford to appear weak in front of Clark. As he was about to lash out loudly, Clark suddenly stuffed his left hand inside his mouth.

“Shh, I hear noise”.

Clark quickly shushed him, made a sign for him to squat and lie low before he started tip-toeing forward.

As he silently moved forward, he was already holding his pair of daggers tightly. He prayed for the best in his heart but he was already expecting the worst. This would make him react faster.

As he got closer to the source of the sound, he was surprised to notice that another road stood perpendicular to the one that he was currently in.

Seeing this, he was overjoyed as this meant that they were getting closer to leaving the boundaries of these unending cliffs, which indirectly translated to getting closer to the location of a shelter.

After getting closer to the new road, he didn’t go directly to look. He squatted to hide beside a rock that lay at the side, before looking around himself to confirm that he was safe.

Looking up, he saw the walls of the 2 cliffs still standing tall without an end in sight. Despite everywhere being covered with pure white ice and snow, he still confirmed that no one was climbing the cliff walls.

After doing this, he heaved a sigh of relief before standing up slowly to look beyond the rock that he hid behind.

Thud! Thud!

As soon as he stood up, the noise that he heard became more glaring, making him shrink back from instinct.

After gathering his nerves, he stood up again to look across. This was when he saw the source of the noise, it was an organized group of mountaineers, probably soldiers from his deductions.

They were marching across in a tightly organized formation, showing how alert they were to their surroundings.

Though only their thick climbing uniform was shown outside, his sharp eyes could still detect the slight figures of weapons hidden beneath their covers.

This new road intersected with the one they were currently passing through between the 2 cliffs, and both groups converging was inevitable. If he didn’t see them now, these guys would have seen them first.

From his quick deduction, this group comprised of 6 females and 15 males.

“What is there?” Dickson suddenly whispered a question, making him turn with a scolding expression on his face.

“I told you to squat there”.

Dickson shrugged. “I was bored and curious, so I came to see also”.

Clark felt the urge to bonk this guy on the head on hearing his lazy laidback answer, but he suppressed the impulse and shifted to the side a little to allow him to see.

Seeing the organized group of humans, Dickson’s eyes narrowed, but this did not last long as they quickly became clear again.

“It’s just a mercenary group, follow me. I can’t believe that’s why you acted so secretive, what a scaredy-cat you are”.

Before Clark could react, Dickson already started walking down the road to meet these newcomers. He was shocked, he could only open his eyes wide as this guy walked away confidently.

“F*ck, don’t you know what planning means? What a bastard!”

Clark cursed to himself but he stood rooted on the spot. If his companion was courting death, he would not follow in his footsteps. He got ready for the worse to happen.

“Tighten the formation immediately”.

The man who seemed to be the leader of the newcomers reacted instantly on seeing Dickson, as he gave orders smoothly to his subordinates.

Seeing that Dickson kept on walking confidently to meet them despite seeing their reaction, the man’s sharp eyes quickly narrowed.

“Stay where you are and state your intentions, otherwise, we would attack”. He said in a deep tone while flexing his sword by rotating it expertly to show his point.

“Yo…, no need for such hard measures, I’m a human like you”. Dickson answered carelessly as he continued forward.

“I said stay where you are!” This time, everyone in the group wielded their weapons as they got set for battle.

“Oh, it’s ok, no need for weapons please. I just came to ask for information about this area, I’m not familiar with this place you know”. Dickson finally stopped and raised his hands to show his innocence.

Seeing this, the group of mercenaries heaved a sigh of relief but they still didn’t let their guard down.

They went closer to meet him with their faces fearsomely tightened while paying attention to all his moves. As they did this, this was when they started observing him closely.

A human- check, the physique of a soldier- check, rough clothes like those of a thief- weird, no weapon- check, a prosthetic leg of high quality- check, approximate danger level- low.

After making those series of quick assessments, they suddenly grew bolder and stepped forward to hold him. Surprisingly, they had some weird handcuffs with them which they used to hold him.

“Now, tell me, what were you saying again? And who are you?” The man who seemed to be the leader asked.

“Not this again…” Despite complaining in his heart, Dickson still patiently gave them a bullshit filled-explanation of his situation and who he was.

Hearing his explanation, the mercenaries face grew weird.

“Cough…, ahem, you mean that you came here to ask for food? That’s why you came so confidently, almost scaring the hell out of us?” The leader of the mercenaries suddenly grew angry and embarrassed.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to offend you. As I told you, I’m a mercenary, all my colleagues died when we encountered a strong exobeast, I’m willing to work for you and be a part of your mercenary group”.

Dickson continued reinforcing his bullshit motion with an innocent and sincere expression on his face, completely unlike a 2nd rank high-grade soldier who was the leader of an expedition squad.

“Please, I’m hungry, just give me food and I’m yours”. He added again.

“So you’re just a lucky bastard who abandoned his teammates to die, how the f*ck did you climb to this zone of the Everest mountain?” One of the mercenaries suddenly erupted.

“And how did you get your hands on such a nicely made prosthetic?” Another one quickly added.

“If you know what’s good for you, leave everything valuable that you have behind. Then, perhaps we can contemplate letting you live”.

“You heard them; I don’t accept incompetent soldiers in my mercenary group. Leave everything that you have behind”. The leader of the mercenaries finally spoke again in support of his subordinates.

Dickson fell silent as a lot of things revolved around his mind. “Does it always have to end up like this?”

“You said what?

“Oh, nothing”.

“Commander, I heard him, he insulted us. I’ll show him a lesson”. One of the mercenaries suddenly spoke out righteously, before rushing forward with a clear aim at Dickson’s prosthetic leg.

Bam!!

Before the mercenary could react, a fist already connected with his face, as his nose crooked immediately with the majority of his front teeth dislocating and flying randomly like kites in the sky.

“What?” The mercenaries were shocked.

“You’re courting death”. Already angered at the attack aimed at their comrade, the rest all swarmed at him. This was a decision that they would forever live to regret.

…

5 minutes later, Dickson was the last man standing as he looked down at the mercenaries with a victorious grin on his face.

“I almost forgot what it feels like to trash overconfident bastards, thank you for granting me the opportunity. Now, will you give me food or not?” He asked while smiling.

“Sorry sir, forgive us for not recognizing the dragon in you. Take, please eat to your fill”.

One of the female mercenaries in the group came closer while trembling, as she placed the canned food before him. Unlike most of the boys with battered faces, she only suffered slight bruises, but this alone horrified her.

“Good, next time, you don’t just harass anyone that you see. Did you all get that, dumbheads?”

“Yes sir, your wisdom is as vast as the encompassing sky. We will always treasure this knowledge; it will become our family heirloom”. The leader of the soldiers quickly added.

“…”

Dickson’s face twitched on hearing this, but he did not reply as he started digging into the food to replenish his exhausted reserves.

As he expected, his companion could no longer hold himself back seeing him eating as he came down the next moment.

“I thought you wouldn’t come down scaredy-cat. Even with one leg, never underestimate me, Clark”.

“Yeah, I know, just give me food”. Clark answered calmly, swept a glance at the trembling mercenaries before also settling down to eat.

The mercenaries shook even further on seeing him. “Another devil, we are doomed”.

…

Minutes later, they both finally stood up satisfied. Even if these mercenaries were brainless, at least they had a good sense of food taste.

“Ok, you…” Dickson called out in an authoritative tone.

“The name is Jason sir”.

“Good, you said that a shelter is nearby, right?”

“Yes, sir”.

“Lead us there”.

“Ok, sir”.

[Thank you for reading this chapter, I really appreciate it. Please, leave your power stones behind to support the book. Purchase privilege for The Conspiracy Of The Elites and read a varying amount of chapters ahead of regular readers.]