Chapter 56: Shall We Conduct Business?

"Three… intruders? All this noise for three intruders?"

Ms. Friday's voice still held its calm, her breaths, however, almost filled the entire room with weight. Their floating base should have been completely hidden from the government's satellites and in the naked eye of even the Grade-A Supers.

Could it be that they were detected when their base suddenly moved unexpectedly? No… not even a minute had passed since that time. If their base had indeed been detected due to their base moving, then there were only a handful of supers that were capable of reaching their base at that speed.

One of the members of the Hope Guild that was capable of running at Mach speeds-- The Tempo. But according to their intel, he should be on the other side of the planet right now protecting his country from a group of super terrorists.

There were a few more others, but their intel also suggests that it would be impossible for them to get to their location.

Could it be… Mega Woman is here? They have absolutely zero intel on her, so she was the only loose element. If it was really her… then the only choice they have was to self-destruct.

"Is one of them wearing a white coat?"

Ms. Friday then quickly looked towards No. 7. Who, despite hanging in the air and having all of his limbs bound, still had an arrogant and sarcastic tone in his voice.

"Answer the traitor," Ms. Friday then quickly said as she faced No. 69.

"Y… yes?" No. 69 said after pausing for a few seconds, "But I really think we should be worrying about Scarlet Mage, Ms. Friday!"

"Scarlet… Mage is here?" Ms. Friday whispered, "So our intruders are from the Mega Academy."

Ms. Friday then tapped her arms a few times, waking up the small tablet that was attached to it. "Who is currently engaging the enemy?" She then breathed out.

[Ms. Friday, this is April. The intruders are currently in front of me, ma'am.]

"What? Are you engaging them? What's the situation?" Ms. Friday could not help but slightly let out a short but deep breath. For someone currently in front of the intruders, April did not seem to even be out of breath.

[They… are just standing, Ms. Friday.]

"What--"

"Ahahaha!"

And before Ms. Friday could even say a word, No. 7's laughter once again filled the entire room. This caused Ms. Friday to slightly furrow her eyebrows behind her helmet, but after a few seconds, she tapped something on her tablet, causing a trickle of electricity to wrap around No. 7's limbs, replacing his laughter with screams of pain.

"What do you mean they're just standing there?" Ms. Friday then patted her skirt, completely ignoring No. 7's bellow, "Where are you?"

[They're just standing here in the cargo hold… menacingly, Ms. Friday.]

"I see. Try to stall them as long as possible, I'm on my way there."

[I… don't think I need to stall them, Ms. Friday. I think they are waiting for you.]

"...What?"

[One of them... 

...is asking for a chair.]

***

A few moments later, Ms. Friday was now at the base's cargo hold. And true enough, the three intruders were just calmly standing there. No, one of them was now seated on a chair.

"You actually gave them a chair?" The irritation in Ms. Friday's tone was clear for everyone to hear.

"Y… Yes?" April stuttered, "He politely asked for it, so it just felt right to give--"

"We're not a restaurant!" Ms. Friday stomped her foot on the ground, and as she did so, the ground beneath her turned grey, before a web of cracks started to crawl over it. And after a few seconds, she then turned her head towards the three intruders and raised her hand at them.

The three, however, did not even flinch an inch.

"Are you here to rescue the children, Scarlet Mag--" She was about to finish her words, but then she realized something important; Scarlet Mage did not seem to be leading the group-- it was the one that No. 7 had mentioned earlier, the white-haired kid clad in a white coat.

"I am afraid Scarlet Mage is not here, Ms. Friday," the white-haired kid then spoke as he pointed his finger towards Katherine, "This is Silver Moon, my First Subordinate. And this is my Second Subordinate. She…

...doesn't have a name yet."

Although Tomoe was clearly upset from Riley's words, she only let out a short but deep breath, before bowing her head towards Ms. Friday.

"As for me, you may call me Riley Ross."

"Riley… Ross?" Ms. Friday lower her hands, before taking a small step back, "Aren't you Whiteking's son!?"

And as soon as Ms. Friday's words echoed throughout the cargo hold, the group of Numbers that were surrounding the area all let out gasps of their own.

"Does that mean that--"

"Oh, you don't have to worry, Ms. Friday," Riley then waved his hand before crossing his legs and taking off his sunglasses, "We are the only ones--"

"Riley!"

And before Riley could finish his words, a blast of wind exploded in front of him, slightly causing his white, almost silver-like hair to violently flow in the air; his expression, however, still remained the same.

He then slightly leaned his head to the side, as it was being blocked by Katherine's butt.

"Are you okay, Riley!?" Katherine then breathed out, her arm raised to the front as chunks of what seemed to be rocks dropped in front of her one by one. And as soon as she checked that Riley was okay, she turned her head towards the direction where the projectile came from, only to see a familiar face.

"You dare harm god!?"

And before anyone could do anything else, a crackle violently snapped in the air; lowering the temperature by a few degrees,

"You shall know the wrath of god!"-- And with that roar, Tomoe raised her hands, almost instantly summoning a sedan-sized icicle above her, "Die!"

"No, Tomoe!"

But as soon as she released her frozen bundle of death, Katherine stood in front of her and clapped her hands, immediately turning the icicle into snow.

"What are you--"

"He's a student from the Academy!"

"Ha?"

It wasn't only Tomoe and Katherine, but even the numbers surrounding them and Ms. Friday were looking at the individual who fired the earth bullet at Riley, only to see a young man wearing a skin-tight costume, his cape loosely dangling behind him.

"Who let this guy out!?" Ms. Friday roared.

"They… they escaped during the commotion!"

"...They?" Ms. Friday then turned towards the Number who answered her, only to see different individuals wearing each of their unique costumes, "What the…"

"We're here to help you…

...Ms. Friday!"

"...oh?"

"What!?" Katherine could not help but slightly raise an eyebrow. She initially thought that they were rushing towards them since she was here to rescue them but to think they would stop and stand by Ms. Friday's side one by one.

"What are you guys doing!?" She then yelled, "We're here to rescue you!"

"The Dark Millenium has told us all about your stupid list!"

"Do you think we don't know what you will do to us!? You're going to kill us!"

"What?"

"Dark Millenium saved us from being killed by the government! You were going to eliminate us if we're still on the list by the time we graduate!"

"What are you guys talking about!? We will never do that!" Katherine waved her hand in frustration, she was about to say something else, but before she could do so, the sound of Riley standing up from his seat completely silenced everyone.

"It seems they do not need to be rescued, Silver Moon," Riley then sighed before patting Katherine on the shoulders a couple of times.

"No, they are just confu--"

"I am afraid that's enough, Silver Moon," Riley stepped forward before Katherine could finish her words, "That was the only time I will be giving you to rescue your pets…

...And now, shall we get on to business?"

"Come with us, Riley Ross, Dark Frost!"

One of the students, however, started to approach them, "The Academy is just fooling you! I know you're a fan of Darkday, Dark Frost… I saw you wearing his helmet back in the Academy. Do you think the Academy would let someone like you live!? Please, take my--"

"Eek!"

And just like that, the student's short speech was cut short as his entire body suddenly burst into tiny bits of pieces, causing all of his flesh and insides to be blown away towards the other students. There was, however, no sign of any mess in front of where the student exploded; instead, his flesh and blood formed into an arc, as if an invisible wall was blocking them.

"..." And as soon as Ms. Friday saw this, she hid her arms behind her, tapping her tablet several times. She had wondered why someone like No.7, who was capable of defeating a Month almost instantly, was so afraid of-- and now she knows.

It would already be a hard fight with Scarlet Mage here, but to think there was another monster on board, she needed to call a back-up from one of the other bases as soon as possible. This Riley Ross… is dangerous.

"My apologies, Dark Millenium" Riley then let out a small but deep sigh as his eyes scanned the remains of the detonated student, "I forgot to tell you that there's a barrier separating us from the rest of you-- we can't have a fight breaking out as we talk business, can we?"

"R… Riley? You… did you just kill a student?" Katherine said, her breaths almost wanting to burst out from her chest.

"..." On the other hand, Tomoe only had her eyes twitching, trying her best not to look away from the flesh and guts that were scattered in front of her.

"He committed suicide, Silver Moon. And he was no longer a student," Riley then casually said as he returned to his seat, "Now…

...shall we conduct business?"