Chapter 131: Interconnected

Chapter 131: Interconnected

DISCLAIMER: This story is NOT MINE IN ANY WAY. That honor has gone to the beautiful bastard Ryuugi. This has been pulled from his Spacebattle publishment. Anyway on with the show...errr read.

Interconnected

"I take it something has gone wrong?" She began the moment we were both seated, even as I brought an illusion around us and made sure we wouldn't be overheard.

"Doesn't something always?" I answered with a smile, making her close her eyes and smirk for a moment.

"I suppose that's true," She admitted. "But what, specifically, has gone wrong this time?"

"It would seem this friend of ours is more dangerous than we realized," I said. "Torchwick in Vale, the bombings in Atlas, and her ties here to the White Fangshe has a lot of influence in at least three of the Kingdoms and the power needed to transport thousands of stolen weapons between at least two of themand I would bet that she has friends in Vacuo, as well. She had an ally within our own organization that we didn't know about until now and likely has similar plants in other places. Whatever she's planning, all signs point to it being something big. She's powerful."

"Yes," Raven whispered before tilting her head slowly, voice growing just a touch annoyed at my words. "There is a reason I have handled this alliance with care, Jian."

I inclined my head to her in an apology.

"I was not trying to imply anything," I told her. "I merely wished to lay down the facts before making a request. Will you allow me to handle things from here?"

She watched me, face as expressionless as her mask, though that did nothing to hide what she felt from me.

"Why ask me?" She wondered after a moment.

"Because I respect you," I replied at once. "And I respect your abilities, which are invaluable. But the circumstances have changed again."

"Again," She repeated before pausing momentarily. "You're thinking about what happened to Summer and Ruby?"

"In a way, yes," I nodded. "This friend of ours is a problem that needs to be handled carefully and monitored closely. But the difference between Ruby and this friend of ours is that we can keep an eye on the former, even from a great distance, and she hasn't acted up yet, while the latter has proven herself able to evade notice should the situation call for it and has most certainly been acting up."

"Because of the illusionist," She stated.

"Yes," I agreed anyway. "Because of the illusionist. She has changed the entire game and we need to change with it. Like Ruby, this is a problem we cannot leave unwatched. Should the situation change, we need to be made aware of it as quickly as possible, which means we must be able to perceive such changes."

"And I can't," She stated, sounding annoyed but not at me. The fact that the illusionist had pulled one over on her seemed to irritate her on a personal level, simply because of how bad it could make this already tenuous situation. Slowly, however, her eyes fell to her reflection in the tableor rather, the reflection of her illusory disguise. "But I take it you can?"

"At the risk of sounding arrogant, very few things escape my notice," I nodded. "But in order to be sure, I'll need to be relatively close by. Your abilities allow you to keep an eye on people like Ruby from a great distance, but I'm afraid my eyes don't reach quite that far. If I am to watch her, I will have to remain in Mistral while I do so."

"Ah," She said at last, seeming to understand. "And you wish for me to handle things elsewhere, in your absence."

I nodded once.

"Information still reaches me, thankfully," I answered. "And I managed to handle most things satisfactorily before my arrival here. But there are still a number of duties I will have to delegate if I am to remain here, the most important of which is our Rider problem."

"Do you think she's part of it?" Raven asked, sounding at once curious and serious. "Do you think she's a Rider?"Visit no(v)eLb(i)n.com for the best novel reading experience

"I don't think anything yet, I'm afraid," I stated with a sigh, having considered the possibility myself. There wasn't anything pointing to it, but I'd have been a fool not to at least check for it. "I began researching her as soon as I returned, but I cannot scan her directly without knowing where she is. Do you, by any chance?"

Raven grit her teeth slightly, shaking her head.

"I admit, I was going to ask for your assistance in this matter myself," She told me. "She's become rather skilled at evading my notice. In light of her recent actions, I find that a bit concerning."

"Understandably so," I replied, wondering how she'd felt about my abilities in that field. "Does her illusionist remain here in Mistral?"

Raven was silent for a long moment.

"Perhaps," She said, pursing her lips. "It would be a lie to say I've seen her."

"I see," I nodded in understanding. "No matterI know where at least one of them shall be."

"Oh?" She asked.

"As said, Emerald and Mercury will be joining their Mistress at Haven," I smiled. "Therefore, either their Mistress will be there or an illusion of her will be. Either way, I'll find them and keep a very close eye on them. Whatever they do, I'll know."

"On the condition that you're close enough to do so," She mused. "How close does that need to be?"

I sighed again.

"It seems you've uncovered the source of Adam's pain," I replied, nodding my head towards my friend. "Close. Within a few kilometers of it, preferably, and for a mission that may last weeks or monthswell, closer is better. I'll need to be able to react quickly to anything I find and pick up whatever they're doing, soideally, I would be within the building itself."

Raven arched an eyebrow.

"For weeks or months," She repeated and I could practically hear her putting the pieces together. She looked slowly from me to Adam, who was constructing a pyramid out of shot glasses. I saw her ponder the illusion on Adam's face for a moment and then nod. "I begin to understand."

I nodded tired.

"It's not what I would prefer, I admit, but" I shook my head. "It may be necessary. I'll need to see both her and the illusionist to be certain of anything, but if they're as big a threat as they seem to be, it would be foolish to leave them unattended."

"And you're the only person who can keep track of them," She nodded. "Yes. You have a plan, I assume?"

I eyed at the pyramid which was flanked by a pair of towers with occasional holes for windows. Sitting down, all three structures were over my head.

"Okay," I accepted easily. "Ready to go?"

He grunted an affirmative, nodding to the bartender as he rose. A few people clapped as he walked away on his own power, but we quickly made our way outside.

"You and Raven figure things out?" He asked after giving his eyes a moment to adjust to the sun.

"More or less," I shrugged. "I told her who I was."

He glanced over his shoulder at me.

"Ah," He said after a moment. "Well, that's good then. I assume she took it pretty well?"

"Yeah, it was fine," I answered. "This should make things easier for you, right? I told her just about everything. Everything but the specifics of my Semblance, Autumn, Gou, andI think that's everything important. There's a few things I need to tell you, too, but they're kind of a pain in the ass to explain."

"There's no short version?" He raised an eyebrow.

I considered that for a moment and shrugged. Raven had given her permission, after all.

"There's a lot of stuff implying that the reason my Semblance is so powerful is because I'm some kind of ancient, reincarnating weapon from the days of Babel," I explained. "And it seems the guys who killed me last time are still around, too. And they're kind of dicks."

"Ah," He replied after a moment, squinting against the light and pondering me. His eyebrows furrowed for a moment and he nodded slowly. "Ah."

"Mm," I agreed.

"These assholes," He said after a moment. "Anyone I know?"

"They're Grimm, mostly," I answered. "One is the sapient virus inside Pandora Shellshe calls himself Conquest. Their leader is the problem though; he's the one who created the Grimm in the first place. I don't know the specifics, but it seems he and I fought before. Since I ended up reincarnating afterwards and he's still around, seems safe to assume I lost that fight."

"Huh," He frowned. "Well, that'syeah, maybe you should give me the long version later."

I shrugged and smiled as he lifted his maskstill hidden as a pair of sunglassesto rub his eyes.

"But I think I get the basics," He mused after a minute. "So we have to kick these guys' asses, yeah?"

"That's the idea," I smiled at him at the inclusive 'we,' even if he didn't have the full picture of what we were up against yet. "Actually doing it might take some work."

"Always does," He huffed. "What's the plan?"

"For now? We get stronger," I stated. "Everything I know about what happened makes me think old me was a badass."

"Oh?"

"My sister Bianca can see people's souls or something like them," I shrugged. "She described me as a giant with a lot of eyes and wings and mouths. Raven and I found a temple one of our enemies made and it had a lot of people fighting a creature that looked a lot like that, setting it up as some grand enemy."

He bobbed his head, seeming to accept that.

"Fair enough," He allowed. "Any idea what you need to do to win round two?"

"Not yet, sadly," I sighed. "Still trying to put the pieces together and learn whatever I can. I know there's something there, but"

I shook my head.

"But I do have one lead," I continued. "Near Jericho Falls, there's a place thatwell, everything we know paints it as a deathtrap it's so full of Grimm. But inside of itadjacent to it, really, in a dimensional barrier similar to the ones I makethere's an empty, Babel city. And inside of that, there's a computer that seems to have survived all these years. I don't know what's in it, but mentioning it pissed off Conquest, so I'm thinking about taking a look inside when I'm strong enough. Raven said she'd probably tag along herself."

"Heh," Adam chuckled before quirking an eyebrow. "A deathtrap and some ancient ruins, huh? How dangerous is it?"

"Last time a few dozen Hunters went in, only one guy walked outand it was Ozpin." I said. "And hewell, that's another long story, but he didn't win that fight. He just survived it."

Adam whistled slightly at that and smiled.

"Sounds like fun," He replied. "You have room for one more?"

"Only if you get strong enough," I snorted. "I'm not taking anyone in there with me that I don't think will walk back out."

"Then let's go get stronger, then," He answered. "That's why we're going Hunting, right?"

"Yeah," I closed my eyes for a moment, a smile on my lips. "That's right."

"Well, I don't have anywhere better to be," He stretched for a moment. "So I'll ask againwhat's the plan?"

"Same as before," I opened my eyes, smile still firmly in place. "We kill a lot of Grimm, we get strong as hell, and then we kick ass."

"I like this plan," Adam snorted. "Let's see if I can't get to level sixty today."

"Fuck level sixty," I replied. "You're fourteen levels away from seventy. I'm five away from eighty. Let's get to work."