Chapter 61: The Intelligence Hound is Simply Too Underhanded
No, wait. That logic is flawed.
Rekka decisively tossed the theory out the window. The focus must have shifted. Elio's current objective in the grand script had to be babysitting him through his early growth period. Once he was properly leveled up, he could serve as Stelle's escort. In gaming terms, Elio's positioning for Rekka was clearly a sub-DPS or support unit, while Stelle remained the absolute main DPS. After all, this entire cosmic storyline only existed because of Stelle—or Caelus, depending on the universe's mood.
However, in these early stages, Stelle would be the one carrying him. Then, in the mid-to-late game, the two of them would tag-team the universe.
Understood. Just wait for me to scale, and then we'll show these mobs our ultimate blood-pumping combo skills!
"Stand down. Don't fight her, she's not an enemy."
Rekka reached out, casually pushing down the weapons of his two escorts.
Dan Heng's spear, Cloud-Piercer, was already humming with energy. Delta's massive greatsword was gripped tightly in her hands, her knuckles white.
"Another acquaintance of yours?" Dan Heng asked, his voice cool and guarded.
"Not mine," Rekka replied, pointing a thumb over his shoulder. "She's Stelle's."
Stelle blinked, pointing a finger at her own chest. Her golden eyes were completely blank. "Mine? I don't even know who I am. How could I possibly have acquaintances?"
"It's a long story," Rekka said, waving off the existential crisis. "Anyway, she's not here to cause trouble right now. I'm walking the Path of Erudition today, just trust my galaxy-brain logic."
As the smartest person currently standing on the Astral Express roster, an Erudition-buffed Rekka's words carried immense weight. You could trust Erudition Rekka unconditionally—provided he wasn't actively trying to build a volatile Aether Phase Engine in the passenger cabin.
Besides, Firefly was a very honest, straightforward girl; it would only take a few well-placed words to coax everything out of her.
Dan Heng did not retract his spear tip. He kept it leveled perfectly at the towering mecha's core. "Are you absolutely certain? A Stellaron Hunter. A galactic wanted criminal with a bounty nearing ten billion credits... is Stelle's acquaintance?"
"I'm sure," Rekka nodded easily. "And she won't attack us. Mostly because if Sam actually wanted to throw down, the five of us combined wouldn't be enough to dent that armor."
Delta scowled, her grip tightening on her greatsword hilt. "What you just said makes me incredibly unhappy."
"It's just a statistical fact." Rekka patted the horned girl's shoulder to soothe her warrior pride. "Don't get tilted. Like I said, she's not the enemy."
Heavy, rhythmic footsteps echoed down the alley. A squad of Silvermane Guards, clad in thick Belobog armor, rushed around the corner. The leading captain swept his gaze across the street, his eyes passing right over the massive, glowing mecha without a single pause.
"Strange, I swear I saw them running this way..." the captain muttered, peering into the shadows. "After them!"
March 7th stared in utter disbelief as the squad jogged off to the right, completely ignoring the giant robot standing in plain sight. "...Are they blind?"
"Wait a minute!"
Suddenly, the captain stopped. He turned around, marching back with a deep frown, and looked up—making direct eye contact with Sam's glowing visor. "...Hello, citizens. Did you happen to see a person in heavy silver armor run past here?"
Rekka didn't miss a beat. He pointed down the opposite alley. "They went that way."
"Thank you for your cooperation! Men, pursue!"
Stelle and March 7th stood frozen, their jaws practically hitting the frozen pavement.
Are these people actually blind?
"Is he Silver Chariot?" Stelle deadpanned, staring at the retreating guards. "Are those big glowing eyes on his helmet just for decoration?"
"Alas, that is also a battle," Rekka sighed, correcting her erroneous lore. "Silver Chariot's eyes are not merely decorative. Although the Stand cannot share vision with its user, if Silver Chariot's eyes are injured, Polnareff's eyes will also suffer the exact same damage."
"Doesn't that just make it even more useless?" Stelle retorted.
Before they could debate the intricacies of Stand mechanics further, the clanking of armor returned. The captain wandered back into the alley, scratching his helmet.
"Are you absolutely sure it was that direction?"
"Positive," Rekka lied smoothly.
The captain rubbed his chin, pondering for a moment. "Hmm... Fine. Maybe the suspect escaped by scaling the walls."
"Captain," one of the guards chimed in, "the suspect is wearing a massive suit of heavy armor. Can they really climb walls?"
"Nonsense! That suspect runs faster than a speeding snowmobile! Hurry up and report to Captain Gepard so we can initiate a sector lockdown!"
And with that, the squad marched away again. Completely naturally. Completely ignoring the towering, lethal Stellaron Hunter standing mere inches from their faces.
March 7th turned slowly to Rekka, her face a mask of pure exasperation. She didn't even know what to complain about first. "Just how ridiculous is that gadget of yours? They were staring right at its face, and they still didn't notice?!"
"It's a localized cognitive filter," Rekka explained proudly. "It just makes their brains register everything in this immediate area as 'perfectly normal and fine,' diverting their attention so they won't suspect us of being out of place."
A heavy silence fell over the group.
"As expected," March muttered. "Erudition is just underhanded. Completely, shamelessly underhanded."
"Hey, my physical stats are rock-bottom today!" Rekka crossed his arms defensively. "If you nerfed my IQ on top of that, how am I even supposed to play the Erudition meta?"
Sam's massive silver-gray armor remained perfectly still, yet it exuded an overwhelming, suffocating pressure. The crimson light beneath the visor flickered a few times as the mecha shifted its gaze toward Stelle.
Then, the invisible tension in the air vanished. The hydraulic devices at the armor's joints hissed, releasing a soft vent of steam. Sam made no aggressive movements, simply standing rooted to the spot.
"What mission did Elio give you?" Rekka asked, dropping the comedic tone.
"There are some things you shouldn't know too much about," Sam's synthesized voice rumbled.
"I know about you and Stelle," Rekka countered smoothly. "So naturally, I can infer your exact purpose for being here."
"I mean no ill will. Nor do I wish to be your enemy."
"I certainly know your overarching goal is to prevent the universe from spiraling toward its worst possible future. So, tell me... in your leader's script, what position do I hold?"
"Right now, I have no reason to act against you," Sam replied, the mechanical voice devoid of any inflection. "My goal is to ensure the Trailblaze stays on track. As long as you do not interfere with this goal, we will not interfere with each other."
"Oh, fair enough. Let me ask one more trivial question, though." Rekka smirked. "The direction you ran just now... you intentionally led those guards straight toward us, didn't you?"
Sam did not answer. The silence was deafening.
"No answer is a default 'yes'." Rekka nodded, looking entirely too pleased with himself. "So, Elio's instruction to you was, 'Stop when you encounter the crew of the Astral Express'? Or, let me guess, it was more specific: 'Once you meet them, cooperate temporarily'?"
"Your inference is meaningless."
Despite the mecha's tight-lipped responses, those few brief exchanges were all Rekka needed. He had already extracted the core data. He had basically coaxed out everything that was supposed to be a secret.
"Acting together?" Rekka offered.
"Unnecessary."
"You could protect Stelle closely."
"There is no need for that."
"Come on, I know you want to. And more than just a little." Rekka raised a teasing eyebrow.
in the world of intelligence gathering... an Intelligence Hound was simply too devious.
"What exactly do you know?" Sam demanded, the glowing visor locking onto Rekka with sudden intensity.
"A lot."
The surrounding air seemed to freeze over. March 7th looked back and forth between Rekka's smug grin and the towering silver mecha, utterly lost as to what kind of high-stakes riddles these two were playing at.
"You know nothing," Sam finally stated.
"I know way more than you think," Rekka chuckled, leaning in slightly. "For example... I know exactly who is inside that armor. I know your serial number. I know your height, your weight, and your favorite hobbies..."
[Sam:...]
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