Chapter 458: Scarface, the Alpha |
A large number of warlord soldiers in mismatched military uniforms poured out of the dense forest. They moved in tacit coordination to surround the Human Consortium delegations standing in the clearing, cold smiles on their faces and malevolent glints in their pupils.
More people surged from the trees, and before long a ring of roughly a thousand men formed. Though the soldiers remained silent, their presence alone made everyone inside the cordon feel the danger.
“It looks like our conversation will have to be paused for a while.”
The Dialoguer said this, then sat down and closed its eyes to rest, which infuriated the Xisiya delegation. Their allotted twelve hours had already lost five to a prior break, and now this unexpected interruption was utterly unacceptable.
“What the hell do you bastards think you’re doing?” the Xisiya team leader glared at the warlord soldiers. “Don’t you know we’re handling a Doomsday Rule right now?”
The warlord soldiers answered with silence. The delegations exchanged uneasy looks, all sensing the underlying doubt.
The Human Consortium guards assigned to protect the delegations appeared slightly more nervous.
Because this rule specifically mentioned that the Dialoguer was non-aggressive, the guard detail was not large. Even if some individuals were powerful, facing hundreds of warlord soldiers was no joke.
No one knew how many Ascendants were among those soldiers, and sounds from within the forest hinted that even more people were lurking unseen.
He looked eighteen or nineteen, very young, but his life experience clearly exceeded his years. You could see this from the many long, deep scars on his face, one of which ran from his left brow bone down to the corner of his mouth, a stark contrast to the Dialoguer’s unnaturally perfect face.
The scarred youth finished speaking, “But this is our territory. You barged in without a greeting, and that pisses me off.”
“Fine, be pissed then.” An officer of the Suroma guard issued a cold warning. “Take your people and get out immediately. If you keep interfering with our handling of the rule, you’ll pay the consequences!”
“You are… the Three Beasts Army.” A member of the Xisiya delegation recognized the wolf-eagle-bear emblem on the youth’s clothing and identified the warlord group.
Hearing the name “Three Beasts Army,” many others showed expressions of sudden realization.
This warlord organization had been well known in the early days of the Doomsday Rules, though it had rarely been mentioned since. The Three Beasts Army was the largest warlord faction in the Tulip Federation. Back then, the federation’s alpha wolf had been the son of the Three Beasts Army leader. Later, the federation collapsed in civil war and lost the world’s attention.
“I am the new alpha of the Three Beasts Army.” The youth smiled that ambiguous smile. “My brothers call me ‘Scarface.’ Fits me pretty well, right?”
“Listen, scar-faced brat.” The Suroma guard officer stepped forward and stared into Scarface’s eyes. “I don’t care if you’re an alpha or a stray dog. Bring your savages and leave. This isn’t a place for you damned runaways.”
The officer finished and turned to flash an arrogant grin at his subordinates, who burst into mocking laughter. But their smiles froze almost immediately and turned to fear.
The officer sensed danger and turned back just in time to smell a powerful metallic reek.
The next moment he knew nothing more, because his head had been torn from his neck by a giant wolf.
Sput!
The giant wolf spat the officer’s head out, its barbed long tongue licking its sharp fangs, then quickly rose up and transformed from wolf back into the smirking Scarface youth.
“Alpha! Alpha! Alpha!”
The Three Beasts Army soldiers raised their arms and shouted, while others stood agape. The subordinates of the beheaded officer were stunned.
The brutal scene was broadcast across countless screens around the world. Guan Tong, watching from far-off Beixing, stared at the scarred youth on the screen in disbelief.
He knew the original alpha had died; since the Three Beasts Army still existed, it was unsurprising that they had chosen a new alpha. But he had assumed the successor inherited only the title “alpha wolf.” How could the new man also inherit the predecessor’s beast-transformation ability?
Guan Tong looked at the wolf-eagle-bear emblems on Scarface and his bodyguards and guessed: could it be due to a shared belief?
Back at the start of the Doomsday Rules era, billions of Ascendants worldwide had their exclusive Mind Power items, and a very small number received special abilities. These item abilities varied, but many had overlapping or similar effects.
The Three Beasts Army was over a century old; their wolf-eagle-bear totem was the faction’s spiritual creed: united like wolves, sharp like eagles, fierce like bears.
If members truly believed in that creed, it was possible that after surviving the first Doomsday Rule, several people might manifest abilities related to that belief.
The man calling himself the new alpha now appeared to be exactly that: like the previous alpha, who had died in the federation’s civil war, he possessed a beast-transformation power.
“If he can turn into a giant wolf, then Flying Eagle and Mighty Bear probably aren’t out of the question either. And judging by how fast he transformed, this ability is developed to a pretty deep level. His power shouldn’t be underestimated…”
Guan Tong watched the screen as the delegation security teams tightened their formations and prepared to fight. Suroma’s guards stared at Scarface with equal parts rage and fear, wanting to avenge their superior but afraid to act rashly.
“You’d better think this through.” Someone from the Beixing delegation spoke up, trying to dissuade Scarface. “Attacking us will only bring the Human Consortium down on you. Can the Three Beasts Army shoulder those consequences?”
Scarface shrugged and kicked the headless corpse of the Suroma officer on the ground. “That idiot started it. I was just teaching him a lesson. Why would I attack you? I’m pissed you barged into our territory uninvited and I came for an explanation. If you give it, we can talk.”
“What kind of explanation?” A debater from the City Alliance, still present, demanded. “We’re here to handle the Doomsday Rules. This is a service to all humanity!”
“All humanity?” Scarface laughed uproariously. “Are we not human? Why didn’t you offer us anything? During the last rule, you didn’t send grain over, did you?”
The debater frowned. “You aren’t members of the Human Consortium, so we have no reciprocal obligations to you.”
“Oh? Someone needs to update the dictionary and change the definition of ‘all humanity’ to ‘Human Consortium member states.’”
The debater flared up. “Failing to join the Human Consortium is on you. Your Tulip Federation warlords fought civil wars and refused to heed calls to ceasefire!”
Scarface nodded. “That may have been true before, so I say let bygones be bygones. But now…”
He signaled to a bodyguard, who pulled a pile of insignia from his pocket and dumped them on the ground. There were cloth badges, tin plates, copper disks, and even a few made of pure gold, each bearing different emblems.
“You say ‘all those warlords’? They’re all here. Now only the Three Beasts Army remains.” Scarface grinned, showing sharp teeth. “So can we join the Human Consortium now?”
Everyone stared at the insignia on the ground, surprised that a civil war in a corner of the world that had escaped global attention had ended, and the Three Beasts Army had emerged as the final victor.
In the past, intelligence agencies would have detected such a thing, but because people assumed the Tulip Federation would destroy itself, the Human Consortium had paid little attention and did not know the Three Beasts Army had unified the federation.
Scarface snapped his fingers, and a companion immediately knelt, planting hands on the ground and offering his back as a seat for Scarface to sit on.
“Just kidding. I’m not interested in joining a bunch of hypocrites.” Scarface pointed at the Dialoguer. “But I am interested in it.”
The Xisiya delegation leader asked, “You want to speak with the Dialoguer? This is our allotted time. You and your people are delaying us and consuming our hours.”
“I’m not interested in chatting with an alien freak. What I mean is, this is my turf. If you want to talk to that freak on my turf, you have to pay.”
Under the stunned gaze of the Human Consortium, Scarface opened his palm. “Fifty thousand Ascension Coins per hour. I want all seventy-two hours in one go—three million, six hundred thousand.”
The moment he said it, gathering points across the globe erupted.
“That monstrosity wants to die?!”
“Three point six million Ascension Coins for one mouthful of speech? Are you crazy?”
“I’m speechless. A warlord trying to blackmail the Human Consortium? Just send troops and wipe them out.”
Not only the spectators reacted that way; decision-makers watching live were stunned. They had not expected this Scarface to be so shortsighted.
A Suroma guard member sneered, “Aren’t you afraid you’ll be dead with all those Ascension Coins and no life to spend them? You think you can bully the delegation with numbers and then not fear the Human Consortium coming after you later?”
Scarface looked like he didn’t care. “I didn’t get where I am by being scared. Either pay the coins or get off my land. You have no other choice.”
The Three Beasts Army soldiers stepped forward, the enormous numerical advantage putting immense pressure on everyone at the scene, including the guards.
In fact, each delegation could use Coordinates to teleport experts over to suppress the Three Beasts Army, but that would waste precious teleportation items and carry risks.
If they acted, people would die and it would delay communication with the Dialoguer. Moreover, if the Three Beasts Army chose to attack the Dialoguer, no one could predict the consequences. The rule only stated the Dialoguer was non-aggressive—what if it was provoked?
Judging from Scarface’s glances at the Dialoguer, he very likely had that intention.
Scarface’s sudden transformation into a giant wolf and his habit of biting people’s heads off indicated he was mentally unstable—and such people are capable of causing harm even to their own detriment.
The delegations on scene had no authority to make the decision, nor could they produce that many Ascension Coins. They had to wait for directives.
The Human Consortium member-state decision-makers quickly reached a consensus: prioritize progressing the rule; each country would share the cost and give Scarface the Ascension Coins now, then reclaim them during the interval period after the rule concluded.
A Consortium spokesperson on site received the directive and, after confirming with some shock, relayed it to Scarface with a stiff voice.
“The Human Consortium… agrees. We will give you three million six hundred thousand Ascension Coins on the condition that you immediately lead the Three Beasts Army away and never interfere with this conversation again.”
Because everything on site was being live-streamed, the spokesperson’s words sparked waves of outrage across the world.
People denounced the Human Consortium for weakness, accusing them of capitulating to a warlord force. Many speculated the Consortium’s move was tactical: keep the Dialoguer engaged now and deal with the Three Beasts Army later.
Scarface grinned a feral grin at the spokesperson and shook hands. “Pleasure doing business.”
After completing the transaction through the spokesperson, Scarface raised both hands. “Brothers, the coins are in. Let’s go!”
“Buy wolf! Buy wolf! Buy wolf!”
Three Beasts Army soldiers cheered and crowded around Scarface as they left, proud to have forced the Human Consortium to yield.
The delegations were left humiliated and speechless. The talks had to continue, though, so the Xisiya delegation and others pulled themselves together and tried to forget what had just happened, squeezing every minute of the remaining time for information.
“Dialoguer, the interference is over. Let’s resume our conversation!”
......
The Three Beasts Army’s thousand-strong party returned to their forest camp.
Scarface’s bodyguards bragged about the outing.
“No wonder Old Scarface pulled Ascension Coins out of the Human Consortium. He actually got that much.”
“Heh heh, three point six million—being his most trusted guards, we’ll definitely get our share.”
“Aren’t you worried the Human Consortium will retaliate? Suroma, Beixing, Xisiya… those aren’t countries to mess with!”
“Scared of what? With Old Scarface around, none of us have to worry. One comes, one dies!”
After talking for a while, they noticed Scarface hadn’t come out of his room and grew suspicious. Exchanging glances, they went to his door and called, “Old Scarface, we need you.”
No answer came. Panic crept in; something felt wrong. They burst through the door and found the room empty—alpha Scarface had vanished!
“Where’s he?!”
“What… what happened…”
“Damn! I get it—Alpha Scarface that bastard ran off!!!”
Somewhere in Lianluo'an City.
After the teleportation array’s light faded in the hall, Scarface strolled out, and the black-robed man sitting in the longroom chair applauded. “Congratulations, honored Alpha. That profit was substantial.”
Scarface sat in the adjacent chair and laughed. “All thanks to Your Holiness’s brilliant idea. Want me to give you half? But buying the teleportation array cost a lot, so half won’t be one million eight hundred thousand.”
The Fire Thief Worship Cult’s Your Holiness shook his head slightly. “That’s unnecessary. This is your due, honored Alpha.”
“Haha, don’t call me ‘Alpha’ anymore. Scarface is Scarface.”
“Oh? Because you’ve abandoned your pack?”
Scarface fixed his gaze on Your Holiness. “Didn’t that alien freak say the essence of survival lies in pursuing individual awakening? I think it was right. Don’t you agree, Your Holiness? You’re not really expecting every priest under your command to live through all the rules, are you?”
Your Holiness paused at the sound of footsteps at the hall door and said, “I think our new guest arriving now has more to say on that matter.”
Scarface looked toward the door. A green-haired youth with his eyes blindfolded by coarse cloth limped into the hall. He squinted. “Parasitized form…”
The green-haired youth stopped and slowly spoke, “Everything for spreading.”