The secret of the Outpost

"Can you teach me how to talk to the wolves?" When he led Aiden to the Human-Mana Crystal Processing Laboratory, Robin asked. "Well, those two wolves were very good. I have grown fond of them."

Aiden stared at him for a moment before he said, "They are not pet dogs. Treat them as you treat other people. They will treat you the same."

"Huh!" Robin did not expect those words. But Aiden was anticipating the reaction. He said, "Treat them like human beings. They will be friends with you. You've got my totem. So, they're not going to assault you."

Robin didn't have a clear idea about the thing called 'Totem'. It was yet another form of subordinate relationship to him, without the threat of death and with the payment of mana.

But he had no idea what Aiden gained from him, nor did he care. 'But to think he could share his mana with the beast, too...'

However, now he could understand the reason. Robin nodded, "No wonder they helped me so much. But wouldn't it better if I could talk to them?"

Aiden shook his head, "I can't talk in their language. It was the wolf who was speaking in human language. They are more intelligent than us. So don't disrespect them, they won't disrespect you either."

Robin nodded, took another step, and said, "Oh! There are some bossy guys here. They are most likely some researchers. One of them has some kind of connection. So handle them with care."

"Is the person with whom he had a relationship, the director of the federation?"

Aiden's question caught Robin off guard. He sucked lungs full of cold air as he asked carefully, "I am not sure, but... Do you have some kind of relationship with the director of the federation?"

Aiden grinned at him and asked, "Do you think I am here because I have a good relationship with a director of the federation?" He pushed the door open and walked into the room.

'A rookie sent to an outpost mission even before he had finished the seasoning mission. A preferential treatment?' Robin shook his head, 'But, whom did he infuriate?'

Regarding Aiden's affairs, Robin was certainly aware of his limit of imagination. 'Well, his attitude isn't very submissive either.' Thinking about it, a bad feeling emerged in his heart, and he chased Aiden into the room.

As expected, the group of 7 people, from the cell towards the end, had already attracted the attention of Aiden. Compared to all those dead eyes around them, they were especially rowdy.

As soon as Robin entered, they looked at him as the oldest one asked, "So this is superior, you are talking about? He looks very young."

He turned to Aiden, saying, "it doesn't matter. You are here to rescue us, right? Quick, let us get out of here. That guy is not letting us out, claiming that it is not safe outside."

"How long are you going to keep us in this crappy place?" Another noisy mouth chimed in. However, Aiden ignored him and turned to Robin, "Did you put them here?"

Robin shook his head, "The elf might have done that. The door was closed when I came, and they were already here."

"Nobody had put us here. We were hiding here when the beast attacked."

"Why does it matter? Just get us out of here."

Aiden looked at the aggressive one and asked, "were you making mana crystals in this room?"

Aiden's unexpected words stunned them for a moment, but they were quick to hide it. The old man came closer to Aiden and almost whispered to Aiden, "You know about it? That means you must have an influential position."

He nodded, feeling reassured, "Yes, this is the space. That's why we need to get out of the room as soon as possible."

"The efficacy of the vaccine, which we have used, will soon come to an end. And the density of the mana is so high that it is going to show its result on us too. "

"Open it," Rodin had already expected it, and he had already brought the scan key. Yet he couldn't help wondering, "If you came here at will, why didn't you bring a spare scan key?"

"It was that pointy-eared bastard," cursed the loudmouth. "Not only that monster could speak human language, but it also knew a lot about technology."

"That was rather interesting," The old man added, "He was very accustomed to it too."

They tried to get out as soon as the door opened. But before they could do so, Aiden stepped in and closed the door behind him.

"What are you doing?" The old man's voice didn't sound too happy. To his surprise, Aiden greeted him with a smile.

Aiden closed in and also whispered in a low voice, "Sorry, I can't do that."

"What the fuck are you talking about?" The aggressive one shouted again.

"If you shout one more time..."

"What are you going to do? Do you know…" *Slap*

The sound of the slap resonated in the room, almost forcing the man to the ground. But the people around them came to rescue, "Do you know that we are researchers..." *Slap*

"Fuck, this guy is..." *Slap*

Three slaps sent three people to the ground. None of them dare to stand up again. With a bloody mouth and a few missing teeth, they could only state at Aiden.

And it wasn't just them, even the one standing was covering their cheeks. Yet none of them spoke.

"What are you doing?" said the old man, trying hard to suppress his grumbling.

"There is one thing I want to confirm, so answer me as long as I am asking nicely." Aiden didn't beat around bushes and asked, "Who had commissioned the project?"

"You! You guys are Heresy. How dare you..." The rest of the words got stuck in his throat as Aiden hit his chest.

"Who told you to speak?" Aiden spared no glances to the man who kept clutching his chest on the floor and turned to the old man, "As long as you tell me truthfully, I won't do anything to you."

"YOU," the old man ground his teeth, replying, "Yes, the R&D director approved it."

To their surprise, Aiden turned towards the man who had just recovered from his chest pain, asking, "Is he telling the truth?" It surprised even the man in question. But Aiden added, "If you lie, your heart will burst."

The ever-increasing pain in his chest explained to him what Aiden had meant. "Yes, yes. It's the truth." The man cried out as he could no longer bear the pain.

To his surprise, as soon as he did, the pain disappeared, as if it wasn't there in the first place. It took him a few moments to realize what had just happened. But when he did, nothing but the fear remained in his eyes.

"So you are supplying the mana crystals to the federation?" The old man couldn't comprehend the loudmouth's one-sided routine when Aiden asked again.

The old man frowned a little, as he would have guessed Aiden's intention, "Yes, we supply all the mana crystals to the federation."

When Aiden turned to the man clutching his chest, the man was already looking at the old man. Little movement of the old man's eyes didn't escape Aiden's observation.

Aiden's lips curved up a little as he asked, "Is he telling the truth?"

"Ye... Yes." As soon as he said those words, his pain peaked. His eyes bulged, blood poured out of his orifices. He opened his mouth, but blood gushed out of his mouth, drowning the 'No' of his lips.

Aiden smiled at the old man, "So, is all this really being supplied to the federation?"

The old man shook his head without hesitation, "We supply to the B.U.G. enterprise and a few small tech farms."

Aiden stared at him without saying a word. One of them, standing the old man, soon added, "Winter family. We supply to the Winter family, too."

The man ignored the glare from the old man as fear had overwhelmed his reasoning. He looked at Aiden with fearful eyes and said, "I don't know about other outposts, but we only supply them. It is the truth."

'To think the old man could still keep his calm!' Aiden smirked as he looked at the old man for one last time and left the cell. None of them attempted to escape as Robin closed the cell door again.

Aiden glanced at other people for a moment before he turned around to leave. It was then someone stopped him. It was a boy, with his fingers already turning into ice. "Please help." Although the mark of tears had dried, it was fresh.

He was quick to step back as Aiden looked back. Robin was quick to come forward, but Aiden stopped him. Even if there was a gap in height, Aiden would have guessed that their age was close. "What do you want?"

"M-my S-sister. The monster took her." That was the limit of his courage. Looking at the child, Aiden sighed and Robin opened the cell soon enough.

"I will see if you can find her." Aiden looked at him, "Come here."

However, Aiden's words frightened the child more. He looked at Aiden with fear in his eyes, not daring to step forward. "Don't you want to save your sister?"

Fear was still present in his eyes, so he hesitated. With Aiden's offer, however, his love for his sister soon overwhelmed other emotions.

Aiden led the boy and was about to get out of the room when someone shouted, "Do you know who I am? If they know you are doing this here..." *Bang*

In the small space, the gunshot was especially loud, so was the scream that followed. But the researcher wasn't dead yet. He fell on the ground and continued to scream while clutching his leg.

No one expected it. Not even Aiden had predicted that Robin would take such action. Aiden glanced at Robin, smiled, and walked away with the boy.

Robin had no problem understanding Aiden's intention. He glared at them and gave a nasty smile, "To let them know, you need to get out here first. And who is going to check whether I killed you or the monsters?"

"You are way too hardcore. I didn't think you would threaten them this way." His helmet transmitted Aiden's voice, "By the way, release everyone other than them. As for them, do whatever you want."