Chapter 290: A Bust

Uhtred strode forward quickly, his approach immediately noticed by the various factions present.

Hassan Al-Malik was the first to begin to speak, but then he noticed that Diya was also present with Uhtred, and a slight look of relief crossed his face.

"Aha! The problem is solved. The Queen of Death herself is here. She’ll be able to tell what’s wrong and stop it quickly!"

Diya, hearing her name mentioned, stepped forward more quickly to assess the situation.

"What’s wrong?" Uhtred asked first, also concerned by Hassan’s words.

Diya squatted down the moment she reached Stormcaller’s body, sending probing essence pulses to discern what was wrong. It was clear that this simply wasn’t a case of the powerhouses beating Stormcaller past a recoverable state.

"Well, this hothead here got too excited and might’ve killed Stormcaller already," Isolde spoke up, clearly displeased as she motioned toward Hassan Al-Malik.

"Huh? First off, it wasn’t just me! Golden Eagle Vance also didn’t hold back! Even the quiet Shogun attacked with intent to kill!" Hassan quickly shot back, his temper flaring. "You can’t blame only me for getting too excited!"

Isolde rolled her eyes, focusing on Uhtred instead of Hassan. "We’ve tried to heal him with some of our healers present, but his situation is only getting worse. They were only able to keep him alive for a bit longer—"

"That’s because he isn’t dying from getting beat up," Diya suddenly cut in, drawing everyone’s attention. "There’s something else preventing his body from healing... something he must have triggered himself."

"Aha!" Hassan guffawed in vindication, but Isolde only scoffed in response.

"So the Ancient Variants made a fail-safe measure in case he’s ever captured?" one of the Free Ascenders’ Guild ascenders asked.

"Yes." Golden Eagle Vance was the one who answered this time. "But you’re missing the point. The Queen of Death just said he triggered this fail-safe himself. The Ancient Variants only put it there. There’s a difference."

The quiet Shogun, leader of the Inagawa-kai, chimed in for the first time, offering his thoughts, his voice calm and collected: "For him to have triggered it himself means he would rather die to protect the knowledge of the Ancient Variants that we would have gotten out of him, than be tortured for it."

"But that doesn’t really mean anything," the Free Ascenders’ Guild ascender said, an unconvinced look on his face. "Stormcaller was a hotheaded, egotistical fellow. He could simply have chosen to kill himself to protect his pride or avoid torture, rather than what you’re suggesting."

His words were logical. But Golden Eagle Vance, Shogun, and even Isolde Castiglione — people who had regularly dealt with or seen humans on the verge of death right from pre-Integration Earth — only shook their heads.

"Young fellow," Shogun spoke, a knowing tilt in his heavily Japanese-accented voice. "Even before the System, it took a different kind of grit to willingly kill yourself. Not to mention now that there’s a vibrant, brand-new world to live for..."

"Shogun is right," Golden Eagle Vance nodded. "Stormcaller chose to protect his knowledge by killing himself. He didn’t die out of pride or fear of torture."

"So now the question is: what exactly did the Ancient Variants offer to make Stormcaller this loyal?" Uhtred spoke, voicing the final question on everyone’s minds.

Everyone went silent, all realizing that the Ancient Variants had something big brewing.

"Well, Stormcaller’s dead. But what about that Ancient Variant?" Golden Eagle Vance asked, pointedly staring at Uhtred. "The one who went after you..."

"What about him?" Uhtred asked with a shrug.

"You’re here and he’s not," Golden Eagle Vance pressed. "I’m guessing you won, then. Were you able to keep him alive? Or did he use the same kill-switch?"

"I wouldn’t know," Uhtred replied naturally. "He chased after me and couldn’t catch up. For all I know, he could still be within the area or a long way from here by now."

"Hmm..." Golden Eagle Vance said nothing, simply staring at Uhtred for a beat longer before tearing his gaze away. Whether he believed Uhtred or not was unknown, but he didn’t press the matter further.

"Well, then it would seem this operation was a bust," Golden Eagle Vance hissed, visibly displeased. "The first operation involving so many major powers, yet we have nothing to show for it."

"I wouldn’t say we have nothing to show for it," Isolde said, a sharp glint in her eyes. "We still have Stormcaller’s body. There’s lots to salvage from it that may give us clues about his dealings with the Ancient Variants... You know this, General. The only reason you pretend not to is so you have a better chance to claim his body for the World Government... Am I wrong, General?"

Her words were sharp and direct, striking right through the false pretense the General was trying to put on.

Before anything more could be said, Uhtred quickly spoke up.

"And that’s my cue to leave." He motioned for Diya to come closer, readying to activate Slipstream Stride. "You guys can proceed with the negotiation nonsense on who gets to have the body first. But I’m off. Please do send him my way once you’ve all done your studies."

He was just about to scoop Diya off her feet again when, out of nowhere, a mutation started to form on her back. Large wings, just like back in the Tower, sprouted from her back, and she took off into the air without waiting for Uhtred.

"Well, that’s new," an agent from the New World Government muttered from the side, mirroring the thoughts of everyone who hadn’t been in the Tower to see Diya use this ability.

Golden Eagle Vance, while shocked, quickly composed himself and called out to Uhtred before he could also leave.

"Just like that?" he said, a clear meaning in his voice. "You’re not even interested in what can be found in Stormcaller’s body?"

"Not really," Uhtred shrugged. His expression was casual, yet a hint of smugness could be seen somewhere in there. It was as though he was telling Golden Eagle Vance: I know you suspect I’ve found something better... but so what?

A silent standoff followed, the two of them holding their gazes, until Uhtred eventually saw that nothing was going to happen and huffed.

Without another word, he took off into the distance with Slipstream Stride, heading to the rendezvous point where Adora’s squad waited with Antony.