*Tap tap tap*
The sounds of footsteps echoed in a street of the South Zone which was quite close to the place where Colt had confronted the members of Wolf's Fang.
These footsteps were the product of two men who were making their way through the dark streets of the South Zone, and although they were apparently heading for the same place, there was some distance between them.
'Man...even though he says he wants to help me...I'm still not entirely sure if I should trust him...' Colt thought, feeling somewhat doubtful, which was why he was following the hooded man with a difference of a few meters distance.
After the talk they had after the hooded man caught up with him, the man didn't end there and proceeded to explain exactly how he was going to help Colt.
As a result, even though Colt still had his doubts as to why the hooded man wanted to help him, he decided to cooperate anyway, and that was due to 2 powerful reasons!
Firstly, he didn't want to face the hooded man, with the state he was in thanks to the confrontation against the Wolf's Fang member, not to mention winning, even coming out in a draw would be an incredibly difficult task for him.
Besides, even if he somehow managed to win, he was sure that he would have to pay a rather expensive price and would likely end up with his senses being temporarily stunted...again.
'Urgh...' Colt couldn't help but shudder a little as he recalled the unpleasant and painful sensations he experienced the night he faced the hooded man, 'Although...for that very reason is that every time I think about it the more it seems to me that we'll be able to pull it off...'
It was certainly a strong enough motive, however, the main reason Colt agreed was because of the plan the hooded man had explained to him.
The first part of the plan had to do with returning to where the 4 Wolf's Fang members who had already been defeated were and bringing them back to the base to count as a credit to Colt.
While he could do it alone, there was a risk that he would run into another member of Wolf's Fang, they were in Wolf's Fang territory after all, and it would take too much time as he would have to make two trips.
However, with the help of the hooded man, they could take them all in one trip and they also would be able to take care of any enemy that appeared.
This alone would already be enough for him to be able to get one or another martial technique and even a possible rank increase, but of course, that wasn't the whole plan!
"Alright, here we are, I'll go get the 3 I left in an alley while you stay and keep an eye on the one inside the shop~" The hooded man said, interrupting Colt's thoughts.
"...Alright."
The hooded man only nodded in response and headed towards another street, leaving Colt alone in the darkness of this neighborhood.
'I'd better get started too...' He thought as he entered the store through the same hole he and the member of Wolf's Fang had made a few minutes ago.
As Colt entered, he saw that the man was in the same position in which the hooded man had left him.
'He's not awake yet, good...'
Colt had been worried that maybe the man had woken up and fled in the time he was being chased, but fortunately that hadn't been the case.
*Shhr*
After tearing the man's tank top into several strips and using them to tie his arms behind his back, Colt carried him to the sidewalk before sitting down, taking advantage of the fact that the hooded man had yet to return to take a short break.
Unfortunately, it wasn't even 10 seconds before the sound of something being dragged reached Colt's ears.
"...Way to carry them..." Said Colt, who couldn't help but smile awkwardly as he saw what was making that noise.
What was being dragged were none other than the members of Wolf's Fang, each tied tightly together with cloth ropes made from their own clothes, all of these ropes tied to a white cloth which was the one the hooded man was holding.
"Is...is it safe to do it that way?" Colt asked, worried that they might wake up due to the rough treatment.
"This is the fastest way, besides it doesn't matter if they wake up, I'll just have to knock them unconscious again~" The hooded man replied, making an expression of squeezing something, "More importantly, bring that guy a little closer."
Although what the hooded man said scared him a bit, he did as he asked anyway, bringing the Wolf's Fang member closer to him.
*Suu*
Thereupon, the hooded man reached out his hand towards Wolf's Fang's member's neck and two long lines of bandages came out of his sleeve before intertwining around his neck.
'...Good grief...' Colt thought after witnessing what the hooded man had just done, feeling relieved that he hadn't confronted him.
"There, with this, even if he wakes up halfway, he won't pose any danger." He added, not giving much thought to how Colt was feeling, "Well, let's hurry, can you carry him on your own?"
"Y-yes, I can."
"Then lead the way, I'll follow you."
Just like that, the increasingly fearful Colt and a seemingly carefree hooded man started heading towards one of Metal Body's "bases", carrying 4 unfortunate victims.
***
In a certain part of the South Zone, specifically in a neighborhood that was on the border of the 31st and 30th districts, a brown haired young man was leaning against a tall metal fence surrounding a sizable abandoned infirmary.
Unlike most neighborhoods and streets in the South Zone, there wasn't even a small streetlight functioning here, creating a rather gloomy atmosphere.
Though of course, that wasn't because there was no electricity or anything like that, but because they had all been broken on purpose since this was a somewhat sensitive area for Metal Body.
"Ahhh, how unfair!"
Suddenly, the young man's shout broke the silence that had been reigning in the surroundings until a moment ago.
"I understand that I'm not strong enough to join the battle and that my duty is to help Mr. Finn guard this place but...why the hell did they took Fraco?!" He said before kicking the fence, clearly annoyed.
As a Metal Body member, he was also informed of the confrontation that was taking place in the deep parts of the South Zone.
And like many normal Metal Body members, he wasn't allowed to participate due to not meeting the requirements for it, and this was something that frustrated him quite a bit.
"Haa...damn..." He said, calming down and sitting in the sidewalk, while this frustrated him, there wasn't anything he could do about this.
*Tap tap*
"Hm?"
At that moment, the sound of footsteps were heard coming from the direction of District 29.
The footsteps were heavy and slow, as if the person was carrying a lot of weight on top of them.
The young man immediately became alert and stood up to observe the place from which the footsteps were coming, putting aside his anger.
"Who is it?!" he shouted, quickly assuming a combat stance.
The next moment, he saw a large silhouette shrouded in shadows due to the severe lack of light, coming closer and closer, making it possible for the young man to finally see who it was.
The oversized silhouette had turned out to be Colt, and although his appearance was not the best, he was steadily advancing, carrying 2 people on each shoulder, in his eyes the same cold determination as always.
'So that's Colt....but what he's carrying...are they members of Wolf's Fang?!' thought the young man, incredibly surprised by what he was seeing.
If he had only defeated a single member of Wolf's Fang, the young man would not be so surprised, after all, while it was quite rare for a normal Metal Body member to defeat a member of Wolf's Fang, it had happened before.
What was shocking to him was that it wasn't just one member of Wolf's Fang, but four of them, so he couldn't help but ask himself a question.
'Just when did Colt get so strong?'
"Hey...could you stop staring and help me?" Said Colt, who had already approached where the young man was, waking him up from his trance.
Although it looked like he could keep carrying them for longer, he didn't want to use more energy than necessary.
"O-oh, yeah, I'm coming!"
After saying that, he hurried to help Colt lower the unconscious bodies of the 4 Wolf's Fang members, leaving them on the sidewalk for the time being.
"All 4 are pugilists, these 3 are normal rank (D) members and this one here is rank (D+), I'm not sure if he's a guardian or just a normal member." Colt explained, taking the opportunity to stretch his tired body.
His attitude was confident and straightforward, just like he normally acted, and even though others might think this was somewhat arrogant, to the young man, this just made Colt look even cooler.
"Is Mr. Finn inside?"
"Uh, yeah, looks like he's getting ready to leave though."
The Mr. Finn they were talking about was the guardian assigned to guard this "base", like all the other guardians, he was a rank (D+) super.
"Hm, I see, well, I'll take them inside then."
"I'll help!"
With that, the two began to take the 4 Wolf's Fang members inside the base.
However, just as they were about to enter, the door to the base opened to let out a caucasian man in his late 30's with his most distinguishing feature being a prominent black beard.
"Jerry, didn't I told you to...eh?"
His expression was one of annoyance and haste, however, upon seeing what the young man and Colt were bringing, his expression instantly brightened.
"Colt, how timely, apparently not everything tonight is bad news!" Said the man, his tone was quite friendly and cheerful.
"Mr. Finn, good evening." Colt greeted, bowing slightly.
"Boss, Colt caught 4 members of Wolf's Fang!"
Hearing the young man's words, Finn's expression changed to one of surprise, though that only lasted a second before he gave him a thumbs up along with a big smirk, "Way to go kid!"
"I'm just doing my job, sir."
Because Finn's standing in Metal Body was very high even among the guards, Colt didn't dare be disrespectful to him.
"Then, come on in, we need to put those guys in a cage before they wake up."
The next moment, Finn re-entered the base, motioning for Colt and the young man to follow him.
The interior of this base was somewhat different from the main Metal Body base, which was a large warehouse remodeled so that meetings could be held inside.
This building instead was an infirmary, although of course it had also been remodeled so that all the rooms, instead of housing patients, housed Metal Body prisoners.
Making his way through the white main corridor, thanks to the dim light of a small spotlight which was located in the middle of the corridor, it was possible to see other corridors both to the left and to the right.
At the end of this corridor, there was a large metal gate connecting to the courtyard.
The 3 of them started walking down this long corridor, with Colt at the end, who was thinking about something while observing the people in front of him.
'...Mr. Finn is a rank (D+) esper...he would definitely be able to catch the hooded man...' Colt thought.
That was a completely viable option and in fact, what Colt should do at this point.
After all, while the hooded man had explained a plan that would bring many benefits to him, that didn't take away the fact that he was being sought after by Metal Body...plus he was also a danger to the inhabitants of the South Zone.
"Hm?" Seeing that Colt had fallen a bit behind, Finn decided to ask him about it, "Is something wrong, Colt?"
This was the perfec opportunity, if he told him about the hooded man, while he would no longer receive as many benefits, he would still be rewarded by the 4 members of Wolf's Fang he had brought, and more importantly than anything else, it was the right thing to do.
"Well..."
However, at that moment, the same unpleasant feeling he felt when the hooded man interrogated him came back, only this time it was much stronger than before.
A small struggle between his sense of justice and his desire to become strong took place inside him, makint it harder for him to decide.
Then, after a few seconds, he made his decision.
"...No, it's nothing, I just got a little distracted since I haven't been here in a long time." Colt replied, easing the doubts of Finn and the young man, who only nodded and continued moving forward.
'...In order tobecome stronger...I can be a bit selfish...right?'
While thinking that, he started to follow the two men in front of him.
