The group of men that surrounded Gadge and the others were all burly men, no taller than six feet in height. Judging from their muscular builds, they seem to hail from a Testing Block. That being the case, it looked like they had no idea about different humanoids since they probably just tested regular ones. They also have an air about them that strengthens the fact that they haven't met a single outclass in all their time in their block.
After all, something within you would definitely change when you encounter an outclass, and from the looks of things, that something was missing from the group.
Curl and the workers incredulously looked at the group of men encircling them like prey. They couldn't believe how clueless they were about humanoids and the like.
"So, whaddya call him? Red 'aight? Did he really d'feat two Outclasses?" One of the men asked the group.
Gadge tried to be indifferent as he replied. "Yeah, why?" He didn't want to stoop down so low and get intimidated by the idiotic muscleheads.
The men guffawed to their hearts' content, mocking Gadge's response. "Look here," The man with a curly beard that ran on a straight line underneath his nose said.
He then grabbed Gadge by the collar and moved his face closer. Gadge was so disgusted that he had to inch back his head. If he were a snail, he would've retracted his head back in his shell.
As soon as the bearded man spoke, Gadge regretted not being a snail after smelling the man's awful breath. "As if we'd believe you," The man growled in front of Gadge. After that, he threw Gadge on the ground.
Gadge was expecting it, however. Before he could land, Gadge stepped backward and steadied himself up. In a split second, Gadge didn't fell forward.
The bearded man was shocked after seeing Gadge fall in the opposite direction. He wasn't expecting it so he impulsively tried catching Gadge. He really didn't know that Gadge was doing it on purpose.
Gadge had a lot of options in his mind.
Should I stab his leg with a sharp metal? Should I sucker punch him? Or should I twist his head and render him unconscious? He asked himself. In the end, he decided to do a surefire way of retaliation.
Grabbing the 'two-pronged electrical discharger' from his pocket, he fiercely pressed it against the bearded man's leg.
The man didn't even realize what hit him. He just felt electrified as his teeth chattered. His mouth even salivated while his body vibrated as if he was dancing some sort of jitterbug.
As the bearded man's mouth foamed, he fell on the ground as smoke was produced from his body.
The other men surrounding them stepped a few steps backward for precautionary measures. They were quite confident in surrounding the group since Blond and Red weren't there. What they didn't know was the rest of the group could also get as feisty as the two.
"Hey, what did y_ !!! "
Before the other man finished what he was about to say, he was also hit with a wave of electrifying feeling that resonated throughout his body. In just a few seconds, he also lost consciousness just like the bearded man.
The workers surrounding the group also met the same fate. Before they knew it, all of them were already unconscious.
Unbeknownst to them, Red, Blond, and Scar were just a few feet away, watching what was happening behind a cluster of bushes. Just like the men, they were also surprised by Gadge's surprise attack. After seeing that, Red, Blond, and Scar had an inkling to sneak up on the rest of the men and electrocute them. While the men were preoccupied with cutting the group's escape routes, they didn't realize that they were attacked from the rear by the members of the very group that they surrounded.
"Red! Scar!" the group greeted at the same time, rushing towards them with teary eyes. For a moment, they thought they lost them forever. Even when the men surrounded them, all that they could think about was Red and Scar, wondering if they were able to escape the horde. They didn't even see the man as a threat. After all, they've come face-to-face with death plenty of times that people didn't really look dangerous to them.
Curl was the first one to rush towards Red, hugging him. Since the group didn't want to 'miss out' on the opportunity, all of them hugged Red, leaving Scar all alone.
"What about me?" Scar grumbled.
Blond then patted him on the back. "Let's join them."
For the first time, Block-16 did a group hug. To think that all of them were distrustful about each other at the start and now they were hugging each other, they all came a long way.
"How did you get out?" Curl asked as the others let go of the hug. As for her, she didn't want to let go quite yet.
Red had no choice but to push her away. "We had a lucky break and we seized our chance." Red reasoned.
At first, he didn't want to tell anyone about the brown-haired man who called himself Veerius Genesys but after the emotional group hug, he digressed from his thoughts and decided to tell everyone about it. Scar was also weighing his thoughts about what happened but whatever Red's decision would be, he's willing to follow it all the way.
"Actually... " Red began.
"... we met a man who single-handedly diverted the outclass humanoids' attention and rescued us. Without his help, Scar and I would've exhausted ourselves to death. What's strange about it was, the man called himself Veerius Genesys. I don't know if he was related to me but he probably knows more than we do."
The rest of the group directed their attention to Scar and Scar nodded, basically telling everyone that Red spoke of the truth.
"Wait, so my locket was wrong?" Curl asked, perplexed.
"Enough about that. What's important is we've regrouped." Although the subject was important to Red, he just brushed it off like it was nothing.
Well, compared to their problematic situation, it was nothing.
"Red is right. Now, everyone knows our location because of that announcement." Blond agreed. "We have to get out of here as soon as possible and head towards the southwesternmost part of the map. The Elite Conquest would finish in an hour and we can't stay here."
"That said, Red, any plans?" Scar added as the group walked westwards.
"Same plan. We'll cross through the Forest Section and head to that location. If our time runs out, we don't have any choice but to keep going." Red said.
Although a time limit of twenty-four hours was implemented, no one knew the punishment if a group exceeded the time limit.
No one knew about it but there is a punishment for exceeding the time limit. It wasn't mentioned but if a group couldn't reach the staircase when time runs out, they would be 'cleaned' just like the rest of trash in the Inside. By 'cleaned' it meant being sent to the incinerator and getting an early cremation.
For some reason, Red knew about it and he didn't want anyone to suffer that fate. That's why he didn't want to talk more about the mysterious man and instead focus on their escape.
At the rate we're going, we won't make it! Red gritted his teeth as he broke into a light jog. The group followed, thinking that Red just wanted to reach the location faster.
"STOP RIGHT THERE!" An antagonistic voice shouted from behind Red and his group.
But they didn't stop running.
"STOP RIGHT THERE!!!" The voice boomed once again but the group refused to oblige. Furthermore, they even picked up the pace.
"Don't listen to him. We only have less than an hour before the Elite Conquest ends." Red advised everyone.
They nodded.
With one goal in mind, the group followed Red and Curl who were in the lead. The group finally got their touch in running and they didn't feel tired at all. Whether they were running based on adrenaline or pure talent, they could only wonder. The main thing in their minds was the thought of relief since they could finally keep up with Red and Curl's normal pace.
Suddenly, Red stopped into a halt.
"Red, w-what... why?" Curl muttered as she stopped running as well.
Red put his palms towards Curl as he 'shushed' loudly. "Something's wrong." He said as he strained his ears.
The others intently listened to their surroundings, hearing the man shouting 'STOP RIGHT THERE!' from a distance.
As for Red, he was hearing something different from the rest.
*clank* *clank* *clank*
"WE HAVE TO GO! FOLLOW ME!" Red suddenly screamed as he burst forth into a sprint, heading in a slightly different direction.
The group didn't know what was going on so they just followed him.
That's when the trees began toppling against each other a few feet away from them. They finally realized why Red had acted the way he did.