As we made our way back to the Scorpion Syndicate's old base, Nolan suddenly halted us in our tracks.
"Hey, everyone, can you wait a minute? Lucas and Frankie, could you lend me a hand with something?" Nolan's face was filled with enthusiasm as he made his request.
"Um, sure," I replied, a hint of confusion in my voice. "What do you need us to do?"
Nolan waved off my concern with a nonchalant shrug. "Oh, it's nothing major. Just come with me."
We followed Nolan as he led us to one of the lifeless K.R.A.K.E.N armored guys. He knelt down beside it and began to work on something, the excitement in his eyes piquing our curiosity.
"Umm... Nolan, what are you doing?" I asked my expression a mix of shock and curiosity. Why was he interested in the dead guy and his armor?
Nolan looked up at me with a grin, his excitement palpable. "You know, Frankie, it's the spoils of war. Do you have any idea how rare it is to come across something like the K.R.A.K.E.N armor? I couldn't possibly leave it behind. And by the way, Frankie, you're quite something to have taken down the K.R.A.K.E.N armor users without damaging the armor itself." There was a sense of enthusiasm and gratitude in his voice.
I wasn't quite sure how to respond to his words. As I contemplated his remarks, Nolan continued to speak.
"Come on, you two, we don't have all day. Lend me a hand to remove the armor from these two. Oh, and if possible, I'd like to take that massive axe that the second guy had as well," Nolan urged us.
*Sigh*
I let out another sigh and reluctantly agreed, "Fine, let's get this done and get going. I'm exhausted."
After a few minutes of concerted effort, we successfully extracted both K.R.A.K.E.N armors. They proved to be incredibly heavy, and the massive axe wasn't any lighter, but we somehow managed to transport them back with us.
…..
It had been a few days since our clash in the slums. The scarred man we had captured remained stubbornly silent, and Mr. Norman was resorting to every method at his disposal to force him to talk. The scarred man was confined to one of the basement rooms in the Scorpion Syndicate's old base, a grim cell that felt more like a prison. Sometimes, the wails of his pain would reach our ears from the depths below.
But that wasn't the extent of it. There were times when we discovered Mr. Norman emerging from that prison cell, his clothing drenched in blood. It left us all wondering - what in the world was the old man doing down there? It was clear he was using torture as a means to an end, but how did he possess such knowledge, and how could he bring himself to do it? Well, I reasoned, he had once been the Commander of NS Scorpion and had endured this harsh world longer than any of us. He must have accumulated a wealth of both dark and enlightening experiences.
As for the rest of us, Nolan was engrossed in some mysterious work involving the K.R.A.K.E.N armors and the massive axe. Whenever he found a moment of respite, he'd dedicate it to tinkering with the equipment or occasionally tending to the NS Scorpion itself. As for Lucas and me, we busied ourselves with various tasks throughout the base.
We initially took care of the newcomers who had arrived in Port Aurora with us. They had found shelter in the Scorpion Syndicate's old base and had gradually become an integral part of our team. Over time, they pitched in to help maintain the base, undertaking tasks like cleaning and cooking.
Furthermore, Lucas and I assisted Nolan in repairing the NS Scorpion when he wasn't occupied with the K.R.A.K.E.N armors. This allowed us to gain some understanding of how to maintain and fix the formidable machine.
On this particular day, I found myself alongside the women, engaged in the task of cleaning the Scorpion Syndicate's old base. Lucas, on the other hand, was lending his culinary skills to help with the cooking. The sun was beginning to dip below the horizon, casting a warm, evening glow over our makeshift home, when the door to the base abruptly swung open, and Nolan walked in.
"Oh, Frankie and Lucas, you're both here. Have you seen Granpa?" Nolan inquired about Mr. Norman. "It's time for him to take his pills, and we should head back home soon."
"I believe Mr. Norman is still down in the underground prison with the scarred guy. Why don't you two join us for dinner?" Lucas suggested, extending an invitation.
"Thank you, I'll gladly accept that offer. It's just the two of us back home now, and I'm the one left doing the cooking. Things were easier when David was with us, but once he got married, he moved out and got his own place," Nolan shared, offering us a glimpse into their family situation.
"Lucas, your food always smells and tastes good, unlike someone else's, which only smells good," Nolan teased, and both Lucas and he shot me a playful glance.
I couldn't resist firing back, "Hey, you guys are just weak, unlike me. That's why you can't handle my amazing cooking."
Nolan simply shrugged and replied, "Yes, yes, Frankie, whatever you say."
Just as we were bantering with each other, Mr. Norman emerged from the basement, his presence putting an end to our playful exchange.
*Sigh*
He let out a weary sigh, sinking into one of the chairs in the diner before sharing, "Phew... That guy was a tough nut to crack. No matter what I did, he refused to spill the beans. But, I finally managed to make him talk," Mr. Norman said, his voice heavy with fatigue.
Nolan leaned in, his curiosity piqued. "Granpa, did you find something out?"
Mr. Norman nodded and began to divulge what he had learned. "Yes, I did. First and foremost, he's one of us, a drifter, just like us. His name is Daniel Kim, and before he ended up in this world, he worked as a university professor back in East Asia. About ten years ago, he somehow got transported to this world and eventually got involved in the slave trade business," Mr. Norman shared this newfound information with us, shedding light on the scarred man's mysterious past.
"I mean, that's great and all, but what are we supposed to do with his life history?" Lucas asked Mr. Norman, his weariness evident.
Mr. Norman seemed unfazed by the lack of enthusiasm, replying with a casual shrug, "Well, I just thought you guys might be interested in learning more about him, considering he's a fellow drifter, but I suppose that's not the case."
He continued, shifting to a more pertinent piece of information, "Regarding the people who came with you, they're currently on Mirage Island. We already had suspicions that the Slave Traders had some connection to Mirage Island, and this confirms it. According to Daniel Kim, his partners from Mirage Island contacted him and instructed him to bring those slaves a few days earlier for some undisclosed reason," Mr. Norman explained, revealing a critical link between the slave traders and the enigmatic Mirage Island.
"Wait, does that mean our plan somehow got leaked? Or is it just a coincidence?" Nolan asked Mr. Norman, his eyes wide with surprise.
Mr. Norman offered some reassurance, saying, "Most likely, it's just a coincidence because, aside from the four of us, there aren't many people who know about this plan."
But Nolan wasn't ready to dismiss his doubts just yet. "Hold on a minute; something doesn't make sense. As far as I know, Mirage Island is mostly deserted. Why would the slave traders choose that place as their base of operations and keep the slaves there? There are many more remote islands that would be better suited for such activities," he pondered aloud, his curiosity piqued.
"Well, that's what I initially thought too. But this is where things get interesting," Mr. Norman began, a sly grin playing on his lips as he posed a question to us. "According to Daniel Kim, there are numerous rumors surrounding Mirage Island. Fifteen years ago, some slave traders stumbled upon an ancient ruined underground city on the island. And can you guess what happened next?"
He paused, letting the question hang in the air before providing the answer, "They discovered several mysterious devices within that ruined city, one of which is a large crystal ball capable of storing a significant amount of water inside it. Does that sound familiar to you?" Mr. Norman inquired, that sly grin making another appearance.
"Wait a minute, a crystal ball that can store a large amount of water... It sounds eerily similar to the power source of those monstrous merman weapons," Nolan exclaimed, his eyes wide with surprise and realization.
"That's exactly what I thought as well," Mr. Norman confirmed, his curiosity evident in his expression. He continued, "The strange thing is, fifteen years ago, Mirage Island was a very normal island; it wasn't the deserted place it is now. Do you think all of this is just a coincidence?"
With a sly grin, he declared, "Well, everyone, it seems we've found our next destination."