"…I came across you by chance, while I was stalking another individual who had caught my sight… it seems I've finally chanced upon an individual more intriguing than a Dimensional Fracture for once."
"Yet I see that you're still the insane madman I know." Black Ghost muttered, as she carefully picked up the spine of Lady Kwatz that was leaking cirrenite fluid, "But, you weren't a Shadow Knight before… have you upgraded yourself recently, Mr Hawk?"
Mr Hawk shrugged, intending to leave her to guess for herself, though the answer was extremely obvious.
"I wonder who you're talking about. But, I guess I'll find out soon enough." He muttered, walking about. His favourite thing to do around Black Ghost was to try and unnerve her, as he knew she was not one to be easily shaken at all.
"I glanced upon a bounty post on you on the streets, yet how come you're doing acts like this so openly?" Black Ghost said, staring intently at him, "At this point, it seems you are trying desperately not to hide."
A small shadow scuttled across the floor and collected back into Black Ghost's shadow. She sighed and glared at him.
"There is even a little girl, who may very well be the child of these two deceased, who is still asleep in the next room."
"Yet, you're too careless to know that, aren't you?"
Mr Hawk laughed, a sinister grin on his face.
"Hahaha, I forgot about your shadows! But, what do you mean by that? Do you think I haven't been paying attention recently?"
Black Ghost remained silent, and Mr Hawk shook his head in disappointment.
"Even if I become inattentive, you won't even have the chance. I am not like you, or the faction you are a part of. I will scheme, murder and tear apart anything that comes my way. And, I am most terrifying when I am enraged. You, of all people, should know that."
Black Ghost pointed a high-grade energy blaster at Mr Hawk.
"I can just kill you, though?" She said, her finger on the trigger, "Even if you evade this, you better hope you can escape the range of my True Ability, [[Imitating Shadows]]."
As the tip of the blaster grazed his head, Mr Hawk looked almost surprised for a moment, before he laughed.
"Who am I?" Mr Hawk asked suddenly. However, Black Ghost did not falter for even a second.
"You are soon to be a dead man."
"Of course. I don't intend to prolong my life beyond the time limit in which I need for my plan to succeed. However, how soon are we talking? A year from now? A millennium? Or a second? Hah!"
Black Ghost hardened her expression, as he talked more.
"Also, I noticed that you told me your True Ability so sincerely, as though you were truly intending to kill me! Even though, you know that I have seen your ability before."
"It seems you've already figured out that you won't get the chance to kill me this time either!" He yelled maniacally. Black Ghost gritted her teeth, as he laughed in her face.
"But… perhaps, I shall tell you the location of where we might meet next!" Mr Hawk cried out, smiling, "I am operating with the [[Abyssal Sea Cult]] and another notorious space faction, to achieve something extraordinary! My dream will come one step closer to fruition, and they will gain something too…"
"And, that place will be at a certain base… which I'm sure you'll be able to find the location of in time. Perhaps, then, you'll be able to graze me."
Black Ghost pulled the trigger on her energy blaster while forming shadows that emerged out of her own from the floor behind her, which shot shadow bullets from their fingertips that mimicked the multiple energy bullets that fired in succession. Yet, all of these bullets merely phased through Mr Hawk.
"…Oops… I didn't mean to avoid that… or maybe I did? Well, I need to obtain the jewel, so I'll see you soon, Black Ghost. Don't disappoint me with a meaningless attack next time."
In an instant, he waved his hand and departed, with the incomparable speed of the Shadow Knight giving him to opportunity to flee at any moment.
Meanwhile, Black Ghost was left to quietly stare down below the penthouse through the shattered windows, towards the Central Administrative District, where the person she was currently following, Nathan, was.
"He managed to provoke me once again. But, even after all that time, the turmoil in my heart cannot sit still. Perhaps, that man from that ruined spaceship can lead me to him once again."
<<…>>
After the main intersection zone, in the Central Administrative District, Nathan stared at the Central Administrative District after passing the intersection and was amazed.
This was the immense hub of Zanekin, with floating vehicles and mechanical sentries marching everywhere, keeping the streets almost entirely clean of crime. Most people he saw were incredibly joyful and seemed to be participating in the reenactment shtick the whole planet seemed to have going on.
This monumental zone of the city was also where the High Admiral's base and office resided.
"Huh… this city has quite a hold on machinery. Is it like this everywhere else on the planet?" Nathan asked Vice Admiral Sea-Bird.
"Well, not everywhere, but we have generally advanced in the last one hundred years for sure."
He closely inspected the mechanical sentries, handled by specifically programmed Security Artificial intelligence, which marched constantly, with bodies that were quite similar, yet quite inferior to the battle models.
"Come this way." Admiral Viarak said, leading him to the metal gates of the High Admiral's office, where four mechanical sentries awaited the three of them.
"These seem different from the ones we saw marching on the street." Nathan said, glancing from one to another, "They seem to be more…"
"Powerful? If you were going to say that, you are correct. These sentries are the specialised ones, developed with the perfections of the battle models in mind." Admiral Viarak replied.
After detecting the Admiral and having the Security Artificial intelligence recognise his face, they saluted instantly.
"Welcome back to the High Admiral's office, sir!" An automated voice reverberated from them all at once.
He nodded, and they all went past, immediately heading into the main edifice in the Central Administrative District, also the largest of them all.
<<…>>
Within the High Admiral's Office…
As extravagant as I expected.
Nathan, following the Admiral and Vice Admiral Sea Bird, walked into an office that easily spanned the size of 5 Juvenile Space Sea Lords. In front of the sleek metallic walls were bookshelves containing large books on politics, planets and planetary value, and well-renowned factions across the galaxies.
Nathan was curious about meeting the High Admiral, who seemed to be an interesting individual from how the Vice Admiral and Admiral described him as they walked, and apparently, he was the one who gave the Vice Admiral the name "Sea Bird".
They all bowed as soon as they reached the steps leading to the High Admiral's desk, but, after a few seconds, when they were allowed to lift their heads back up, Nathan was startled to see a young teen who was, at most, 14 or 15, with ginger hair and cyan-blue eyes.
"…You're surprised? Didn't the Admiral of Grace tell you about me beforehand?" The High Admiral said, tapping his fingers on his metal desk.
"You didn't tell me about this…!!" Nathan whispered to the Admiral, who only replied with, "Apologies."
The High Admiral grinned like an immature teen who was still wet behind the ears and hopped down from his seat. He was less than five feet tall, so compared to the other people in the room, especially Nathan, there was something quite… funny…
"You wanna laugh, huh?!" The High Admiral exclaimed, "I was thinking of letting you become a temporary officer of our empire's Mechanical Legion, but…!"
Nathan's eyes widened, and he sputtered.
"Wait, what?!"