Chapter 413: Starting An Intergalactic Political, Cultural War?

’What the fuck?’

Cero stared up at the gigantic screen on which all eyes were fixed.

The broadcast showed several Borgians standing around a cage.

And inside that cage was a female Borgian.

’What the hell is this?’ Cero asked himself with a confused frown.

It didn’t take long for him to pick up information about what the crowd around him called Kurna’s offering.

Too unique for my taste.

’Is this what Nolan meant?’

While the female Borgian shivered in her cage, all of the Borgians around Cero seemed in high spirits. Some were praying, others were cheering.

’All I did was follow where most people seemed to be heading...’ Cero gulped. ’Is this a big deal?’

It must have been, as even the merchant who had sold him the garment was now part of the crowd, though he was not cheering or praying, but trying twice as hard as before to sell more things.

’Huh.’

Thanks to his more-than-sharp senses, Cero managed to quickly pick up information on Kurna’s Offering.

A virgin was to be sacrificed. Some believed that the sacrifice was to please their ancestors, while others thought it was to bless future generations. All believed that the sacrifice would keep evil and misfortune away from them.

’Well, crazier things have been done to chase away evil and bad luck,’ Cero thought with a sigh.

The virgin was to be dropped into the wilderness, and the broadcast would continue until she was devoured, until she was taken by the wilderness, by nature.

’I’m sure she’s one of these fanatics anyway,’ Cero nodded to himself. ’She probably sees it as a great honour to have been chosen or whatever.’

Indeed, some of the people in the crowd did talk at length about how lucky she was, how lucky her family was, and would be.

’Mm...’

It definitely left a bad taste in Cero’s mouth.

’But I’m not some vigilante here to fix things,’ he thought. ’If a virgin isn’t sacrificed today, another will be sacrificed tomorrow. I can’t meddle with their culture.’

Indeed, Cero was here to devour Borgians, the name given to all species native to Borg, not the people commonly referred to as Reptilians.

’I’m here to jump into the wilderness, go wild for a bit, and leave. I can’t get into trouble with these people...’

"MY FRIEND! You’re here!"

Cero’s eye twitched. "Here to fuck me in the ass again?" He sighed. "I saw someone sell the same thing for 23."

"Oh, my friend, then it wasn’t the same thing at all! The quality must have been-"

"Yeah, yeah." Cero interrupted him and started walking away.

"My friend!"

"No."

"Come on! Just look!"

"Nah."

"But you will miss Offering!"

Cero stopped. "Hm?"

The merchant grinned and raised a small rectangular device.

"A phone?"

"Yes!"

Cero stared at him. "What am I supposed to do with that?"

The merchant tapped its screen, and the same broadcast started playing.

"You watch Offering anywhere!" the merchant explained excitedly. "Live! No delay! No need stay here! Live on the go! Big cultural event!"

"..."

"Uh..." The merchant looked for some other selling point. "Offering happening that way! Very far! Too far to see. Helicopter! Look!"

Indeed, the broadcast turned to show the inside of the flying helicopter in which the cage and its prisoner were located.

Cero turned in the direction that the merchant had pointed towards. "That way?"

"Yes! Too far to see!"

Cero’s eyes narrowed. "How much?"

"One thousand, just for you, my frien..."

His words trailed off as Cero started walking away.

"Wait, my friend!" The merchant followed after him, but Cero was nowhere to be seen. "Agh... Maybe I should have started with 500 again?" He whispered, scratching his head. "I need to sell more before the offering... Hey! Watch out!" The merchant shouted as someone in the crowd knocked him out of the way. "You make me drop device! You will have to pay for it!"

He clicked his tongue and crouched to pick up the fallen device.

It was nowhere to be seen.

A hundred meters away, on the other side of the large crowd,

"Asshole," Cero whispered with a chuckle as he turned his Invisibility Skill off. "Hm..." He stared at the live broadcast on the device he had just acquired. "This really is none of my business though..."

He sighed, watching the caged Borgian shiver, cry, and eventually start begging to be spared.

The crowd immediately started booing and insulting her, shouting at the screen that she didn’t realize the honour she has been given, an honour she evidently didn’t deserve, and that she was bringing shame to her family.

’She doesn’t seem too into it.’ Cero thought. ’But...’ He sighed. ’If we hadn’t stopped on VTX, we would have made it here yesterday. I wouldn’t be here right now. I would already be on my way to Jin.’

Cero stared at the broadcast as he walked through the crowd.

’But I made it here today. Tsk...’ Cero left the crowd, entered a narrow, empty street, and swiftly climbed over a two-story building. ’He said it was this way, didn’t he?’

It was, indeed, too far to see... Until Cero activated a couple of Skills.

’It’s happening way into the forest, into the wilderness,’ Cero thought with a smile. ’I can just barely see the helicopter.’

It was fortunate that this was happening on Borg and not on VTX or Wor, as those more advanced civilizations wouldn’t use something as easily found as a helicopter.

’They’re going to set her free in the wilderness and let her figure it out herself...’ Cero cracked his neck and started walking towards the trees in the distance. ’This might be your lucky day, Borgian girl.’

Might be, because Cero wasn’t sure just yet.

Depending on how she treats him and how long the broadcast continues, Cero might just ignore the whole offering situation.

’There’s still the possibility that she’s only begging because she’s scared, and that she’ll turn right back into a fanatic once someone actually tries to help her... In the first place, I’m not here to start some intergalactic political and cultural war.’

Cero stopped after a couple of steps, the thought repeating in his head continually.

’Actually, I quite like the sound of that.’