Chapter 415: Why Are You Trying Not To Laugh?

The fourth and final Kurnish fell to the ground.

"Mmh."

With the fight over, Cero looked down at the phone-like device.

"I still have some time."

The cage was being slowly lowered from the helicopter.

"What happens once she reaches the ground? Do they open the cage? Do they expect her to open it herself and run for it?" Cero focused on the screen. "Seems like her hands are tied behind her back. She won’t open the cage herself. Then the people will open it from a distance."

The other possibility was that the cage would remain closed, and that the Kurnish would have to break and tear their way through to reach the Reptilian. Cero found that unlikely. Since the Reptilians worshipped the Kurnish, they would make it as easy on them as possible, he thought.

"Oh."

Cero noticed several, almost invisible icons below the livestream.

He tapped one, and the broadcasted scene changed.

"Goddammit."

Instead of a downward shot of the cage being lowered from the helicopter, the screen showed a large crowd in an open area, the very same crowd he had been a part of earlier.

"I doubt anyone would notice me in the crowd though..." Cero muttered, rubbing his chin. "Plus, there’s this." The piece of fabric around his head and neck. "I guess I have that guy to thank, after all."

The difference between the two broadcasts was staggering, almost tragically comical.

"WOOOO!"

"LONG LIVE THE KURNISH!"

"PLEASE BLESS US AND OUR CHILDREN AND OUR CHILDREN’S CHILDREN!"

"THANK! OH, THANK YOU!!"

The Reptilians jumped, hugged, and even danced as they cheered and celebrated while the caged Reptilian girl was shivering and crying.

Cero watched for a few more seconds, finding the scene more disturbing than anything he had ever witnessed before.

The closer the cage got to the ground, the more excited the crowd became.

The older people were the happiest, but many of the younger ones were celebrating as well, especially the children.

Cero sighed and placed the device into his pocket.

The four Kurnish were on the ground, dead.

Cero had fought them by strategically dodging their attacks and deflecting them so that one Kurnish’s claws would slash another instead of himself.

It took a lot of training with Liz to get used to fighting like this, but it had been a nice change of pace at times.

’Clear conscience,’ Cero thought as he stepped towards them. ’They pretty much killed each other, with attacks aimed to kill me.’

He knew how stupid this was, treating them more gently just because they were somewhat humanoid and stood on two feet. Still, Cero couldn’t help it. Humanoid aliens can sometimes surprise you, even when they can’t talk.

Uwo!

Cero crouched.

’Alright,’ Cero licked his lips. ’Let’s get some food in.’

It was the first time since entering civilized space that Cero was getting to actually eat, to actually Devour.

The four Kurnish were promptly devoured. But,

Ding!

"There it is."

[Quest: "Borgian Regeneration, The Final Piece".]

[Objective: Devour Borgians.]

[Progress: 20%.]

"Oh?" Cero’s eyebrows rose. "Twenty percent, huh? Couldn’t you give a number instead, a target?"

[Since the term Borgian envelops all Species on Borg, that is not possible.]

"Right," Cero chuckled as he nodded. "Not all Borgians are worth the same."

[Those are your words, not the System’s.]

"Not partaking in speciesism, huh? Good for you, System."

Cero shrugged after a moment.

"Shouldn’t take too long anyway," he muttered, and started running through the forest.

***

"There it is," Cero whispered with a smirk.

He could not see it just yet, especially because of the countless trees, branches, and leaves blocking his vision, but he could hear the oppressive sound coming from the helicopter’s rotors.

"Right there."

Cero pointed at the trees, through which he could easily see with Hyper Vision Lv.6, a Skill he had obtained by merging every Vision-related Skill he had through Skill Merge.

"The helicopter is stationary, and a little less than 100 meters in the air."

He continued his pursuit, and it wasn’t long before he could see the helicopter without using any Skills.

’I can’t let the camera see me,’ Cero thought as he turned invisible. ’With this, I can move freely.’

His gaze went down the thick steel rope dangling from the helicopter, and found the cage swaying right and left.

’She’s having a rough time already,’ Cero needed to bring a hand to cover his mouth so as not to chuckle. ’This is nothing to laugh about. The poor girl is crying for her life!’

Despite that, seeing her struggle to remain on her feet, being bounced from right to left due to the incessant swaying, was quite funny to him.

’Alright.’ Cero shook his head and started walking closer.

The cage was only about five meters off the ground by then.

’How do I approach this?’ he asked himself once he stood below the cage. ’I can’t let the people watching know that I’m here. I also shouldn’t scare her. How would a Reptilian react to an invisible person talking to them?’

Cero pursed his lips.

’If it goes wrong, she might think that I’m just some voice in her head, that she has gone insane.’

He scratched his head.

There really wasn’t a "Best" way to go about it.

’Mmmh.’ Cero took out the device to watch the broadcast again, despite it happening right in front of his eyes. ’The camera is on the helicopter. Is the microphone on the helicopter as well?’ Cero brought the device to his ear. ’I can’t hear her at all.’

His lips curled upward.

’The microphone is on the helicopter as well. I guess they don’t want to broadcast the victim’s cries for too long.’

Cero took a deep breath and stepped forward.

"H... Hello, there."

She screamed louder than she had at any point since they had ’kidnapped’ her.

"Wha-What is this?!" She shouted. "Who?! Who’s there?!"

’Shit...’ Cero gulped. ’I made her cry.’

Despite her seemingly ferocious nature, tears started flowing down her face as her teeth chattered.

"G-Go away! Evil spirit! I will not... Give you my soul!"

Cero closed his eyes and pursed his lips.

’Oh, no...’

"I command you to leave! Malicious spirit! Leave!"

’Oh, no... I’m gonna crack.’

Why are you trying not to laugh, Cero? That’s disrespectful, she’s afraid for her life!

"HAHAHAHHAHA!"

The Reptilian girl, shocked by such loud, obnoxious, obviously evil laughter, could only shudder, cower to the other side of the cage, and cry while holding her head with both hands.

"Wait, wait, no...! Don’t be afraid-"

"No, no, no!" She cried. "Don’t be afraid! That’s exactly what the Demons say when they appear! Oh, no, it’s over for me... It’s over...!’

Cero’s first encounter with Selia was tumultuous, to say the least.