Chapter 368 - 368 Planning on Both Sides

Avery wore an almost frantic expression on his face as he performed standard diagnostic checks on the Dauntless before taking off.He was desperate to rush to his parents' side now that he knew what sort of threats they were facing right now.

Yet now matter how fast he moved, it was going to take a little more than two weeks for him to reach the Yuson System. Needless to say, this was eating away at him as the cool composure he had displayed during the meeting with his team's other leaders had merely been an outward façade.

Inside he was a nervus wreck on the verge of a panic attack.

Not only were his mother and father in grave danger, but he was also the cause of it.

People that had a grudge against him were targeting the closest family he had gotten in their way.

'I shouldn't have let Clarien live, and then I should have hunted down his partner and killed him too. I was ready for my enemies to try and strike back against me, but I had really hoped no one would go after my parents. I'm glad I at least asked my teacher to look out for them. If Urs wasn't around, there's no telling what would have happened.'

Avery's face was twisting into a more vicious expression as he thought about annihilating the criminal group targeting him through his parents.

This was a level of rage he only rarely displayed. Something that only came out when someone he loved was being threatened.

Yet as he felt his insides boiling with anger, a soft hand touched his shoulder, and it felt like a drop of serenity had disrupted his inner turmoil.

"That's not a face that I particularly like to see you make. You're going to get wrinkles young if you keep doing that." Jasmine said, sliding her hand that was on Avery's shoulder down onto his chest and hugging him from behind.

Feeling the warmth of his fiancée, Avery's distress started to diminish a bit, though he could not fully get rid of the anxiety he was feeling.

"I understand that you're worried. I would be in a similar state if I heard people were targeting my mother. Well, I suppose that there are likely always people that are after her due to her position, but they aren't a serious threat so it's not the same. Anyway, I got off track. What I wanted to say was that I have a suggestion that might be of some help."

Avery tilted his head upwards so that he was looking at Jasmine's head and looked at her hopefully. He was willing to do just about anything if it meant keeping his parents safe.

"So, here's my idea…"

…

A fuming Bahnen whose red skin was redder than normal was sitting across from two other individuals in a room that was outfitted with high-end furniture and had the trophies of past battles adorning the walls.

"Delilah, what is the meaning of this?! Your intel didn't have any mention of this guy!" Rook said, slamming a reinforced tablet with a blurry image displayed on it onto the table in front of him.

The blond woman with long hair hardly looked perturbed by the outburst of anger and let out a long sigh before responding.

"It pains me to admit, but my information collecting ability isn't perfect. There's a lot that I know and very little that I can't find out. Yet sometimes little details do slip through the cracks. I had no idea that someone of this caliber would be guarding Avery's family."

She feigned a sorrowful expression, as if she was deeply upset by her own incompetence.

Of course, the other man in the room was not buying her act.

Clarien knew that Delilah was the type to act completely complicit but have her own schemes going in the background.

Still, her excellent capabilities in gathering and manipulating information were topnotch. Which was why Rook and Clarien had put up with her despite her nature. So long as she was truly helping them, her assistance was invaluable.

"Let's get this straight Delilah, did you really not know anything about this man beforehand?" Clarien asked, his gaze still strong even after having endured being a captive of the Alliance Police for several weeks.

They had subjected him to all manner of drugs and tortures to try and get him to talk, but his implants and strong will had allowed him to resist their efforts. Which was why they had attempted to transfer him to a specialized facility that would be able to break him.

However, this transfer was what had given Rook and Delilah the opportunity to free him. Something he was grateful for and the reason that he was going along with the plan Delilah had come up with despite the risks.

"No, I've known about him for a while. I just had not considered the possibility of him getting involved. He's a retired five star mercenary named Urs Orso, a half bahnen with an impressive record from when he was active. Ah, and he was Avery's mentor."

"What?!" Rook shouted in anger. "You knew about this man and his connection to Avery, but you didn't mention anything. I've put up with you long enough, witch. You're deceit ends here."

With a fury in his eyes, Rook stood up from his seat and looked ready to straggle Delilah.

He had no proof that she was deliberately keeping things from them to lead them astray, but his gut was telling him to get rid of her now.

For Delilah's part, she merely flashed Rook a smile despite the clear murderous aura he was giving off. She would enjoy herself no matter what happened. Thɪs chapter is updatᴇd by novelhall.com

"Rook, give her at least the chance to explain. We owe her that much at least." Clairen said, stopping his short-fused partner from getting violent.

"Thank you. I don't really want to die right now since things are still quite interesting. As for Urs, his connection to Avery is a completely different matter from his parents. I swear that I had no idea that he was friends with Avery's father until just recently. Honestly, I didn't know he would get involved. And so quickly might I add."

Delilah even offered up the records of her investigations to Rook and Clarien as further evidence that she was unaware of the potential obstacle Avery's master would present.

Of course, Clarien was still a bit skeptical. He had no doubt that the woman assisting them could forge records if she wanted to or hide any evidence that she did not want them to see.

"Also, while this is partially my fault as a gatherer of information, you two have far more resources in this system than I do. I've been borrowing a lot from Adder since this place is within his sphere of influence. If you wish to throw any accusations out, I would say that they're better directed at him. It's possible that he's the one that knowingly led me astray. I could see him doing so even if it's against his best interests just to make me struggle." Delilah said, putting on her best innocent expression.

Fortunately, her words had managed to easily sway Rook at least.

The fury he had directed at her just moments ago was now targeting Adder instead. He was known to be just as devious as Delilah, so it really was easy for her to shift attention over to him.

Of course, she had also called out Clarien's and Rook's failings as well.

They had been the ones to set up a surveillance team without carefully looking into Avery's parents' associates.

From all appearance they just seemed to be average colonists, so no one had considered that someone as capable as Urs would be connected to them.

"To think that what we thought was being careful by gathering information on our targets patterns and movements would really be us being too hasty. Now we've lost several teams over multiple days just trying to identify who has been impeding us. Plus, the Alliance Police are sniffing around after catching so many of our agents. It's going to become more difficult for us to act."

Clarien stroked his chin as he was deep in thought about whether to continue or not.

What they were doing here was mostly strictly for revenge.

Certainly, it was also meant as a preventive measure since Avery and his mercenary band had a knack for getting involved in their organization's business, but mainly Rook and Clarien just wanted to get back at him for running their long-term plan.

Except, while he was weighing his options, an audible notification came in on one of Delilah's terminals.

"What is it? Good news I hope." Rook said, waiting expectantly.

"I'm afraid not. The little birds I have keeping track of Avery right now tell me he had abruptly chaged course and he's on his way here. If we're going to act, it is going to have to be soon. Once he arrives, things will become much more complicated."