Chapter 286: Adrian Vs Greg

Adrian didn’t even flinch. He stood calmly in the cockpit, the tension coming off Greg washing over him like a tide hitting a rock."And why so?" he asked simply.

Veins began to bulge on Greg’s green face, throbbing with irritation. "You dare question a direct order from the Concordat? This is your last chance to surrender peacefully, Prometheus."

"And if I choose not to?"

Greg’s anger flared and his eyes glowed with toxic light. "Then I’ll make you myself!"

~FWIP-FWIP-FWIP!~

Multiple spheres of concentrated, glowing green energy launched from Greg’s hands at ridiculous speeds. They screamed through the confined space of the cockpit, aiming to strike Adrian.

Adrian didn’t panic. To his evolved senses, the projectiles were moving in slow motion. He swayed with minimalism, letting the spheres pass harmlessly over his shoulders and under his arms.

~PSSSH!~

But the spheres smashed into the bulkheads behind him, and instantly erupted into thick clouds of corrosive green gas.

The metal hissed and bubbled.

Adrian could feel the gas trying to eat through his skin, burning his lungs with every breath. It was potent, far stronger than the radiation outside.

It didn’t do much permanent damage to his regenerating body, but he wasn’t reckless, so he quickly equipped the Power Suit.

’My turn.’

He didn’t give Greg a chance to fire again. He charged.

Greg, realizing his opponent was unaffected, panicked. He increased the output, flooding the room with so much gas that visibility dropped to zero. The Power Suit’s external sensors screamed as the acid ate into the nanite weave.

But Adrian didn’t need to see. His vision painted Greg as a beacon of panicked energy.

He moved faster than the alien could track, appearing in front of him instantly. He grabbed Greg by the throat in a chokehold that cut off his air and his magic.

Adrian didn’t slam him into the deck. He didn’t want to damage his ship.

Instead, he dragged him outside and into the vacuum of space, amidst the debris field.

Holding Greg firmly by the neck like he was a little worm, Adrian dragged him through the void and slammed him into the surface of a nearby asteroid.

~BOOOM!~

The impact cracked the rock. Greg gasped, his eyes wide with disbelief. "How... how did you get so strong?" he sputtered.

Adrian didn’t reply. He responded by driving an energy charged fist into Greg’s stomach.

"Talk only when I ask you to."

The punch sent Greg smashing through the asteroid, exploding out the other side in a shower of dust. He coughed up green blood that boiled in the vacuum, but his eyes flashed with defiance. He wasn’t going to let a rookie bully him.

~PSSSH!~

Adrian heard the sizzling sound again, but this time it came from everywhere. Before he could react, Greg’s body dissolved. He turned into a massive, sentient cloud of poison gas that expanded rapidly, engulfing Adrian.

[DURABILITY: 93%... 89%...]

The acid was eating the suit alive. Adrian didn’t try to flee. He floated still in the heart of the poison cloud, closing his eyes behind his visor. He focused.

To him, the world stopped. The swirling gas particles slowed to a crawl. He saw the individual molecules of the toxin, the binding energy holding Greg’s consciousness together in this dispersed form.

He reached out with his mind, tapping into the Void Essence he had assimilated. He didn’t command mana. He commanded the space between the molecules.

"Compress."

He willed the Void to constrict. An invisible sphere of force clamped down around the gas cloud.

Greg tried to resist, to expand, to flee, but he couldn’t. The space itself was shrinking, forcing him back into a dense, agonizingly small volume. He couldn’t even turn back to his solid state.

"Burn," Adrian whispered.

He ignited the compressed space with raw energy.

Invisible flames roared within the containment field. The poison and corrosion vanished, replaced by a shriek of pure agony that echoed psychically in Adrian’s mind.

The fire wasn’t burning flesh; it was burning Greg’s soul!

"Now answer me," Adrian said softly and cooly. "Why am I being detained?"

Greg didn’t even have time to be stubborn. He felt his life essence evaporating.

{I DON’T KNOW! I SWEAR I DON’T KNOW!} he screamed. {I WAS JUST GIVEN A PRIORITY RED COMMAND! "SECURE THE TARGET." THAT’S ALL I KNOW!}

Despite the scream, Adrian’s senses told him the alien was being genuine. Greg was just a pawn.

"What will be the consequences if I kill you?" Adrian asked calmly.

Greg was silent for a moment, stuttering in his mind. {You... you can’t. The Concordat will hunt you themselves. An Escort is a high-ranking officer. Killing me brings the fleet. Please... don’t kill me.}

Adrian sighed. "But they’re already hunting me..."

Suddenly, his eyes snapped open. "STOP!"

His tone raised, a command of absolute authority. He sensed the spatial molecules shifting. Greg was attempting a desperate teleportation mechanism to escape the containment.

But Adrian wasn’t commanding him. He was commanding Space itself.

"Lock," he ordered.

The universe complied. The teleportation fizzled out, the spatial coordinates hardening like concrete.

"That was your last chance," Adrian said, his voice devoid of pity. "Now... die."

He clenched his fist. The Void containment field collapsed in on itself, imploding with the force of a singularity. Greg’s molecules were crushed, shredded, and erased from existence.

He was simply... gone.

Adrian didn’t waste a second. He turned and sped back to the Silver Phantom. He landed in the airlock, cycled through, and sprinted to the cockpit.

He knew the ship had originally been riddled with Concordat spyware and tracking bugs.

But during the moment when he upgraded it, he had systematically purged every single one of them. The ship was clean.

He threw himself into the pilot’s seat and punched the FTL drive. The ship shuddered as it charged.

While the drive cycled, Adrian tried to reach Charles via telepathy.

It took a long while, but he managed to do so.

’Charles.’

’Boss?’ Charles answered immediately, but his mental voice was confused. ’Is everything okay? Is the mission done?’

’Listen to me carefully,’ Adrian cut him off. ’Is anything out of place there?’

’No... everything is quiet. Why? What’s wrong?’

’I’ve been compromised,’ Adrian said grimly. ’The Concordat has issued a detainment order. I don’t know how much they know, but assume the worst. I am granting you and the Council permanent, remote access to the Factory. Move all the Void-infused gifts I gave you into the Factory immediately. Do not speak of them. Do not use them. If anyone asks, you haven’t seen me in weeks. Deny any affiliation with my recent activities.’

Charles sounded nervous. ’We’ll do as you say, boss. We’ll hide everything. But... what is the problem? Why are they after you?’

’I don’t know yet,’ Adrian replied. ’But I’m going to find out. Stay safe, Charles.’

He was about to say more when he heard something far away in space.

"They’re here..."