Log X: The Deal

[Warning. Your vehicle has been locked on]

A notification startled Abel as he rushed through the desert.

"Lock on... ? Fuck... it's either bandits or other walkers..."

Abel growled as he sped up in hopes to lose his pursuers.

[Warning. Three more weapons have locked on to you]

But luck didn't seem to be on his side today.

"Damn it! Fine, I'll crush them myself!"

The walker could feel his system getting pumped up. His vision had sharpened and his senses had become enhanced.

Turning the handle, he drifted the bike to a stop and looked over his shoulder. His AR Vision zoomed on the clouds of dust approaching in the distance.

"Three cars, two motorcycles... One of the cars is a large carrier-type. Slavers?"

He quickly pulled out his rifle and readied himself for a head-on confrontation.

"There aren't any sandhills nearby either... Tsk. What a bad place to fight..."

His murmurs disappeared under the roars of the engines coming from the cars.

Soon, the cars and the bikes reached him. They circled Abel a couple of times and then came to a stop.

As the dust cleared, Abel quickly figured a way out of the encirclement while he waited for whoever it was.

The largest car, which seemed to belong to the leader, opened its door.

From inside came out several armed men, each outfitted in crude vests with spiked accessories on them.

Typical bandit setup, it seemed.

Several of the said armed men were wearing large white collars around their necks. The collars had red lines running through them and felt like they would be extremely uncomfortable to wear.

Well, of course they would be. After all...

"They are slaves... Huh. You guys are slavers then?"

Without fear, Abel asked the men in bandit uniforms.

"Haha, this one's a toughie, eh? Yeah, you guessed it right, we are slavers. What're you going to do about it, lil' guy?"

One of the men provoked him, but the walker didn't respond to the provocation.

"Nothing. Just was confirming."

Abel said indifferently as he gripped his gun tightly.

"Heh... Confirming, he says. Whatever, lead's calling for you. Go to the back and talk to 'im."

The guy shrugged and stepped aside, making a way for him.

"Can't move from the spot here, you see. Why don't you ask your leader to step out?"

Abel shook his head and replied with a question.

"He doesn't want to. What, are you worried 'bout your bike? Just take it with you, we don't want that."

"Huh... ?"

The bandits didn't want his cargo? That was an absurd thing... Something even Abel hadn't anticipated.

But he decided to take a chance and pushed his bike through the crowd. In the corner of his eyes, he observed the other two cars and the bikers.

None of the passengers of the cars had come down, and the bikers stayed seated too.

Normally, all of them would come down and try to intimidate him.

"This whole thing reeks..."

A mutter left his lips as he went around the large carrier and looked into the now-open hatch.

Immediately, he frowned.

"Like what you see?"

The man sitting inside chuckled as he gestured at the... people around him.

All of them were women, and all of them were scantily clad. Some of them didn't have any clothes at all.

Most of the women had bruises on their malnourished bodies and looked horrified. All of them had slave collars on them, making things even more obvious.

As soon as they saw Abel, they pleaded with their eyes. The walker felt awkward and wanted to walk away, but he kept his calm.

"Can't say I do. What do you want?"

Abel growled and asked. The leader widened his eyes in surprise.

"You're not going to lecture me?"

"Not my place to say anything. Tell me what you want and let me be on my way."

"Oooh, practical. I like it. Now then... About what I want."

The leader smiled and stood up. He kicked the girl in front of him aside and walked towards Abel, the latter quickly aiming the gun at the former.

"I don't want you close to me, you see. State what you want from there."

"Aren't you a bit stuck up... Well, fine. I just want the cargo you have."

"Not happening."

The demand was quickly shot down as things became tenser between the two men.

"Don't get angry, let me finish what I want to say. You see, I've been hired by a wealthy client for the cargo. That guy really seems to fear you, though... Thanks to that, we have been asked to not harm you in any way. Made us vow, you see. But that's only as long as you don't harm us."

The leader held up his wrist and showed a small bracelet. It was a contract armament... If the wearer broke the deal, then he'd die instantly.

"... So? Still don't see why I should give you the cargo."

"The client's willing to pay a big amount if you do. Six million credits, in fact."

"... Six million?"

"Yeah. See, we have it right here."

The guy pulled out his terminal and showed the screen. On it was a large number of credits being shown.

"Higher than what the church is willing to pay you, right? What do you say? Will you accept the deal?"

"And turn the whole church into my enemy? Not interested."

Abel still wasn't convinced. Even if he had millions of credits, having the entire Templar sect after him would make things extremely hard for him.

Not to mention many of the settlements will become inaccessible due to the church's influence.

"You don't need to worry about that either. We'll announce that we had attacked you and take the full blame."

"Just how much are you guys getting paid for this..."

Abel was shocked. This deal seemed convenient to him.

Almost too convenient, in fact.

"So, what do you say? Wanna do the deal? It's a sweet offer for you, if you'd ask me."

"... Still, no."

For the first time in his life, Abel decided against his own logic and values.

"What... ? Why?"

The leader of the bandits seemed dumbfounded.

"I..."

Abel looked at the capsule attached to his bike and took a deep breath.

"I just don't want to. That's all."

"... You're fucking insane to lose a deal like this, do you know that?"

"Yeah. I do."

"And you are outnumbered here, do you know that?"

"Yeah... I do."

"Then..."

"But you don't know what I can do."

Abel said with a cold voice.

Everyone froze.

"[Time Freeze]"

Everything around him became grey as the time came to a stop.

Abel quickly aimed his gun and shot at the leader. The shot hit the man in the shoulder, causing the walker to frown. His arm had started to tremble just after a moment of using that cursed skill...

A moment later, everything became normal.

"Lead!"

It took the bandits a moment to notice that their leader had been shot.

Abel didn't let them compose themselves as he quickly activated his skill.

"[Demon Claw]!"

His hands enlarged and formed three black claws, ripping his clothing. Without hesitation, Abel slashed at the nearby bandit and used another skill.

"[Corrosion]!"

The bandit screamed as his chest started melting. Abel kicked him away and aimed for another guy standing nearby.

"[Noxus Blade]!"

Six dark blades appeared around him and rushed towards the bandits.

Two of them were pierced in the chest and immediately died. Three were hit on their shoulders while the other blade missed the target after colliding with the cover in front of the bandit.

"Get him! He shot first!"

The leader, who had finally come to his senses, yelled at the bandits. Hearing his call, the remaining bandits sitting inside the cars also came rushing.

"Tsk... Not enough!"

Abel pushed his bike away and turned towards the leader.

He dashed towards the man with his claws raised.

"Not today, sucker!"

A bandit tried to hit him from the side.

"[Noxus Blade]!"

Abel used the skill again and rushed into the carrier. The leader quickly stepped back and put the women between him and Abel as cover while he tried to ready his weapon.

"Not happening on my watch!"

Abel growled and shoved the women aside. His claws were still under the effect of [Corrosion]. As a result, the women screamed as their skin started to burn and melt.

It was still better than being dead.

"Die!"

The walker finally reached the leader and threw his claws at him.

"Come here!"

The latter suddenly pulled a young girl from his side and held her in front of him. The frightened girl let out a short scream as she saw the claws approaching her.

"Damn it!"

Abel changed the trajectory of his claws at the last moment, barely missing the girl and the leader.

They clashed with the wall behind the two and got stuck.

"Hah! You fell for it!"

The leader threw the girl aside and pulled out his large calibre gun.

And with that, he shot at Abel from point-blank range.