Genetic Ascension

Chapter 1280: You’re Sure?

This time, Old Brama was on high alert. He sat up from his reclined position, looking at Sylas intently.

”You’re sure about this?”

”You only need to think about it.”

Old Brama opened his mouth for a snarky reply, but then seemed to think better of it.

”You’ll get used to it, old man. I could help you through this troubled time, though, if you just help me out with some of your valuable knowledge.”

Old Brama ignored Alex. He wanted to ask Sylas to explain, but Sylas didn’t seem to care to. But when he thought about it, one thing did stand out.

The pirates were anything but stupid if they were capable of targeting potential disciples of the Sanctum and yet remained until now. So why would they send a bunch of D-, E-, and F-tiers?

It might make sense under usual circumstances. But... what of the Skarzok and Cervidon? There were two C-tiers there, two C-tiers that would have been onboard if Sylas hadn’t randomly appeared, causing them to die at Old Brama’s hands.

Sylas and the others arrived last minute, but those two C-tiers had been present for quite a long while, mingling amongst the D-tiers. They would know they were there. And they wouldn’t necessarily be able to afford the same rooms as Sylas could either.

Which meant, the odds they would be in the hangar when the attacks came would be high.

So why would they be confident in doing things like this?

The obvious answer seemed to be a timing issue. They would just wait until the C-tiers were occupied before they sprung their traps.

But this wouldn’t likely be the case either.

Those C-tiers had only one priority: to protect their charges. There was no way they would pay so much to be on the star ship, and then act in any capacity that would put that in jeopardy. In fact, the mere fact that they were taking this star ship meant they were aware of the dangers and were ready to weather them.

However, this still wasn’t enough. Just what was Sylas seeing that he wasn’t? There were a million ways to manipulate them into a situation where they would at least leave the other D-tiers unprotected by their influence, allowing the stowaways to counter.

And then there was the elephant in the room.

The only reason Sylas knew to check the hangar for traitors in the first place was because of the captain. Why would the captain put such a thought into Sylas’ mind when it would only be to his detriment?

But that was when it hit him.

Sylas had already said it. It was odd that the captain had come to tell him these things personally, given his standing.

The explanation Captain Herrs had given for why he had done so was decent enough, but that didn’t explain something else...

Why would a captain be the one to give a general spiel about star ship prices and rules? Wasn’t that also beneath him?

To do one made enough sense. Why would he do both?

Old Brama suddenly understood then that Sylas had been suspicious of the captain from the moment he opened the door. That was why Sylas had outright asked him why he came personally.

If the captain said that it was just his duty and this was how he liked to do things, then it was fine. But he had specifically spoken like he was giving Sylas special treatment. If he was doing this just for Sylas, then why had he been the one to introduce them all to the rules of the ship before he even knew Sylas was present?

Unlike Sylas, Tiere had hidden her status until it was time to fight him. She wasn’t nearly as bold or confident in her ability to survive. So, it certainly couldn’t have been for her.

But wasn’t it so very interesting that the captain’s appearance had allowed him to witness everything he needed to? From Sylas, to Old Brama’s strength, to Tiere’s status as an in-name disciple as well...

It was the perfect place for the head of an operation to be. That way he could make the best decisions moving forward.

As for why he had come to tell Sylas something like he had personally, it was hard to say what his exact motive was.

To have them lower their guards against him? Maybe. But it felt deeper than that.

It was a test of Sylas’ character, to see what sort of person he was, what sort of buttons he could press, and how he could manipulate the situation to better suit him in the future.

For a double agent like Captain Herrs, Sylas’ existence was both a boon and a potential death trap. One wrong step and the gig that had netted him so much could come crumbling down.

Even when he spoke out to Sylas, warning him about how his actions might offend the Rhino lineage, that was his attempt at getting closer to Sylas.

But back then, Sylas’ response had left him a bit surprised. Sylas was more sociable than he thought he would be, so he realized that he wasn’t as easy to manipulate as an arrogant genius would be, so he needed a heavier hand.

Captain Herrs was smart. He knew that it was impossible to gain something without giving up something in return. You couldn’t make large sums in a gambling den unless you were willing to put up a large amount of collateral first.

So he pushed his chips to the center of the table.

It was just too bad he had no idea his opponent was Sylas Grimblade, the Dominus Paragon the entire Sector was in the middle of looking for right this moment.

Old Brama was still certain that there were some things he was missing, but looking toward Sylas, he decided to just let his mind fall at ease. It was fine. Just let the boy do as he please. It seemed that even his own mind couldn’t keep up.

”Then what do you want to do?”

”How confident are you in hijacking a ship like this one?”