The Almighty Ring

Since the agreement about Jiang Fei coming in unscheduled to check on Braveheart’s construction progress had been established long before Akatziris had revealed her identity, Straz did not ask further questions about it and allowed Jiang Fei to come to the moon base.

Once they arrived at the teleportation pad, Jiang Fei did not promptly ask about meeting with Akatziris. He was there to steal some Energy Crystals first!

As such, with Jiang Fei’s request, Straz led everyone to visit the hangar bay. The construction was going speedily. The hull of the ship was already completed and the constructors were seen working on the interior of the ship. The entire ship was almost completed and was now docking outside the hangar bay, in the void of space outside the base. The entire thing was at least 10 kilometers long, making it the largest object Jiang Fei had ever laid his eyes on.

“Please follow me to the bridge,” Straz gestured while summoning a hovercraft to ferry them to the ship. Once they arrived, Jiang Fei was presented with a newly modified bridge. Not only did they add more equipment and facilities, but they also repainted the interior walls.

“Damn. They must have gathered a vast amount of Energy Crystals!” Jiang Fei thought. Based on the readings on the control console, the ship was already at 70% completion rate. Another 20% more and Jiang Fei could register himself as the captain of the ship. He could, not only, restore 0541 back, but he would be able to steal the entire ship.

Akatziris was only able to achieve this much progress because of her betrayal, of which she had taken Jiang Fei’s share of Energy Crystals. Even though Jiang Fei did not know what Akatziris would do once Braveheart was completed, Jiang Fei understood that she would have the power to truly defeat all the other Unknowns. Until then, she would have to maintain her alliance with Jiang Fei to survive.

“Not bad. You guys sure work hard!” said Jiang Fei, pretending to admire the ship’s construction. At that moment, he gave Ariel a look. It was a go signal which they had discussed earlier. Ariel was to mark this exact spot, the bridge of the ship to ease future teleportation, to facilitate Jiang Fei’s attempt to rob the ship’s control.

“Fei, if you’re done, please follow me. This is a working zone. It is messy and not comfortable for us to have a conversation,” said Straz. Even though he was presenting a manner of courtesy, the likes of a steward on an expensive first-class airline, it was merely a mask to chase Jiang Fei away. The interior of the hangar bay was filled with equipment and instruments for construction, not to mention caches of Energy Crystals lying around. Straz had been keeping both eyes peeled, to prevent Jiang Fei from doing anything suspicious.

“Shit! The f*ck is he onto me?” Jiang Fei thought. Then again, Straz was once the Dragon God, an entity of greed and avarice. The man, or machine, was already built-in with a habit, a behavior to never let go of things that belonged to him.

“No. I’ll skip that. Please inform Akatziris that I want to talk to her,” Jiang Fei gestured back. With Straz sticking close to him like an overly obsessed girlfriend, Jiang Fei had no chance to slip some of the Energy Crystals that were just laying around. It was unfortunate but the first plan of obtaining Energy Crystals was a dud.

“Please hold,” said Straz before his eyes flashed blue. From the looks of it, it seemed Straz was now communicating with Akatziris via wireless communication. On the one hand, Jiang Fei was impressed at the method, on the other, suspicions rose. Why did he not contact Akatziris via this same method a long time ago?

“Our leader will be waiting in the lobby,” said Straz in less than 5 seconds.

“Awesome. Lead the way,” said Jiang Fei. it was time for Jiang Fei to try the second plan.

Straz nodded and proceeded to take Jiang Fei on a long journey around the base. It was a long trip as it took nearly one hour before Jiang Fei arrived at a small room, which clearly was not the lobby.

“You’re here! My beloved master!”

As soon as Jiang Fei entered the room, he could hear the seductive voice. There was a rapid increase in pitch followed by a sudden sigh that was incredibly suggestive.

“Akatziris, we are no longer in the game. I am not your master anymore,” said Jiang Fei bitterly. After all that had happened, he knew that the woman bore a vengeance against him.

“What’s the matter, my sweet loving master? Are you afraid of my little sister being jealous? Or are you regretting not ravishing me when I was not all iron and metal?” said Akatziris. Like Straz, the memories of her being a succubus manifested, even though she was now completely machine. She got up from her seat, chest up and out before she leaned in purposely to Jiang Fei.

“Sister… Please don’t…” Isabella choked. She could not say anything then. If anyone else, any girl at all that dared to try seducing Jiang Fei the way Akatziris did, Isabella would hold her head on one hand, and a lifeless body on the other.

Akatziris was probably the one person in the entire world that had the “pass” to do anything she wanted with Jiang Fei. No matter what sins she had committed, Akatziris was still Isabella’s elder sister. Most importantly, from Isabella’s vantage point, Akatziris had no feelings towards Jiang Fei. She was only acting this way to purposely disturb Isabella, like how she always did when the sisters were growing up together.

It was unfortunate for Isabella since when Akatziris came into Jiang Fei’s life, Isabella was only just killed and sealed away. Jiang Fei did explain everything that had happened but Isabella was not physically present to truly understand the bittersweet emotion that Akatziris had for Jiang Fei.

This love-hate relationship of a woman was extremely hard to understand, especially for someone outside the loop. Girls that behaved like this would always try to do something, either harmful or beneficial, just to hurt their used-to-be paramore.

“Alright. I’ll stop, my cute little sister. I’ve not said anything, yet here you are, defending Jiang Fei,” said Akatziris as she rolled her eyes. She then turned to Jiang Fei, leaning in closer and said, “tell me, my great master, what can I do you for? Could it be, you wanted to rekindle the fire that has been put out?”

“I… I…” Jiang Fei choked. When Akatziris was so close to him, Jiang Fei could not find the heart to ask for a favor. The woman that he had indirectly wronged once had asked you, dead in the face, whether you wanted to rekindle the flames that had been put out. Yet here you are, trying to ask for a favor! How could Jiang Fei bring himself to ask such a thing?

“You…?” Akatziris grinned as she repeated Jiang Fei’s words. Jiang Fei got flustered and she noticed that. In the spur of the moment, Akatziris leaped to her feet and hang her metallic hands over Jiang Fei’s shoulder, pulling him closer to her face.

“Say it,” Akatziris said, ever so lustful and seductive.

“I…” Jiang Fei choked again. It took several tries but in the end, Jiang Fei had decided not to ask.

“Say it. Say the words and I am all yours!”

Akatziri’s robotic eyes sparkled with emotions. Straz, who was standing at the side, could not help but eavesdrop. Since he was made of metal and wires, he was incapable of exhibit the sudden jerk, or flinch. If he could, he would be cringing so hard at the sight of how his leader was presenting herself.