Chapter 158: Locust‑Like Civilization

"Friend... come... help."

Kai'ertu approached Chris, not using the mask's built‑in translator, but speaking the words with his own voice.

"Help?" Chris was startled.

But recalling the meeting held yesterday, Chris instantly understood Kai'ertu's intention.

At that moment, Kai'ertu turned his head to glance at those still standing beside the craft, observed the slender Iron Blood around him, and then continued using the mask's translator:

"My mentor and I will help you avoid the plunder; you may travel with us and depart quickly."

"Leave..." Chris furrowed his brow.

It was a bit hard to hear, but Chris understood.

"Thank you, but..." he began to say.

"RedfieldCaptain," he was interrupted by the armed security that rushed in.

"Roar..."

Seeing a team of armed security clad in Mechanical exoskeletons, Kai'ertu instinctively let out a wary low growl, ready to unsheathe the twin‑bladed wrist blade in his right hand.

Conversely, the Iron Blood whom Kai'ertu called his mentor remained calm, unlike Kai'ertu's agitation.

Eight security guards moved behind Chris; the leader said to him in a deep voice, "Higher command requires more intelligence."

"Alright, I understand," Chris gathered his thoughts and turned to the nearby Kai'ertu, proposing:

"Big guy, you came up talking about plunder and then about leaving; it's all a bit chaotic. Why don't we have a proper talk?"

"Gah... Gah..." Kai'ertu looked at his mentor, communicating in the Iron Blood clan's language.

"Gah."

The elder Iron Blood gave a brief reply, as if saying, "Your own business, handle it yourself," not wishing to get further involved.

"... " Mask‑wearing Kai'ertu stared at Chris in silence for several seconds, then used the translator again:

"Fine, you are mine, friend."

"Then come with me," Chris said.

Next.

The elder Iron Blood manipulated his wrist computer, sealing the side hatches of the shuttle‑shaped vessel, then, together with his disciple Kai'ertu, followed Chris and the others out of here.

Ten minutes later.

Underground level.

A large conference room.

Kai'ertu and the lone wolf chose not to sit but stood at the front of the room; after all, human chairs were too narrow for them.

Given Chris's close relationship with Kai'ertu, Chris acted as the diplomatic representative, negotiating with the two Iron Blood.

Through the earpiece on his left ear, Chris could convey questions from the company's senior management.

"What do you want to know?" Kai'ertu asked first.

"First, why are you taking me away? Are humans about to face some disaster?" Chris asked.

"Yes," Kai'ertu replied without denial. "Your kind has been targeted by an incomprehensible... locust."

(Kai'ertu raised his hand, pointing at the scar on Chris's left cheekbone.)

And you once saved my life and earned the elder's approval, which is why I brought you away. I also hope to fight alongside you again.

"Thank you for your kindness. Honestly, I too am willing to fight side by side with you," Chris said gratefully.

He hadn't expected that a brief escape collaboration would make him a true friend; Chris felt a bit flattered and surprised.

However, Chris quickly composed himself and asked the key question: "Locusts? What are they?"

"They devour, they... uh... in short, they plunder!" Kai'ertu said unclearly, growing increasingly irritable.

"They are called the Plunderers," the elder Iron Blood, who had remained silent as Kai'ertu struggled with human speech, explained smoothly to Chris:

"We know you call your home world Earth, but Earth is merely a hunting planet for us, a proving ground for our youth. Our clan has thirty‑six hunting planets, yours included."

And the Plunderers...

Even our elders do not understand their origin.

They differ greatly from our clan and from your kind.

They use their own flesh to travel between stars, devouring and plundering any planet that hosts life; they cannot communicate, let alone negotiate."

Upon hearing this,

Chris's expression grew solemn.

He had originally thought the invading alien force would be the kind seen in sci‑fi movies or comics—beings that look roughly human, like these two Iron Blood before him.

But a flesh‑bound body navigating the cosmos is something Chris could not imagine at all.

At that moment, a reminder from his earpiece snapped Chris out of his thoughts, and he turned to the elder Iron Blood, asking:

"If you encounter the Plunderers, do you have the ability to resist or to annihilate them entirely?"

"In the past, our numbers were great, and we treated hunting planets as our territory, eliminating any enemy daring to invade, until a hunting planet was targeted by the Plunderers."

The elder Iron Blood paused, then continued:

"Back then, we spent only a small price to easily destroy the invading Plunderer fleet, only to later discover it was merely one of their squadrons."

By human standards, within three hundred years after we destroyed that fleet, our clan entered a war with other clans.

While mired in war, endless Plunderer fleets once again approached that hunting planet.

Our elders judged them unstoppable, forcing us to abandon that hunting planet, and due to war and dwindling numbers, we no longer regarded hunting planets as territory."

At this point.

The elder Iron Blood shifted his tone toward Chris: "Because you, a human, changed our clan leader's view of humanity, but unfortunately, your home world has been targeted by the Plunderers.

Even if we annihilate another Plunderer fleet, a hundred years later your home world will still be unable to escape being devoured, assimilated, and plundered."

Moreover, the small price our tribe paid back then has become a loss our tribe can no longer bear now.

Providing you with information about the raiders is the last assistance our tribe offers humanity; the rest you must handle yourselves.

"Friend, let's go," Kai Erte echoed.

"Thanks, but this is my hometown," Chris immediately refused.

Seeing this, Kai Erte said no more, for custom made Kai Erte fully understand Chris's decision.

Putting himself in Chris's shoes, Kai Erte would make the same choice, so he felt ashamed for suggesting Chris flee.

If the roles were reversed, with Chris advising Kai Erte to avoid battle and run, Kai Erte might lose his temper and beat Chris mercilessly.

Simply being unable to repay the life‑saving favor drove the already short‑tempered Kai Erte into an extremely unpleasant state.

Wait…

"Friend, I will fight side by side with you again!" Kai Erte suddenly exclaimed with inexplicable excitement.

At the same time.

【Detected Chris Redfield's "Good Luck" activation.】

Affected by "Good Luck," Kai Erte, who has long regarded Chris as a close friend, sees fighting side by side with a close friend toward a certain death as an irresistible supreme honor.】

(End of chapter)