Rise of the Eromancer

Chapter 110 Once Again, HI...U

"That's enough from all of you!"

"We were the ones that got beaten up, why are you taking his side!? What bullshit is this!?"

"I am not taking anyone's side!"

Rhys and the party from the Laughing Bronze were now back from the Underworld, with everyone hearing Ben screaming inside a tent as the medics were healing all of his wounds. And due to the nature of his injuries, and the level of the healers, it had already been an entire hour since they started healing him.

Rowan and Hans, who really only received a minor injury from Rhys, were now trying to rush toward him, but were being barred by Kenneth and his security team from reaching him.

As for Rhys, he was just seated on one of the supply boxes and being surrounded by Katarina and the others, as well as Eimi and Audrey.

"Did any of you even report what he did to the authorities!?"

"No one needs to report anything to anyone!" Kenneth tried his best to mediate the situation. But in truth… he was actually just trying his best not to be tempted to fan the flames even stronger. This kind of drama may ultimately be bad publicity, but would create an endless stream of content leading to Rhys.

And an endless stream of content leading to the most talked about human being right now only means one thing — an endless stream of ad revenue.

"We still have cameras set up everywhere!" Kenneth then pointed at the drone flying above their heads, as well as all the cameras set up to strategically capture all the good angles. After all, Kenneth had quickly ordered his people to set them up as he knew this would be good,

"Do you think the HIU aren't on their way right now? Now just sit down, and stay. I don't want any more drama as it is."

"...Tch," Rowan pointed at Rhys, "You'll get what's coming to you, you fucking dregger!"

Kenneth winced at Rowan's words. But it doesn't matter, he could just let him go from the guild since all the footage here technically belongs to the Laughing Bronze anyway. And with the two men finally calming down, Kenneth was finally able to let out a sigh and approached Rhys.

"I'm really sorry, Mr. Wilder," Kenneth then lowered his voice enough that Rowan wouldn't hear him, "I didn't expect they would do something like this — it was obvious from the start that they were up to something. But… it was a little tad bit excessive, don't you think? In another angle, it was an unprovoked attack from you."

"No, you're right," Rhys let out a small sigh as he stood up, removing the towel covering his body. And even though Kenneth didn't swing that way, he almost instinctively touched Rhys's explosive chest,

"I couldn't really stop myself. I'm ready to cooperate any way you want once this reaches to court."

"No, no," Kenneth let out a nervous chuckle as he raised both his palms in the air, "It won't reach that far, I'll make sure no one presses charges for this."

Kenneth wasn't a fool — he had been watching all the comments and the outputs of all the viewers, and although the opinions were halved, he was sure that was going to change soon in favor of Rhys. He… has that effect for some reason.

If Kenneth allowed anyone from Laughing Bronze to press charges, all of Rhys's fans would start targeting them. He doesn't know whether Rhys was aware of it or not…

…but a cult following was already building around him. And those people can be dangerous.

"We're going to pack up now and just talk about this on the way home. Could you and your members ride the bus with us instead?" Kenneth turned to look at Ayesha and the others, "I will have one of my guys drive your car and—"

"I don't think any of that is happening," Katarina did not let Kenneth finish his words as she suddenly stood in front of Rhys. Kenneth wondered if there was something he said, but he did not need to wonder for long as soon, something suddenly emerged from his shadow. Well… someone.

"The woman with the unnecessary large breasts is right, Guildmaster Kenneth — Rhys is coming with us."

"You…!!!" Kenneth could really only leap to the side as a woman wearing a black coat and tie came out of his shadow, "You're… from the HIU?"

"Ma'am," Rhys quickly stood up straight as he quickly recognized the woman as Agent Maria, who interrogated him after the incident in Old York High.

"Mr. Wilder," Agent Maria nodded as she glanced at all the people surrounding Rhys one by one, "I see you have been busy the last we met. But to be honest, I was hoping not to see you again."

"Why are you here?" Katarina slightly pushed Rhys back as Maria approached him.

"I think that is self-explanatory given the situation," Maria raised a finger, waiting for another one of Ben's screams to cry out in the air, "Your boy here is once again currently under investigation by the HIU."

"What… he did was just retaliate."

"In what angle?" Agent Maria raised an eyebrow, "I know you fancy him, Katarina. But I still need to take him with me."

"...Do the two of you know each other?" Lina, who had just been quietly observing from the side, could not help but squint her eyes from how seemingly familiar the two were having a conversation.

"She was my boss," Agent Maria did not hesitate to answer as she looked Katarina in the eyes, "Who I no longer owe any favors to since I paid it back several months ago."

"Wh—"

"Doc Titties, relax," Ayesha let out a small sigh as she placed her hand on Katarina's shoulder, "They'll just interrogate the Recruit and he'll be back in no time — thankfully, he beat those pussies up down there and not here on the Surface. Because that is a whole different paperwork."

"The former Commander is right," Agent Maria's monotonous tone lingered even as a hint of a smile could be seen very slightly crawling onto her face, "If you keep me from doing my job, I do not know what else I could accidentally reveal about your past, Agent Lo—"

"It's fine, Kat." And before Maria could finish her words, Riley let out a loud sigh as he gently grabbed Kat's arm and stepped forward, "I'll just… see you guys home."

"Well, where else would you find me," Ayesha shrugged, "I live on your couch."

"That's—" Rhys could not even let out a chuckle before Maria suddenly grabbed him and he found himself sinking onto the ground. He felt his vision completely turn black, but he knew he was still completely conscious. It almost as if he was being drowned in a pool of oil, except without all the uncomfortable things you would feel when actually doing so.

Fortunately for Rhys, this feeling did not last long as the dark scenery in front of him was replaced by an endless blue, the sky.

"!!!"

"Ugh!" Rhys instinctively leaned his head back, only to hit Maria right on the nose.

"Sorry!" Rhys almost instinctively touched Maria's bleeding nose, but Maria just raised a finger at him before handing him a set of… headphones. Rhys was confused at first, but he finally realized where he was.

Inside a helicopter.

Rhys then once again leaned his head out to see where he was, only to see the Hole and the people he was just with far down in the distance. He could not help but think what it would feel like if he just jumped; after all, diving down the Hole, one could only see darkness.

"I… thought you teleported all the way from your station," Rhys said as he glanced at Maria. Maria, however, just tapped on the headphones she was now wearing before gesturing to Rhys to also wear one.

"I said I thought you teleported all the way from your station!" Rhys repeated what he said as soon as he wore the headphones.

"You do not have to shout, Mr. Wilder. And please, wear some clothes," Maria leaned her head back and sighed, "And no, I wish I was that powerful — but even if I take enhancers, I would not reach the level of a Noble like Aharon."

"Aharon…?" Rhys blinked a couple of times, "Ranked No. 7 in the world? That's right… he has the same abilities you have."

"Correct. The man could freely travel through the shadows if he wished," Maria nodded, "And I must say, it is impressive that you managed to get Commander Ayesha on your team — thanks to that, I managed to win a bet with my colleagues."

"A bet?" Rhys could not help but look at Maria. Despite her expressionless face and the monotonous tone of her voice, it would seem she was quite… talkative.

"Yes," Maria looked Rhys in the eyes,

"That you can copy other people's abilities."