CHAPTER 64: STRANGER IN THE WASTELAND

Tatehan eyed the girl, wondering why she was telling him her name and being this friendly. What if he wasn’t friendly? What if he was some villain waiting to kill her and take that rifle she carried?

Why was she so trusting with someone she’d just met? She’d said it herself, it wasn’t every day someone killed a pack of Shadow Goblins alone.

"Call me THE KNIGHT," Tatehan said, trying to sound as casual and breezy as possible.

That made the girl chuckle.

"I told you my real name, y’know. Not some nickname."

Tatehan sighed and looked her over.

She wore scavenged armor, mismatched pieces cobbled together from different sources. A chest plate that looked military-grade, shoulder guards that were clearly Martian-made, and leg guards wrapped with reinforced fabric.

Her hair was red, vivid like rust in sunlight, tied back in a practical ponytail that still managed to look wild. Dust streaked her face, and her eyes were sharp, assessing him just as much as he was assessing her.

He had to admit, she was stunning. The most beautiful woman he’d seen since arriving on Mars.

Though that wasn’t saying much, considering she was the first.

But Tatehan wasn’t surprised or even happy to see her.

The Spaceship’s AI had said the ship was well hidden. So why was he running into a Martian human just three hours away from it?

His unease intensified. For a second, he realized that perhaps he’d made the wrong decision by not installing the bio-neural core in the spaceship. Doing so would have allowed him to transfer it into his system space, and only then would it truly be safe.

He eyed the girl again. She looked young, maybe eighteen or nineteen. Around his age, or at least Tatehan’s age.

Was she capable of harming the spaceship? No. No random enhanced human could just take control of it. The AI was smart, and entering required biometric signature verification. Even if she found it, she’d probably dismiss it as some broken wreck.

Did he make the right choice by taking this core to save Kael’s dying daughter?

The whole reason he’d reincarnated in the spaceship was to help repair and restore it to its former glory. And here he was, doing the opposite.

No.

He quickly dismissed those thoughts. He owed Kael his life. Killing the man and then abandoning his daughter would make him a monster.

He looked at the girl again. She didn’t seem aware his gaze was on her. He made a mental note: the road to the spaceship was complex. He’d changed paths multiple times before arriving here. She wouldn’t find it.

But he had to be fast about repairing it. When he got back, he’d do actual repairs, checking for loose wires, finding another core similar to the bio-neural core to use instead.

"Well," the girl began, rifle still slung on her back, breaking Tatehan’s three-second spiral of thoughts and speculations. "I saw you fighting the Shadow Goblins..."

Tatehan remained silent, processing her words. He really wanted to know why she was being this friendly.

How was he sure she wasn’t playing nice just to get the cores?

Wait.

She’d said she saw him fight the Shadow Goblins, killing them all. She’d seemed impressed. But that wasn’t the important part. Since she’d watched him kill all the Shadow Goblins, she’d also seen him harvest their cores.

’Shit.’

That was it.

She wouldn’t have been able to kill those monsters alone. It would’ve been impossible for her. But since Tatehan had done the hard work, she wanted to somehow take the cores from him.

Well, too bad. She was out of luck. He wasn’t even holding the cores anymore, he’d sent them to his inventory. There was no way she’d make him summon them.

"All humans on Mars have abilities tied to weapons that grant them those abilities," she continued, studying him carefully. "But as I watched the fight, expecting to pinpoint yours, I couldn’t. The choreography was insane."

Tatehan stared at her, saying nothing.

’What’s she going on about?’

"And don’t try to pretend like you didn’t harvest the cores..."

Tatehan literally rolled his eyes at this point.

He was certain now. The reason she’d been so nice was because she wanted the cores.

Tatehan made a firm resolution: she wasn’t going to see his face, let alone those cores.

"...I’ve been trying to kill one of these monsters for days, but all my attempts have been useless. And here I watched you take..." she hesitated. "How many cores was that?"

Tatehan rolled his eyes again. He wasn’t here for all this talk. He had someone to save. All he had to do was power up one of these motorcycles and get out of here.

"If it’s the cores you want, I’m not giving them to you," Tatehan said flatly, turning his attention to the motorcycles scattered around the valley, assessing which one would be functional enough to use.

Riven made a face, one that looked like a child about to throw a tantrum. When she saw that Tatehan wasn’t paying her any attention, she tried a different approach.

"Sexy voice you have, by the way. It’d be even sexier if you gave me some cores."

Tatehan squinted at her and spoke, his voice as direct, precise, and mature as he could make it.

"I came a long way for these, and I have an even longer way to go. A four-day journey, actually. Trying to cut it short by using one of these bikes."

The girl walked closer, unslung her rifle from her back, and pointed it at him.

"I’ll shoot you if you don’t give me the cores."

She paused, waiting for his reaction.

Tatehan had none. With the helmet on, it was like pointing a water gun at reinforced steel plating.

He examined the weapon. If she couldn’t defeat a pack of Shadow Goblins with her awakened weapon, what made her think it would harm the person who had?

While her voice tried to sound threatening, her face gave her away. It was all a bluff.

Then, with a sigh, she lowered the rifle. A hint of desperation crept into her voice.

"I’m stranded here. Have been for three days. Tried walking out, but I got exhausted, and I’m low on water and food. The Shadow Goblins are too hard for me to kill alone, and I didn’t know what else to do... until I saw you taking down a whole pack like it was nothing."

Tatehan smiled behind his helmet.

Easy?

Pfff.

Apparently, the girl wanted his help.