"Ugh... maybe I really should have gone home..."
After hours of walking, Liliana stopped at a random restaurant to rest her legs. The face of that red-haired guy appeared in her head and she had to shake it off. His warnings did have some logic to them, and though she refused to accept that, she was starting to regret her stubbornness. The thought of giving up floated to the forefront of her thoughts, making it difficult for her to continue with what she came to do in this part of the city.
Worst of all, she couldn't even go ten minutes without someone coming to bother her. At first, she tried to use it as a chance to extract some information from them, but in the end they were all clueless.
"Maybe Catalyst is just a myth after all..."
She grabbed a cup and took a sip using the straw placed in it, grimacing an instant later as the taste spread through her mouth. She knew that the food and drinks offered in the poorer parts of the city were bound to be of a lower quality, but tasting them for herself proved that her imagination was lacking.
As she struggled with the orange juice she ordered, which tasted nothing like the orange juice she was used to, a young man whom she never spoke to invited himself to her table and sat on the opposite chair.
"You don't seem to be from around these ." He said, a fake smile plastered on his face. "What is an elegant flower like you doing in an industrial wasteland ?"
Staring at him for exactly two seconds, Liliana heaved an exasperated sigh. She had long since lost count of how many times she heard those lines.
"I heard some rumors." She said. "A new kind of candy appeared around these parts. I came to see if it lives up to the hype."
"A new kind of candy, huh?" The man said, his smile faltering a little. "Do you have anything specific in mind?"
Liliana sipped from her drink then pressed her lips into a line. She didn't know why she kept going back to it despite wanting to spit every drop that entered her mouth.
"Ah, right..." Closing her eyes, she heaved another sigh. "The kind I'm looking for... I heard one piece is enough to turn you into an entirely different person."
"Oooh! You're looking for that type of candy." The man made a show of being surprised. "I heard about it as well. Unfortunately, it's not something the average Joe like me can afford."
"Well," putting down her cup, Liliana studied the man again. "Thankfully, money was never a problem for me."
"Haha, I can tell just by looking at you." Closing his mouth, the man went silent as he met her eyes. Though his smile remained, his expression somehow seemed far more serious. "This candy you're looking for, I don't know exactly where to get it, but I know someone who might."
Liliana's expression brightened for a moment before turning serious once more. This would not be the first time someone claimed to know where to find what she was looking for only to try to rob her in some isolated alley.
"Of course, you will have to pay me a commission when we get there. Let's see... how about 1500G? That should be-"
All of a sudden the restaurant, the building it was located in, and the entire street quaked. At first it appeared to be a normal earthquake, as rare as they were in a place such as Neo-Vatra, but then the street rumbled again. A second later, the sound of gunfire spread out, followed by the screams of a frenzied crowd.
"What in the world..."
As he leaned toward the window to look, the man heard the clanging of cutlery and turned to see the red-haired girl rushing toward the exit.
"Hey! Where are you going!!?"
His call fell on deaf ears as Liliana continued ahead, leaping over the stairs and arriving at the street in just a few seconds. A crowded city doesn't start quaking for no reason, and even if it does, gunfire isn't something that naturally follows the shaking. Whatever it was that was happening, someone had to interfere before any innocents got hurt.
To someone like Liliana, the distant screams were like a call to action.
[Dante, you have used all of the energy Type 3-2 has in store.]
With his hands still on the transformed Jason's back, Dante looked up and noticed that the hulking man had stopped trembling. As powerful as it was, the electric shock seemed to have only paralyzed him for a short while.
[You have used all the energy Type 3-2 has in store.] As Volcan repeated his statement, a new screen appeared on Dante's OAM.
Computing Power: 7 (+10)
Energy: 0 (+0/90000000)
[Type 3-2 has approximately 90 megajoules of energy stored, which you had released in your last attack.] Volcan said. [It would take about 300 seconds for it to automatically recharge.]
"Are you kidding me?"
The question wasn't directed at the AI but the hulking man who was already back on the move.
"Fuuuuck..." Jason grabbed his head and shook it as if feeling a devastating headache. "What the... hell is... wrong... with you...?"
'Volcan, I thought you said this thing would be effective against him...'
[It was effective.] the AI replied. [Super effective, even.]
'Then why is he still standing!!?'
A red line appeared on the gray-skinned hulk and moved down, passing his entire body.
[This Enhanced Individual appears to have powerful regenerative capabilities.] Volcan said. [His body is already reconstructing the areas damaged by the electric shock you delivered.]
The last thing he expected was for his opponent to have a way to heal himself. Neither math nor physics were Dante's strong point so he had no idea how powerful a 90 megajoule electric shock was, but he could tell his previous attack wasn't something a normal human, or even an enhanced one, could just shrug off.
'Are you sure this guy is just a Level 2?'
[There is nothing to be concerned about.] Volcan said. [According to my calculations, this Enhanced Individual will not be able to keep his current state for long.]