Chương 157: The Profile

"An 'opportunist.' A 'mountain bandit king' type with a power-oriented personality.

"Displays strong desires for dominance and opportunistic tendencies.

"Lacks long-term strategic vision and a sense of responsibility.

"Pragmatic, but heavily bound by cognitive limitations.

"Exhibits an almost 'patricidal' rebellion against small-scale authority, but remains highly submissive to large-scale order.

"Overall alignment assessment: Lawful Evil. Limited cooperation is possible.

"Non-combatants will likely be viewed as property and therefore protected, but combat personnel may be perceived as threats.

"A system of checks-and-balances cooperation will likely lead to combatant attrition over time. As the power disparity between our forces skews further, he may lean toward chaos, actively threatening the safety of non-combatants." Evelyn's choice to cooperate with him was a gamble. She was betting that the veterans beside her could hold out long enough to reach the Quarantine Zone. Once there, they could simply cut ties and part ways. But now, a massive new variable had entered the equation. Over an hour passed.

Despite their bone-deep exhaustion, everyone listened intently, hyper-focused on this unprecedented development. The only sounds left in the truck's cargo bed were the back-and-forth of the Q&A and the rapid tap-tap-tap of a stylus hitting a screen.

"Evelyn, here's the preliminary profile. Take a look. Let me know if you have any questions..." Even though it wasn't hot out, Holden's forehead was slick with sweat. It wasn't until he handed the PDA to Evelyn that the others dared to pass him a towel, having been terrified of breaking his concentration. Evelyn quietly read the material on the screen aloud."' A highly dangerous individual exhibiting extreme autonomy, likely tied to a complex social structure. A composite apex predator.'"

Reading this, Evelyn frowned."' Preliminary alignment assessment: Chaotic Neutral or Lawful Neutral...'" Hiss... A few sharp intakes of breath echoed in the cramped space. Another veteran spoke up.

"Holden, it's been a long time since I've heard you give someone an evaluation this intense. Not even Colonel Zhou got this... How do 'highly dangerous' and 'neutral' even go together?"

"Are they really neutral? Those two completely ignored me when I spoke to them. They were so annoying!" Raven chimed in from the side.

"Evelyn, you done reading?" Holden asked, looking at her. Receiving a nod, he took the PDA back and addressed the group.

"I'll read the rest out loud...

"He has supreme confidence in his own strength but is extremely cautious around people. This is likely the result of past betrayals.

"Even when holding an overwhelming advantage, he chooses to observe from the shadows and refuses direct contact. His communication is incredibly concise, indicating strong anti-surveillance and counter-reconnaissance instincts.

"He is a control freak. He is accustomed to keeping all unknown variables strictly within his grasp. Until he possesses an absolute information advantage, he hates exposing himself. You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author.

"His personal 'safe zone' is vastly larger than a normal person's. Any contact that falls outside his expectations may be perceived as a potential threat.

"He is driven by absolute pragmatism and objective-based logic.

"His rescue of our personnel was not out of pure goodwill. There might be some unknown underlying affinity, but it reads more like a low-cost 'investment'—a gamble of goodwill to pave the way for future contact.

"His behavioral logic isn't overly bound by traditional morality or emotion. His primary, overriding principle is 'maximizing returns.'

"Behind every action lies a clear tactical or strategic intent.

"He possesses incalculable individual combat power and redundant resources.

"Raven mentioned the two were extremely close to the explosion's epicenter, and the woman was there looking for the man. This implies the man was likely at the scene when the explosion occurred. The blast might even be directly connected to him. Furthermore, their actions suggest they possess a highly secure base of operations.

"The two possess highly mobile, almost 'flight-like' capabilities, and can casually hand out incredibly hard-to-acquire mutated zombie crystals.

"His resources—especially zombie crystals—have likely reached a level of 'redundancy.' Meaning, these items hold very little personal value to him anymore.

"His power level has a generational leap compared to the 'Awakened' we've encountered so far. We're talking the difference between a steam engine and an electric motor.

"He has a clear emotional anchor. He is inseparable from that female Awakened and displayed a distinct protective stance during communications.

"Thus, he is not an absolute egoist. He has a 'core circle' that he feels compelled to protect.

"This 'emotional anchor' could be the source of his strength, but it could also be his one and only exploitable 'weakness.'

"A man like this will never actively submit to any faction. He will only seek 'cooperation' or 'assimilation.'

"He said he'd come 'visit' tomorrow. I hypothesize he plans to conduct a comprehensive strength assessment and stress test on us, at minimal cost to himself.

"If we make contact, I highly recommend abandoning any and all intentions of 'recruiting' or 'subordinating' him. He will perceive it as a provocation.

"Our only option is absolute transparency, cooperation, and demonstrating our own value. We must guide him into becoming a frontline 'ally.'

"End of report." Holden finished the final word and gently placed the PDA on the folding table.

"Evelyn, it's your call..." As if a heavy weight had been lifted, he sagged, leaning weakly against a teammate's shoulder. A heavy silence blanketed the truck bed.

"Holden... are you saying that the generational leap between the young guy and girl who saved Marcus... and an Awakened like Raven... is really as vast as a steam engine and an electric motor?" Wyatt was in sheer disbelief. Even though he was the one who made direct contact, he still couldn't reconcile the "cold, powerful apex predator" from the report with the man wearing a sparkly purple sequin trench coat—even if he did swap it for a cartoon duck jacket later.

"Hypothetically... just hypothetically speaking..." Evelyn rubbed her temples, her voice low.

"Between cooperating with him, or cooperating with Chester. Comparatively speaking, which one is the better option?"

"Cooperating with Chester depends entirely on how long we can survive. And by 'we', I mean us old-timers. Not including you kids like Raven. Heh..." Holden mocked himself, prompting a chorus of dry chuckles from the veterans in the truck.

"Working with your 'old friend' is definitely safer, but that depends on how much value we can offer him..."

"Chester is playing a game we're all familiar with. We know the rules, we just don't have enough chips on the table..." a younger man sitting next to Holden chimed in.

"But as for Evelyn's 'old friend' here... we don't even know if we have the right chips to play at his table."" Sigh... Can someone read that report to me again..." Evelyn's voice was laden with exhaustion. Right now, she needed to re-evaluate everything.

"Alright, I got it..." The young man from earlier took the PDA and started reading. Sitting on a mat, Raven stuck out her foot and lightly kicked Wyatt for repeating the "steam engine and electric motor" comparison. Even though she didn't want to accept it, she had to admit it was probably true. After all, those two came and went like ghosts, not to mention the massive cracks and craters left on the rooftop... She just hated how utterly lacking her imagination had been at the time. Why hadn't she just looked up?!

She could perfectly picture it now. Those two annoying jerks Wyatt described had probably been hanging up in the sky the whole time, watching her act like a total idiot with great amusement... Meanwhile, a few kilometers away, Vince was lying alone in his warm bed." Achoo!" Sneezing out of nowhere, he rolled over and pulled the quilt up a bit higher to cover his nose and mouth. From the next room over, the muffled sounds of the two women laughing and playfully bickering drifted in.

Compared to the terrifying, dragon-like roar of the flames from earlier, their voices were soft and soothing, lending a rare sense of reassurance to the night. His Health Bar had never jumped this much in a single instance before—it had almost doubled. Combined with the massive physical exertion of the day, he felt exceptionally drowsy. It didn't take long after his head hit the pillow before he plunged into a deep, dreamless sleep.