Chapter 202: Terrorists

'I have a weird '-1' value of G.C. which I'm pretty sure is useful but I don't know how and where I would find its use. Using it in public would attract a lot of attention so I have to do so in private.' 

Rewen raised his right hand and immediately a black arrow materialized in his hand. Previously, he just managed to get a glimpse of it but now that he looked at it carefully, he saw that the black arrow wasn't completely black. More than a "black arrow", it's best described to be a normal arrow surrounded by a black gas-like aura. It also sparked white around the edges.

"This is kinda cool," Rewen commented, then swung the arrow in the air. 

*Spzzz*

Sparks became violent as soon as a movement was made.

*Spzzz*

*Spzzz*

*Spzzz*

The more he swung his arrow, the more violent did the sparks get.

Rewen stopped swinging the arrow and thought. 'Does this have any combative scope? Like, increasing the effect of the strike… no, wait. This is an arrow. Why am I using it like a spear? Rather, when have I ever used it as an arrow?' A strange look appeared on his face.

After playing with it for a while, he dematerialized the arrow and turned off the light. Travelling was never his strong suit. Journeying back and forth for hours had him mentally exhausted. That's why he wanted to have the best sleep he had in his life.

However, just then, commotion sounded from the first floor of the inn.

"What's going on, man?" He yawned, then closed his eyes trying to go back to his sleep.

Unfortunately for him, the commotion only further intensified. 

"Fuck." He got up and exited the room. Immediately upon exiting, he saw Michi in her pajamas getting out of her. Rubbing her eyes, she walked towards him. As soon as she was about to raise a question, he shook his head indicating that he didn't know any better.

Both of them walked down the stairs and saw several men and women flock towards the only television in the inn. Their eyes turned to the television screen.

On the screen, two men were seen. One had strikingly black hair with a handsome face. The other was a man wearing a black mask and light green clothes. On the center of his shirt were two black diagonal lines crossing each other.

This was the symbol for one of the greatest terrorist forces in modern times - WestLane!

The black-haired handsome man was grabbing the masked terrorist by his neck. He flicked his hands and a short dagger appeared on his hand out of nowhere. He looked at the masked man and ruefully smiled.

"Do you like it when you are the one being terrorized?"

The masked man struggled intensely to no avail.

"Give up the struggle. It's useless just like you." The black-haired handsome man tossed the masked man in the air. "Scums like you don't deserve to integrate themselves as a part of Hatbeiver's Legion! DIE!"

As the dagger was infinitely close to touching the masked man's shirt, an explosion occurred making the black-haired handsome man fly back.

"Cough, cough." He got up coughing. Blood endlessly oozed out from his half-broken arm. He couldn't completely dodge the explosion. Staggering to his feet, he walked away from the site. However, soon after, he was met with a bunch of figures. 

And then, the video ended revealing a young man looking at the screen.

From the surroundings, it didn't take long for Rewen to find out that that young man was a news anchor and everything he had seen was broadcasted and real.

"All of this is real… unfortunately." The news anchor said in a grave voice. "We have Mr. Yuguchi, author of "The Last Stable Century" as well as a journalist from Tomorrows TV."

The face of a middle-aged man appeared beside the news anchor. 

"So, Mr. Yuguchi, we are happy to have you here."

"It's my pleasure."

"Before we get into the specifics, I have a sort of personal question. What do you think of this whole 'enemy of an enemy is a friend' narrative that's been out in the media recently?"

"Well, it's very dangerous, to say the least. Because when you look at things objectively, both are equally evil. There's no lesser evil. Both WestLane and Hatbeiver's Legion are dangerous terrorist organizations that are seeking to harm the government as well as society. The only difference is that, unlike Hatbeiver's Legion, WestLane openly attacked our nation. Just because there is a conflict between the two terrorist organizations doesn't mean one would side with us. The narrative that these extremists are pushing is exactly - 'Since Hatbeiver's Legion hasn't harmed and is even fighting against WestLane, we should side with them' which is nonsensical. 

"If you were to take the entire world into consideration, you would find out that Hatbeiver's Legion is the one who is responsible for more deaths."

Mr. Yaguchi gave his answer.

"I understand. Moving onto the important question, who exactly were these two men? Can you give us a brief context of, um, what's happening over there?"

"Yeah, so the man with the mask is a core member of WestLane, the terrorist organization which recently attacked the Rover City. The other man was a core member of another terrorist organization. It is interesting to note that both terrorist groups have the same origins. We could go about that in detail some other time but returning to the point, the guy from WestLane as well as the guy from the Hatbeiver's Legion were secretly tracked by the forces directly sent upon the orders of a military general.

"So for those worried about the terrorist from Hatbeiver's Legion, rest assured. He is taken into custody. An outstanding decision from the military general. One thing I would like to mention is that the general didn't reveal his name to the public. In times of crisis, we need more people like him in our nation."

The news anchor nodded upon hearing his answer. "We definitely need more people like him. Onto the next question, we do know that WestLane had stationed itself in this nation for a while but where did Hatbeiver's Legion come from? The last time I heard from them is three years ago when the Legion General, excuse me, a disgusting scumbag released a tape of him raping an underage girl in public."

Mr. Yaguchi adjusted his glasses. "That incident haunts me till this day. Hatbeiver's Legion main forces are in Central and occasionally disturb the common citizens. Since it's Central, they do not dare to cause big commotions. I'm not aware of the reason they came to our nation but if I have to guess, it has to do with WestLane. I think it's better if I answer after we get a clear look at their objectives and plans."

The news anchor looked at the paper, then raised his head. "Okay, final question. How much would you tell the citizens to worry, especially those living in the coastal regions like Zcan?"

Mr. Yaguchi thought for a moment, before answering. "No one can answer with 100% certainty. My advice to the people watching this would be to be at least self-aware and be cooperative with each other. Tough times create tough bonds."

"Thank you, Mr. Yaguchi for coming to the show. Next up, we have…"

Meanwhile, Rewen along with the others in the inn finally withdrew their eyes which were fixated on the television screen.

After that, discussions started among the people in the inn. 

Rewen didn't participate in the discussion and sat in a corner with Michi beside him.

"Isn't the Council supposed to be taking out the terrorist organizations?" Michi asked. She was a little worried about the matter.

Rewen sighed. He didn't answer for a long time. Slowly, his eyes glowed with realization.  "This is the cost of making power accessible to everyone. There are countless people in the world living with different ideologies. Some ideologies align with the mainstream, some don't. If we were living in a world where physical strength isn't the main component of one's life, then perhaps we could have a much more peaceful life. With a system solely based on physical strength, no matter how civilized the system tries to be, peace is nothing but a pipe dream."

Michi understood what he was trying to say but was still confused. "What has this got to do with the Central not taking out the terrorist organizations?"

Rewen patiently explained. "In this world, the number of terrorist organizations isn't limited. The Council isn't omnipotent or all-powerful. It can suppress the terrorists but never completely annihilate them. You take down one terrorist group and another ten terrorist groups will come out. People can die but ideologies can't."

"That makes sense." Michi appeared enlightened but soon, her brows furrowed. "Why?"

It was a vague question but Rewen subconsciously knew what she was talking about. He slowly opened his mouth and answered with an absent-minded look. "Because… chaos... breeds further chaos…"