New Eden: Live to Play, Play to Live

Chapter 1072: Arriving At Point Delta



With their early start and the constant speed of travel the vehicles had been travelling at, it was no surprise when the first car pulled up at point delta and started looking for a discreet place to park.

Looking around, it wasn't long for the driver to pick a secluded spot at the back of what seemed to be a rest area alongside a lovely, hilly region.

With the belvedere overlooking the valley below and the trees shedding their first few leaves as autumn approached, it was hard to hide the glaring black spot that was the SUV in this decor, but the driver managed to park in the far back, where no one was.

On the passenger side, the door opened, and a woman dressed in business attire jumped out, her head on a swivel to spot anyone looking at them too long.

She lit herself a cigarette, leaning on the vehicle's hood, and glared at anyone looking in their direction for more than a few seconds, warding off undesired eyes with her intimidating stare.

A few minutes later, a second black SUV entered the rest area, parking away from the first one, and another person walked out of the SUV, this time on the driver's side, and walked to a small shop on the side of the belvedere.

He bought a coffee, offering nothing but smiles and warm glances to everyone who turned their head toward him, the man dressed like a casual young man on a stroll through the Chinese sightseeing road.

He returned to his vehicle, holding a hot coffee and a bag filled with snacks, and chucked the bag on the back seats, careful not to open the door too wide.

"Car two is already here, but I don't see car one," he whispered as he closed the door before he climbed the front of the truck to sit on the hood and sip his coffee while he looked at the valley from there, faking interest and awe.

Inside the vehicle's back window, a small red dot suddenly started flashing rhythmically, in a string of small flashes and longer ones, until it stopped altogether.

The woman smoking her cigarette saw the flashes, making sure it wasn't obvious she was watching them, and once they stopped, she started tapping the hood with her left hand, seemingly following a beat in her head as she bobbed it along.

Tapping the hood with the tip of her fingers and palm of her hand, she completed her coded message before flicking the cigarette away, faking a chill, and sitting back in her vehicle.

The woman turned her head to the driver and relayed the message she received, not needing to relay the one she sent as he had seen it.

"They are all safe and apparently weren't followed. They haven't caught sight of the first car either. Now we wait."

The driver nodded, looking outside at the passersby, and clicked his tongue.

"Of all the places she could take for a meetup, why did she take a touristic point like this? There are so many people that we can hardly go unnoticed..."

The woman punched his arm, glaring at him.

"Stop questioning her motives. It's why you lost your lieutenant rank, Takagi. She must have had her reasons," she said, looking at him with a smirk.

Takagi clicked his tongue with annoyance, giving her a side-eye.

"It was already an insult to strip me of my rank and give it to you, who I trained from the moment your father sold you to our organization. Why did she have to put us in the same vehicle?" he growled.

The woman chortled, glancing at him with a haughty expression.

"Maybe she thought you still had things to learn and that putting you with me would set you back in your place?" she mocked.

Takagi glared at her.

"Don't get ahead of yourself, Haruto. I'd sooner be dead than learn anything from your brazen actions and unfriendly attitude. It's a miracle you haven't been caught during a mission yet and slaughtered. You have the discretion of an elephant in a porcelain shop."

She whipped her left hand sideways toward his throat, a kunai gripped by her fingers, and he stopped her hand a foot away from his throat with his left hand, his right hand flying at her face and stopping a few inches from it.

Between his fingers, two needles pointed directly at Haruto's eyes, barely a few millimetres from them.

The threat of losing her eyes didn't stop her from glaring at him.

"Predictable as always, girl. As I said, no discretion. I could see you reaching for your kunai before the thought crossed your mind to slash at me. Still wet behind the ears," he mocked, shaking his hand like he was disappointed in a child.

Haruto pulled her hand back forcefully, glaring at her predecessor, but kept her mouth shut. She could have threatened to have him slaughtered for insubordination, but Lady Aoi would never take her word over his, and she knew it. It was pointless to try.

It was easier just to wait for him to question her orders again and have the Lady order his execution herself.

Takagi saw the grin stretch on her lips and could almost hear the devious thoughts in her head, but he paid them no mind. The girl had always been like this.

Rash and hasty in her decisions, always acting like she had to prove herself.

He had tried for years to break that out of her in vain.

Her prowess in combat was hardly rivalled by any of her peers, and she could give even him a run for his money, so she had earned the Lady's respect.

But he knew she would slip up eventually and only waited for the moment to reclaim his rightful place as the lieutenant of Lady Aoi's family branch.

Until then, he had to deal with her mocking glances and sharp tongue. But what were a few sharp words and hostile glances in the grander scheme of things when the world might end in

a few years?

'When things start going sideways, her recklessness will cost her greatly, and the Lady will have to reconsider her decision to make her lieutenant. I can wait until then.'

In the back of the vehicle, Killian, Winston, and the third member of Kujaku's retinue looked

at the scene, a repeat of what had been happening for hours, and sighed.

'Will those two ever stop going at each other's throats?' they all wondered, discouraged.

'It'll be a long trip...'