Chapter 237 – 237 – Peacemaker

“Couldn’t they have picked a better name,” Leva whispered in a voice so low it was barely audible.

Manu just signaled by putting his index finger to his lips.

“Good afternoon, Mr. Pratt. My name is Trevor, and these are my fellow colonists.” Trevor responded in a friendly tone. “Can I help you?”

The man named Ethan narrowed his eyes. “You’re not like the androids I’m used to… Ah, that’s not important. Here we read about the existence of two active mechs.”

“That’s right, we are preparing for the arrival of the A.I. who is rogue and wants to exterminate the humans,” Trevor explained. “Are you aware of this, sir?”

“I already knew that,” Ethan replied in a cold tone. “And you don’t need to get ready. Just leave everything to us.”

Trevor was silent for a few seconds. “What do you mean, sir?”

“Leave all your weapons to us, including the two mechs. Let us fight the rogue A.I.”

Leva immediately took the tablet in the hands of the android. She cleared her throat for a moment before finally speaking. “Isn’t that too much, Mr. Pratt? We also need those weapons to protect ourselves.”

“Ownership of unattended weapons will only lead to disaster. I don’t know how long you guys have been on this planet. However, you need to know this, the war between savages continues in this place. And it will only get worse with possession of firearms and mechs. More and more people will die.”

Leva laughed sarcastically. “So what gives you and your organization the right to control those weapons?”

“What we do is not based on greed or other things that only benefit ourselves or a group.” Ethan’s tone turned slightly higher. “Our goal is for peace and common safety.”

“Who guarantees that you will stick to your goals?”

I could see that Leva’s hands were tightly clenched, signifying that she was holding back her emotions.

“There are only two choices, believe it or not with us,” Ethan said again. “If you believe in us, then hand over all the weapons you have. Otherwise, we will be forced to snatch them from you.”

“Sir,” Trevor spoke again. “Can we talk about this before we….”

“Since a long time ago, I’ve had discussions with parties who don’t want to give up their weapons.” Ethan interrupted. “You know what? In the end, it’s all the same. We’re the ones forced to take their weapons, and it’s always bloody. So, a discussion is not an option. I don’t want to waste any more time. My organization is coming to all of you, and I hope you’re willing to give up your weapons. If you fight us, you will know the consequences for yourself.”

Trevor hastily replied. “Please, listen to us first. We can work together…”

However, the line of communication was suddenly turned off.

“Just a moment, I’ll reconnect this communication.” Trevor froze, probably trying to connect the signal from Ethan using what was inside. However, after a few seconds had passed, he said. “Sorry, looks like we’ve lost him. I can still connect to their device, but my attempts to open a conversation are always blocked.”

“Shit!” Leva cursed. “Why is he being so selfish like that!? In the end, they’re the ones who made the destruction!”

“Are you able to detect if they have mechs too?” Manu asks.

“They have two, and I’d say they’re in a similar condition to ours… No, ours is actually better because it’s been repaired and maintained.” Trevor explained.

“Then do you know how many troops they have?”

Trevor shook his head. “As for that matter, I don’t know.”

Well, I’m not going to hand over our weapons to that Ethan Pratt-led organization. As Leva said, we need those weapons to protect ourselves. The other party has no right to take it for any reason.

Unfortunately, I don’t know who they really are. They could be members of the military who have been trained. They may have troops capable of fighting. The information I have is really scanty.

And what’s worse, we no longer have an ally.

“How much longer until they get here?” Manu asks again.

“Well, they won’t be here any time soon.” Trevor shrugged. “Probably about 10-12 more days.”

“So, what should we do?” Leva rubbed her forehead.

“You guys practice.” I gave orders. “Stop all non-essential activities, then you guys train intensely. The skilled ones train those with low stats. All of you must fight to defend your home.”

Leva sighed. “Well, looks like we really need to train more intensely.”

“I agree.” Manu nodded. “We train while thinking of ways to beat them, even though we don’t know too much about them.”

“I’ll try to hack the technology they have, be it tablets, mechs, or something else.” Trevor joined in. “Who knows if I might find a record or something to show how many they were. Or some other data that might be in our favor… Or I might be able to destroy their system from within.”

***

“Manu, can we talk for a minute?” Leva invites Manu, who is cleaning up the brick-making site.

“Oh, just a minute,” Manu responds. “I’ll sort this out for a moment.”

“Let me help.”

After all of Manu’s work was done, the two people left the colony. They walked under the sky that was starting to turn orange.

“I no longer have the power to predict the dangers that will come to us.” Leva sighed. “However, from all the information I got, from the rogue A.I., the organization belonging to a person named Ethan, to the mystery of that figure in outer space. Everything shows that danger will always lurk in us. And what’s even more terrifying is that it’s more than anything we’ve ever faced, either in this tribe or in our past.”

Ah, Leva spoke to Manu because the man was a member of the tribe like that woman, not a crashlanded. In addition, Manu was also one of the first members of this colony.

“I feel the same way as you.” Manu sighed. “Before this, what we were dealing with were beasts or humans from other tribes. Now, what we will be dealing with are evil artificial intelligence, metal giants, and beings that might be called gods.”

Leva closed her eyes and stopped in her tracks. “At a time like this, it’s hard to stay optimistic, Manu.”

“I’m not going to pretend to be a strong human, and I’m sure we can do all of this well.” Manu sighed. “However, from what we have experienced so far, I can conclude one thing, we can only try. If we give up, we will definitely lose.”

“Hey, it turns out you can be wise, Manu.” Leva chuckled.

Manu smiles. “Well, you could say the circumstances that made me like this. Even though my brain is still not quite right.”

“At the very least, you’re not committing the stupidity of killing people again for absurd reasons.”

Manu’s smile disappears. “I’ve often chatted with the humans from the sky ship. They often talk about their wishes in the future, about the dreams they want to achieve. However, for people like us, maybe we don’t think about it at all. From birth, we’re just being trained to survive. Well, we can still do what we want, though. However, I don’t think it’s a journey to reach a dream.”

Leva was silent for a moment. “I often hear about their place of origin. The place they call earth. Hearing the story of that place, I feel their life is so peaceful. Well, Eric once said there are still crimes, even murder. However, compared to our life, I’m envious of life on earth.”

“Huh? You want peace?” Manu chuckled. “Don’t you like fighting?”

“After I’ve seen a lot of deaths, I feel peace is better. Hell, if I want to fight, we just have to manage the match by rules, like the one held at Redtooth a while ago.”

“Ah, it can be said that your goal now is to create peace in this land, right?” Manu nodded. “Then how do you make that happen?”

“Honestly, Manu. I’ve never thought about it. Hell, I haven’t decided to make that my goal either.”

“Have you heard the story from Eric about a group called a big country that has a world peace mission?”

Leva shook his head slowly. “I’ve never heard of that.”

“Can you guess what they are doing so that other countries don’t create conflicts that disturb the peace?”

Leva shook her head again, but a second later, she was mute with her mouth hanging open.

“Looks like you already know where this conversation is going.” Manu smiles bitterly.

“Violence.” Leva hissed. “They resort to violence to make others submit… Just like what the organization belonging to the man named Ethan Pratt did.”

“Is it worth it to achieve peace with the loss of many lives?”

“Hard question.” Leva scratched her hair. “And I don’t like to overthink into it. Ugh, let’s forget about this conversation. We’d better focus on dealing with Ethan Pratt and his men.”

Manu laughs. “Hey, you’re the one who started this conversation first.”

“Yeah, it’s my fault.” Leva snorted, then walked back to her colony. “We’d better go home now.. It looks like Yvonne is cooking something good for us again.”