Code Collector

Allen was so confused as to why Lewis was there. Lewis was the leader of his group with Kyle, Selena, Irene, and Alice but after th Fire Dragon Incident, it was rumored that Lewis got stronger.

"You're here," Winston fixed himself and pointed his palm at Allen. "Let's move on with the deal."

A black hole appeared below Allen to which he fell. He immediately recalled Vince's body and woke up in his own, panting after not being able to believe what just happened.

"Lewis knows Winston," Allen said. "Does he know Jake Summers too?"

Out of curiosity, Allen couldn't help but send Oliver to the alley where Winston and Lewis met. The men weren't present after he arrived and the bag was gone from the trash bin.

Allen surveyed the scene for a couple of seconds before the lights turned blue. His eyes widened and immediately looked for a screen or at least try to hear the announcement.

When the lights would turn black, a Bearer died. But when it turns blue, a Bearer is attacked and is on their way to get treated. If the blue would become darker, the Bearer is in grave danger. If they die, the light would turn black and if they didn't, the lights would turn back to normal.

This was some sort of a nod of respect to the Bearers who are leading humanity as they explored the new worlds. Among all Hunters, the Bearers would have the least assistance because only they could enter Star Nest.

"Good evening everyone," the announcer spoke. "The Primordial Rat Bearer, Louis, has been found in grave danger as he was attacked by an unknown threat. The other Bearers are still investigating on what happened and Louis is now in a stable condition."

The lights of the camp slowly turned back to normal as a heavy sigh of relief escaped Allen's mouth. He was still unsure who or what has been attacking the Bearers but he was suspecting that it had something to do with the humans from other planets.

Unlike Serratas who were the only powerful Otherworldly beasts that could create disasters, the other humans were strong. Just the fact that they could threaten an entire camp in case that Allen does not give away one of his Celestums.

But for whatever reason, the other humans are attacking the Hunters from Earth. This was slowly making Allen's head hurt, so he recalled Oliver and went to the kitchen with his original body.

He cooked himself something to eat just in time for him to see Bernard creeping out of a room. Allen hid his presence and watched Bernard walk out of Sebastian's room, suspiciously looking around before entering his own room.

This made Allen smirk and shake his head. These two are so secretive that they are planning something in the middle of the night. From Allen's perspective, they are somewhat of an odd pair because they could've planned ahead when no one was inside the unit but them. Why did they talked when everyone was around?

Sweeping the thoughts off his mind, Allen continued cooking. That was when he saw Jeremy walk out his room and wipe his eye. "Can't sleep?"

"No," Allen said. "Have you heard the announcement?"

"Announcement?" Jeremy asked. Before Allen could answer, more and more people got out. Bernard was first and then Sebastian, then Remy who was taking Kenneth in a wheelchair.

"Louis was attacked," Remy said. "I'm afraid that this was the same person who attacked Kenneth."

Allen glanced at Kenneth who was in a wheelchair. He seemed to be in a much better state than he previously was. The bags under his eyes were gone, it was just he was less and less effeminate. Much less when he had his Code.

"Roger Huntsman," Kenneth said. "If I see that person again, I'll kill him for sure."

"You have to remember how powerful he made you feel," Remy reminded. "We'll go and investigate about Louis. You stay here with Sebastian."

Remy and Bernard went to the Hunters organization headquarters where they were going to discuss what would happen next. There, they would have a conference along with all the board officials of the Hunters, which included the ones from Barandilla.

Allen hated to admit, but when Fantasia was caught, it did little to no damage on Barandilla. It merely took a dirt out of the way considering that Fantasia was a woman who was flashy and would always cause trouble. Without her, Barandilla could peacefully do their own work without leaving too many traces.

"They must've forgot that I'm a board official too," Kenneth chuckled after seeing the two left the unit. He shook his head and moved his wheelchair right by the floor to ceiling window where Allen and Jeremy followed him.

"It's so pitiful," Kenneth said. "I feel so worthless right now. Even Louis could lose his Code and we can't do anything about it. I feel pity for myself and I don't know what to do."

Allen wanted to say something but he wasn't sure what. Words could be far from healing Kenneth and he knows that. The man was broken and only he himself could fix him.

"You know," Jeremy suddenly spoke and sat on the floor beside Kenneth's wheelchair. They shared the view of the night camp and talked. "I was always unsure of myself. I thought I was strong. But when I thought I lost a friend and every single day after that, I felt petty."

Jeremy quickly glanced at Allen before he continued. "Then I strived to just live and not do anything anymore. Just live. When I saw my friend again, well and alive, I had another purpose. And that's to support him as much as he can with as much as I could. My friend is the most important person to me right now.",

"So, you're living your life to serve someone else?" Kenneth asked, making Jeremy purse his lips and shake his head. "Then, what?"

"I'm living my life to do what I have to do, and that's to help Allen," Jeremy said. "You lost your Bunny Code, but it doesn't mean that you lost everything. You still have your unique fighting style and your ability to support. That's not something just anyone could take away from you."

This made Kenneth stare at Jeremy for a couple of seconds. A smirk was formed in his lips and he removed his gaze from the man. He then stared at the window where the city lights slowly died down as everyone prepared for the arrival of the sun.

"It's daytime," Kenneth smiled and stood. "This is the first time I'm going to do things that I want to do for myself."

Jeremy also stood then smiled at Kenneth. "You're alright now. You're alright."

–

"Louis is already okay," Remy reported to Sebastian when they got back to the unit. "I also talked to him and he was staring into space. I know what that looked meant. It's what I saw on Kenneth when I helped him."

The door opened and Bernard came inside, pushing Louis on a wheelchair. The latter was staring blankly into space, looking like a zombie with stress in his face. 

"Louis," Sebastian walked over to them. Louis glanced at Sebastian, stared for a few seconds, then returned his gaze on the empty space in front of him.

"I lost everything," Louis said. "I lost everything. All my hard work, all– everything. I lost them all."

Allen gulped after realizing that Louis meant that he lost his Primordial Rat Code. Even when Kenneth looked down when he lost his own Code, Louis looked worse. He wanted to ask why, but he actually knows why.

Louis has been regarded as the weakest Primordial Beast Bearer. He relies too much on his Code that the moment he lost it, he didn't know what to do anymore. Kenneth had a different fighting style and he can always replicate it using different Codes, but Louis does not.

The moment his Code was stolen from him marked the end for his journey. He was now a man without a strong Code.

"Wake up," Kenneth said to Louis. "It's not the end of the world, so why are you staring into space like that? I lost mine too, but I didn't act like a baby."

"They took everything from me," Louis said. "Along with the Rat, they stole my high grade Codes. I only have Rare grades now."

This shook the entire room. They looked at each other and sympathie for Louis. He not only lost his main power, the person who attacked him completely annihilated him when he also stole Louis's Codes.

Louis laughed bitterly as he stared into the ceiling. "What do I do now? I don't know what to do anymore. Should I just become an accountant in Earth? I think it's what I have to do."

Allen felt worried as he listened to Louis talk gibberish. He was also a Bearer of a Primordial Beast Code. What if he was hunted next?