Code Collector

Allen was dodging all the attacks that were being launched at him. He was confused as to what was happening, having no idea why Jeremy was acting this way.

Compared to their fight from before, Allen felt like Jeremy was much much stronger than before. It felt like his powers had increased tenfold since the last time they clashed swords.

"Jeremy?" Allen called out as he continued to dodge. "Jeremy, just tell me what's wrong. Why are you acting this way? We have a plan. Remember our plan!"

Jeremy had no response. He continued slashing his knife at Allen at high speed. He was trying to hit critical spots, making Allen have to pay attention more. If he takes a wrong move or fail to move even an inch, it could end him.

After a while of continuous dodging, Allen has had enough. He grunted and used his dagger to block Jeremy's attack. "Wake up, idiot! You were supposed to follow Matthew and continue our plan. What has gotten into you?"

Even after all his words, Jeremy was still unresponsive. The man pulled his knife and let it vanish into thin air. He summoned another weapon which was a sword embedded with crystals and the blade had saw-like edges.

"Like my Gem Slicer?" Jeremy grinned. "It's made to kill."

"Why are you acting like this?" Allen grunted. He lunged towards Jeremy and swung his dagger. The man was fast enough to block the attack, making Allen's eyes widen in shock.

"You're good," Jeremy said. "But not good enough."

Jeremy spun, letting Allen fall forward while he clashed the pommel of his sword on Allen's back. This made the boy cough out blood, feeling the force travel throughout his body with a painful crash.

"Like this?" Jeremy smirked. "There's more where that came from."

Before Allen's body could land on the ground, Jeremy slid beside him and crashed his knee onto Allen's stomach. This made Allen see all black as more pain seethed throughout his body.

"You like this?" Jeremy smirked. He made it look like Allen was a soccer ball as he continued using his shoes to kick Allen around. "I have always thought of a way to past time, and now I have my way. I can be the Wandering Trader, and I will take control of the world's market bit by bit."

Jeremy chuckled as he watched Allen fall to the ground. He finally stopped kicking the boy and stood there with his sword on one hand, a sinister smirk plastered on his lips. "And there's nothing you can do about it."

It was dark and everything was barely visible. He saw Allen move, making him go closer to the latter. "What the hell are you planning now, huh?"

Allen didn't reply. Instead, he continued with what he was doing. He was tweaking something under him as several flashed of light lit up.

"Hey!" Jeremy yelled. "I told you, what are you doing?"

Just when the police officer got closer to Allen, the boy vanished. This made Jeremy take a step back in shock. His eyes widened as he looked around. "Where the hell are you now?!"

"One," Allen whispered from behind him. Jeremy then felt a surge of pain travel to his spine. He realized that he had been stabbed in the back. "You were only able to land a few hits on me because I wasn't ready. My equipment were still inside my inventory at that time."

Jeremy's body was blown away by a hammer. He crashed on a wall, destroying it completely. "Guah!"

"Two, you're really bad at hitting. What level are you? 30? That's way below the average level of Haven, so choose your opponents carefully," Allen kicked the other man, doing all the things that was done to him but he did it ten times harder. "And three…"

He kicked the man in the air, he looked at him in the eyes that were now filled with terror and dread. "Jeremy can see in the dark."

As the man fell, Allen readied himself. When he was close enough, Allen kicked him in his stomach as hard as he can, making his body crash through three cement walls of the building they were in and the next.

"You really had a bad impression," Allen chuckled. "All you had was that teleportation Code and the appearance copying Code. Everything else is just trash."

–

A badge was proudly displayed in front of a man. "What?"

"I'm Jeremy Young," Jeremy introduced. "It seemed like you found a victim of an accident. Let me take him to the hospital and take over this case. I happen to be eating nearby when I saw the commotion."

Matthew was reluctant. He narrowed his eyes and shook his head. "I already called healers. We will meet at the police station, and I will be the one taking on this case."

"But you're not from this camp," Jeremy said, pretending to look as innocent as possible.

"According to law, you could take on a case from the camp as long as it's a predecessor camp of the one you're at," Matthew said. "So, I think I can take it from here."

"Yes, but then it also states that you're not allowed to just take on any case," Jeremy said. "Mr. Matthew Gray, you need to have the case issued onto you for you to actively participate in it. Otherwise, you'd be an obstruction of justice and will be sued."

"You're sharp," Matthew smirked and handed over the old man to Jeremy. The latter smiled and grabbed the old man, carrying the old man in his back. "I barely see any police officer of your caliber. What's your rank?"

"Police Officer Three," Jeremy said. "And don't ask why."

"Why?" Matthew asked otherwise. "Also, if you know my name, you should also be aware that I don't exactly listen to a lot of people."

"I know that," Jeremy said. "But there are just some issues that weren't resolved in my favor, that's why I wasn't able to rise in the ranks."

"Oh, that's interesting enough," Matthew said. "Well, it was nice to meet you. I still have an ongoing case, so I better head on out."

"But you're a witness," Jeremy said. "What if we do this. You help me with this case, I'll help you with yours."

Matthew pursed his lips for a moment. It took him a couple of seconds before he nodded. He offered his hand, "We have a deal."

"And I'm carrying an old man, so I can't exactly take that hand," Jeremy snorted. This made Matthew laugh out loud.

"You're funny," Matthew said. "Let's go?"

Jeremy smiled, "Let's go."

While Jeremy lead Matthew to the police station, Allen was sitting on top the impostor's unconscious body. His appearance copying Code has been lifted, revealing a man that was quite familiar to Allen.

"Allen!" Jack opened the door of the empty warehouse the impostor was thrown at. "Where were you? What happened?"

"This guy teleported me on that building," Allen pointed at the dark hall with a large hole in the roof. "Then this guy tried to kill me, so I showed him who's boss."

"That guy?" Jack's eyebrows met as he take a peak at the unconscious man. His eyes widened and a smirk grew in his lips. "This bastard… he's one of Chen's."

"He is," Allen said, sighing. "Baldy right here is one of Chen's personal bodyguard. I didn't tell you, but I met Chen before in my Wandering Trader gig."

Jack snorted, "You made a deal with him?"

"Yeah, why not?" Allen shrugged. "Besides, Chen looked like he could provide me information."

"Even though you were working with me, you made a deal with him," Jack crossed his arms. "How shameless can you get? And how do I trust you now?"

"Too dramatic," Allen said. "Can you wake this baldy up so we can ask him questions? It's bothering me how he knew where we were. And his Codes, they weren't just normal Codes. They were high grade that I'm sure Chen provided."

"Yeah," Jack sighed. "Donald, wake him up."

The man from Jack's crowd walked closer to the man. He made Allen stop sitting over the man while he leaned closer.

"Is he going to perform a Code skill?" Allen asked. "This made me excited for some reason. I have never seen someone perform a Code skill to wake people up."

"You're really shameless these days, have you noticed?" Jack smirked. 

"I wonder where I got it?" Allen snorted, making Jack deadpan. "Definitely from you, old man."

"Whatever," Jack rolled his eyes. They fell silent as they watched Donald wake the bald man up.

Donald held the bald man's collar. He then took a deep breath while Allen held his. "Hey, bald bitch, wake up!"

Donald shook the bald man's head, trying to wake him up. "Hey, I said wake up!"

Allen's jaw fell and a scoff escaped his lips. "This– What the hell are you doing?!"