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Once Ashton entered the gates, everyone stared at him as if he was a psychopath. But no one spoke a word against him and soon dispersed to get on with their lives.

The eye-patch guy, or Cyclops as he was called, threw a smirk in Ashton\'s direction before making a hasty retreat. It was as clear as the skies above that this wasn\'t the last time they would see each other.

All this while, the Supreme commander\'s team kept an eye on Ashton\'s movements.

"What happened?" Anna placed her hand on Ashton\'s shoulder, but he just shook his head.

"Not the right place to talk about it." While recalling Sven and Raven, Ashton mumbled, "Just some idiots got in the way. Let\'s go."

Anna was still confused by Ashton\'s sudden outburst, but she knew it wasn\'t the time to push him for answers. After all, he had a habit of not troubling her with unnecessary troubles.

In the meantime, the team members who subdued Ashton assessed the boy with attentive eyes. While they did not give a crap about Cyclops, Ashton was of great interest to them because of his recent feat.

However, after seeing them, they had trouble digesting the thought that Phantom had lost to someone like him.

"For being so proficient in Necromancy, that kid is quite strong." The woman from before remarked, "But not strong enough to defeat the Silent Assassin."

"I agree with Qalea. That boy is weaker than my seventh wife." The dual wielder laughed, "I can\'t see someone like him beating Phantom."

"Your wives beat you, though?" A small girl indifferently remarked.

The rest of the team restrained themselves from commenting, but not for long. Since the mercenary association had confirmed that Ashton fought and survived Phantom, it was clear the boy had some trick under his sleeves that helped him, and Nico wanted to know what it was.

"There\'s more to him than meets the eye. Tell that half-breed bastard Arno to keep a close eye on him." The skinny man said, "For now, let\'s prepare for tomorrow\'s operation."

***

When Ashton and Anna returned to their quarters, everyone could sense something was off. Vimur and Laihud dismissed training and rushed inside to get the story.

"Good, I was about to call you." Ashton mumbled while pointing at the seats in front, "I have something I\'d like to share."

Vimur and Laihud stared at each other. Although they trusted Ashton enough to follow him, they knew little to nothing about him. Hell, they didn\'t even know his real name, so the fact Ashton wanted to open up to them about something was entirely unexpected.

However, they did not waste any moment in joining Anna, who unequivocally was just as confused as them. Once everyone was stelled down, Ashton told them everything.

He didn\'t reveal his name to the tank and healer, but he told them about what happened on Planet Euphoria. Even Anna was a bit surprised at the events that followed her kidnapping, as she had been unconscious through most of it.

The more Ashton talked, the more enraged Vimur got. Even Laihud, who was well known to keep his composure no matter the situation, was having a hard time keeping his emotions in check. Finally, when Ashton was done narrating everything, they realised why Ashton lashed out at strangers.

"I think I know which group they are," Laihud broke the silence, "Based on their tattoos, it\'s the Cult of Cosmos. Simply put, they are an organisation that works with various terrorist organisations for mutual benefit."

"Everyone knows what they do; however, due to a lack of sufficient evidence, they are nothing more than a mercenary faction in the eyes of intergalactic law." Vimur chimed in, "A load of cosmic shit, that\'s what they are, in my opinion."

"But, they have a fucking tattoo on their body," Anna said, "That should be enough to take action against this cult or whatever it is!"

"It\'s not a crime to get a tattoo," Ashton shook his head, "Even if they are caught, the cult can say they do not have any relations with the criminals and be done with it. As for the tattoo, anyone can get their body engraved with stupid shit."

Frustration was all over their faces; sadly, there was nothing they could do about the cult. However, Ashton wasn\'t going to let the matter go so quickly.

Cyclops was possibly the only key that would reveal why they were after Anna, and he wasn\'t going to miss it because of some mentally disabled \'Supreme Commander\' and his warning.

"What do we do now?" Laihud asked.

"You guys don\'t agonise yourselves regarding the cult. I\'ll handle them." Ashton replied, "Vimur, tell the guys to stay away from those cultists once the beasts appear and focus on completing the job. Laihud, you\'ll be in charge of keeping an eye on everyone. Bella, you\'ll focus on burning those creatures while staying hidden from vision."

He continued, "I\'m sure those bastards will pull some shit tomorrow. If we have to beat them, we\'ll just have to pull something bigger than they can."

"The Supreme commander might not like it," Vimur pointed out, but it only made Ashton laugh.

There were a few reasons why Ashton did not fight with Nico. First, he was his employer for the time being and getting into an altercation with him would only hurt the faction\'s reputation.

Secondly, he had an army backing him up, so it would not be wise to fight him head-on. The other mercenaries might join his side and make things more difficult for Ashton.

Lastly, Nico would have a moral advantage over Ashton and the Ghosts as he was fighting for his people and country while Ashton, a mercenary, would be fighting for money and rewards. Hence, people throughout the galaxy would believe Nico\'s words or his.

However, Ashton could quickly get rid of most of the reasons with ease.

Once chaos breaks out, it would be every man for himself. Nico and his army would be divided and too busy to think about the safety of the mercenaries, unlike what Nico said to Ashton\'s face earlier.

During that chaos, maybe a beast or two would take care of the cultists. After all, beasts are unpredictable and can do anything they please. That way, no one could blame Ashton for mistakenly tripping over something and stabbing Cyclops while protecting himself.

As for Nico\'s moral high ground, no one would want to associate with someone who employs galactical terrorists for help. For obvious reasons, Ashton wouldn\'t be the one to reveal that information.

However, no one could stop the news from \'accidentally\' getting leaked to the media, especially if that source were someone as renowned as Eula, who already had a beef with terrorists. No one would doubt her for a second, making sure Ashton had a way out if things went south regarding Nico.

"I sure hope that supreme commander doesn\'t get in my way," Ashton smirked, "unless he wants to commit a career suicide."