After nearly an hour of running, Skarey finally caught up to Akimi and his group.
"W-wait! You three, wait up!"
Mustering his courage, he spread his arms wide to block their path, his voice trembling.
At the same time, he kept cursing himself inside—Why the hell did I get so hot-headed and challenge Akimi to a duel?!
Now my weapon's broken, and the mission Boss Thinker assigned me will be hard to finish…
With Skarey clinging to them like a piece of dogskin plaster that wouldn't come off, even the usually good-tempered Asuna furrowed her brows impatiently.
"What's your problem? Why are you still following us?"
The look Akimi gave Skarey grew increasingly hostile, as if he was ready to teach him a lesson at any moment.
Even though the Safe Zone rules prevented him from doing real harm, there were always… less-than-honorable methods around the system.
Seeing the murderous glint in Akimi's eyes, Skarey flinched in fear, waving his hands hurriedly.
"Boss Thinker wants—uh, asks you to come to the Army headquarters. He has important matters he wants to discuss with you."
"Thinker? What would he want with us?"
Akimi found it strange—he'd never had any dealings with Thinker.
Their only encounter had been at the Floor 25 boss raid meeting, and even then they had been seated far apart.
Akimi hadn't even gotten a clear look at Thinker's face, much less spoken with him.
Basically, they were strangers.
After the return of Kibaou's squad to Starting City, around mid-May, Thinker had risen from vice-commander to commander, while Kibaou was demoted to vice-commander.
And the Aincrad Liberation Squad that had splintered off from Diavel's party had by then reorganized into the Aincrad Liberation Force—transforming from ALS into what everyone now simply called "the Army" (ALF).
Since then, not only had Akimi and the others never met Thinker, they hadn't even seen a single Army member.
But according to Argo, the Army had evolved into a highly centralized guild under Thinker's leadership.
All resources and materials were distributed by him alone.
If there was a surplus, they would even hand out supplies to low-level players stuck in Starting City.
In addition, they had apparently occupied the Black Iron Palace, declaring it the Army's private domain and barring other players from entering freely.
Argo had once even wondered aloud why, after withdrawing from the frontlines, the Army members' average levels weren't far behind the front-line raiders.
She had been puzzled about it for quite a while—
But to Akimi, who knew some inside information, it wasn't surprising at all.
Beneath the Black Iron Palace were hordes of high-level monsters, generally level 60 and above.
And at the deepest level lurked a boss—the Grim Reaper's Scythe—stronger than even a floor 90 monster.
With an entire high-efficiency grinding zone all to themselves, of course the Army's leveling speed wouldn't fall behind.
Anyway, back to the point.
For Thinker to suddenly send someone to summon them now felt… a little fishy.
Skarey didn't even dare meet Akimi's eyes anymore.
Staring at the ground, he mumbled, "I… I don't know what Boss Thinker wants either… He just told me to say he needs your help with something."
Akimi couldn't help but feel speechless at Skarey's ignorance.
Rubbing his forehead, he retorted, "And why should we go? We don't have any connection to him, so I don't see why we owe him any favors."
When it looked like they were about to leave, Skarey quickly shouted, "Boss Thinker also said that if you succeed, there'll be a generous reward!"
"Oh? What kind of reward? Be specific."
Hearing that, Akimi and Kirito instantly perked up, the two money-grubbers speaking in unison as they pressed Skarey for details.
This left Asuna utterly speechless on the spot—Was it really okay to be this mercenary?
Not even pretending to move without seeing the bait first.
With a straight face, Skarey replied, "Boss Thinker said: 'Once the task is complete, all items and materials will be handed over in full, and the earned Col will be split seventy-thirty.'"
After a brief exchange of glances, Akimi and Kirito both nodded slightly.
Then Akimi grinned and said, "Alright then, let's go see what on earth have he got in his sleeve?."
At the same time, at the very top of the 39th floor of the labyrinth tower, the captain of the Divine Dragon Union's scouting squad was nearly bulging his eyes out.
He snapped angrily in a low voice, "Where's the Boss Room?! We spent two whole days turning this entire labyrinth tower upside down, so why haven't we found the Boss Room yet?!"
His voice echoed throughout the massive, empty space, but it brought about no change.
His subordinates could only hunch their shoulders and silently endure their captain's rage, though deep down, they were a little resentful—why are you yelling so loud, can't you show a little respect?
They didn't know why the labyrinth tower had no Boss Room either.
On the other side of the area, the captain of the Knights of the Blood Alliance also found it strange, but he was far more composed than the Divine Dragon Union's captain.
He didn't shout or scream, only calmly observed the surroundings and directed his squad members to scout the area.
But this place was indeed bizarre—being the very top of the 39th floor of the labyrinth tower, there was nothing here at all, only a blank zone with the same diameter as the tower itself.
It was as if the area had failed to load properly: no monsters, no rooms, nothing whatsoever.
Gazing into the pitch-dark space around him, the captain of the Knights of the Blood Alliance slowly narrowed his eyes and murmured, "Could it be that Kayaba Akihiko never intended to let us escape SAO? That can't be right…"
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