Shambala Sect

He came and stood behind her.

"Why are you hiding behind me?" Sariyu stepped aside, but he did as well.

(Her scent... It"s more potent than Primera"s. There"s something unusual mixed in it. If I go near her again, I might not be able to control myself anymore.) Lirzod firmly stared at the floor.

On the other hand, Burton observed the workers in the vicinity, all of whom had their heads tilted down. (Something"s not right.) All of them were wearing white and blue dress code.

Stussy stood where she was. She pulled back her sleeves, just a bit, which slightly exposed the strangely-nice ink patterns on her forearms, though only by a little, and especially the white tattoo on her wrist, made her appear all the more intriguing. Though it was dark, the ornaments that subtly decorated the exquisite cloak she wore made her look like a savage princess of the heaven. "I"m the navigator of this ship. It will take about four months before we reach the Shambala Sect"s headquarters. Till then, you three must do your best to reach as high as you can on these decks." She pointed her finger towards the workers. "These Hollows will show you the rooms and will help you answer your questions. Have a happy voyage." Saying that she went back to her spot, that"s above the figurehead.

Sariyu and Burton left with two of the workers, i.e., Hollows. Lirzod, however, stayed there gaping at Stussy.

Nearby Lirzod, a guy was waiting for him. With an average build and 177cm height, that red-haired guy had a face that wouldn"t really stand out, but wouldn"t go unnoticed either. "Hey, are you going to move or not?"

His attempt to interact with Lirzod, miserably failed, as he didn"t even get a reaction. He walked up to Lirzod and patted his shoulder, but there was no response.

He patted again. "Hey."

"Mch," Lirzod waved his hand and pushed that guy"s hand away without even looking.

"Hey, I"m talking to you!" He placed his hand on Lirzod"s shoulder.

"What"s this nuisance?" Lirzod pushed his hand away without even looking, again. "I"m busy. Go and beg elsewhere."

"B-Beg?" That guy frowned. Slowly but surely, his hand formed into a fist. "n.o.body has ever called me a beggar." He controlled his anger, as best as he could. "But I guess there"s a first time for everything. So I let this mistake of your slide..."

"Just what"s your freaking problem, huh?" Lirzod finally turned back and made eye-contact with the guy. "You"ve been nagging in my ears nonstop, like my mother! Can"t you see I"m busy?"

"Busy? You are..?"

"Yeah. I am. So, go and mind your business," Lirzod was about to turn back towards the figurehead, but he was held back by the guy, who placed his hand on Lirzod"s shoulder, and used a bit of force. "What are you doing?"

"I"m told to take you to your a.s.signed room. So you should come with me."

"Yeah, I will," Lirzod stepped away from him and stared up towards the top of the figurehead. (She must be bored there alone.) He looked back at his luggage and reached there. He pulled out a five-kilo see-through-plastic packet that"s full of a mixture of nuts — cashews, almonds, peanuts, groundnuts, walnuts, and hazelnuts — and walked towards the figurehead.

"What"s he doing?" The other guy was puzzled.

Lirzod stopped at the base of the figurehead and looked up perpendicularly. "These nuts... They are grown by a Nut Specialist. Will you take these?"

"Hmph," The guy shook his head. (Does he really think he can get on her good side with that? Though the nuts do look tasty..." He shook his head again. "They are not enough."

Lirzod stood there for almost a minute, but there was no reply.

"You seriously can"t expect her to react for offering something so simple," The guy spoke just loud enough that his voice reached Lirzod"s ears.

Lirzod looked at the packet for a few seconds, before placing it down. He looked up again, "I"m keeping them here. So try them... I hope you got it." He turned back and came to that guy. "Let"s go."

"Sure, but there"s one thing that needed to be done before."

"What"s that? Do you perhaps know of a way to get her to take those nuts?"

"N-No," The guy pulled out a sticker from within his pockets. "I was talking about this one."

"That... That can make her eat my nuts!"

The guy"s enlarged. "Watch your mouth. If she heard that, she"d slice your head into hundred chunks."

"My bad," Lirzod partly shut his mouth. "So, now tell me, what"s that?"

"It"s a tattoo of the number "ten"," The guy placed it on Lirzod"s outer palm. "Since we"re on the tenth deck of this ship right now... And since this is the highest deck you"ve reached... You must wear this tattoo at someplace on your body, to showcase your ident.i.ty to others."

"Oh, it serves as ident.i.ty huh... It"s not permanent, right?"

"Of course, not. But let me warn you... If you try to remove it using silly means, it will cause you trouble."

"Hmm? How can a tattoo cause trouble—" Lirzod was about to say, but stopped himself before finishing his line. "Never mind its importance, but it sure looks like your face."

"... Is my face pretty or not?"

"Uh... Your face is pretty, but this thing"s not."

The guy ground his teeth. "It"s just number 10. What"s so bad about it?"

"I don"t know. It just doesn"t invoke any emotions in me. If you know what I mean."

"That"s just a temporary tattoo. You are expecting too much. Let"s go. We"ve already wasted lots of time."

"Sure."

Lirzod walked behind the guy who also took the job of pushing the luggage cart, other than showing the way.

As they were walking, Lirzod casually looked around, and his eyes just happened to look at three horses that gorged on fresh gra.s.s. (You d.a.m.n fiends. You made us fools and looked down on us and our clan... And now, you are stuffing your stomachs out here? You deserve to be clubbed a hundred times for kicking me. Fifty more times for kicking Sariyu. But since you lot also kicked Burton, you three earned a deduction of ten beatings, which still leaves a total of hundred and forty beatings.)

The three horses were in a separate stable as compared to other horses, most of which were grouped together under larger roofs. Though there were other horses than just the three. But he just knew that it was the three horses in the separate stable which messed with them before.

Lirzod looked back at the guy. "By the way, I didn"t ask your name yet."

"777."

"Triple Seven? I didn"t ask for your lucky number."

"That"s my name."

"Name? What sort of name is that?"

"You will know why it is my name, afterward."

"Fine. So, can you tell me where the supplies for the horses is stored at?"

"I can, but why should I tell you?" 777 said, without even looking back.

A moment later, Lirzod pulled out a copper coin, and tossed it into the air, which crossed over 777"s head, and landed in his palm.

"Just a copper? Do you think I"m a beggar?"

Lirzod startled. (This guy"s got greedy eyes. Why didn"t I realize this till now?) "Alright." Lirzod handed another copper coin.

777 glanced back, showcasing the slight anger, building in his eyes.

Lirzod handed two more copper and exposed his palms. "I can"t give you anymore over such simple information. Either take it or give it back."

"I don"t have the habit of giving back what"s given, especially if it"s money," 777 slid the coins into his pocket.

Lirzod narrowed his eyes. (Made me give an excess of three copper huh... Fine, I"ll get them back from you in time.)

"Regarding the animal supplies, every deck has a special place built for it, called a Storage Hall. You"re lucky, our deck"s Storage Hall is close by." He pointed his finger towards his eleven o"clock.

Lirzod looked in that direction and saw a wooden garage that"s quite larger than the stables the animals were put in. "That"s the..." He glanced back at 777, who nodded and said, "yes." Lirzod"s anger only built up further. There"s no name written on the garage, so he was made a fool. "What"s your role on this ship?"

"I told you, I"m a Hollow."

"I know you are a Hollow. So am I. I am talking about the —" His hand flighted and caught something that came from the side. Lirzod glanced in the direction that the object came from, and saw a group of four men sitting on the stairs of a stable.

"Oww... He caught it! I"m right!" Those men laughed among themselves and exchanged some coins among themselves.

777 turned back. "Don"t mind them, Egg Diggers. They just rag the newcomers by throwing eggs at them. You find these kinds of groups on many decks. Though they may seem disjointed, they all work together under a name called Goog Gang. Some also call it G"oogs Guild." You can say that they are like a guild. As long as you just ignore their projections, you will be fine."

Lirzod"s face was expressionless for a few seconds, but then he smiled. He shook his hand a little, "this seems to be a raw egg. I don"t really like it. Next time, throw me a boiled one, guys!" (Goog gang... It sounds like the Loosh Gang that scared the people in my state.)

Saying that Lirzod walked away. 777 observed Lirzod from behind. (He managed to catch the egg without breaking it...) A faint smile appeared on his face, and he hurriedly came to him. "Where do you think you"re going? Without my guidance, you will lose your way inside."

"I wasn"t going anywhere. You are just too slow."

"I am slow? You are slow! Your father is slow!"

"How do you know that?"

"... I don"t. It"s just a flow of the mouth."

Lirzod observed the floor. "This wood seems special."

"You bet. It"s said that this wood is of trees that grew in regions unbeknownst to many men. Just a ton of this wood would cost a fortune."

"This whole ship is made out of this same wood?" Lirzod felt a bit uneasy to breathe in. "I wouldn"t expect anything less from the Shambala Sect, be it the wood or the ladies."

"Ladies?"

"Ah, never mind."

As those two left, the four members just bounced eggs in their hands. Those eggs didn"t have sh.e.l.ls, but seemed more rubbery. They all had tattoos of eggs on the dorsal surface of their palms, and those tattooed eggs were painted with different human expressions, from laughter, anger, to sadness and fooling around. One of them glanced at a foal and hurled the egg at it. With a whoosh, the egg hit the foal"s face, and a nice sound resounded about as if a solid rock had hit it. That little horse neighed in agony.

Lirzod stopped for a moment, and his ear flickered. He glanced back at the foal.

The four men laughed to the fullest extent and then peered at Lirzod.

"What made you stop?" 777 looked at those men and sighed. "I told you to just not care about their actions. They just want to stir trouble."

"I care not that they threw at me," Lirzod clenched his fist, breaking the raw egg in his hand. "Still, I care that they threw at a baby."