Chapter 115: Notary Enforcement.
There were two choices for him. He could try to use bombs to force the blast door open or go at it with his fist. But there was only one right choice for him, which was to go at it with his fists.
The blast door was designed to be resistant to explosives, so bombs won't do. Any bomb that could breach it is most likely to cause the whole floor to cave in.
If he had the ability to hack electronics of the Psychic or Weapon class, he would have been able to open it easily. Unfortunately, he had only his fist for the job.
He could also try to break down the wall, but that would be slower. He had found that the denser and stronger something was, the more effective explosive force was on it.
So a thick metallic door would be easier to bring down than a wall of cement, stones, and rebar. Besides, the wall is supposed to be two meters thick. A door that is 30 centimeters thick is simply better.
He punched the metal door and detonated the force he used to strike it. Where he struck exploded outwards to form a concave crater on the surface of the door. It was as if something had exploded out of it only to reveal the empty space just beneath the surface.
He nodded when he saw the result. Then he got to work on finishing the job as soon as possible. While he was doing this, the cameras in the sentry guns were recording him and displaying everything onto the screens for those watching.
Earlier on, Black Mantis had roared for them to kill him.
He had even said, "Open the blast door and kill him now. I want him dead as soon as possible."
But now that Kelvin has begun working on the blast door, he has had a change of heart. It was a change that was accompanied by a frightened expression and a heart beating above the safe rate of operation.
He found a chair to sit on lest he fall from the vertigo and swooning vision that he began suffering from all of a sudden.
He asked himself, "Who have I offended this time?"
He couldn't answer that question. He has offended too many people to count. Many people have warned him that he would one day regret it. He had turned those people into his thralls, so they changed their tune and told him that he would live forever. Unfortunately, the day for regret still came.
He clutched his head in his two hands and asked himself as his head swooned, "Who do I call for help?"
The answer to this question is very clear. The answer is that he can call many people for help, but no one will come. It is because he has burned too many bridges, and no one trusts him not to enslave them.
The only reason he even has trustworthy guards is because of the head of security. Unlike what people think, her ability is not sensing the truth or lies. Her true ability is enforcing verbal contracts.
Her ability is called Notary Enforcement. She can sense when a contract is valid, which is used to sense when people are lying about their intentions. She can also enforce that contract by causing whoever breaks their promise to suffer death.
He had promised her that he wouldn't attempt to enslave her and her men as long as she protected him. That's the only reason why she was willing to accept his money and work for him.
Sure, he could have had an army of thralls protecting him. But junkies were the least skilled people. Their minds would be far too compromised for them to be good guards. Discover hidden tales at empire
They could throw themselves at an enemy to protect his life, but they couldn't communicate with each other, cooperate with others, stay focused, or use delicate tools such as guns.
They shot themselves far more than they shot at enemies. They made grenades go off among them many times, endangering his life and theirs. So he needed sane people, preferably well trained, to protect him. These people also had to be willing to work for him. She was his lucky star for that.
Now that she is dead, her ability has been rendered useless and her contracts invalid. So his guards don't trust him anymore. In fact, they can turn on him at any moment instead of protecting his life.
So he is all on his own in his fortress, which has only one door. He had made sure that there was only one entrance so as to concentrate his defenses. That decision had paid dividends many times. Unfortunately, it is turning out to be a foolish decision now that someone is breaking down the door.
The technician broke him out of thoughts. "Sir, he has breached the first blast door. He is about to start work on the second blast door. What should we do?"
He thought about it and said, "Rig the entrance with bombs. Blow him to pieces as soon as he enters. Rig it so that it will blow up as soon as the door is breached."
Then he said to all his guards watching him nervously, "Don't be afraid of me. You know why I hired you in the first place. You know why I didn't use my slaves for that. My life is currently in danger right now, so it would be a bad idea for me to try anything on you. Besides, I don't think I have enough time to actually get much done right now."
"So don't be afraid that I will try to control you. Don't be afraid of him either. You saw him dodge that rocket, and you saw him deactivate the guns. It shows that they are threats to him. He might be powerful, but he can be harmed. I'm sure we can kill him with the bombs."