Less than an hour later, the man appeared before Xiao Ran again. Besides him, two people behind him carried a stretcher, upon which lay Major Kalinin, whom Xiao Ran had demanded in exchange. One car, four people—those were the only ones who had come this time.
Major Kalinin lay on the stretcher with his eyes closed, but that did not mean he was truly asleep. Rather, he was fully displaying his usual calmness and composure. He had probably guessed what was going on from the moment he left the A21 base.
Upon seeing them, Xiao Ran walked out of the factory alone, carrying Takuma, who had long since awakened and was glaring at him with hatred. Sousuke Sagara had climbed onto the factory roof to lie in ambush, while Chidori and Tessa hid within the pitch-black factory.
When the man saw Xiao Ran, he pointed at Kalinin, who had his eyes closed and seemed entirely unconcerned about his situation. "I brought him. I'm taking that kid."
"No problem." Xiao Ran generously tossed Takuma, whom he had been carrying, onto the ground and spread his hands to indicate that the man could do as he pleased. At this point, even if either side had made different arrangements or harbored some scheme, it would have been pointless.
Both the man and Xiao Ran understood very clearly that, even face-to-face, it would have been easy for two participants to kill each other's hostages. Precisely because they were both participants, they understood even better just how much a participant could accomplish when dealing with the Native inhabitants of this world, and they also knew what trump cards the other held.
Moreover, once they killed the hostages in their hands, it would become a fight to the death for participants like them. Xiao Ran did