"I'm Babaru. It's been a long time, everyone."
The calm voice brought a moment of silence to the bridge. Most people didn't actually know this Lumina workers' leader, but appearing in a setting like this meant he could only be a very important figure.
And since he was an important figure, everyone decided to observe a moment of silence out of basic courtesy.
In fact, Rozers's reaction proved as much. Though he'd already expected this, he still couldn't hide his shock. He even leaned forward instinctively, as though he could pierce the blurry hologram and get a better look at the man.
Before he could, however, Krell had already taken the time to adjust the terminal. The image on the projection gradually came into focus.
A metallic sheen glinted on the carapace covering his massive, burly frame. His four thick arms looked as if they'd been cast from steel, while the plates on his face clung close to his cheeks and wrapped around his oval head, forming irregular horns.
Needless to say, he was a fearsome-looking, imposing man, even by Lumina standards—the kind of person who could play a demon king in a movie without any makeup.
Only his eyes were different. Though they were naturally menacing, with vertical pupils, they looked unusually calm.
Krell clapped his hands, moved. "Good. It really is him. It really is him."
As soon as he said that, he noticed Rozers fixing him with a rather dangerous look. "Oh, Chester, my dear friend. That look of yours is truly alarming... I thought we were comrades who'd lived and died together, and that we could trust each other at all times."
"If I recall, you're with the Alliance Intelligence Bureau, aren't you? With your standing, you must at least be a deputy director or something.