The Spider Queen

Two billion dollars.

That number entered the minds of every single person in the market and blew them away.

No one dared to openly talk while the captain was still present but excited looks and unspoken words were exchanged.

Two billion dollars.

What made that number even crazier was the fact that it was offered for just information. You didn't even have to be the one to capture the rogue human.

"Of course, should you bring us the body of the human… dead or alive. The reward money will be increased to twenty-five billion dollars," the captain snarled as his fangs gleamed under the sunlight.

Ridiculous.

Rokan cowered behind his companions with his mind racing with every passing second.

This planet was an out of the way trading post and yet the Federines policing force had still arrived to spread information about him.

What this meant was pretty clear.

They were intentionally spreading their net far and wide across the Federines controlled space.

In addition to the organisations under the government's direct control, they were going to rely on ordinary citizens, criminal groups, and mercenary corps to hunt him down.

It was just fortunate that it appeared as though there were no pictures of his exact appearance.

Maybe they never expected him to break out of the prison cell, so they had not bothered to record his information in a database.

Still… he had to be cautious.

Rokan took in a deep breath and purposefully withdrew his spiritual senses until his cultivation level resembled that of someone in the qi body phase.

He could no longer sense the world around him, but it would be more difficult for those with higher cultivation levels to sense him in return.

The alien captain standing in the front of the marketplace continued his speech and mentioned that whoever captured the rogue human would have all of their crimes forgiven.

Their records would be expunged, and they would be free to live normal lives with the money that they received.

It was a very attractive offer.

"What do you think? Can we grab the bounty for ourselves?" Gizmo whispered excitedly as he rubbed his green palms together.

"Are you crazy?" Rokan hissed under his breath.

"For them to offer that kind of reward… do you think that we will be able to take that rogue human down?

"I agree with John," Voxen muttered quietly as he stared at the greedy vendors who were all clearly thinking about claiming the reward money for themselves.

"Any person with such a high bounty must be especially dangerous."

"Shame… do you know what I could do with all that cash?" Zix whined softly as his antennas waved slowly around his face.

"I could start my own hive… declare myself as king and then hire a bunch of worker drones to tend to my every need…"

"Ahh… that would be the life."

"Alright dreamer… let's just leave," Voxen spoke with an unusual undertone of seriousness in his voice.

He gestured towards the back of the crowd and the four of them slowly slipped away to the alleyways connected to the marketplace.

The group walked down a long and narrow road that was packed on either side with poorly constructed shacks made from a mixture of dried wood and mud.

Rokan was grateful for the mask on his face as the scent of raw sewage filled the air.

The residents in this place wore tattered clothing and they stared at the four of them with looks of fear and hunger in their eyes.

Zix made a chattering noise using his sharp pincers and several figures that were lurking on the outskirts of the group slowly began to withdraw.

The scent of sewage got even stronger the deeper that they went inside.

The ground was covered in dark stains, and it did not take a genius to figure out what those stains were.

With no running water or proper toilet facilities, the people who lived in the slums were forced to use the available space to defecate.

Rokan felt a touch of sympathy for them. It was highly unlikely that any of the aliens here would be able to escape the cycle of poverty.

They would have to turn to a life of crime in order to get scraps needed to survive.

The journey through the narrow road took around twenty minutes and eventually they arrived at an open space.

A small park had been built in the center of the city. Turfs of synthetic grass had been laid down and a single tree stood proudly in the middle of the park.

There were a few benches scattered around which were all covered in graffiti written down in multiple alien languages.

Rokan could translate a few of the words but they were nothing meaningful.

'Goren x Cloy Forever', 'Fuck the law', 'Looking for a good time… call…' and other vulgarities that did not need to be mentioned.

Some things were universal across cultures.

Rokan walked over to a nearby bench and sat down. He let out several long exhales and pretended to be tired.

"You really need to work on your fitness," Gizmo remarked as he popped out of his metal exoskeleton and sat down next to Rokan.

"I try… but my body is too broken down…" Rokan wheezed as he continued to breathe heavily.

"Why don't we change the topic… so… what did you all think about the human?" Zix interrupted as Gizmo shot Rokan a guilty look.

"Disgusting creatures… I've never seen something so hideous in all of my years," Voxen remarked as he crossed his arms.

"Soft pink fleshy bits… urghhh… just gives me goosebumps thinking about it."

"Did you see their face? Only two eyes!" Zix exclaimed in shock as he covered his face using his antennas.

"And their mouths… without fangs. How do you think they consume their food?" Gizmo asked curiously.

"Maybe they don't… I heard humans get their energy from the sun," Rokan chimed in with some misinformation.

"Really? I never heard of that," Voxen replied with a skeptical look on his face.

Rokan continued to speak in a serious tone as if what he was saying was not complete nonsense,

"No, I heard a rumor that they use their arms like panels to absorb sunlight… it is really a bizarre process."

The group continued their light conversation until the device around Voxen's wrist started to bleep loudly.

He checked the message on his communicator and then raised up his fingers to type out a quick reply.

"Okay looks like the boss is done… let's go," Voxen said as he checked he time and then looked up at the sky.

It was now approaching the evening and the sun was slowly disappearing. The warm afternoon light was starting to fade as the shadows on the ground lengthened.