260 Alda 1

Alina City, the same night, around 10 pm.

Unlike the clear weather of the C Empire, the whole city was colder than usual due to the heavy downpour. The lights were as colorful and lively as ever. In fact, as the unending droplets of water danced with the neon colors and flashing lights from the shops and vehicles, the sight all over Alina had a different charm on it.

However, even if the streets were clogged with cars and boisterous due to the honking noises and pitter-patter sounds, it was still a lot colder than usual.

If viewed from a high location, the assortment of umbrellas moving about the place was quite the feast to the eyes. Still, it couldn't be denied that the sidewalks were a bit lonelier than ever and not as populous as before.

In one of the fairly 'alive' secondary streets at the western part of the city, a tall and well-built young man wrapped in a red raincoat strode along the sidewalks with hurried footsteps. Since his legs were long, every step he made was almost a meter apart from each other. If not seen from the front, nobody would recognize his features since the hood of his raincoat was doing a great job in concealing his face.

"Damn!" The man inhaled a cold breath for quite a long while when he bumped into someone.

The collision was not due to him walking unsteadily or having a weird gait. It was actually the other party's fault. The person who bumped into his left shoulder was a girl with short hair and short height. She looked like a college student who sneaked into a bar with her friends, and that explained why she smelled of alcohol and walked like a drunkard.

However, the girl was actually not that drunk. At least, she was yet to see doubles and thus was puzzled why she felt some force against her shoulder that almost made her stumbled on the wet pavement.

"Weird... Did I run into somebody but didn't see it due to my umbrella?" The girl stood in place, rubbing her eyes repeatedly.

'It should be barely five seconds after the collision, right?'

Confirming that there was really no one near her, she turned around to check for people who could have just walked past her quite fast without her noticing. A frown appeared on her flushed face. That persistent blush caused by the alcohol turned as white as paper a couple of heartbeats later.

There was nobody there, apart from a girl more than ten meters away from here.

In the end, she could only shake her head for a few times before deciding to half-run, half-walk home. In a muffled and trembling voice, she muttered, "I hope I didn't just encounter an unseen ghost!"

Meanwhile, the man in the red raincoat tightened his hold of his phone. Thanks to the continuous shed near the rows of shops, no drop got to his phone to drench it. He only hesitated for a minute before bringing it up close and rereading the message he saw there.

While doing this, his steps did not pause at all. Not long after, he stopped and sighed. In front of him was one of the huge closed arch gates of the subdivision which had always been home to popular stars and wealthy business personalities.

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Emotions surged in his expressive eyes. But as fast as lightning, they soon disappeared, replaced by endless calmness akin to a motionless surface of the ocean.

The man started walking again. There was a guardhouse on the left and a narrow passageway next to it which could only let a single person in.

The sounds of huge droplets hitting the concrete ground echoed to the ears like a symphony weaved by a whole orchestra. Regardless of the alert guard standing inside the booth like part of the guardhouse, the man in the red raincoat walked along that narrow road as if it was the most natural thing to do.

Nobody obstructed him. More appropriately put, no one could stop him. He was unseen anyway, invisible to the naked eyes despite being in such a conspicuous colored raincoat.

Since it was a subdivision, the streets in it were very wide and clean. Unfortunately, due to this actually that he appeared so melancholic as he traversed the road by himself.

'System, we're almost there. Therefore, please cancel my invisibility now.'

One of the lampposts near him suddenly flickered. And when the lights on that area returned, his figure finally showed up in the material world. But of course, he didn't forget to make the system cloak his image in the CCTVs. With the seemingly omnipotent being's guarantee, no type of high tech camera or video-audio recording device would ever capture his lonely yet steadfast figure.

After walking for ten minutes or so, he finally arrived at the place indicated in the anonymous text message he received earlier. Well, not really anonymous, since the AI in his brain outright told him who sent it. And in actuality, the number used was familiar to him.

In any case, he had arrived at the place and what lied before his eyes was a huge Western-style mansion. The side entrance seemed to be purposely left open hence he strode inside through it.

"The place is not maintained. Tch. Tch. There used to a mini-maze garden in front. But now look. Even the white paint of fountain couldn't be seen anymore due to the weird vines and green moss growing all over it." He clicked his tongue, pity lacing his tone.

The young man closed his eyes, to suppress the rising anger within. However, because he did, he remembered what happened a few couple of hours ago, when he went home to prepare for the departure and check on the kid.

"Hey, newbie. Hello. Long time no see! Haha. We're quite tight on time. So how about we just go directly to the point and switch places? I'll take over your spot so that you won't have to fight at C Empire. As for you, you stay here and guard Alina? Deal? Hahahaha! Great!"

Recalling these words that sounded so nice to the ears yet from out of the blue, Chris gritted his teeth and thought that he and the others had been had. He briefly closed his eyes, and saw that dreadful and mocking expression that tall boy showed him when he almost blew up his penthouse. That expression was so contradictory to his sweet suggestion. Yet Chris couldn't say his piece or fight back because he knew that person and his capability.

'Damn lunatic bastard!'

The man quickened his steps, arriving shortly at the main entrance of the mansion. Since nobody was living in it since the death of the Dimatrionez patriarch three years ago, the giant double doors usually seen at churches should be closed. However, for some reason, both were widely opened tonight, fully revealing the darkness inside it resembling the wide opened maw of a behemoth, or a giant monster.

The darkness and eeriness of the place did not deter Chris. In fact, he ignored all the spooky and hair-raising details of the wide hall and directly ran the long dust-filled staircase. After reaching the next floor, he straightforwardly took the right turn, walking impatiently to the fifth room with an emotionless face veiled by the dimness of the hallway. The blood red hue he faintly left when the lightning flashed by the windows would have scared a soul if somebody had seen it.

It did not take long for the sound of flurried footsteps stopped, replaced by a thunderous sound of a door kicked open.

Without the secured door acting as a barrier, bright light from inside the room came pouring out like water that found release from a blockage. Chris had to pause for a second or two to let his blinking eyes adapt, raising one of his arms to shield them from the blinding glimmer.

A melodious yet mature voice resounded to his ears, its tone mostly calm, but a part reproving. "You've grown so much, Chris. I remember that you used to be so gentle... careful when knocking on that door. If this was still three years ago, you won't dare barge inside her room this disrespectfully..."

His pupils shook for a split-second seeing whom the voice came from. Standing in front of him, four meters to his left was a middle-aged woman in a fashionable red dress and hairdo. There was a mature smile on her face, her eyes seemingly lost in her nostalgia.

A picture frame was in her right hand. It was apparent that she was looking at it before he came in.

"It's been a while, Meyer's boy. I'm glad that you're now here. You came at such a great time, earlier than I expected."

Carefully, she placed the picture frame down the side table. With the same soft smile from his memories, she then turned to face him.

"So... don't you have something to ask me?"

He held his breath for a while before looking away and searching for another woman's silhouette. "... Where is she?!

...

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