Chapter 124: No Longer Ichabod, No Longer Lo-Ammi

On the other side of the world, a short and bespectacled man had finally arrived at a tall building.

Several tall and black men who guarded the door greeted him respectfully.

The short bespectacled man simply smiled and waved as he strode by.

"Now that, Raffias, is Shark Umberton. He is one of the most influential people who reside in this tower. He actually purchased the rooftop of this very tower so be sure to treat him with the utmost respect!" The black man with a more distinguished uniform spoke.

Raffias, the guard-in-training nodded and imprinted the figure of the man who just passed by.

"I know that man! I've seen him on the news! Isn't he that business guru and professor? He is fighting for the human rights of his people." The other guard nodded.

"Yes. The very same. But don't stereotype him because he is some spiritual leader. He is actually a very nice person. You will receive plenty of gifts just by serving him well." The supervisor added.

Shark Umberton was a timid, but brilliant man. He was one of the few people who was a widely outspoken Jew who could openly reveal and enforce his religious beliefs and still get away with it. His secret? He gives away money.

Because of his unique business enterprise that links various companies of different technological possibilities, Shark Umberton was one of the very first individuals to have produced products that are a mixture of various technological possibilities but remained in line with the rules set by the World Governing Powers.

This venture was originally deemed as impossible, but Shark Umberton's connection proved to be so massive, that he made the impossible possible. Several businesses corporation tried to reach out to him. And when he was so influential and powerful, he revealed his Jewish heritage.

The secret of this was to his generosity and manner of giving. He owned several charity organizations and was widely known in the united nation of Africa. Due to the nation's tolerance to religious organizations, Shark Umberton managed to secure support from many illustrious businessmen and investors which brought his name on par to the various African Elite.

Shark finally reached the private elevator which his employees begged him to use in fear of his own safety. The elevator would take him to the penthouse he owned at the top floor and access to it was extremely strict.

As the elevator doors opened, Shark walked over and sighed.

His wife and their three kids had a party to attend to at the other edge of the continent.

He went straight to the kitchen to cook a meal for himself.

Suddenly, a creeping sensation had been tickling him. The sensation made him gaze towards the west. Nothing was there.

"Strange." He couldn't help but murmur.

It then happened all too suddenly.

A powerful presence made him shiver in fear as he knew something was standing right behind him.

"Shark Umberton." The sound was powerful. He could feel the very words of the voice impact his back. The voice had a strange reverbing effect that made each of his words echo out. It was as if the rushing sounds of a waterfall followed the voice.

The pressure grew stronger and Shark fell down in great fear.

He slowly turned and there stood a man with two strange blue wings that appeared like lightning.

Shark was gripped with fear and shock as he struggled to move away from the being.

"Son of man, do not be afraid. I have come because the Lord has anointed me to preach good things. To speak and herald to you about things that are too come. The year of the Lord's favor is near and the day of vengeance for our God. No longer shall My people name their sons, Ichabod, saying that the Glory of the Lord has departed. No longer shall they name their daughters LoAmmi saying that we are not His People and He is not our God. But many shall rejoice for the day of Purim is near."

A sudden majestic force surrounded Shark as strange golden dust enveloped him. Soon he was lifted up by the strange golden dust and carried nearer to stand before the man.

The man had a strange countenance and his very eyes were golden. His face was dark like brazen iron and the hair of the man was glowing white.

As Shark was lifted up, he immediately bowed down in worship. But right before he could bow down, a powerful kick met him and jolted him back up. The dust continued to carry him as he floated while screaming and holding on to his broken nose.

"Stand up! I am merely a servant of the Lord just like you!" The angel commanded angrily.

"Forgive me!" Shark screamed in terror.

"The wicked plot is at foot as the demons of this Earth have harbored evil intent to my people. The age of the Gentiles is coming to an end and my people will once again receive mercy. Shortly after this, you shall be approached by a people belonging not to a nation you know. They know not the Lord your God and they know not His statutes. They shall speak to you as they speak to their beloved."

"What shall they ask of me?"

"To save the people of the Lord your God. They shall walk in the footsteps of Nimrod and rebuild that great city. And in it, they shall gather my People."

"Am I to stop them?"

"You shall journey with them to wherever land they take you and you shall take their golds, their ornaments, their silvers, and the precious stones. And you shall use that to gather my people. But trust not in these people who grant you the gold, the silver, the ornaments or precious stones. For they shall strike your heel but He shall soon come and crush their heads. The enemy shall number beyond the sands of the seashore and your foes shall bring down many cities and lay desolations upon desolations.  But though a thousand may die at your side, and though ten thousand shall fall before you, no harm will come near you. Take courage, you who are favored by the Lord of Host. Rejoice and go and do the task you are called to do."

"Oh, great Angel! I am but a man! I do not know what you mean! I cannot do that! Send someone else! Someone stronger!"

"The spirit of Daniel has once more been sent here. He shall tell you what to do. Seek out he who can tread in the Lion's Den and he shall be your guide."

"Oh, great Angel! I beg of you! Send someone else!" Shark cried in fear.

The dust started to move around erratically and started crushing Shark.

"AHHHHH!"

"I am Gabriel. I stand in the presence of the Holy One of Israel, and I have been sent to speak to you and to tell you this good news. And now you will be silent and not able to speak until you find the time of my former coming because you did not take courage to the command of the Lord." The angry voice of Gabriel drifted off leaving the poor Shark spinning around and falling to the ground.

When he came to, Shark was stunned that he could no longer speak.

In a panic-stricken shock, he quickly looked around him and noticed that there wasn't anything around him that could prove the occurrence of the strange scene which he witnessed. He gazed up and towards the night sky that could be seen through his large glass windows. It gave a view of the city, but more so, it gave a bright view of the stars above.

He sat there for minutes as he dazed off staring at the glorious sky.

Suddenly, he recalled the angel's last words and thought hard. There was something familiar with the words.

"Gabriel… Where did I hear that?" Shark thought to himself in a hurry.

It was then that Shark spotted an odd book lying around. This was where the angel Gabriel once stood.

He reached out to it and was stunned as he looked at the title.

"The Gideons ESV Bible"

It was then he remembered the name.

Shark opened the book and skipped the entire Torah, the book of the Prophets and everything which he knew the Christians called the Old Testament.

He speedily read through every page of the Gospels and soon reached in the Gospel of Luke.

It was there he saw the verse of Gabriel's appearance.

"Gabriel!" In shock, Shark screamed the name.

While his former shock had not yet died out, he then realized he could once more speak.

He sat there in silence and slowly turned to every page of the Bible this time with his belief shaken. The very Gabriel had appeared before him and cursed him with the same curse the priest had in the Gospels.

As his beliefs came crashing down, and as he embraced the book and clung on to it with every bit of his soul, the man known as Shark Umberton started praying. But this time, to the man he read to be called Jesus.

Under the dark sky of the city, two figures were sitting down a fast-food restaurant dining.

"Why did you kick him?" Alean finally asked.

"Eagle's orders. Angel's don't allow man to worship them…"

Alean furrowed her browse as a curious expression surfaced.

"Why do you feel… afraid? From what I hear, he's like the one Overcomer who wouldn't hurt a soul. Why would you be afraid of him?"

"It something about his Path. It's basically the opposite of mine." Lowengren gave a solemn expression and kept on eating.

Alean was silent and took note at Lowengren's refusal to discuss Eagle's Path.

"Anyway, how sure are you that he wouldn't be able to speak before reading Luke chapter one? Are you that confident with your hypnosis?"

"Of course!" Lowengren frowned as he munched off a large piece of the burger.

"I can hypnotize anyone in Warfreakz and they're all at Unbecoming Advent! Much more a Jewish professor!" Lowengren frowned.

"Alright. I'm just making sure. I've been uncomfortable at the hasty plans we've been making. We should have asked Lennox with this plan. How sure are you that it would be Shark? We mess up with this one then all our plans would fail."

"We won't. First of all, this isn't a hasty plan. Don't underestimate Arthur's prediction. He who Treads in the Lion's Den never treads hastily. It seems hasty because I had to go in and out of America before the WGP banned international interactions. But the truth is, he's already made that plan since we heard that meeting of theirs through the gold coin that Richie gave to that Pioneer, Madelyn. Besides, even I would do the same thing. The best person who should gather the Jews would be the Jews themselves. No one else could easily pull that off like this guy." Lowengren continued munching.

"We just have to make another scene and lead Amir Mann here and we can get out of this stupid country." Lowengren munched off angrily. The battles and escapes he had to do push his brain to the limits. If Cliff hadn't wounded the man, then their team would have been wiped out.

"What's wrong with your training? Why can't my guys shoot as good as those freaks with Seeker?" Lowengren complained.

"They didn't have Charles as their teacher. I can only shoot with high accuracy within a given distance. It was Charles who trained Meryl and Lynd how to handle a gun back then." Alean sighed.

Even Alean was stunned at Charles's innate ability to wield guns. He was better at using long-ranged rifles than anyone Alean knew in Harker's army.

"Great. Just great. Once we get back I'm having Warfreakz undergo that training with Charles." Lowengren frowned.

"Let's hope he manages to save Ricardo. That poor baby... I've never seen such strange cancerous disease."

"Acquired radiation from the nukes of world war three and cancer… That's a painful combination. Luckily Charles got the cancer part fixed." Lowengren sighed in amazement. He had little interaction with Charles but all of it impressed Lowengren immensely.

"So Cliff got his training from Charles as well? He's Path is interesting. I'm sure Seeker knows that Cliff has a Path that could be similar to Lynd's."

"It's that formidable? No wonder Seeker insisted on making Cliff the sniper back then. He already noticed Cliff's particularity.

"You're Path's not half bad too. To think we could have escaped from Amir Mann without losing an arm or leg. Poor Typical."

"Yeah. He was trying too hard. If we didn't arrive earlier he would have surely been dead." Alean recalled Typical's gruesome figure.

"He's trying to become an Overcomer. Those assassins got a wakeup call. They realized how far off they were in skill. The next time we see them, they would be a scary group." Lowengren sighed.

"I hope that they're safe. Their departure was too abrupt it might have caught the attention of Amir Mann."

"You underestimate my deception." Lowengren frowned as he continued munching.

"Worry about us. Amir Mann is definitely chasing us." Lowengren gave a long sigh as if the realization of being on Amir Mann's crosshair made him extremely uneasy.

Alean continued to look at Lowengren.

"How come you're not erm… afraid? That battle was extremely terrifying."

"Of course I'm afraid. I still get nightmares from then memory of that quick encounter with him. But this has always been my life even before we all met. So I'm kind of used to it."Alean laughed.

BEEP!

A small square device suddenly lit up.

"Hm? Seeker's sending some highly classified information. Something must have happened."Alean noticed.

Lowengren frowned.

"It must be related to what Arthur predicted. The possibility that newer Aragarians are joining the fray." Lowengren said as he continued stuffing the burger on his mouth.

"We'll have to wait. I'm guessing their class will be shortly in session. We could receive the information within a few hours. For now, we lay low and make preparations for another deception."

"We'll at least we have some free time. That satellite drop made me extremely… queasy." Alean shook her head.

"Then you must be looking forward to our upcoming swim to reach the Arabian nations…"

"Why did you agree with Arthur's suggestion?"Alean frowned.

"We are Unlocked. Our capacities are far greater and stronger than that of a human."

"That doesn't explain why we should swim through the Red Sea. Without any powerful gear at that!"Alean glanced angrily.

"It's the best way to remain undetected." Lowengren countered.

Alean remained speechless at Lowengren's behavior. 

"I wonder how Zeek is doing…" Alean wondered as she gazed at the farthest star which brightly glowed in the night sky.

Lowengren glanced at Alean and shook his head as Alean was entranced by the bright moon above them.

He stared deeply at the very preoccupied Alean but could not say the words he wanted to say.

"He should be doing fine. Perhaps more than fine. Who knows how far he's grown? We've never seen him put an effort in fighting since three months ago. And all that he has been doing was just relaxing at school and then those crazy streams and gambles…" Lowengren shook his head once more.

"Jealous? Well, I don't blame you. He gets to play at home while we're out here facing an Overcomer, swimming through the ocean, and getting dropped and gliding from a freakin satellite launch! Even with my Unlocking that drop was too much for me!"

"He's just preparing. I bet the next time we meet him; he'll have interesting gifts from him. And I'm not jealous. No way. I say let him rest. A few months isn't enough of a day-off with what's in store for him. One-on-one with a fully awakened Overcomer? It's too soon even for him."