Chapter 156: The Unknown
Linda was not at her home and Neil could think of so many possibilities.
Anything was possible.
"Nemo, let’s head to get the next two cores first, I’ll try to find more about her in the event two days later." he finally decided.
"Alright master." Nemo nodded and quickly showed him the way to the settlement base, the place from where he can teleport.
It wasn’t much far from his current location, so instead of taking a taxi he decided to walk there.
He was just halfway there when a sweet fragrance from a shop made him pause, it was selling some sweet dishes he hadn’t eaten before.
Ray and Fay can create all sorts of things but there were too many options so he was yet to taste a lot of things.
"Hmm let’s taste it." It was already around 2, and he might not be done until late in the night.
So it was better to get his belly full, though he was also carrying some food in his storage.
Changing his direction, he walked towards the shop.
"Welcome!!"
Right after entering he was greeted by an old man who was standing behind the counter while an old woman who seemed to be his wife was chatting with other customers.
"Kiddo, what would you like to try?" the old man asked in a jolly tone, he was quite easygoing.
Neil looked down at the counter and pointed at several things, and the old man quickly noted the order and got them ready for him within a couple of minutes.
"You don’t seem to be from around here, are you a new lord?" the old man asked.
"Yes, I came from a different settlement to meet someone here, and the sweets smelled really good here." Neil said with a smile.
"Haha, so it was the scent that pulled you here, my wife is the one who created them all. She really has magic in her hands, sigh, but the poor woman is losing her eyes with age." the old man spoke, looking quite sad.
Then he smiled: "Don’t let this old man’s words sadden you, here are your sweets, enjoy them. And remember to come again if you like them, my wife gets really happy if someone praises the sweets she has made."
"Yes I will." Neil nodded then took the several bags and walked out, he put them in his inventory.
He just took one piece of the sweet and began to eat while walking.
Now that he thought about it, he had grown and was a free man.
His parents hadn’t been around but Aunt May was still quite strict with him, but he didn’t hate her.
Neil too believed there is a need of some level of strictness towards a child, though some don’t need it.
With various thoughts in his mind, Neil ate the sweet and continued walking.
After Neil had left the sweet shop, everyone inside fell down, as if they were just puppets who were being controlled by threads.
Their bodies broke into pieces as blood filled the whole ground, the wholesome scene from earlier had suddenly turned hideous and grotesque.
It looked dreadful and like a horror or crime movie scene.
The old man trembled slightly, he looked at the old woman who also fell to the floor in pieces, already dead.
Tears appeared in his eyes for a moment but then the skin began to shrivel up and tear, the sound of bones breaking started to echo.
The form twisted and wriggled, breaking apart in a strange manner, this scene looked extremely disgusting.
Then something came out of that skin, something that didn’t quite look human, something with a twisted smile that stretched over his entire face.
...
Neil finished several pieces of the sweet and decided to bring the rest for Ileana and the others.
He paused as he finally saw the large base in the distance, it was really so big and luxurious.
Well only the people with the highest authority were allowed to live there and it also had many important things like the teleportation room.
After looking at it for a few moments, Neil continued to walk.
"Ugghh" just as he was passing by, an old woman who was carrying a box into her shop fell.
She looked up and called out weakly: "COUGH C- Can you help me, ahh my back, p- please just put these boxes inside."
Neil paused, he narrowed his eyes. The him from before the awakening would have immediately gone to help her.
But now he couldn’t help but think of several possibilities before even going forward, could this be some sort of trap?
But no one should be targeting him now unless it’s someone his parents had sent, but what could they be trying to achieve by this?
She should be a lord if she is here so she shouldn’t have a problem moving a few boxes but she is also too old-
"Y- Young man, can you- ughh please help me a bit..." the old woman repeated.
’Sigh maybe I am overthinking things...’ sighing, he walked forward and helped her up, then put the boxes into the shop.
The old woman thanked him several times, as Neil left.
The old woman was sitting in her shop praising Neil, not many would have helped her.
She wondered if he would pass by here again, she could ask him to go on a date with her granddaughter.
She was fanning herself and decided to give a call to her granddaughter but right at that moment, her shadow trembled and rose.
Then her throat was slit open as the old woman’s eyes widened as she choked on her blood, clutching her throat as blood sprayed all around.
As life started to drain from her eyes, the figure behind her cut her into several pieces.
And the inside of the shop became a bloody mess.
Unaware of everything that was happening, Neil continued towards the base.
He soon arrived at the foot of the large building and stepped onto the stairs which soon brought him to the entrance.
Several men in uniforms were standing there, some men were attending to and helping the people entering while others were there for security.
As Neil arrived near the door, one of the men approached him with a friendly smile.
"Sir, how can I help you? Are you here for the-" the man began to ask.
"I’m here to use the teleportation room." Neil interrupted him.
"Ah I see, then please follow me. I’ll lead you there, is it your first time in this base?"
The man in a white suit asked.
"..." Neil said nothing and just followed him, so the other guy asked nothing further and led him to the teleportation room.
It was present on the top floor and quite a few people wanted to use it.
"Did you make an advance booking?" he asked, maintaining the friendly smile.
"I didn’t." Neil replied.
"You can do so from here, tell me if you need anything else."
"That’s all." Neil walked toward the screen and started booking, he entered some details, his destination and after the money was deducted, it was done.
"We will be able to teleport in around 20 minutes." Nemo spoke, starting a timer.
"I guess I’ll look around for a bit then." Neil decided.
"Great decision sir, please let me help you look around." the white suit man spoke enthusiastically.
"I am poor." Neil said plainly.
"O- Oh this... I was not going to charge you or anything, hmm looks like it’s time for my doctor’s appointment, sorry I’ll be taking my leave." Without wasting a second more he fled.
Neil just turned around and walked in a different direction, he expected nothing less from humans.
In fact it is his job to do this and he had been charging extra money.
Neil just roamed around to pass time.
There were a few restricted places which he didn’t go close to and some training areas and many other things.
This building alone was too damn big, like a city on its own.
He was just returning towards the teleportation room when the same guy came running back.
"Sorry sir, please let me help you look around and I won’t take any money." he spoke quickly.
"Oh did the appointment get cancelled or the doctor died?" Neil asked, he could tell what had happened.
Clearly this guy got scolded by his superior, and this might not have been his first offence so he might get fired if he did it again.
"Ah haha yeah it got cancelled." he laughed awkwardly.
"Thanks but I’m done here, you can help others." Neil said as he walked towards the teleportation room.
"Oh uh t- then I’ll accompany you to help if you face any problem." silently he quickly followed Neil.
’Nemo did he get scolded?’ Neil asked in his mind, as he soon arrived at his destination.
"Hmm... Yes master, you are right." Nemo checked the footage and answered.
"Group number 74 can enter now!" just then a guy from the teleportation room shouted.
Neil glanced back and after a nod he walked into the teleportation room, which was completely white from inside and was spacious enough to let nearly 100 men stand together.
Along with Neil, nine others entered who had the same destination as him, at the border of the human territory and close to the fishmen race.
"..." Neil stood silently, but a group of three were chatting among themselves.
They were talking about Shen’s death, the news had already spread far and wide and Ziggy was found guilty for it.
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Thanks for reading...adios