Chapter 160: Another Shadow from The Past
Once the elevator reached the top floor, "ting," the doors slid open. They walked down the hallway toward a pair of double doors at the far end. Vanessa knocked. "Come in," a deep, heavy male voice called from inside. Vanessa opened the door and ushered them in. Dennis and Daisy saw a middle-aged man in a military uniform sitting behind a desk. He had silver hair and a slight green tint to his skin—a half-orc wearing glasses.
When he saw Vanessa enter with Dennis, Daisy, Gary, Olivia, Jason, and Kimberly, the man stood up immediately. His eyes scanned each of the young men and women before him, and then he smiled, causing the tusks from his lower jaw to poke out.
"Welcome. You’re the core team from the Emerald Military Academy, right?" the man said.
"Alright, everyone, allow me to introduce you. This is Mr. Ronald Murdock, the head of the Hunter Guild in our city," Vanessa said, introducing Ronald.
The room fell silent. Gary, Olivia, Jason, and Kimberly turned to look at Dennis and Daisy. As the new core team leader, Dennis was supposed to introduce himself and his team, but he stood frozen, his fists clenched. Meanwhile, Daisy stepped back slightly, hiding half of her body behind Dennis. They recognized Ronald. He was one of the men who had appeared on the monitor in Daisy’s memories when Norman was harassing her older sister in front of the camera. Seeing Dennis and Daisy go stiff and sensing that something was wrong, Gary stepped forward to take over.
"Forgive us, sir. My name is Gary, this is my wife Olivia, then there’s Jason and Kimberly, and finally Dennis and Daisy. It’s a pleasure to meet you, sir," Gary said.
However, it wasn’t just Dennis and Daisy who were stunned and standing frozen; Ronald felt it too. He kept staring at them, his brow furrowed as if he were deep in thought while examining their faces. After a few moments, he turned to Vanessa.
"Vanessa, could you take the others outside for a moment? I want to speak with these two privately," Ronald said.
"Huh... um... alright, sir," Vanessa replied, clearly confused.
Vanessa signaled to Gary, who nodded immediately. He then stepped out with Olivia, Jason, and Kimberly, leaving a bewildered Dennis and Daisy inside with Ronald. Once the door was closed, Ronald gestured for them to sit on the sofa, but Dennis stood his ground in front of him, pulling Daisy behind him for protection. Seeing their reaction, Ronald managed a small smile.
"First, I apologize. I don’t mean you any harm. Let me explain what happened back then. I’m sure you need some answers," Ronald said kindly.
"Fine. We’re listening," Dennis said, surprised that Ronald wanted to talk and clearly knew who they were.
Eventually, they sat on the sofa. But before joining them, Ronald grabbed a folder from his desk drawer and placed it on the coffee table right in front of Dennis and Daisy.
"Go ahead, take a look," Ronald said.
Cautiously, Dennis picked up the folder and opened it. His eyes widened and his jaw dropped. The folder contained Norman’s profile and a record of all his crimes. Behind that was a list of his victims; Daisy’s older sister was listed as the final one. Additionally, the folder held investigation data on an organization that trafficked infants to be used as Crawler food and illegal experiments to turn humans into Crawlers.
It also listed the names of young women who had fallen victim to the organization, died, and were sold illegally. Seeing the contents of the folder, Dennis looked up at Ronald.
"What is your point in showing us this?" Dennis asked, confused.
"Because I recognize the look on your faces... naturally, Daisy remembers me as one of Norman’s victims, and you’re here to protect her, right?" Ronald asked.
"Right," Dennis answered shortly, the folder crinkling in his hands because he was gripping it so hard.
"Forgive me. I was forced to be there at the time. Let me tell you who I really am, but before that—are you Norman’s son?" Ronald asked Dennis.
"Huh... how do you know that? Do I look like that man?" Dennis asked, his voice filled with resentment.
"Yes... try opening the very last file in that folder," Ronald replied, pointing to the papers in Dennis’s hand.
Without delay, Dennis flipped to the back of the folder. Sure enough, there was a profile of him from when he was four years old, complete with a photo and DNA results that must have been taken ages ago. It also noted that Dennis was raised by the Larsons—William and Eleanor. Dennis stared at Ronald in total confusion.
"Who are you, really?" Dennis asked.
"Yeah, sir. Why do you have all this data on my husband?" Daisy added.
Ronald smiled and remained silent for a moment. Then, he picked up a remote from the table and pressed a button, cutting off the surveillance cameras in the room. Only after putting the remote back did he begin to tell his story. He revealed that he was a secret service agent from Diamond City, tasked with spying on two cities—Ruby and Emerald—to uncover a massive syndicate that played with human lives and possibly collaborated with the intelligent Crawlers operating behind the scenes.
Norman and Jeff were part of that syndicate. The investigation was still ongoing because many members were still scattered across those two cities. He also mentioned that any members who were captured were being deported to Aquamarine City. But what made Dennis and Daisy shudder was his final revelation: once all the syndicate members were gathered in Aquamarine City, the city would be steered into the heart of the darkness and detonated there, in the hope of bringing light back to the world.
Ronald also showed Dennis and Daisy his private tablet, which displayed his own profile. It turned out Ronald had been secretly investigating this syndicate and had already captured a portion of them over the last 20 years, starting when he was only about twenty-eight. After finishing with the tablet, Dennis handed it back to Ronald.
"Um... so that time... the person who helped me and my mom when we were dying and I went through my awakening... was that you?" Daisy asked.
"It was. I was constantly monitoring that man, but when he broke loose, we couldn’t make a move until he finally found you and stabbed you and your mother. For that, I am truly sorry," Ronald answered, bowing his head.
"Um... it’s okay, sir," Daisy said.
Silence fell over the room once again, but the atmosphere wasn’t as heavy as it had been before. Ronald eventually turned his gaze toward Dennis.
"How is William doing, Dennis?" Ronald asked.
"He’s healthy and doing well," Dennis replied shortly, his mind still processing everything.
"I’ve known William for a long time. We served together as soldiers for Ruby City and uncovered a syndicate branch that trapped people in debt just to take their children. You were rescued just in time by William back then," Ronald added.
"So that’s how it was," Dennis said. "It’s proven then—those dreams weren’t just dreams, but buried memories," Dennis muttered to himself.
"Once again, I apologize to you both. I’m not asking for your forgiveness or even for you to talk to me. I just wanted to release what I’ve been holding onto for all these years while I had the chance, since you happened to be here," Ronald said.
Dennis and Daisy looked at each other. Dennis looked back at his own profile in the documents; it turned out everything about his life up to adulthood was recorded there. It even included his marriage to Daisy and the creation of their hunter cards and a party—he had no idea when those were even made. It was all a bit illegal, too, because the records listed Dennis and Daisy as eighteen years old a year ago, even though they were only seventeen at the time. But what really shocked Dennis was the part about his marriage.
"Wait, sir, it says here... I was actually paired with Daisy not because of some random drawing or city system... but because it was designed for us to be together?" Dennis asked, staring at Ronald and pointing at the file.
Ronald didn’t say a word, but he smiled as his answer. Then, he leaned forward slightly.
"Alright, let’s get straight to the point. Are you interested in becoming secret agents for Diamond City? You two were the ones who took down that syndicate branch recently, weren’t you... oh, not just you two, but the eight of you. Daisy, there are six more back at the house looking after the baby you rescued from those people, right? You’re perfect candidates. Are you interested? Don’t worry, I’m not forcing you," Ronald asked in a low, confident voice.
Dennis and Daisy felt like they had been struck by lightning. Their entire lives were being read back to them casually by Ronald. Everything they had been keeping secret had been monitored by the secret service all along. The two of them, who had been ready for a fight just moments ago, turned deathly pale and could only clutch each other’s hands, unable to find the words to answer.