Chapter 67: Something Feels Fishy
Chapter 67
After nearly an hour of moving through the shelves and filling his carts, Alex finally headed toward the next section with a happy grin on his face.
He was currently pushing three shopping carts filled to the absolute brim with neatly arranged foodstuffs that ranged from cartons of instant noodles to crates of his favourite chilled soda to even the premium cuts of beef that he couldn’t afford to eat before. Almost everything he could think of was all in those three shopping carts.
The combined weight of the carts would have been quite a hassle for most people, but for him it was nothing more than a mild inconvenience.
The chibi floated lazily above the carts with her tiny hands resting behind her head as she watched him with an amused expression on her face. Though she would have preferred to continue the silent treatment that had been brewing between them from their earlier fight, she just couldn’t suppress her bubbly nature.
[You know, if anyone was actually paying close attention to you, they would probably think what’s up with this guy? Or why does he look like he is stocking up for a zombie apocalypse]
’I thought you weren’t talking to me, especially after our little squabble earlier?’
[I’m still mad about what you did. But as the mature person in this relationship, with eons of experience, I’ve decided to let everything go]
’More like you can’t go a single second without opening your mouth.’
[Oh please] the system retorted, rolling her eyes in a dramatic flair. [I’m always providing you with the necessary guidance to ensure you grow stronger and don’t embarrass yourself. Besides, someone has to be the voice of reason in this chaotic partnership of ours. And last time I checked, you were the one practically begging for my voice while struggling through those grueling combat simulations]
Alex’s stride faltered and eyes widened as he turned to the chibi with disbelief.
"Wait... So you could hear me the entire time when I tried calling for you, but you refused to respond?"
[That was your training session. And I am explicitly forbidden from talking and providing any form of assistance to you during your training. So it wasn’t really my fault that I couldn’t respond to your calls]
Alex snorted as his grip tightened on the handle of the cart as he maneuvered the bulky haul around a corner.
"Forbidden by the rules, or you were just enjoying watching me call for you? I suppose I’ll never know the truth with you, oh wise and ancient guide."
[Oh, believe me, if I wanted to ignore you, you’d never hear a single peep from my mouth] the chibi retorted, with her form flickering with a faint glow as she drifted between the towering display of food.
[But even an entity of my caliber needs a little entertainment once in a while, and watching you fight to survive was really interesting. You know if I was even a real girl I might have kissed you at that spot]
Alex couldn’t suppress a hearty laugh as he pushed the carts through the wide space. His mind began to drift toward his spatial ability.
Come to think of it, he hadn’t fully tested how much his storage space could hold. Even though the system had said that it was roughly the size of an elevator, he had never truly had the chance to fill it to the brim due to his pitiful balance.
And moreover, with the amount of supplies he’d just purchased, it seemed like the perfect time to leave this floor and conduct his little experiment. He didn’t enjoy the subtle gazes that people were giving him just because of the size of his purchase.
"Welp, let’s get out of the way before we start drawing more attention from people." Alex muttered to himself while casting a quick glance around to make sure that the nearby area was empty.
So concentrating on the familiar hollow part of his mind, the carts suddenly shuddered. And in the blink of an eye, the three mountains of foodstuff dissolved into a shimmering distortion of air. He exhaled a sigh of relief, now that the supplies were now safely tucked away in his spatial storage space.
Alex adjusted his clothes feeling significantly lighter and began weaving his way through the path leading to the clothing section. It was time to go buy some really good clothings, and most especially, those really good pants that just came out this year.
He remembered that in his previous life, he had practically worked overtime just to buy one of those pants, but now that he had some money, he decided it wouldn’t hurt to spoil himself a bit.
So heading towards a rack filled with men’s clothing, Alex inspected different high quality denim jean one by one, before picking the ones that caught his eyes. He then moved from one rack to another, picking dozens of other clothes in a span of ten minutes.
Just as Alex was about to pick a nice black hoodie that would definitely go well with the denim jean he had picked from earlier, he spotted a familiar silhouette moving toward the back of the store near the loading bays.
He would have brushed the figure aside, if he had not seen the person’s face. It was a girl with short blonde hair that didn’t reach her shoulder, a cute baby-face that gave her an almost harmless impression, with delicate features and a petite frame that made her seem younger than she actually was.
It was Nyx’s most trusted bodyguard and the woman who had beaten the crap out of him a week ago. For a minute he wondered what she might be doing at the store. Wasn’t she supposed to be at Nyx’s side or something? Or did Nyx send her to buy some things for her? He shook his head. It was impossible for someone like Nyx to send her aide to buy something for her, from a mall like this.
As he continued to watch her petite figure walk toward the hidden compartment at the back of the store, he noticed two men in casual clothing following her discreetly. One of them was tall and broad-shouldered with a solid build and shifty eyes that constantly moved left and right. While the other had a leaner build with sharper features and a faint calculating smile that gave away very little about what he was thinking.
Observing the two men, Alex wanted to scoff at them. If they thought that they had any chance of bullying the baby-faced girl, then they were as good as dead.
The baby-faced girl was literally an awakened, someone at the top of the food chain among humans. Plus the fact that she had strong combat experience and an op ability that almost made her invincible, for as long as her primordial essence held out, was enough fact to dismiss the two men as nothing serious.
[Uhmm Alex about that... One of the men possesses primordial essence, making him an awakened. And judging from the intensity of the essence in his core, I would say he is also an early realm awakened just like the baby-faced girl]
"Are you sure, you’re not seeing things right?"
[Either believe it or not. Do I look like I’ll joke with something like this?]
"Uhmmm yeah."
[Well it’s not a joke this time]
Alex’s expression immediately turned serious as he lingered his gaze on the two men trailing behind the baby-faced girl. What he had originally thought was not a major issue had just turned serious, especially after the system’s words.
He decided to follow them. Even if the baby-faced girl had beaten the living daylight out of him, she had only done it at the behest of a very annoyed Nyx. Plus he couldn’t watch something bad happen to the next target that he had already decided to test his infinite skill absorption on.
But something in his guts was telling him that something was not quite right. Since the baby-faced girl was an awakened, then she should have already found out about the two men behind her. So why was she still allowing them to follow her? Then his eyes widened when he thought of something chilling.
’What if she’s secretly working with them, and they are actually about to talk about something important. Could it be something about Nyx?’ he shook his head. ’No I can’t just jump into conclusions like that. I still need to observe them for a while before making any decision.’
The baby-faced girl reached a hidden door first and pushed it forward without any hesitation, and stepped inside as if she had been there many times before. The two men followed closely behind and shut the door with a soft click.
Alex’s eyes narrowed.
"Well, that doesn’t look suspicious at all." He said with sarcasm.
[So what’s the plan?]
Alex glanced around the area first to make sure that no one was paying attention to him, before he moved closer to the door.
"First we listen and try to hear what they’re saying. Then from there we’ll know what to do next."
So reaching the door, Alex positioned himself against the door and pressed his ears closer. He then closed his eyes and concentrated with his enhanced hearing, and at first the voices sounded inaudible, but after a while they began to grow clearer.