Chapter 87: A New Romance

Prime Minister Steele Zhang sat nervously as he met with China's most powerful individuals.

"So you're saying, that you won't attack that base?" A tall, lean and stylish man glared at the Prime Minister.

"Yes. That place is… dangerous. No General of China's Army would boldly attack with that place." The Prime Minister answered nervously.

"Is that man so terrifying? Does he have an army as powerful as One China?" The person beside the tall lean man, a beautiful woman with flawless white skin interjected.

"Madam… You have to understand. That man is a demon!"

"Why haven't we heard of him?"

"Because he doesn't want to be known! Even his organization has been silent for the past decades! That was never the style of that damned family!"

"Even in the Underworld? Why haven't I faced any oppositions in my dealings there?"

"That's because you haven't crossed his bottom line! And the other organizations would dare not cross with theirs! The fact that they're silent doesn't mean that they won't bite! That organization changed our history!"

"I don't have time to listen to your history lessons, Prime Minister. If it wasn't for the fact that Richie went missing I wouldn't be talking to you! Who is he and why have you been hiding his existence?!"

"Hiding his existence? We dare not! We simply thought you knew! That man is a legend! Richie wouldn't dare attack that man! In fact, let me tell you this, rumor has it that Richie once clashed with Meng's subordinates and his subordinates managed to escape alive!"

"What?! So they're as strong as Richie!?" The tall man was shocked. He had long read of the reports of Richie's capabilities. And now, more of them surfaced?

"Who are these assassins? And what exactly are we facing?"

The Prime Minister gave a frustrated look. He couldn't comprehend how these two knew nothing about Meng.

"Let me explain through history. During the third world war, there were thirteen strong warriors who led our armies to victory. This was controlled by that man, Meng."

"Skip the history lesson. How strong?" The woman impatiently demanded.

"Extremely! This thirteen warriors conquered India! One sweeping campaign was all it took to win that war. And that was because these thirteen joined that battle. That's why even that experiment, Richie is afraid of him."

"No, I'm not." The voice was so plain yet it sounded like thunder.

The window glass was shattered and a powerful force blasted through the room. The trio was thrown out of their positions and stumbled on the ground.

"Richie!" The Prime Minister cried in terror.

The guards inside the Prime Minister's mansion immediately moved. All of them were the elite. Agents who have been trained to the highest level.

All entered the room immediately and rushed towards the window to see what happened.

The guards pointed their guns out and were ready to pull the trigger but no one could be seen on the balcony of the building.

"He's in the building!" The Prime Minister shouted.

BANG! BANG!

Gunshots were heard downstairs and the guards immediately rushed to lead the three to the safe room.

"Boys." A calm voice somehow echoed throughout the house despite the loud sounds of gunshots.

"CALM DOWN."

BOOM!

It was like thunder. The voice resonated throughout the mansion breaking windows and cracking the marble tiles.

Everyone was affected. Many instantly dropped on the floor, some fainted, while others felt as if they were being skinned alive.

Richie casually walked over the shaking bodies of the soldiers and agents and steadily walked the stairs.

A happy whistling tune echoed out as he took his steps. But this whistle brought extreme pain to everyone.

People were shouting in pain and fear, yet somehow this little happy whistle overpowered the loud sounds in the mansion.

"Ri-Richie!" The Prime Minister screamed in shock as he finally regained sanity.

"Prime Minister… I'm here to ask permission. I'll be attacking Meng's base. So get ready to clean up after my mess." Richie smiled.

"Wha-what!?"

"Who do you think made me disappear for a while? Those damned assassins assaulted me when I was about to abduct Hoross and killed my client!" Richie sighed.

"Gary!" The tall man couldn't help but cry out.

Richie nodded.

"And just to make it clear… I was never afraid of Meng. The reason why I never clashed with them, is because he and I are one of a kind in this world. So I allowed him to do his little operation since he never bothered with me. After all, it's quite lonely if I'm the only one left at the top."

"I understand. Forgive me for being so presumptuous."

"The mess will be hard to clean up. Admittedly, I won't stand a chance facing Meng and all his little minions. So I'll be bringing my disciples along. Just make sure your country stays out of the way."

"Of course! Of course!"

"I'm sorry for ruining your meeting. Especially when you've had such a distinguished guest." Richie gazed at the two.

The pair shivered at the eyes of the man.

"And looks like I've messed up the pretty lady's make up. Here. For your troubles." Richie flicked a gold coin at the woman.

The woman gave a blushing stare as he looked sweetly at Richie.

Richie simply laughed.

"Lady… Don't even think about it." Each angry word of Richie somehow stopped the woman from breathing as she felt her chest weighing heavily on her.

The lady coughed and coughed and Richie simply turned around.

"See you around, Prime Minister... If I'm alive that is." Richie sighed as he went his way.

"You're not sure you can defeat him?" The tall man could not help but interject.

"Who are you? And why do you care?" Richie frowned.

"Forgive me! We are just concerned about China's welfare. It is said that Meng sent one assassin to destroy Fortress Plastorrid!"

"It shouldn't be one. All thirteen was there and they all ambushed me. Meng's simply creating an illusion to make his team look all strong and powerful." Richie slowly walked away. A trace of loneliness could be felt as he walked.

"How many of his assassins did you kill?" The tall man asked once more.

"None," Richie replied angrily.

A powerful force slammed against the man pinning him on the floor. The man was gasping for breath as he felt his ribs cracking.

"Are you happy? The ambush was well-thought of. I barely escaped by hiding myself among the Pangean residents. But now, I'm ready. By tomorrow, only one will remain. So get out of the way." Richie coldly commanded as he continued walking.

"Wait!" The woman managed to remember an important assignment. But Richie seemed to be ignoring this woman.

"Seeker Carlean! Is he alive?" The woman cried out.

Richie almost immediately paused as he heard that name. He continued walking but started to slow down as he came to a calm halt.

Richie gave the woman a curious look.

"The Piercing Pro Gamer?"

"Yes. Is he alive?"

"Aren't you a little too old for that kid?" Richie laughed.

"It's business. A lot of money's been circulating around that kid. And I've placed quite a lot on him as well. The Covenant says he's alive. But no word from him since New Birth Fort's destruction!"

"Oh." Richie simply shrugged and continued walking.

"Yes. He's was wounded. I saw him on New Great Britain's ship. They should be keeping him since the testimony from an internet celebrity kid could further attack Australia's reputation." Richie's figure soon disappeared from the trio's sight and his whistle slowly drifted further and further until none could be heard.

As they confirmed Richie's departure, the woman stood up and called her driver.

"Get us out of here!"

The pair immediately walked out not bothering with the Prime Minister and immediately rode the limousine that arrived.

"This is crazy!" The tall man shouted as he continued to hold on to his left rib.

"He's worse than what Gary reported!"

"Idiot. Gary told us that he never has seen the full extent of this man. Even when facing assassins, he wouldn't use his voice!"

"He's dangerous! With that strange ability, he could pose a threat to us! And that Meng! He's just as strong as this Richie? That's crazy! What happened to these Earthlings! How did they have such monsters? And these monsters have disciples?" The tall man cursed.

"Relax! That monster said it himself! They are the only monsters in this damned planet. We kill them, then we can ensure our victory once we execute our plans." The woman smiled.

"What about his disciples?"

"We'll kill them too! His disciples should be well-trained assassins while Meng should have applied some human modification on his body and his thirteen soldiers. We'll just wait for the two to fight to the death and steal Meng's data."

"We kill them during their clash…"

"Exactly. If Richie has his disciples, and Meng has his assassins meet, then this battle will turn into an all-out melee! A well-placed bomb would easily do the trick!"

A satisfied smile was displayed on the tall man.

"Of course! We should earn some merits with this!" The tall man finally relaxed.

"Still... that Richie was quite a monster." The woman recalled with great lust in her eyes.

"That was a true man. Not even our world's greatest could compare to him." The woman sighed.

The tall man was quiet. A hint of jealousy appeared on his eyes but he couldn't speak of anything to dissuade the woman of her fantasies.

"Forget about him. He needs to die." The tall man finally spoke.

The woman simply sneered at the tall man's response and laughed.

"Looks like Presider Pridgeon's request is also half done." The tall man changed the subject.

"Right. Thanks to me! You were so intimidated by Richie that you failed to use the opportunity to gather information. You're useless. Why am I here with such weak men?" The woman laughed.

"If only Presider Pridgeon would look at me. At least he's a man I can settle with." The woman sighed.

The tall man could do nothing but frown.

"Presider Pridgeon likes men! And not just men! Teenagers! He's wasn't only looking for Seeker! He told me to ready that kid as a package!" The man spoke in deep disgust.

The woman gave a devilish smile and held out her mobile device and clicked it.

"Presider Pridgeon likes men! And not just men! Teenagers!" A recorded audio was played.

"What are you doing?!" The tall man screamed angrily.

"Get me Rein or I hand this over to Presider Pridgeon!" The woman threatened.

"What? Why?! You damned slut!" The tall man cursed.

"Ha! Fool! Presider Pridgeon isn't gay! It should be Presider Zeraphine. She should be a teenager by now. But you just had to curse your superior!" The woman laughed as she replayed an audio recording.

"You slut! Give me that!' The man threatened but the woman gave a kick at his ribs and the man squirmed in pain.

"You're crazy! You know how hard it is to get him without rousing suspicions!"

"I don't care. Meeting that Richie really ignited my passions. Since I can't have such a man, I'll settle with someone less." The woman smiled as she gazed on the small coin that Richie gave.

"Fine! I'll do it! Damn it! Luckily the news in Australia's keeping the media busy! He's just recently married, you slut!" The tall man sighed in defeat.

"That's why he won't make this little fling of our public. Besides, If he falls for me, I can kill off that little wifey of his. A pity that he's no Richie. Oh my, Richie!"

THUD!

The car suddenly swerved as the driver hit on the breaks.

The two passengers smashed on the doors and crashed on the floor.

"You idiot! Drive carefully!"

"I'm sorry! I just lost control somehow!" The driver apologized.

"Just get us out of here!' The tall man shouted and the car drove on.

"Was that really necessary?" Arthur couldn't help but ask through the comm device. He heard Richie give a compressed shout.

"You almost gave yourself away." Arthur did his best to hide his anger.

"Shut it. I did what you asked and gave her that bugged coin." Richie was standing on the rooftop of a nearby building.

"Do you believe me now?"

"So aliens do exist..." Richie grinned.

"An intergalactic showdown sounds fun. I think I found myself a new romance."