70 Deal or No Deal?

Alex knew that if he showed the captive golden woman with the way that she is right now, her father will surely burst in a fit of anger.

Alex of course would not want that to happen.

"Think Alex, think!" Alex thought to himself as he tried to find a solution for his current dilemma.

Alex was confident that he and Alina can escape from the golden guy in the expense of extremely heavy injuries.

However, Alex knew that the little monsters that are with them will not be spared by the golden guy.

"If I do nothing to de-escalate the situation, then these little monsters will be in danger!" Alex thought as he gritted his teeth.

"Wait a second…" Alex's mind halted a little, as if he suddenly remembered something important.

"The little monsters... the golden woman… the Monster Birth Program… Hehehe, now this is a plan!" Alex resisted the urge to laugh as he was able to find the solution to his current dilemma.

Before the golden guy could notice Alex's awkward pause, Alex started to flail his arms around, managing to surprise even Alina.

"You think I will just accept such paltry offer of yours?" An arrogant voice came out of Alex's mouth, which managed to show a cocky behavior from him. "I am here to obtain something, something that I know you have!"

"Speak, Eldritch." Luckily for Alex, the golden guy seems to be willing to listen to him.

Alex took this as his chance to reverse the situation.

"…"

The first thing that Alex did was to look at the direction where the little monsters were hidden.

The way that Alex looked at them was so obvious that the golden guy saw what he was doing.

The golden guy naturally followed Alex's gaze, and what he saw made his body twitch imperceptibly.

"Oh?" Alex let out a light scoff as he saw the golden guy's reaction. "You seem to know what these little monsters really are, right?"

"I do not know what you are talking about." The golden guy replied, with his voice still stable. "I was just surprised that there are weak monsters like them here."

"Don't lie to me, Human." Alex snarled as he assumed an imposing stance. "You know that these kids are victims of a nefarious breeding program! Just seeing your reaction earlier confirms that!"

"...."

This is the first part of Alex's plan to calm the situation down.

Alex wanted to find out first if the golden guy has knowledge of the Monster Birth Program by using the little monsters as a way to elicit reaction from him.

If the golden guy reacted while looking at them, then he knows about the program. If not, then its running time for Alex.

Luckily for Alex, the golden guy seems to know a lot about the program.

With the first step already fixed, Alex decided to start on the second step.

"When my partner and I came to this World, our only intention is to do some sight-seeing." Alex said as he and Alina went near each other. "Today is our first day, and we plan to tour this forest."

"However, before I could even enjoy my time here, I saw these little monsters in a life-death situation. After saving and conversing with them, I realized about their difficulties. What I heard from them made me... extremely angry." Even a psychopath can see that Alex is extremely angry right now.

"I may be not Human, but even I can understand that kids forced to turn into Monsters are a very unfortunate lot. My partner also thinks the same way too." Alex muttered as he played with some of his tentacles. "Both of us were not Local Monsters in this World, so we could not fathom and understand why these Human Kids were forced to turn into Monsters. For us two, it's just … wrong."

"Because of that, I and my partner decided to do our best to help these little monsters out." Alex said as he pointed his tentacles at the golden guy. "And not even you or your fancy equipment can stop us from doing so!"

"I do not care for the reason why you and the others are not interested on helping out these little monsters." Alex said as he slowly slithered backwards. "The only thing that I can tell you is that my partner and I both care for these kids!"

"…"

"All that I want is to cure these little monsters and turn them back to normal." Alex declared as he stopped on moving. "And you and your daughter will be helping me with that."

"What… do you mean by that?" The golden guy did not deny or confirm about his knowledge of the Monster Birth Program, but his reply right now is just the right reply for Alex.

"If you know something related to this blasted program, then you must also know something that can cure the monster transformation." Alex slowly said as Alina went behind him. "Of course I may be just wrong here and there really is no cure at all. But if that really is the case, then you will never be able to get your daughter back."

"!!!!!!!!"

Alex took advantage of the shock of the golden guy as he slowly said,

"In exchange for your daughter's life, you should give me the cure that can reverse the monster transformation that happened on the 5 little monsters. If you don't do it, then ugly things might happen."

"What!"

This is the solution that Alex found out to solve his current dilemmas.

By forcing the golden guy to hand something related to the cure for the transformed monsters in exchange for his daughter's life, Alex will be able to find a way to complete his Main Mission while also getting off his current crisis.

"Oh, and don't try to lie to me, since my partner here can see if you are lying." Alex said as Alina gave the golden guy a glare. "If you lie, your daughter… will have some marks of your falsehood. So, be careful with what you say, okay?"

"…"

If the golden guy really knew nothing about the cure, then Alex will just give back his daughter hastily.

But if the golden guy indeed knew something about the cure, then Alex will have his way to his victory much closer than he projected.

"…."

"…."

Alex and the golden guy continued staring for each other for a minute, with both of their gazes unyielding.

In the end, the golden guy was the one who first broke off the gaze.

He let out a sigh as he said,

"If that is what you want, then you are free to keep my daughter."

"Huh?" Alex's confusion level went to the roof as he heard what the golden guy said. "Can you repeat what you said?"

"I said, you can keep my daughter with you if you demand the cure for the monster transformation." The golden guy said as he placed the halberd on his back.

"Wait, are you right in your head?" This time, Alex dropped his pretentious act as he tried to understand what the golden guy was doing.

"Hey, this is your daughter that is in danger! I already gave you a way to save her, yet you are refusing it just because you don't want to give the cure to me? Where is the common sense in there?"

"That is something that I cannot explain to you." The golden guy said as he shook his head. "That cure is related to the welfare of all Humans, and I cannot just let any Monster get near it. And if that requires me to leave my daughter with you, then I can endure that pain."

"What the hell…" It was at this point that Alex realized that this World is much more broken than what he thought.

Not only were some humans were forced to become monsters, it seems like some humans are not doing anything to stop it too!

And seeing this golden guy resolutely abandon his daughter for his so-called 'noble goals' just made Alex more disheartened.

Alex could not just believe that this golden guy will really just leave his daughter in their hands, in exchange for keeping the cure safe.

It is just wrong and immoral.

"So, if I continue asking for the cure in exchange for you daughter, you will not comply?" Alex asked once more just for confirmation. "You really would rather leave her with us than give the cure?"

"That is exactly what I said." The golden guy replied resolutely.

"What an ass." Alina muttered as she glared at the golden guy. "I have seen better monsters than you!"

"Oh, you think just because I ignored your deal that I am just ready to abandon my daughter? Quit thinking of delusions like that!" The golden guy said as his body began to glow brightly again.

"Since I cannot have a deal with you, then I will just take my daughter back by force!"

"Are you sure you want to do that?" Alex smirked as he went behind Alina. "Since you do not want to make a deal with us, then I will just be happy to kill your daughter right now."

"You!!!"

"Right now, your daughter is inside a space created by my partner." Alex said as he peered from behind Alina's shoulder. "If you make a move, Alina will kill her. Kill us, and your daughter will also die."

"…" These words by Alex immediately froze the golden guy in his tracks.

From the looks of it, even if the golden guy was fine leaving his daughter to them, he was still not happy to be directly related to her death.

If the golden left his daughter to them, then there is a high chance that she will stay alive.

But if the golden guy attacks them now, then his daughter will immediately die.

"...…"

This effectively stuck the golden guy in his place.

In one hand, he cannot get his daughter back as he refused to give the cure what Alex wanted.

On the other hand, the golden guy cannot also just use brute force to get his daughter back, as Alex said that doing so will just lead to his daughter's death.

These two parallel-occurring scenarios had the golden guy placed in a dilemma, where he will be unable to do anything.

And this is what Alex had exactly wanted.

"So you still want to save your daughter huh, that is a good indication that you are still fine." Alex said as he and Alina started to leave the place. They did not forget to bring the little monsters with them.

"Since you do not want to have a deal with me, then I and my partner will leave for now… Don't follow us, or your daughter will die." Alex said as he mimed a slashing motion with his throat.

"If… you still want to get her back alive, then let us meet at this place 1 month from now. You can give me the cure that I want at that time." Alex declared as he and Alina continued walking away from the golden guy. "If you do not give the cure at that time, then you can just leave your daughter's fate to us."

"…" The golden guy just floated in the air as Alex and Alina hastily left the place.

The golden guy continued to stay silent for another half hour as the golden glow in his body seethed and roiled.

In the end, the golden guy could not contain his anger as he let out a shout that rippled through the forest.

"Argghhhh!!!"