There are no eternal enemies, only eternal benefits or something(chapter 62)

prevously in chapter 61

"Your men were quite disappointing. I hope you are different," Henry suddenly said, He turned toward an alleyway where an elderly woman, probably in her 70s and using a cane, was slowly walking toward him. She was Asian, with visible wrinkles that spoke of a long, experienced life. 

Henry smiled, a cold, calculating smile. "I am guessing you must be their leader." The woman paused, her calm eyes locking onto his. She moved with a speed so fast that even the fastest athletes couldn't accomplish it. Despite her age, she seemed almost superhuman. Henry noted this with a hint of surprise, though he didn't show it on his face. Instead, he remained calm and composed, which surprised the woman as well, he looked up and said, "Can I tell you a story?"

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Chapter 62

The elderly woman looked surprised for a second before nodding calmly. 

"There was once a man, a humble and simple man, one of the many cogs in the machine that was this city," Henry began, his voice even and deliberate. He looked around, and so did the woman, her expression one of cautious interest.

"Despite the city's ugly side, the man, like many others, remained ignorant of such a side of the world." The older woman frowned slightly, her brows knitting together in confusion.

"Until one day, the man came home from work. It was like any other day, except on this fateful night, from the corner of his eye, he caught a glimpse of something he shouldn't—a murder. And the murderers wore ninja outfits." Henry paused dramatically, his eyes narrowing as he recalled the memory. The older woman still said nothing, her silence urging him to continue.

"Being a New Yorker, the man knew to mind his business, hoping to avoid the same fate. So he pretended not to see what was happening. But luck was not on his side. Despite his clear intention of not wanting to be part of it, the ninjas decided that he shouldn't exist," Henry turned to look at her, his gaze piercing.

"I am pretty sure you know the rest. So then, madam, from the bottom of my heart, I thank you and your men for introducing me to this side of the world," Henry said sincerely, his voice softening slightly.

The older woman finally spoke, her voice slow and calm. "We have been watching you, Henry," she said, each word deliberate and measured. "We have kept our eyes on you, watched as you grew—the Alchemist. You have a talent not seen in generations."

Henry sighed, a hint of pride in his voice as he responded, "Well, I am the one and only Alchemist there is."

The elderly woman scoffed softly, her eyes narrowing slightly. "There is a better place for a man of your talent," she said, stepping over the corpses of her own men with an almost casual indifference. "You see, grudges and needlessly holding onto the past can actually do more harm than good," she advised, her tone almost maternal.

Henry laughed, a cold, humorless sound. "There are no eternal enemies, madam. Only eternal benefit," he replied, his eyes gleaming with a mix of amusement and challenge.

The woman looked surprised for a moment before she smiled, her expression one of genuine appreciation. "Such wise words," she acknowledged.

Henry chuckled, "As expected from an individual named Henry." He then paused, tilting his head slightly as he sighed. "I haven't caught your name."

The elderly woman straightened, a hint of pride in her stance. "I am Madam Gao, of the Hand."

Henry nodded, "And I am Henry, the Alchemist."

Madam Gao smiled again, a knowing smile. "I hope we can do much business together, Henry."

Henry returned the smile, though his eyes remained cold. "Likewise."

As they bid farewell, Henry watched Madam Gao disappear into the night. The moment she was out of sight, his expression darkened, a deep frown creasing his forehead. "There are no eternal enemies, but you don't get to hit me and not expect to be hit back," he muttered, turning on his heel. 

Despite his pragmatic approach, the past was never truly forgotten, not even in the slightest. Henry walked away, his mind already plotting the next move. Benefits might take precedence over personal grudges, but retribution was a principle he would never abandon, unless there was a bigger benefit.

-scene change-

Inside a dimly lit warehouse, two figures could be seen engaging in a fierce fight. One of those figures was a ninja of the Hand, except this ninja was wearing red clothes instead of black, while the other figure was a man wearing a black shirt, black trousers, black shoes, and a strangely black beanie hat that covered the top part of his face. Both figures were adept fighters, and despite the man in black wearing a mask, he was reacting perfectly—way too perfectly. Although that didn't seem to be enough as the Hand ninja defeated him, the Hand ninja outclassed the man in black way too much, unaware of an invisible creature. This creature was a metallic crow.

The metallic crow watched the fight, which resulted in the Hand ninja's victory before the other figured set the ninja on fire through some miracle, While the metallic crow watched, recording, the metallic crow was an alchemical creation, Henry's most prized alchemical creation. This was because this metallic crow contained a piece of soul essence, although it was a small piece. The crow's ability to go invisible was due to the essence that was extracted from the barrier that guarded the Aether, although, again, Henry had only used a small part of it.

[ Name: Crow-1 ] 

[ Grade: 5th (peak) ] 

[ Description: A mechanical crow crafted from an alloy of steel, enhanced through alchemy to resist all external effects. The crow is composed of four parts: the CPU, integrated with the ability to learn using fragments of Henry's soul as supplementary material, allowing Henry and the crow to be soul-linked; the Heart, empowered to fuel all functions with potent energy being used as supplementary material; the Feathers, bestowed with invisibility using essence extracted from the invincible barrier guardian, Aether, as supplementary material; and the Eyes, equipped to record events using cameras as supplementary material. The crow is also connected to Kai. ] 

[ Effects: 150% resistance to external effects, +150% learning capability (CPU), +150% energy efficiency (Heart), +150% invisibility (Feathers), +150% recording capacity (Eyes) ] 

[ Deterioration Rate: 0% ] 

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A/N: Yeah, you know how I said I got burned from watching too much marvel content? Guess watching my word doc page counter decrease solved that problem. Now I am 23 chapters ahead of you guys. It's really nice having to upload only one fanfic at a time. Listen, kids, don't ever try to do two at the same time. I better not hear a "that's what she said" joke. Don't be childish.

Edit: 30 chapters now, yeah, i need to sleep, like right now.