08. Visiting Dad.
"Meeting on a Sunday? Seriously?"
"Yeah, it's just going to be a few detectives chatting with the higher-ups on their day off. Nothing too serious,"
"Oh, I see. Uncle Lucky?"
"Hmm, what's wrong kiddo?"
"Do you know anything about my stepmom?"
Uncle Lucky was just about to grab his coat when he suddenly hesitated.
"You haven't seen her yet, have you?" He asked as he slowly took a seat.
"No, I haven't," Kevin replied.
"Hmm, let's see. I saw her once when she got married to your father. To be honest, I was a little surprised that he married another woman after what happened but I knew that he was doing it for you."
"When I saw your stepmother, she was always smiling, bringing joy and happiness to everyone she talked to. And this was what your father needed the most at the time, so a part of me was glad your dad met someone as amazing as her."
[Hmm, sounds like a Keeper.]
[You sure, you still don't wanna sleep with her?]
'Shut it!!'
"Is everything okay?" Uncle Lucky noticed Kevin's change in expression.
"Yes, I'm fine," Kevin reassured his uncle.
"Alright then. Did that answer your question?" Uncle Lucky stood up grabbing his coat.
"Yeah, thank you so much. Now, I have no regrets about my dad's decision to remarry,"
Uncle Lucky nodded with a smile. "You sure, you don't want anything else?"
Kevin nodded, still expecting his spaghetti and Uncle Lucky turned to leave the restaurant but paused and said.
"I'm happy to see you back home in one piece. But next time, try not to hide the details of the encounter you had with a Cannibal away from me."
"As I always say, your safety is of the utmost importance to me. Also, try to visit your Dad before heading home."
With those remarks, Uncle Lucky left.
The officer that took him to the train station had updated Uncle Lucky about Kevin's encounter with a Cannibal.
Kevin hadn't wanted to lie to his favorite uncle about the encounter which was why he had tried to avoid making Uncle Lucky see the bandage on his arm.
Kevin hailed a cab to visit his hospitalized father.
Since it would take at least two hours to get there, Kevin relaxed and checked his phone, surfing the internet for information about the Cannibals and the Awakened.
In his previous world, cannibals looked a lot like the zombies in movies but these creatures were stronger and more agile than the zombies he had seen in movies.
The Awakened, on the other hand, were humanoid creatures with some of them having at least one feral animal organ attached to their bodies.
Some could maintain a humanoid appearance and were currently living as humans, but it was difficult to differentiate them from actual humans.
They possessed speech, magic and could control a Cannibal as well.
No one had any idea of their origin, but there were reports of people going missing at night and few were rumored to have turned into Cannibals.
There were also rumors that a private organization or cult group was involved in trying to turn all of humanity into mutated beings. However, there has been no sufficient evidence to prove this.
Only a few cannibals had been captured by a privately owned government research facility, but even those cannibals never lasted more than a day there.
The cannibals would kill themselves to prevent the scientists from carrying out any further analysis on them.
The scientists deduced that the Cannibals were incapable of implementing these actions on their own unless they were ordered to do so by an Awakened.
How an Awakened could do this was still a mystery.
The cannibals were highly flammable and would burn till there was nothing left of their bodies.
And since all the cannibals in the facility were burnt by an unknown source. It meant that an Awakened was always nearby to cast a spell that ignited the cannibals.
The government was currently seeking a way to detect Awakened individuals that were living among humans.
The authorities had ordered anyone who encountered an Awakened to immediately report their location.
Kevin relaxed a bit and pondered about all this.
"I have to find my mother soon before an Awakened or Cannibal finds her first," Kevin returned his phone to his pocket.
He had no clues as to what exactly happened to his mother but with the parasite by his side, Kevin hoped he would be a step closer to seeing her again.
Plus, if she wasn't alive, why would the goddess give him a system to find her?
Kevin arrived at the hospital and went to his dad's hospital room.
Because he had never once visited before, the chief matron of the hospital had found it hard to believe that Kevin was Max's family, but after she saw the photo of Kevin and Max which had been on Max's bedside table, she lowered her guard and allowed him to enter.
"I'm sorry for the inconvenience," She apologized.
"It's okay," Kevin replied
The chief matron was about to leave before she turned to say a few things.
"Your stepmother was here a few minutes ago. She brought those flowers as well. If you want, I could give her a call to come pick you up."
"That won't be necessary. Thank you so much"
The chief matron nodded and left the room.
Kevin's dad was an influential man, known to everyone in the hospital.
There wasn't anyone that didn't know how rich Max was.
But Max had not allowed any information about his private and family life to get into the general public.
No one knew who his wife and child were.
This had been his wife's idea and he had respected that.
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