15 The New World

Seated on an expensive couch, was an elderly man, who was busy viewing the reports with utmost concentration.

Despite the drop in temperature after turning the air conditioner on in his office, the man's eyes never left the report, despite his PA shivering a little to the cold. Upon reading the reports, anger subconsciously started to surface within him.

"Damn it!" He flung the papers across the room. Without any change in the PA's emotions, she calmly picked up the papers and placed it on the table.

The man looked back at his name plate with extreme sarcasm. 'Founder and CEO'. All of that, provided him a deep sense of shame and extreme guilt. All the hard work he had done to stop his enemies were slowly crumbling into pieces. Each and every piece of his well decorated puzzle was, being pulled apart.

"These reports, I do not like them." The elderly man replied.

"Sir, would you like me to send our people to track them?" His personal assistant, who remained quiet, finally spoke up in a placid manner.

"Then what? Send our men to only get killed?" He could not help but snicker. Though his company had the upper hand initially, nevertheless, due to the lack of power, his enemies all had fixated a common target; him and him alone.

He knew that even if his men were killed, then he would still return to payback twofold. Should he die, then all would be lost.

"Sir we have to try. I understand that our company is in a rest phase. Knowing our strength, even if cannot take their best, we can sill eliminate the remaining of the others, am I right? We just need to divert their best." The PA spoke indifferently, as if she was expecting the same reply from the man.

"Then here's a question for you my humble subordinate, what makes you think I haven't tried it before?" The PA who remained calm all this while, widened her eyes.

Without expecting a proper reply, the man confirmed her next question in line.

"It is as you think. I have tried it and the result, we lost our number one. Being crushed was simply an understatement." The PA started to shiver as her body wavered and slumped to the ground.

"So he was not on a reconnaissance mission; was it not true that he was assigned to fight on the borders of Slovenia?"

"No. I sent him to distract you-know-who by the pacific, while the remaining fight the others." The man replied, revealing a hint of sadness and guilt.

As the founder of this company, he cherished the lives of everyone in the company, and treated them like family. Knowing that he had lost his best, he felt that he lost a piece of himself.

"But, it was all a full fledged trap. Just as we thought he distracted their best, we never realized our plan was leaked, as the remaining enemies laid in ambush waiting for him. They ensnared him and killed him cruelly." He replied as a single tear escaped his eyes.

The atmosphere became colder as he felt the burden on his shoulders become heavier.

"Sir then it definitely must be one of ours from the inside." She responded in fury.

"We already knew that, but he immediately sought asylum in DW-Industries, and they responded with 'no room for negotiations'." He stated.

The PA sighed and immediately handed him a kerchief to reassure him. She felt helpless as she noticed so many uncontrollable issues happening, and yet was unable to do anything.

When she was in peril, her boss saved her and made her for who she is today. A strong and independent woman. Today she was unable to do the same.

"Boss, if in the next annual business summit, DW-Industries signs a contract with Falcon Steels, then it's over. The armor and heavy grade weapons will all go to them, turning them into a major world company. They will use any means to crush us."

Hearing her reply nervously, the man sighed and closed his eyes as he slowly laid back on his couch. It was as if he traveled back in time, one by one, his old memories surfaced, visualizing a man whom he always considered a true friend.

The times he had been saved by his friend was endless. Upon feeling nostalgic, a small smile appeared on his face.

Noticing the change in his expression, his PA knew exactly who her boss was thinking about, and had heard many times from him. Though she appreciated the sentiment, she knew that the person her boss idolized was long gone and would never be able to return no matter what.

Although her boss believed that he was alive, she however in contrary, deemed it impossible. Those who were dead, were nothing but a memory of the past.

"You know when I was young, my friend once blindfolded my and took me towards the edge of a mountain and made me sit down.

When he slowly opened the blindfold, I felt a small gust blow at my face. When I realized where I was, I screamed and lost control of myself, accidentally leaning forward!

However, just as I thought it was over, he grabbed me from the back tightly. He asked me to close my eyes and told me to calm my breathing.

At that moment, my whole body felt calm and undisturbed. I no longer felt scared and from that day, I realized that there was always a to overcome your greatest fears."

Finishing his story, the man closed his eyes again and revisited another one of his precious memories.

'Knock'

'Knock'

Hearing the knock, the PA woke up from her stupor and opened the door. Two figures were present; a female and a male.

Both wore professional clothes as one wore a blue blazer with a pencil skirt, with blonde hair making her appear gorgeous, while the other wore a black tuxedo and had a scar on the left side of his cheek, with the unnatural red hair making his demeanor ferocious.

"Hi Ema, we just finished our mission and would like to report to the boss; it's urgent." The blond female replied with indifferently.

"Oh hi Alice, Ricardo. The boss is tired, so maybe-"

"It's fine Ema, let them in. It's hard to fall asleep with this suit anyways." The man interrupted her, as he slowly stood up and walked over to his table. Ema immediately let them in and finally shut the door.

By gathering some magic in her hands, she set up a huge invisible barrier occluding all sound, that traveled from the inside to the outside. She then walked over to her boss's chair and stood next to him and pulled out her tablet.

"What happened?"

"They rejected."

"What!" The old man stood up from his seat, confused.

"I don't understand, we agreed to all their demands, even having one of their members as one of our board directors. Then why?" The old man slammed the desk in annoyance, splitting the table in half.

"I'm sorry sir, I tried my best." Alice felt dejected too. Being one of the strongest fighters in the company, she was not able to finish this mission.

"Boss, just give me the order and I will kill those bastards myself." Ricardo man yelled, receiving a nod from Alice too.

This time, the elderly man did not refute him. All of them present in the room felt suffocating as their plans were slowly falling apart.

The elderly man sat back down and turned his chair around viewing the beautiful view from the very topmost floor. As he noticed the various cars, the people walking and the peaceful atmosphere, he gritted his teeth as he imagined the impending doom befalling on every single person in the city; no the very world itself.

"Let's not rush things. There has got to be another way, I can't, no we can't give up yet." The old man's gaze remained on the view outside as he continued to speak.

"Then what do you suppose we do?" Ema asked.

"I will go to the tribe myself and talked to them. Someone dear to me once said, 'hard work always pays off'" He stated as he put his coat back on.

"But sir, if our enemies saw you, they will ambush you." Ema said with concern. To her, no one was more important than her boss.

"We will come with you as well boss." Alice and the Ricardo replied in unison.

The elderly man walked up to them and placed an arm on them with extreme pride and happiness. No matter the circumstances, the people he placed his trust on, remained loyal to him; and for that he felt extremely thankful.

"You people truly remind me of someone who was just as loyal, kind, and extremely smart. Thank you for always following this old man out" The old man could not help but smile with extreme appreciation.

"What are you talking about boss, aren't we family?" The red haired man replied sheepishly.

"Haha, yes of course. Ema get the car ready, and tell our men to remain vigilant and tighten our building's security to the maximum. Oh and you two, stay alert. We must leave without notifying anyone." The boss ordered, receiving a nod from all three of them.

As they headed to leave, the old man looked back the chair one last time envisioning his friend on the chair he sat moments ago.

'Indra my friend, where are you?'

Miles away from the headquarters, in an underground parking lot, a man could be seen walking towards his car trying to unlock it. Abruptly a white light took over his vision as he shielded his eyes from the bright light.

Moments after it disappeared, the person removed his hands and opened his eyes, and what he saw astounded him to the very core.

A person of golden hair could be seen looking around in wariness and confusion. The man nervously walked towards the golden haired man, curiously.

"Sir, may I help you?" The man asked.

"Could you tell me where I am? Oh, I'm Indra by the way." He said as he reachdd his hand out.

The man continued to stare at him nervously, and unknowingly, this man's life was about to change forever.