Each Interest

"Cover your nose!" Aldi shouted at Ely as he looked back while shooting at the pursuers.

The condition of the former settlements on the island gave Aldi an advantage. The pursuers became overwhelmed. They don't know the area.

Well, actually, they are reluctant to visit dead islands like the Child of Mount Krakatoa area. That's why they don't know the actual conditions of the dead islands, except for Aldi.

Rows of tree trunks that have been dead for a long time, even some of them are just red embers, the rubble of people's houses, force the pursuers to be more careful.

They were forced to reduce the speed of their respective vehicles. And the volcanic snow that continues to rain on the surrounding area further worsens their visibility, even though each of them is protected by the windshield and wiper of their vehicle which is constantly moving. However, the dust fell faster and more intensely than the wipers were able to remove.

Three officers who were not careful had an accident. Two of them hit the wall of a former building, crashed to the ground, and exploded, bursting into flames. One was able to dodge, but the side of his vehicle slammed into a dead tree as he dodged his partner's chameleon blast.

He was flung away with the shattering of the protective glass, his chameleon crashing heavily into the dust-covered earth—more than a foot thick.

The dead tree trunk that was hit cracked, fell, and stamped the officer. He died with a crushed back.

Aldi took a sharp turn, stomped, and braked suddenly the chameleon stopped. The chameleon's snout was even raised high, like a cowboy forcing his horse to lift both front legs. Then turn around and face the opposite direction. A thin and slanted line was etched on Aldi's lips.

"Y'all want to catch me, huh?" Aldi muttered. He was quite satisfied that he had lured the pursuers into this dead area and confused them.

Aldi turned off his chameleon spotlight. Relying solely on his instincts, he brought the chameleon around to the left. Chameleon glided slowly, barely making a sound.

The pursuers seemed to have lost track of Aldi. They didn't realize that the man was stalking them from the right side, about twenty meters away. Feeling themselves in a threatened state, the pursuers shone their respective chameleon lights at several points.

Aldi continued to move slowly with his chameleon. Now, he was just a dozen meters behind the pursuers. He moved his PSG weapon into his right hand, then aimed at someone among the pursuers.

Meanwhile, Ely remained unmoved in her position.

"Hey…!" Aldi called out to the pursuers with a gun ready in his hand. "You guys looking for me?" he smirked.

The chasers panicked a little because they didn't think they were the targets.

However, before they had time to seek cover, Aldi had fired several shots. One or two of the pursuing vehicles stopped when they were hit by a blue laser from the weapon in Aldi's hand, then crashed to the ground.

They are messy. Taking advantage of that moment, Aldi drove his vehicle towards the east, running away from the pursuers, leaving the Child of Mount Krakatoa area.

***

After a long time of racing his chameleon, Aldi stopped again. They were floating, one meter above sea level. He took off his protective glasses. For a moment, he did not see any officers chasing him.

"Ely, give me the binoculars!"

Ely opened her blanket and rushed to give the binoculars to Aldi.

Before confirming that no one was after him, Aldi didn't feel safe yet.

He sighed in relief. With the binoculars, he confirmed that the officers seemed to have given up on pursuing him.

Or maybe the officers from the Land of Andalas did not want to have a verbal war with the officers in the Land of Java. And indeed that is what Aldi wanted by luring the pursuers who had previously approached the island of Java.

Whatever the reason, Aldi can now breathe a sigh of relief. He smiled at Ely and handed her the binoculars.

"Is that the place you said it was safe earlier?" Ely snorted, mocking Aldi. And sat back under the blanket.

Aldi shook his head, swallowed hard. Without a word to respond to Ely's words, he then drove his vehicle towards the mainland of Java Island.

"Damn you, little brat!" Aldi muttered half inaudibly.

***

Dharma strode quickly among the bustle of many people, wearing the same uniform he was. He reached the castle hall. There, conditions are even busier.

In the center of the gigantic hall, parked a spaceship. Hundreds of people are busy working on something for the owner's departure, assisted by humanoid robots.

Dharma stopped for a moment. He stared at the spaceship that would take him to leave the Earth—in the next few days. Maybe, forever.

Disappointment after disappointment flashed through his eyes. Such a large plane that could carry fifteen hundred people at a time, and as it turned out, would only carry hundreds of people.

What a lousy ruler, cursed Dharma inwardly. Especially when he thought about Ryan and Cinnong, his irritation deepened.

Before the annoyance turned to anger, Dharma resumed his walk towards the main hall of the castle to meet the ruler. He still will not give up, for the sake of their friendship.

Dharma arrived in front of a large door, two humanoid robots guarding the left and right of the closed door. Recognizing who had come to the door, the two humanoid robots remained unmoved in their positions. The large and tall door moved openly in both directions. Dharma continues on his way, entering the room.

In the big and majestic room, Dharma found that the ruler was calling someone. And that doesn't look good in Dharma's eyes.

"What a perfect time!" he mumbles inaudibly.

At first, Dharma still wanted to persuade the ruler for two seats for Ryan and Cinnong, once again. As far as he knew, if the ruler was in such a bad mood right now, all things would be for nothing.

"I don't care!" the ruler rebuked the holographic avatar of a man before him. "You guys want to rob or whatever, I don't want to know! As far as I know, in two days, everything must be fulfilled. Do you understand me, hah?!"

"Yes, sir," replied the avatar.

The ruler snorted loudly as he cut off the conversation. The holographic light disappeared, leaving the screen with a few files still open on the display.

The screen with thick and clear glass also becomes the surface of the table in front of the fat man.

"Aah, Dharma. There you go!" he said with a frown on his face, "Where have you been, huh?"

TO BE CONTINUED ...