Chapter 29 - Target

Chapter 29 – Target

"Then! Why didn't you come here when Wiuyi City was destroyed?" The man in the darkroom retorted. He was still on his knee but he looked fiercely at Rufus. He continued, "You knew it is not me but you do this because you want me to be a scapegoat right?"

"Old man! Are you senile now? I thought you are a righteous person but you want to use me as a scapegoat because you don't know what is happening?" The man in the darkroom was angry. He felt wronged… though he was not a good guy he could still feel wronged.

Rufus stared murderously at the man in the darkroom for a few minutes without talking. The man in the darkroom gulped and sweated a lot. He was nervous if Rufus would not believe him and killed him on the spot immediately.

Even so, his worries disappeared when Rufus pulled back his murderous aura. "Phew~" the man in the darkroom sighed in relief. He thought that his old friend would kill him.

The man in the darkroom was Gurren Wulfix. He was the leader of one of the biggest criminal organizations in the world, The Rulers. He was also an ex-member of the S-Rank clan, The Fenrir Clan. Not only that, he used to be a close friend of Rufus when they were children but he suddenly turned to the dark side.

Rufus could easily destroy all these criminal organizations by himself but let them keep operating because he needed them to motivate the younger generation to train to become stronger. He needed an antagonist to push the younger generations to strive for more power.

Rufus was an old man now. Although he looked young, he was almost 1000 years old. His lifespan was still long but he was afraid that something unexpected would happen and he would lose his life. He could not keep protecting the world by himself. He needed the younger generations to stand up too. So, he let the criminal organizations roam free in the dark.

Rufus glanced at his pitiful old friend and sighed. Gurren was also one of his soft-spot of not destroying The Rulers organization. They used to be closed and they were still closed too. Even so, he told Gurren long ago that if he saw Gurren did his crime in front of his eyes, he would not let him go.

"Then, do you have any clue about these monsters?" Rufus asked. He was at the dead end. The first time the disaster happened was at Wiuyi City. Lucas did not know this because of his shallow knowledge about monsters but the single monster that destroyed Wiuyi City was an unknown species too. Not only that, but research had pointed out that that monster was a combination of a few monsters too.

There was only one monster before but now, another five appeared. Similar to that one monster in Wiuyi City, these five monsters had the power far more than they should have. The one that killed the five monsters in Shenty City were a group of seven Stage 9 Tamers with Grandmaster Stage (Stage 9) pets. All of them were part of the five S-Rank Clans.

Many investigations and research had been done but there was no clue as to where the monsters came from, why they appeared, or who caused all of this. There were zero clues.

"I don't know. As you know, fusing monsters to gain power is not the aim of my organization. The Rulers only want to rule the world," said Gurren as he got up from the floor and sat on the chair he sat earlier.

"…" Rufus was speechless. He stared at Gurren and said, "If you want to rule the world, you will need power. As you can see, the combination of monsters is powerful. That is power. You will need to research this to gain the power to rule the world."

"…" Gurren was the one that was speechless now. "Well, you are right with that but why would I waste my time in these monster combination research? We all know by now that it is impossible… well until these weird monsters appeared," said Gurren while he was thinking deeply.

Gurren was telling the truth. Humans had once thought that it was possible to combine monsters but researches upon researches, experiments upon experiments, and none succeeded. It was unknown why it failed but humans did find something from that experiment.

Although combining two or more monsters was impossible, crossbreeding two species could give them a new species of monsters. Even so, their powers were still within the rule of other monsters of the same tier. They might have a few physical differences and a few superior skills but it would not be as absurd as the five monsters, (six including the one attacking Wiuyi City) that were destroying Shenty City.

"Anyway, do keep an eye on this matter. Contact me when you find a lead," said Rufus. He did not want to stay inside the darkroom longer.

"Why will I need to help you? You are the emperor. So, you should settle this yourself," Gurren refused to cooperate with Rufus. He was the leader of one of the biggest criminal organizations. Why did he need to help the good guy?

"If this is the work of an unknown criminal organization, you will get involved too. Do you think they will let your organization alone? They have the power and they will want to use it to rule the world or whatever their targets are," said Rufus.

"Eliminating their rivals will be part of their agenda. You will not get out of this without a scratch if I am right. Working with me will be better than fending off this unknown enemy by yourself. With the number 1 and the number 2 strongest tamer in the world working together, they will not have a chance to complete their target," said Rufus.

Gurren was not an unknown figure. He was the leader of one of the biggest criminal organizations and also, the second strongest tamer in the world. To those with shallow common knowledge, they would know him as the second strongest but those that know deeper knew that Gurren was also the leader of a criminal organization.

Even if he was the second strongest, he was much weaker than Rufus. Rufus was on another level. Gurren only had one Legend Stage pet while Rufus had four. That was more than enough to measure their full power.

"…" Gurren was thinking. 'He is not wrong…' Gurren agreed to work together with Rufus to find the perpetrator. Since Rufus with many connections and resources were unable to find out the enemy, they must be dangerous.

'I want to conquer the world. If there is something this dangerous around, when I conquer the world, I will be in deep shit. Better to dispose of them now than later,' thought Gurren. As they had made their agreement, Rufus left. Gurren ordered his people to investigate the disaster, full force. He needed to strike fast when the unknown enemy was still developing.

Once Rufus left Gurren, he was thinking. "These two disasters are so close by. First at Wiuyi City and then, Shenty City. Both cities are not far from each other. I hope there will not be a third disaster… though I doubt this will end," Rufus frowned. He was worried about the future.

***

Petrian used to be a planet similar to Earth. A massive planet with many continents and countries. Once the dungeons and monsters appeared, there used to be many wars happening between humans and monsters and humans with humans.

The war was intense but it did not last long when humans realized that they were destroying the planet. They realized that their true enemies were the monsters. One man rose among many humans and united everyone and destroyed the barriers called country.

There were no more countries and everyone was ruled under one government, Petrian. At the top of that government was the man that united humanity, Rufus Ruyen. Due to the threat of the monsters, he established many cities that were surrounded by massive, thick walls all around the world.

Each city was similar to a country as its population would exceed millions of people. Even so, people could enter the city without much problem as long as they had no criminal history.

At the time of the city establishment, monsters roamed around the world. The monsters got out of the dungeon and roamed free in Petrian. The outside world was filled with danger. This was the reason the city was built with massively thick walls.

With Rufus lead, bit by bit, the monsters roaming the world were killed or caught and the world was once again safe from the monster. The only place in the world with monsters was the dungeons. Rufus did not let the dungeon free without any guard either.

In the beginning, he left tamers outside the dungeon to kill or catch all the monsters that got out of the dungeon. Later, someone invented a skill to seal the dungeons. It was not a permanent seal. It was a seal to forbid monsters from coming out of the dungeon. Since then, the world became peaceful again and tamer became the main job of many people.

***

Gyling City, Pasken Pet Nursery.

Each city would have three layers. The first layer was the City Center. The second layer was the Inner City and the third layer was the Outer Layer. Due to the massive population, a city would be massive. The city area was not as massive as a whole country in the past but they had the same amount of citizens rivaling those countries in the past. So, every layer would have its district.

The Pasken Pet Nursery was located in the south part of Gyling City. The nursery was at District 24 at the Outer Layer of Gyling City.

The news about what had happened to Shenty City shocked the world. Even so, life goes on. Everyone was talking about it but they were still doing their usual routine. People would still go to work, exercise, vacation, and many more.

The same with the nursery. The nursery opened as usual and business was the same as the first day. Many customers came to use the nursery's service. More and more people in District 24 heard about the nursery and they came to use it.

However, no one from the Phoenix Clan came to use the service nor they came to take back their pets. Katheryn had a feeling that they must have sent many of their members to assist Shenty City as the city was closed to Gyling City. They must have lost many of their members and are busy with funerals and many other things.

"Welcome~ Which service do you want to buy?" Katheryn greeted the customer with a smile. She looked worry-free but in her heart, she was worried about Lucas and Hailey. After she went upstairs to calm them, Hailey managed to calm down and fell asleep from crying too much.

Lucas, on the other hand, did not sweat or breathe heavily anymore but he sat listlessly on the couch.

[…] Sery knew that Lucas was still in shock. So, he stayed silent by Lucas's side. [If only I can create a calming pill…] thought Sery. He was worried about Lucas too.

"… Sery. The news said that the perpetrator is unknown. Do you have any clue about them? Is this disaster related to what happens to Wiuyi City too?" Lucas asked.

[About that… I don't know the perpetrator and I am not sure if it is related to Wiuyi City. I told you many times that I don't know something that happens outside the nursery. I can help you investigate with the internet] said Sery.

"No need. I have a feeling that these two disasters are related," Lucas said with certainty. "Can you search online for any video or footage when the monsters are attacking Shenty City. Look up the monster that attacks Wiuyi City too," Lucas asked Sery's help.

[What are you going to do?] Sery asked.

"I want to steel my heart. I thought I was free from this disaster but upon seeing similar things again, I got too shocked…" Lucas looked sad, and I abandoned Hailey who was by my side seeking protection and help," Lucas clenched his fist. When he came back to his senses, he realized what he had done. He did not want the same thing to happen again.

"It is just the footage and video of the aftermath of the disaster and I got too shocked. Luckily, we are at home. What if I get outside with Hailey by my side and this disaster fell on us?" Lucas frowned.

"I may get too shocked and abandon Hailey to her death," Lucas did not want that to happen.

[… You are thinking too far. I believe you will not do this again. I will help you search for the video and footage. Since you want to conquer your fear and trauma, I will help you] said Sery. He was supportive of what Lucas wanted to do.

"Thank you," said Lucas.

[Now then, let's go. If you want to conquer your fear and trauma, you will need power too. You need more pets to support you] said Sery.

"I need to have more resolution and aim. I want to protect my family. By becoming stronger, I can help them if I am by their side but what if I am not with them? No matter how strong I am, I will not be able to save them," said Lucas.

*Ting!* A system notification appeared in front of Lucas.

[Main Mission: …]