Chapter 27 Chur, 46° 51′ 0″ N, 9° 32′ 0″ E, Fort Alamo

The massive gate opened slowly. Quizzically Akiko drove through the gate. There was also a bunker on the right and left equipped with M2 Browning that rotates following the movement of the car.

She couldn't see anyone. The guards must be perfectly disguised!

Akiko stopped the car. They were in a spacious front yard of the house. Scratch that, no one could call that house. It was more like majestic palace on the slopes of the Alps. The palace seemed to be supported by enormous Alpine rocks on its back. On its front and right side were steep ravines with almost 90 degrees angle. The road was on the left.

Surprisingly, there wasn't a single human in sight in a palace this big. But the plants in the yard were superbly manicured and the building was very well maintained. All of this could not be done by robots or androids.

Cecilia was amazed when she got out of the car. Lian Xi looked on with a look of astonishment. Meanwhile Andalas did not show any expression. Luigi led them into the mansion.

Cecilia, Akiko, and Lian Xi were even more impressed as they entered the mansion. The furniture were luxurious period style and paintings of the world's master painters were hanging on the walls.

It was the gigantic Black Death painting that greeted them in the living room. The left was the Plague of Justinian and a painting depicting the horrors of the Spanish Flu pandemic on the right side.

Andalas frowned. Although Doctor Aslan adopted him since childhood, Andalas rarely interacted with him. Doctor Aslan paid for his education and then lost contact because Andalas got involved with the Consultant who saved his life during a riot in Bangkok.

Under the care of the Consultant while avoiding the Triads after accidentally killing one of its leaders in a club brawl in Hong Kong, Andalas turned from an introvert into a would-be hitman and became the successor of the Consultant.

Therefore, the intensity of the relationship between Andalas and his adoptive father was minimal. Doctor Adli, who continued to look for Andalas after missing for years, was really shocked when he found out his adopted son profession and that he was well known among professional hit man.

Doctor Aslan didn't ask Andalas to give up his world but he once said that the world was dog-eat-dog world and people like Andalas was needed somehow. He said that sometimes to get rid of a disease on a tree that could no longer be treated and potentially threatening the surrounding habitat, the tree must be killed and burned down to the roots.

After getting advice from Doctor Adli, Andalas then transformed into a Killer Hunter. Killer of killers.

Andalas's thoughts were interrupted when Akiko nudged his arm. With her eyes she directed him to a painting in a large study room, a painting that was quite striking because there were no other paintings there.

The painting was a simple black and white sketch. It looked like the silhouettes of 13 people sitting around a long table. There was nothing but that silhouette illustration. Andalas looked away because he felt there was nothing special about the sketch painting. But Akiko continued to examine the painting carefully as if something really caught her attention.

Luigi invited everyone to enter the room with the sketch painting. He walked toward the oak workbench and pressed a hidden switch under it. The door to the study was automatically closed by a steel door as the floor opened to reveal a series of stairs to the basement.

Luigi led the way down the stairs. At the end of the stair Luigi flipped a small switch on the wall. The floor in the study started closing and an elevator door opening.

Everyone followed Luigi into an antique looking elevator. Luigi pressed a button for them to go down. The elevator moved without the slightest sound. It might look old but the driving mechanism was modern.

It took a while for the elevator to go down. Akiko became anxious. She wasn't claustrophobic but standing so close with five people in a small space for that long, she felt so cramped. Akiko breathed a sigh of relief when the elevator finally stopped.

The elevator door opened. Everyone came out with their mouths open. This huge room was impressive.

It was as if they were entering the NASA control room!