Chapter 358 - 354: The Monster

"Yeah, I came here for some work," the boy replied. "Anyway, I don't know many places here. Can you take me to the most expensive hotel nearby?" the young boy asked the man with an innocent smile on his face.

"Oh? The most expensive hotel? You must be pretty rich. It's good that you took this cab. It would be bad if some degenerate stole your stuff on the way otherwise," The Cab Driver asked as he started the cab. He hid the little smirk on his face.

"Yeah, that would've been bad. I wouldn't want to lose the things inside my bag," the young boy responded as he smiled wryly.

A weird glint flashed in the cab driver's eyes as he heard your words.

"Don't worry. You and your valuables are safe now. I'll take you to your right destination," the cab driver said innocently.

He took the cab through the entire city. The boy silently sat inside the cab, looking at the beautiful city through the window until he realized that the car was stopped near a lake. 

Looking at the can driver in confusion, he asked, "Why are we here? Is there a hotel nearby?" 

"No. There is no hotel nearby. There aren't even many houses in this area," The cab driver said as he turned back to look towards the young boy.

"Hmm? What are we doing here then?" the boy asked with a curious look on his face.

"We're here because the police don't come here. Silently give me your bag and all your valuables if you don't want to die today!" the driver said as he glared at the young boy.

The young boy didn't frown even though he noticed the gun in the driver's hand that was aiming at him.

"Are you robbing me? Hah, Father did say that the state was filled with crooks. I didn't know I would find one so soon," The young boy laughed as if he was entertained by the situation.

"Stop laughing and give me everything. I'm not joking! I will shoot you. We're right beside a lake where I can even dispose of your body!" The driver thundered at the young boy.

****

Ryder left the house with Shu and went to the birthday celebration like the last timeline. He did everything else the same way as well. Despite knowing that the girl will try to steal his purse, he let it happen.

He even chased her the same way. The only thing he did differently was he grabbed her butt even tighter when trying to find his purse since he knew who this thief was. He knew that the wallet was hidden near the chest of the girl, but he didn't find it intentionally.

Everything progressed smoothly as the girl threw the wallet towards him and ran away.

The events after that happened the same way as they did in the first timeline. Ryder met the girl again in the mansion. He met her again in the ancient museum. They bet about the stealing event, and Ryder won. The conflict with the Major General and his son was also the same as the first time. Ryder didn't intend to change the future much if he didn't need to. 

After having a short dinner, he left the place with Shu and came back to the Maxwell Estate.

Settings things up, he left with Alice for dinner.

As he was on the way to the Hotel, he expected the same mission as Janus, and he got it. Janus gave the same mission to leave the city to maintain continuity. 

Leaving the city, Ryder entered the neighboring City to have dinner. There seemed to be another minor difference this time. Ryder didn't seem to be chased by the woman like he was in the first timeline, which was something he expected since he himself changed the timeline in that regard by telling them that he knew about them to get them off their trail. 

Without having to worry about anything, Ryder had a nice dinner with Alice. Fortunately, there was no news about the blasts this time. The future was certainly changed.

The News Anchor was only talking about minor news at the moment.

"In more news, a Cab Driver's dead body was found near the Mahasa Lake inside a cab. Police are at sight to investigate what happened. What's shocking to the authorities is the condition of the body. The body seemed to be shrivelled as if the person has been dead for decades; however, the clothes on the man seem perfectly fine. The initial reports suggest it might be due to a chemical attack. The body is sent for Post-mortem to find more details," the News Anchor said, which was ignored by Ryder, who continued eating.

The news anchor continued talking about more news as he moved over from this update.

Finished with the dinner, Ryder left with Alice and went back to the city, unaware that he had changed one more thing from the initial timeline without realizing it.

As Ryder left, he didn't get to go to the roof of the building where a young woman was about to come to stop him from killing himself.

The Woman went to the roof just like the first timeline, but she came back down after having a little smoke. Ryder wasn't there, which made it impossible for their meeting to occur, not knowing how things might affect the future in strange ways.

****

Ryder entered his City once again, but he didn't go straight to Maxwell Estate. Instead, he stopped the car in front of a Mall.

" We needed clothes, right. Let's go on a shopping spree tonight," Ryder told Alice as he stepped out of the car after parking it in the parking lot.

Going to the clothing section of the mall, he started buying the clothes he found fit. Alice also began selecting clothes for her own as she watched Ryder smile.

"You're done so fast? But it's not even an hour since we entered this place. You're not sick, are you?" Ryder asked, noticing that Alice was done with shipping. He found it to be quite odd considering the fact that Alice used to take much longer when he took her shopping before. 

"Yeah, now I don't need to find the best value for money clothes, so it was faster," Alice smiled in embarrassment as she smiled.

Ryder understood what she meant. Previously the two of them weren't much rich, so Alice probably took longer since she didn't want to waste Ryder's money even a little bit. However, now that they had money, she could buy the clothes she needed without any worries.

Ryder gently patted Alice's head before he went to pay for the clothes he bought.

****

Far away from the Mall where Ryder currently stood, the Leader of the Dark Uprising was sitting on his throne.

Ten Kings stood below him on their seats.

"Thirteenth failed," The Leader of Dark Uprising muttered as he frowned.

"Sigh, that guy failed so bad. I heard he even lost consciousness in the battle. This little hero is really intriguing," the Sixth King muttered as he smiled.

"That guy can't even handle a single person. Does he even deserve to be called a King? He lost so badly. He should be ashamed," the Ninth King chimed in.

While the ten kings were talking about the event that transpired and how their plan was stopped, the door of the hall opened as a man entered the hall.

"First King," Every other King got silent as they saw a man enter the hall.

"What happened? Why are you back?" The Leader of the Dark Uprising asked the First King, who was the Strongest of the Thirteenth Kings.

"Your Majesty, I have some important news. Adrian Balakin has entered the states. I got the news that he arrived this morning," the First King informed the Leader. 

"Hmm? He left Russia and arrived here?" The Leader of the Dark Uprising asked with a surprised look on his face.

"Not only that. I believe he already killed a person right after arriving here. A Cab Driver," The First King said as he gave a photo to the Leader which showed the dead body of the cab driver. The sight of this particular dead body could have been enough to make someone vomit when they first saw it, but the man on the throne didn't even flinch.

"Interesting. It seems like that Monster's work. I wonder what brought that guy here. Find him and invite him here," the Leader commanded the First King.

"Yes, Your Majesty."

The First King bowed his head lightly before he left. 

"Adrian Balakin is here. This might turn out to be bad," the Second King muttered softly after the First King left.

"Don't worry. He might be here for sightseeing. That young man should not be here for longer," the Third King replied casually.

" Sightseeing, huh. It could be that since only one person had incurred his wrath until now," The Second King muttered.

"Is Adrian Balakin really that strong?" The Eleventh King asked the others.