Chapter 342 A Silent Return
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Within a few minutes, Roger and Dale left the strange city, meeting with Mei before returning to the airport where their ticket back home waited to depart.
Albeit his stay was short, Dale's understanding of the world had considerably expanded, and regardless if his worries had increased or not, he could now focus wholeheartedly on his training.
Throughout the last two months of his stay in Azimuth, Dale had difficulty truly focusing on training due to his worries and the expectations for the trip.
And although the impact of that was minimal in his day-to-day life, it was still noticeable for those with keen eyes.
At least now, he could continue to explore Azimuth and train himself while proceeding with his development of Resko and its inhabitants, leading them toward a brighter future.
Everything went according to his original plan, and his goal was achieved, though not everything was crossed out of his to-do list.
Either way, it was now time to log back in and resume his life as a hardcore gamer who spent all of his time inside his Pod…
"..."
'I'm tired.'
Still... Now that he had accomplished what he came here to do, exhaustion hit as Dale felt his eyelids grow heavy.
A desire to yawn slowly crept upon him, causing him to fall into his own thoughts, diving deeper into his consciousness...
'... For the past few weeks, I cut quite a bit of my real-life sleep to maximize my training schedule… But even with my body, I guess I still pushed it beyond its tolerance zone.'
'I need to take a few days off and relax… Well... Now that everything's done...'
'The only thing left for me is to...'
"ZZzzz…"
Closing his eyes, Dale slept the entire way back from South to North America.
It wasn't a long rest by any means, but it gave him some respite nonetheless.
/Tick tock.../
The minutes turned into an hour as the Orbital craft flew high in the skies, parting the horizon as it chased after the sun...
"... Urg."
Meanwhile, Roger and Mei sat at the far end of the craft, having just received an update from their agents back at their destination.
And from Roger's livid expression, things didn't look good.
"... This is bad." Roger said out loud as he closed his eyes, thinking about what to do
'This could lead to a War.'
…
/Around an hour and a half later…/
/SHIUMMM.../
Like a gentle swan, the Orbital craft slowly descended onto the ground, landing on the airport it had departed not so long ago, it's rightful home.
Inside, Dale woke up naturally, feeling that something had changed.
"Yawwwn... Huff..."
"Phew… We're here." Dale said out loud as he cracked his neck
He checked the windows on the side, being met with the view of a large structure, there was no need to think deeply about it, he was home.
Well, a few Kilometers from it but still...
"Hm... Anyway…"
There was only one problem, however...
"I thought you were trying to be low-key after last time; can you even be here out in the open like that?" He asked Roger as they left the Orbital Craft through an elevator on the side, Mei right behind them
From everything he knew, Dale believed Roger was someone with not too much freedom of movement, or better put, he was like a large elephant trying to walk through a forest at night.
Everyone of his steps would cause the trees and leaves around him to shake.
And the birds wouldn't appreciate such a thing.
"... It's not an issue, you don't need to worry about it."
"That has already been resolved... For now, I'll accompany you since I have someone to meet today, so you'll have to tolerate my presence a bit further." Roger replied with a chuckle as he placed his hands behind his back
"I didn't mean it like that, it's just that I always saw you as someone too busy to be anywhere."
"Quite the exaggeration but not an overstatement… Sometimes I do feel like that."
"With Mei here, I can take care of most issues anywhere, this is the thing about technology, you can work anywhere if you have the means to do so."
"In any case, we still have much to talk about, don't we? I expected we would talk on our way back but you just fell asleep, you blew my expectations there." He said with a sly smile as he walked out of the elevator
"Cough!... I didn't expect to go out that easily either…"
"Heh! I'm just playing with you kid, it was evident to us both you were mentally tired from this ordeal, and staying awake after such an experience would be quite the challenge."
"Besides, even if we don't have the chance to talk it over now, I already have some documents ready for you to read, they'll fill you in on what you're missing."
"Mei has already sent them over to the Private Channel I gave you last time, access it through your Pod at any moment, you can call me later if you have any doubts."
"There's a lot of common sense you'll need to get used to if you wish to follow this side of the world, and even if that is not your desire, it would be better to know than not."
/Nod/
Dale nodded silently, pensive as always.
The world was vast and full of mysteries, he had just begun to understand the intricacies of it.
He had yet to fully understand why he was attacked all those weeks ago and the motives behind it, he knew that people looked at him as a potential candidate for the 'chosen one' but given how early that was in the game's history, he believed their actions were nothing short of recklessness.
There had to be something else about it, he did not believe a terrorist organization would organize an attack on a civilian across the world just for the sake of holding onto a superstition.
Nonetheless, the answer to all of that was strength.
As long as he had it, he could solve anything.
...
/Later.../
Following that, they made their way to the entrance of the airport where they got inside the same car Dale boarded a few hours ago before he left, making their way deeper into the city where their destination awaited them.
Throughout the entire trip, Roger kept talking, sharing with Dale all kinds of stories, be it serious ones or old moments of his life, treating him as if he were his grandson.
And like always, Dale listened, something he was very good at.
"..."
However, despite the comfortable atmosphere, Dale felt something was off with Roger and Mei.
Their actions were stiff, their smiles were heavy, their eyes kept darting around, especially Mei who kept turning her gaze to her tablet.
If she had any implants or especial contact lenses, then that may explain her eyes darting around, he himself was no stranger to people finding his "lack of attention" a problem.
All due to the Green Box.
Of course, Mei had no strange supernatural system, so as he went through their actions in his mind, he concluded:
They were hiding something, that was the first thing he thought about when he looked at them.
There was little evidence backing him up, but one should listen to their guts from time to time.
With that in his mind, Dale focused his mind, ready to act at any moment.
On his lap, he held his long suitcase tightly, even if his weapon was subpar, it was more than enough for him to put up a fight.
…
/WEEE WOO WEEE WOO…/
"... Quite a few firefighters are moving around, is there anything on the news?" Dale asked as he looked at the red trucks moving rapidly through the city's streets
'I've never seen so many before, there are also police cars… Did a building fall or something?'
Traffic was intense and every once in a while, Dale would see a firefighter truck or police car pass by at high speeds through the special lanes on the side.
Not only that, he also saw ambulances and black cars zooming to the horizon, causing him to have a strange, lurking sensation…
"Hm… There's nothing on the news, I can turn the radio on if you wish." Mei said as she checked her tablet
"Please, do so."
'I'm starting to feel weird... Did those things I ate back in South America messed me up?'
'It's been a while since I felt sick in the stomach... But a strong body doesn't mean I can't have natural reactions to strange food...'
/Bzzz…/
Even so, as the minutes passed and Mei kept changing radio channels, there was no mention at all of any events happening in the city, causing Dale to wonder.
"Well… Doesn't matter, I'll find out eventually anyway." He said with a sigh as he rested his head against his seat
Although he said that, keeping his expression relaxed, Dale felt a severe sense of nausea.
He was missing something and it was triggering his body.
'I want to go home... At this rate I think I'll vomit.'
'Was I poisoned? If this persists I'll tell Roger about it.'
'Better be safe than sorry.'
…
/Later…/
After an hour on the road, moving through the heavy traffic, they finally arrived at their destination, just a street away from his home.
Originally, they were meant to stop right next to it, but there was a problem...
That was because…
"!!!"
As Dale left the car, the first thing he felt was the intense smell of smoke and burning objects.
A mix of all kinds of things, from wood to oil.
The sky was covered in dark smoke, the ground was covered in fragmented rocks, and everywhere he looked, he saw some degree of destruction and chaos.
It was just like when he was ambushed.
"..."
Tracing the source of the destruction across the street, Dale's expression slowly went from neutral to sharp, his fists clenching as he began to lose control of himself.
He slowly lost his composure, worry, anger, and other radical emotions began to overwhelm his cultivated patience and calmness.
"Dale… Not here." Roger said out loud as he touched Dale's shoulder, pulling the latter back from his silent thinking
"I'll explain on the way back, don't lose your cool now, there are too many watching."
Just as he said, everywhere he looked he saw people moving and sitting around, some on the windows of their homes, others on the street, on the ground taking cover, trembling in fear, injured, or receiving first aid from medics and doctors on the field.
There were dozens of police cars, firefighters, and ambulances lying around, together with even more drones, helicopters, and even military soldiers on the streets trying to calm everyone down and have them return to their homes.
Even then, they did little to calm everyone down as the people kept screaming, it was more than anger, it was a form of primal fear.
They were getting euphoric.
It was extremely chaotic.
"... Was that why the radio was silent?" Dale asked as his expression turned dark
"... I couldn't have you run ahead of me and escalate this situation even further. These people can't take it."
"Everything's under control and it ended long before we even arrived, so nothing would've changed."
"Follow me, I'll explain the rest when we arrive." Roger said as he closed the door behind him, Mei right behind him
"..."
Dale was silent but his eyes said it all.
He was one step from exploding, and Roger knew that.
In silence, the three of them crossed the police barrier, going deeper into the source of the chaos.
Inside his mind, Dale only had one thing repeating on and on and on...
And for the sake of those around him, hopefully his worries were proved to be nonsense.
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Notes
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