Chapter 445
Chapter 445
After leaving the headquarters, Kyon teleported to a clone located two kilometers away, in a rented room. Thus, the young man ruled out the possibility of surveillance by Valeera. After changing his appearance, he went to the department, on the way to which he kept hearing the townspeople talking about Dick Baker and his recent feat.
Three days ago, after a loud explosion, many citizens demanded answers from the authorities, and the very next evening they received them: high in the sky, exactly on schedule, a wide news screen appeared, where the residents of Dantes were told that the explosion was a targeted strike at an underground auction. As a result of the operation, the heads of seven clans, their closest assistants and more than two hundred criminal leaders of the capital were liquidated. Dick Baker is responsible for this brilliant plan.
In one day, an unknown investigator of the 3rd rank turned into a real star, against which there was not even a shadow left of “Demon Huntress”.
Everything was so serious that Kyon even noticed a fight on the way to the department, where a man shouting – «Don’t talk about Bulkov like that, you bastard!» – was beating a thin boy. And some young ladies enthusiastically told each other how handsome Dick was: «Didn’t you see him? Oh, I feel sorry for you… But I saw him!»
Soon, Kyon entered the department, got into the toilet, transformed into Dick and headed to the investigation department, where he was immediately greeted with a deafening shout.
«DICK BAKER IS IN THE BUILDING!»
«Did he come?!» … «Let me look at him!» … «Make way!» – the crowd of investigators rushed to the entrance, where they immediately surrounded a fat, ugly young man. All of them silently stared at him with shining eyes, as if he was a mythical creature.
«Hello.» – Kyon said modestly with a wave of his hand.
A seasoned investigator stepped forward and firmly shook Dick’s hand: «On behalf of all the investigators, I want to express my gratitude for the destruction of this damned auction together with all the villains who visited it! You alone have done more than any of us in a lifetime! Boy, even my children won’t forget your feat… BRAVO!»
Applause was heard, but not everyone joined in honoring the hero, and those who still clapped, did it without much enthusiasm. The reason for this behavior is simple: many doubted, some did not believe at all, and the rest envied the incredible success of some kid who got into the department through connections.
«Dick, buddy, tell me how you did it?!» … «Share the secret of your success!» … «Did you really work alone?! Is it possible to do this alone?!» – these and dozens of other questions rained down from all sides.
When Kyon began to doubt that carbon skin would keep him from being torn apart by a fanatical crowd, the head of the department, Milan Valentine, pulled him by the hand.
In the office, the boss took a breath, turned around and stared at the fat man with a mixture of thoughtfulness and confusion on his face. Usually a cold-blooded rational man could not remain calm next to this nasty youngster: «Dick… Where the hell were you?! Do you even know how many times I called you, fatty?!» – a hundred times. That’s how many times Milan called Dick since their last meeting.
«Sorry, boss. There were urgent matters. What did I miss?» – Kyon quickly changed the subject.
«So many things happened… But all this pales before the invitation, which I was asked to give you personally!» – he held out a note with a wax seal of the Russells.
It took Kyon’s breath away. He knew that he would receive at least one invitation, but he completely overlooked the fact that the bloody empress might want to meet him! Lanatelle has too high demands for the guests she invites to her house, but what could prevent the 0th general from telling her everything about the messenger of the goddess working in the department?..
However, the worries turned out to be useless, since the head of the department wished to meet, and none other than Milan should bring the guest to him.
«You know, you are very lucky, because even I had the opportunity to meet with the head of the department only three times. He is not the kind of person who shows up in public and wastes time on unnecessary meetings. He always acts from the shadows. Since you received his invitation, you can be sure that you are worth something in this world, hehe!»
«What should I expect from this meeting?» – Kyon asked warily.
Milan frowned thoughtfully: «Hmm… Hope for the best, prepare for the worst!»
«I understand.» – if after 3 meetings Milan did not understand who he was dealing with, then he can conclude that the head of the department is not an easy person.
The bespectacled man said impatiently: «Okay, we’ll have time to talk more. Follow me.»
Kyon, accompanied by Milan, entered the elevator. The head of the department attached the formation, and the mechanism brought them to the underground floors. The first basement floor is intended for prisoners who have committed crimes of moderate severity and are awaiting sentencing. The second one is for especially dangerous criminals, including Isaac and Diego. And only now he found out that there is also the third floor.
A bright white corridor stretched ahead. It resembled a hospital hallway, with dozens of doors on each side. Not a soul around. It seemed so quiet that it was even frightening. Suddenly, a masked man dressed in black seemed to materialize at the exit of the elevator.
{I know him!} – Kyon instantly remembered the illusory world where Valeera’s parents were killed. People in such clothes and masks attacked the Webers. Now all doubts that the head of the department is the 0th general have disappeared.
«I can’t go further. Good luck, kid.» – Milan winked and left in the elevator.
Kyon sighed, held out the invitation letter and allowed himself to be searched. The ring, specially put on for show, was removed from him, and another masked man escorted him to the farthest office, belonging, obviously, to the head of the department.
In a well-lit room, Lovr met a man sitting at a table. Tall, taut, tousled black hair and short chin stubble. His type of appearance can be found everywhere, which cannot be said about his eyes… Kyon felt a strange reaction in his body due to the look of his gray eyes. Contrary to all the laws of circulation, the blood in the veins first accelerated its flow, then slowed down, barely noticeably fluctuating, like an alarmed animal scenting a predator.
Walking to the center of the office, Kyon spoke with a respectful bow: «It is a great honor for me to meet you, sir… zero general.»
The man smiled only with his eyes, without changing his impassive expression, as if he wasn’t surprised at all, and spoke in a pleasant-sounding baritone: «You were in no hurry to meet me, Kyon Stone.»
«Don’t take my tardiness as disrespect. I just received the invitation, and before that I was very busy and could not take the sound transmitter.»
«You perfectly understand what I mean. After the tournament of families, you did not accept my offer because you decided not to take risks, and your actions are quite reasonable and justified, however…»
{So he was Fernand Russell!} – Kyon understood.
«…but why did you stay so long in Cernos? I really want to know what made the ambitious messenger of the goddess spend so many months in this provincial school. Or maybe you were waiting for my invitation?»
{Waiting for his invitation? Stop… Really…} – the man’s last phrase made it clear to Kyon that he still received the invitation, but lost sight of it for objective reasons. He immediately found it strange that the main award at the forest tournament was the high-quality medicine of the “Scarlet meteor” breakthrough, which appears once every 100 years. This “gift” meant that the 0th was ready to cooperate. However, in order to take it, he had to pass the test, that’s why all the tournament formations were forged. That is why the participants ran to Dick Baker like moths to flames.
The realization of this fact shocked Lovr, because, judging sensibly, it is absolutely impossible to predict and calculate that the messenger of the goddess with his low development of soul will take part in the tournament, be able to fight off the hordes of noble phasers and lord phasers, single-handedly pull Cernos to the first position and take the award!
One can neglect the probability of a successful confluence of all these facts, which is why Kyon rejected the idea that the medicine of the “Scarlet meteor” was an invitation. No, of course, the zero general could not have foreseen all this. Most likely, he had prepared in advance, just in case, and it all just coincided in the most successful way.
Kyon unwittingly felt respect for the interlocutor. People with such a high strategic intelligence in the world of power can be counted on one hand. In his thousand-year simulation, he has acquired a great art of understanding such opponents and he knows that they are not to be trifled with. He needs to be extremely careful. Now the man is obviously probing the limits of the abilities of the messenger of the goddess.
Thanks to Synergy, all these thoughts lasted no more than a moment, after which Kyung calmly replied: «So did you do it? I’m impressed. This is to be expected from such an amazing personality! In fact, I guessed about it, but rejected this idea due to its improbability. As for my long stay in Cernos, I wanted to raise my development a little. As you can see, since the tournament of families, I have managed to overcome one phase.»
The man frowned thoughtfully: «Hmm… As far as I know, at the Stones party you were a basic phaser at the seventh stage, and two months later, at the tournament of families, you took the seventh stage of the advanced phase. How did it happen that in the past two months were enough for you to overcome the phase, and now it took more than a year?»
«It looks like I’m not as talented as I would like.» – Kyon shrugged his shoulders with regret in his voice. It is very beneficial for him to underestimate his monstrous talent in the eyes of the 0th general, while he does not deceive him, because he is really a superior phaser at the 7th stage. And, obviously, the messenger of the goddess would not deliberately train at half strength for such a trick.
However, even the great geniuses of Rosarrio would hardly have had enough time to repeat such a feat, therefore, in the eyes of the interlocutor, Lovr just jumped from the category of “monster” to the category of “great genius”. In the future, this can become a solid trump card.
«I see. Before moving on, would you mind if I ask a few personal questions?» – although the man’s words and tone sounded polite, it was not difficult to guess that the young man was facing a real interrogation, which could not be avoided in any way.
«Sure. Ask about anything, sir.» – Lovr smiled kindly. It was hard for him to keep his cool in such a stuffy environment. Perhaps any young man in his place would now shrink into a ball of fear.
«Who are you?» – the 0th general asked coldly.
«Could you clarify the question?» – Kyon asked to avoid misunderstandings.
«I know that you are the adopted son of poor parents, and that you all were put in the mines. I wonder who your real parents are. How do you know such sophisticated and advanced technologies, high-ranking techniques and other knowledge?»
{As expected, he knows a lot about me.} – Kyon thought, and shook his head dejectedly. – «I do not know the exact answer, but I have a theory: my mom is probably a goddess. Before giving the child to foster parents, she left him a legacy as a gift. It can only be awakened by being on the verge of death.»
«The last thing I remember before waking up – and I remember it vaguely – is that I got lost in a damp cave and was dying of dehydration, and then my head seemed to be splitting… Soon I woke up in a hospital as a completely different person, and then I began to clearly realize where to move and how to act as if the heavens illuminated my path. A stream of various knowledge and skills flowed through the mind. It was so powerful that it completely changed my previously unremarkable personality. It turned me from a closed and insecure child into the real me.»
Lowering his chin on his interlocked fingers, the 0th general looked thoughtfully at the fat man and soon said in a colorless tone: «It is known from reliable sources that many hundreds of years ago a small family of aristocrats stumbled upon ancient catacombs in the mountains. They converted them into mines, founded an estate nearby and called themselves the Stones. Obviously, in addition to mining, the Stones were looking for an ancient legacy there, because there was a big chance that it could really be there. They never found him. But you, Kyon, did it.»
A mortal threat was hidden behind the man’s calm intonation, and even his gray gaze seemed silver, which made Lovr’s blood seem to be tightening with fear, but he answered without a bit of excitement: «A good version. It has the right to exist. I don’t remember anything anyway. And what kind of legacy can it be, let’s say an artifact that also grants an innate unique body? And it also changes the combat skills and character… In general, I doubt it.» – he played a neutral position, that is, he did not try to somehow justify all the events that were happening to him, he wanted to solve the riddle of his own personality together with an intelligent person opposite. Thus, he tried to avoid a serious attack.
The zero general looked at the fat man appraisingly for a long time, as if trying to catch him in a lie, but eventually shook his head and moved on to the next question: «In that case, tell me: the blonde girl with whom you lived and slept in Cernos, who is she?»
Kyon tensed up inwardly. Does he know something about Triana?!