《My Beautiful Deviant Lovers》


 Chapter 1 - College Life Sucks

    "Get up, Ethan! How long are you going to lick the ground, loser, haha!" The brash and mocking voice of an 18-year-old youngster echoed on the rooftop of the Blue Hills College as he kicked around another 18-year-old boy on the ground.


    "Haha, Ken, go easy on him. The poor fellow might have his ribs fractured," Another youngster laughed from the side as he enjoyed Ken beating up Ethan. He was of average height but was fat and had huge size, making him look quite intimidating, not as much as Ken, who gave off an intimidating vibe.


    "Oh please, Fatty Po, he shouldn''t be that weak, hehe," Ken said as he kicked Ethan''s stomach violently, making him grimace in agony and pain as he clutched his stomach.


    "You boys are so boring. At least strip him before beating the shit out of him," A girl with half black and half colored pink hair and piercing on her brows said lazily as she smoked the cigarette in her hand while leaning against the grill.


    "Layna, I am not as perverted as you. But if it was a girl, I would have still given it a thought," Ken said with an evil smirk.


    "Asshole."


    Ken was tall but lean with a mean face and a cigarette in his mouth, while Ethan was tall as well with a slim-toned build. He had short jet black hair and effulgent molten-brown eyes.


    Till coming to college, he was a bright and dashing boy, but the moment he entered college and met the youngster named Ken as his classmate, his college days became hell for him.


    Ethan had a pleasing and charming face. But it was his confidence and charisma, coupled with the fact that he topped the entrance exams and won a scholarship, that attracted quite some attention on the first day.


    However, this made Ken Han, who was coming from the most distinguished family in the town, feel threatened. Usually, he was the center of attention wherever he went, and he was even more angered to learn that Ethan was just the son of a sick single mother and was living a lower-middle-class life.


    This made him pick on Ethan and bully him, though it was not so easy at first since Ethan was stronger than he thought and couldn''t be dealt with just physical force.


    But this didn''t make him give up. Instead, he cunningly found out about Ethan''s greatest weakness and exploited it to suppress him and show him who the boss was instead of merely using brute force.


    Ethan''s face was red and sweaty but had only a bloody scratch on his forehead as Ken made sure to not hurt his face so that others won''t notice anything suspicious, not that he was too worried since he was coming from a well-off family.


    Even if something happened, his family would simply send people to silence any trouble.


    "P-Please stop¡­" Ethan gritted his teeth as he begged them to stop while shielding himself with his arms. He considered begging beneath his dignity, but he just couldn''t risk making his mother suspicious if he came home too hurt.


    "Aww, look at this girl. He''s gonna cry, haha. Hmph, who told you to come empty-handed without my booze?" Ken asked as he stepped on Ethan''s back.


    "T-They¡­wouldn''t let me buy without an ID card¡­" Ethan said as he suppressed his groans, but inwardly his nerves were quivering with rage as he wished he could just break their legs and be done with it.


    But all these were just pure feelings and thoughts, and he knew that he couldn''t afford to fight back lest he put his mother in danger. This was the sad reality of not having enough wealth or power.


    As for asking for help, only he knew the best how useless it was, especially when complaining to the college authorities. In fact, after Ken learned about him complaining to the college authorities, he was really about to pull back the donation for Ethan''s mother''s heart surgery as his father owned the biggest hospital in town where his mother was a patient.


    The only way Ethan was able to stop him was by giving in to his demands which were to become his errand boy.


    The last thing Ethan wanted was to let his mother''s condition become worse by postponing her treatment. As long as the donation for her surgery was active, she only needed to wait for the right donor heart.


    He had joined this college not too long ago, and since then, Ken and his friends, including Fatty Po and Layna, were a nightmare for him. The others following these three were just another bunch of nuisance. No matter how much he tried to avoid them, he would still get caught in their clutches.


    Ken snorted, hearing his words as he crouched down and grabbed his hair to pull up his head, "Then you should have fucking given them your ID," He said in a scathing tone.


    "B-But my mother would find out¡­You know about her condition, and I can''t¡ª"


    "Awww, what? You can''t make her feel bad for buying a silly drink? Is your mother a weakling like you too, hahaha," Ken laughed along with Fatty Po, whose neck was jiggling with all the fat underneath it while Layna was filming the whole thing for fun.


    The bones in Ethan''s knuckles were cracking, but he could only continue to keep them like that.


    Ken''s expression then turned dark and cold as he pulled Ethan''s head closer and said, "Look, chickenass. Do you seriously think I give a fuck about what your mother would think? Next time you better get what I want, or your mother will surely die of a heart attack when she sees her name stricken off from the donor list hehe. Let''s go, guys! I am tired of dealing with this chicken."


    Layna and Fatty Po followed Ken, but on the way, Fatty Po kicked Ethan on his butt for fun while Layna spat out her bubblegum on his body before leaving the roof while the other youngsters followed them.


    Ethan''s hands had closed into fists as he groaned in pain and tried to get up while feeling immense resentment and rage in his heart.


    ''Why¡­Why is this world so unfair¡­Why should I suffer for nothing¡­" Ethan''s nerves were boiling with resentment and indignation. But thinking about his mother, all this urge to fight back would dissipate away. For now, all he could do was endure and blame his luck for ending up in the same college as Ken though it was the best one in town.


    Ethan got up, rubbing his sore body as he dragged himself to the door to go downstairs and leave for home. He only wished that he had the power to change things.


    As he walked through the halls, he could feel the gazes from students who knew him. In fact, most of them knew him even if he wasn''t in their classes since Ken, Fatty Po, Layna and their lackeys was most famous around here, and nobody would dare to offend them. However, everyone or most knew that Ethan was their errand boy.


    And as he walked past the halls, he could feel gazes of scorn and ridicule and even whispers of people calling him a loser and weakling. Some were even shooting him gazes of pity, but it only made Ethan feel even angrier since he didn''t need their pity but their help.


    But none of them ever helped him, even when he looked at them for help whenever he got bullied right in front of them.


    So all of them were the same in his eyes. He realized that the world would never give a shit about him, no matter how pathetic he was. In fact, the more pathetic his situation was, the fewer people would care.


    With these bitter thoughts, he slowly walked back home.

 Chapter 2 - The Short-Lived Revenge Of The Flower

    Ethan reached his home soon, which was a small two-storied house, and his mom was working from her home to earn money to still pay off the house loans. As for his education, Ethan entered the school with a scholarship, and so that was one less thing for his mother to worry about.


    His mother used to work as a software developer in a decent company, but now she retired and started her freelancing work due to her health condition.


    He rang the bell and made sure to straighten his clothes so that she wouldn''t suspect anything even though the dirt smeared on his clothes were not things he could easily hide.


    A few moments later, the door opened as a thin woman in her late forties with slightly sunken cheeks stood behind it with a smile, happy to see her son come home. She was Lena Frey, Ethan''s mother. Even though her face looked a bit pale, she still had a graceful and kind look.


    "Ethan, how was your¡ª" However, just as she was about to usually ask him about his day, she spotted the faint red scratch on his forehead and asked with noticeable worry and concern in her voice, "Ethan, did you get hurt?? How did that happen?"


    Ethan lowered his head and walked past her as he casually mumbled, "I just fell, mom. It''s not a big deal."


    Lena''s brows pulled together, feeling that something was off as she called out, "Wait, Ethan. This is the second time you have been telling me the same thing. Why would you even fall like this a lot? Are you going through something?" She asked in a concerned tone.


    "Don''t ask too many questions, mom! Didn''t I tell you I am fine?" Ethan raised his tone but then immediately regretted it as he saw his mother''s shocked face.


    He immediately took a deep breath and apologized, "I am sorry, mom, for shouting at you. I didn''t mean to do that. I just feel tired and sleepy. Do you need me to do something before I go to your room? Should I get the pills you have to take?"


    Lena pressed her lips together as she said, "No¡­I already took them for today. You should rest if you are feeling tired. Should I prepare you some soup, and how about letting me apply a bandaid on your injury?"


    "No need for that, mom. I am good. I already have a bandaid in my room," He casually said as he waved his hand and was about to climb up the stairs when he noticed that the door to the basement under him was surprisingly open when usually it always remained locked. In fact, he had never seen his mother open it in years and also told him to not open it as well.


    This made him ask, "Mom, did you forget to lock the door to the basement?"


    Lena, who was thinking about how to make her son open up to her, became suddenly startled as she heard his question.


    She immediately rushed towards the basement and quickly closed the door, much to the surprise of Ethan, who said, "Mom, slow down. Don''t run like that."


    Lena softly chuckled and said, "I was just worried that some insects would get into our living hall. You know how dusty and old the air is inside the basement."


    "Alright. I will go take a bath before heading to Nolan''s house," Ethan had seen the basement before once when his mom showed him the inside out of curiosity. But all he saw were junk from his old house littered around with dust and webs over them. The air was too dusty and creepy, and he didn''t feel like going in there anymore.


    After Ethan went upstairs, Lena stared at the door for a while before opening it again and going inside.


    -


    Ethan threw his bag towards the side as he slumped on the bed, feeling sore all over his body after taking those beatings.


    But his eyes widened when he saw posters of his favorite fantasy girls from comics and novels revealed from an open drawer in his metal cupboard.


    "Fuck! Did mom clean my room?" Ethan grimaced as he wished he could die right now just by thinking about how his mom would have felt seeing all these posters of beauties.


    He loved reading fantasy novels and comics, and naturally, he couldn''t help printing out the posters of his favorite characters. They were more like his dream girls, which he felt that he could only see in his dreams or certain women he had met in reality and still had hopeless crushes on them. But of course, he was relieved that she didn''t discover his secret stash of fashion magazines with his favorite model on its cover, and that model was someone this entire town knew.


    He quickly closed it back up and made sure to lock it, though he had no idea how his mom opened this without a key.


    ''Did she have a spare key? Damn!''


    Still, his determination to get stronger made him get off the bed and start doing pushups on the floor, enduring the pain.


    He had been taking pushups systematically to improve himself, but he knew even after doing all this, taking care of the bullies would still be a problem.


    Today was 4th February 2022, and he hadn''t forgotten about his training at a local martial arts class that he usually frequents for the past few years, especially since two of his favorite people lived there.


    It was 4 PM, and the training was at 4:30 PM, so he decided to take a quick 15-minute nap before rushing over there since he felt as if his body could use a good rest. As he lied down his mind was again filled with discouraging thoughts of his college life and was inwardly lamenting to himself for his lousy fate.


    However, unbeknownst to him, a small shining blood-red sphere of light with hundreds of tiny, thin feathery attachments was creeping up from under the bed and moving towards Ethan silently. It was so small that people wouldn''t even notice unless they tried to observe it on purpose, and even then, some might mistake it for the feather of some bird or some strange tiny flower that was only as big as the nail of one''s pinkie.


    But this tiny ''flower'' was not really a feather nor a flower, but a sentient being, and it had been observing Ethan for a while as it inwardly thought in its own language, *Hmph...how dare these humans lock me up like some pathetic bug. I even lost count of how many years I lost! It''s time I finally took my revenge using this boy. How lucky I am¡­This boy''s blood reeks with despair and hopelessness. What a weakling. It should be easy for me to take over his consciousness and then kill everyone, kuku...*


    Still, it hid behind Ethan''s clothes and waited for him to go to sleep just to make things easier.


    Ethan didn''t even bother to change his clothes or take a bath as he snoozed off on the bed. And right when he dozed off, the blood-red ''flower'' that was hiding behind his collar finally came out silently, walking over his body with its tiny feather-like attachments.


    *Tsk, this stupid human wasted enough of my time. This will be your final nap, human, hehe,* Thinking like this, it crawled over Ethan''s face and towards one of his nostrils to invade his body and take over his brain.


    "Hnn¡­" Ethan wrinkled his nose unconsciously as the ''flower'' crawled inside his nose. But as it tried to crawl up his nose to reach his brain, Ethan wrinkled his nose as he suddenly sneezed.


    "Achoo!"


    *Noooo!!!* The ''flower'' was taken by surprise when a flood of mucus suddenly flushed it down Ethan''s food pipe as it went to his stomach, where it began to get digested!


    *NOO!!! THIS CANNOT BE HAPPENING!* It inwardly screamed as it struggled to get out of this dangerous acidic environment, and thinking that there was no other choice, it suddenly diffused itself into microscopic particles and attached itself to Ethan''s cells, and made its way to Ethan''s bloodstream since it was the source of nutrients it needed.


    But it had no idea that by merging itself with Ethan''s cells, his DNA was absorbing its essence as well and began to reconstruct itself.


    *Not so fast, human!* Realizing that Ethan was subconsciously trying to absorb it, it decided to fight back as well.


    And as this happened, Ethan began to have a strange dream where he felt as if his body was disintegrating into pieces and he was about to die.


    He had no idea why this was happening or how but the fear of death made his heart race as he desperately tried to hold onto those pieces and make them join back together. All of this felt very real to him and not like a dream.


    *Let go¡­You are worthless¡­a weakling¡­someone who is better off dead¡­* A voice that seemed to belong neither to a man nor woman boomed in Ethan''s head, making him feel a splitting headache coupled with the feeling of his body slowly disintegrating.


    "No..I am not¡­" Ethan gritted his teeth as he tried to hold onto pieces of himself from disintegrating away while wondering where this ominous voice was coming from. He felt that this was probably the cowardly side of his consciousness telling him to give up.


    *You are a burden to your mother¡­a disgrace to her¡­She would be better off without you¡­"


    "No!...My mother needs me¡­I will make her proud¡­"


    *A loser like you?*


    "Not anymore...I had enough of this filthy world!" Ethan thought as he remembered Ken and his friends while struggling to pull pieces of his body together. As his determination to become strong grew stronger, the more control he gained over his own body.


    *No! You can''t! Stop!!*


    Thinking about his mother and the terrifying feeling of death made him realize that he had to remain alive to become strong enough and take care of all his problems. And with his newfound willpower, he somehow pulled together his body, preventing them from disintegration, and was able to relax finally.


    *Why is this human''s consciousness so strong?? Did I miscalculate? Impossible!* The ''flower'' indignantly cried out as it sensed losing control over Ethan''s cells.


    Not long after, its consciousness went into oblivion while Ethan was still deep in sleep, having no idea that he just survived a close shave with death, all because of a sneeze and his desire to become strong.


    However, his cells began to undergo subtle changes and seemed to reform themselves to a small degree, while his blood cells underwent the biggest change as they seemed to look slightly metallic.


    And the moment this happened, the smartphone beside him began to levitate into the air, including his metal keys and pen, while the surrounding metal objects began to slightly shake on the spot they were resting on.


    If somebody saw this, they would surely think that this was some exaggerated magic trick, including even Ethan.


    The bloodied scratch on his temple also healed magically.


    However, Ethan''s eyes moved from within his eyelids before suddenly opening them with a gasp as if he escaped from a bad dream.


    But his eyes widened when he saw his phone, keys, and pen levitating in the air around him!

 Chapter 3 - Did I Just Gain Powers?

    "What the hell is going on¡­" Ethan mumbled with a bewildered look as he poked his flying phone, only to have it get attached to his finger.


    "Huh¡­" Ethan blinked his eyes, wondering if he was still dreaming, and shook his finger to make it free itself from his phone.


    But it wouldn''t budge and was clinging to his finger like a magnet. He then used his other hand to remove the sticky phone from his finger, and it fortunately worked.


    However, right when he thought things were alright, he saw that his phone was now stuck to the palm of his other hand.


    "The fuck is this??" Ethan felt as if this was all just a weird dream, but things just seemed too real, and he was pretty sure by now he was wide awake but was unable to comprehend what was going on.


    "What is wrong with my phone!" Ethan shook his left hand vigorously to make the phone drop to the bed, but it was not budging at all. As he tried to shake it off, his body moved slightly on the bed and touched the keys of his cycle, which clung to his arm just like the phone.


    "You gotta be kidding me¡­" Ethan gulped as he began to panic slightly, not understanding what was going on, and got off the bed, only to realize that some objects in the room, metallic ones to be precise, were shaking vigorously, and the closer he moved towards them, the closer they were trying to come towards him. He was also feeling a strange buzzing sensation all over his body and couldn''t comprehend what the hell was going on with his body.


    In fact, a metal pin that was lying on the table beside him suddenly levitated into the air and clung to his body when he stumbled near the table.


    "Get off me! Shit!" By now, Ethan felt like he was losing his mind and hoped that all this was not real. In fact, he was wary of using his hands to pull off these objects clinging to his body, afraid that they would stick to his hand instead.


    But amidst all this confusion and shock, he noticed that things like plastic stuff, clothes, or glass objects were remaining stationary and was not showing any weird behavior even if he was literally standing near these things.


    All the objects that were sticking to his body were metal, including his phone, which had a metallic side.


    ''Why only metal?'' Ethan realized that this strange phenomenon was happening only with metal objects while the rest of the non-metallic ones weren''t showing any weird behavior.


    In fact, he took a small risk and picked up a plastic box with his right hand, and as expected, it wasn''t clinging to his hand.


    ''Did I become a human magnet or what??'' Ethan''s heart was still pounding with adrenaline, making him more aware of what was going on.


    His first instinct was to call for his mother, but then he stopped himself since he didn''t want her panicking as well.


    He then remembered the breathing techniques taught to students in the martial arts class, which could also help relieve tension and deal with shocking things.


    He closed his eyes immediately and took a deep breath through his nose and then through his mouth while clearing his mind and only thinking about making these metal objects fall off his body.


    After doing this for a few moments, he was astonished to feel the metal objects wobbling on his skin, and the next moment they completely fell off!


    "Whew¡­the heck was that!" Ethan opened his eyes and saw that the metal objects were no longer clinging to his body and fell on the floor.


    He also noticed that the other metal objects near him stopped shaking and vibrating, and everything seemed normal.


    "My phone!" The moment he calmed down, he realized that his phone had dropped by over a foot on the floor and was about to pick it up, worried if he broke it since he couldn''t afford to buy another one but stopped himself in worry that it would again stick to him.


    But after some hesitation, he decided to pick it up slowly, and to his surprise, it wasn''t sticking to his hand like before, and he was able to hold it normally.


    "How weird¡­" Ethan mumbled as he picked up his keys as well and saw that nothing strange had happened.


    He was sure what happened a minute ago was real and not just some dream, and so the sparks of curiosity within him were urging him to try and see if he could replicate the same phenomena.


    He placed the phone and the keys on the bed as he stood beside his bed and pointed his palms at them as if trying to grab them from the air.


    "Let''s see¡­stick to my hand like before¡­" Ethan mumbled as he focused on the phone and the keys.


    His eyes suddenly widened the moment he felt a weird sensation inside his hands including a strange pulling force emanating from his palms. And the next moment, the phone and the keys suddenly levitated into the air and rushed towards his palms on their own before sticking to them!


    "Holy cow! No way! Did I really gain the power to move metals??" Ethan was totally mind blown by what he was seeing, something which he had seen only in superhero movies.


    This time instead of feeling panicked or worried, he was feeling a strange sense of excitement and fever at the idea of gaining powers even though he had no idea how.


    Superpowers only existed in fantasy or sci-fi novels, and looking at his hands which were trembling in excitement, he wondered what happened to him while he slept since he was damn sure he had never experienced something like this before.


    Still, he decided to worry about that later but instead excitedly explored his newfound abilities as he took a deep breath and focused on making the phone and the key drop on the bed.


    This time he was able to drop them with ease by simply focusing on his hands and wanting them to drop.


    Then he motioned with his hands to make the phone levitate into the air instead of sticking to his hand, and astonishingly he was able to see the phone slowly go up in the air and down according to the motion of his hand.


    "T-This is¡­unbelievable¡­" Ethan mumbled in exhilaration, feeling a sense of power flooding his mind upon seeing that he could move around metal objects as he wished. He was truly wishing this was not a dream and could feel his heart loudly thumping against his chest.


    He repeated the motion of lifting the phone up and down in the air again as if playing with it to see how much control he had over its motion.


    He found that he could pull it towards him or send it away from him. And to find out the range of how far he could send it away, he pushed it away towards the other end of the room where he suddenly felt a loss of control over the phone and¡­


    *Clak!*


    It fell on the ground immediately, making him clutch his hair for being dumb on trying his experiment on his phone. He immediately ran over and picked it up and was relieved that nothing bad had happened to it.


    However, he found out the hard way that he would lose control of the object a few meters away from him.


    Still, he wanted to know if he could move big objects since all this time, he only tried on small ones.


    And so he looked at the large 2-meter long metal cupboard and put up both his hands in the air as he focused on moving it even though he knew it was quite a heavy object.


    "Ughh¡­come on!!" He gritted his teeth as he tried his utmost to move it, but as expected, it wasn''t budging a single inch, and he felt as if all the air inside his lungs got siphoned away. Apparently, using his ability came with a price and a greater one if he were to strain himself.


    *Bang!*


    "Dude, where the fuck are you? My sister will get pissed off if you don''t get there soon!"


    Ethan got startled when suddenly the door opened with a bang, and his best friend rushed in, huffing and panting.


    However, he didn''t notice the metal cupboard swaying a bit to the front before returning to its original position.

 Chapter 4 - There Wont Be A Next Time

    "Nolan, what the heck? Can you at least knock, dude? You almost scared the shit out of me," Ethan said in a panicky voice since he almost got caught, and Nolan could have seen him moving things.


    However, since Nolan was like his best friend and neighbor for five years and has been there for him like a true brother, he wanted to reveal to him his newfound powers. Yet, he hesitated, wondering how he would react after knowing about it and if he would still remain his friend.


    Nolan was the same age as Ethan, and the two studied in the same college but in different batches. He was a good-looking boy with brown hair and gray eyes and was slim, just like Ethan but slightly shorter than him. His hair was all roughed up like usual and seemed as if he was least bothered to tidy it up even a little bit.


    Ethan had a cute boy look compared to Nolan, who seemed the carefree type, and he indeed was chill about everything and would even stand up for Ethan against Ken and his group, especially since he knew some martial arts by learning from his sister.


    In fact, Ken was also coming from a family of martial artists, which was one of the main reasons why people didn''t dare to pick a fight with him except Nolan, who would be able to defeat him if it was a solo fight. But Ken wasn''t one to play fair and would simply use his friends to gang up on Ethan and Nolan. That was what happened the first time they exchanged fists, and Ethan and Nolan got overwhelmed by them. Still, they weren''t willing to give up, and Ken was forced to take a few punches as well.


    This was why Ken decided to deal with Ethan in a different way by targeting his main weakness.


    Nolan was ready to beat the shit out of Ken and his lackeys as long as Ethan was up for it. But he was remaining silent as well for Ethan''s sake since he didn''t want anything bad to happen to Ethan''s mother because of him.


    Nolan had a strange look on his face as he asked while walking in, "Scared you? Come on! This is not the first time I barged into your room. Anyway, you still haven''t taken a bath? You look like shit, dude. Better take a quick dip and come on. I was getting bored sitting all alone there, and my sister wouldn''t just leave me alone. If she sees me working with you, she will cut me some slack. You know how she is, right?"


    He then continued with a skeptical look, "I am surprised you were lazing around here. Usually, you would reach my place quite early, especially for a certain someone."


    Ethan''s face became a bit red as he said, "Come on, dude. Stop it. I don''t have any such intentions."


    Nolan still shot him a suspicious glance as he said, "Oh yeah? I see the way you look at my sister. You should ask her out again before someone else comes along. I heard she is extremely popular in her college and the hottest girl over there. The only reason most stay away from her is cause she is too cold and intimidating as we know. But you are the only who can remain cool before her and talk to her normally."


    Ethan gulped as he said in an evasive tone, "Get the fuck outta here. You are just imagining things. I was just taking a nap to rest my¡ª" Ethan suddenly stopped talking since he couldn''t feel any soreness on his body. In fact, he wasn''t even feeling any pain at all, even in the regions where he got hit.


    "Dude? Did you seriously start dreaming about my sister again?" Nolan asked with a ''are you kidding me'' look.


    Ethan cleared his throat as he quickly said, "Yeah. I mean no! Fuck. I am gonna take a bath."


    He quickly grabbed his clothes and rushed into the bathroom, making Nolan smile as he shook his head.


    Ethan quickly came out within five minutes and dragged along Nolan as he came downstairs, "Mom. I am going over to Nolan''s place. I will be back soon."


    Lena subtly smiled as she nodded and said, "Be careful and try not to fall."


    Ethan felt a tight feeling in his heart and said, "I will."


    Nolan shot him a strange glance before greeting Lena, "See you later, auntie."


    "You take care too, Nolan."


    After coming out, Nolan immediately asked, "Bro, you again gave her that lame excuse of you falling down? Did those fuckers beat you up again?"


    Ethan casually waved his hand, "It''s no biggie. I can take care of it. I think things are not going to be the same anymore."


    Nolan had a confused look, "Huh? What are you talking about? Anyways, tomorrow I will teach those fuckers a lesson for messing with my friend. You don''t have to come with me. I can take full responsibility."


    "Hey! Are you trying to make your sister get mad at us after taking a beating?" Ethan said as he fisted his arm.


    "Bro! Anyway, I am the one who is going to get all the scolding, and she goes easy on you or¡­not. You get the weirdest punishments from her, hehe," Nolan laughed as he remembered certain funny moments whenever Ethan pissed off Sui.


    "Oh, shut up, dude. She just likes teasing me even if she may not show it," Ethan casually said with a wave of his hand.


    Nolan clasped his hands together and asked with a knowing smile, "And why do you think she likes to tease you? I feel like she has a real soft spot for you. I had never seen her giving her attention to anyone else like you. Maybe it''s because you proposed to her with that silly flower four years ago, hehe. She was like seventeen at that time. Not bad," Nolan laughed with his teeth showing, making Ethan''s face heat up in embarrassment as he grabbed his wrist, "Shhh! I told you not to talk about my embarrassing moments, especially that one. Oof! What was I thinking at that time?" Ethan facepalmed, thinking about that memory.


    But he got distracted when he spotted a metal can lying on one of the garbage bins ahead on the side of the road and decided to try and see if he could lift it. Of course, he made sure nobody else was looking at him in this quiet narrow street.


    He subtly pointed his palm towards it and pulled his fingers closer as it jerked slightly before it shot towards his palm!


    ''Whoa!'' Ethan was astonished that he really had the ability to move metals. He then decided to see if he could bend it as well, just like how he had seen in comics.


    *Clak!*


    He again felt the strange pulling force emanating from his hand and directed it inwards. And to his astonishment, the metal can folded inwardly as if his hand crushed it and looked all mangled.


    ''Holy fuck!'' Ethan gulped, realizing that he could bend metals as well!


    "Ethan, are you even listening to me? What the hell was that sound? Hm¡­you have a soda can in your hands, and you didn''t tell me?? Not fair, bro!" Nolan leaned his head forward as he looked at Ethan''s left hand and saw a crushed can.


    Ethan had a stiff expression as he didn''t expect the metal to bend so fast enough to create such a loud sound.


    "You crushed it?" Nolan quickly snatched the can from a distracted Ethan and inspected it, "When did you even take this? This seems like a beer can. Dude, you only turned 18 not long ago, but you need to be twenty to buy alcohol. How the heck were you able to buy this? Don''t tell me¡­"


    "It was for Ken! And I just forgot to throw it away after he drank it," Ethan put up his hands innocently.


    "That nice and pretty lady deputy saved you from getting your ass busted in the police station, and that is only because you know her and she knows about your mother''s condition, taking pity on you. I don''t think you can escape next time if you get caught, and your mother will know," Nolan said in a tone of caution.


    Ethan sighed, "I know. I know."


    "Bro, we can''t just let this go. We have to do something about Ken and his asshole friends. Letting him bully you means that you are only encouraging him. Or are you planning to endure till we graduate?" Nolan asked in a serious tone as he threw the can into the garbage bin.


    Ethan felt a new sense of confidence and power flowing through his veins as he said in a determined tone, "You are right. Don''t worry. There won''t be a next time."


    Nolan squinted his eyes as he suddenly stood frozen on the spot, wondering if this was the same Ethan who was very worried about fighting back the bullies, "Did I just hear you right?"


    Ethan stopped walking and looked back at Nolan as he said with a wink, "Of course."

 Chapter 5 - Sui Vona

    Nolan had a blinking expression, wondering what came over this guy. After all, they had already tried fighting off Ken and his group of friends before, and it didn''t work out. Though he was feeling happy that Ethan didn''t seem depressed anymore, he felt worried for him, wondering whether encouraging him to fight back was indeed a good idea if he got beat up again. What he had in mind was different from what Ethan was saying.


    He caught up to him and asked, "So the thing with your mother is all sorted out? Wasn''t that what was keeping you from resisting the bullies?"


    "Nothing bad will happen to her¡­as I said, I will handle it," Ethan confidently said, making Nolan feel puzzled again. Still, he couldn''t help but feel worried.


    Ethan sighed when he still felt Nolan''s stare burrowing into him and said, "Fine. Just come to my house tomorrow and I will tell you what I meant."


    Nolan still had a doubtful expression, though he nodded, "Alright. It better not be a stupid plan."


    The two soon reached Nolan''s house, which was quite a big traditional house with a nice furnished wooden roof and strong concrete building. It was not too far away from Ethan''s house, and he always came here and hung out with Nolan even when it was not for his part-time job.


    They walked towards the back of the house, where there was a large paved ground with kids and teenagers practicing martial arts. There were about fifteen students, both boys and girls, and their teacher was none other than Sui Vona, Nolan''s sister, 21 years old and in the senior year of her college.


    She was the slim, fair stunning beauty instructing the students with a wooden staff in her hand while wearing black robes. However, Ethan could spot the noticeable bulge on her chest due to her prominent breasts.


    She was around 175cms tall and had waist-length black hair with feline blue eyes that sparkled like the gleaming oceans. Her eyebrows were crescent-shaped; her nose lovely; her face oval with high cheekbones, and her cherry lips soft like velvet.


    Whenever he saw her, Ethan would feel like his day had gotten brighter. That was also why he loved coming here other than practicing martial arts.


    He was the only one who was learning martial arts for free from her but had some other deal with Sui in exchange.


    The moment Nolan and Ethan came walking in, Sui looked in their direction with her sharp blue eyes and said in a stern tone, "You are thirty seconds late, Ethan. Where were you?"


    "He was just taking a nice long beauty bath, sis to look good. Nothing serious, hehe," Nolan chuckled, making Ethan elbowed his stomach for embarrassing him before Sui.


    Sui scanned Ethan''s figure and said, "Ethan, come join. I will spar with you, later on, to see how much you have improved."


    Ethan happily joined the class since he now realized that the meditation and breathing techniques Sui was teaching could come really handy in learning to control his powers.


    Nolan also joined in, but he was pretty relaxed since he was already good at martial arts, even though it was not his main interest.


    "Dude, move your legs faster. Otherwise, Ken will kick your ass," Nolan chuckled as he saw Ethan practicing some attack techniques.


    "Fuck off, dude. I know you are not as good as your sister. First, get to her level, then I will accept your advice," Ethan smirked, making Nolan harrumph, "I have better things to learn and do, bro. I have only learned martial arts since my grandpa told me to."


    "I know, I know. You are good at hacking adult websites to unlock premium stuff, right?"


    Nolan gulped as he frantically whispered, "Shhh! Don''t let my sister hear that. Or she will kick my ass. Besides, my hacking skills ain''t limited to such things."


    "I doubt she cares," Ethan lightly laughed, hearing him.


    "Ethan. Focus," Sui said with a slight crease on her forehead, making the two quickly exchange glances before resuming their practice.


    The class soon ended, and all the students left, leaving behind Ethan, Nolan, and Sui as they came inside and stood in the sparring hall, which had a wooden floor.


    Sui turned around and crouched to pick up a bottle of oil from a wooden box while Ethan stood behind her with a wooden staff in his hand as well.


    "Let me enjoy this show, hehe," Nolan stepped aside and sat on the mat in one of the corners as he waited for them to spar.


    "How is your mother doing now, Ethan?" Sui asked with a lowered voice, her tone a bit soft compared to the usual hardness of her cold sweet voice.


    Ethan slightly smiled and said, "She is doing fine. She had told me to tell you that the chicken roast you made for us tasted great."


    Ethan remembered that his mom had told him to tell Sui that her food tasted great though his opinion differed from what she felt.


    In fact, it was the first time Sui brought a dish to his home, saying that it was to help his mother rest by not letting her strain herself by cooking when she fell sick recently.


    "You didn''t eat it?" Sui calmly asked as she applied some oil on her wooden staff, though her tone seemed to be a bit stony.


    "That was what I was about to tell¡­it was not bad, but with practice, you can really improve," Ethan remembered eating the dish she made, and even if it was not unbearable to eat, it was leagues behind the food his step-aunt always made for him. Still, he didn''t want to discourage Sui and gave his opinion in the best way possible.


    "So you didn''t like it¡­did you?" Sui''s voice slowly dropped as her grip on the wooden staff tightened.


    Ethan slightly grimaced, wondering if he hurt her feelings as he crouched before her and said with a sigh, "Sui, you are making me look bad. That is not what I said. You only barely started cooking such complicated dishes, so it''s natural it will take some time. Experts aren''t born within a day."


    Sui''s expression relaxed a bit as she asked with hints of keenness in her voice, "Then do you believe that I can surpass your aunt''s cooking?"


    Ethan remembered mentioning that his step-aunt cooks him impressive, tasty dishes, one of them being chicken roast while talking to Nolan and Sui heard him. From that day on, she asked him which dishes his aunt cooked for him and the first one he mentioned was chicken roast.


    However, hearing Sui''s question about if she could surpass his step-aunt whose cooking was the best he had ever tasted, Ethan''s expression became a bit difficult.


    Still, he said with a soft chuckle, "Of course. As long as you keep working for it." After all, he had heard practice makes one perfect.


    "Then I will practice every day, and I will let you eat it so that you can tell how much I improved each day," Sui said, her tone seemingly sounding enthusiastic.


    Ethan gulped as he wondered what he got himself into. Even though her food didn''t taste that bad, it was extremely salty to the point he found it hard to swallow after two or three morsels. So imagine eating a full plate of it.


    Not hearing any affirmation from Ethan, Sui looked at him as she asked, "You will¡­right?" Her dewy blue eyes were peering into his eyes as if trying to pry out the answer she wanted from within his mind without breaking eye contact.


    Ethan felt her stare seemingly fill his entire mind, but then he wanted to make her happy and said with a smile, "Sure. I will be happy to help you improve." He had no idea why she was feeling so competitive to surpass his step-aunt, but then he thought that Sui wanted to beat the only expert she knew.


    Hearing his answer and seeing his charming smile, Sui''s eyes momentarily blanked out as her velvety red lips slowly arched into a pure soft smile, putting Ethan in a daze upon witnessing such a rare sight.


    Since she rarely smiled or showed much expression, Ethan found her smile to be as precious as the prettiest gems out there. This smile was enough to make him feel that it was worth it to make her feel happy.


    "What are you two doing over there?" Nolan asked with a skeptical look on his face as he was unable to make out what they were saying from far away and was feeling his butt getting sore after eagerly waiting to see Ethan get his ass kicked.

 Chapter 6 - Sparring With Sui...

    Ethan quickly jumped back to his feet and stretched his arms as he said with a candid chuckle, "Nothing, bro. I was just asking for tips on how to take care of my staff."


    "Tips, huh?" Nolan raised one of his brows, but then he crossed his arms as he mumbled to himself, "Something fishy is definitely going on between these two."


    Sui didn''t seem to be perturbed by Nolan''s question and, in fact, ignored him as she slowly stood up and looked at Ethan, "This time, I want you to at least last thirty seconds."


    "I am feeling more confident than ever today," Ethan said as he rubbed his nose with the back of his hand.


    Sui narrowed her eyes as she finished applying the oil on her staff and said, "Let me be the judge of that."


    Ethan was excited to spar with her since, for the first time, he had hopes of defeating her, especially using his newfound powers.


    He could see the metal bracelet on her wrist, which she always wore and was some sort of memento from her father, who died in an accident. And this was one of the reasons he decided to come here and spar with her instead of staying home and experimenting with his powers since he wanted to know if he could defeat someone as long as metal was involved.


    "What are you looking at?" Sui asked as she noticed Ethan being a little distracted.


    "Nothing!" Ethan quickly replied as he readied his stance with his bamboo staff. He wished he had a metal staff, but then it might become dangerous, and he didn''t want to hurt Sui.


    "Let''s begin," Sui said as she gestured at Ethan to attack her.


    Ethan narrowed his eyes as he took a deep breath and charged towards her with his staff.


    Sui stood on the same spot as she casually moved her hand to deflect his attacks.


    As expected, Ethan was unable to even land a proper attack as with every swing, she would deflect his attack and then counter-attack by striking his shoulder, not too hard but not too light so that the fear of pain would allow him to improve faster.


    "Ow!" Ethan grimaced as he felt a slight stinging sensation on his arm each time she counter-attacked, making Nolan chuckle from the corner, "Dude, I bet we will get a million views if I post a video of you sparring with the title ''When you fight with your bladder full'', hehe."


    "Nolan! You can join him as well," Sui shot a quick glare towards him, making Nolan shrink his head as he mumbled, "Ah, she didn''t like it."


    Ethan was too busy admiring Sui''s graceful and elegant moves, especially how her slender body moved so fast and quick.


    But before he knew it, her right leg hooked over one of his legs, making him fall to the ground with a thud.


    "Uff!" Ethan grimaced as his back struck the wooden floor, and Sui stood beside him and said, "Your form has improved, but you get distracted too much."


    Nolan immediately spoke up, "That''s obviously because¡ª"


    But he sealed his mouth when Ethan shot him a death glare, making him chuckle silently.


    Sui offered her dainty hand for him to get up as she said in a softer voice, "But don''t worry about it. You will get better next time."


    "Sis, you don''t encourage me like that!" Nolan indignantly said.


    "Quiet, Nolan," Sui immediately said firmly.


    Ethan narrowed his eyes and decided to prove himself as he grabbed her soft hand and got up, "Sui¡­give me one more chance. I felt that I wasn''t at my 100% right now."


    Sui felt as if something was different about Ethan, though she couldn''t put her finger on it. Still, seeing how confident and determined he was, she nodded as she stepped back to take a stance, "Okay. Let''s spar once more. If you at least gain an advantage over me once, then you can ask one favor from me."


    Ethan''s eyes lit up hearing her proposition but became stiff when Sui continued with a veiled glint in her eyes, "But if you fail, then you will owe me one."


    "Challenge accepted," Ethan didn''t even think twice as he decided to use this challenge to motivate himself.


    "Ethan. You have my prayers," Nolan said with a gesture of praying, feeling amused since he knew how this was all going to end. Still, somewhere inside him, he wished to see Ethan give a challenge to his sister.


    "Come!" Sui motioned at Ethan again to attack her.


    "No..I want you to attack me this time. I want to see if I am good at defending," Ethan said, much to the surprise of Sui.


    But she guessed that he wanted to try another approach, and so she stepped forward to land a strike while using both her hands.


    Ethan narrowed his eyes as he focused on her metal bracelet and subtly motioned with his fingers to pull the bracelet towards the left side, making it pull along her wrist as well for a brief moment.


    Sui''s brows raised when she suddenly felt her right hand going sideways for no reason, making her lose the balance of her attack for only a moment.


    But this moment and window of opportunity was all Ethan needed as he immediately struck down her bamboo staff and hooked his leg over hers to make her fall down.


    However, Sui was still an expert who quickly adapted to the situation despite being distracted for a moment and tried to hook his leg.


    Ethan didn''t expect her to quickly recover from such a sudden distraction and inwardly was impressed by her skills. Still, he also didn''t want to let her make him fall down again, and so he made her bracelet move her wrist backward with a sudden tug.


    This made a surprised Sui lose her balance as her wrist suddenly moved backward, and Ethan successfully hooked his leg around hers to make her fall to the floor.


    Sui''s eyes widened in surprise as she lost her balance and decided to bring Ethan down as well by clutching his collar and pulling him down.


    *Thud!*


    The two fell with Ethan falling on top of her soft body while Sui''s cheeks turned a tender pink as she looked down while Ethan muttered, ''Fuck!''


    As for Nolan, he had a dumbfounded expression as he mumbled, "He is dead¡­"


    ------------------


    100 Power Stones = 1 Extra Chapter


    200 Power Stones = 2 Extra Chapter


    300 Power Stones = 3 Extra Chapte

 Chapter 7 - Uninvited Guests

    Ethan was blinking his eyes continuously as his hands squeezed something big and soft yet firm. He slowly looked down to see a peek of her upper breasts being squeezed from within the fabric wrapped around her breasts as his hands unconsciously squeezed them.


    Ethan gulped, getting a peek at her snowy melons as the robes loosened up a bit when his hands forcibly made their inwards accidentally when he fell on her.


    "I am really sorry! I didn''t mean to¡­" Ethan had an awkward expression as he found himself unable to complete his words while frantically getting up.


    Sui silently got up, her head lowered as she pulled together her robes and walked away without saying anything, much to the surprise of Ethan and even Nolan, who had a blinking expression seeing his cold-blooded sister walk away just like that.


    ''What the fuck is the world coming to?''


    Ethan raised his hand to call out to her and properly apologize but just felt that maybe he should leave her alone for the time being. Still, he couldn''t forget the soft, pleasant feeling in his hands.


    "You fucker¡­Did you just grope my sister?" Nolan asked with eyes as wide as saucers as he walked towards Ethan.


    Ethan put up his hands defensively as he said in an apologetic tone, "Look, dude, it''s a misunderstanding. I didn''t mean to do it¡ªwait!"


    Ethan closed his eyes as he saw Nolan''s arms heading towards him, but¡­


    "Good job, bro!"


    "Eh??" Ethan had a baffled expression when he saw Nolan patting his arms as if applauding him, "What the heck are you talking about?" Ethan wondered if he heard him right since which brother would congratulate someone for groping their sister even if it was by accident?


    Nolan sighed and patted his shoulder as he said, "Before you think I am crazy, let me tell you that if somebody even touches my sister''s hair without her permission, she would crush at least something in their bodies and make them realize what hell is like. I think you already know that as well. But¡­look at you! You groped her, and you are still alive! Not even a single broken bone in your body. Don''t you at least now see that she has some soft spot for you?"


    Ethan had a glazed expression, wondering if that was true as he said, "If you are right, then you will have my gratitude for my entire life. Still, I didn''t really think I would be making her fall down like that today. But wait¡­you are still not mad at me for doing that?"


    Nolan laughed as he put his hand over Ethan, "Come on. You are my bro. Seeing any other man near my sister pisses me off cause they don''t seem right for my sister. But I know you, and you know my sister for all these years, and I have seen the way you two interact. I can feel some hidden chemistry."


    "You really sound like a love guru," Ethan chuckled, though inwardly he was impressed with his newfound powers since never in his dreams did he think that he could get the advantage over Sui for even a split second since she had been training right from when she was a small child, according to Nolan. And even to this day, she trained very rigorously every day, which was not something he hoped to catch up to anytime soon without putting serious hard work into it like her.


    However, with his new powers, he felt that maybe he could bridge the gap indirectly.


    "I said, leave."


    Sui''s frosty voice from outside suddenly startled both Nolan and Ethan as they looked at each other before running outside.


    "Sis, what''s going on??" Nolan asked as he came out but stopped when he saw a bunch of huge-sized men amounting to a total of six, standing before Sui with unfriendly expressions while she was pointing her wooden staff at them coldly.


    Ethan frowned, wondering who these hooligans were since he had never seen them coming here before. However, he quickly scanned their bodies to see if they were wearing any metal accessories, but unfortunately, only a few of them had metal rings and chains while the rest were wearing simply a jacket and pants, especially the tall bald guy on the front.


    Still, he wasn''t confident about taking them all on, though he was prepared to face them in case they were here to cause trouble, and based on their demeanor, it seemed as if they were here for that.


    All six were either tall or big, while the bald guy on the front who seemed like their leader was both tall and fat.


    "Oh, here comes the brother. Come on, little sister. Tell your little brother how much debt your family owes us, haha," The bald guy said with an evil smile.


    "Mr. Kiro, keep my brother out of this. I have already been sending you payments consistently for all these years to clear my father''s debt. And all I asked was to give me a week''s time to send you the total payment for the past two months. After that, I will make sure to not delay on the payments," Sui said resolutely while Ethan and Nolan had surprised looks since they had no idea about any debts nor the fact that Sui had been paying these goons for all these years.


    Kiro rubbed his bald head and said with a shifty smile as he waved his hand, "Fine! Since you are a pitiful pretty college girl repaying her father''s debts, maybe I can cut you some slack even though it''s extra trouble for me."


    "Boss! But what about our money?" One of his lackeys asked worriedly.


    "Shut up, you idiot. Am I the boss, or are you the boss? This is my money, and I decided when to take it and not," Kiro said angrily before turning back towards Sui, "As you requested, I will give you one week''s time to return but¡­" He slowly lasciviously scanned her body and said, "You will have to keep us brothers company for two days. We will even cut down your debt if you give us a good time, hehe. Sounds good, right? Just 2 days for a week''s delay of payment.. Right, boys?" He asked with a crooked smile, slightly turning his head towards his men.

 Chapter 8 - Cold And Ruthless

    "Oh, yeah!"


    "Hehe, of course. This pretty girl can indeed give us brothers good company."


    "Boss is too intelligent and handsome!"


    "Didn''t I tell you our boss was born from a golden goose? Haa¡­it''s been a while since we had a nice company, hehe."


    "Eh?"


    All of the men laughed with a salacious glint in their eyes as they ogled Sui''s body.


    "Fuck off! My sister ain''t going anywhere, you dirty assholes!" Nolan couldn''t stand hearing this as he immediately stepped forward with his fists clenched.


    "Nolan, step back," Sui pulled a worried Nolan behind as she looked at Kiro with a frigid gaze and said, "The only thing that will keep you all company is the graveyard."


    Ethan remained silent as he was trying to think of ways to deal with these people since he knew words weren''t going to work against these thugs. However, hearing Sui''s words, he felt as if she was really serious.


    Kiro had an amused look on his face as he let out a burst of thunderous laughter, "Haha, look at this pretty face. She thinks she can threaten us with her wooden toy staff and even send us to the grave, eh? How could you be so cold? Must be quite exciting to see when we make you submit to us."


    "Hahaha, I heard girls like her are more fun in bed."


    "Tsk, tsk, she has no idea how the world works and who is the boss here."


    Kiro nodded, "That''s right. Since this pretty girl doesn''t want to obediently listen to us. It''s up to us uncles to teach her a lesson and show her some good times, hehe. Get her, boys, and waste the other two!"


    All five of them smiled as they walked forward towards Sui while Kiro stood in the same place with crossed arms as if he wanted to enjoy this show.


    "First one to grab her will get 100 bucks!"


    Nolan gritted his teeth and wanted to call the police, but at this moment, there was no time as he immediately stepped forward to stop them.


    However, Sui was faster than him as she brandished her staff and thrust the tip of her staff at one of the men''s eyes. Even after thrusting into his eye, she made sure to give an additional thrust before removing the tip from his crushed eyeball.


    "AAARGHH!! MY EYE!!!" The man cried in shock and horror as he stumbled back while clutching his face, blood profusely gushing out from his left eye socket.


    Sui''s movement was too fast for him to even dodge or block in time, and the other four men had shocked expressions on their faces as well, not expecting her to deal such a severe vicious blow to their friend.


    Even Kiro couldn''t help but frown, seeing one of his men''s eyes literally crushed to a pulp just like that. His men had a lot of experience in fighting, especially since it was a big part of their lives. So how could a girl smaller and younger than them take one of them out so easily?


    However, Nolan took advantage of their shock as his expression became serious and tight while charging towards them with folded fists, "Take this, you assholes!"


    "Ugh!!" Nolan punched the balls of one of the men who tried to grab him but failed as he fell on his knees, clutching his balls in excruciating pain, his face red as if all the blood rushed to his head.


    "Nolan, look out!" Ethan shouted as he also joined in, giving a hand to these two and kicking the stomach of the man who was about to make a sneak attack on Nolan.


    But before Ethan and Nolan could take down the other two, Sui shot forward as she used her wooden staff to strike at one of the man''s throats, injuring his trachea in the process.


    "Hrrrk!!" The man''s eyes became as wide as saucers as he clutched his neck and fell on his butt, gasping for air.


    The last remaining goon had his nerves jitter in terror seeing his friends taken down so easily. He felt as if his muscles became stiff and numb, and before he knew it, this beautiful yet deadly demoness was already before him and struck at his solar plexus viciously. The force of the impact lifted him off his feet as he fell back by a foot.


    "UGH!" The man''s eyes shook in shock as he felt as if his internal organs shook from the impact while all the air in his lungs was forced outside. He literally felt like he was dying and squirmed on the ground while trying to breathe.


    Ethan and Nolan had stupefied expressions on their faces as they saw the way Sui took down these thugs before they could even blink their eyes. Ethan felt as if he was too overconfident, thinking he could defeat her even with his powers.


    If she fought like this in a spar with him, she would sweep him off his feet before he could even focus on controlling any metal accessory on her body. He now realized he still had a long way to go.


    And with the strikes she gave these men, they seemed as if they were on the verge of dying. If she had applied even a little more force, they would have surely died.


    "That''s enough, you little bitch!" Kiro said in a cutting tone as he suddenly took out a revolver!


    "Sui, careful!" Ethan called out as his expression became grave upon seeing this guy taking out a revolver.

 Chapter 9 - Do You Now Feel Like You Are The Boss?

    "Sui, careful!" Ethan quickly stepped in front of Sui the moment Kiro took out his revolver.


    "Dude!" Nolan became tense seeing Ethan step forward, but Ethan gestured with his hand that he would be alright.


    "Ethan, step back!" Sui said with knitted brows as she tried to pull him back but¡­


    "Don''t move, little bitch! Or a bullet will go through your boyfriend''s head," Kiro had become really wary of Sui and didn''t want to take any chances of her getting any closer to him.


    "I will be fine, Sui. Just stay behind me!" Ethan said, his tone nervous yet determined as he lifted his hands while anxiously looking at the revolver pointed at him.


    The veins in Sui''s eyes were engorged as she saw Ethan being held hostage at gunpoint. Her nails were biting into her own palms as she gave a deathly stare at Kiro while slowly moving her hand towards her back.


    Kiro was in a state of disbelief as before he knew it, all five of his men were down, and they were seriously injured, especially by a college girl whom he thought was nothing more than a pretty face. Even if she knew some martial arts, it was not like they hadn''t beaten up people who practiced such arts as well.


    However, what he saw was beyond what he could digest. If he wasn''t so shocked, he would have pulled out his gun earlier. Only when all of his men and he felt a sharp sense of danger in his mind did he come to his senses and take out his gun.


    Not even when he had a gang war on his turf did he ever see something shocking like this.


    Still, even if he was feeling regretful about underestimating her, this only made him even angrier as he kept pointing his revolver at Ethan, "You messed up, girl. Did you really think that even if you beat us all up, it''s over? Who do you take us for? We have long been here, even before your daddy took money from us. In this town, we make the rules. And if you owe us something, then you will obey us. Now, boy, you will be coming with me while we wait for your pretty girlfriend to come to deliver the money to me personally at my place. Tell your friend over there to call your mommy and say that you would be staying over or something. Call the police then expect to see him in a ditch, heh," Kiro said with a vile smirk as he motioned with his revolver to Ethan to come towards him.


    "No, Ethan!" Nolan tried to step forward, but Kiro shot him a threatening glare, telling him to stay back unless he wanted Ethan to die.


    As for Sui, she was strangely remaining silent while her hand was still behind her back, though her eyes were vigilantly observing Kiro.


    Ethan could hear his heart thudding against his chest in tension and angst since this was the first time he had a revolver pointed at him. He began to slowly walk towards Kiro with his hands still raised.


    But the only reason he was retaining his calm was that he had some faith in his powers, especially since the revolver, just like any other gun, was made out of metal!


    His eyes were slowly focusing on the revolver only as he felt the entire world around him fading away.


    He could feel it in his body¡­the coldness of the metal of the revolver¡­each and every single tiny metal part inside and outside of it, especially the hammer. A profound force seemed to be extending between him and the revolver, allowing him to sense all this. And this force was making him feel as if every single cell in his body was shaking in resonance with the revolver.


    And the closer he walked towards Kiro, the more he felt this force getting stronger, which allowed him to sense every detail of the revolver with more precision. This feeling of having total control over the revolver erased any fear of getting shot.


    "Look at him. See how obedient he is. If you had been like that from the start, things wouldn''t have ended up like this," Kiro said with a scoff as he saw this boy silently walking towards him but seeing his unfocused eyes, which contained no trace of fear or apprehension, he felt that something was off with this boy.


    Nolan''s expression became taut as he didn''t want his best friend to be held hostage by this thug, and god knows if he would even come back in one piece.


    As for Sui, her eyes were completely ice cold, and she was about to make a move when her eyebrows raised in surprise¡­


    The moment Ethan reached near Kiro''s revolver, he suddenly grabbed its muzzle as he tried to take it away from him.


    "Ethan!"


    But Kiro was still a gang leader who was used to sudden surprises like this and quickly grabbed Ethan''s wrist as he redirected his gun towards him to fire at him but¡­


    "Clak*


    *Spptk!*


    He pressed the trigger, but the revolver did not fire!


    But his mind didn''t have the luxury to think why it didn''t fire as something even more shocking happened. A small sharp knife had impaled his hand, making him drop the revolver as he howled in pain, "ARGHH!!!"


    All of this seemed to happen in a split second, though Kiro was damn sure he pulled the trigger. But he had no idea that even if he had fired the gun, it would still not have hit Ethan since the moment the knife impaled his hand, his aim was forcibly shifted by a few centimeters to the side away from Ethan.


    Ethan was also astonished by the sight of Kiro''s hand getting impaled by a knife that seemed to just shoot through the air and pierce Kiro''s hand right before he tried to fire his gun.


    And before he could turn his neck around to see who threw the knife, Sui had shot past him and raised her leg as she gave a violent kick towards Kiro''s cheek, slamming him down to the ground.


    "Ughhh!" The cold pavement struck his cheek hard, and he felt as if some of his teeth might have got fractured in the process.


    ''Phew,'' Ethan was awed by her powerful yet swift kick, and he barely saw her entire movement.


    "Woah, nice kick there, sis!" Nolan shouted excitedly and looked on with a satisfied smile, feeling that these people got what they deserved for trying to bully them, especially his sister and best friend.


    He then looked at Ethan, who was standing behind Sui, and made a mental note to ask how he acted so fearlessly while being held at gunpoint. He was sure he might not be able to think straight under such pressure. And what was even more puzzling was he clearly saw Kiro pulling the trigger, but the gun didn''t fire.


    Kiro was groaning as he rolled around on the ground, but Sui didn''t seem to give him any time to rest as she kicked his face and stepped her feet on the knife that had impaled his hand, making it cut around his palm.


    "AAAHH!! Stop!! FUCK!" Kiro helplessly waved his other hand as he tried to stop this demoness from fucking his hand up even more. However, the moment he looked at her face, he felt goosebumps all over his skin upon seeing her cold blue eyes looking down at him like some insignificant bug.


    "Do you now feel like you are the boss?" Sui asked with a stone-cold expression as she continued to step on the knife.

 Chapter 10 - You Are Destined To Do Great Things

    She looked at him with her cold blue eyes, making Kiro feel a chill go down on his spine, not expecting this girl to be this dangerous.


    He thought she was just a vulnerable young girl he could take advantage of.


    But then he held his breath when Sui crouched down and whispered something besides his ear that made his eyes go wide, "No! No! I can wait for one week without any conditions. Just let me go," Kiro pleaded, his attitude totally different compared to when he first showed up here.


    Ethan and Nolan glanced at each other with puzzled expressions, wondering what Sui told this guy to frighten him like this.


    "Next time I see you, things won''t end like this," Sui coldly said as she removed the knife from his hand as blood gushed out.


    "Arghh¡­fuck¡­" Kiro grimaced as he held his hand and slowly got up, looking at Sui with a disgruntled expression before kicking one of his men on the back, "Get up, you little fuck! Let''s go back."


    One of them stirred awake as they got up, clutching their balls. Apparently, he was the one who was least hurt, while others seemed pretty much knocked out and even needed medical attention.


    "Get them all inside the van and take the wheel. We are done here!" Kiro said in a frustrated tone as he harrumphed and walked out the gate while his lackey dragged the rest of the unconscious men into the van and quickly left.


    "Sis, what was that? Who were those assholes who dared to barge into our home? What kind of debt do we owe them?" Nolan asked one after the other in a serious tone as he stood before Sui for an explanation while Ethan decided to first observe and watch to see what she was going to say.


    Sui slowly turned around and looked at him for a few seconds before saying with her brows slightly pulled together, "Forget about what you saw just now. I will handle it."


    Nolan had a baffled look as he again stood before her and asked with his arms spread to prevent her from evading him, "Wait! How can you just tell me to forget about what just happened? Those goons came to our home, threatened us, and even tried to take Ethan hostage. Sis¡­I am serious, you have to tell me something. Our father had disappeared for years after moving here, and even now, we have no idea if he is alive or dead."


    Ethan narrowed his eyes upon hearing Nolan mention his father, Mark, whom he remembered meeting briefly five years ago, just the time around, he and his family, including Nolan and Sui moved here.


    His expression became complicated when he remembered him since his mother was dating Mark, and they seemed to be quite in a serious relationship. The two met as doctor and patient as Mark was the doctor who was treating his mother''s condition at that time.


    Even now, Ethan had mixed feelings about his mother''s relationship with him since he loved his late father, with whom he had vague memories of being very close. And this made him feel afraid that he might forget these memories as well if he gets a step-father. Still, he knew that in the end it was best his mother moved on and even he would also have to move on one day instead of getting depressed by thinking of the past.


    And so he never held back his mother from getting into a relationship with Mark since he wanted her to be happy, but strangely one day, Mark just disappeared, and his mother was depressed for a very long time, and even today, he could see that she probably missed him.


    This was also how he became friends with Nolan quickly despite the initial awkwardness since they thought their parents were really going to marry each other until Mark suddenly disappeared. And this made him angry towards Mark for suddenly leaving behind not only his mother but also his own kids.


    Sui took a deep breath and looked at Nolan as she said, "All you need to know is that our father had to take debt from shady sources to start a living in this place since the banks wouldn''t give him any without collateral. And now that he is gone, it is up to me to pay it back. You concentrate on your studies, or my efforts will get wasted," Saying so, Sui pushed aside a confused and puzzled Nolan as she walked away.


    "Sis¡­" Nolan mumbled with a saddened expression, feeling guilty for being oblivious to the problems she was facing alone.


    Even Ethan scratched his forehead while shaking his head, feeling bad that he knew nothing. He always wondered why Sui was poor at studies, and only now he realized why.


    "Bro, do you know any good places for part-time jobs?" Nolan immediately asked the moment Sui left.


    Ethan let out a helpless sigh and said, "I knew you would ask something like that. But I am really sorry, bro. I had no idea Sui was managing all this on her own. How about we search for part-time jobs together? I want to help Sui as well."


    Nolan grabbed his arms as he asked in a surprised tone, "Bro, are you serious??"


    Ethan held his arms and said, "Of course. What are friends for? We look out for each other."


    "Man, I love you!" Nolan happily gave him a bear hug.


    "Ugh, get off me, weirdo!" Ethan playfully chuckled as he pushed him off.


    "I meant as a bro, dude! Get your head out of the gutter."


    "Anyways, I gotta scoot for now. I will text you if I get any bright ideas."


    "Alright. I will do the same too. See ya tomorrow!"


    As Ethan walked to his home, he took out his phone to check out which all places were offering part-time jobs near him. The places that offered such jobs to students like him were even lesser in numbers, making it a hard find.


    "Ah, maybe I should ask Jane if she could help me out. I hope she won''t get annoyed," Ethan remembered the lady police officer whom he had got acquainted with, thanks to him getting busted for trying to buy alcohol without turning 20.


    She saved his ass by not recording his offense officially. But he felt that she probably won''t do it again and this was why he decided to get beaten up instead of risking his name being charged for a petty crime of buying alcohol and making his mother feel sad.


    As he entered home, Lena eagerly asked, "So how are your martial arts practice going? Learned anything new?"


    Ethan smiled as he hugged his mother and said, "Of course. It''s going great. In fact, things couldn''t be better. I feel that our lives are going to get better in the future, mom."


    Lena had a puzzled look, wondering what came over her son. When he came back from school, he seemed moody and angry, but now it seemed as if he was in quite the opposite mood, not that she felt like complaining.


    Instead, she felt happy that he was happy and caressed his cheeks, "I know. I am proud of you, son. Even if I am not able to provide everything you want, I won''t hold you back. You are destined to do great things in your life. I can feel it."


    Ethan felt a warm sensation in his chest and also felt guilty again for shouting at her before, "Mom¡­you can never hold me back. I promise I will take good care of you."


    Lena flicked her finger at his forehead lightly as she said, "First, study well and get a good job. Then you can take care of me. Till then, I will be one to take good care of you. Now go and wash up. Food is ready."


    Ethan smiled as he nodded and ran upstairs to his room while deciding to quickly eat dinner and resume his experiments.

 Chapter 11 - I Will Handle It

    Meanwhile, Nolan was feeling worried for Ethan and was having second thoughts about him supporting Ethan to fight Ken. He was not worried about fighting along with Ethan, but Ken had a number of lackeys behind him, and taking them all on was suicide. And this was ignoring the potential danger towards Ethan''s mother.


    This was why he didn''t tell Ethan to fight back after losing against Ken and his gang after he and Ethan got beaten up by them for standing up against them.


    He was now already worried for his sister, and now he didn''t want his best friend to end up in trouble, especially with his mom if she came to learn something terrible happened to him.


    So he decided to approach his sister and ask her for advice since she always seemed to have some solution for everything.


    Sui was preparing things to cook dinner when Nolan timidly entered the kitchen and asked, "Sis, can I tell you something?"


    "If it is about what happened before, don''t. I told you to let me handle it," Sui sternly said without turning around as she continued to slice the carrots.


    "No, no. It''s not about that. It''s about Ethan."


    Sui momentarily paused cutting the carrots before resuming as she asked, "What about him?"


    "Well, you have to first promise me that you won''t tell anybody else about this, including even his mom, no matter how friendly you are with her. Okay? This is very important, or he will get really pissed," Nolan stressed since he didn''t want Ethan to kill him later if Sui told his mom.


    Sui pulled her brows together, feeling that something was off. Still, she said, "Okay. I promise."


    Nolan took a deep breath and said with a sigh, "Well, actually, Ethan is getting bullied in school."


    "What?" Sui''s movements suddenly froze as the tip of her knife pierced into the wooden cutting board after cutting through the carrot. Her posture became stiff, and her facial muscles became taut as she asked, "Who is bullying him?"


    Nolan didn''t notice this as he was busy trying to think of the best way to break down things to his sister, "You know the big shot Han family living just on the other side of this town? Their family also practices martial arts, though the current generation is involved in the food chain business."


    "Hmm."


    "Well, Ken is the young master of that family, and he and his friends have been picking on Ethan for the past year."


    *Clak!*


    The knife in Sui''s hand heavily slammed down on the cutting board, even making a dent on it, and the sound started Nolan wondering if she was cutting vegetables or the wooden board.


    "Why did you never tell me this before?" Sui calmly asked though her hand was shaking slightly as she continued to apply pressure on her knife, its tip piercing into the wooden board. Uncontrollable yet subtle tremors were passing through her body, especially her face as she asked.


    Even though her voice sounded calm, Nolan could recognize how ice-cold her tone was and realized that she was pissed off and hurriedly answered, "I wanted to! But Ethan and I were worried if you would tell his mom, and she might have her health worsen by being worried about him. Besides, he didn''t like anybody else knowing what he was going through since he thought nobody could help him. And I feel like he is losing his patience with them and might take them all on tomorrow and get beaten black and blue. This time his mother would definitely get suspicious, and it might not be good for her. That''s why I thought maybe you could think about a solution we couldn''t think of."


    "You were unable to defeat them?"


    "If it was just Ken, I could defeat him. But he never plays fair. He uses his friends to gang upon us, and there are around ten of them. Even for me, it''s impossible to defeat all of them. Don''t you remember that day when I came back with bruises all over me? Besides, even if we defeat them in a fight, it might not change anything. He will just use his influence to bring trouble for Ethan''s mom."


    "Still, this is why I tell you to train harder. Otherwise, you wouldn''t get beaten up by trash kids even if there were twenty of them," Sui harshly reprimanded, making Nolan feel like crying, ''Twenty?! Sis, some sympathy for your poor brother, please¡­''


    Sui stopped cutting the vegetables and washed her hands as she asked, "Look after the house till I come back."


    Nolan was taken aback by her words, "Eh? Where are you going at this time? It''s like 6 PM."


    "I forgot to buy some eggs for dinner. I will be back soon. Lock the gate after I go," Sui said as she wiped her hands and walked towards her room, leaving behind a stupefied Nolan, ''What happened to the eggs I bought yesterday? Did she eat them all so fast? No wonder she is so strong, whew.''


    Nolan saw Sui go into her room and lock it from inside, making him shake his head.


    Within just two minutes, Sui came out with a small carry bag in her hand, only to see Nolan impatiently waiting outside, making her ask, "What is it now?"


    "You still didn''t tell me what we should do about Ethan. I mean, shouldn''t we be worried about him?" Nolan anxiously asked.


    Sui took a deep breath and answered as she pushed Nolan to the side and walked away, "Don''t worry about it. I will handle it. I have to go buy some eggs now."


    "Handle it? But how¡­" Nolan mumbled, but he felt as if his sister must have found some way to help Ethan, though he was unable to guess what it was. Still, he knew no matter how many times he would ask her, the answer would be the same.


    But he felt as if the air around his sister just seemed to have dropped quite a few degrees.

 Chapter 12 - Good Riddance

    Akuma Town was actually a decent and bright place on the map of Athos City located in a country named Athia. This was the town where Ethan lived with his mother in one of the quietest and decent streets with Nolan and Sui as their neighbors.


    Just a little more than a kilometer away to the north of Ethan''s house was the Akuma Police Station, and a few hundred meters to the east of his house was the Akuma Public School where Ethan and Nolan studied.


    A kilometer away to the east of Ethan''s house was the Akuma Medical Hospital, where Ethan and his mother frequented for her treatment. And this hospital was actually built by the previous generations of the Han Family, contributing a large amount of influence they had in this city.


    Ethan''s mother had purposefully moved to this town and to this location specifically since she wanted to make sure Ethan could go to a good school with all the necessary facilities nearby, especially a hospital.


    It took her a fortune to buy a house in such a strategic location, but in the end, she felt that it was worth it, considering how convenient it was to have everything they needed nearby.


    However, in the middle of this town was the huge residence of the Han Family and most or all people living in this town knew about them, especially since they were the richest family in town with a long reputed family history.


    They were running one of the largest food chains in the city, and thus it was hard for people to not take notice of their influence.


    The current family head had three sons, two still in college and one working in a high post.


    And now, a certain someone was trying to hunt down one of the sons named Ken as the night began to take over the skies.


    She was wearing a tight skin fit black spandex bodysuit with spandex leggings, revealing a small portion of her fair supple thighs while the zipper of her bodysuit was pulled halfway down her chest revealing her snowy plump upper breasts, squeezed tightly against her skin fit bodysuit. This alluring sight, especially the visible tempting cleavage, was enough to make any man feel their lower half get hot.


    She was also wearing a black spandex mask that covered her lower face while her long black sleek hair was tied up into a long high ponytail.


    She was moving through the streets silently like an assassin by hopping through walls and roofs with inhuman moves. Those who saw her might think that she was some expert acrobat or gymnast to move in such an astonishing manner.


    Just a few dozen meters away, in a quiet, dark street located behind a local brothel were located a group of six youngsters with their bikes, all of them aged around eighteen and nineteen. All of them were laughing and sniffing drugs while one of them in the middle, who seemed to be the leader of this gang, was handing out small white packets to his friends.


    He had gel-combed hair and was wearing a sleeveless shirt, showing off his muscular arms with a tattoo of a woman on his right shoulder. However, his face had a nasty mean look, and he was pretty tall and lean.


    One of his friends looked at him and asked, "Ken, when are you going to get us another girl to enjoy? It''s been some while since we had some fun, hehe."


    Ken snorted and said, "My fucking brother is taking all the hot ones for himself, and I don''t settle for less. Anyways, pretty virgins are quite hard to come by, and I had enough of these cheap sluts today. I am gonna go home and jerk off to some shit, hehe. See y''all tomorrow," Ken bid them goodbye as he got on his bike and rode off.


    He was riding his bike very casually and relaxed and took a turn into the next street, which was quite dark and desolate with nobody else around.


    However, as he was driving through the street, his bike''s headlight illuminated a slender figure suddenly standing before him, making him apply the brakes immediately in surprise and confusion.


    Before he was about to cuss at them for standing in the middle of the street, he swallowed his words as his eyes widened upon seeing a woman with seductive curves standing before him.


    A sexy and mysterious hot chick in a tight, tempting suit, standing in the middle of a street like this? The way she was exposing half of her deep naked cleavage and a good glimpse of her well-developed upper breasts was enough to make him gulp, feeling thirsty like never before.


    What else could this mean other than a crazy chick wanting to have some fun time with him?


    Ken smirked as he got off his bike and walked out front as he asked, "Hey, hot legs. Did you get lost, or were you looking to have some fun?"


    The girl''s cold, sharp eyes looked towards Ken as she asked, "Are you Ken Han from the Han Family?"


    Ken thrust out his chin as he proudly said, "You are looking right at him, cutie. What can this gentleman do for you?" As he asked, he already began to approach her, thinking that this chick was looking for him to have some ''business'' with him.


    Just her tight hot leggings were enough to make him feel like worshiping them.


    As for the rest, he couldn''t help but ogle at her half-exposed breasts and her enticing cleavage while taking a quick glimpse at her tight, firm buttocks.


    But because of this, he was not noticing that the girl''s eyes were increasingly becoming frigid to the point one might feel chills by just looking at her eyes.


    He was already feeling his lower member getting restless the closer he got to her.


    And just as he reached close to her, he raised his hand to try and grope her.


    But before his hand could even reach her, the girl suddenly drew out a sharp single-edged dagger and brought it down on the wrist of his right hand, which was about to touch her at lightning speed.


    *Shptk!*


    *Plop*


    Before Ken could process what just happened, he heard the sound of something soft hitting the ground, and when he looked down, his expression became horrified when he saw that it was his entire hand!


    And when the shock settled in, a sharp, searing sensation of pain and agony began to flood in through the gaping bloody hole on his severed wrist. As he looked at his mutilated forearm with a gaping jaw, he saw the large round bloody cut was clean and only started bleeding profusely after some time.


    "AAA¡ªMMHH!!!" Ken was about to let out the loudest cry of agony he ever did in his life when the girl suddenly used her hand to seal his mouth and pushed him against the wall violently, making him feel like his back and head got bruised by just violently hitting the wall.


    She didn''t even give him the luxury to shout as a way to relieve the pain, shock, and confusion he was feeling.


    ''WHY?!!'' This was what Ken wanted to know. Why would this crazy woman suddenly sever his hand out of nowhere? He was damn sure he had never met any murderous woman like her.


    "MNNN!!"


    But before he could think of anything else, she stabbed him again! Right in his stomach and twisted her blade slowly without even uttering a single word. Her gaze was still indifferent to the pain and suffering he was going through, and in fact, it seemed as if she was purposefully inflicting as much pain as possible without killing him instantly.


    Ken''s eyes were quivering in pure horror and fear, his mind going into shock multiple times but was again being continuously pulled back to reality because of the pain.


    The girl pulled her brows together with a look of disgust and contempt in her eyes, seeing his pathetic state.


    After making sure he experienced enough pain, she decided to end his life as she dragged the blade inside his stomach upwards slowly, tearing through his internal organs like butter before cutting his heart in half.


    Ken''s eyes were widened to the extremities with white showing while hearing his own organs being ripped apart. Blood continued to gush out from his mouth as his eyes became lifeless. His body had already became limp before her knife even finished cutting his heart in half.


    Seeing that his measly life came to a pathetic end, she let go of his body as his back slid against the dirty walls before collapsing on the street as the ground began to dye with his blood.


    "Good riddance."


    She didn''t even glance at him or wait for his body to completely drop before disappearing away from the street.


    Meanwhile, a few minutes later, Nolan was waiting at the gate with his phone in his hands, waiting for his sister to come back since he was feeling quite famished.


    *Creak!*


    He quickly raised his head upon hearing the sound of the gate being opened and energetically got up upon seeing that it was his sister, "Sis, you got the eggs? Why did you take so long?"


    Sui blinked her eyes as she asked, "Did I? There were only rotten eggs in the nearest store. I had to walk further up to get these. Come inside. I will finish the cooking."


    "Oh, alright!" Nolan nodded as if he found it natural and ran back into the house while Sui paused before taking a glance at Ethan''s home adjacent to hers and walked into her house.

 Chapter 13 - Trial And Error

    Meanwhile, a short while ago, when Ethan came down to eat dinner, his mother saw him come down and asked, "Did something happen, dear? You seem to be thinking about something serious."


    Ethan quickly changed his expression and gave a hearty smile as he waved his hand, "Nah. I was just thinking about the frustrating college assignment I have yet to finish."


    Lena shook her head helplessly as she tilted her head, "That was all? Are the assignments that tough? But don''t worry. I know that all these things are a breeze for my son. Still, if you have any trouble, you can ask me. I was kind of a science nerd back during my younger days."


    Ethan raised one of his brows as he was a bit surprised to hear that, "Really? I knew it. You brought me up as a nerd as well. Now I know how and why."


    Lena covered her lips as she softly smiled and caressed his hair as she said, "And also why you grew up to be such a nice young man. I can''t be more proud of you."


    Ethan nodded with a tight-lipped smile as he felt sad looking at her gentle face, feeling guilty for not talking to her like he used to.


    He slowly stepped forward and hugged her frail body and felt happy that he was finally able to hug his mother again after a long time. Because of the problems he was facing in college, he had unconsciously isolated himself from everybody else, including his mother, and only now he realized how bad it was for him and for others as well.


    Lena had her eyebrows raised when her son suddenly hugged her when usually he had been quite cold to her for a while.


    "This feels nice. Reminds me of the past when you always hugged me like this. After your college started, you stopped hugging me like this and even barely talked to me. I thought that maybe it was because of your hormonal changes, you know...something that adolescents like you undergo or that maybe I did something wrong to you without me realizing it..." Lena said as her voice became began to break.


    Ethan immediately grabbed her arms and said as he looked at her, "Of course not, mom! It was not your fault at all. I was just being a jerk for stupid reasons. But don''t worry. I won''t act like that anymore, mom. I also want things to continue as they were in the past," Ethan said as his face seemed to shine by thinking about the days before his college started.


    However, thinking about the past, his brows furrowed as he said, "But I wish I could really remember what happened five years ago. All I still remember is tiny fragments of memories of you and dad and¡­Haa¡­that is all. That accident really did a number on me, huh?"


    Lena''s facial muscles tightened a bit as she patted his back and said, "Don''t worry about it. When the time is right, you will remember everything you need to know. It is by god''s luck that you survived that accident. I only wish I had taken better care of you¡­hicc¡­"


    Ethan''s heart tightened up when he suddenly heard Lena break down in tears. He had no idea that she would still feel so bad about it and gently caressed her back as he said, "Mom, please don''t beat yourself up for it. I know you must have done your best to protect me. My only regret is that I never got to spend more time with dad."


    Lena slowly pulled back Ethan and wiped her eyes as she said with a narrowed gaze, "Don''t think too much about the accident. It will only make you sad. Don''t you remember the doctors saying to not force it? I am sure even your step-aunt will agree."


    Ethan nodded as he gave a tight-lipped smile.


    Lena''s eyes suddenly became distracted, "Ah, talking about her, I was planning to tell you to pick her up at 6:30 AM tomorrow from the train station. She is back after her work trip. The faster you pick her up the better before she causes some trouble. You can do that, right?"


    "Aunt is really coming back tomorrow? Great! I will pick her up. It is just as usual," Ethan said with a smile as the face of a thirty year old woman flashed in his mind.


    "Good. Then go eat your food before it gets cold," Lena patted his cheeks before walking towards the kitchen.


    "Okay, mom," Ethan said, feeling better as he sat down on the chair and began to gobble up his food.


    Within just a few minutes, he was done with his meal and quickly ran upstairs in excitement to continue testing his powers.


    He wondered what he should try next when his eyes suddenly lit up as he got an idea and quickly rushed out of his room again.


    Not long after, he was already beginning to test his powers in his room by levitating the phone in his hand. This time he wanted to see how many objects he could lift into the air at the same time. He had already arranged some metal objects around him or things that had some metal in them, like a laptop, cooking pan, and even a large pressure cooker, by asking his mother to let him borrow some old ones for an experiment.


    His mother had a puzzled expression wondering what kind of experiment it was, but since he had science to study in his freshman year, she thought it must be some pet project.


    But the heaviest among them all was the pair of five and ten kg metal dumbbells he had in his possession since he was someone who was concerned about keeping his body fit and healthy.


    With all these metal things arranged before him, he motioned his hands in the air as he momentarily closed his eyes to take a deep breath and focus.


    He felt the humming sound of metals vibrating, propagating throughout his entire body as some of the metal objects he arranged before him began to levitate into the air, making him smile, feeling awed at the sight again.


    But then his smile stifled when he realized something¡­


    Nerves popped up in his temple and neck as his face reddened upon exerting all his mental focus and energy upon trying to lift all objects simultaneously.


    But the only objects that levitated into the air were his keys, mobile, cooking pan, and a 5 kg dumbbell, while the rest of them were just visibly trembling on the floor without levitating into the air like he wanted to.


    On the floor, the pair of 10 kg dumbbells was still resting on it, slightly rolling side to side, while his laptop and the pressure cooker were an inch above the bed but weren''t going up in the air like the other metal objects he lifted into the air.


    "Nnngh¡­come¡­on¡­" Ethan was trying his best to lift them all, but he felt as if his head was going to split into two if he kept this up and also felt fatigue settling inside his mind.


    "Ha!" He stopped focusing as he let go of the metal objects, and they immediately fell on the floor except for his mobile, which fell on the bed.


    "Dang¡­and here I thought I could move a big cupboard¡­pffft¡­things can''t be that easy¡­" Ethan sighed, though he was still glad that he could at least lift heavy objects like those dumbbells.


    He kept trying again and again as minutes passed into hours while he didn''t forget to take breaks in between to recharge himself, though he was already feeling a bit dizzy and sleepy.


    As he regained some clarity of mind, he looked at the metal objects before him and deduced something in his mind suddenly. In order to test his theory, he stopped focusing on finding out how many objects he could lift at a time but instead, he focused on lifting only the pair of 10 kg dumbbells.


    "Phew¡­this is too draining¡­" Ethan blinked his eyes rapidly and drank some water before trying to lift these two dumbbells.


    Before, when he tried to lift all the objects, he was never able to lift any one of the 10 kg dumbbells. At most, he could only lift only one of the 5 kg dumbbells.


    Still, as he expected, both the 10 kg dumbbells were only slightly shifting side to side as he tried to lift them. He immediately gave up and decided to focus on lifting one of them only while gritting his teeth as he felt the energy from his body draining away like a broken faucet.


    However, his brows raised when he saw the 10 kg dumbbell slowly levitating into the air just like he had guessed. He motioned with his hands around as he moved the dumbbell around the room while enduring the burden of his energy getting burned away.


    By how fast his body was becoming tired, he felt as if he was holding a 20 kg dumbbell in one of his hands.


    He finally let go of the dumbbell by gently placing it on the floor and slumped against the bed as he mumbled languidly, "It was never about how many I can lift¡­but how heavy I can¡­"


    -------


    A/N: This novel got contracted and so if you guys want to support this novel, please do so with Golden Tickets and power stones.. It will really help a lot. Thanks! :D

 Chapter 14 - Did You Get Bullied?

    Ethan realized that he could only lift metals using his powers up to a certain weight limit. Apparently, about 10 kg and he could lift as many items as he wanted as long as they were within the weight limit.


    Of course, it was way lower than what he can physically lift using his hands, but the two necessarily can''t be compared equally, especially since he can move and bend metals without touching using his powers.


    Still, the sturdier the metal was, the more difficult it was for him to bend it. For instance, he tried to bend the dumbbells but failed, unlike the soda can he crushed earlier.


    He also deduced that the lesser the amount of metal in an object was, the less control he would have over it unless he strains himself to focus more.


    He took a small notepad and noted down his deductions just so that they might be helpful later on.


    He even had metal strings on his bed which he had stripped away from his old broken guitar, wanting to test his powers on them and see how much control he could have over an object, and decided to start with the simple ones.


    But now he was just feeling sleepy and switched off the lights as he lazily walked towards his bed and was about to open the curtains to let some moonlight inside when¡­


    *Knock! Knock!*


    "Whoa!" Ethan was startled for a moment when he suddenly saw a slender shadow behind the curtains.


    But then he calmed down, realizing the only person who would knock at his window at this time as he drew back the curtains.


    Upon drawing back the curtains, he saw the face of a glamorous beauty with her usually inexpressive face staring at him with her cold dewy blue eyes.


    No matter how many times this has happened, he would sometimes get startled by her sneaking into his house. He was glad that nobody would see her climbing up his house since his window was located on the backside, away from the street.


    "Sui¡­" Ethan mumbled in a daze as he opened the windows, and she jumped onto his bed just like that.


    His eyes, as if drawn by a magnet, unconsciously caressed over her body and saw that she was wearing a tight sleeveless gray t-shirt that perfectly emphasized her ample soft breasts, letting him see a glimpse of her tender E-cup upper breasts and her deep cleavage.


    This sight, coupled with her tight shorts clinging to her soft thighs while revealing her slender, smooth legs, made his mind go blank no matter how many times he had seen her like this.


    He didn''t know how Sui was not feeling the least embarrassed about dressing like this while visiting him. It made him wonder if she saw him as a brother or something since that would be the worst zone he could be in.


    Still, he didn''t dare to assume anything unless and until he could see a clear green signal. He just couldn''t ruin his chances with her just because of a momentary horny thought.


    And only after appreciating her body subtly did he finally notice the laptop in her hand, which she would bring as usual to help her complete her assignments as promised.


    Complete her assignments for her, and he would get to learn martial arts from her for free. This was the deal he made with her in the past and how he became friends with her.


    Even though she was older than him by at least three years and in the final year of her college life, he was the one who helped her with her studies and even completed her assignments. Apparently, she was poor at studies but only after what happened today did he realize why.


    Still, he was always happy to help her out with her assignments and would have anyway, even if he didn''t have any deal with her.


    The only reason she sneaked into his room like this was that she said she didn''t want to disturb his mother at night.


    This made sense, and he was happy that Sui thought about his mother as well while thinking of this. This is why he liked her. She might seem cold and indifferent on the outside, but she had a soft heart.


    "Before we begin, I have something to ask you¡­" Sui''s sweet yet cool voice pulled Ethan''s mind back to reality.


    "Eh? Ask me what?" Ethan asked in a puzzled tone as he saw Sui place the laptop aside and look at him with squinted eyes as she slowly crawled closer to him.


    Ethan took a deep breath as she saw her approaching him with a strange gaze and wondered what she was up to.


    Sui placed her hands beside his legs and asked as her cold blue eyes gazed at his, a few inches away, "Tell me¡­did you get bullied in college today?"


    ''How did she know??'' Ethan was sure that other than Nolan, nobody on the outside could know about him getting bullied, especially since he was remaining silent about it.


    Still, he didn''t maintain his silence and immediately answered casually with a chuckle, "Me? Getting bullied? Nah¡­no way. Who told you that?"


    Sui narrowed her eyes even more as she coldly snorted, "You are lying. But your body won''t."


    "Wait-what!" Before Ethan could say anything, Sui pushed him down on the bed as she sat over his hips, her soft pert buttocks dangerously sitting over his nether region.


    Ethan gulped as he tried to get up, but she simply pressed down on his chest with her dainty hand, and he was again lying flat on the bed, unable to shake her off.


    And just like that, she was about to roll his shirt upwards when Ethan suddenly grabbed her hands, "Hey! What do you think you are doing??"


    "Why are you getting worried? I thought you said you didn''t get bullied. Then your body must not have any kind of bruises or swelling," Sui paused her hands as she looked into his eyes, making Ethan realize that he almost misunderstood her intentions. Still, he knew that she was always adamant about getting down to the bottom of things.


    Ethan also knew that if he tried to stop her, then he would only just look suspicious, and since he already knew that his injuries somehow magically disappeared, he let go of her hands and decided to let her have a look, "Alright.. I have nothing to hide," Ethan shrugged with a smile.

 Chapter 15 - I Am The Only One Who Can Protect You

    Inwardly, Ethan was quite embarrassed that she was going to check out his body and decided to flex his muscles on purpose.


    ''Can''t miss a good opportunity¡­'' He thought and hoped that years of exercise would finally pay off.


    He also didn''t know if he should enjoy the feeling of her soft buttocks pressing down on his nether region, but he knew things would get dangerous fast if his little brother woke up from its slumber and might do something stupid.


    Ethan wasn''t surprised by her actions since, from time to time, she would do things like this if he didn''t listen to her. In the rare chance he got late to her classes, she would tie him to a wooden post in her home as punishment for skipping her class and made him watch her practice her moves with the reason that she was making up for the class he missed while punishing him at the same time.


    This was why Nolan hurriedly came to warn Ethan to quickly get to his home before his sister punished him for getting late, and there were many other such incidents. But despite her eccentric behavior, he didn''t feel intimidated but instead felt even more interested in getting closer with a woman like her.


    She was different from the pretentious girls at college who ignored him the moment he got in trouble, unlike Sui, who still cared about him in a different way. He knew she was asking this because she was worried about him, though her ways of asking were quite strange.


    Sui grabbed the ends of his shirt as she slowly rolled it upwards, revealing his rock-hard abs that made her freeze her gaze for a moment as if she was admiring a divine sculpture.


    She removed one of her hands from his shirt as she used the other to roll up his shirt till his neck, revealing the rest of his masculine upper body with exercise-honed muscles. His fair red skin seemed to be stretched tight by exercise, and her free hand began to brush over and slightly press on his abs as if she was inspecting his bare body.


    ''Fuck¡­why are her hands so soft¡­'' Ethan felt his heart rate rising as her fingernails scratched against his six-pack abs and didn''t expect her to touch his body like that. And looking at her expressionless face, he wondered how she was doing all this without any signs of embarrassment. After all, he was a grown-up man, and she was a grown-up woman. And a woman stroking a man''s body in the middle of the night was surely not something normal people do, especially if they were only friends.


    This made him ask, "What are you trying to do?"


    As if she already expected him to ask such a question, she immediately answered, "I have to check if there is swelling on your body, no matter how small it is. Your body won''t be able to hide them from me."


    This answer made Ethan swallow his saliva as he wondered how much longer he would have to endure this pleasurable torture.


    As she pressed them, she could feel how strong and hard his abs were, making her breath quicken in slow increments while her cold blue eyes seemed to slip into another world.


    She was now using both her palms to slowly caress his toned manly body while slightly applying pressure as if to check his body for any bruises, though for Ethan, it was driving his thoughts crazy.


    Her soft hands slowly moved upwards and pressed over his firm pecs and even knowingly or unknowingly brushed her fingernails over his nipples, making his muscles tense up, especially his lower member that seemed to stir awake!


    ''Why are her hands turning me on like this¡­'' Ethan was increasingly getting worried since he was trying his best to calm down his little brother, that was getting more and more excited as her tender labia was sitting right atop his unruly little brother.


    ''She isn''t wearing any panties? Or am I imagining things??'' Ethan was surprised to feel such softness slightly pressing onto his secret weapon and wondered if a girl like her would really go all commando like that.


    However, he was too worried about his little brother to notice the faint pink hue slowly spreading across Sui''s delicate cheeks.


    Still, Ethan dug his nails into the bed as he tried to lower down his little dragon before, preventing it from fully rising up.


    "Okay, that should be enough! You already saw how I have no bruises or swelling on my body," Ethan hurriedly said as he grabbed her wrists and stopped her from touching his body any longer.


    Sui''s lips pressed together firmly when he suddenly stopped her. Still, as she regained some clarity of mind, she did see that he had no bruises or swelling on his body.


    This made her feel puzzled since she was sure Nolan wouldn''t spout nonsense to her regarding things like this. Still, now that she didn''t have any reasons to question him, she got off his body with her lips pressed together.


    Ethan saw how her expression seemed a bit down, making him think that it was because she was unable to bust him and inwardly let out a sigh of relief, especially since his little brother was almost at the breaking point and was this close to entering the forbidden land.


    He then slowly sat up on the bed as he asked, "Why did you suddenly ask me that? Did someone tell you something?" He was really feeling suspicious about Nolan at this point.


    Sui continued to stare at him as she said, "It doesn''t matter."


    She then slowly crawled towards him and rested her arm on the headboard, her face dangerously close to his, making Ethan''s breath quicken as she continued in a feathery tone, "But what matters is that if somebody hurts you, you should tell me. I am the only one who can keep you safe and protect you. You know that, right?"


    Her feline blue eyes seemed to be sucking in his soul as she continued to stare at him while he could feel her cold breath brushing against his face. And as if in a daze, he answered, "Yes¡­I know."


    Sui took a deep breath as she said, "Good. I am the only one you can trust. Whenever you have something troubling you, you have to tell me. I will take care of it for you."


    Ethan felt moved that Sui was willing to do that much for him, though he wanted to know why. Was she doing it for him as a friend or¡­


    "But if you lie to me, then I won''t forgive you easily. Okay?" Sui said, her tone still sweet and low, though Ethan felt as if something seemed off about the way she said it but couldn''t put his finger on it.


    Still, this made him remember something and say, "Wait¡­That''s not fair. If I am to tell you about my troubles, then you have to tell me yours too!"

 Chapter 16 - Am I The Only One With Powers?

    "Wait. That''s not fair. If I am to tell you about my troubles, then you have to tell me yours too!" Ethan remembered how Sui didn''t tell him or even her own brother about the debt their family was under and how she was the only one working hard to pay it back.


    Of course, he knew she didn''t tell them to not worry them but likewise, he also didn''t want to tell her or even his own mother that he was getting bullied to save them from any headaches. As a man, shouldn''t he learn to deal with his own problems?


    Besides, now he was even more determined to not tell Sui, especially since she had her hands full, paying back the debt she owed those thugs.


    However, even after he demanded that she follow the same conditions, Sui creased her brows and said firmly, "No. That is not how things work. I am the one older than you and stronger than you. So you will listen to me and not worry about my troubles. And as long as you do, you will be safe and happy."


    "Fine!" Ethan could see that she was pretty stubborn about it, based on how adamant her tone seemed. So he decided to indulge her by accepting her one-sided condition, though inwardly, he was still determined to help her out while also taking care of his own business, which was Ken and his gang.


    However, he was moved by how much she cared about him and wondered if it was because he was her best friend or something more¡­


    "But one day, I will be stronger than you, then you will have to listen to me," Ethan said, not wanting to feel small before her, especially since he was not the same Ethan as yesterday. He wanted to make sure she saw him as a man and not someone weak she had to protect.


    This was the only thing stopping him from wanting to get even closer to her.


    Even if he and Sui were best friends, he felt something more than that whenever she looked at him. Every time she looked at him, he would feel as if his nerves were firing all at once, and with Sui spending so much time with him, he just couldn''t resist developing feelings for her.


    But Ken had destroyed his self-confidence and self-esteem since the beginning of college and only now has he started to recover it.


    So he wanted to first get rid of his inner demons by taking care of Ken and then focus on getting what he wanted and appear strong before Sui as well.


    Sui''s expression became contemplative upon hearing his words, but then she immediately nodded to his astonishment, "Okay¡­I will listen to you if you become stronger than me. But till then, you are to do nothing dangerous like what happened today. Like standing in front of a gun."


    "Great," Ethan said with a smile since he didn''t feel that this was impossible anymore.


    "Okay. Let me work on your assignments now," Ethan said as he leaned forward to take her laptop.


    Sui left after a while with a strange expression on her face as Ethan reluctantly looked on. For a moment, he thought he really didn''t mind her sleeping over, but then he shook his head and decided to focus on something important he had been wanting to do.


    He didn''t feel like sleeping, especially after all the crazy things that happened today. He wanted to know if he was the only one who suddenly got superpowers. So he took his laptop out and opened a search engine to type,


    [ Can people get superpowers? ]


    Of course, when he searched this, he only got people answering them in a fantasy scenario, though these answers were quite familiar to someone like Ethan, who was an avid consumer of fantasy and superhero books and movies.


    Some realistic answers were that one should do scientific research on their power''s quality. For example, if it was flying, then one should study aerodynamics, aeronautics, and whatnot.


    But Ethan wasn''t a fan of this idea since not all superpowered people were Ph.D. graduates.


    Still, having some basic knowledge was something he appreciated.


    The other popular answer which he also supported was that superpowers were a trait that was beyond human science, and one should rely on their own instincts and focus on what they want to achieve using their powers.


    He felt that this was probably true since the moment he got his power, he was able to move the metal around him. To him, it felt like having an extra limb or muscle which he could use whenever he wanted.


    And to become more adept at using his powers, he needed to develop this ''muscle''. And the most common mantra was ''practice'' coupled with trial and error.


    He looked at an old soda can on his table and motioned with his hand as it levitated into the air before rushing towards his palm by itself.


    Ethan then tried moving it back and forth and realized something. Whenever he wanted the can to come towards him, he would feel an attractive force emanating from his hand.


    But whenever he wanted to move it further away from him, he would feel a repelling force emanating from his palm.


    And this feeling made him remember the times he played with two bar magnets.


    "Like repels...opposites attract¡­Wait a sec...did my body really turn into a giant magnet with the capability to attract or repel whenever I like?" Ethan mumbled with a contemplative expression as he pulled back the soda can into his hands.


    He also tried placing the soda can on other parts of his body, like his arms and legs. And whenever he wanted to ''attract'' the soda can, it would cling to his skin no matter where on his body, and whenever he wanted to repel it, it would be very difficult to even make it approach his body using his hand. It felt no different than trying to bring together two like-sided magnets.


    However, he realized that when he used his body to attract or repel metals, his energy was draining away like a broken dam, making it hard for him to even maintain it for more than a couple of seconds. If it was only his hands, then things wouldn''t be this bad.


    But then he thought of something, and as he inspected the soda can, he mumbled to himself, "Aluminum is not a magnetic material...Then how am I able to attract or repel it?" This baffled Ethan, and the only explanation he could think of was, "Don''t tell me I can magnetize even non-magnetic metals??"


    Ethan found this discovery astonishing since this would theoretically mean that he could control all metals!


    He had no idea how his body was inducing such magnetic properties on other non-magnetic metals, but he was not one to complain.


    This fact made him jubilant since metals existed pretty much everywhere around him, and if he had a certain amount of power over them, then wouldn''t he have the potential to become someone powerful beyond his dreams?


    ''Get back to reality, Ethan,'' He chided himself to get back from the dream world and focus on learning more about his powers.


    He tried bending the soda can inwards just like what he did earlier and could feel that this time the repelling force from his palm was only acting on a small part of the can, which was making it bend inwards.


    And when he tried to stretch the metal outwards, he felt the attracting force emanating from his palm.


    He realized that doing simple things like moving or bending these small or lightweight metals didn''t require much focus for him.


    But whenever he focused on moving heavier objects like those 10 kg dumbbells, he would feel as if his entire body and mind''s energy was draining fast to the point he could only lift one of them for a short while.


    ''Maybe I just need to practice lifting them just like lifting weights¡­'' Ethan mused as he had already made plans to daily lift weights, not using his hands but using only his powers.


    He felt that no matter what changes happened to his body, he would now have to train his powers to develop them since he wanted to do more with his powers and help his mother live a better life.


    She had been suffering and doing all the hard work all alone for all these years despite her health condition. And only when he got into college did he realize how pathetic he was without having any real power to help himself, let alone his mother.


    His family already had financial burdens, and now Ken was an extra major headache he had to take care of.


    Thinking about all this, coupled with the fatigue he was experiencing, he dozed off to sleep before he knew it.. However, not long after, he felt like his mind was slipping into another reality.

 Chapter 17 - A Nightmare?

    Ethan felt as if his mind was floating until he opened his eyes, only to be surprised to see that he was standing right outside Nolan''s house with Nolan and Sui standing near him.


    But what surprised him was that Kiro and his goons were standing in front of him, blackmailing Sui just like what happened tonight.


    ''Why is this happening again? Is this a dream?'' Ethan wondered in confusion, but he realized that he had no control of his body or his actions despite seeing everything from his own body.


    It was as if he was merely a spectator rewatching the same event that he experienced today.


    "Haha, look at this pretty face. She thinks she can threaten us with her wooden toy staff and even send us to the grave, eh? How could you be so cold? Must be quite exciting to see when we make you submit to us."


    Ethan saw Kiro saying the same dialogue with a burst of thunderous laughter as he looked at Sui with a lascivious glint in his eyes.


    He also saw others acting and talking just like how he remembered.


    "First one to grab her will get 100 bucks!"


    And as expected, Ethan saw the goons rushing towards Sui to capture her and found himself moving forward along with Nolan as well to fight, though he really wasn''t controlling his body at all.


    Still, he could feel the anger coursing through his veins just like how he felt before while fighting these goons.


    But why¡­why was he seeing this in a dream? Was he really that bothered by what happened? Nothing bad actually happened for him to be too concerned about it. So this only puzzled Ethan, though this ''dream'' began to feel like reality without Ethan realizing it.


    "That''s enough, you little bitch!" Kiro said in a cutting tone as he suddenly took out a revolver!


    *BANG!*


    "Sui, careful!" Ethan called out as his expression became grave upon seeing this guy taking out a revolver.


    However, before Ethan could react, Kiro had fired the bullet right after the moment he took out the revolver, much to Ethan''s horror. Even if the bullet was metal, it was too fast for him to focus and stop it. Even to move a stationary object like his phone, he had to use his concentration. So stopping a speeding bullet that was already in the air was beyond his abilities for now.


    The revolver wasn''t even aimed at him, and Ethan wanted to shield Sui instinctively, but she was too far away.


    However, Nolan, who was standing right next to Sui, quickly pushed her away out of harm''s way but alas¡­


    *Sptk!*


    The sound of a small metal object puncturing flesh echoed beside Ethan''s ears as he saw a small gaping bloody hole on Nolan''s forehead, his face petrified.


    "NO!!!" Ethan let out a wild shout, his muscles tensing up as he rushed towards him to catch him before Nolan''s lifeless body could hit the ground.


    However, Sui was the first to catch Nolan before he could fall to the ground. Her face seemed to have lost all color, becoming pale like a flower that got cut off. She didn''t even utter a single word or cry but fell on her knees as she caught Nolan, slowly letting his lifeless body rest on the cold ground.


    Ethan was weakly whispering as he also fell on his knees, "No¡­Nolan¡­you can''t¡­" He didn''t want to believe that he forever lost his best friend and was in complete denial, wishing this to be just a nightmare.


    Sui drew out her sharp blade from behind but¡­


    "Fuck. Now I can''t let you all live," Kiro mumbled in a frustrated tone as he aimed his revolver at Sui and¡­


    *BANG!*


    Just as Sui turned her head towards Kiro, the bullet passed through her chest, bringing a shaken Ethan back to reality as he saw Sui fall over him.


    "SUI!!!" Ethan felt as if his heart was collapsing from within, seeing her body becoming listless as she fell over him.


    This time his rage and resentment pushed his senses and thought process to the extreme as he turned his head around and saw Kiro aiming the revolver at him, his finger squeezing on the trigger.


    "No, you WON''T!" Ethan commanded, and as if his words were the heaven''s decree, the revolver didn''t fire. Magically the hammer of the revolver stopped mid-way, preventing the bullet from going off.


    "Eh?? Why is this damn thing not firing!!" Kiro shouted to himself in confusion and frustration as he tried to squeeze the trigger multiple times, but the revolver was not firing.


    But instead, he could feel the sharp yet heavy gaze from the boy in front of him who was looking at him with an intense fevered stare. It made him feel like he could just die from his stare alone, and for some reason, he felt like fleeing.


    Ethan slowly raised his hand in the direction of the revolver, his eyes reddened and misty.


    "No¡­No¡­" Kiro mumbled with a look of disbelief as he saw the revolver uncontrollably shaking in his hand as if trying to fly away from his hand!


    He grimaced as he tried to hold it within his grip by applying as much strength as possible, but with each moment, he felt as if he was losing his grip over it.


    Ethan''s gaze hardened even more as the revolver flew out of Kiro''s hand and magically flew towards Ethan''s hand, positioning itself correctly, his finger already resting on the trigger.


    "How¡­Impossible!!" Kiro began to step back unconsciously as he raised his hands, feeling shocked to see his gun somehow ending up in Ethan''s hands.


    "You¡­You killed them¡­" Ethan muttered as his voice rose in intensity, his teeth grinding against each other.


    Kiro''s felt his back becoming sweaty as he said in a shaky voice, "Boy¡­give me back my gun, and I can still let all this slide¡­Otherwise¡ª"


    "You killed my friends¡­There is no way in hell I would let you breathe a second longer!!" Ethan said in a scathing voice as he shouted, his finger squeezing on the trigger.


    "NOO!!!"


    *BANG! BANG! BANG!*


    Three consecutive shots echoed in the area as the three bullets found their mark in Kiro''s chest. They left behind three bloody holes, making his expression fill with terror and shock as he stumbled back.


    Blood began to drip out from Kiro''s mouth as he clutched his chest while clumsily stepping back, his eyes seemingly losing the ability to blink.


    Not a few moments later, his eyes became dull and gray as he succumbed to the ground, his body completely still.


    "Eh¡­what the heck was that sound¡­Fuck¡­my balls hurt¡­" One of the goons stirred awake as he tried to get up, but just as he was trying to make sense of what happened¡­


    *BANG!*


    A bullet shot through the back of his skull, making the goon collapse on the ground faster than he got up. He didn''t even get to know who shot him or why.


    Hot vapors were escaping into the air from the muzzle of the revolver in Ethan''s hand as he slowly lowered it with a glassy expression and eyes as if he wasn''t bothered about the fact that he killed two men. No¡­it was more like his mind wasn''t even focusing on what he just did, but instead, he turned his head to look at the girl lying in his arms.


    Her eyelids seemed to weakly move as she languidly opened them and looked at the young man holding her, his eyes welling up with tears.


    "Sui¡­I will save you¡­let me call the ambulance!" Ethan frantically said as he dropped the revolver and searched for the phone in his pocket in a desperate manner.


    However, she suddenly grabbed his hand, stopping him from taking his phone, much to his confusion and surprise.


    "Ethan¡­don''t¡­" Sui spoke softly, her voice was sweet yet fragile.


    "Sui¡­" Ethan took a look at her wound and saw that she was bleeding profusely, right where her heart was.


    Her soft blue eyes were gazing at him as she seemingly seemed to muster all the strength she could to open her mouth and say something more, "Ethan¡­I¡­"


    Ethan grabbed her hand and pressed it against his chest as he leaned his face, even more, wanting to hear what she wanted to say.


    "...I¡­am¡­" Her hand seemed to slowly lift as if to reach out for something, but before she could complete her sentence, the final embers of life disappeared from her eyes, making Ethan feel as if he had lost the ability to breathe.


    "SUI!! NO!!!!" Ethan cried out, his voice filled with indescribable pain and agony, but the next moment he was shocked to find himself sitting up on his bed at home, his room dark, the skies slowly welcoming the dawn of the sun.


    "Ha¡­Ha....Sui..." Ethan was rapidly breathing as he tried to calm down his mind and body and make sense of what was going on. His eyes were wet and hot while he could feel that his back had gone cold.


    ''That can''t be....Was it all just a bad dream¡­''

 Chapter 18 - A Memory??

    *Bham!*


    "Ethan!"


    Suddenly the door of Ethan''s room opened with a bang, and to his surprise, it was his mother.


    "Mom?" Ethan mumbled with a dumbfounded look, wondering why his mother suddenly rushed into his room.


    "Ethan! Are you f¡ª" Lena rushed in with a worried expression when she suddenly froze upon noticing something strange.


    Ethan saw how his mother''s worried expression suddenly changed into one of shock and¡­fear?


    He followed her gaze and saw that his mobile and laptop were floating in the air!


    ''Shit!'' Ethan realized that his powers might have gone a bit out of control upon having a bad dream, and he must have unconsciously activated his powers. He quickly focused as he brought them down while saying, "Mom, I actually can explain¡ª"


    But to his horror, when he turned his head around to look at her, his body froze in shock upon seeing his mother pointing a gun at him!


    "M-Mom¡­?" Ethan was unable to process what was going on upon seeing his mother suddenly take out a gun from nowhere and point it at him with a wary and frightened expression. Why would she look at her own son like that?


    "Y-You¡­killed my son¡­you vile monster¡­" Lena''s eyes began to become watery as tears rolled down her sunken cheeks. However, her hand was tightly gripping onto the silver pistol in her hand, and her finger was already squeezing on the trigger.


    Ethan was even more shocked hearing her words, wondering what came over his mother to utter things that didn''t even make sense.


    "Mom! It''s me! Please put down the gun¡­you are freaking me out¡­" Ethan raised his hand defensively, gesturing to her to lower her gun. But just to be safe, he already began to focus on the gun to make sure he had a hold over it so that she wouldn''t accidentally fire it.


    He didn''t want to believe his mother would shoot at her own son, but right now, she didn''t seem to be stable, and he didn''t want to take any chances till he understood what was going on with her.


    "Stop lying, you evil thing! Do you think I will get fooled twice?" Lena fumed as she gripped her gun with both her hands, though they never stopped trembling. She just didn''t want to believe her son was gone.


    Ethan was rapidly breathing as he quickly wondered how to defuse this tense and confusing situation. But finally, he couldn''t think of a better solution as he motioned with his hand to pull the gun towards him.


    Lena felt the gun squirming within her grip, making her feel as if she was losing her grip on it, and the thought of squeezing the trigger before she lost the gun did flash in her mind.


    But memories of her happy times with her son flashed in her mind, and looking at his face before her, she couldn''t bring herself to pull the trigger. And the next moment, she could only helplessly watch the gun fly away from her hand and land in Ethan''s hand, making her expression turn into one of despair and hopelessness.


    "Ethan¡­I¡­am sorry¡­It''s all my fault¡­" Lena sobbed as she fell on her knees and lowered her head as if preparing herself to die.


    Ethan immediately threw away the gun as he rushed towards his mother and tried to pull her up.


    "Don''t touch me, you monster!" Lena said in a stone-cold tone as she tried to push him away.


    "Mom, stop it! Why do you keep calling me a monster when I am still your son? Please pull yourself together and stop worrying me to death!" Ethan clenched his jaw as he overpowered her to grab her hands together and gripped them firmly to make sure she listened to his words.


    Lena suddenly stopped fighting back as she looked into his dark brown eyes, and contrary to what she thought, those eyes were only filled with worry, confusion, and sadness. It wasn''t filled with hidden malice nor evil as she thought.


    "E-Ethan¡­it''s really you¡­" Lena cupped his face and felt as if a heavy weight was lifted off from her heart.


    Ethan''s eyes had also turned misty, but he nodded with a tight-lipped smile, feeling relieved upon seeing that his mother finally recognized him as she was supposed to.


    He slowly pulled her up as he cleared his throat and asked, "Mom¡­can you now at least tell me why you called me a monster? Is it because you saw that I had powers? Did that freak you out or something?" Ethan couldn''t help but feel immensely worried, as if his worst fears were already a reality. He was already feeling sad, thinking that his powers made his mother react like that.


    Lena wiped her eyes and held his hands as she said in a brittle tone, "I am sorry¡­I¡­I just lost it when I suddenly saw you having powers¡­and it was not only because of that I acted like that. I just assumed things wrongly, and if you really were the monster I was talking about, I wouldn''t even be alive, talking to you like this."


    "Huh¡­mom, I-I don''t know what you are talking about. I am kind of feeling very confused and lost here," Ethan said with a perplexed expression, wondering what his mother was talking about, especially this ''monster''.


    He couldn''t understand how his powers had something to do with this monster his mother was talking about.


    Lena took a deep breath and said, "Before I explain things, tell me when did you start having powers, and why did you never tell me?"


    Ethan felt at a loss for words before letting out a sigh as he said, "It''s not because I wanted to hide things from you, mom. But I was afraid you would freak out just like how you acted a minute ago. Besides¡­I only got this power right after I came back from college. Mom¡­do you know something about what is going on with me? And why did you even come to my room at this time in the first place?" Ethan felt as if his mother knew something about his powers based on her words and expression.


    "You were screaming at the top of your voice, and I got very worried. That is why I rushed here. And I know you have some questions but bear with mother first and tell me what made you scream like that?" Lena asked with narrowed eyes.


    Ethan didn''t want to worry her even more by telling her that he had a bad dream because of what happened today where a thug pulled a gun on him and casually said, "It was just a nightmare, mom. Nothing to worry about."


    "A nightmare?? Really?" Lena asked as she shook his hands with visible shock and dread, making Ethan even more confused.


    However, before he could ask anything, Lena suddenly asked, "Tell me the truth, Ethan. Did something dangerous happen to you today where things could have taken a very bad turn but didn''t? Don''t hide anything from me no matter what because this is very important."


    Ethan could see how serious his mother was, and after a few moments of hesitation, he quickly explained to her what happened at Nolan''s house today.


    "You stood in front of a gun? How could you do something so dangerous, Ethan?! Do you have any idea¡ª"


    "Mom, relax! I have the power to control metal just like you saw now. That thug wouldn''t be able to shoot at me anyway, and I had to make sure nothing happened to Sui and Nolan. Now, mom¡­tell me, why are you asking me these things? What does it have to do with anything¡ª"


    "This nightmare you saw¡­did you see the same event taking place where the thugs showed up at Nolan''s house and tried to take away Sui? But unlike how things took place for you, in your nightmare, things didn''t turn out well but instead, either Sui or Nolan ended up dying or maybe both or¡­something even worse happened. Am I right?" Lena asked with squinted eyes, making Ethan look at her with a blinking expression.


    ''How the hell does she know? Is she like a psychic?'' Ethan felt bewildered and asked in a tone of disbelief, "Mom¡­how the heck did you know that? Was it some kind of educated guess or¡­"


    Lena closed her eyes briefly as if something very disappointing happened before she said with a sigh, "Because¡­the nightmare you saw was not just a bad dream¡­but a memory...."

 Chapter 19 - Hell...The Dark Side Of Existence

    "A memory?? Mom...what the¡­I don''t understand," Ethan mumbled with a slack jaw as he looked at his mother with a baffled expression.


    Lena gestured with her hands as she said, "I know this might sound crazy. But the memory you saw is actually originating from a shadow world that hasn''t fully formed yet."


    "Huh?" Ethan had a blinking expression, making Lena quickly look around her and take a sheet of white paper that was lying on his table.


    She then pulled Ethan towards the window and showed him the sheet of paper, "I can tell you a very simplified version of what I am trying to say. Now imagine this sheet as the plane of existence where our universe exists, including our Earth," Lena said as she tapped on the side of the sheet where the light from outside the window was falling on it.


    Ethan decided to go along with her explanation as he nodded, "Okay¡­and?"


    "Alright. But just like how this sheet of paper has two sides, one on the front and one behind it, the plane of existence also has two sides. Just like the two sides of a coin. And our side is where life thrives and continues on."


    Ethan''s brows pulled together as he asked, "So what exists on the dark side?"


    Lena''s eyes became serious as she said, "Hell. It is a totally separate dimension from our universe. I know the word might sound a bit fancy, but the concept is similar to what we know about hell. Nobody has been to the other side, but as far as we know, that place is the synonym of death and chaos and also the place where hellish creatures or beings known as the Infernal Parasites are born or originate from."


    "The Infernal Parasites and an entire dimension known as Hell? Mom¡­what the heck is all this? I thought you were only just an IT freelancer. How or why do you know all this?"


    "It is indeed true that I am a freelancer now, but in the past, I was working for a certain higher authority as a scientist who researched on things like this and collected data to analyze various things. And that is how I got involved in all this mess, and ironically because of my health condition, I was able to leave all that and make sure you lived a normal life while spending all my attention on you. I didn''t want to raise you in such an environment where I won''t be able to give proper attention to you. It was really hard separating myself from the authorities, but they let me go finally after giving me one last job."


    "What job?" Ethan knew that his mother had worked for the government when he was younger, but he never knew she was working on something so secretive and classified.


    "To safeguard and hide a very dangerous creature¡­the one which I was telling you about just now¡­the Infernal Parasite. They thought it was more prudent to keep it with me¡­"


    "Such a dangerous thing was with you the entire time?" Ethan asked with a look of disbelief. Even though he didn''t know what this parasite exactly was, just its name was enough to give him a very bad feeling.


    "Not anymore¡­" Lena corrected him with a disappointed sigh and, with a look of guilt, continued, "Since now¡­your body must have assimilated it somehow. It is nothing short of a miracle considering what happened to you."


    Ethan felt his nerves jitter hearing her words, "That thing is inside me?? Is that how I got powers? Holy shit...Am I going to be alright or¡ª"


    "Relax. The worst has passed, considering you are still¡­you. And yes¡­that thing is the reason you have powers now. It is, after all, a hellish being coming from a dark dimension that we don''t understand yet¡­a dimension that probably works on different fundamental laws of physics and whatnot compared to ours. Otherwise, why would these parasites be the most dangerous thing in the universe? But your body somehow assimilated the dark energy it carried, and now¡­you are different than before," Lena mused as she closely looked at him.


    Ethan found this all baffling, but he could make some sense from her words. Still, the more he heard, the more questions were flooding into his mind.


    "If it entered my body¡­doesn''t it mean it was near me all this time? Or can this thing simply get itself out from a secure facility and go to any place it likes?" Ethan already imagined his mother locking up this parasite in some sort of supermax facility with 24/7 close surveillance. But then why would the parasite enter his body just like that?


    Lena slightly grimaced as she said in a low voice, "It was actually in our basement the entire time."


    Ethan''s eyes widened as he blankly stared at her, "Our...our basement? You can''t be serious. Why would you hide such a dangerous thing in a place like that? Is that why you always kept it locked and told me not to open it ever?"


    Lena waved her hands as she said, "I know it won''t make sense but trust me when I say that I had no other choice, though now it made no difference."


    Ethan felt that there was some kind of complicated explanation for why she did it. But he still wanted to know what exactly went inside his body, "This Infernal Parasite¡­why is it called a parasite? I mean, I know a parasite is something that attaches itself to a host to leech off energy or nutrients from them. But what does this parasite from uh...''Hell'' actually do? What was it planning by trying to enter my body?"


    "Follow me downstairs. I can show you something while I answer your questions. But I want you to know that I never planned or expected for such unfortunate things to take place, especially what happened to you," Lena said in a guilt-ridden tone.


    Ethan didn''t understand why his mother was feeling so guilty, especially when he was alright now, "Mom, please don''t apologize. Considering what I have just heard, I feel that these things are too mysterious and powerful to be something that people like us can predict. If these things have powers, then I am already impressed that you managed to keep it locked away for so long," Ethan said as he followed her downstairs.


    Lena slightly turned her face towards him to give him a tight-lipped smile as she nodded, and before Ethan knew it, the two were already standing before the basement.


    He had always wondered why she went to all that trouble of putting on such an advanced lock for a basement, and only now he understood why.


    As it opened, Ethan was welcomed by the dusty air and went inside as the bulbs switched on.


    All he saw were the same things he had seen before in the past. Old furniture, books, and some junk.


    He had to cover his nose to not breathe in the dust by accident, though his mother continued to walk forward amidst the dusty air while covering her nose.


    Lena reached the other end of the basement, where one could only see a wall of bricks. She slid one of the bricks to the side as a keypad appeared where she dialed in some numbers.


    The moment she entered in the numbers, the wall began to creak as a door-like opening appeared, much to the astonishment of Ethan, who had no idea about there being a secret door inside his basement.


    This seemed just like how the superheroes in the comics he read had their own secret basement. Was his mother some kind of superhero? Nah...she has a heart condition, and she herself said she did a desk job.


    As the door opened, Ethan saw blue lights lighting up a small room that only had a single table and chair and a large transparent screen on the metallic wall.


    "Mom¡­what kind of secret room is this¡­" Ethan asked as his eyes curiously looked around the room.


    Lena tapped on the table as it lit up with a digital interface and said, "This is actually my research room. I am sorry for keeping this room a secret, but it was for the right reasons, which I hope you will understand."


    "Wow¡­that table is like a computer? All this tech looks advanced¡­how did you afford it?" Ethan saw his mother using the touch interface on the metal table and these kinds of stuff he had only seen in movies. He stroked the surface of the table with curiosity, and strangely he felt a unique feeling from the metal it was made out of.


    "It''s actually complicated. All this is not something I built with my money but something the authorities dealing with these sorts of things gave me for safeguarding the Infernal Parasite. And¡­here it is," Lena said as she opened a digital image on the large screen on the wall for Ethan to see.


    Ethan immediately looked at the screen only to be bewildered to see the zoomed image of a dark red colored thing with hundreds of tendrils that looked like some sort of flower.


    "It looks like a poisonous flower or something? Still, what exactly makes it dangerous, mom?" Ethan curiously asked though he imagined some kind of ugly creature. But on a second look at the image on the screen, he indeed was feeling goosebumps on his skin just by looking at it. And reading how small it actually measured made him realize how he didn''t even know about this thing entering his body.


    "That is because it not only has the power to kill the consciousness of a person and take over their body but also to warp reality!"

 Chapter 20 - The Cosmic Bureau

    "Warp reality?? You don''t mean actually altering reality as they wish?" Ethan asked with a look of incredulity. This was just too shocking for him to even gloss over the fact that these parasites can even possess people after killing them.


    Lena shook her head as she explained, "Not as they wish. They only have a very limited ability to bend reality, but that itself is way more dangerous than we can imagine. And you wanted to know why you had that ''nightmare'' right?"


    "Yea¡­" Ethan keenly nodded.


    "Well, the reason an Infernal Parasite enters the bodies of living beings, preferably intelligent beings like us, is because they want to possess us and then cause death and chaos in the world gradually. They are creatures that use any of our greatest fears that align towards destruction and death, just like how you must have feared your friends dying when you were in that situation, though your fear of them dying did not manifest in reality. Instead, it probably played out in a world these parasites must have created."


    "So they can create entire alternate worlds with different versions of me? Does that mean there are doppelgangers of me out there in these worlds these parasites create?" Elden asked in pure disbelief. He found it quite surreal that the ''nightmare'' he saw was actually a memory of one of these doppelgangers. He didn''t know how to react just thinking about it.


    "Yes, and if those parasites successfully corrupt those worlds, then those worlds are destined to get destroyed and end up in Hell. So those doppelgangers are not exactly you since they are just corrupted versions of you created by these parasites. And if any one of those worlds gets pulled into Hell, then huge disasters can happen in our world since these shadow worlds are linked to ours. Anyway, I don''t know why I am even talking about these things since you don''t need to know about them," Lena said as her brows pulled together.


    Ethan felt confused as he asked, "Mom, why do you say that? I got powers now because of these parasites. So how could I not be involved in whatever is going on, especially when other versions of me exist out there? I also don''t really know what I should do with these powers."


    Lena said as she wrinkled her brows, "You don''t understand, Ethan. Getting involved in these things will only put your life in danger. We will leave it to those who are already taking care of these things. Come, let''s get out of here. I only showed and explained all this to put you at ease if you had any worries about how you got your powers. I didn''t do it so that you could get involved in all this. As for your powers, just don''t use them, especially in public. The last thing we want is certain people coming to you by sniffing you out."


    "And who are these people? The ones you worked for?" Ethan asked with a fixed gaze.


    Lena hesitated for a moment before saying, "It will be better for you to at least know the name so you can watch out for them. The Cosmic Bureau. They are the ones who handle these things."


    "Are they an organization made by the government or maybe the governments of the world''s strongest nations?" Ethan guessed since that was how it usually was in books.


    "Well, you could say they are like the government that watches over our universe. Anyway, if anybody approaches you and tells you they are from the Cosmic Bureau, ignore them and refuse no matter what they ask of you. If you get involved with them, then you will never get to live a normal life," Lena said with a stiff gaze.


    "But mom¡ª"


    "No buts," Lena sternly said, making Ethan feel a bit surprised since he had never seen his mother being so serious and adamant about something.


    "Still, what about my ''nightmares''? What should I do about them? They just feel too real to shrug them off as a bad dream," Ethan said, feeling uneasy about them. Even though he knew these nightmares didn''t belong to him, he just couldn''t stop feeling affected by them.


    Lena rubbed her forehead as she sighed, "You will have to get used to it. Don''t worry. They won''t be frequent as long as you don''t get into dangerous situations. That is why I am telling you to continue your life as usual, and you will be fine."


    Ethan felt disappointed that his mother was telling him to not use his powers publicly. If that was the case, then how would his life be any different now? Won''t he still be the loser who gets picked by bullies and remains powerless to do anything about it?


    "Now¡­don''t think too much about these things and get ready to pick up your aunt. It''s been a long morning," Lena said with a sigh as she slowly dragged Ethan out of the secret room.


    His mother soon went back to her room, and Ethan was standing in the small garden right outside his house, still trying to wrap his mind around the shocking and baffling things his mother told him. He didn''t know what to feel after knowing that different versions of him existed in some other universe or universes and wondered what they would be like even if they were not actually real.


    His gaze then landed on Sui''s house and suddenly felt an urge to simply visit it and see the two. After having that ''nightmare'', he was still having a heavy and sore feeling in his heart, especially after seeing the two dying like that, even though he knew it was not real for him.


    But what made him worry was how his life would have changed if those events had really happened for him. Even though he knew that the doppelganger version of him he saw in his nightmare was not really him but a corrupted version created by the parasites, he wondered if he was really capable of killing someone like that.


    And before he knew it, he was already walking towards Nolan''s house while thinking about these things.

 Chapter 21 - Suis Room

    "Ethan? Why did you come here?"


    Just as Ethan reached the gate, he heard Sui''s cold yet soft voice from the right and saw a girl with glimmering blue eyes walking over to the gate with her wooden staff in her hand. Her supple fair skin was glistening with sweat, making her look quite alluring, especially since her low-neck gray tank top was sticking to her body. It was apparent that she was busy practicing martial arts.


    However, if it was before, Ethan would have bothered about all these details, but now he was blankly staring at her, feeling a mix of complicated emotions in his heart¡­Joy, relief, and happiness to see that it was indeed all just a bad dream and that Sui was still alive and well¡­standing right before him.


    "Ethan? Are you alright? You don''t look good," Sui asked with hints of concern in her voice, seeing how he was strangely remaining silent and reached her hand out to touch his face.


    Ethan suddenly held her hand and pressed it against his cheek to feel the warmth of her soft skin as he said offhandedly with his eyes closed, "I am just happy to see you."


    Sui''s eyes fluttered as she parted her lips to say something but hesitated. However, she then took a deep breath and asked, "Why¡­Why do you say that?


    "Uh¡­" Ethan came out of his reverie upon hearing her words and then realized that because of what he had just experienced, he had unconsciously grabbed her hand and even pressed it against his face.


    "Uhm, it''s nothing¡­I actually uh¡­" Ethan felt as if he was stuck in an awkward spot as he gently let go of her hand, not knowing what excuse he should come up with. He knew from her perspective he might have come off a bit crazy. Who would walk up to somebody''s home so early in the morning and tell them they were happy to see them for no reason at all? Even Nolan would have asked him if he was drunk or something.


    "You know what¡­I was just saying how happy I am to see that you are alright¡­, especially after what happened yesterday. How is Nolan? Is he¡­"


    "He is still sleeping. Do you want me to wake him up? Or do you want to come in? I can prepare you a cold lemon juice if you want," Sui asked as she maintained her gaze with his.


    Cold lemon juice was Ethan''s most favorite drink, and Sui always made him one daily whenever he was done with her training after coming to her house in the evening.


    The first time he came to her house, she prepared him the same without even telling her.


    Ethan was about to refuse, but then he looked at her and said, "Sure. Why not. But I have to get back soon before my mother wakes up and finds out I am missing."


    If it was before, Ethan would have refused for obvious reasons, but now he felt that it was not wise to let go of opportunities in life, especially when it can end anytime.


    Sui''s eyes seemed to shine as she nodded and opened the gate for him as the two went into the house.


    As he entered her house, Sui directly went into the kitchen while Ethan decided to chill in the main hall, though on the way, he saw that Sui''s room was surprisingly open.


    He had never seen her room open like this. In fact, most of the time, it would remain locked, and even Nolan said he had never been in her room since she doesn''t like anyone entering her room.


    Ethan couldn''t help but feel very curious as he walked towards her room and subtly peeked inside, only to see that the room was not even that big and had a modest-looking bed and a single wooden cupboard with a table beside it.


    ''Nah. This is a bad idea,'' Ethan resisted the urge to explore inside as he stepped back, only to be stunned upon seeing Sui standing right behind him with a glass of lemon juice in her hands.


    "S-Sui¡­phew¡­you almost startled me there," Ethan literally was surprised to see her standing right behind him, especially when he didn''t even hear her coming over.


    "Don''t worry. I wasn''t trying to snoop inside your room or anything. I saw that the door was open and¡­" Ethan knew Sui didn''t like anyone entering her room, and so he didn''t want her to misunderstand.


    Sui nodded as she silently handed him over the glass of lemon juice and walked past him to close the door of her room as she said, "This room once belonged to my mother. She was a bad person, and even to this day, a part of her hateful presence still exists in this room."


    Ethan silently listened to her as this was the first time Sui mentioned her mother. Ethan remembered Nolan saying to him that he didn''t know his mother much since she disappeared when he was very young and that she mostly spent time with Sui only, though he had no idea what they always did together. He also told him that she didn''t even spend time with her own husband, Mark.


    However, Ethan now realized that Sui and her mother clearly didn''t have a loving relationship based on the cutting coldness of her tone as she talked about her. He also didn''t understand what Sui meant by her ''hateful presence.'' Was it just a metaphor or something superstitious?


    "That is why I don''t let anyone inside here, even Nolan, and always keep it locked. If someone like you enters, then you might regret it," Sui said as her lips pressed together while locking the door.


    "But what about you? Why do you sleep in that room¡­if it is as bad as you say?" Ethan curiously asked with concern in his voice. He had no idea that Sui''s relationship with her mother was this sour. He had already heard from Nolan that Sui never liked talking about her mother, because of which even Nolan didn''t know anything, nor did he ask again.


    This was enough to make Ethan realize that some things were not alright between them, and only now he learned that it was more serious than he thought.


    Sui turned her head and looked at him as she said with her gaze slightly lowered, "Because I want to. There are some things I am responsible for and some burdens that are mine to bear. This is just one of them."


    Ethan felt a tightness in his chest hearing that since he could feel tinges of sadness and pain in her voice despite her voice sounding restrained as usual.


    He raised his hand, wanting to hold hers and tell her that he wanted to help her with these burdens and that she doesn''t have to bear them all alone. He wanted to know more about her past and what these burdens were.


    He wanted to be there for her, but at the same time, memories of the nightmare he saw before flashed in his mind, especially the scene where he was holding a dying Sui in his hands, feeling weak and helpless in not being able to protect her in time.


    This made him lower his hand as he didn''t want to say empty words without having the ability to prove it.


    He knew the nightmare he saw was just a made-up reality the Infernal Parasites created by feeding on his fear. Still, that didn''t mean it was an impossible scenario.


    He wanted to become strong enough first to be a man capable of holding her hand, and so he said in a determined voice, "One day, things will be better. I promise. I will make sure of it."


    Of course, he remembered his mother telling him to not use his powers in public, but she never told him he couldn''t use them secretly. He felt that not developing his powers would be a waste, and it was prudent to at least be prepared.


    Sui slowly looked up at him, lifting her eyebrows while looking deep into his eyes.


    Ethan then remembered that he still had to get back to his house and quickly gulped down the juice as he handed it back to Sui, "Thanks for the drink. I have to go now. Tell Nolan that I will call him later. See you later, Sui," Ethan said with a soft smile as he walked backward before turning around and heading towards his house. He remembered that he still had to pick up his aunt soon and decided to not overthink about the nightmare, lest his mood gets sour again.


    Sui had a glazed expression as she slowly walked up to the gate and continued staring at Ethan''s back as he walked towards his house.. As she continued looking at him, her grip over the empty glass tightened slowly.

 Chapter 22 - Alina Kai

    It was about 6:05 AM when Ethan left his house again to cycle towards the train station to pick up his aunt.


    Since it was morning, traffic was low, and Ethan was able to ride at a speed fast enough to not worry about bumping into other vehicles yet reaching the train station as fast as possible.


    He only hoped that the train won''t be early, though the chances of that happening was almost nil.


    Ethan soon reached the Akuma Train Station and quickly parked his cycle as he enquired at the counter if the train his aunt was coming in had arrived or not.


    "Huh? It arrived early? Damn it!" Ethan was surprised to learn that his aunt''s train arrived earlier than expected and quickly rushed towards the platform to search for her.


    Just a dozen meters away, two youngsters wearing crinkled clothes and with unkempt hair were standing before a thirty-year-old woman wearing just a simple blue butterfly-sleeved trapeze dress. Based on her dressing style, one would think she was coming from some village or an area that was located too far from the city. Otherwise, who in this modern age would dress like this?


    However, if one saw her tempting voluptuous body from behind and her slender curves, which were tightly enveloped around by her dress, they would wonder how the gods could sculpt such an amazing body.


    From the front, even though her gown''s design was conservative, it could do nothing to stop itself from accentuating her bountiful bosom that was pushing up against the fabric of her dress, creating a sight that could make any man feel the blood in their lower half go crazy.


    But if they just lifted their gaze and looked at her pure and innocent face, they would feel their hearts melting just by looking at her dreamy face.


    She had long silky black hair that was extending till her round buttocks; her eclipse shaped eyebrows were a midnight-black; her hazel eyes had a certain allure yet giving off a gentle aura; her nose dainty and elegant; her luscious lips a blossom pink while her face was a lovely heart shape.


    With all this, there would hardly be a man who wouldn''t admire this woman''s beauty for a while and appreciate the immaculate aura around her.


    However, the two young men standing before her were sleeping on the bench from the hangover of yesterday night''s drinks. And upon seeing such a dreamy and pure beauty stepping out from the train and looking around as if in search of someone, how could they not go up to her and ''help'' her out?


    "Hello, big sister, are you feeling lost?"


    "Yeah, how about we show you around and drop you off wherever you wanna go. Free of charge," One of the young men with a rowdy smile said with a wink as he scanned this tempting beauty from top to bottom.


    The woman''s forehead creased with visible nervousness on her face, "No, thank you...Someone will be here soon to pick me up. Please don''t waste your time with me," She said politely and gently.


    "Come on, big sister. We are like your brothers. No need to get nervous."


    "Yea. We can take real good care of you," One of the youngsters said with a shifty smile as he ogled at her seductive curves.


    "Aunt! You reached early?" Suddenly the familiar voice of a young man from behind startled the woman as she turned around and looked at him with a radiant smile, "Ethan!"


    She immediately ran towards Ethan with her heavy handbag on her shoulder before hugging him tightly as she let out a sigh of relief, "Phew, Ethan. Where were you? Aunt was really getting worried here. I am glad you showed up. Otherwise, these two young men would not just leave me alone," She said with a worried expression as she clutched his shirt timidly.


    This mature yet shy beauty who was hugging him was none other than his step-aunt, Alina Kai. Even though he called her aunt, she was not related to him by blood or even legally.


    But his mother had said that she took her in when she was a young girl and treated her like a little sister. She was also the one who constantly took care of him from the moment he was born, and so she became an aunt to him.


    Ethan frowned, hearing her words, and glared at the two youngsters in front of him, who clicked their tongues in frustration and sneakily left as they mumbled, "Did you hear what that punk called her?"


    "I know, right! How could a chick like her be an aunt to a dude who isn''t much younger than us? He must have purposefully said it to appear cool and steal her from us, heh!"


    "Leave it. Our luck isn''t good today, sigh¡­"


    "Ah, Ethan. They got scared of you. I knew it. You are really the strongest man I know," Alina said with a proud glint in her eyes as she awkwardly took a step back, realizing she was hugging him too tightly.


    Ethan let out a helpless sigh as he said, "Aunt¡­didn''t I tell you to call me if you don''t see me right away? There are always bad guys wherever we go. You should be more careful. Nobody bullied you while you were away, right?"


    Ethan knew that even if his aunt was a mature woman, she was a bit too innocent and awkward in public. The reason he even comes to pick her up despite her not being new around this place was that she easily gets lost and has a poor sense of direction.


    And like this, she depended on him for many other small matters as well despite being an adult. However, he was only happy to take care of her no matter even if it was for silly matters.


    "I knew you would scold me for this. But don''t worry. I had my pepper spray prepared always just like you instructed me to, and during my travels, nobody dared to bully me since I had this," Alina eagerly said as she showed him the pepper spray in her bag.


    Ethan was able to relax seeing that and said in a concerned voice, "Next time, get a taser as well. Then I would feel more relaxed."


    "Of course. What would I do without my sweet Ethan? I really missed you a lot. I would have come back early if I could," Alina said with a glowing smile as she hugged one of his arms closely and leaned her head on his shoulder as they began to walk.


    "I missed you too, aunt," Ethan awkwardly chuckled and felt his heart slowly increasing its pace the moment she hugged his arm, which was pressing against her soft yet firm side breasts.


    He knew she was very attached to him and loved him just like how he loved her as well. But as he grew up, her affection was affecting him in ways he didn''t expect, though he always told himself that this was just how she was.


    Surprisingly enough, she was still unmarried despite being so beautiful and cute in many ways. His mother told him that her work was probably the reason why she was too busy to think about marriage or that maybe she wasn''t uncomfortable with the idea of marriage.


    His aunt was actually a doctor and mainly treated small kids by running her own clinic that was not too far from his home. The clinic was actually a house where she sleeps as well, and in fact, she would have slept in his house if not for his mother insisting that a grown-up woman like her should sleep in her own house instead of hers where she did not even have a spare room.


    Alina said she could sleep in Ethan''s room, but Lena strongly disagreed.


    Ethan felt that his mother was being a bit harsh to Alina, but his mother told him that Alina would never become independent if she always depended on him for everything.


    So Ethan couldn''t refute since he felt that there was some truth to her words, though he would only be glad if his aunt got to stay with him all the time.


    The two were walking towards his cycle when suddenly, Alina let out a startled cry, "Ah! He stole my bracelet!"


    Ethan heard her cry and saw a man sprinting off with a silver bracelet in his hand.


    "Oh no¡­you picked that bracelet for me. I don''t want to lose it..." Alina said in a crestfallen tone as her eyes began to get misty.


    Ethan patted her dainty hand as he said, "Aunt, just stay here! I will go get it from him for you!" Saying so, Ethan immediately began to chase the thief with complete determination to get it back, especially since that bracelet had a sentimental value to both him and his aunt.

 Chapter 23 - Ethan And The Thief

    "Ethan, don''t! It''s not safe! Oh my god¡­what should I do¡­" Alina mumbled to herself with a tearful voice as she quickly tried to think of a solution and decided to call the police for the sake of Ethan''s safety.


    "Hello! This is the police, right? Please help! My¡­"


    Meanwhile, Ethan was busy chasing the thief wearing a beanie cap through the almost empty streets. Since it was a bit early in the morning, there weren''t many people on the roads, and those who were walking by on the streets had baffled looks as they saw a young man chasing another man through the streets.


    Ethan was only a few meters behind the thief and could hardly believe the fact that his aunt got robbed right beside him.


    It was not as if he had not heard about thieves prowling through this city, but it was very rare, and he just couldn''t believe his luck today.


    Still, he was determined to get back that silver bracelet in the thief''s hand no matter what.


    The thief occasionally glanced behind to see if that boy was still chasing him and was frustrated to see that he was still on his tail, making him wonder how he was so fast.


    There were some people ahead, and the thief grabbed them and pushed them in the way of the boy chasing him to slow him down.


    However, Ethan reacted quickly as he dodged them and continued his chase. He even dodged garbage bins, cycles parked nearby, and even some other things the thief was trying to throw in his way.


    "Fuck this kid!" The thief mumbled in an annoyed tone as he took a few turns and ran into an alley with Ethan on his tail.


    However, the moment Ethan ran halfway through the alley, he stopped right when the thief also stopped running surprisingly.


    The thief turned around and seemed to be a man in his mid-twenties with stubble and a pencil mustache.


    "Kid, you will regret chasing me," He said as he took out a knife, and to Ethan''s surprise, two other people dressed in rough-looking coats and pants came out from the sides, making Ethan realize that this was a trap. One of the men had a baseball in his hands, while the other had a metal rod in his hands.


    The thief purposefully led him into an alley where his friends were probably waiting to beat him up and escape with the bracelet.


    Ethan''s eyes quickly searched around and saw a four-meter long metal chain with sufficient thickness lying on the side. He quickly bent his body and grabbed it as he wrapped it around one of his hands while staring at the three men before him.


    "Heh, kid, do you really think that lousy chain is going to help you escape from us?" The thief in the middle asked, who seemed to be the leader of this group of three.


    Ethan didn''t get intimidated as he said with narrowed eyes, "Let''s find out. Shall we?"


    "Boys¡­Make sure he stays in the hospital for at least a week. That should teach this punk not to play hero with us," The leader scoffed as the other two men smiled and twirled their weapons as they rushed towards the boy.


    Ethan''s eyes focused on the man with the baseball in his hands who was the closest to him. He quickly unfurled the chain in his right hand as he focused on making it extend forward and wrap around the man''s neck perfectly, taking him by surprise.


    "Hrkk!" The man unconsciously dropped his baseball as he grabbed at the chain wrapped around his neck in desperation since it was slowly tightening around his neck somehow..


    "Hey! Take this, you bitch!" The man holding the metal rod shouted as he tried to strike at Ethan''s arm.


    However, Ethan already saw him coming and immediately pulled the chain and pushed the man trapped within his chain onto the one holding the metal rod.


    "Fuck!" The man with the metal rod didn''t really expect Ethan to quickly react and have enough strength to make a grown-up man crash onto him.


    However, the reality was unfortunate for him as he lost his balance and fell down with the man whose neck was wrapped in chains falling on top of him.


    Ethan freed the chain from his neck as he looked at the leader with a smirk who had disbelief written all over his face seeing his two teammates lying on the ground, groaning with pain.


    It was not as if they had never involved themselves in street fights due to their thieving activities. Then how could this young man who seemed to be not even a college senior easily take out two of his mates?


    Still, even if he was feeling apprehensive about this boy now, he just couldn''t let it show on his face as he brandished his small knife and said, "Boy, you better turn around and run away before things get messy. I ain''t as easy as those two idiots on the ground. Do you really want me to puncture your stomach?" The thief tried to make his words and tone sound as intimidating as possible since it usually worked, especially against ordinary civilians.


    However, Ethan twirled the chain in the air as he nodded, "I am afraid things are going to get messy¡­but for you!" Saying this, Ethan launched the other end of the chain into the air as it extended through the air in a straight line and wrapped around the thief''s wrist with perfect accuracy.


    "EH!" The thief was shocked to see how this boy threw one end of the chain through the air, traveling at least a few feet to reach him and even somehow making it wrap around his wrist. How could someone be so good at wrapping chains around people like this? Was this kid some kind of professional?


    But he had no time to think about all these things as Ethan tugged hard at the chain, making the thief lose his balance as he fell forward, on the ground with one of his cheeks facing it, "Ugh!"


    The thief lost grip of his knife involuntarily, and Ethan walked forward as he stepped on the man''s back while searching his pockets for his aunt''s silver bracelet.


    "Found it!" Ethan''s eyes lit up as he took out the silver bracelet with a happy smile while the thief was still groaning under his feet, feeling sore all over his joints because of falling hard on the ground.


    He knew his mother told him to not use his powers, but this was not a situation he could dare take lightly, especially when these three had weapons, especially a knife. And just to be safe, he made sure to make it look like he was just extremely skillful with handling the chains and not something too shocking.


    Otherwise, he could have just used his powers to pull the thief''s knife towards him.


    But suddenly, the thieves on the ground stopped moving as if their bodies got frozen, baffling Ethan, especially since he could even see their hands frozen in the air.


    "Bravo, young man!"


    "Eh!?"

 Chapter 24 - Nuan Moon

    Suddenly, Ethan turned around and saw an old man looking in his sixties with a neatly trimmed gray beard and mustache and dressed in spotless white pants and a shirt with a cardigan to boot.


    His hair was neatly combed backward with a bit of baldness on the front, though his expression and demeanor carried a dignified aura. Based on his pleasing face, it was quite apparent that he was quite handsome during his younger days. Despite having eyes that seemingly seemed to see through anyone''s soul, he had a gentle smile as he looked at a stunned Ethan.


    ''What the¡­when did this old man get here?'' Ethan was shocked since behind him, there was only a wall. A dead end. There was no way anybody could get behind him without him knowing, let alone an old man.


    The old man softly chuckled as he took one step forward with his hands behind his back, "I am sorry if my sudden appearance before you was a bit shocking for you, but I am sure the question in your mind right now must be¡­Who the hell I am¡­right?"


    Ethan put up his guard as he asked in a wary tone, "You¡­You are from the Cosmic Bureau?"


    The old man slightly smiled as he said, "Smart. I suppose I didn''t misjudge you. Ah¡­I forgot my manners. My name is Nuan Moon, Head of the Zero Earth Operations. In other words, I am also the guy the Cosmic Bureau sends whenever a new Divergent pops up and to look after them, especially to make sure they understand what is going on with them and how they can use their powers for the greater good. Oh, also don''t mind if you notice that your surroundings got frozen. This is just an ability of mine to speed up time in a closed space till everything on the outside seems as if they got frozen in time."


    Ethan had a blinking expression as he again looked at his surroundings, especially at the thieves whose expressions were frozen still as well. He couldn''t believe that this old man had such powerful abilities. But he had bigger things to be concerned about¡­


    ''Shit¡­Did I really get caught? Mom is going to kill me¡­'' Ethan didn''t expect that he would get caught, especially when he went the extra mile to make sure he didn''t do anything shocking.


    All he merely did was wrap a chain around a guy and just throw him off. However, he didn''t understand why this old man called him a Divergent. Was that the term for someone with powers like him?


    Nuan saw how Ethan became a bit nervous and waved his hand as he said in a reassuring tone, "No need to get worried. We already knew about you the moment you got powers. And I am not here to hurt you or be a bother to you. But it seems to me like you already know something about us and perhaps how you got your powers as well. Must be your mother, right?"


    Ethan furrowed his brows as he asked, "You know her?"


    Nuan gave a light nod as he said, "Of course. Even though she was not working under my department, she was the go-to person for most of the important missions. She was really good with computers and a great analyst. I still feel it''s a pity that she quit when things got a bit hard. But in our field of work, it''s impossible for things to always go smoothly."


    Ethan felt that his last sentence was probably true since dealing with Infernal Parasites could be quite dangerous.


    "What do you want from me?" Ethan asked the only question that mattered now.


    "As you already guessed, I am here to ask you to join the Cosmic Bureau as a new Divergent. People like you are very rare to come by, and honestly, we can never have too many of you to help protect our world. The terror and deaths caused by the Deviants are too terrifying for us to not do anything about it," Nuan said with a concerned expression.


    "Deviants?"


    "Oh¡­she didn''t tell you that?" Nuan felt a bit surprised and continued, "Well, they are the people who got corrupted by the Infernal Parasites, warping and twisting their personality to something dark and evil. They are beyond saving, and if you cannot kill or defeat them, then the only thing you should do is run¡­because if they catch you, then you can consider it lucky if you get a quick death. And the other main reason they are so dangerous is that they have powers just like you since they got corrupted by the parasites. That is why each time a new corrupted world is born or created by these parasites, we can never rest easy," Nuan sighed.


    Ethan took in a deep breath hearing about these Deviants who were seemingly quite terrifying and wondered if the version of himself he saw in his nightmare was a Deviant too.


    "So young man¡­are you willing to help protect your world? At least for your family and friends? Your powers have the potential to save millions or even more," Nuan said with a decisive nod.


    Ethan''s brows pulled together as his expression became contemplative. Something inside him was telling him that he should accept Nuan''s offer and make use of the powers he got. He felt that maybe this was his true purpose after feeling aimless his entire life, not knowing the meaning of his existence.


    But then his mother''s face flashed in his mind, making him remember her firm words about not involving himself with these people or dangerous things like this.


    After a great deal of hesitation, Ethan finally said with a low sigh, "I am sorry, Mr. Moon. I-I can''t."


    Nuan softly smiled and could guess what was going through Ethan''s mind as he said, "It''s fine. I understand. What I am asking from you can be quite dangerous, and not everyone will be okay with that. But¡­in case you change your mind or feel like your back is up against a wall, you can get in touch with me through this. Remember¡­you got your powers for a reason, and if you don''t know the purpose behind getting them, we are the only ones who can help you find out why," Saying so, Nuan offered a small circular transparent disc that was as big as a fingernail.


    Ethan accepted it as he curiously looked at it, and before he could ask what it was, Nuan explained, "It is just an earpiece. All you have to do is keep it in your ear and tap it twice. Then you will be able to reach me."


    Ethan nodded with a slight smile, "I will keep this in mind. But¡­are there any consequences since I refused to join the bureau? Like any restrictions for Divergents like me?" Ethan supposed that since he didn''t join the bureau, wouldn''t these people be concerned about letting a Divergent like him walk free around here. He asked so that he could know things beforehand instead of finding them out the hard way.


    Nuan let out an amused chuckle as he said, "As long as you are not a bad guy, we do not care. But¡­don''t use your powers in a way that will disrupt our society, like lifting cars or things using your powers for everyone to see. We do not want to waste our time on suppressing such incidents. After all, we work hard to make sure everyone in this world continues life normally and lives safely. However, I know that even a smart boy like you must be feeling very curious and excited to use your powers. You may feel free to use them just like how you used them against these thieves. It''s all good as long as nobody can prove that you are not ordinary."


    Ethan felt relieved and happy since these guys weren''t as uptight and strict as he taught. At first, he was hesitant to refuse them, thinking they would imprison him or something for close observation. But now he realized he was just being too paranoid after reading too many comics.


    "I have to go now. See you later, kiddo, if fate permits it," Nuan said with a smile as he patted Ethan''s shoulder, and the next moment he disappeared magically. Time started to flow normally around Ethan the moment Nuan left.


    "Whoa¡­He is cool¡­" Ethan chuckled to himself, thinking that Nuan was quite a nice old man. At the same time, he was amazed he met someone like him, someone who had powers too.


    However, his thoughts reeled back to reality when Ethan suddenly heard the siren of a police car getting parked right outside the alley and looked forward to seeing a man in police uniform running into the alley with a steel baton.


    "Hey! Hands up in the air!" The male police officer shouted the moment he saw a young man with a chain in his hand that was wrapped around the wrist of a dude lying under his feet.


    Ethan immediately let go of the chain as he raised his hands in the air, "I was just getting back my bracelet. Nothing else. These guys are the thieves who tried to steal from my aunt," Ethan hurriedly explained before this officer got the wrong idea.


    "Relax, officer. He is not the culprit. These three probably are," A woman''s stern yet silvery voice sounded from behind as the male officer immediately lowered his baton upon hearing his superior''s words.


    Ethan smiled as he saw the familiar gorgeous face of a 25-year-old woman dressed in police uniform walking into the alley.


    She was none other than Jane Nua, the chief police officer of this town and someone Ethan already was acquainted with.


    Even though she was dressed in a professional police uniform, it still failed to hide her curvaceous figure, especially the bulging pair of melons hidden behind the fabric of her dark blue shirt.


    Her lush golden blonde hair was tied up into a professional bun, yet it still looked pretty enough to turn the heads of people.


    Her eyebrows were crescent-shaped, while her light gray eyes had a certain exotic charm that could make men feel smitten with just a teasing glance.


    Her nose was slim and pretty, while her strawberry red lips seemed quite ravishing yet soft like silk.


    All these pretty features seemed flawless, just like her angular-shaped face and her glowing peachy skin. Her whole stunning appearance had a certain sexiness which was enough to make men feel as if the air around them was getting hotter.


    However, her demeanor and bearings gave one the feeling that this woman was quite authoritative, especially from the self-confident look on her face. This was enough to make not only men but even women feel cautious when dealing with this woman lest they get on her bad side.


    She looked at Ethan with narrowed eyes and crossed her arms as she asked with one of her brows raised, "Mr. Troublemaker. What did you get yourself into this time?"

 Chapter 25 - Jane Nua...The Police Chief

    "Hi, Chief. But this time, I swear I didn''t do anything wrong. These thieves tried to steal my aunt''s bracelet," Ethan said, voicing his innocence.


    Jane let out a frustrated sigh as she looked at the three thieves lying on the ground and instructed her subordinate, "What are you waiting for? Throw these three into the car and get the paperwork running. I will deal with this boy here."


    "Uh¡­yes, Chief!" The officer awkwardly nodded as he quickly took out his cuffs and lifted up the thieves, who were still groaning in pain before dragging them into the police car.


    "You took these three out all on your own?" Jane asked with a narrowed gaze and continued, "Feels like dejavu thinking about the first time I met you."


    Ethan caressed his hair as he gave a modest smile and said, "Well¡­I just did what I had to get back the bracelet. And these guys weren''t exactly playing nice."


    "Haa¡­If I didn''t know about your mother, I wouldn''t have thought that someone like you could get bullied by a bunch of punks. Still, are they bothering you anymore?" Jane asked as her eyebrows drew together.


    Ethan shook his head and said casually, "I appreciate your concern but don''t worry. Those things are all in the past. You don''t see me trying to buy any alcohol sneakily, right?"


    Jane looked at him with squinted eyes before nodding slowly, "Good. I was anyway going to¡ª"


    "Chief, I have loaded them up. Can we go?" The male officer called out from behind.


    Jane turned her neck around and waved her hand as she said, "You can leave. I will walk this boy back to the station."


    "Okay, Chief," The male officer nodded as he drove away.


    "The station? Why are you going to bring me there?" Ethan asked doubtfully.


    Jane rolled her eyes and looked at him, "Do you have any idea how much of a fuss your aunt caused? Hearing the way she spoke about what happened, we literally thought as if you were going to die or something. So we rushed out quickly by tracking your phone and even took my gun with me," Jane said as she tapped on her gun holster.


    She then looked at him as she continued with a squint, "Anyways, she is lucky that she has got a nephew like you who is willing to go so far to get back just a bracelet."


    Ethan awkwardly chuckled, not feeling surprised hearing Jane talk about his aunt. He knew she gets easily worked up about these things out of concern, but at the same time, he was happy that she cared so much about him.


    "Oh no! I have to get back to her," Ethan remembered that his aunt was probably still at the train station, feeling worried about him.


    "Don''t worry. She is at the station as I asked one of my subordinates to bring her there and calm her down. That is why I am walking you to the station. Come on," Jane said as she gestured to him to walk with her.


    "Alright, Jane," Ethan said with a smile as he walked beside her.


    Even though Jane was the chief police officer in this town, she was also Ethan''s friend, especially after the two met from time to time due to various incidents.


    In fact, Ethan met her two years ago, right when she was new to this town, and was the one who helped her nab a burglar who stole some money from the ATM and was running away right in front of their eyes.


    Jane was the one who spooked him before he began to run while Ethan, who knew his way around the streets, quickly helped her catch him.


    This was how the two got acquainted, and not long after, she demanded Ethan to be her city guide to show her around the place so that she could not only learn the layout of the city but also learn the shady streets and places thugs often hanged around.


    He liked to help her out like this since he got to learn so many things from her, especially learning how to think from others'' perspectives. At the same time catching bad guys made him feel good.


    And the more he hung out with her, the more he couldn''t help but feel amazed by her skills and perceptive mind, quickly being able to see through things. She was more like a mentor figure to him even though she wasn''t pretending to be one.


    He wished he had cool and badass teachers like her in his college. Then all his classes wouldn''t seem so boring anymore.


    But since the beginning of his college life, Ethan hadn''t talked to Jane much, especially since he was going through a hard time and pretty much was isolating himself. And so the two were catching up as they walked.


    The two talked about various things while walking, including even their daily lives, especially hers, where she talked about how she still hunts down bad guys while at times indulging herself in a certain hobby of hers.


    The two soon reached the police station before they knew it, and Ethan let out a sigh of relief seeing his aunt impatiently waiting for him by sitting on the chair right inside the entrance.


    "Ethan! You are back!" Alina jumped right towards Ethan as she hugged him tightly and inspected his face and body for possible injuries as she said in a chiding tone, "Next time, don''t worry your aunt by running off like that. Do you know how worried I was when I saw you chasing those bad guys? Did they hurt you or¡ª"


    "Aunt, calm down," Ethan felt a bit embarrassed seeing his aunt getting emotional right before everyone in the police station.


    Some of the male officers inside the station had their eyes burn with envy seeing this mature beauty hugging this young man, "Sigh¡­that kid is really lucky to have such a bombshell of an aunt."


    "Calm your dirty mind, bro. You really see too many of those kinds of videos. If the Chief knew about it, she would have your ass handed to you on a platter."


    "Shh, don''t you dare betray me!"


    "Aunt, I am perfectly okay, and here is your bracelet. I just can''t let you lose it like that," Ethan gently pulled his aunt back and put the silver bracelet onto her wrist.


    He saw how his aunt''s fair skin was reddened, especially around her nose and cheeks, making him realize that she must have really felt anxious and worried about him.


    However, he was happy to see her pure radiant smile when he helped her put on the bracelet onto her wrist. It was as if her smile brightened the surroundings around them and anyone who saw it.


    "Ma''am, there is no need to overreact like this. Ethan is more than capable of taking on some petty thieves," Jane suddenly said firmly as she stood before the two while Ethan was a bit surprised seeing Jane intervene.


    He wanted to say it was fine, but Alina grabbed onto his wrist and said in a low yet determined voice, "I know, but...that doesn''t mean I cannot worry about him, especially since I am his aunt," As she said this Alina slowly lifted her gaze to look at Jane.


    "Oh?" Jane said as she crossed her arms.


    Ethan knew his aunt was overprotective of him, yet he didn''t know why he felt there was some kind of tension building up in the air.


    So in an attempt to lessen this tension, he subtly and smoothly made his aunt sit down on one of the chairs as he said, "Aunt, everything is fine now. Just relax, and I will come right back after I have a word with the chief."


    Alina looked at him for a few moments before softly nodding with firmly pressed lips, "Of course. Aunt will wait here for you."


    Ethan smiled and then immediately turned around and asked Jane, "Chief, can we?"


    Jane let out a sigh as she shook her head and walked towards her office with Ethan following her behind.


    Jane opened the door to her office, and as Ethan entered and closed the door behind, she said with a head shake, "Your aunt is quite the crybaby. Isn''t she?"


    Ethan dryly chuckled as he said, "She is just a bit sensitive. But that is what makes her cute."


    "Cute?" Jane asked with raised brows as she looked at a slightly flustered Ethan, who quickly said with a smile, "Yeah, I mean, that is how she is usually like."


    Jane shrugged as she sighed, "Alright. Let it be. Now, what did you want¡ª"


    "Oh my god¡­" Ethan suddenly mumbled before Jane could complete her sentence as he looked at the paper on the table and read what was written on it.

 Chapter 26 - Ken Han Dead...But Not Dead...

    "Ken Han murdered in cold blood¡­?" Ethan mumbled with a baffled look as he stared at the report on the table.


    "Ha¡­and this is just the biggest headache of the week I got to deal with. Seriously¡­I knew the Han Family had it coming. They were just getting too arrogant just because they thought they had a lot of influence. Now, look at what happened. One of their good-for-nothing scions got killed like a rabid dog. And now I have to find the killer who dared to do it," Jane said in a frustrated tone as she sat back on her chair while turning up the air conditioner.


    For a second, Ethan almost felt glad the moment he read the headlines, but then he got disappointed since he looked at the details and saw that the Ken Han that died wasn''t the same Ken Han that was studying in his college.


    He knew that out of the three sons of the Han Family, two were twins and were college-going boys. However, one of them was the one studying in his college and the one who kept bullying him while the other studied abroad. But the strange thing was both had the same name! Supposedly, their father wanted the twins to be as similar in everything as possible, even their names!


    And looking at the news, it seemed as if the Ken Han, who had been studying abroad, had come back for a short vacation but unfortunately for him, he wasn''t destined to stay alive anymore.


    But even if it wasn''t the Ken Han whom Ethan knew that died, Ethan had zero sympathies for this guy as well since he had heard that Ken''s twin brother was no different than him. In fact, the reality that they were twins only and had the same name made it seem even more convincing.


    "How did he die, and who did it?" Ethan asked curiously.


    Jane gestured at the newspaper as she said, "Why don''t you read for yourself and see? Just don''t get too shocked. Apparently, the Han Family doesn''t want this in the news yet¡­probably because it''s bad for their business. As expected from these assholes. But I have to say...the killer is definitely the most hardcore killer I have seen in our town."


    Ethan narrowed his eyes as he read through the articles, and as he kept on reading, his eyes increasingly grew wide, feeling a bit shocked at some of the gruesome details he read.


    ''The killer literally tore through half of his body with a blade after cutting off one of his hands? Phew¡­he must have really pissed off his killer somehow to warrant such an act of revenge,'' Ethan felt chills just by reading the details and couldn''t help but picture a big terrifying murderer with a dagger in his mind.


    Still, he inwardly thanked whoever it was for getting one dirty bastard off the street. And for a second, he couldn''t help but think how better things would have been if this terrifying killer had killed the other twin.


    Ethan usually wouldn''t easily wish death upon anybody who pisses him off, but Ken Han had taken things too far, and he also knew about various vile deeds Ken Han had carried out, but the victims or their families were just too scared to do anything.


    He also knew that Ken Han had other plans in mind for him and wasn''t just going to be happy with making him an errand boy only.


    Ethan knew it was only a matter of time before Ken Han took things up a notch and wouldn''t get satisfied until he saw his target''s life getting slowly destroyed, which in this case was Ethan.


    "I know you wish it was the Ken Han you knew, but it''s not. So don''t waste your time reading any more of that shit and tell me what you wanted to ask from me?" Jane said with a hint of impatience as she began to sort through the reports and files on her table.


    Ethan combed his hand through his hair as he said after a brief hesitation, "I was wondering if you had a part-time job for me or if you knew someone or someplace which might offer me a job. It would be really great if you could help me out."


    Jane took her gaze off from the documents in front of her as she took a good look at Ethan and asked with crossed fingers, "And¡­what is with the sudden urgency for money? Don''t tell it is because of Ken¡ª"


    "It''s for my friends. They are a family, and they are under huge debt, and I am the only one they got. So I gotta do something even if they didn''t ask me. And since you once told me that I can approach you in case of any serious help, I came to you now," Ethan said and took a deep breath, hoping Jane would agree.


    Jane continued to look at Ethan with a narrowed gaze while tapping on the table with her fingers before saying, "Fine! There is indeed one job you can do for me. In fact, I was hoping somebody could relieve some of my headaches."


    "Really? What is it? I guarantee that I can do anything no matter how hard it is," Ethan eagerly said, feeling quite happy.


    Jane gave a veiled smile as she said, "Don''t forget what you just said. But don''t worry. For now, I only have a simple job for you. Being my manager. Sort of I guess¡­"


    "Your manager? Ethan asked with a slightly flummoxed look and continued, "You don''t mean it''s for your¡­"


    "Yep. For my modeling gig. You are the only one who knows my secret identity and the only one who can help me with this," Jane said with a subtle smirk while Ethan didn''t know if he should feel lucky or not.


    He knew that Jane had a secret hobby of doing modeling from time to time here and there for fashion magazines or even companies. She even had a hinstagram page with tons of followers, more than he could ever dream of having. It wouldn''t also be a lie to say that Ethan was an avid follower as well, especially by buying certain fashion magazines, though he obviously did not tell anything about all this to her.


    But one strange thing was that she would always wear a mask whenever she models, be it outside for a company or a magazine or inside her home for her hinstagram page. She said it was because she didn''t want her professional life to get tangled with her hobby life.


    And since she was pretty famous even without showing her face, one can imagine how her real police job could get affected if everyone knew her other modeling identity.


    "So¡­what do you want me to do actually?" Ethan asked, feeling quite interested.


    Jane casually shrugged as she said, "Nothing much. I just want you to handle all the annoying calls for modeling for me since I only do it whenever I am in the mood. Also, you can''t just outright reject all these calls but answer them and see what kind of modeling gigs they are offering. Collect them all in a file or on your laptop if that is what you are comfortable with and then pick the ones which you think I would like. It would be your job to sort through them all, and coming to the good part, I can pay you 50 bucks a day. How about it? It should be more than what boys like you usually get for even some of those part-time hi-fi jobs."


    "I will take it!" Ethan immediately accepted and had no hesitation at all, especially after listening to how much she was offering.


    If he could earn 50 dollars a day, then in a month, he could make 1500 dollars! And this was really a huge amount for someone like Ethan, who would even be happy getting 50 bucks a month.


    Jane noticed how happy and excited Ethan was and said with crossed arms, "Don''t misunderstand my kindness. It''s only because you know my secret that I don''t have any other choice, but at the same time, I expect you to not slack off. I trust you are able to juggle both studies and this side job, right?"


    Ethan gave a confident smile and said, "Of course. I can tell you that you won''t regret hiring me to be your manager."


    "Good. Then come here tomorrow to collect the mobile and other details I am going to give you for this manager job. You can go now before your aunt barges in here and gives me trouble," Jane said as she rolled her eyes.


    "Thanks so much, Jane," Ethan said with a wide smile, feeling immense gratitude as he gave her a nod before leaving her office.


    Jane leaned back on her chair as she saw Ethan leave before focusing on the documents on her table.


    Alina, who was patiently waiting for Ethan, had her expression relaxed the moment she saw Ethan walking towards her.


    "We can go home now, aunt," Ethan said with a smile, making Alina happily smile as she said, "Okay, but what were you two talking about? Is there something wrong?"


    "Of course not, aunt.. We just exchanged some small talk, that''s all," Ethan reassured as the two walked home.

 Chapter 27 - A Troubled Ethan

    Soon Ethan and Alina reached home, and Lena welcomed the two with a smile.


    "You both are late. What happened?" Lena curiously asked as she saw the two enter.


    Ethan and Alina glanced at each other as the two coincidentally spoke together,


    "The train was a bit late, big sis."


    "Aunt''s train was running la¡ªWell, there it is," Ethan said with a casual shrug. He and Alina had already decided to say the same excuse since they didn''t want Lena to worry unnecessarily.


    Lena raised her brows as she said with a smile, "Oh...Ethan, you could have given me a call then. The food almost got cold since I thought you two would be arriving here on time. Anyway, why don''t you go upstairs and get freshened up while I reheat your food."


    "Oh, big sis, there is no need for all that trouble. I cooked a dish for Ethan early in the morning itself. I am sure he would love to eat it. Right, Ethan?" Alina asked with a pure smile, her eyes sparkling expectantly.


    "But I can''t just throw away the food I made for him. Isn''t that right, Ethan?" Lena asked as she also looked at Ethan with a soft smile.


    Ethan awkwardly cleared his throat and felt as if he was getting cornered here. On one side was his mother, and on the other, his aunt. Still, he quickly said with a smile, "No worries. I can eat both."


    He anyway loved Alina''s food, no matter what she made, and as for his mother''s dishes, they had the special mother''s touch in them, which was tasty enough for him. So he was only happy to eat both their dishes.


    Lena and Alina exchanged a subtle smile as Lena said with a slight laugh, "Alright. But I was simply joking. I was planning to keep your food for lunch anyway. The last thing I want is for you to get an upset stomach from overeating."


    "Mom¡­" Ethan chuckled with a smile.


    "So go upstairs and freshen up before your aunt''s food gets cold too," Lena said as she patted his head, and Ethan nodded as he went upstairs.


    However, while going towards his room, he couldn''t stop thinking about what Nuan said as he slowly took out the small plastic-like earpiece. He decided to keep it somewhere hidden where his mother wouldn''t find out.


    Meanwhile, after Ethan closed the door to his room, Alina suddenly pulled Lena into the kitchen and said with a heavy sigh, "Big sis, how could you¡­how could you not tell me that Ethan became a Divergent?"


    "So you already sensed the changes in his body. Do you always check up on him like that?" Lena asked in a slightly surprised tone.


    Alina looked away briefly as she said in a low voice, "I am a Healer. And other than that, I am his aunt. So is it wrong for me to make sure he is always alright¡­especially when you were hiding that evil thing in the basement all along?"


    Lena tightly pressed her lips together as she said, "We both know there was no choice. I wanted out so that I could take care of my son, and this was the condition they offered me. And considering that it could potentially help the world from one of the most dangerous threats, I accepted it. Who would have known that it would gain enough power on its own to break itself free like that? I am angry at myself just as much as you are angry at me."


    Alina''s expression softened as she hugged Lena and said, "I am sorry, big sis. I am not angry with you. It''s just that I am worried for Ethan now that his life wouldn''t exactly be the same anymore. How was his reaction when you told him what was going on with his body?"


    Lena patted Alina''s back and said, "It''s okay. But don''t worry. I have explained the needful to him. Just enough to let him know that his life will be in danger if he gets involved in these things. And that he should continue living a normal life."


    Alina''s slender eyebrows pulled together as she took a step back and looked at Lena, "Big sis, you cannot be serious. He needs to learn how to use his powers. If he doesn''t, how will he protect himself if danger finds him?"


    "Alina, you should be the last person to suggest that. You are still working at the Cosmic Bureau, and you should know best what life is like for those Divergents who risk their lives each time they visit a corrupted world. You have treated the nasty and horrifying injuries of these Divergents all these years, and you should also know how many die every year. Do you really want Ethan to¡­" Lena was unable to finish her sentence as her voice began to break.


    "Of course not! The last thing I want him is for him to be in danger too. But without joining the Cosmic Bureau, he will be in more danger. Let him at least join as a trainee. At least, that way he will receive proper training on how to use his powers and I can be there to look after him as well. I promise," Alina said eagerly.


    "No! Never¡­" Lena adamantly shook her head as certain memories flashed in her mind.


    "Big sis, this is what''s best for him. An Infernal Parasite had already made contact with his body once, and because of that, there is a chance that he could get targeted. So isn''t it wise if we give him the chance to become strong enough to look after himself?"


    Lena held Alina''s hands as she said with a firm gaze, "But him getting involved with the bureau will only put him in even more danger. It''s best if he doesn''t become important enough to get targeted, as you said."


    Alina pinched her lips together and felt as if Lena wasn''t thinking straight, though she couldn''t understand why. However, she knew she wouldn''t be able to change her mind.


    Meanwhile, Ethan had no idea about the argument going on between his mother and Alina. He had taken a long bath while deep in thought, thinking about the things that happened to him recently.


    And after he was done with his bath, Ethan suddenly got a call, and his brows raised when he saw that it was from the hospital his mother was admitted in.


    He quickly took it as he held his breath, "Hello?"


    "Hello, sir. Am I speaking to Mr. Ethan Frey?"


    "Yeah..."


    "Okay¡­sir¡­I regret to inform you that your mother''s name has been pushed back to the next slot due to an emergency."


    "What emergency?" Ethan asked as his tone became taut.


    "I am sorry, but we received a patient who suddenly required an immediate heart transplant, and thus we had to move her to the next slot. We have also notified Mrs. Lena Frey about the same. This was just a courtesy call to inform her next kin so that she may receive treatment from somewhere else in case there is an emergency."


    "Courtesy call? Are you fucking kidding me? My mother has been waiting for an entire year. The doctors already said that she needs immediate treatment, and this means that my mother is the one who requires emergency treatment, not some VIP of yours. I know what is going on here," Ethan was no fool, and he could see that all this emergency treatment for some other patient was bullshit. In fact, he knew that this was not even allowed in hospitals. Nobody can just jump the waiting list like that unless...


    "I am really sorry, sir. We really feel regretful for the inconvenience."


    "Please¡­I am begging you¡­This is against the rules. You cannot just push back a patient who had already been in the queue for a long while."


    "I am sorry, sir. Ms. Lena Frey herself signed the documents, which also mentioned our policies that it will be up to our discretion in emergency situations like these."


    "Fuck your stupid policies!" Ethan cut the call as he threw his phone on the bed in a frustrated manner.


    "Fuck!" Ethan shouted as he clutched his head, having no idea what to do. If they already had a fresh heart to give it to some VIP patient, then doesn''t it mean that his mother was being played like a fool the entire time, especially when she was supposed to receive the next transplant?


    "Corrupt assholes¡­" Ethan grumbled as he looked around with a vexed expression.. He then looked at his secret drawer, the place where he had hidden the earpiece Nuan had given him, his eyes increasingly focusing on them.

 Chapter 28 - Is This Really A Date?

    Ethan took out the transparent earpiece, and after a moment of hesitation, he kept it in his ear as he tapped it twice, "Ethan Frey. Please state your reason for attempting communication."


    A monotonous female voice sounded from the other side to this surprise instead of Nuan''s voice which he was expecting to hear.


    "Uh¡­I want to talk to Mr. Nuan Moon. He should be the head of¡ª"


    "Please stand by. We will get back to you soon."


    "Eh? Hello? What did you mean by that? Hello?" To Ethan''s surprise, the call got cut off after the woman told him to simply stay put.


    "Ha¡­I hope they won''t show up before my house," Ethan shook his head with a sigh and still wondered if what he was doing was the best option.


    However, he thought about his mother''s situation again and didn''t feel any hesitation anymore.


    *Ting!*


    Suddenly, Elden received a message on his phone, and to his surprise, it was from Sui,


    [ Ethan¡­can you meet me at Broadway Park within an hour? Come alone and don''t tell anyone about our meeting. I have something very important to tell you. ]


    ''Is she indirectly asking me out for a date?'' Ethan couldn''t help but think that since Broadway Park was a famous spot for couples to go on dates and he couldn''t help but feel astonished. Sui had never sent him a message like this, and her words also made it sound a bit secretive, just like sneaking out for a date.


    ''Nah¡­don''t get ahead of yourself, Ethan. She probably just wants to tell me something that must be bothering her,'' Ethan decided to not keep his hopes up but just go and see her to find out the reason himself. He knew Sui was not the type to ask out on a date like this.


    Still, he wondered if meeting her this morning had something to do with this message.


    And that didn''t stop him from putting on the best clothes he could find and also combing his hair neat and nice while spraying some deodorant here and there.


    And when he came down to eat, both Lena and Alina, who were waiting for him at the table, had a blinking expression upon seeing him looking smart and fresh, especially since he was wearing a blue blazer with a white t-shirt underneath and beige pants.


    Alina''s gaze unconsciously got fixed on him, but then she smiled and asked, "Ethan, are you going out already?"


    "But where are you going this early while dressing so nicely?" Lena curiously asked with a hint of surprise in her tone.


    Ethan knew these two would ask him this, and so he said candidly, "It''s nothing. I have a meetup with my project mates in some park to discuss our college project. It''s a Saturday, so we decided to do it today."


    Lena parted her lips as she nodded and said, "Oh, then you should at least eat your breakfast before you go. Your aunt seems to have made yet another tasty dish for you."


    Alina couldn''t help but smile as she expectantly looked at Ethan sitting down at the table, right beside her, while Lena was sitting on the opposite side.


    She eagerly placed the plate full of spicy and seasoned meatballs before Ethan and said with a keen smile, "Here you go, Ethan. I made sure to make it soft and tasty enough for you to finish it all in one go."


    "Thanks so much, aunt!" Ethan happily said as he popped one of the meatballs into his mouth and closed his eyes as he relished in its taste, feeling as if it was melting inside his mouth.


    Alina''s gaze was fixed on his mouth as she saw her chew her meatballs with a very blissful expression, making her unconsciously smile in happiness.


    But she was so engrossed in watching him eat she didn''t notice the time passing, and before she realized it, Ethan had emptied the entire bowl of meatballs and got up as he said eagerly, "That was really delicious, aunt. I wouldn''t mind if you could cook them for me again."


    "Anything for you, Ethan," Alina said with a radiant smile as she saw him rush out in a hurry after washing his hands.


    "You really spoil him too much, Alina," Lena said with a helpless headshake.


    "Who else other than me can spoil him?" Alina said with a soft smile.


    ¡ª


    After a while, Ethan finally reached Broadway Park, where he fiddled with his blazer with a bit of nervousness as he looked around to spot Sui. There were many couples walking past him, even high school couples, and all the way to married couples walking together.


    The air was filled with romance, especially since it was a Saturday morning, and Ethan couldn''t help but feel affected by the atmosphere around him.


    "Ethan¡­you are early¡­" A cool and sweet yet familiar voice sounded from behind as Ethan turned around immediately, only to be surprised to see Sui standing right behind him. Her expression seemed cold as always but only upon a closer look can one see the soft smile that could melt the heart of any man. Her eyes were deeply peering into his as she kept gazing at him with a softened expression, making Ethan feel a bit flustered since she had never stared at him with such an¡­expression. It didn''t seem like the way someone would look at their friend for sure.


    And another fact that surprised him was the graceful yet modest-looking white sundress she was wearing along with a small handbag over her shoulder. It was loose-fitting with spaghetti straps and a wide neckline, revealing her exquisite collarbones. The dress was tighter around the waist, accentuating her perfect slim waist while its lower half was a full skirt. Overall, the dress gave her a soft, light, and feminine look that Ethan had never seen before. It was as if he had never seen this side of Sui in the past, making him wonder if she really called him for a surprise date. Was this the moment he had been waiting for?


    "Is there something wrong with my dress? You keep looking at it. I should have known this kind of dress wouldn''t suit me," Sui said in a dispirited voice as she lowered her gaze to look at her dress.


    Ethan reeled himself back from his reverie as he immediately refuted her, "Of course, not. I was just surprised¡­you look more beautiful than ever."


    Ethan had no idea where he got the courage to say that, but he just couldn''t resist not saying what he felt.


    Sui raised her head and looked at him with sparkling eyes as she gently touched his chest and said as she stroked downwards, "You are looking very handsome in this dress. It feels like a long while since I saw you like this."


    Ethan felt his heartbeat increasing hearing her words and wondered what was going on here, but he was happy that she liked the clothes he was wearing.


    She then grabbed his hand and interlocked her fingers with his as she said, "Let''s just go to someplace else."


    Ethan was again surprised seeing her hold his hand, but then he also locked his fingers with hers as he nodded, "Sure."


    He felt as if she told him to come here for a good reason and was now feeling even more curious to know what it was.


    Broadway Park was very crowded yet spacious enough for people to walk around, and it was only a matter of time before Ethan and Sui also slipped into the crowd and kept walking while talking about various things.


    But unlike how things usually were, it was Sui who was asking Ethan a lot of questions, most of them, he was not really expecting her to ask.


    And they soon walked underground into a subway station which seemed quite empty, but Ethan didn''t notice as he was happily conversing with Sui, feeling as if he had never felt so close to her like now.


    She was already hugging his arm to her soft chest while resting her head on his, all of them which felt like obvious signs to Ethan that Sui probably wanted to confess her feelings for him!


    "Your arm feels so warm¡­like always," Sui said in a soft voice and then suddenly stopped walking as she looked at Ethan, whose pupils appeared dilated as he looked at her face that looked more stunning than ever before, especially her glimmering blue eyes.


    She gently grabbed his hand and pressed it against her soft chest as she said while maintaining her gaze with his, "Ethan¡­do you feel that¡­my heartbeat?"


    Ethan felt his mind going blank upon this sudden turn of events, but he somehow ignored the soft feeling of her soft yet firm breasts as he was surprised by how fast her heart was rapidly beating. It was no slower than his or maybe even more!


    ''She likes me that much?''


    "By this, I am sure you realize how much I have always liked you and always will¡­I have only had eyes for you the entire time, but I never said anything to you because I¡­I was not ready. But now I realize how stupid I was to not tell you how much I longed for you. But more importantly¡­you feel the same for me, right? Or did I misunderstand?" Sui asked as her expression softened while looking at him with a besotted expression.


    Ethan had no idea how things came to this, but he decided to not hold back anymore as he held her hand and pressed it against his chest as well, "You can feel my heartbeat as well, right¡­Do you think you have misunderstood my feelings for you? I have always liked you as well but never had the courage to tell you."


    Sui''s fair cheeks began to redden as her expression became dazed upon sensing his heart rapidly beating. Her lips arched into an pure smile, and before Ethan could realize it, she grabbed his shirt and pulled him closer as his lips got plundered by her.


    Ethan''s body stiffened for a moment but then relaxed as he hugged her slender waist and relished in the warm, passionate kiss while tasting her soft velvety lips that seemed to melt into his mouth.


    However, unbeknownst to him, a slender figure dressed in a sexy black spandex suit and wearing a half-mask was hiding behind the stairs. Her pupils shook and quivered as she saw the two exchanging such a loving kiss and silently took out a sharp dagger from behind her back.


    She aimed it in their direction as if to throw it and hope to kill a certain someone!

 Chapter 29 - Which One Is Real?

    Ethan was busy sucking in Sui''s tender lips into his mouth and enjoying their sweetness. He never knew kissing a girl could make him feel so good, but at the same time, he was happy to feel her passionate love.


    However, just a few dozen meters away, the mysterious woman in the spandex suit couldn''t stand the sight of them kissing, and with vengeful eyes, she threw the dagger in their direction, shooting through the air like a bullet.


    Sui, who was enjoying her kiss, suddenly opened her eyes with a dark frown as she extended her right arm to the side.


    Ethan felt her getting distracted and opened his eyes only to be shocked to see her arm extended towards the side while holding the blade of a dagger between her fingertips.


    "Sui?" Ethan mumbled in a confused tone, wondering where this dagger came from.


    "Get behind me, Ethan! This woman is here to kill us," Sui quickly pulled back a confused Ethan, and right at that moment, he saw a woman in a sexy spandex suit coming out from behind the stairs with a half-face mask.


    And before Ethan could realize what was going on, the mysterious woman suddenly flashed forward at an inhuman speed¡­her body moving like a blur, and his eyes were unable to keep up with her movements.


    But something more shocking happened as Sui, who was in front of him, also zoomed forward, moving like a blur, just like the mysterious woman.


    Within just a second, the two closed a couple of meters between them and clashed in the middle, a ripple of energy spreading through all sides.


    Ethan blinked his eyes as he saw two blurry figures clashing in the middle with sparks, and the sounds of blades clashing against each other echoed continuously.


    ''Sui¡­is a Divergent too?...'' Ethan didn''t know how to feel as he realized this. Was she also involved in this cosmic business? When did it all begin, and how did he not notice anything?


    But right now, he didn''t have the luxury to think about them since the clash between the two was so intense, Ethan could feel how powerful their attacks were and was worried for Sui, wondering if she was going to be alright by fighting against this mysterious woman.


    He wanted to help, but the fight between these two was so fast he felt helpless, and this was ignoring the energy ripples that had enough power to make him stay back. The ripples were even creating cracks on the pillars and the ground, making him realize their fight was on a different level, and if he interfered, he might only be a burden for Sui.


    Still, he had no plans in simply sitting still and quickly looked around for any metal objects.


    However, whatever he looked at was too big for him to control, and at this moment, he really wished he at least had a chain that he used to take down the thieves. At least, it was the most versatile and convenient tool he was able to use so far with his powers.


    *Boom!*


    A powerful boom echoed as the mysterious woman was sent flying a few meters and smashed against a giant pillar as she crashed on the floor, right beside Ethan.


    Her silky red lips were bleeding as she slowly turned her face to look at Ethan.


    Ethan''s expression froze when he finally got a clear look at her face. Of course, he wasn''t able to figure out her face because of the mask, but her eyes were a glimmering blue, and those eyes looked familiar for some reason, and he wondered if he was just imagining it.


    They looked exactly the same as¡­impossible!


    "Ethan¡­" The mysterious woman mumbled softly as she continued to stare at him while clutching her stomach, "...run¡­She is a¡­"


    ''It can''t be¡­'' Hearing her sweet yet cool voice, Ethan''s eyes widened.


    "Just die already!" Sui coldly shouted as she zoomed forward with a bloodied dagger in her hand, aiming to puncture it through the mysterious woman''s heart.


    "Sui, wait!" Something came over Ethan as he instinctively extended his hand to stop the metal blade from piercing the mysterious woman''s heart.


    Sui suddenly found her hand get stuck in the air, just a few cms away from the masked woman''s heart.


    "Ethan¡­let go before she kills us both¡­" Sui said with gritted teeth as she looked at him.


    Ethan was grimacing as holding back Sui seemed to be way harder than he thought, and he felt as if every bone in his body was creaking under the pressure of exerting his energy.


    But looking at her, he wondered if she always had such a bloodthirsty side. Her expression was wild and cold, her eyes filled with a feverish glare.


    Of course, he had seen Sui angry, but not like this. Whenever she became angry, it would be hard to notice it unless one gets their ass kicked by her. But the Sui he was looking at seemed to be very desperate and had a very vicious look in her eyes.


    It was as if he was looking at a¡­different side of Sui he was unable to recognize. However, he still remembered the kiss he shared with her, and her feelings for him seemed to be overflowing with passion and love.


    However, he couldn''t also forget the blue eyes of the masked woman and especially her voice and the way she called out his name. This made a shocking realization dawn on him, but it did nothing to lessen his confusion!


    Ethan had never felt so confused before in his life. His mind was telling him to do one thing while his heart was telling him to do another.


    "Stay¡­away from him!" The mysterious woman spoke in a stone-cold tone as she grabbed Sui''s hand and gave a lightning-fast punch at her face, sending her flying by a few feet.


    "Sui!" Ethan felt his heart leap seeing her getting violently hit like that, especially because he was distracting her. But a hand grabbed his wrist from the side, and it was none other than the masked woman who removed her mask, making Ethan''s breath freeze.


    "S-Sui??"


    "We have to run. That is my deviant version, and I can''t defeat her," Sui suddenly grabbed a confused and stunned Ethan by his wrist and zoomed away from the Deviant Sui, their figures disappearing like a blur.


    The Deviant Sui slowly stood straight as she stared ahead at the empty subway station with a cold blood gaze. She put her hand into her handbag as she took out two sharp knives and mumbled in a cutting tone, "Nobody can ever outrun me," Her expression then turned into a besotted one as she continued, "Ethan¡­just hold on¡­I will bring you home soon¡­"


    As she said this, her eyes glowed brightly for a split second as her figure suddenly disappeared from the spot leaving behind an ear rendering sonic boom, smashing the nearby pillars to smithereens.


    Meanwhile, Sui dragged Ethan over the dark subway lines and hid in a small and dark opening on the walls, just small enough for the two to squeeze into the closed space.


    Sui knew there was no point in simply running forward since this was an abandoned subway station, and it was a dead-end ahead surely.


    All she could hope was to stay hidden with Ethan till backup arrived.


    Ethan was trying his best to even breathe as silently as possible, seeing how serious and vigilant Sui was about not getting caught by her deviant version. He still was finding it hard to come to terms that he met her doppelganger¡­or a deviant version at that.


    He couldn''t understand what was actually going on, but he was now sure that the Sui whom his body was pressed up against in this closed space was surely the Sui he had known for these past five years.


    Their faces were barely a few inches away from each other, and Ethan didn''t know what to say as he saw her glimmering blue eyes staring at him expressionlessly. If it was any other situation, he would have appreciated a moment like this. But right now, he was concerned about more important things.


    He noticed her breathing was a bit labored and looked down to see dark dried blood on her spandex suit, especially near her stomach region where she was using her hand to prevent her injury from profusely bleeding. It seemed as if she got stabbed by the Deviant Sui, and her face was flushed and a bit pale as well.


    Ethan pointed at her wound as he gestured, indirectly telling her that she needed immediate medical attention, but Sui, who was able to guess his thoughts, pressed her finger against his lips as she shook her head, making Ethan''s expression become complicated and pained.


    *Whoosh!*


    Suddenly, the sound of air being cut through by a body echoed in the dark tunnel as Ethan heard someone arriving in the tunnel and could see a slender shadow on the walls of the tunnel.


    "Ethan, don''t worry.. I will save you from her, and then we can be together forever," These passionate words echoed in the tunnel, and who could it be other than the Deviant Sui who had arrived in this tunnel after following the blood trails left behind by Sui.

 Chapter 30 - The Deviant Sui

    "Ethan, don''t worry. I will save you from her, and then we can be together forever."


    If it was any other time, Ethan would have been elated to hear these words, but right now, his thoughts were chaotic and confused.


    Even if he knew that the Sui he kissed was her Deviant version, wasn''t she still Sui in a way? But what he couldn''t understand was why did she come into his world and why she seemed so determined to kill the original Sui.


    His feelings aside, he was determined to not let anything happen to the Sui he had been spending time with for the past five years.


    The Deviant Sui walked over the dusty tracks as she followed the trail of blood, "There is no point in trying to confuse me by leaving zig-zag trails of your blood. Give him back to me or¡­your death wouldn''t be pretty."


    Her cold, intimidating words made Ethan feel more worried about Sui, who was already injured and didn''t seem like she was in the shape to fight again. However, to his surprise, Sui''s expression didn''t change one bit despite hearing those words, and her hand was still on his chest, making sure he didn''t move out of this space.


    Ethan knew that Sui could have escaped by herself, but here she was risking her life to protect him even though he wasn''t sure if the Deviant Sui really had plans to kill him based on his interactions with her.


    It truly seemed as if she was in love with him unless she was too good at acting. However, what he felt from her kiss was confusing his mind.


    In the end, he actually didn''t want these two to kill each other even if the other Sui was a Deviant and someone that shouldn''t exist. Even if she was a corrupted version of Sui created by the Infernal Parasites, she was still Sui to him.


    "Ethan, you know how much I love you, right? That woman who is trying to snatch you away from me will feed you with lies but don''t believe them. We can never let anyone come between us, even if it is someone that looks like me," Sui said in her usual aloof voice yet filled with yearning.


    Sui took a subtle glance at Ethan to see if the Deviant Sui''s words were having any effect on him. She wished they wouldn''t but seeing his glazed expression, she bit her lip.


    "You felt it from our kiss, right? How much I care about you?" The Deviant Sui''s voice began to sound louder as she was increasingly getting close to where Ethan and Sui were.


    But hearing her words, especially mentioning her kiss with Ethan, Sui''s facial muscles became taut as her nails pierced into her skin.


    However, she then felt Erhan looking at her with a gaze filled with concern and worry. At that moment, she felt relieved realizing a certain fact.


    Ethan was heavily sweating, making one wonder if it was because of how hot it was in this confined space or because of the precarious situation he was stuck in.


    However, seeing how Sui''s face was becoming paler by the minute, he couldn''t help but feel his chest becoming tighter.


    "I can smell you, Ethan. Your scent is something I can never forget," The Deviant Sui said in an emotionless voice, yet if one noticed carefully, they could sense the passion behind her voice.


    Ethan held his breath as Sui''s gaze became vigilant since the Deviant Sui was slowly walking right past them!


    However, she was looking straight while they were hiding in a dark corner on the side.


    Ethan''s expression relaxed a bit, seeing that the Deviant Sui walked past and thought that she failed to notice them. Now all he had to do was tell Sui to run in the opposite direction as fast as she could before her injuries worsened.


    "Found you¡­"


    "Ha!" Ethan gasped when the Deviant Sui suddenly appeared just a few meters away from them while her eyes seemed to glow at finding him.


    Sui''s eyes narrowed as she quickly pushed herself forward so as to shield Ethan while looking at her deviant self with a frigid gaze, "Touch him again, and I will cut you into pieces."


    Ethan was surprised to hear Sui''s chilling words, and for some reason, he felt that she wasn''t kidding. But instead of feeling spooked by her words, he felt a warm sensation in his heart, seeing how the Sui he knew was willing to go far to not let him go.


    The Deviant Sui''s expression was filled with killing intent the moment she saw Sui being so pressed up closing against her Ethan.


    "You really are tired of living¡­" The Deviant Sui muttered as she prepared to throw the two daggers at Sui.


    Ethan''s brows raised as he quickly extended both his hands forward while focusing on the metal blades of both her daggers. And the next moment, he waved his hands towards the side, forcing the two daggers to slip out of the deviant Sui''s hands before being sent flying somewhere else.


    The Deviant Sui didn''t seem surprised, but instead, she frowned as she looked at Ethan, "Ethan, why do you keep getting in my way and protecting her? It must be because she brainwashed you all these years. Don''t worry. Once I am done with her, you will be able to see the truth. I don''t need daggers to finish her when I can use my own hand," She said as she raised one of her hands which began to vibrate at an inhuman speed till her palm became blurry.


    This made Ethan panic as he forcibly pulled Sui behind him and jumped out as he addressed the deviant Sui, "Sui, stop this madness, please! There is no need for both of you to fight each other. I promise to come with you as long as you stop trying to kill her."


    Ethan felt as if he was at his wit''s end and couldn''t see any other solution to make sure nothing happened to Sui.


    "Ethan, don''t¡­" Sui gritted her teeth as she tried to pull back Ethan while enduring the pain of her injuries. But Ethan was adamant and ignored her words as he continued to maintain his gaze with the deviant Sui.


    "Really? You promise? Then that is enough for me. Now come to me," The Deviant Sui said with a soft smile as she extended her arms for a hug.


    Ethan let out a relieved sigh seeing how the deviant Sui gave up on killing Sui.


    He didn''t know what she was planning to do with him, but as long as nothing bad happened to Sui, he was willing to risk it.


    And as he came closer to her, the deviant Sui suddenly hugged him while staring at Sui with a cold smirk.


    Sui was clenching her teeth so hard they were grinding against each other. She already dragged herself out to get Ethan back before her deviant version took him away.


    "Let''s go, Sui," Ethan said to the deviant Sui in a hurried tone since he wanted Sui to quickly get to a hospital, and she can only do that if her deviant version leaves.


    The Deviant Sui narrowed her eyes as she touched Ethan''s neck and vibrated her hand slightly, taking him by surprise.


    "Eh¡­" It was too late when Ethan realized he was suddenly feeling very sleepy, and his senses dulled, "Sui...what¡­"


    "Shh, Ethan...sleep for a while till I get rid of her. Otherwise, she will keep getting in our way. After that, we can go home," The Deviant Sui said in a soft voice as she gently laid Ethan down on the ground.


    "No...Sui¡­" Ethan mumbled incoherently as he felt his vision blurring despite his desperate struggles to remain awake.


    He didn''t want Sui to die, but his body wasn''t listening to him, much to his despair.


    Sui didn''t cower, but instead, she gathered every last bit of her energy she could, even if it meant exacerbating her injuries or killing herself to take down her deviant version and save Ethan.


    The Deviant Sui focused her eyes on a severely injured Sui after laying down Ethan, "Time for you to die for good."

 Chapter 31 - A Close Shave

    Sui gritted her teeth as she charged forward even after knowing the obvious outcome that would happen if she clashed with the deviant Sui in front of her.


    But the Deviant Sui''s expression suddenly froze as if she noticed something but¡­


    *Bham!*


    An energy blast from the side suddenly struck her body, sending her flying by a few meters before she rolled on the ground.


    "Ethan! Oh my god!" A woman''s worried shout echoed from the side, making Ethan, who was barely conscious, turn his head over to the side to see a woman dressed in a gown running towards him.


    And behind her were some men in armored suits and helmets with guns and flashlights in their hands. Everything was blurry and bright, so he was not able to get a clear look.


    Hearing the familiar voice, Ethan couldn''t help but think of one person, ''Aunt?''


    However, the next second, his mind slipped into darkness as he fell unconscious.


    Ethan didn''t guess wrong, and it was indeed his aunt, Alina, who was running towards him with a frantic expression. If he were conscious now, he would have become shocked again by this fact.


    "Ethan, don''t worry. I will take care of you now!" Alina said with misty eyes as she crouched to pick up Ethan onto her lap while Sui''s expression relaxed, seeing that backup had arrived.


    However, she frowned when she saw that the Deviant Sui was nowhere to be seen anymore, and obviously, she had escaped.


    "Sigh¡­who would have thought he would meet a Deviant right off the bat?" An old man dressed in neat white clothing and well-trimmed beard said with a sigh as he stepped forward and looked at Ethan. He was none other than Nuan Moon, the Head of the Divergent Department.


    He then took a glance at Sui and said, "Alina, please heal Sui before her injuries worsen. Ethan is fine."


    Alina nodded before taking a look at Sui and had her brows seeing how wounded she was.


    "Sentinels, please escort him outside and her too once she gets patched up," Nuan instructed as he briefly turned his head in the direction of the people in armored suits standing behind him.


    They immediately nodded as the two of them picked up Ethan from Alina''s hands and carried him away. Alina already sensed that Ethan was alright and was simply unconscious and so she wasn''t worried about his state anymore.


    "Sui, please stay still. Let me heal you," Alina said as she held Sui''s arm, who was looking at the people taking away Ethan before turning to look at Alina and nodded silently.


    Alina hovered her hands right above Sui''s stomach as a faint energy indiscernible by the naked eye enveloped the injured area on Sui''s stomach.


    The bleeding seemed to have already stopped despite the injury being so deep, and if Sui was just an ordinary person, she would have long since died.


    However, the moment Alina''s power began to work its magic, Sui regained some color in her face and saw her punctured wound slowly closing up gradually. If any doctors from even the top-notch hospitals saw this, they would be shocked out of their wits to see such a severe wound healing up so fast.


    "Sui¡­thank you for protecting Ethan¡­Without you being here, I can''t imagine how wrong things could have gone¡­" Alina said in an emotion-rich voice while conveying her gratitude.


    "I did what I had to¡­" Sui said in her usual cool voice without a change in her expression, making Alina softly smile. She was happy that Ethan had someone to protect him like this, but at the same time, she was feeling bad that she couldn''t do the same as well.


    Still thinking about the Deviant Sui that tried to take away Ethan, Alina couldn''t help but wonder about what was really going on the entire time.


    After making sure Sui''s wounds had healed sufficiently, Nuan stood before her as he asked, "Sui¡­that was your deviant self. And this is the first time in 50 years since a deviant somehow punctured through the fabric of our reality and entered our world. We are getting a bit careless. This was truly a close shave. It has been a long while since we came across a deviant powerful enough to slip into our world. She was trying to kill you, right? Any idea what she was planning to do with Ethan or why she suddenly showed up now?"


    Sui''s eyebrows squeezed together but then relaxed them as she said in a reserved tone, "I don''t know..."


    Alina observed Sui''s expression and pressed her lips together as she said, "Mr. Moon, let''s let her rest for now. She had been through a lot. Fighting your own deviant self is not an easy thing. You know that, right?"


    Nuan narrowed his eyes, but then he sighed and waved his hand, "You are right. Sui, take some rest. You have done good work by protecting Ethan. Let''s get out of here."


    ¡ª


    After a certain while, Ethan began to stir awake as he felt his body resting on a comfy bed with a quilt covering half of his body.


    ''Was my bed always this comfortable? And this cool air¡­when did we ever get an air conditioner?'' Ethan slowly opened his eyes as his blurry vision slowly cleared up.


    There was a slight sense of disorientation as he tried to look around. But it also disappeared as his vision cleared up, only to be surprised to see that he was sleeping in a spotless white room.


    He then suddenly remembered what happened to him before he fell unconscious and inwardly shouted, ''Where the hell am I??''

 Chapter 32 - The Heavenly Towers

    "Ethan¡­oh my god, you are finally awake," Alina''s relieved voice sounded from the side as Ethan slowly sat up on the bed to see her walk towards him with a glass of water.


    "A-Aunt? Wha¡­I mean, where are we? What is this place? Where is Sui? Is she alright?" Ethan asked questions one after the another in a confused tone as he took the glass of water from her and again took a look at this luxurious yet simple looking spotless white room with basic furniture like a table, sofa, chairs, and even a large transparent glass that was rectangular in shape, attached to the wall like a TV.


    Alina sat beside him and gently held his hand as she said, "You¡­You are in the Cosmic Bureau right now. And don''t worry about Sui. She is alright now and is resting."


    Ethan felt relieved that nothing bad had happened to Sui. However, his ears caught onto the first half of her sentence,"The Cosmic Bureau?" Ethan asked with a blinking expression and before he could ask, Alina took a small remote-shaped glass object with a black circular pad on top of it.


    She swiped upwards on the black pad as the walls on his left side suddenly began to become transparent and Ethan''s eyes only became wider as he saw the astonishing sight.


    Ethan slowly got off the bed as he walked towards the large glass wall with awe filled gaze.


    He could see a vast yet ethereal orange curtain of moving energy floating outside, seemingly infinite in every direction and seemed quite an awe-inspiring sight. He felt as if he was looking at a mysterious side of the vast cosmos.


    And only after a few moments did he see large black buildings or towers with a futuristic design to the sides that seemed to be connected to the room or building he was in. He could see men and women in suits walking to and fro within the transparent glass walls located here and there on these buildings.


    But something that shocked him was that the entire building seemed to be floating in empty space! There was absolutely nothing underneath him, and all he could see was the vast orange energy moving about slowly like waves and extending downwards infinitely.


    Of course, he also had no idea how large the building or the entire structure he was standing in reality was, but his gut was telling him that it must be bigger than he could expect.


    He could even see long, closed, transparent glass tube-like bridges extending between multiple of these large black towers and people walking to and fro within them.


    "Is this some kind of advanced 16K holo display or something or maybe something more?" Ethan wondered if he was looking at some kind of realistic 3D projection or something since he really found it hard to believe what he was looking at.


    Alina let out a sweet giggle feeling amused by his words as she slowly walked up to him and said, "Right now, you are in a special place known as the Nexus Point, and you are right now standing in what you can call as the headquarters of the Cosmic Bureau or the place where we work," Saying, so Alina also enjoyed the beautiful sight outside along with Ethan. No matter how many times she saw it, she could never get tired of it.


    Ethan turned to look at Alina with a baffled expression as he asked, "Aunt¡­you too? You are also involved in this whole cosmic and infernal parasite business¡­just like mom was?" The last person Ethan expected to get involved in such complicated and dangerous things was his aunt, who easily gets lost in any place with multiple streets.


    However, he now remembered why his aunt occasionally went for these "business trips" and would sometimes return after a few days or so.


    Alina''s brows wrinkled as she got worried and said while looking at him, "Ethan, I am sorry that I never told you about my real occupation. I have always wanted to tell you, but you know how classified and sensitive all this is. We are not allowed to tell anyone about what we do. Even your mother wasn''t allowed to tell anything to you despite resigning from the bureau since the agreement of confidentiality is supposed to carry on till the rest of her life. But most of all, we do this so that people leading normal lives like you used to can stay safe while we protect them from behind the screen."


    Ethan sighed as he slowly nodded, "I understand but¡­" Ethan gently held Alina''s hand as he said, "...I wish I could have known about all this earlier so that I could have known how much you risk your life to keep me safe. There was no way I would have let you do this all alone."


    Alina''s hand covered her heart as she smiled and said with a lowered gaze, "You don''t have to be that worried. Compared to the divergents who go out in the field, I am one of the few divergents who work in a safe environment¡­right here. I am not capable of going out there, nor do I have the appropriate abilities or skills."


    "You are a Divergent too?" Ethan asked with glowing eyes, finding it hard to believe that someone as shy and gentle like her had superpowers. He had never remotely seen her do anything extraordinary or something that could suspend human beliefs. But again, considering the place she was working in, she must know how to be discreet, obviously.


    Still, he was happy to know that someone he knew was just like him and wondered what all other surprises awaited him.


    Alina nodded with an awkward smile, "I am not that big of a deal as you think. As I said, I simply work within this place."


    "And what exactly do you do or what are your powers?" Ethan asked curiously.


    "I am a Healer. Someone who can heal injuries or wounds but of course, to a certain limit," Alina answered modestly.


    Ethan''s eyes sparkled, "Wow¡­a healer? That''s so cool, aunt! You are just being too shy about it," Ethan chuckled.


    Alina''s cheeks slightly reddened as she shook her head with a clumsy yet beautiful smile, "It''s really¡­nothing."


    However, Ethan suddenly remembered something important and asked, "Wait a second¡­if you can really heal people, then my mother¡ª"


    "I know you are going to ask about your mother, but trust me¡­I have tried many times¡­more than I count, but I am not capable of healing her heart. Her condition is¡­I don''t know if it''s too strange. The only way I see is that she gets a new heart but even then¡­I am sorry, Ethan¡­I don''t want to worry you without knowing anything for certain," Alina said with a complicated expression as she softly looked at him.


    Ethan felt as if a balloon of hope got deflated instantly, but then he knew if things were that easy, his mother wouldn''t still be sick.


    Still, he remembered about what the hospital told him and said, "Aunt, I don''t know if you know but the hospital called and¡ª"


    Alina nodded with a wrinkled brow as she said, "I learned about it too, and that is why I think you might want to talk to Mr. Nuan. Let''s first get out of here, and let me show you around the Heavenly Towers."


    "The Heavenly Towers? That is the name of this¡­headquarters??"

 Chapter 33 - Will You Join The Bureau?

    Alina slightly smiled and said, "Well, you know that already a Hell exists, then surely there must be a Heaven as well on the other side, though it may not seem like the heaven people think of when they hear the word."


    Ethan nodded slowly, feeling that the name couldn''t be more apt as he said, "Is it because Hell is literally a place of death or the unknown dark side while on the other side, life exists, including us, and because of that it is kind of considered like heaven? Or maybe we are actually living in heaven," Ethan found the whole idea a bit deep and fascinating after learning about these things.


    "Maybe. Who knows. I wish I knew the answer too," Alina said with a pure smile.


    Ethan realized how he actually had little to zero idea about the vast universe or its deep mysteries.


    "Come on. Let''s go out and talk to Mr. Nuan," Alina said as she held Ethan''s wrist and tugged it slightly, indirectly telling him to follow her.


    Ethan nodded, but then he asked with pinched lips, "Can I see Sui first? I know she must be alright and resting now, but I just want to see her with my own eyes to put myself at ease. Just seeing her from afar is enough as well."


    Alina''s gaze became unfocused for a moment before asking with a quick smile, "It seems like you both really care about each other a lot. Before you woke up, she was in this room, helping me watch over you for at least a few hours. I insisted that she should rest, but as usual, she is someone who does things her own way. Only a few minutes before you woke up did she leave on her own. But she is really fine. You don''t have to worry. As a doctor, I can at least assure you that."


    "Oh¡­okay then¡­" Ethan didn''t expect that Sui would be watching over him for so long, especially after being hurt. He felt complicated, not knowing what to think, especially since he remembered his moments with the Deviant Sui.


    He then realized that Sui must have seen him confess his feelings and even kiss the Deviant Sui.


    ''Shit¡­what would she have thought¡­'' Ethan had never felt so anxious, having no idea what Sui would have felt.


    "You are still worried about something?" Alina asked as she blinked her eyes and tilted her head.


    Ethan gave an awkward smile as he touched the back of his head and said, "It''s nothing. I was thinking that I should let her rest and talk to her when she wakes up. No need to disturb her now."


    Alina faintly smiled as she said with a glazed gaze while pressing the button on the wall to open the door, "She is really lucky to have a friend like you."


    "So am I," Ethan said with a tight-lipped smile, but his distracted mind was brought back to reality when the door of his room opened, and he was welcomed by the sight of a neat white corridor with bright lights and polished tiles.


    He also saw other doors to different rooms in the same corridor, and it seemed as if he was standing in a hotel corridor, with the only difference being the design of the whole place was far more pleasing to look at than in any luxurious hotel.


    "What section of the building are we in?" Ethan mumbled as he looked towards his sides curiously.


    "The room you were sleeping in was actually mine, and these quarters are for employees like me," Alina said while feeling a bit amused at seeing his child-like curiosity.


    "Wow. That''s cool. No wonder your room was so amazing. The room is free, right?" Ethan was coming from a lower middle-class family, and so all of this was impressive for him. He had always wanted to stay in such a posh room with a great view and felt as if he was lucky enough to stay in such a room for a while.


    "Of course, it is. Otherwise, do you think I am rich enough to rent such a room?" Alina said with slightly reddened cheeks.


    Ethan began to walk forward as he asked with a shrug, "I know but still, since you are working for such a powerful organization, wouldn''t you be receiving special perks or maybe a salary big enough to live lavishly in our world? Wait¡­you do get some salary, right?" Ethan asked doubtfully, seeing how Alina was giving him a strange look when he mentioned salary.


    Alina pursed her lips as she said in a slightly petulant tone, "They don''t give us a single penny."


    Ethan had a blinking expression, "Not even a single buck? That is some next-level stinginess¡­Isn''t this taking advantage of employees like you? Is this even legal, or maybe our laws don''t even matter here."


    Alina''s eyes lit up as she said, "Ah, when I said we don''t get a salary, I meant the standard ones we receive back in our world. But we actually do get incentives in the form of a currency called ''Credits''. And we would get them based on our performance, but we cannot use them in our world. These credits are only effective within this place, but you could use them for various things, some of which I am sure you will be very interested in. You will get a clear idea if you join us."


    Ethan''s expression became a bit serious as he contemplated joining the bureau.


    Alina saw how his expression seemed conflicted and added in a soft voice, "Ethan¡­I really hope you do join for your own good and¡­at least for me¡­so that I will feel more at ease, knowing that I can keep an eye on you all the time while you get to learn how to become stronger and protect yourself," Her eyes began to mist over as she continued, "If something like today happens again or worse¡­I-I don''t know how I would¡­I really can''t bear seeing anything bad happening to you¡­*sob*..."


    "Aunt¡­" Ethan felt his heart getting heavy, seeing how his aunt was so worried the entire time but was bottling it up all in so that he wouldn''t notice anything. He forgot how much of a worrywart his aunt was, especially when it came to him.


    He couldn''t help but hug her as he patted her back, "Aunt¡­please¡­don''t cry...I¡­I will join¡­I will join the bureau if that will make you feel at ease and at the same time, I can look after you as well. I can''t let my aunt get involved in dangerous things on her own, even if it''s from here. We can have each other''s backs, aunt. I will somehow convince my mother," Ethan said with a determined gaze while thinking about many complicated thoughts. He knew that he couldn''t be unprepared if something like this happened again, and the bureau seemed the only option before him.


    At the same time, he can also look after his aunt as well and make sure everything goes alright for her.


    "Mn," Alina softly nodded, her lips arching into a soft, graceful smile as she clutched his shirt, feeling happy.


    Since the two were busy discussing before, they didn''t realize that they had unconsciously walked towards the main corridor by now.


    And suddenly, a surprised voice startled the two, "Alina? You got a boyfriend??"