...…
An hour after Shin and Leonard got abducted.
David was diligently serving his purpose as a distraction while waiting for the opposing organization to take the bait. He had been exploring the city at the other end of the Easter Sea Region alongside his three friends, acting as if they were investigating a case.
The underworld organizations were currently keeping an eye on him since he was one of the people that could threaten their operations at the most unexpected time. When they realized that they had been targeted by this person, it was already too late to retreat.
One of the best examples was the recent incident where the operation of the Hextech Laboratory was compromised, which also lead to a lot of their men being captured.
David was a special existence that became a huge thorn in the side of underworld organizations. They want to eliminate him, but they could not act rashly because of the mysterious and powerful master that was backing him.
Moreover, he also had a lot of connections and knew quite a number of top experts. And once the large underworld organizations tried to send powerful agents after him, those top experts would definitely interfere with them, and a huge battle would break out.
Their younger generations and some of the talents that they had nurtured could not touch him either because he was too powerful for them. If they wanted to deal with him using their most talented agents, then they had to reveal their most outstanding individuals. But that was way too risky since there was still a possibility of them losing to him – worse, getting captured.
The ones that could match him were currently in important missions, so they could not risk blowing up their covers just to get rid of him.
With that, these underworld organizations could only keep a low profile whenever he showed some signs of targeting them.
For the time being, they could only observe him from a distance and avoid getting in direct conflict with him.
…
"Tsk! You are sure a big shot in the underworld. To think that there are a lot of 'fans' watching every move you make? Even the top experts did not have this much monitoring," commented Jerimiah as he took a sip of his coffee while glancing at their surroundings.
Up until now, they had discovered dozens of spies watching their moves and monitoring their activities. Such a number of people could make anyone suspect that they were being assassinated.
"Do we still have no news about Brother Shin and the others?" asked Vincent in a whispering tone while covering his mouth with the teacup that he was holding.
David was leisurely sitting on the steel chair and enjoying the sun. When he heard that question from Vincent, he briefly glanced at the surroundings before looking at his advanced watch.
He pursed his lips when he saw that there were no messages on it. He shrugged his shoulders and pursed his lips, indicating that there was still no update on the other side.
He then turned to the side and looked at the other guy sitting beside him. "Hey, Laurent. How is your date yesterday? Have you scored a goal or something?"
That person sighed helplessly and said. "I told you multiple times that it is not a date. It is a business meeting, alright? A business."
"Yeah, yeah, business it is. So, how is it?" pressed David.
Laurent sighed for another time before answering. "It is fine. She agreed to help me talk with her family to work on my business. The paper works will be signed after that."
"I see," nodded David. Then his gaze suddenly turned sharp while his voice became cold. "Then what about the business that you talk about those juniors? Are you involving them in one of your shady businesses?"
Laurent was suddenly taken aback at the sudden change and stared at David with a surprised look on his face. He then started chuckling before replying in a helpless manner. "I have already told you before, it is not something like that. I am just helping them progress faster by putting a little bit of pressure on them."
David kept his cold tone as he pressed further. "Helping them progress by purposely giving out those classified information? I must remind you that without sufficient strength, their lives will only be at risk by holding that information."
Laurent gave David an unfazed gaze and refuted. "The situation is slowly getting out of hand. The underworld organizations are using underhanded means to find those inheritances and other worldly treasures. If we don't do anything and let the situation continue to escalate like this, then we will be on the losing end when the time comes."
David shook his head. "You are not wrong, but involving those juniors will make the situation escalates faster. It will also ruin the balance that the two sides currently have, and a huge war will break out."
Laurent was about to refute once again when David quickly cut him off. "Don't think that I don't know what you are thinking."
"Those juniors are from prestigious and powerful families. And with such a background, they will at least have certain protection when they tried to look for those 'opportunities' hidden around the world."
"But when the situation suddenly got out of hand, and something happened to them, then those families and other forces backing them will have no choice but to get involved."
"I can see through your plan, and it is actually not bad. But if things really reach that point, then will become the spark that will start the war."
"When that happens, the world be in chaos," he continued before briefly adding. "That is the reason why everyone is trying their best to keep the balance and let everything flow naturally."
Laurent smiled bitterly and muttered. "The 'Opportunities' will land on the hands of the destined people – that is what the prophecy has said."
He then raised his head and stared at David straight to the eyes before continuing. "But it is also stated that it will be the start of the unveiling of the truth of the world – which will still lead to chaos."
"If the world will still fall in chaos either way, then why don't we seize those 'Opportunities' and control them ourselves? That way we will hold on to an advantage, rather than watching ourselves get overwhelmed by the opposing side," he asked.
David shook his head and said. "You don't understand. Fate is hard to seize, and destiny can't be easily overturned. You must pay a heavy price if you want to defy the will of Heaven."
"That is exactly the point! We, humans, always pursue greatness and always want to challenge our fates and defy heaven! That is why we have to act now!" said Laurent.
David inhaled deeply before smiling bitterly and shaking his head repeatedly as he exhaled. He then continued. "As I said, you don't understand."
He paused for a moment before strengthening the isolation and sound-suppressing barrier that was surrounding them, then continued. "I know someone, who is close to unveiling the 'truth' of the past era. But in exchange, they unknowingly touched the taboo and accidentally released the 'Demons' of the past, who scattered around the world and secretly pulled the strings while hiding in the dark."
"These 'Ancient Demons' are sowing discord in every place that they went through."
"Up until now, they are still looking for those 'Ancient Demons' and hunt them down one after another. Since they are the ones who released those 'demons', then it is their responsibility to subdue and eliminate them."
He then took another pause and took a sip of his tea to wet his through before continuing. "There is also the man who is not supposed to be born. Heaven wants to eliminate him, but he repeatedly defied everything and still lives in the end."
"Then he is cursed to be alone since he is a monster that is created by the taboo. But he was still able to find friends that trusted and treated him like any other people."
"Then he is cursed by Heaven to not have an offspring due to the constitution of his body. He is cursed not to have a child even if he managed to attain total rejuvenation when stepping into the Transcendent Realm."
"Yet, he still finds a way to defy the will of Heaven and reconstructed his body through special means and created a constitution that is no different to ordinary people, which also gives him the ability to have a child."
"He repeatedly defies the will of Heaven, controlled his own fate, and decides his own destiny. Yet, Heaven still finds a way to forcefully separate him from his child. It also 'sent' envoys to eliminate him."
"His entire existence is a taboo and a disaster for the world, which also upsets the balance that it has. Heaven wants to eliminate him and erase him from history to restore everything back to the right track."
Then David turned back to Laurent and said warningly. "These were only the outcome when an individual tried to defy Heaven, yet you want to get the world to fight Heaven itself?"
He started smiling bitterly and shook his head repeatedly once again before continuing. "It is not because the world doesn't want to seize those 'Opportunities' for themselves, but because they are afraid that a disaster will befall entire humanity and trigger the 'Great Restoration'."
"They don't want to have the same outcome as those Primordial Creatures and Ancient Cultivators of the previous eras."
Then David's eyes turned serious and said. "If you truly want to defy the will of Heaven, then do it yourself, and don't drag the entire world with you."
Silence enveloped the atmosphere when he was done talking. The three, Vincent, Jerimiah, and Laurent fell in deep thought as they tried to digest everything that they just heard, especially the latter who seemed to finally realize his and his family's mistake.
Beep! Beep!
While they were lost in their thoughts, David suddenly received a message, updating him on the situation on the other side. He pursed his lips after reading everything before standing.
"Alright, our targets seem to have taken the bait – it is time for us to move," he said as he started walking toward the nearby inn where they were temporarily staying.
...…
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