Chapter 301: Mom Needs Help
Victor laughed humourlessly. "You expect Eagles Print to believe that some recently established gang with an eighteen-year-old leader is responsible for all this?"
Bloodstain immediately nodded. "Because he is."
Victor stared at him with a look of disbelief followed by anger. "Are you listening to yourself?"
The pressure in the room grew heavier as Victor continued.
"You are telling me..." he pointed toward one of the reports. "...that an eighteen-year-old kid who became awakened this year somehow defeated Darius Bentley?"
The room became quiet while Victor’s eyes narrowed. "Darius... a veteran..."
"Twenty-plus years awakened."
"A Tier 2."
"A man who fought in gang wars before your little West Einstein was even born."
His voice turned colder as he added. "And somehow this child killed him?"
Bloodstain immediately spoke. "That’s not what I’m saying."
Victor stared while Bloodstain continued quickly. "I’m saying West is responsible."
Victor rubbed his forehead while the crimson-haired woman beside him sighed heavily and the bald giant looked annoyed.
Victor looked as though he was developing a headache.
Bloodstain pointed at the files. "Everything is there."
"Every attack."
"Every ambush."
"Every sighting."
"I underestimated him."
"My gang underestimated him."
"Look where it got us."
Victor suddenly snapped. "Exactly!"
The shout made several people flinch as Victor pointed around the room. "You know what I see?"
Bloodstain remained silent as Victor answered his own question. "I see a gang that got dismantled."
"I see a leader desperately searching for someone to blame."
"I see someone so terrified of admitting his own mistakes that he’s pointing fingers at a teenager."
Bloodstain’s face darkened. "That’s not—"
Victor interrupted immediately. "It absolutely is."
The Eagles Print members behind him nodded while one of them stepped forward. woman with short silver hair.
"Boss," the woman with short silver hair called out.
Victor glanced toward her while she shrugged. "He does have a point about one thing."
Bloodstain immediately looked hopeful as the woman continued. "There definitely is a creature."
She pointed toward the photographs. "The sightings are too consistent."
"The descriptions match."
"The footprints match."
"The abilities match."
Victor nodded. "Agreed."
The woman continued. "But that doesn’t make it West Einstein."
Bloodstain’s mouth opened to refute but Victor cut him off. "Exactly."
He proceeded to point at one of the photos. "Do you think we’re idiots?"
Bloodstain was completely silent now while Victor continued to snap at him. "Do you think a Tier 1 can maintain a transformation for that long?"
"No."
"Do you think a Tier 1 transformation is powerful enough to defeat a Tier 2?"
"No."
"Do you think an eighteen-year-old awakened somehow became stronger than Darius Bentley within a few months?"
"No."
Every answer hit harder than the last, making Bloodstain feel his blood pressure rising... because he was well aware of how ridiculous it sounded to the point where he even started to doubt it himself...
However, despite how impossible it seemed... everything pointed to one person regardless.
"Listen to me," Bloodstain stepped forward. "It really is him."
Victor rolled his eyes as Bloodstain continued. "I know how absurd it sounds."
"I know."
"But it’s him."
Victor pointed at the photographs again. "Then where is he?"
Bloodstain stiffened while Victor stepped closer. "Where is West Einstein in any of these images? Where is he at any of the crime scenes?"
Bloodstain opened his mouth but nothing came out.
Victor pressed further. "Where is West Einstein in any footage?"
"Where is West Einstein in any witness statement?"
~ Silence ~
Victor spread his arms. "All I see is a monster."
"All I see is a beast."
"All I see is some unidentified awakened."
Bloodstain clenched his fists. "But it’s him."
Victor sighed with a tone of disappointment as though speaking with Bloodstain had become exhausting.
"I think your stupidity is exactly why your gang ended up like this."
That one statement struck harder than anything else, earning the ire of several Iron Vultures members.
One stepped forward. "Hey."
Another joined him. "Don’t talk to our gang leader like that."
A third clenched his fists but Bloodstain immediately raised a hand before things could escalate. "Stop."
They hesitated but Bloodstain’s spoke again with a firm tone. "Stop."
Reluctantly they backed down because they all understood the reality... if a fight broke out here... Iron Vultures would cease existing today.
At least with their current numbers, they still stood a chance against West but if they crossed Eagles Print, this would be the end for them.
Victor glanced toward the members before shifting back to Bloodstain.
For a brief moment, his expression softened out of pity and that somehow felt worse.
Victor shook his head before turning away. The other Eagles Print members immediately followed after him.
As they approached the exit, Victor stopped one final time... and without turning around, he spoke. "Thank you for wasting our time."
Bloodstain’s face twitched while Victor continued. "We’ll find the blue beast ourselves."
"And when we do..." his voice became colder. "...we’ll find out who really killed Darius."
Silence filled the room after the doors shut behind them.
For several moments nobody spoke or moved.
Bloodstain remained standing there, frozen, watching the door.
His expression slowly twisted into frustration, disbelief and anger.
Suddenly...
CRASH!
A nearby table exploded into splinters beneath his fist.
"They think I’m crazy," Bloodstain laughed bitterly. "They actually think I’m crazy."
The laughter became louder, more unhinged, frustrated and desperate because exactly how impossible the truth sounded.
And this impossibility was what shielded West.
•••
•••
Later that week, West knocked on the door to Mei’s bedroom.
"Come in..."
To his surprise, the moment West stepped in, he found Lianhua sitting on the edge of the bed beside her daughter. Mei looked up with wide eyes and reached for his hand as he stepped inside.
"West, please, I know how this might sound," Mei voiced with a low and urgent tone. "But mom needs help... She hasn’t been able to... you know... for a long time. I told you over text, remember?"
West blinked, forcing a confused expression across his face. He glanced between the two women. "Mei, what are you talking about? This feels wrong. What about your dad?"
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