by Hao Yang
“Ah, Aaaaah.” Lilen screamed in pain and fell off the chair.
“Grandma, Grandma.” Truck shouted desperately as he ran to Lilen.
“Kiddo, don’t be stupid. Come on, help your grandma to sit back on the chair.” Heylon said as he flashed his gun.
Truck lifted Lilen from the blood stained ground gently and put her on the chair.
“Now, I am going to ask this one more time.” Heylon said as he pointed the pistol at Lilen’s head.
“She doesn’t know. She really doesn’t know! Lisania didn’t contact us.” Truck shouted.
“If that is the case, then you two are no longer useful to us.” Heylon said and pointed the gun at Truck.
“Wait! Wait! Jason can find the girl!” Truck yelled.
“Truck, shut up! Shut up!” Lilen screamed.
“I don’t want to die!” Truck cried.
“I am listening.” Heylon said happily.
“Jason know how to find Lisania. He will be back soon.” Truck said.
“Back to earth?”
“Yes, he will come back. He said that.” Truck said confidently.
“When?”
“I don’t know the exact time. But very soon. Now is the vacation time for all trainees in Guardian Fleet.”
“Alright, I trust you.” Heylon said casually.
“Bang.” He blasted Truck’s head off. Blood and skull pieces went everywhere.
“Jason won’t be here. Your mother fucker!” Lilen snarled at Heylon.
“We shall see.” Heylon smiled and motioned his man to take Lilen. Two gunmen grabbed her shoulder and dragged her out of the house.
Lisania knew what just happened in Lilen’s house, even though she didn’t actually see it. She tried to change Heylon’s mind, but it didn’t work. Now it was too late. She thought about saving Lilen by herself, but that wouldn’t save Jason from the incoming danger.
Chapter 77
Jason went back to Earth right after he sent away Gloria. When he walked into the slum at nightfall, he had no idea that Tioto’s gunmen were watching him. Jason made his way through narrow alleys, heading to Lilen’s house.
“Jason, it is me, Lisania.” A voice suddenly came into Jason’s head.
Jason looked around and only saw several children picking up glass bottles from a trash pile. He also checked rooftops and caught a gunman peeking at him.
“Jason, I am not around you. You can’t see me.” The voice came again.
Now Jason was confused. He knew Lisania didn’t have eyes and he couldn’t explain how she was now talking directly into his brain.
“What? You are Lisania?” Jason said in surprise.
“Yes, Jason you don’t need to speak it out. Just think what you want to say and then I will know.”
“OK. This is weird.” Jason sighed and kept walking.
“Jason, my eyes grew back and now I have the power to read minds.”
“What are you talking about? Your eyes regenerated?” Jason was shocked.
“Yes, I don’t know why. It just happened.”
“And you can read my mind and have this conversation without seeing me?” Jason thought.
“Yes.”
“Wow. I am surprised. I feel happy for you. At least, now you can see.” Jason heaved a sigh of relief.
“Thank you, Jason. That is all because of you.”
“I didn’t do anything.” Jason smiled.
“You just don’t know.”
“Lisania, is everything OK? Why can’t we have this conversation face to face?” Jason wondered.
“Jason, I am sorry. I have some bad news.”
“About Lilen?”
“Yes, Tioto abducted her and they killed Truck.”
Jason suddenly stopped, his hands shaking out of anger. It took him several seconds to calm down.
“What they want?”
“Tioto wanted to use her as a bargaining chip to ask you to find me.”
“How is my grandma? Where is she?”
“I don’t know.”
“What do you mean you don’t know? You can read others’ minds and you don’t know.”
“If someone was thinking about her, yes, I can find her.”
“So you don’t even know whether she is live or not.”
“No, but they won’t kill her.”
“You don’t know that.”
“Jason, I can find her and I need you to do something.”
“I will do anything to save my grandma.”
“Good. You go to your grandma’s place. Those gunmen will take you to see the dealer Tioto. Then you ask for the life proof for Lilen. The moment they provide it, I will read their minds and find out where she is.”
“OK. How did this happen? Why drug dealer got involved?”
“It was a long story. Tioto and his men found out I was a Hylocan. Then I had no choice but to work with them. I tried to keep your grandma safe.”
Jason let out a long sigh.
“I was worried that Glycan would find you, but not things like this. Do you have any plan to save my grandma?”
“They will ask you to find me. You take them to me. I will tell you the location later.”
“That is easy.” Jason flashed a stiff smile.
“Jason, I love you.”
“You think I am in the mood for this?”
“I just want to let you know.”
“Thank you.” Jason sighed.
“OK. I will talk to you later.” Lisania’s voice was gone.
Chapter 78
Twenty minutes later, Jason arrived at Lilen’s house. When he stepped into the living room, he almost threw up. Dozens of rats thronged what was left of Truck. If Lisania didn’t tell him, he couldn’t even tell it was Truck.
A man with a rifle on his back walked up the steps and said, “You must be wondering where your grandma is.”
Jason turned around and saw five gunmen around the porch. Another three walked into the living room from the back. They sandwiched Jason in between.
“Take it easy, man. You want to see her again, right?” Another man asked with an evil smile.
“You are damn right.” Jason shouted angrily.
“Follow me.”
They walked through the neighborhood and entered into a two-floor tattered house looking just like any other house in the slum. As they stepped into the living room, Jason first saw a small man in a chef outfit decorating cookies. That was Tioto. Then he saw another pudgy man sinking in an old-fashioned sofa.
“Just a second.” Tioto said gently as he slowly squeezed some cream on those cookies.
Jason had no time or appetite, tapping his feet on the floor impatiently.
“Did you see Truck?” Tioto asked nicely.
“Yes, part of him, if that is what you meant.” Jason said angrily.
“I hope this can save us from some bullshit.” Tioto smiled at Jason.
“Where is my grandma?” Jason asked directly.
“She is safe. Want a cookie?” Tioto said as he carefully picked up a cookie.
“I want to see her.” Jason said coldly, ignoring the cookie.
“I understand you need the proof of life. Heylon, please.” Tioto said as he glanced over at Heylon.
Heylon pushed a button on a remote control. On the big screen in the living room, it showed Lilen lying on the ground, covered in blood.
“Don’t you worry. Most of the blood was from Truck. But she is bleeding. So we better hurry.” Tioto said gently.
“What do you want?” Jason said hastily.
“I know you brought the girl here and I believe you can find her for us.”
Just at the moment, Jason heard Lisania’s voice in his brain. She told him the location and she was ready.
“How do I know you will let my grandma go?” Jason asked calmly.
“Oh, I will. Trust me.” Tioto said kindly.
“I just want to remind you. We all know Lisania’s power, if you don’t play alo
ng, you will play alone.” Heylon said decisively.
Jason paused for several seconds and said, “I know several places she might go.”
“Point it out on the map.” Tioto said leisurely as he took out a map from a drawer.
Jason pinpointed those locations and said, “Now, set my grandma free.”
“Hold on, big guy. You think we are stupid or something. This Hylocan bitch can read minds. It means before my men could even get close to her, she can just disappear. But it seemed that she trusts you. So this is what will happen. You will go to find her and use this on her.” Tioto said and handed Jason a pen.
“After you see her, press the button on the pen and it will shoot out a needle to paralyse her for some time.” Heylon said easily.
“After that, you will call us and we will take care of the rest and you will see your grandma.” Tioto said politely and gave Jason a phone.
“Do I need to tell you we know where you are all the time?” Heylon smirked.
“The faster you get it done, the sooner you will see your grandma.” Tioto said nicely.
“And I suggest you hurry on this. A lady as old as her may not have long.” Heylon said caringly.
“If anything happened to my grandma, I will burn this place down to the ground.” Jason said decisively.
“I hate to disappoint you. I have heard that many times in my life. Kiddo, don’t let your emotion get in the way.” Tioto said patiently.
Jason gave Tioto an angry stare, turned around and stepped out of the house. While he was heading to that location, he didn’t hear anything from Lisania. 30 minutes later, he arrived at the location Lisania send him. It was a torched three-floor house, its walls falling apart, its roof broken. Jason paused for several seconds, waiting for Lisania to give him some instructions. But there was nothing. He let out a long sigh and walked up on the charred stairs. The cement interior of the building was covered by soot and there was nothing in the room. Jason walked around and found a piece of white paper and a flashlight hanging on a wall. Jason stepped closer to the wall and gazed at the paper. It read “Hide in the basement and boom!”
Jason rushed to the basement and found a remote control and a sewer blueprint. He picked up the remote control and looked carefully at the blueprint. Then he pressed the button on the remote control.
“Boom! Boom! Boom!” A series of explosions leveled the building.
Chapter 79
As soon as Gloria got back to Sylareon, she had Jason’s blood analysed in an academic institution where she used to work during vacations. It turned out that Jason’s blood contained a very rare bacteria that mainly resided in the host bone marrow and bound to the peripheral nerve in bones. Because of its connection with the nerve system, the host’s neural activity could trigger its downstream reaction which in turns released the chemicals that boost the host’s physiques. As the bacteria propagated, it slowly consumed bone marrow and would eventually kill the host. This was exactly what Gloria worried and there was no information regarding how to remove the bacteria, so Gloria ran the simulation and found out that the cure was the blood of Tiegotteen. It was more like a creature in a fairy tale. It lived in the underwater forests and moved like lightning. Very few were able to see one and even fewer managed to catch one.
Gloria knew there was no way she could catch one on her own, but with the help of Jason and his friends, they would stand a much better chance. Thinking about this, she called Jason, but he didn’t pick it up.
“Maybe he is taking a shower, listening to music, playing with his grandma and friends.” Gloria murmured to herself. But the more she thought about it, the more she worried about Jason. She decided to go to see Jason.
Gloria knew she didn’t have time to waste on public transport. She didn’t have friends to ask for help and her few relatives were either as poor as her family or even poorer. Running out of options, she called Klaycon and asked for a favor. It was the last thing she wanted to do in her life, but when it came to save Jason, she could do anything.
Half an hour later, Klaycon piloted a combat vessel and landed it at the edge of the city just like Gloria instructed him.
Gloria rushed into the vessel and met Klaycon in the bridge.
“Hi, Gloria. I hope this meets your requirement.” Klaycon said gently.
“The combat armor suit?” Gloria asked coldly.
“At the back. I brought two, just in case you break one.”
“Thank you.” Gloria said sincerely.
“So, you don’t want to tell me what this about?” Klaycon asked caringly.
“Trust me. You better don’t know.”
“Is this having something to do with Jason?” Klaycon asked coldly.
Gloria paused for several seconds and said, “Klaycon. One day I will pay you back.”
“Gloria, you remember one thing. I am always here for you. Besides, it is an honor to be used by a beautiful lady like you. By the way, do you remember this place?” Klaycon said as he looked around at the plain ground.
“No.”
“It used to be a playground for kids.”
“And?” Gloria was not in the mood for this.
“Nothing. Nothing.” Klaycon smiled reluctantly.
“I gotta go.” Gloria said hastily.
“Yea, of course.” Klaycon said as he walked out of the bridge.
It took Gloria less than 30 minutes to reach Earth. Before the vessel entered the atmosphere, she called Jason again and Jason answered.
“Jason, are you alright? I called you before, but you didn’t answer.”
“I was knocked out by the explosion.”
“What?”
“I am trapped right now, in a sewer.” Jason said uneasily.
“I thought you went to visit your grandma in law.” Gloria said in surprise.
“Yes, I did. It is a long story. Where are you right now?”
“I am about to enter Earth atmosphere.”
“Why are you here?” Jason asked in confusion.
“It’s a long story. I will tell you when I see you. Right now I am scanning the planet for the badge you have and I will be there in less than 10 minutes.”
“Sounds good.”
“I will call you back.”
Jason was so excited and happy to hear Gloria’s voice. He literally screamed after he turned off the badge. When he said he was trapped, he meant every word. Apparently, Lisania didn’t really check the deserted sewer system that connected to the basement. The explosion knocked him out and when he woke up, he soon realized that the blueprint was out of date by a lot. All the outlets were blocked by either concrete or trash.
Gloria had the vessel suspend above the ground and jumped out of it in a Glycan combat armor suit. It was a 10 meters tall robot.
As Jason was wondering whether Lisania saved his grandma, he heard something right above him.
“Thump, thump, thump.” Something big was moving closer and the ground was trembling.
Jason’s badge was flashing and he answered it.
“Honey, step away, like 10 meters.” Gloria said from a combat armor suit.
“Got you.”
“Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!” Gloria was firing at the ground with the cannon on the armor suit.
Jason felt like he was in the middle of an earthquake. He couldn’t even stand on his feet.
Gloria quickly dug into the ground and now she was just meters away from Jason. She stopped fired and began to dig with hands.
“Bang! Bang! BAM!” Gloria punched through layers of concrete with huge robotic hands.
Beams of moonlight rayed into the underground. Then a huge robotic hand thrust in and peeled the opening wider. Gloria repeated this process several times, and then she laid the hand flat in the sewer.
“Jason, come on.” Gloria shouted.
“Alright.” Jason said happily as he ran to the hand. He stepped on it and Gloria slowly lifted the hand and brought Jason to the surface.
G
loria exited the armor suit. They hugged in the moonlight and kissed passionately for several seconds.
“You are always the trouble, you know that?” Gloria said happily.
“You fit that description better than me.” Jason chuckled.
They both laughed loudly.
Hundreds of people were gazing at them. Some of them were sitting on the roofs; some were stretching their heads out of windows and others were standing in the distance.
Just at this moment, Jason heard Lisania in his head.
“Jason, I got our grandma. She is very weak.”
“Where are you right now?”
“This is the location.”
Jason saw the coordinate in the brain.
“Alright, I will be there soon. You take care of grandma. And...Find a piece of cloth. You...need to cover your eyes and ears.”
“Why?”
“Trust me.”
“Is everything alright, honey?” Gloria asked caringly as she noticed Jason was lost.
“I am fine, just thinking about my grandma. She is not far from here. We need to get her.” Jason said hastily.
“Sure.”
Jason and Gloria went aboard the vessel. Jason was happy that he didn’t think about Gloria when he communicated with Lisania. However, he wasn’t sure how long that piece of cloth could cover the truth.
Chapter 80
The moment Heylon turned on the screen and showed Lilen to Jason, Lisania was able to locate Lilen by reading Heylon’s mind. She saw a image of a house at the edge of the slum. When Tioto and his men focused all attention on Jason, she found the house. There were only three guards, she gave them the notion that Tioto wanted to see them. Two of them left and Lisania killed the one left behind by tricking him to walk on one of the mines around the house. Then she rescued Lilen. When she contacted Jason, she and Lilen were hiding in a valley.
Lisania didn’t fully understand why Jason wanted her to cover her eyes and ears. But when she sensed Jason was closing in, she soon found out the Glycan girl Gloria was with him. It wasn’t that hard, because Jason kept thinking of her. Lisania also read Gloria’s mind and learned why she was here. For Lisania, she hated Glycan in her guts, but she didn’t want to fight Gloria especially when Lilen was dying. Right now she was thinking how to explain this to Jason.
