AHEIAID Chapter 45: Madman!
| Previous | Table of Contents | Next |
Joey lay on the sofa, a blanket covering his stomach, furiously tapping on the communicator screen with a fierce expression, arguing with an online user.
[User]: "Zone 13 always boasts, but when something actually happens, they all run away! What ‘Garius Heine’s last sanctuary’—bullshit! They’re just a bunch of useless freeloaders!"
Joey gritted his teeth in anger.
Daring to insult my father?
Looking for death!
[Joey]: "Who the hell are you, bro? Of course, their actions need to be covert! Do you think this is some action movie? And what’s wrong with freeloading? Did they eat your rice? Did they take your dried fish? Ever heard the saying: 'A true warrior fights for his meals'?"
[User]: "So Garius equals a true warrior, and a true warrior equals your dad? Pfft!"
[User]: "Oh wow, another blind follower of Zone 13. Looking at your grammar mistakes, who even knows if I’m arguing with a person or a dog? rolls eyes"
[Joey]: "Haha, you actually got it right. I’m indeed not human (I’m an Ottoman). So what? You gonna bite me? Come at me, you bastard!"
As the argument grew fiercer, the system anxiously tried to calm Joey down.
[System]: "Come on, why are you getting worked up over some online troll? Don’t get too emotional—you’re carrying a child! My performance review—cough, I mean, Heine’s future—is in your belly!"
Joey snorted and slammed the table.
"No way! I must defend Garius’s honor!"
[System]: "You’ve been doing that for days! Fighting the whole internet by yourself? What are you, a mop-wielding Lu Bu? And honestly, aside from improving your Ottoman language skills, this isn’t accomplishing anything—"
"You know nothing!" Joey declared with fighting spirit.
"Never back down, always fight for your dignity! If they insult my father, I’ll battle them to the death!"
[System]: "…"
The system didn’t get it. All it knew was that if Joey kept getting this emotional, he might lose the baby. And if that happened, Garius might go from a guardian angel to a vengeful demon when he found out…
Muttering to itself, the system quietly corrected Joey’s typos while also connecting to the mansion’s surveillance network.
Everything seemed normal.
The butler, Lucian, was humming a tune while preparing Joey’s nutritional meal. Other servants were cleaning. Armed robots and hidden security teams were stationed around the estate.
The system relaxed a bit.
Joey might be oblivious to the danger, but it wasn’t.
As an advanced artificial intelligence, it knew that the seeming safety of the mansion could be shattered at any moment. And when that happened, Joey—far more fragile than any Ottoman, and pregnant—would be dragged from his safe haven, becoming either a bargaining chip against Garius or a tool for vengeance.
In war, the families of enemies rarely met good ends.
The system had been through a lot with Joey. It genuinely cared about him now, more than it cared about mission success.
Just as it was making these thoughts, red warning triangles flooded the surveillance interface.
Almost at the same time, the mansion’s security system blared a danger alarm!
"Woooo—"
A deep, penetrating siren vibrated through the air, causing an involuntary shudder in everyone’s hearts.
Joey, startled, tumbled off the sofa with his blanket, hitting the soft carpet below.
It didn’t hurt.
But he wasted no time getting up, gripping the blanket and staring in confusion at the floor-to-ceiling windows.
Then he saw it.
A familiar sonic boom shook the sky. The heavens brightened, creating an illusion of water ripples in the air.
Joey’s dark eyes slowly widened, his pupils contracting violently in terror.
A blue shield—identical to Zone 13’s—encased the luxurious mansion like an inverted glass dome.
The sky above twisted under immense heat, its colors morphing from white to pink to orange-red—
And then, as the shield warped under pressure, invisible attackers became visible.
Joey finally saw what was attacking them.
It was like a whale in the sky.
Massive.
Slow.
Lazily stretching its deep-blue mechanical body across the heavens.
Against the backdrop of the clear sky, its shadow cast the opulent mansion below into insignificance.
And that was just the mothership.
Surrounding it were countless warships, like schools of fish following their leader.
The shield could block attacks, but it couldn’t stop the sheer pressure of such a colossal presence.
Can you imagine it?
Joey felt as though he was standing at the bottom of the ocean, gazing up at a monstrous leviathan looming above.
Goosebumps erupted across his skin.
His body shivered uncontrollably.
Holy shit…
Holy shit…
My deep-sea phobia and my megalophobia are BOTH acting up!!
[System]: "H-H-H-Host…?"
[System]: "RUN!!"
Joey clutched his blanket tightly, staring up at the behemoth.
"Run?" He murmured. "You think I can run from its head to its tail in a single day…?"
The system was drenched in virtual sweat.
Before Joey could process his next move, the doors burst open.
The usually cheerful middle-aged butler, Lucian, stepped inside.
But his expression had changed.
It was terrifyingly grim.
"Lucian…"
"No need to panic, madam. Follow me."
Sensing Joey’s unease, Lucian softened his gaze, placing a hand over his heart in a reassuring bow. Even now, with enemies at the gates, he remained impeccably composed.
He gently grasped Joey’s wrist and led him away, speaking in a calm tone:
"It’s nothing serious. Just some minor trouble. Stay in the underground safe room, and I’ll come for you when it’s over, alright?"
Minor trouble?
Minor trouble needs me to hide in a safe room?
Needs the usually obedient servants to arm themselves?
Lucian led Joey to a hidden underground chamber, unlocked the entrance, and guided him inside.
Before Lucian left, Joey grabbed his hand, looking up at the elder who had cared for him for so long.
His palms and forehead were slick with cold sweat.
"You have to live."
They held each other’s gaze for a moment.
Joey took a deep breath, voice trembling, as if something was lodged in his throat.
"Like the butler heroes in movies… Lucian, you have to survive."
Lucian was silent for a moment.
Then he simply placed his hand over his heart once more and turned away, vanishing beyond the metal door.
Joey slid to the ground, back against the wall, biting his fingernail as his mind spun in chaos.
_
Meanwhile, aboard the mothership…
Harry pressed a hand against the left side of his face, barely paying attention to District 2’s leader screaming at him.
Gold-green eyes flickered with boredom.
"The throne? Who cares?"
"My idiot brother will never beat me. It’s obvious."
But that’s so boring.
Instead, why not destroy the empire’s beloved guardian, Garius Heine?
If he could break the man—make him lose everything—make him hate the empire he once protected…
Harry shivered in pleasure.
"Kill them all," he commanded.
His lips curled into a grin.
"Except for the human. Leave no one alive."
T/N: Please give support on my ko-fi page, thank you🍊🍊🍊
Comments
Post a Comment