"Why?! How can you be this stupid?! To think you would actually give your life for a woman?! This is not how it was supposed to happen!" Dale cursed at Dylan.
"I thought you wanted to kill me. But it seems like you wanted me to run away instead." Dylan sneered.
"Tch, I just didn't expect I would kill you this easily. Heh, but this is actually good for me. I can kill you now! Then, I'll savor this moment over and over again in my dreams." Dale chuckled with a forced laugh.
"What about the employees, are they safe?" Dylan asked for concern towards his subordinates.
"Still worrying about others even when you're about to face death? Tch, what are you a saint?" Dale sneered.
"They are men I took under my wing and they are innocent. They don't need to be involved in my personal matters. So, are they?" Dylan asked again.
"Tch, I had most of the night shift employees leave early tonight but as for those who fought to find you, the masked beasts must have either dealt with them or let them go if they did not offer resistance." Dale replied while rolling his eyes.
"Okay. Is the code audio based? Is it your fingerprint?" Dylan went straight to the point.
Dylan knew that it wasn't possible to save everyone but at least most were safe. He had already ordered Alice and Jared to give up resisting by saying that he was already safe.
"It's this chip. You just need to attach this to the waist restrainer and it will release her." Dale took out a chip and said.
[He's saying the truth] Daedalus confirmed. Dylan asked Daedalus to determine whether he's telling the truth or not by examining his brain waves.
"Okay. Throw it to me while I throw the coat to you. We'll release it in three seconds." Dylan said.
"Fine." Dale agreed.
After three seconds, the exchange was made. Dylan grabbed the chip while Dale received the Cloak of Death.
It was also that moment that Dylan grabbed a mirror shard the size of his ear under his feet and aimed at Dale's eye and punctured his brain!
'Without his two guns, I can kill him with this!' Dylan was going all out to throw the shard.
But, Dale was smiling all along and Dylan froze when he saw him smile. Dylan followed his line of sight and he trembled when he saw that Dale actually had taken out a third gun!
But Dale's target wasn't him, it was Rose!
'I may not be able to hit you with bullets but I am sure as hell to shoot her with it!!' Dale has already locked on Rose.
It was also that split second that Dylan threw the shard prematurely which made the shard deviate from Dylan's intended target. But it was still able to hit Dale's forehead.
*Bang!*
It was by doing so that he managed to shield Rose from the bullet with his body but it also made him enter a critical state because his right lung was punctured by the bullet.
"Gargh!!" Dale screamed in pain. The shard had so much strength that it actually made the mirror shard stuck on Dale's forehead.
If there was an even closer inspection through an x-ray, Dale would be shocked to see that there were cracks on his cranium. If Dylan could put a bit more strength, then Dale's cranium would have been cracked open!
"Shit! There's only five minutes left!" Dale suddenly remembered that there was only less than five minutes till midnight which was the time he set for the bomb to explode!
Thus, he ran away for his life and planned to leave with a car from the Emergency Exit. But before he left, he made sure to aim at Rose and fire three more bullets to kill Dylan!
*Bang!* * Bang!* *Bang!*
Dylan gritted his teeth as he endured all the bullets to shield Rose and his child! The first shot hit his stomach but he did not falter nor grunt. The second struck his sternum but he still did not let out a scream!
The third bullet hit his left hip and crushed the joint that connects his left leg but he still did not let out a single noise. However, the recoil of the shots made him fall over Rose's lap.
"Dylan!!" Rose cried out. Her tears flowed down even more and her face frightened. There was nothing more heart-wrenching than having your beloved die while you could not do anything about it.
"Die, Dylan! Hahaha!" Dale merrily laughed before he left his office.
"I never thought... kuh... that he would actually have another gun...Hehe..." Dylan said as blood flowed from his mouth. He placed his left hand on Rose's waist and placed the chip.
Once the chip made contact with the restrainer, Rose was finally freed from the chair. Dylan, then, looked at Rose and weakly smiled, "See... I saved you like I promised... Hehe..."
"Yes, you did... *sobs*...You always have..." Rose cried as she held Dylan's bloodied body. Then, her face went pale when she felt his body losing heat.
"Dylan, you're...."
"I'm not.... ugh... going to last any longer... I'm already finished... You need to go and save our child..." Dylan urged Rose.
"No!! I'm not leaving her without you!" Rose cried as she carried Dylan on her back.
She threw the other shoe she was still wearing and slowly walked towards the exit.
She did not even mind the debris of glass that stabbed on her feet as she pushed forward. She gritted her teeth as she ran as she could
"Rose, leave me... I can't move properly. I'll only drag you down. There's only three minutes left... You can still make it... guh... Take the stairs and you can get out..." Dylan tried to persuade Rose but she did not listen.
"Shut up!" Rose shouted as her tears poured.
She carried Dylan with all her strength. Even though debris like broken glass shards are digging the soles of her feet, it was apparent that it was not the reason why she was crying.
Her voice started to lose volume as it continued to break, " Don't say things like that! Why... *sobs*..."
" You've always been like this! This is just like last time... You nearly got killed because of me! Now, you really might die! You're always selflessly throwing yourself in danger for me! If not for me, then maybe... maybe..."
"I..." Dylan was speechless. It seems like her actions caused Rose to feel responsible for everything.
Rose expressed her feelings with all her heart and continued walking to the executive elevator.
"You're not being fair at all! You wanted me to run away for our child but you did not leave me when the doctor said there was nearly no chance that I could bear one! Despite knowing that you could have just divorced me and find another woman, you stayed with me! I told you we could try for surrogacy but you did not want to!"
"You're always being selfless and considerate to me! Don't think that you're the only one who could selflessly sacrifice their life in our marriage?! I'll save you! But, if you're gonna die, I will die with you! That's why I'm going to stay with you too!"
Dylan was stunned by this. He became silent for a while and smiled blissfully, "Alright... I'll listen to my dear wife... Actually, it's not so bad to be carried by you like this... Hehe..."
They soon reached the executive elevator. Rose pressed the button continuously but she saw that the elevator was actually not at the 100th floor as she thought. It was actually on the ground floor!
"That bastard! He took back his word! Dale, you devil! He actually made the elevator go to the ground floor!" Rose cursed at Dale when she saw the elevator currently ascending the building.
It would just take it four to five minutes for it to reach the top without delay from any other floor. But, in the situation they were in, those five minutes were equivalent to sentencing the both of them to death.
Despair. That was what Rose felt. Her knees weakened and she knelt on the ground.
"Dale won... He got your coat and he will take over the company... The bomb will set off in a minute... So, this is it, huh?" Rose said in defeat.
Somehow, she was still able to smile. She made Dylan sit beside the wall and sat by him. She said while resting her head on her chest, "But if there was a silver lining from all of this, it would be dying beside you and fulfilling our marriage vows. Till death do us part, right, Hubby?"
"Hahaha, you're right, love. Till death do us part." Dylan lightly laughed as he kissed her wife.
Suddenly, a cold gleam arose from Dylan's face. 'Dale, you seriously think I'm going to let you enjoy a carefree life after we die? I'm going to make you live a miserable life from here on out! Consider this my curse!'
Dylan viciously commanded, 'Daedalus, let me give you my last commands. Send the video footage of today's fight in the parking lot to the presidents of Russia, China, United States, North Korea, Japan and other superpowers! Use the same method to inform the big shots of the underworld! Last but not the least, activate the self-destruct sequence on the nanobots!'
[Hahaha, going out with a bang ,ey? Let's do it!] Daedalus immediately got it done. Using Dylan's master code, he infiltrated Omega's interface and sent the CCTV footage of the fight!
Like, how Dylan anticipated, the next day, the world was thrown into chaos. The power of the Android Project, the wonders of the Nanobots and the terrifying strength of the E-Trans caused all superpowers to initiate a worldwide search for Dale Ford.
But Dale was not someone who was easy to find as he disappeared from the company. His disappearance made the country leaders launch an assault on Five Main Branches of Omega in the pretense of the company possessing technology capable of dominating the world.
Once they found out Dylan's research, this caused their greed to soar as each of them wanted to seize the power to themselves. Eventually, the power struggle gave rise to Civil Wars and eventually turned to World War 3!
Dale would be branded as a criminal that caused the war and would soon be found after 20 years of war to which he would be publicly executed for the world to see.
...
One minute was up and the bomb exploded...
From the outside, one could see an astonishing golden light illuminate the 107th floor...
It was also at that moment that a large pure white lightning descended from the pitch black clouds and devoured the eight topmost building of Omega Tower..
This astonishing caused a great uproar that this event would late be known as the " White Death" as it caused the death of both Dylan Ford and his wife, Roselyn Ford
....
As Dylan's life reached its end, his life flashed before him.
Omega, the company which is known all over the world today. The company which only started 15 years ago is now a global business giant in this age!
The rise of the company was all due to the efforts of Dylan Ford. He was an asian orphan that lived in the streets of New York. He lived without ever knowing his parents or relatives.
With his efforts, he single handedly established Omega and developed it all the way to the top of the world. His story was a legend and an inspiration for many.
He used to live in a warehouse until he was 6 where local mafia thugs gathered orphans to have them beg for money and collected all of the earned money. Only leaving barely enough food for the food to eat and only giving them ragged cloth as their blankets to sleep with.
When he was 6, Dylan and the other kids escaped from that warehouse because he heard the thug talking with another man that he would be selling him and the others to some human trafficking organization.
Unfortunately, it was only him and his little brother who was able to successfully escape. He struggled to find a home for him and his brother who was only 3 years old at that time. To make things worse, Dale was a child who got sick often.
Almost everyday it was hard fought for him in order to survive. He stole food, he beat others to defend himself, and he ran from those he can't beat. He lived a nomadic life and never stayed in one place for three days. He went to one city after the other to escape with their lives.
They were treated like outcasts and even pests by other people. He protected his brother as he was regularly getting beaten up by delinquents, gang members and thugs.
He started learning how to fight at a tender age of 6. At 8, he could beat teenagers a few years older than him.
At 10, he could beat an adult twice his size. At 12, he could beat local thug groups with dozens of members all by himself.
By the time he reached 15, he became a local mafia boss with hundreds of subordinates and several buildings as his territory.
Dylan knew that he could have lived like that for the rest of life with all the money he earned from his members. He used the money to cure his brother's leukemia.
However, the money he earned as a boss was nowhere near enough. So, he started finding other ways to earn money.
He knew his talent was in fighting after the tens of thousands of fights that he had been through. That's why he decided to learn martial arts and aimed to be a professional MMA Fighter where he could earn money the fast way.
In 3 years, he successfully learned boxing and Kyokushin karate for stable punches and combos, muay thai for elbow blows and knee strikes, taekwondo and judo for using kicks and throws, jujitsu for grapples and locks. He started adapting them and his previous style of fighting and formed his own style of martial arts.
His terrifying talent earned the recognition of all the dojos he joined. His masters praised him as a monstrous student who learned just by seeing it once. His fellow students felt respect and fear for his talent. This shocked the media when they later dug up his past.
At 18, his debut in MMA shocked the world by finishing his fellow rookie in 4 seconds! He continued to deliver flawless victories and fought an average of 4 to 5 matches a year. Two and a half years later, he won the middleweight title in the USA.
At 23, with 25 wins and no loss, all of which were K.Os, he became the World Middleweight Champion of the UFC Tournament. He was also able to finally cure his brother of his sickness.
However, after he earned that title, he announced his retirement. The entire world was in an uproar. Why would a young UFC legend such as him retire at the peak of his career.
Dylan disappeared for half a year before returning to the public eye. He was mobbed by the reporters and was asked whether he would come back to UFC or not and what were his plans in the future.
He simply replied, "I want to start my own company."
Critics claimed he was crazy and heretic. Some say he was drunk on power and wealth. Businessmen and Tycoons were enraged and berated him.
However, he proved them otherwise. He disregarded the opinions of the masses and those so called experts. He was threatened non stop but he was able to survive and push through.
In a year, the young man just past his twenties was able to establish a technological company in New York City that he named Omega. In four years, he rose up to the ranks of national brands. Ten years later, he went international and made branches in Asia, Europe, and South America.
Currently, the fifteenth year ever since the founding of the company. Omega split into two, the Omega Tech Company and Omega Group of Companies. One responsible for the development of the leading technology in the world and the other a conglomerate of different types of business.
He created another legend under his belt and earned a new title far different from his MMA title. He was recognized to be the Greatest Businessman due to his feat of singlehandedly establishing the giant named Omega!
From a homeless orphan to a local mafia boss, he persevered and became an MMA Legend. The MMA Legend then retired to become the Greatest Businessman. A true legend of his time.
But behind his awe-inspiring visage, a terrifying secret was hidden from the eyes and ears of the masses. He had not only conquered the business world. Also one of the biggest reasons, Dylan was able to quickly rise to the top.
He had also conquered the underworld using a pseudonym that would bring terror to everyone in the underworld!
Hades!
One of the 3 Kings of the Underworld that monopolize the trades of different illegal goods such as illegal firearms, drugs, human trafficking, etc. .
The title of 3 kings namely, Hades, Diablo and Lucifer, can be passed down by the holder with the qualifications based on his own discretion. Each possesses a domain of illegal goods of their own.
Hades controls the entire flow of fire-arms and technology not released mainstream. With a flick of his finger, countless people could be shot down in an instant. In his arsenal, weapons of mass destruction could be easily revealed and used along with vicious murderers that served under him.
The story behind his success in the underworld was that he was chosen as a participant by a great mafia boss for the Dark Tournament. A tournament in which anything goes, you can use any weapon or martial arts.
A brawl where you can win by any means necessary. The basis of winning was that either the fighter concedes or is unable to battle. Even killing was allowed in this tournament.
This is a significant tournament that was used to decide who can get friendly relations and a transaction with the 3 Kings of the Underworld. It is sometimes used by the 3 Kings to pick their next successor.
Dylan participated in the tournament as his brother's life was used as by the mafia boss that chose him. So, he gritted his teeth as he participated in this malevolent tournament where only less than one percent of the ten thousand partcipant's live.
Dylan fought with a lot of dangerous foes starting from the qualifiers up until the final stage. But in that tournament where anywhere goes, he let loose and he completed his own martial arts and became a true beast.
He learned as he fought and became stronger with each opponent he faced. In a place where his death can be determined in a single second, he did not shrink back, instead, he grew agressively.
Unfortunately, he only reached the semifinals and placed third of the entire tournament.
However, he still shocked most of the influential figures of the underworld. He was first recruited as a bodyguard by a mafia clan. There, he displayed his talents in negotiation and eventually rose in status.
Dylan formed his own faction in the underworld which later became a truly terrifying organization due to his efforts. He later piqued the interest of the previous Hades and was declared to be a candidate for succession.
Eliminating countless competition and expanding his influence, he finally became Hades, an Underworld King.
The man with both the title Underworld King Hades and Greatest Businessman has now died...
...
In a vast empty space that seemed to be infinite and endless, there were no stars, planets or galaxies anywhere in it but a strange milky white energy could be seen densely scattered everywhere.
There seemed to be no signs of life along this space; only deafening silence existed along with the subtle flow of the strange milky white energy along it.
Suddenly, a pair of eyes opened somewhere within this space. Concurrently, the figure of a human started to materialize as the milky white energy was being sucked towards this person.
The next moment, the person was fully formed and a man with otherworldly charm appeared while sitting cross-legged. His face was devastatingly dashing and exuded an exuberant aura of masculinity.
This otherworldly handsome man seemed to look around twenty one years old with a height of one hundred ninety centimeters. This young looking man had crimson hair that accentuated his striking gold eyes.
His body was well built and very proportional to his handsome face. He opened his mouth as a charming voice sounded, "How many eternities has it been already...?"
When he stood up, his aura was briefly unleashed and at that moment, it was as if the entire universe had to bow down in front of his grandeur.
Quickly recalling his aura, he extended his right hand outwards as the milky white energy spiraled and formed a transparent mirror that emitted the similar energy.
He muttered to himself as he covered his mouth with his left when he yawned, "Hm, why is Retribution so agitated?"
The transparent mirror, then flashed, the image of a large galaxy-like domain that had the label of Cosmic God Region.
It zoomed towards the planet with the name Great Mystic World!
It flashed once more as an extremely large continent was shown on the mirror almost three times the size of the theorized size of pangaea.
This large continent is known as the Grand Haven Continent which the Mystical Clouds Country belonged to. A surprised look on the face of the red haired man emerged, "A Minor World? This is why he's agitated?"
Suddenly, nine images of different people started to appear as they pointed out a certain spot of the continent which implied the location of the person shown in the image.
Among those pictures, Dylan was included. Very close to their images were a dog, three men and two women were also found. The other two were rather far from the previous seven and their images were not shown clearly.
An amused smile appeared on the man's face as he mumbled, "Nine unknowns, huh? For a Minor World, this is... a miracle over miracles! A high ranking Cosmic Beast, A person who has an Avatar of Celestial Lotus, A man who possesses the Ultimate Thunder..."
"A girl who possesses the heart of the Sword Sage, Another who possesses the Absolute Frost Physique, two transmigrators, an ancient cultivator who time traveled and a person who returned from the past. No wonder, Retribution is angry..."
"Hahaha! Very interesting. I wonder if any of them could break the boundaries of my universe and join me?"