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Chapter 71: The Mystery Of Ian Rose VI
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It was a long while before Ian found himself seated in a certain warehouse, a meeting location with Selina comfortably sitting on his lap.
She was hugging him tightly, and her eyes were closed, sleeping peacefully. She was understandably exhausted due to their latest training session.
The moment they med, they didn't leave each other's side, not one step away until they released all the adoration they had for each other in a flurry of pure passion.
In contrast to the previous times, the training session this time went for a long while, all because of his ring.
Not unexpected for Ian as the ring is always absorbing his life force, and while it wasn't able to absorb all of his released life force in the middle of the session, the ring was still able to lift a lot of burden from Selina's shoulders which allowed them to enjoy their intimate training much more.
Ian gently stroked the black Rose and sensed the space within. The process was wonderful, and still just as fascinating to him as it was the first time.
'The space expanded quite a bit, especially in the middle of the session. Intimate activities do really make me release more of my life force. It's the size of a room now, so that should be enough for my next project... Hmm, what should I call it? Hell Zone? Fire Domain? Nah, they aren't suitable.'
Ian pulled out Trigon's scroll. He noted that it has started to regain its radiance since the incident. The scroll seems to be able to infinitely generate Devil's fire through some unknown means though it takes time.
He started the project right there and then. He opened the scroll and instantly transferred it to the ring.
Nature was allowed to take its course, a hellish nature.
Ian opted to caress Selina's silky hair as he waited for his expected guests to arrive though Selina woke up before they arrive. She let out a cute yawn as Ian said with a chuckle, "Good morning, I guess?"
"Tha- That was intense," Selina gently mumbled with a blush. His life force finally didn't get in the way as much, so they were able to enjoy themselves way more than before. Albeit, the final step was still a barrier they can't pass through.
"How?"
"A new toy I recently acquired through a fair deal. It absorbs my life force." Ian chuckled and showed her the black Rose, a gorgeous little thing it was.
Selina's eyes sparkled as she eyed the ring, "Don't tell me?"
Ian smiled, noticing her interest in it, "Indeed, it's made of black diamond, a secret project of mine. The result is as you see, spectacular. You seem like you want one?"
"Well, I-I certainly don't mind one..." Selina stuttered her words, seemingly lost in her own world of imagination.
Ian was amused by her antics, but didn't tease her for it, "I will find something better then, I'll already have an idea of what our next big heist will be."
"What is it?" Selina's emerald eyes shone as she asked with anticipation.
"Hmm, I will tell you later. Let it be a surprise."
Selina let out a cure pout but didn't complain. In fact, happiness was apparent on her face, "By the way, are we like immortals now? I mean, your life force is infinite. You're my infinite life force battery, so I am immortal as well?"
She couldn't help but let out a giggle at the end while Ian chuckled, "Yeah, I think so... Are you okay with that? Someone once said that Immortality is the condition of a dead man who doesn't believe he is dead. This speaks for humanity's fears of immortality and all that comes with that concept. What do you think?"
Selina frowned and started thinking seriously about the question before shaking her head, "I'm not sure." She spoke from her heart. She truly doesn't know how it feels to be an immortal, someone who can not die with time. Granted, it's only pseudo-immortality.
"I... I just don't know. What about you?" She questioned, unsure.
Ian stroked his chin, seemingly in a daze as he spoke.
"I asked such a question before, and I received an answer... He told me that he had never given the question much thought for his mind was always that of an immortal, and he told me that not all immortals are equal in mind.
I've seen many mortals in immortals' clothing. I've also seen a few immortals in a mortal's clothing... Ponder my words, and you shall understand when the time arrives. These were his words."
The duo remained silent for a while more before Selina asked with curiosity, "Who was it? Who told you such words?"
Ian frowned, getting out of his trance. The more he thought about his words, the bigger his frown became, "I don't remember, or more like I don't know..."
Those weren't words that Ian would forget, and he knows that, yet he felt like they had just surfaced in his mind. Moreover, he forgot of the person who spoke such words.
The keywords were 'He told me.' Ian tried to remember again and again, yet nothing came to mind, 'Just what am I? And what is it that I don't remember? Who spoke those words to me? More questions to be answered.'
His frown soon turned to a smile as he noticed Selina looking at him with worry, "Don't worry about it. I am sure everything will be alright. Surely nothing bad can happen, right?"
Selina was a bit confused about his matter of speech, "Why did you say it like that? It sounded like you wanted things to go wrong."
"Hm? I am just trying to trigger Murphy's law."
"Murphy's law?"
Ian let out a mischievous smile, "The fifth law states that if everything seems to be going well, you have obviously overlooked something.
Things were going very well for me as of recently, so I find myself often wondering, what is it that I am overlooking?
So I decided to trigger the first law. Anything that can go wrong, will go wrong. I want things to go as badly as possible to test a theory of mine, sounds amusing no?"
"Hahahaha so silly." Selina just laughed it off and didn't question his words. She was just entertained by his bizarre antics.
It wasn't long before a large truck entered the warehouse. Ian stood up and approached the truck though he welcomed his friends first with a hug.
"Did you do it? How?" Barney was the first to jump on asking.
"I did, all due to God's blessing." Ian shrugged his shoulders as he started opening the truck.
"God actually exists?" Mike wondered as if he had believed his words.
"Who knows? I was just joking. I just got myself a new toy and used it." Ian eyed the things within the truck, his collection. All were well maintained, the only things missing were the Kryptonian swords and Trigon's scroll pieces which he took with him.
They were now in his ring, soon to be joined by the rest of the collection as Ian lifted his left hand and focused on manipulating his life force, something only he can see.
"What are you doing?" Barney wondered while the rest were also looking at him strangely.
"Hm? Don't mind me, just wait at the table until am done." They however stayed and watched as he behaved like someone insane. Then again, is it strange for a crazy person to behave like a crazy person?
'It's rough. Despite my improving mastery, it's still hard to teleport so many things at once.' That went on for a few minutes before the collection simply disappeared, leaving the truck empty.
"What in the actual fuck?"
"I want something like that!"
"Huhh? How are things getting crazier by the day? I swear sometimes I wonder if I'm just on crack and am actually still in the warehouse passed out." Ralf let out a sigh as he rubbed his temples in exasperation.
"Don't mind it, and let's get to the important stuff." Ian waved his hand and went back to the table, taking a seat next to Selina.
'That's not important???' Was the question in everyone's mind, even Selina as she eyed the ring.
Only Layla seemed calm... On the outside at least.
"Alright, this meeting will be brief as we have a lot of things to do.
First, we should reconstruct the Cat's rest. This will be left to you Ralf, contact the best construction company there is. We'll build it to be bigger and better than before.
What doesn't kill you, makes you stronger, and we shall build a stronger base. This phrase should be known to every Rose in the city. While it may be generic, it still works to lift everyone's spirit.
The houses around the cat's rest are already ours, so we will bring them down and expand the base.
Next, all the crime heads are dead and I believe you're already on the task I gave you, right?"
Ralf nodded, already knowing of the fall of the crime lords, "Some of the targets are already dead, but we're still in the process of finding the others and finishing the job."
"Great, the fall of the crime lords won't cause the fall of their families, someone else will simply take their place, so we have to act quickly amidst the chaos.
Remember, the only thing between us and ruling Gotham is how quickly we can act, so let's get to work."
At that point, even Barney had to agree with Ralf, they were probably on crack, 'Weren't we just a bunch of beggars feeding on leftovers of other people not even a full year ago? How did we come so far?'
Barney followed after Mike, Layla, and Ralf, eyeing all of his friends... No, family, 'If I am hallucinating, then I don't want to wake up, or at least wait until I acquire a gigantic sparkling diamond... Please?'
"I should really forget about common sense with you, shou..." Selina started speaking with exasperation.
Ian noticed she choked her words and looked behind him with her eyes wide in bewilderment. They should be alone in the place by now, so the first thing that came to Ian's mind was, "Ghosts? Or..."
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