Chapter 33: Actions That Turn The Heart Black
"Ahhh hmmm"
John came out of the washroom wrapped in a towel, yawning.
Vrrr!
"Hmm?"
He looked at his vibrating com-link.
[Dad, if you don't come to get me now, you'll probably have to pick up my dead body in a random ditch somewhere]
'This was sent by Alfred? Wasn't he just going to the army library? Who the fuck dares to run rampant in this place? Are they seeking death?'
John hurriedly donned some casual wear while thinking to himself.
...
"Hahaha-... Eh!?" She froze.
She started trembling. Her eyes rolled around in their sockets, her head rattling like a drum.
"Lies!" She refuted.
"You're just lying to avoid punishment!" She got ever more agitated.
"Quickly! Kenny, quickly drag this wild beast away!"
"..."
"Kenny!?" She started looking for the missing Kenny.
A scrawny stealthy figure was hiding at the back of the crowd, watching the crazy woman with schadenfreude.
'What an idiot! Do you think any random kid could come waltzing into the army base? Or even worse, how can an ordinary soldier give their kid access to the military library? This bitch must have shit for brains.' Kenny looked at the crazy woman.
'I humoured you cuz you have a little backing. Now you want to drag me to hell with you before I even reap my investment? It seems like you mistook me for your little lapdog. If you want to die so much, you don't need to go through all this trouble...' Kenny sneered before shaking his head. 'I better get out of here before that kid's old man shows up, lest I be implicated in this farce.' Kenny took off, making himself scarce.
...
Whoosh!
"Would someone mind telling me what's going on here?"
A suppressive aura bore down on everyone present.
"..."
The onlookers looked at the newcomer with fear and awe in their eyes.
Slicked back curly brown hair, wheat-coloured skin, square-faced with hawk-like eyes, and chiselled features...
'Hotdamn! It's really the Marshall!'
'That's right! Wasn't there a code black regarding a Calamity beast in the afternoon? Who else can solve it except the Marshall? That wild bitch really fucked up big this time!'
"It looks like the Marshall was passing by with his kid and stopped to solve the crisis but got stuck here for some reason. Now his kid came to ease his boredom but got bitten by that wild dog." Someone whispered.
"Yeah but... who would expect a 6-year-old kid to come to the army library where the one crazy wild dog was to ease his boredom...?" his companion whispered back.
"I know right? Freak chance amongst freak chances." He shook his head.
"..."
Whisper Whisper
Some of the keener individuals remembered the earlier incident and realized the crux of the issue.
...
"So? What's going on here? Who wants to drag away my son? And why?" John asked calmly.
"Dad-" Alfred began to explain.
"Hold on, this is the army. It's not your turn to speak. There are rules here." John waved him off, stopping him from speaking.
Seeing his impartiality, the surrounding soldiers felt more at ease and had looks of respect in their eyes.
"R-Reporting to the G-General, this child e-entered the wrong building s-so I-I-I asked him t-to leave. T-Trespassing on a-army property is a s-s-serious o-offence... I-I-I did it to p-protect that c-cute c-child." Ann Gonzalez stammered out in her defence.
"Trespass? Who said he was trespassing?" John looked at the shivering and staggering wreck of a woman.
"Did you check if he had the right to enter?" He asked calmly.
"..."
"You didn't right?" John's gaze turned sharp while his aura bored down on her.
Thump!
Her knees buckled from the pressure as they slammed into the hard tiles.
"Ahh!" She screamed out.
"Shut up!" John increased his pressure.
"N-No, I didn't check..."
"Did he tell you he had a pass?" John asked again.
"Y-Yes"
"And yet you wanted to arrest him and haul him off? To do what!?" John roared.
He could just imagine.
What if he wasn't here? Or treated Alfred's message as a joke from a little kid? Who knows what would have happened? Maybe he would have to pick up a cold corpse from some ditch as Alfred had said. This world had way too many dark-hearted people.
'Geri has to explain how he's running this base!'
John grew more furious just thinking about it. He just took his eyes off the kid for an hour or two, and he almost disappeared from the face of the planet just like that.
Ann Gonzalez felt stifled.
Her heart felt like it was going to explode from her chest. First, there was fear and dread. Then came anger, resentment, humiliation, defiance, jealousy, and hatred. All sorts of negative emotions boiled over, stewing into a hodgepodge of a mess of emotions.
She gritted her teeth... and roared.
"THAT VILE BEAST OFFENDED ME! WHY ARE YOU HELPING HIM!? WHY DID NOBODY HELP ME WHEN I NEEDED IT!? EVERYONE STOOD BY AND WATCHED THEM HUMILIATE ME! WHY IS THE WORLD SO UNFAIR!? WHY!?"
"..."
The foyer fell silent.
"Was there such a thing?" one of the spectators asked in a whisper.
"Yeah, I heard about it four years ago. The case lacked evidence, and I heard that a bigwig was pulling strings to make the case disappear" someone answered.
"..."
How high was John's cultivation?
He frowned while taking in the various conversations around him. He looked at the kneeling Ann Gonzalez, contemplating.
He walked in front of her and waved his hand, creating a thin red isolating barrier around the two of them.
"You were plotted against? tell me your story" John looked at her with a frown.
"... four years ago..." she began retelling her story while sobbing.
...
The onlookers looked at the thin red barrier with shock in their eyes. When could they come in contact with such powers? As for the Espers in the area, they could only dream of reaching such a level one day.
...
"...ever since then, I could only watch them swaggering in front of me while enduring in silence." She finished.
"So, you're saying... Ten of them raped you, while the captain of the Laughing Viper mercenary group kept extending his hand and suppressing the case at every turn?" John asked for confirmation.
"Yes!" Anne gritted her teeth.
"Then how did you get a job here, and why does he suppress you? Was he one of the ten?" John asked.
"..."
"My brother's wife's uncle's girlfriend's father's son-in-law is the vice-chancellor of the library here, but he is only a peak Crysalis realm and doesn't have high prospects. So he doesn't want to offend the "Serpent" who has others of similar strength in his back pocket in the base. As for how the Serpent was involved? His son was the first one who raped me. I refused his repeated advances, which offended him. You can guess what happened next." She had a vacant look in her eyes just remembering her harrowing experience.
"..."
John looked at her with confliction in his eyes. To think such corruption was silently festering here. Do they want to turn the army base into an underground organization? He really had to talk to Geri before he left.
"I can't promise you justice. But as I said earlier, this is the army base. Rules and laws are present here, that also extends to you. At the very least, I will have the army commander investigate things thoroughly. Of course, your crimes will also be judged accordingly, you can't just walk away scot-free." John said seriously.