*TRING*
Hai expressionlessly looked at his ringing phone.
"Elena and Stella, please let me be alone for some minutes." He said while making a strange face.
Elena nodded and went away.
Stella fidgeted a little in her place and seemed to have something to say but Elena didn't let her and dragged her out.
Once they were out and closed the door, Hai cast a small soundproof barrier around him and picked the call.
"Didn't you know that it's rude to hang up on people's face?" A sweet voice came from the other side.
Hai looked at the air while leaning back in his chair.
"Aunt, weren't you supposed to be dead?"
The one who called him was no one other than his adopted aunt, Chang Hua.
During the plot, she was even less than an extra since the times she appeared in the background were even less than some small time rich old men, so her importance in the plot was null.
She was the adopted sister of Hai's mother and was treated as the black sheep of the family.
She got close to Hai due to whatever reason it's and as she wasn't part of the plot, Hai didn't mind it.
Chang Hua doted on Hai and he quite liked her.
Years went by, the plot kept progressing but always, Chang Hua would get into an accident and be declared dead.
She even had her own funeral and burial both which only Hai and his servants ever attended to.
But now, this same woman suddenly appeared again.
Hai knew that she probably wasn't dead because she was smart as hell, but as the years kept going on and the regressions came, he ended up starting to believe that maybe she wouldn't come back.
Now, he was proven wrong.
To say he was flabbergasted and happy would be a perfect way to describe his state right now.
"Dead? Do you want me dead, kid? Aren't you going to bawl your eyes out and stutter my name while I confirm that indeed, it's me?" Her voice was like someone asked another why they didn't follow a simple script.
"Aunt, you need to stop reading those romances of yours." Hai said but he still had a slight smile.
Chang Hua snorted but didn't say anything.
"Anyway, jokes aside, yes, I came back from the dead. Now, that isn't important. A little bird told me that you meddled with a mega corporation. Sweet, why did you do something so stupid? This isn't you." She was genuinely concerned.
Even the simple act of poking a mega corporation is a lunatic thing to do.
But Hai meddled directly with a branch of this mega corporation.
This was suicide.
"Well…" Hai started and looked outside at the fishes.
"You know, aunt… I recently got to know a girl-"
"A girl!? You did this all for a girl!? Is she at least pretty!?"
"No, she is a b*tch. Anyway, she got a pretty interesting plan that would also help me with somethings. But it all went downhill when one of her contacts betrayed her. Basically, she entered Krakler Firm's experimentation sites."
"…"
On the other side of the call, Chang Hua put her delicate hand on her forehead and rubbed it.
She held in a sigh before continuing.
"I see… So it wasn't in your control. Anyway, I can help you, sweet. I can get you out of the country, even your servants and your lover, Elena."
Hai looked towards a shark devouring a small fish and found his situation quite similar.
"Thanks aunt, but I will have to refuse. Although I appreciate your help, I still have things I need to do in China Federation." He stated while raising from his chair.
"…"
Chang Hua bit her bottom lip. She knows that Hai is quite stubborn sometimes, but she also knows that he is rational and wouldn't put himself or his loved ones in danger without a clear plan.
However, she can't help but worry for him.
"Sweet, if you ever need somewhere to stay, just say it to me, you already have my contact in your phone. And if you ever need reinforcements, just call me and I'll convince those old bastards to let some of our people help you." She said in a caring tone.
Hai looked at the shark who now was eaten by several small fishes and flashed a smile.
"Thanks aunt. Now, I have somethings to do. See ya."
"Later, sweet."
Then, Hai hung up the call.
He saved his aunt's contact and took in a deep breath.
As much as he was happy that she was alive and finally contacted him, he needed to do something important now.
"Alright." He muttered and walked to the door.
*CREAK*
He opened the door and saw Elena glaring at Stella to the point that the later was sweating.
Raising an eyebrow, Hai decided to not comment on it.
"You two, I will be going out for some hours. If I don't contact or come back in 3 days, move out of this location to another one, okay?" Right after, he walked away.
Elena hurriedly turned to him and opened her mouth but she closed it after she saw how far he already was.
'Young master…' She clenched her fist in frustration with herself for being useless in this situation.
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"Hum~ Hum~" Humming a melody, Hai was leisurely walking through the streets of Hong Kong while also keeping a close eye to his surroundings.
He was using less populated streets while also using some unknown routes to most people.
All in all, his behavior indicated that he was going to do something that should be kept a secret.
'How much longer?' He questioned himself while slowly feeling something drawing closer to his location.
After arriving at a small rundown park, he took a seat on the bench and waited.
"Hum~ Hum~" Closing his eyes, he kept humming while also noticing that whatever was drawing closer to him, had long since vanished.
Hai maintained his eyes closed until he felt something bright illuminating his face.
Opening his eyes, Hai looked up and what he saw wasn't the bright and clear sky of Hong Kong, but a sea of flames occupying where the sky was supposed to be.
Looking below, Hai saw that the ground was made of rocks with lava running through them.
And ironically, atop all the rocks there were patches of grass and beautiful flowers.
Looking at this strange yet beautiful scenery, Hai calmed himself down and waited for what was to come.
Then, a small whisp of flame appeared a few meters before him.
The small whisp started to burn and turned into a flame of the size of a person.
The flame assumed a humanoid shape and two white flames made its eyes.
"My master wishes to have a chat with you. Be glad, boy." A deep and powerful voice was heard from the flame man.
Hai heard his voice and felt his eardrums starting to heat up.
He limited himself to only smile and nod.
The flame extended his right hand and a small disk shoot from his hand to one rock a meter away in front of Hai.
The disk then started to lit some of its lights before a hologram was projected.
The hologram was a simple emblem of a phoenix sleeping on the sun.
"You seem to already know I wanted to talk with you." A womanly and melodic voice came from the other side.
Just this voice alone was enough to drive most men nuts.
Hai was glad that this was only a hologram or he would have real trouble in kept a conversation with her.
Not bothering with the small effects of her voice, he decided to be as straightforward as he needed.
"Indeed." He stated while noticing how the heat went up a notch.
"That is enough, Muspelheim." The voice said and the heat went back to normal.
"I'm sorry for my subordinate's attitude. Could you accept my apologies?" The voice said with sincerity.
'Smart woman.' Hai commented inwardly.
"I have taken no offense, madam." He spoke with a relaxed tone.
"Then, that is good. Now as for what I wanted to talk with you…" The voice trailed off at the end.
"I need some services from you."
This time, Hai raised an eyebrow at it.
Someone of THAT caliber is requesting his service? He finds it hard to believe.
"I know that you wouldn't believe in me, but that is the truth. You will be able to confirm it once I present a contract to you."
'So I have no way out, huh.' He wondered inwardly but showed nothing on his face.
"The contract, please." Upon hearing her voice, the flame man behind the disk snapped his fingers and a contract burned into existence before Hai.
Hai picked the contract in his hand and read all of its contents in a second.
He smiled bitterly after reading.
'What kind of contract is this?' He couldn't help but asked himself.
This contract was strange to say the least.
The thing had light clauses and the service specified was not something outright impossible nor too hard.
And this is what is strange.
If it isn't hard and she doesn't need a discardable pawn, why come to him?
"You might be confused, but I have my own reasons that I can't say." The voice said as if understanding Hai's doubts.
"Now, now. As stated in the contract, all I want you to do is to support my daughter for a few months. With the war and all, I'll need someone to keep an eye on her. Can you do it?"
Hai's eyebrow nearly twitched at her "question".
As if he can refuse. He isn't even in Hong Kong for now, he is in who-knows-where inside this space of flames and lava.
Looking at the hologram, he asked what he still couldn't understand.
"Why me?" There were several others able to do this job. Some even better than him.
One such example was Muspelheim there, he should be able to do this job with ease.
"You can say that… You are the only one who has the necessary qualities for the job. The others might get swapped away with money or something else." The voice said with a relaxed tone, as if she was sure about it.
'So, I'm the only one who is easy enough to manipulate?' Hai questioned internally but he also had a hunch, or his instinct was saying that it was not it.
Something inside him said that he should accept it.
Hai felt weird. Never had he had an episode like this where his gut feeling said something so clearly to him.
Although he was still filled with doubts, he didn't have a choice in this matter. He was against a mega corporation, there were limits to what he could do.
"You don't need to worry too much about it. Your rewards are going to be generous if you complete the job. And if my daughter takes a liking to you, you may even have a backer, who knows?" The voice commented in a mischievous tone.
The more Hai heard, the more his doubts increased.
His instinct was telling him that he should accept; his rationality was telling him that this was a trap.
*SIGH*
He couldn't keep it in and audibly sighed.
"I accept." He injected mana on the contract and extended it forward.
"Marvelous." She said before sending mana from wherever she was.
The contract glowed and broke into several small particles that entered Hai and some others went somewhere else.
"When do I start?" Hai asked after reviewing the contents of the contract inside his mind.
Right after he asked this, Hai felt as if she was smirking at him.
"Right now."
Then, the flame man, Muspelheim snapped his fingers and Hai was back at the bench.
However, this time there was a girl at his side.
Hai looked besides him and held in another sigh.
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A/N: Hello there, I hope you are having a wonderful day!
So, what do you guys think about this chapter? I was thinking where I wanted to go by now because only slice of life wouldn't suffice, so I opted for trying something different. Also, relax, it wouldn't be something like Hai simply being a babysitter or he having no saying in what he can do, but it will be something I haven't written yet so I don't know how it will come out.
Comment what you thought about this chapter. If you liked it or not, I want to read your opinions and interact more with you guys.
Also, join our Discord community, there you can interact with other readers or with me in case you have questions or ideas about/ for the novel.
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That is all for today, thank you all for reading! 🍷😎