Morgan thought, "Every time I remembered those words, I always thought I should live. But now, I guess I get the point. It's not about living. It's about taking revenge.
Before, I had no way to do so. But now that I'm an Interpol agent, I can give it a shot. I finally have a reason to work under Interpol.
So the moment I wake up, I'll begin my quest to hunt those devils. I've got no leads on them. I don't recognise any of their members. I don't even know who they are.
I just have one lead. That is, they killed my family and I don't fucking care what kinda asshole they are. I will hunt them using the records and new connections I get in Interpol.
I'm about to wake up from my soul space now. Oh, it seems my left leg is good enough to be moved now. Congrats to me."
Slowly, his thoughts closed. And his body lying on the hotel bed slowly opened its eyes. His vision was blurry. But he could still see enough to know that he wasn't lying on the snow.
He could not move his body first. Slowly, every part of his body regained consciousness. His left leg was the last to be active. It still wasn't healed enough. But it still was enough to at least move around.
For an office guy, it was plenty. But since he was an Interpol officer and he even had a goal right now, he needed more rest.
He turned his head around. At his left was the curtain that covered the window. At his right, Stacy was sleeping.
He got up and removed all the plasters and bandages that covered him.
"I don't need these anymore."
He turned the TV on and switched to the news.
In the news...
The headline was, 'Breaking News'. Below the headline was written, 'World Devastating Event!!'
The news reporter said, "The economic powerhouse, Narerith's government, collapsed a few hours ago, and Black Serpentians took control of the country. For details, keep watching!"
Morgan turned off the TV. He thought, "Like I care." Knock! Knock! A voice came from outside, "Open the door, we have to hurry."
Morgan reached the door and peeped from the keyhole. Charles was standing outside. Morgan opened the door.
"Oh, you're okay now?"
"Yes, but what's the hurry?"
Charles entered with a suitcase. He reached Stacy and shook Stacy's body. He said, "Stacy, wake up." Stacy was fast asleep. Charles left his hands. Stacy woke up suddenly with sweat all over his body.
He said, "Cony!!"
***
Inside Stacy's dream...
In a certain rocky valley, where the sky was green, the rocks and the hills were black, there stood an old man with a long beard wearing thick, woolly clothes facing a lady who wore a long skirt that touched the ground.
The old man said, "Cony, why are you here?"
"Dad, come back. The village needs you. You were away for so long, do you know how lonely I felt without you."
"Sorry daughter, I can't return "
"B-but, why? Why can't you return to the place where you are most welcome?"
"I'm no longer welcome there. Everyone who welcomed me was killed."
"W-what are you talking about?"
"Those damn 'Black Serpentians'. They killed all those who helped in Stacy's survival."
"How is Stacy involved in all of these?"
"I don't know how and why, but, the 'Black Serpent' intends to kill the only descendant of every monk. I have a job to do."
"I'm not getting any of these."
"I know you won't. And that's why I won't tell you anything in the first place."
"But that's not fair."
"I have to go now. Sorry."
The old man turned back and took a step. His body faded. The lady ran towards the afterimage of the old man.
She screamed, "DAD!!!"
All this time, someone was hiding behind the rocks. That person sneaked from behind and knocked Cony out.
***
Morgan asked, "Man, you must've had a bad dream."
Charles said, "There's no time for that. We've gotta go fast."
"What's the hurry? Just take a breath."
"There's no time. Long story short, your ex-office is about to be attacked."
"Who cares?"
"The higher-ups do because there's someone inside the office who's one of the biggest sponsors of Interpol."
Morgan was about to say something but Charles dragged him and Stacy out of the hotel. They ran their way to the office.
The office was on the other side of the road. They stepped inside the crossing. But before they could go any further, the traffic lights blocked them.
Charles said, "Damn traffic!"
A taxi stopped in front of the office. A man got out of the taxi holding a briefcase from his left hand. He wore a long, thick, woollen coat with all buttons closed.
His right hand reached his goggles. He took it off and put it inside one of the pockets of the coat. Morgan pointed towards him and said to Charles, "Look at that guy. Why's he wearing such insane clothes here?"
The temperature was 35° Celsius. Not when any sane person would wear anything like that.
Stacy was still busy thinking about his dream. He didn't even know that he ran from the hotel. Stacy's eyes caught that person.
The dream he had was certainly not forgettable. But, for now, that weird person caught his attention. He cleared his thoughts and said, "That guy is too suspicious. We must follow him."
Charles said, "C'mon."
The road signal turned red. They walked their way to the other side of the road. As they crossed the 4-lane road, the coat guy entered the office.
Everyone who noticed him, even the driver, stared at him tiĺ he was inside. When the door closed, people started moving again.
Along with people, the driver went her way. The trio followed the coat guy's movement and entered Morgan's ex-office.
Morgan looked around at first. The stranger entered the lift. He said, "Damn, that guy entered the lift."
Charles was confused for a moment. Then, he remembered something and said, "Both of you, get that guy and interrogate him. I've got some business to deal with. I'll come in an hour or so. Message me once the situation is changed."
Stacy said, "What business do you have?"
Charles replied, "I'd tell you but now is not the time. Follow that guy. I'll tell you later."
"Okay. See ya."
Charles got out of the office, stopped a taxi and rode it. Soon, the taxi mixed with the traffic and was out of vision.
Morgan went upstairs and Stacy went to the basement. The stranger got out of the lift at the ground floor and went out of the building.
He stopped and rode a car. The driver said to him, "Did you do the job?"
"They were fool enough to fall under my trap. But, one got out."
The grin on the driver's face faded and a light furrow formed as he asked, "Who?"
"Charles."
"Fuck it! I knew this plan was trash. And the one to get out had to be Charles. How are we supposed to get our hands on that if he interferes."
"How can you say that for sure? You don't even know if he knows about that ribbon."
"He's an old player of relic hunting. I was once his student. I know him better than anyone. He's the real deal."
"I can't believe he's your ex-teacher."
"Well, kinda. But, he's still a lot better than me. You can say, he can kill all of out team members if he wants to."
"He must be damn strong. I don't think I'll stand a chance against him. But, what about our main boss? Is he stronger than him?"
"You're talking about Glen? Just for your knowledge, he's the target of Charles. So, you can understand now, what kinda monster he is."
Meanwhile...
On the random footpath beside the road, a man was walking with a gun on his hand. No one noticed the gun. The footpath was simply too crowded.
A thief bumped onto him and grabbed his wallet. After saying sorry, the thief walked a few steps forward. The man shot the thief. Everyone around them screamed and ran away from them.
A police van passing by noticed the gunshot and arrived at the scene. The scene was clear. The thief was down on the road with a wallet on his hand and a man was standing with a gun pointed forward.
A cop jumped out of the van and said, pointing a gun, "Hands up! Get down to your knees!"
The man said in an irritated voice, "And why the hell should I do that?"
"Any more words and you'll be shot!"
The man wasted no time to shoot the cop dead. His aim was perfect, right at the middle of the forehead. Everyone watching from some meters away ran farther but were still watching them.
Another cop got out of the van and this guy wasted no words on the murderer and directly shot him. But before the bullet could hit him, another bullet came from out of the scene and crashed on the cop's bullet.
This guy was also shot by the man. The man shouted out loud and clear, "Spread the word. I'm the one who'll rule this city from now."
Before the third cop could come out, the man killed the driver. He entered the van and killed the rest of the cops and criminals.
He started the van and began driving it. Every vehicle cleared a way for it in fear that he'd shoot them down if they didn't. An warning alarm rang from the announcing speakers.
"Evacuation warning! Evacuate out of yard-4! Evacuate out of yard-4!"
The man jumped out of the van. He was now in front of Morgan's ex-office. He entered inside and when he reached at the middle of the office, he took off his coat and shirt.
Bombs we're planted all over his body. Everyone noticed him and began running. Morgan and Stacy reached the lobby. They saw him. Morgan ran towards him and grabbed his hands before he could press the button in the middle of the planted bombs.
He twisted his arms and broke them. He said to Stacy, "Kill him."
"Who, me?"
"Fast!"
He tossed a knife towards Morgan. Morgan grabbed it and sliced the man's throat. Morgan thought, "What a weirdo. He was about to do what usually happens in a movie."
After a moment of relief, a thought popped on his mind, "I just killed someone. Damn. I should've thought more. But nothing can be done, right? I did what should have been done. Sooner ar later, I'd have to kill someone.
It's no different if I do it now or later. It's all the same. But, killing someone for real, it'll bug my mind for long time.
Stacy shouted, "We're Interpol! Everyone, get out of here as fast as possible! Safety is not guaranteed!"
After sharing a moment of rejoice, everyone began panicking and rushing around. After the office was cleared, Stacy and Morgan got out. When they were at safe distance, the human bomb exploded.
The office began falling down. They were not safe. The building crashed on another building and two 25 story buildings collapsed at the scene.
From a certain building far from the scene, a sniper aiming from the terrace stood up and packed the gun inside a bag. He took out a phone from his pocket.
It was ringing. He picked it up. The call was from the man wearing thick clothes who asked, "What's the status?"
"The pawn has been used. The buildings are down. Do what you're supposed to. I've done my part of work."
The sniper dismantled his gun and packed it in a bag. He went out of the building and mixed with the crowd.
The rest of the day went without any more trouble. At least not in Eternal City. Top investigators of the country came to investigate the scene. Unfortunately, they couldn't find anything that could capture the culprits right away.
What they found was a long bullet deep below the debris. The bullet was sent for analysis. Nothing else was found.
Charles returned, and the three of them went to the room they booked.
After having dinner, the three of them went back to the room. Morgan and Stacy were about to sleep. Charles was busy preparing something on the table.
He said, "Stacy and Morgan, we've got to discuss something."
The three of them gathered around the table. Charles said, "Where shall I start from?" He pressed his thoughts for a while. After a minute, he said, "I'm about to say about my mission which began a month ago."
Stacy said, "You mean, you're still on the mission?"
"Exactly. So, listen carefully. I wasn't planning to get both of you. I wasn't planning to escort you to Interpol Island. I was originally on a completely different mission.
But, coincidently, both of you were in perfect sync with the way I was supposed to move around the kingdom. Fuck it, so, the point is, I'm about to tell you what happened from the beginning."
Morgan said, "Damn, it's gonna be a long bedtime story."
"A month ago, I was at the Interpol Island."
Meanwhile...
In the evening, the sniper was in a car, the driver was the one who gave a ride to that guy who wore thick clothes in the middle of the day.
The sniper said, "That brat messed up the whole game. He should have killed them. What can we tell to Glen now?"
"I expected this to happen. After all, one of them fought Glen and didn't die. They must've been strong fellas."
A few moments later...
The sniper made a call. The call was received. From the receiver's side, a voice came, "I assume that the 7th pawn has been used."
"Yes sir. But, the two officers killed our 8th pawn."
"I understand. A pawn or two are expected to die in a plan like this."
"Sir, we're out of pawns now. Isn't it a problem?"
"Our plan is about to end. Charles has taken hold of 'The Soul Ribbon'. He knows my plan. But it doesn't matter as long as our plan succeeds."
"We will do as you wish, sit." Glen hung up the phone.
The driver said, "Where shall we go now?"
"Haber Port. We won't take the train. I've sent our right Bishop there. He'll take care of the deal."
"This is getting exciting. I wonder how it'll all end up."
***
Haber Port, the port where 10 trains from different places of the kingdom came and stationed, was the point where any far distant traveller would come to.
It was also the only way to legally enter the kingdom for commoners and most of the time, even Interpol officers.
***
To be Continued...