" The others are more secretive, so they don't do much to attract the public eye. It would've been fine if one of them was here, but this Adrian had to be the one. Our luck is bad," the Vice President lamented. 

"Don't be so sure. We still don't know about the characters of others. Adrian is more like an open book, but others can be like silent bombs. As for the Seventh, we don't even know who he is and where he is. He might be worse. I heard rumors that he's either in India or Pakistan, but no one knows his real identity other than the Members of the Seven. Just who are these people? Why are they like this? How can they be so strong?" The President replied, not taking this situation lightly.

She didn't know that the seventh person was still a college student who wasn't as active. That was why no one knew about him yet. 

"Are we doing the right thing? Would it not make things worse if we make him angry?" the Vice President inquired.

"It might, but we're doing the best we can. If worse comes to worst, we'll be forced to take dire decisions. They might be strong, but I still doubt they can take on a whole country. I just don't want it to come to that since many lives can be lost in that. I don't doubt that we can kill the Seven. The one question is if the negatives are more than the positives," the President replied, sighing. "They are not real gods, after all. They can definitely be killed. Their body is still flesh and blood."

"Yeah, they're still humans. We should be able to kill them with our advanced weaponry. The loss that we might suffer is a big chain around our feet, though," she said.

"I'm making you in charge of everything related to Adrian. Make sure he doesn't bring any major harm to us or our infrastructure," she continued as she stood up.

She left the room.

Leaving the White House, she entered her helicopter that flew away.

Although the president left, the Vice President still stayed within the room.

He looked at the picture of Adrian that was placed before him.

She picked up the picture.

"Adrian Balakin, you might think you can roam freely in our country. Just know, we won't go easy on you. One mistake and you're gone," he muttered as he tore the picture in half with a ruthless look on his face.

He crushed both the pieces of the image before he threw it away.

****

"I've gone through the contract, and I must say, it's more than fair. In fact, it's quite generous. I'm happy with it. I'll share it with the investors. With the situation we're in, I don't think they'll disagree. We can sign the deal tomorrow," Herriet told Ryder after going through the contract.

"That's good to know," Ryder replied as he smiled.

"I'll come tomorrow then. You can tell me the time by messaging or calling," he said to her as he prepared to stand up.

"How's your friend now?" Herriet asked as she saw Ryder standing up to leave.

"Bastion? He's fine. He'll be staying at home until this whole thing blows over," Ryder replied casually.

"Ah, that reminds me. I'm sorry that you had to come back on your own after I took you out. I hope you don't mind," he continued as he smiled wryly.

"It's fine. He needed you more than me. Also, you still owe me that drink since we had to leave before finishing the drinks," Herriet told Ryder as she laughed lightly.

"Sure. Whenever you're free," Ryder replied before he waved his hand and left.

****

Ryder left the ACL HQ. He entered the car and got it on the road. 

He had only driven for a little while when he saw a young man standing on the side of the road, asking for a lift.

"Isn't he the same guy I met yesterday," Ryder muttered as he recognized the young man as the person he had collided with, accidentally.

He stopped the car near the man.

"Where are you going?" Ryder asked the young man.

"I need to go to the airport. I can't use my phone to call a cab. Can I get a lift? You can drop me anywhere on the way when our paths diverge," the young man told Ryder as he smiled.

"Sure. I'm going to meet a guy. His place happens to be near the airport. I can drop you there," Ryder replied as he smiled.

"Thanks. Some people in this country are really kind. I wonder how the only kind person I met is you and that too, twice," Adrian smiled as he moved over to the other side and entered the car.

Ryder started driving.

"Oh, right. Where are my manners? I forgot to introduce myself. I'm Adrian... Adrian Balakin. I came from Russia," the young man told Ryder.

"Ah, nice. I'm R-" Ryder was about to give his introduction when his phone started ringing.

"Excuse me," he excused himself as he picked up the call.

"Yeah. What's up," Ryder said after picking up the call.

"No. I'm on my way. Don't worry. I'll be there in a few minutes," Ryder continued after hearing the response from the other side.

He continued talking while Driving. Adrian started looking outside the window.

Throughout the way, Ryder didn't get the time to stop the call.

He reached the airport before he could disconnect the call.

"Here's the airport," he stopped the car and said to Adrian.

"Ah, no. I'm talking to another guy. I was giving him a lift. I'm at the airport near your apartment. I'll be there right away," Ryder again got busy on the phone while Adrian stepped out of the car.

"Thanks for the help," Adrian thanked Ryder before he turned back and entered the airport.

Ryder left in his car as well. Unaware how a big problem was stopped simply because of the call he received. As he wasn't able to tell his name, so much was avoided. 

He didn't know if Adrian had heard what his name was, what might have happened.

Adrian entered the Airport and got a ticket for himself.

He boarded a plane that he assumed was going to take him to the city of the one who he was looking for.

According to Ryder's neighbor, his family had probably shifted to the New Capital City since he had become wealthy. Believing that, Adrian left for the next city.

****

Ryder went to his friend's house to meet him since he was called there.

After being done with the task of his friend, Ryder left.

He entered his car and went back to Shu's house.

According to the documents provided by Keia, only one of the five Cultivation families was situated near this part of the city.

It was called the Jackson City, which lived in the neighboring state.

It was a family that specialized in the assassination of High profile targets. Based on that, they shouldn't have targeted Bastion. Even though he was rich, he wasn't on the same level as the people that Jackson Clan assassinated. 

If it were a normal situation, Ryder wouldn't have believed that the Jackson Family was behind the attempt on Bastion's life. However, according to Janus, not finding about the Ancient Cultivation Family meant that Bastion might die, so he believed that they might have a link to it.

He decided to visit them and see for himself.

He borrowed Shu's helicopter and left the city.

As he sat on the helicopter, he called Bastion to make sure he was at home.

" Where are you right now?" Ryder asked Bastion.

"I'm at home. Where else would I be? I'm on home arrest as I promised you," Bastion replied, sounding salty.

"Hahaha, sorry bro. But it's for your own safety. Just bear with it for a few days," Ryder replied as he laughed.

"Anyway, can you give your aunt the phone? I needed to talk to her, but the call wasn't connecting," he continued.

"Alright. She should be in her room. I'll give her the phone," Bastion said.

Ryder heard the sound of footsteps that made it seem like Bastion was climbing the stairs.

Ryder lied that he called Esmi and her number wasn't connected. He wanted to talk to her from Bastion's phone to make sure that both of them were at home.

"He says your number isn't connecting. Here, talk to him," Bastion said as he gave the phone to Esmi.

"Hey, Ryder. Is my number really not connecting? Let me try calling from here. I'm it doesn't connect, I'll call from Bastion's phone. Just a minute," Esmi said over the phone before she disconnected the call.

She called Ryder's number from her phone.

"It connected. Yeah, what did you want to talk about?" She asked Ryder after he picked up the call.

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