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Chapter 478: Making Buddies with the Execs

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——— 11AM —–

–— Holy Cross Cemetery ———

Rex stood in front of his parents’ Mausoleum. It’s only been 10 minutes since the entire process of cremating their remains had concluded. Now they are both in expensive and illegal ivory jars, sealed on marble and sunstone-adorned graves.

“Mom. Dad. Now, no one except me had samples of your DNA. No one can desecrate your bodies anymore. I promise… I will bring you back and I will also avenge your deaths.”

After saying his silent prayer, Rex walked out of the mausoleum, greeted by five people who gave a respectful nod and began to also ‘seal’ the tomb of his parents.

Anyone seeing this mausoleum in the future will always be mesmerized by the fantastical feeling it had that was akin to an unknown culture of some civilization in some unknown universe.

Although useless, there are magical inscriptions, Runes, and Magic Circles and Symbols adorning the inside and outside walls of this mausoleum. It was something really eye-catching to the people.

Rex, by a bout of whim, placed these ‘Warding Seals’ and ‘Misleading Misty Fog’ Spell Formation in the entire mausoleum.

There are characters and words on it, however, but they were written on a script that no one can decipher… just like the Germanic Scriptures, or the Cypher Tablet in the CIA-HQ, or the Ancient Writings on the stone in the Eastern Island.

Except from those, the only written things that the people of the real world could understand were the words [Do Not Disrespect My Parents by Taking Photos or Videos of This Place] written on a sign at the very front of the mausoleum’s front lawn square.

By this warning, the visitors of the cemetery will know who were buried here and by virtue of the human heart and mutual act of respect, they will have to first consider the words before taking a photo or a video of the mausoleum.

Rex gave the place one last glance and rode his bike away from the place.

*****

Rex’s appetite can be said to be… ravenous.

Because of his unique constitution and the rate of adjustments that Cortana was continuously on work of, the energy consumption his body needs is actually reaching that of at least two perfectly healthy people, if not three.

And this was factoring that all of them are hungry when they consume food.

Thus, Rex had chosen to eat his meal on an eat-all-you-can buffet restaurant.

The sight of a long-haired handsome 6’3” (192cm) young man eating like a monster on a corner with only his luggage as his company was a sight on itself. It’s not that Rex was actually like a pig who eats with their face, or a Goku who just inhales his meals; it’s the fact that he’s been at the buffet table three times already that made him a standout amongst the other guests.

Many attempted to capture his feat but for some odd reason, their Communicator Devices would somehow turn off or they would receive random calls, or their gestures wouldn’t give any reaction, or they would be prompted to charge even if they were still full battery.

And then there’s the manager of the restaurant.

When Rex was on his fifth plate, they began to notice. On his seventh, they began to frown. At his eighth, the manager wanted to approach him and it was only on his tenth that the manager had convinced him to leave the establishment.

Rex had eaten four person’s worth of a meal and he only paid for one. It was worth it. And because it was worth his money, the manager lost profit so he had to be kicked out at all costs to avoid more loss of revenues for the day.

On the streets close to the airport, as he pulled his luggage that followed him with its state-of-the-art latest magnetic wheels technology without touching it, the people —especially the girls— all looked over his direction curiously.

Why? It’s because of his mask… no, it should be his sunglasses, but it covered his eyes and nose, half of his forehead, and half his cheeks and half his temples. It was using nano-magnetism to stick to his skin without shaking off and what more… it was designed to appear like the Volume Hunter mask of Siva. For a young teen or a boy, it was a cool toy but for adults, it was a provocation of the pride of men.

Rex looked dashing with those on!

Oh and one other reason why they’re looking at him curiously is because he looked like someone straight out of RPG: Terroa —those Apollo Race players who were tall, long haired that’s usually in red or blonde yellow or silver.

The “Rex” right now is an avatar of his vanity.

He wore the latest tech gadgets (the shades, the luggage bag, and the wristwatch), and wore the latest trending designer clothes only a rich noble kid would wear. And it was even themed blue!

He was like a Hollywood actor taking a random stroll to feed his ego.

But he was not.

He was taking a walk in order to help him digest the large amount of food he just ate earlier.

But even then… his entire outfit —a long sleeve polo shirt and a straight-cut slacks, brown leather shoes, and the mask-shades— and his hands-in-the-pocket posture and relaxed gaits, was just too impossible for anyone with a normal build in their sense of balance to accomplish.

Everything in “Rex” right now was actually too eye-catching and that’s the reason why he had slowly garnered the attention of a few followers and also haters.

Since it was ridiculous for adults to wear shades that look like a mask like this one in public, it still depends if the accessory worn actually look good on the wearer or not.

Rex reached the street leading to the main gates of the airport and continued his casual walk.

Cortana already recorded over 300+ attempts to take a photo or video of him but Rex only gave it a laugh as he was enjoying this rare moment of vanity to his ego, while also planning what he was gonna do once he got to Sweetzerland.

He reached the entrance of the airport and a tight security was conducted.

The guards were looking at this handsome man with mixed emotions. One was envy, the other is somewhere between ‘I want to punch his face’ or ‘who the hell wears a long sleeve in the middle of the day in a tropical country’ kind of emotions.

When he reached the scanning machines, Rex only gave it a glance and then removed his mask as required by the security officers.

As his face was shown, the female guards and all female tourists and airporters, both passengers and new-arrivals, began to glance his direction.

There was a rare instance of a simultaneous gasp that resounded from many people, especially to those females and females-at-heart.

Rex had a fair complexion, not too white but not too dark, just fair. He didn’t have to wear makeup or anything. His face was smooth just like those actors when you see them in the screens.

What more, his hair waved freely and then like a magic spell cast on his hair, they would also go back as if combed by an invisible hand.

He had long hair and his hairstyle was not once even been disturbed.

—all by Cortana’s magic.

Even his hair had been imbued by NanoMechs as not a part of his body escaped the two sessions of human modification they’ve put him in.

Recalling this thought made Rex remember his hate towards the people who wronged him and his entire family… the World Government.

He was sure by now that the World Government is involved one way or another on the incidents that changed their lives forever.

Although his parents were still alive in Terroa, it was only their minds that were alive but both their bodies have already perished.

It makes him truly mad thinking about it.

Noticing the attention of the crowd, he organized his emotions and then glanced over the results of the scanning machine that Cortana already edited for him.

Inside his luggage, after all, was a prototype edited model of the NLD device on his house, his NLD Console that Augustus Laniary gave.

Right now, it was almost left into a skeleton state, with all the unneeded parts and components taken out and removed to only leave the most fundamental and essential parts for its operation in its structural frame.

Since he still haven’t finished it, he brought it with him to be finished in the plane as he proceeded to Sweetzerland.

There are also some prohibited things in his ‘bag’ that he needed but because Cortana had a touch on their systems, he didn’t have to worry about his things being blocked by the customs officers.

But…

“Sir, can you open your luggage, please?”

There are still these kinds of people; people who stick to their job descriptions and do their jobs diligently, giving honor and to the profession they chose to live in.

Alas, as respectful and honorable as they were to the eyes of other people, to Rex, he is currently a bane and a headache.

He didn’t say a word and just pulled up a tiny red envelope from his breast pocket and as soon as the ‘item’ was revealed, another simultaneous round of gasping could be heard.

“I’m in a hurry. Could you please move away so I can make it in time for The Conclave?”

The man was stumped for words but he still put a straight face and said, “Please, sir, I am just following protocols.”

Rex was beginning to be annoyed, “Are you really going to keep buying my time? I’m in a bit of a hurry here.”

“You just have to open your luggage sir for our anti-drug scanners to take a scan. It won’t take longer than a few minutes.”

“And I could have used those few minutes to put my mental theories into a deeper analysis but I have to put enough mental resources in my mind to stop myself from getting angry at you because you’re only following your protocols… but you are forgetting that I am not going to be passing through your public doors because I have a plane waiting for me in the private hangar right now.”

The man bit his lips and began to explain his fact in the matter when a surprising piece of news is delivered to him by Cortana, making him not pay attention to the customs officer.

[Boss, Carl Hanes and President Ethan had just arrived in the airport and are going straight for the private hangar.]

‘Aiiish… I should have taken my bike straight to there and not park it at that hotel…’

Rex mentally heaved a sigh.

He wanted to enjoy a walk in the light after a long time of being cooped up in the house.

“…so sir, please understand that I have to do this or I’ll be the one to pay the price to my superior.”

Rex breathed out, “I don’t have time for this.”

With a thought command, Cortana made a call on the officer’s Comms Radio and a voice of a man could be heard speaking a few things on his ear.

The man nodded and looked at Rex, then sighed and then stepped to the side.

“I am very sorry sir for my earlier attitude.”

“Sigh… your name’s Ramirez? Okay. How about this, I will tell your superiors to give you a raise in pay or assign you with a higher position. I know you’re only doing your job and I could have been very compliant with you, but right now, I just have no time to cater to you since I am really late.”

“I understand. I thank you sir for your kindness.”

Rex didn’t say a word more and really did created a recommendation ‘file’ on the Customs Office in their HQ for the man surnamed Ramirez.

It was the least he could for the man’s diligence to his code of honor as a customs officer.

Actually, he just sent a recommendation to their desk to assign the man on a certain place that was connected to Rex’s [Company].

When Rex left to the private hangar’s area, one of Ramirez’s fellow officers walked over.

“Dude, did I just hear that right? The President of Panorama Corp and his Secretary had just arrived in the Private Hangar the boy is going to?”

“Yeah. If we delayed him more, even if he’s one of the attendees of that legendary annual event, he could have been in a tight spot because of me so I had to let him go.”

The fellow officer clicked his tongue and went back to his post, “Aiisssshhh…. what a bummer for you, mater, you almost stepped on a landmine in there.”

“Thankfully the man’s kind enough to not get angry at me.”

“Yeah right. By the way, did you catch his name?”

Ramirez blinked, “Holy —I forgot! I didn’t even get his name. What if the chief finds out about it in the log reports?”

“Ah, you just have to blame it all on luck that the chief won’t even remember about this matter when you meet him. If you don’t want to blow up this matter, then don’t mention it on your report.”

“Shit.”

“Yeah. Shit. We were star struck, we forgot to ask a basic question. Although he’s exempted to all other procedures in the airport, it’s still part of our protocol to ask his name at least for record.”

At this point in time, the eavesdropping female officer in charge of the scanning machine spoke through their Comms Channel.

“Mitra.” She said.

“Huh?” “What”

“I saw a name on the luggage with his name. It was Mitra.”

“Mitra…” “What a weird name.”

As the two murmured, a voice of another female roared loudly on their ears.

{DID YOU JUST SAY HIS NAME IS MITRA?!!}

{Office Jules!! Observe radio etiquette!}

It was the voice of their chief.

{Sorry Chief, but I think I know the identity of the person that Officer Ramirez and Officer Sidechar had just encountered.}

{Who was he?}

The Chief asked. He was also a bit curious of why his radio Comms would tick in with the Intel of President Ethan of the Panorama Corporation entering their airport.

{He’s a multi-millionaire stock markets broker. He earned over a hundred million Credits in just an entire time frame of a week.}

There was silence. Then Officer Jules asked in an enthusiastic voice.

{Tell me, Officer Ramirez, is he handsome or is he an ugly nerd guy?}

“That guy?” Ramirez was still in shock. “I can be sure that I’m older than him but he’s taller and he doesn’t look like a nerd to me. He’s actually very handsome and even now… many females are looking over his back.”

Ramirez gazed over Rex’s back who were now at the door towards the private hangar where a G6 Jet Plane and two people were waiting.

*****

Although Rex could hear their conversation if he chose to, he didn’t have to since it’s pointless.

Right now, his attention was to President Ethan and Carl Hanes who are now seated beside him.

Rex occupied the opposite and side with the lane in the middle of their seats. He didn’t quickly start to work to edit his NLD and instead politely talked to the two older men.

Turns out, Ethan and Carl, after settling in the families of the seven this morning, had to return to Sweetzerland ASAP to hide the marks of their meeting and avoid suspicion from the UNICORN.

It was a wise move but they can’t wait for the next passenger plane to Sweetzerland to fly so they hitched a ride with the G6 plane that’s about to fly off back to their home country because of one of the Conclave Attendees informing the pilot of his arrival.

Rex was studying the plump president as well as the large eyeglass-wearing big brother.

Although Ethan had a sour personality and a face you wouldn’t want to get along, he was actually a man with a conscience and didn’t abandon those innocent seven who got caught up in the storm of discovering the supposedly dead yet still alive Eosin Bozkovich that made contact with a female employee of their company.

He even paid for their houses and protection so naturally, Rex was positively disposed of him and it was also the reason why he helped them out.

Carl Hanes was actually a cool guy, if you ignored the fact that he talks fast and often uses jargons here and there to explain a few things.

Rex also discovered his avatar’s name in Terroa and took note of it as well. He even discovered a few things regarding his location and what he’s doing in Walled City of Aarun.

Olaf —Carl Hanes’s player avatar— was looking for him, Siva, and it was for the reason of wanting to talk to him about many things.

Ethan, on the meantime, just rubbed his figurine while listening to the conversation. He wasn’t a man of words but he talks every now and then.

As to how Rex managed to make the two squeal a few relevant sets of information is simple.

It was because of his golden eye tattoo.

Hypnotism…

It was a frightening skill —or in this case, ability— but it’s definitely helpful at times. The two didn’t even know that they were being led by the nose and were providing him some vital Intel. If Rex so wanted it, they can divulge into him any company secrets they know but that might 'induce ‘doubts’ about him on their minds thus raising a possibility of them snapping out of their hypnosis.

—or even worse, these ‘doubts’, although can be erased by hypnosis, will still leave aftereffects on their psyches that when given the right stimulus or trigger, can be recalled, and thus ultimately led them into chasing him.

He could’ve done a deeper hypnosis on the two just like what he did with Matthew and Faust, but he didn’t. Because; one, he had to make physical contact with them; and two, there were the flight attendants that randomly attends to them that may catch him red handed and alert the pilot cockpit.

Though he was confident with his athleticism and Cortana’s ability to intercept electronic operations in this private jet, it wasn’t good leaving seeds of doubts in their minds since that can be dug up by an expert in hypnosis if they showed signs of any tampering of the inception methodology.

As such, Rex only asked casual questions and he even shared a few guiling prompts, thus leading to more Intel acquired.

Even until when the plane took off, their talks and conversations continued as if it was nothing. Rex made Carl laugh and even to the point that he hit the armrest every now and then; and even make President Ethan smile and chuckle at his clever views and insights on their conversations.

Minutes turned into hours.

“Actually, I’ve never ever found any conversation partner that can keep up with me. Although we’ve come here in this place for a mission but still will come back empty handed, meeting you here, the entire trip may have been worth it after all.”

Carl was really satisfied and even the stewards of the plane found their lengthy and lively talks a bit of an entertainment so they left them be.

“I’m actually wondering about that. Why would the two of you, high execs and all, visit a branch of Panorama from a third world country without as much as an entourage of staff members? And to even conduct an inspection on a whim at that…”

Carl sighs, “It’s actually a long story. I can’t tell all the details but suffice to say that we have had so many headaches regarding Siva lately.”

Rex prompted, “Why is that?”

“You’re a player as well so you should know. The things happening in Terroa, we don’t even have the slightest control over it, what more is predict everything else. So we’ve decided to contact him but we can’t even trace his location. Right now, he’s in Maria but we can’t even send someone in the city for some reason. And so, we went here to make contact with someone close to him.”

Then, on their current topic, Rex’s face contorts.

“Ho?”

Carl had just spoken of why they were in Philip Country.

“Aye… we came here to talk to Amanda about it.”

Rex frowns, “You came here in Phil Country just to talk to Amanda about how to contact Siva?”

“Yeah.” Carl sighed, a dejected look on his face at the moment, “Too bad, he actually went to our country to attend the Conclave ahead of you. So in the end, we end up going back emptyhanded.”

Rex felt something was amiss. If it was just for the sole fact that they wanted to contact Amanda for the sake of getting in touch with him, they could’ve sent just about anybody for her.

But why the two of them top execs of Panorama, with one of them being the President himself?

What made Amanda so special that they had to go through this trouble?

Carl Hanes was in a hypnotized state but his state of mind now is just like he was having any casual conversation with Rex about random topics.

As such, he asked, “Amanda is actually my girl. I am actually very surprised that she’d get such an honor of actually being sought personally by the President himself.”

At this point, Ethan blinked at him, an incredulous look on his face. “You’re Amanda’s boyfriend?”

Rex wasn’t bragging but he just felt that that kind of reaction from him was normal since Amanda is indeed someone very pretty —a face of a World Standard— and as such, whoever was her guy is going to receive the hate of the entire planet.

He nodded, “We’ve been going out for just a short time but yes, we’re actually dating.”

Now that he thought about it, he’d yet to ask her to go out with him in real life…. alas, her dad had already nailed a deal with him. It was also for her sake, for her protection from his enemies. If the World Government and Pegasus were capable of killing someone innocent like Joana Cruz and his parents for their goals, it wouldn’t stop them to kill Amanda as well if they discover her connection with him, Siva, who commands such an immense influence in Terroa right now.

But then, just as Rex pondered over the reason as to why Ethan was showing a look of shock on his face, he looked over to Carl who wore a face of fear and sympathy.

“What’s with that look?” he asked him.

Carl chuckled, “Nothing. It’s just that I don’t know if I should congratulate you or feel sorry for you since Amanda’s family ties are, well, complicated and also dangerous, if you know what I mean.”

His words shocked Rex. Utterly.

Family background? Wasn’t she the daughter of a Lawyer and a Doctor —no—a Veterinarian slash housewife, to be exact? What’s special about her family?

—wait!

——family ties… he said family ties…

Rex stared at Ethan, prompting, “What was her family background?”

“A Princess! And a legitimate one for the throne at that!” Carl proudly uttered and Rex’s world just gone haywire. “You sure have won the jackpot now, Mitra… you’ve got the chance to become a Prince Consort of a Royal Queendom! Hahaha!”

Carl is in an ‘honest’ state and so he trusted that he wasn’t lying and this fact alone was enough to put Rex in a stupor.

Princess… and not just any Princess……

…Amanda is actually a Crown Princess?!!

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So that’s why they’re here…

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