New Eden: Live to Play, Play to Live

Chapter 663 Knock Knock

"You can't be here. How did you survive? The news said you died in the service tunnels!"

Alex tilted his head slightly, wondering what he was talking about. But he could guess this had been some information manipulation from Katherine's underlings.

He only wondered why she would do it.

And the answer came in his ear.

"I didn't want them to expect retaliation from you. So I changed the news with some image manipulation and deep fake, to make it look like you died in the rat incident.

"I was also planning to have the videos of both altercations between you and the Bianchis play in the bunker once you had let me inside the mainframe. Just for some dramatic flair."

Alex could hear the slight undertones of playfulness in her voice across the comms, and had to control himself from tearing the earpiece out.

He elected not to respond to her, and instead talk to the cop.

"Why are you here? Aren't you a cop? And if it is what I think it is, why were you in my hospital room that day?"

The man gulped, realizing he had been made.

"Listen, man. I'm only following orders. I'm just a striker. They tell me what to do, nothing more, I swear!"

Alex grinned wider at him.

"I know. Don't worry. I won't hurt you."

Alex had already guessed they had sent the crooked cop to finish the job. So he wasn't about to let him walk away so easily.

He brought his hand up on the man's head, tapping it lightly, as the man sighed in relief. And then his vision went dark.

He didn't get to understand what happened as his soul passed on.

Alex had the top of his head in his big, furry hand, as he partially melded with White, and crushed his skull instantly.

In his ear, Katherine's disappointed voice echoed.

"Look at you. Not even inside the compound and already making a mess of things. Blood stains on asphalt, you know?"

She sighed loudly in his ear as she watched him stand back up on the cameras and walk toward the open gates. Katherine called out for a cleaner to carry the body away and wash any trace of his death from the street, as the other gangsters suddenly fell quiet.

A few of them had seen the interaction between Alex and the gangster, and couldn't believe their eyes.

How could a human crush someone's head so fast and so effortlessly? The man didn't even scream out in pain.

It struck a deep fear inside them, and they thanked their lucky stars they had accepted to surrender before the man walked into the mansion grounds.

What would happen to the ones that stayed? No one knew.

But that didn't stop their imaginations from spinning tales, each one more gruesome than the last.

Alfred watched Alex walk past him, after leaving a mess behind for his men to clean and worried. He did not worry about the young man's safety.

Rather, he worried how far he would go, for the sake of vengeance.

"That is a slippery slope you are treading, young man…" he mumbled to himself.

Unknown to him, Alex had heard him and even answered in a whisper.

"They forced me down that path. It only ends when they die."

Making his way toward the mansion he could now see in the not too far away distance, Alex started thinking about all the times the Bianchi men had threatened him, and others around him. Anger slowly rose inside him, thinking about all the lives they probably ruined, aside from his.

"People like you deserve the harshest of fate. Your souls don't deserve to step into the cycle of reincarnation…" he seethed to himself.

As he got closer to the mansion, he started hearing gunshots, as tufts of grass at his sides exploded upwards, and sparks flew off the asphalt near him.

'Seems like they see me. Better stop lazing forward, then.'

Alex melded completely with White before dashing forward like a bullet out of a barrel. He practically flew toward the main door, zigzagging as he went, to make himself harder to hit.

But when he reached the door, instead of slowing down to open it, he simply pushed through it.

The wooden door exploded inward, transforming into thousands of wood splinters, splintering into the nearby walls, and pieces reaching the staircase in front of him.

The manor was built in the old Tuscan style, with stone walls and floors, with granite and marble patterns. The ceiling, high above Alex, decorated with ceiling roses and a stucco finish.

It was a stylish house, to say the least. But Alex wasn't here to admire the decor.

Already, he could hear the running footsteps of the men on the floor above, getting ready to greet him.

*Tink* *Clink* *Clatter*

A metallic clattering noise echoed around his feet, and Alex looked down, seeing a round, black object.

He kicked it away, reflexively, and erected a thin shield of mana between himself and the object, right before it detonated.

Alex's free ear rang a bit from the loud conflagration, but in his other ear, a voice congratulated him.

"Nice thinking. Whatever you did, you just resisted the blast of a grenade. I'm impressed, but I doubt they are done. So I suggest you get on the move."

Alex groaned in annoyance

"Please stop talking. Let me do my thing."

He heard Katherine chuckle in his ear before it went silent again.

Then he heard more footsteps.

Currently, Alex was in a cloud of dust, from the grenade blowing up part of the floor and walls he had kicked it to, and there was stone dust everywhere.

"Did you get him?"

"I don't know. I can't see shit, Roberto. Why don't you come check?"

Alex walked forward, revealing himself to the man just outside the dust cloud.

"I'll save you the trouble. You missed."

"Oh Shit!"

*Ratatatata* Bang Bang* *Bang Bang*