New Eden: Live to Play, Play to Live

Chapter 1033: A Lot Happens In Four Days

it.

As Alex understood this, it seemed he wasn't the only one connecting the dots, as David was suddenly staring at him with a worried expression.

"Jack. Are you messing with me right now?" Alex asked, trying to ascertain his conclusion.

"Do I sound like I'm fucking with you, Alexander?" Jack asked, his tone rough.n/ô/vel/b//in dot c//om

Alex sighed loudly, realizing he wasn't joking.

"Listen, I'm sorry I didn't answer. I wasn't inside service coverage," Alex explained, knowing he would have to give a better explanation.

And right on cue, Jack asked, "The hell do you mean, not inside service coverage? The satellites for phones can pick up signals into the Earth's entrails!"

Alex sighed again.

"We weren't on Earth, Jack. That is what I'm saying. We discovered a dungeon here, and we went inside. It's why we couldn't be reached."

There was a moment of silence on the line, before he heard Jack sigh.

"Fine. I'll take that as a valid explanation for now. But we have bigger problems. Do you know the kind of commotion you caused by going missing for four days on foreign soil?"

Alex could only imagine, especially since they were not the first to disappear around Jeju Island. This could only have exacerbated the problem and scrutiny of the place.

"I can't imagine. But Jack, we are all fine. Once we show up, I'm sure the locals will calm down."

"That's not the problem, kid," Jack said, his tone exasperated.

"Then what is the problem? If you don't tell me, I can't look for solutions with you, Jack. Enlighten me."

Jack kept quiet for a while before Alex's ear beeped, his neuro-phone receiving a file.

Opening the file, Alex's face dropped.

"This is the problem, Jack said, knowing Alex had opened his file immediately.

In front of Alex's eyes, a news article was displayed, with a large frame picture of him and his allies fighting off harpies. There was no mistaking the image.

Alex quickly read through the article's headline and bold characters, time being too precious for him to read through the entire thing. But even those were dire-sounding words.

*Monsters on Jeju Island!*

*A student with a drone recently discovered a group of twelve young men, women, and even children fighting off what seems like monsters off the coast of Jeju Island. After this image was captured, the group was seen entering a remnant lava tunnel before disappearing without

a trace.

Monsters have been sighted around the world, and it seems as though governments around the world have been hiding this from us, trying to cover up the stories.

Is the world prey to a new wave of creatures we cannot defeat? Is this the end? Who are those mysterious twelve young people, and are they the cause of all this?*

Alex closed the file, his mind trying to take in the information.

"How has the world reacted to this?" Alex asked, his tone shaky.

David walked next to him, his face serious.

"So you found out too, huh?" he asked, looking at Alex's distressed face.

"Jack is filling me in," Alex replied, awaiting Jack's answer.

"Put me on the call," David asked, tapping his device.

Alex nodded, pulling David into the call with a simple command.

"Jack. It's David. Am I reading this correctly? The governments decided to shut down international traffic for now?" David asked, not leaving time for Jack to answer Alex's question.

Jack sighed with frustration, annoyed at being cut off like this. But he knew time was of the

essence.

"That is correct. I'm glad I wasn't the only one staying on top of the news for this," Jack commented.

"I set up pings on my computer for news like this. When we exited the dungeon, my phone was flooded with notifications of four days of missed news. This isn't looking good."

Jack huffed at his statement.

"That is an understatement. Many borders have closed around the globe, and economies everywhere are suffering for it. But that isn't the crux of the matter.

"The international council has shattered, and every country is trying to deal with this behind closed doors. Which is the complete opposite of what we are trying to do, isn't it?" Jack stated, sounding annoyed at the world's actions.

David huffed, and Alex snorted.

"These idiots who are in command are cowards. Doing this is the opposite of what we want. Information trade is how the world will survive this phase of the invasion. The less we help each other, the more people die before the demons even arrive, and then it's just extinction," David said, sounding annoyed, too.

"What is Canada's position on the matter?" Alex asked, curious about what their country had done about this.

"Hah! In all of her wisdom, the Prime Minister decided to close borders first. I don't know why she did it or what went through her head when taking that decision, and she isn't returning my calls anymore," Jack exclaimed, his voice showing discontent.

David clicked his tongue in disappointment.

"Cowards. All of them."

"You're goddamned right. All my contacts in the army are on high alert, and they barely know where to throw their attention. Communications, even within the country, are in shambles. The chain of command is all out of whack, and no one seems to know what to do.

"This is a catastrophe. And the worst part is that there isn't even a real threat right now!" Jack shouted, his anger peaking.

Alex took in all the info, but something didn't add up.

"Why did they suddenly dissolve? It doesn't make sense. Doesn't the World Council exist for

this exact kind of situation?" he asked.

Jack's side went deathly quiet.

"Jack?"

With a loud sigh, Jack's voice came back into their head.

"That brings me to an even more pressing matter."

"And what is that?" David asked, unsure what could be more pressing than the world going to

shit.

"China was the first one to bounce out of the World Council and close its borders. Communications with them have gone completely silent, and any incoming or outgoing call

to and from China gets intercepted."

David scoffed.

"They did the same thing last time. It worked for a while, but when the demons arrived, they called out for help almost instantly. Millions died because of their closed-door policy. How is that more pressing than the rest of the world, though?" he asked.

"Because Gu Fang is back home, and the Zhong Kui has him. I haven't been able to get a hold

of him in three days, and the last text I got from him said, 'I'm sorry, boss.' I don't know what happened to him."