33 Raga Rachman
Rash concealed his discomfort as much as he could and hoped that neither woman would notice his expressions.
Irina gave him a closer look, inspecting his injured body. He was so worn out, his body was thick with wounds, which made her heart ash. She could see lacerations in many places, hands, feet, and stomach, the outfit she brought him flabby like a rag.
Not knowing what exactly happened, or how he got all this trouble. She asked, uneasy and worried, "Rash! What exactly happened to you? Has someone bullied you?" It really scared her. And these behaviors stem from her heart, not just because of the regret she feels about.
Rash went into a long silence. Do tell her what happened?
He believed there was no need at all to know what happened. She is just grateful, and he can understand it somehow. Bringing him to the hospital and taking care of his wounds is more than enough to pay off her debt.
The silence added to Irina's turmoil, and she expected the worst. She knows a few awful stories about things going on in the background from the genuine face of society.
The lack of response made her turn to Chloe to inquire more about the situation.
"He ran into a monster in the river. It was a big shark and fortunately he somehow survived." Chloe explained what she saw. She arrived late and believed that her husband helped the two boys. Yet it surprised her to see the video that spread quickly on the Internet about the boy riding a shark...
The video, taken by someone from the bridge, contained all the events from the shark attack until Joshua's arrival to help. Of course, the reason it was so popular was the presence of Joshua, which made her notice what happened. She showed the video to Irina, while Rash was in shock at seeing the events.
He didn't think anyone had recorded the battle. Plus, the quality is very high.
Irina's eyes widened from seeing the scene. Events made her remember how Rash faced the monster while protecting her. A battle she cannot forget no matter what, because she felt guilty about what had happened to him. Her neglect almost caused a real disaster.
Chloe commented on the video as it was over, raising her hand to place it on the boy's head, "You're really weird," it's the second time she had described him this way, "You know? In Stronghold 34, it's very difficult to meet a monster. Just like a thunderbolt. As soon as one of them appears. There are many who hasten to get it."
This is one of the reasons why the city is a very safe area. For the abilities users, capturing monsters is a genuine treasure. Of course, most of the monsters shown here are simple and not very powerful. This makes it an easy catch and a convenient way to gain experience and learning.
On the other hand, there are other areas in the world that contain a lot of monsters, some of which have become known as forbidden grounds. Because it is not possible to protect all places in the world, some of them have already fallen, and have become a refuge for monsters. Entering these areas is considered suicide even for the authentic heroes, and in the event that they want to explore them, they enter with specialized teams equipped with advanced equipment.
Chloe's words did not stop at this, "Nevertheless, you fought a hard-core battle with two monsters in a span of one week, and not only that, you could survive in both of them with your normal body. If I did not see what happened with my eyes, I wouldn't believe it." Rash noticed she had talked too much, out of habit, or because she was with Irina and had her personality changed?
'Well, they were three.' Rash sighed and said to himself, lamenting his life. Only the first monster considered a coincidence, and the last one was Nightmare's plans in some way.
"Maybe I'm lucky?" He almost burst into laughter when he uttered these words. He, of everybody, knows he is far from lucky. At least until he met Nightmare, he thought so.
Chloe did not accept his response and shook her head, "I don't know if it was luck or not, but the reality is something else. In the first incident, you survived a real miracle that we might call luck. But in the video, I can tell you worked hard to save yourself."
Not only that, Chloe is a true expert on battle and can analyze what happened through what she saw on the video. She could determine the strength of the shark with one glance and how Rash avoided his direct attack by using John's body.
In addition, he survived a battle of unequal powers.
"Hey... Chloe. It's not the time to talk about it now. Come on, Rash... Let's go in and take care of your injuries." Irina grabbed him by the hand and took the young man inside, to the same room he was all last week.
She arranged him on the bed like a mother with her child, and she called Doctor Smith to manage his condition.
The supervising physician showed up immediately. With his own team.
They all greeted the two women. Irina is the president's wife and a famous lady in high society, as well as being a gynecologist herself in the past. Whereas Chloe is her friend, and she is a renown character as well.
Seeing them together gives care to a little boy. It's a rare sight for an ordinary person.
The doctor ordered his assistants to do a preliminary examination through the x-ray device. They prepare Rash in his bed, then remove his clothes and change it. Then one nurse passed the device over his body after applying a special substance to him. The operation did not last over two minutes, to give the result of the examination a good deal of information about his body in the form of a three-dimensional image, with all areas and parts of his body identified.
Many things are made much easier due to modern technology. And they can, in simple moments, identify a lot of things quickly and accurately.
Doctor Smith was anxious yesterday. Rash was in a horrible condition after the battle a week ago, and he thought it's a miracle for him to survive. Nonetheless, merely one week later, and he woke from coma and run from the hospital?
He did various tests in the past days and saw that he recovered quickly, but he did not think he could move with such ease.
Now seeing him walking by himself made him even more surprised. Perhaps if he hadn't seen the strange case that happened last night and made the hospital boil all night, he would have thought it was a true miracle.
Calling that case a strange was not enough, and until this moment they didn't find an explanation for it. It was the case of the girl Heidi Brandt and how her body was fully regenerated in just a few hours.
There are cases when a person can recover quickly due to external interventions, especially people using special abilities with high levels, but they are still limited as well.
What makes Rash's body different in his eyes is that he's just a normal boy, plus his condition is even worse than the average person's. This contradicts his knowledge.
After careful examination and diagnosis of the condition, he found the patient's state stable and the wounds not dangerous, which made him more confused. In those days, there was a lot that made him unsure.
Dr Smith described what the patient would need to his aides and instructed them to apply ointment and bandage the wounds. He believed Rash's body did not need any surgical intervention or suturing of wounds and thought it was best to leave it to heal naturally. After completing the instructions, he spoke a little bit with the boy to find out about his mental state, since he was sure that he was fine. He went to report to Irina.
Irina was talking with Chloe in the office assigned to Director Geraldo, and although he rarely comes to the hospital, his office is very luxurious. Usually dedicated to meetings of the president and his functionaries, and has many distinctive additions to it. Because the president does not like excessive aspects, he furnished it in a simple style.
"Ma'am, here is the report. As you can see, the boy is in a stable condition and does not seem to suffer from any other symptoms at the moment. As for his mental state, as Mrs. Chloe said. It is likely that he is only suffering from disorders and will return to his condition after several days of rest." When he came to check, Chloe told him about the situation and there might be a defect in Rash's memory as he forgot his name like Joshua told her. So the doctor focused on this point as well.
"Thank you, Doctor Smith. I'm counting on you to monitor his condition from now on." Even though he does his job, Irina was humble and doesn't mind thanking him.
Chloe did not stay much after that and left while Irina went to Rash's room to make sure everything was fine with him.
......
At: 8:23 AM
The general headquarters of Raga Corporation.
The principal's office. On the 71st floor. Office of President Raga Rachman.
President Raga was sitting in his chair, staring with a distant gaze in the city ahead. Cigar's smoke fills the desk, and a cloud has formed from it. Who knows how many cigars he has actually smoked.
It was a long night for him, and he did not know whether his morning would come, even though the sun was already shining.
The desk was behind him, and there was a person kneeling in front of the office shivering all the time, asking for forgiveness, "Boss… I did everything as you commanded me…" The burly person in the back, in a black suit, submitted his head down and couldn't complete his sentence. Even if it was the orders of the president, he could only blame himself for the failure of the process.
The man was Germa Vinson, the elder brother of the murdered Domi. He is also the leader of a gang of child abductors.
In reality, he belongs to the mafia, currently working as a pawn under Raga Rachman. Even Pedro, his right-hand man, and Domi, his brother, do not know the genuine power driving them.
Raga snapped his fingers and took another breath of his cigar. He's been thinking deeply all night. But he did not find a way out or reach a conclusion.
He never turned towards Germa and was putting his hand on his forehead.
Who is he? Just who, for God's, who took the safe?
Raga is not a stupid person, on the contrary, to survive in this world is not limited to power and wealth, but you must be smart and be able to deceive your enemies. He knows the limitations of Germa and his gang, yet he left the safe with them.
He knows that he himself is being watched by many dangerous people, waiting for the right moment to move, and he himself watches their movements as well. Everyone is in a Cold War state, which of them loses the stone first.
However, what happened last night exceeded his expectations. Even if one of his enemies discovered Germa's operation, it is a tiny one, and not enough to make them take action. He even had eyes in important positions, but everything was fine for several days.
Alas, in one moment, everything was turned upside down.
Currently, his concern lies in getting back the safe. Nobody knows exactly what it is, besides him and his assistant. The operation was basically a disguise, and the actual goal was to conceal the safe location.
Even Germa did not know the real situation. He knew that it was a very secret mission, and he was taking orders from the assistant personally. But he never expected things to develop like this. Especially since they are just three children and a bunch of money.
He even performed larger operations several times, exceeding twenty individuals. Just who are these three little ones?
Of course, he did not know the real purpose yet, as President Raga did not tell him that the safe was the most important thing. Think about it, who would try to steal a small safe?
Their money is just numbers to them, and his plan was perfect. Nobody will ever doubt that the safe contained the item they wanted.
Suddenly, he struck the ground hard, with his leather shoes and making Germa shaking with fear, and his heart nearly stopped out of terror. Then the president stood still, "Did you find anything?" yet, like he know the answer.
It was only at that moment that Germa noticed the existence of the third person in the room.
No, he wasn't there, yet he entered, and stood next to Raga very smoothly. Even Germa could not see how that happened. Although he is strong himself, too.
"Sorry... nothing." Without showing his face to anyone. He answered in short. What made the president's face grimmer, and the atmosphere went cold.
Only the president knows the truth about the assistant, and no one knows exactly who he is. Many in the Raga Group know the president, but no one knows who his assistant is.
At least what happened last night made the assistant doubt his abilities for the first time. It's the first time he's failed after personally taking action.
He moved after Germa informed him that there was an average girl who had entered their hideout, and after investigating the matter, he left the headquarters, and went to get rid of her himself. As there could be no room for error, even if it was small.
Everything went smoothly, and the situation ended with his success in the mission. Killing the girl and going back.
But.... What happened after?
He suddenly woke up from his dreams, only to find himself sleeping in the street, not knowing what exactly was going on.
