"You can have it if you want."

The streets became completely still. Their eyes all wide as they stared at Adam and the little boy. They gasped, hissing as they saw the boy grab the weird talking artifact from him.

The mother, of course, was the most terrified of them all.

How could she not be? Monsters terrorized their lands even before she was born—and as far as history went, everything that stepped out of that magical passage wanted to kill them.

Of course, the voice of the goddess told them that the entire time, they were actually the ones hunting those monsters. And their chiefdom had also received devastating news of the destruction of entire cities, razed by the champions of the so-called Combatant worlds that stepped out of the Hunter mode passages.

When the magical passage appeared right at the center of their city, they truly thought they were the next to die—especially since Bagani warned them not to offend, or even look at the people from the other world, funny. They were also further warned about the smallest member of the otherworlders, their leader.

Bagani told them that they shouldn't look at him at all, period… because he probably had the strength to destroy their city alone. But then, Bagani also told them that these otherworlders were actually here for peace, and didn't express any desire to fight at all. So, they were left not knowing what to feel.

And when these otherworlders finally stepped into their world, they just… looked like one of them. They looked wealthier, but if anything, they also looked quite friendly—especially the one they call Adam the Endless.

He was the first to wave at them. He even had a gentle look on his face, not a single hint of impatience or irritation at all. Even during the incident with Bala, he was the first one to diffuse the situation.

But even with all of that, they were still completely wary of him because of what Bagani told them.

Adam the Endless has the strength to destroy their city. And so, when he stepped out, they all ran.

…And she even forgot her son. Her son, who was now… laughing?

"Huh…?" She blinked several times, trying to figure out what exactly she was seeing. She waited for her son to look at him, and when he did, she quickly motioned for him to come… only for him to completely ignore her and go back to staring at the speaking artifact.

Adam then carefully stood up, taking a step back as he glanced at her. He extended his hand, gesturing to her to approach. She hesitated at first, her feet moving back and forth a few times before she finally managed a step.

A heavy breath escaped her, and she nodded to herself when she made her way to her son. Of course, her eyes didn't leave Adam for even a single second.

As for Adam, he made sure to look as non-threatening as possible… even placing his hands in front of him as he stood beside Katherine. The mother's eyes also fell on her, and as soon as she saw the gentle expression on her beautiful face, another wave of relief washed over her.

This was the main reason Adam wanted to bring her—aside from Sylvie, she was the most beautiful person he knew. And if there was something he learned in life, it was that beautiful people tend to be trusted more.

Because you think you're beautiful too, right? Shut up.

"Let's go," Adam said, glancing back at the rest of the group. "I don't think we're welcome here anymore."

"I do not think it's wise to leave a smartphone in this world, Adam." Beatrice stepped forward, squinting at the phone. "Even if the battery will only last a day or two."

"Hm…"

"I agree with Ms. Beatrice." President Ohana also moved beside him, his previous fearful tone now replaced by caution. "I also don't think the people here have any concept of decorum or morals just yet, and they would more than likely try to snatch the phone away from the boy—and it would be by force."

"Oh…" Adam blinked, glancing back at the boy. "...I don't think it's right to just take it back. It—"

President Ohana stepped forward, carefully crouching next to the mother and son. The mother was extremely cautious, her lips slightly trembling as this weird-looking individual suddenly approached them.

President Ohana then smiled at the two, then removed the watch from his wrist. He placed it on his palm, then slowly extended it toward the mother while pointing at the smartphone. Even without any words, the mother quickly understood what he was trying to say.

After all, gold is a universal language. But there was, of course, another language she understood more. To everyone's surprise—

"Pal. Kun yan. Sa Gin?"

President Ohana spoke their language. The mother gasped for a moment, her eyes almost glittering as they snapped toward the gold watch—and it took her just a single second to snatch the phone away from her son's hand and give it back to Ronald.

"Sal po." President Ohana nodded, handing the golden watch to her before making his way to Adam, giving him the phone.

"Thank you, Mr. President," Adam said, nodding at him.

"This is why you brought me, right?" Ronald smirked. "Now, let's leave this place."

"Hm." Adam moved forward, smiling awkwardly at the little boy as they passed by him. He felt a little sorry, but the gold watch should more than make up for it. And so, with that, the group started walking back to the Leak.

This time, however, the citizens of the city no longer hid inside their houses. They stood on the side of the street, staring and watching them—well, most of the men were just staring at Katherine.

Some of them even felt sad that they were already leaving without even having the chance to at least greet them. Once again, Bala made things worse.

"It's too bad, huh?" Katherine said, wrapping her arm around Adam's and nudging him. "At least we weren't the bad guys in this scenario."

"As long as no one got hurt, I think I see that as a win." He shrugged, sighing in disappointment. "And no one got hurt."

"...Do you really need to be so sweet all the time?" Katherine rolled her eyes, playfully groaning at him.

"I'm not sweet? What does that even mean?" Adam looked at her, shaking his head before looking at the Leak.

Such a disappointment. Imagine all the lives you could've improved in this place, Adam.

He glanced at the people, and some of them were clearly starving. He noticed it earlier, while most were hiding inside their large houses, there were a lot of people hiding behind the darkness in the alleys, too. Their cheeks, sunken and caved in.

Why are you thinking of helping these people? You haven't even helped enough on your own planet.

He sighed again, this time putting more speed in his steps.

"You know, now that I have a little free time…" Katherine continued. "...do you want to see one of my sets? The staff actually want to meet you when they found out you were my brother."

"Huh? What for?"

"Oh, come on." Katherine tightened her grip on his arm. "You seriously expect me to believe that you don't know how popular you are? This is literally the first time that someone has asked me to introduce them to someone else. It's usually the other way around. You're like the most famous—"

A harsh flash of light suddenly sparked right behind her, cutting through their conversation. She and Adam both looked back at the same time, only to see that her shield had activated on its own.

"What is…" Adam blinked several times as he stared at the radiant shield. "...Why?"

"There!" Katherine pointed back at the tavern, and Bala had his arm extended toward her. "It—"

"Ms. Beatrice?!" President Ohana and the IBAA representative raised their voice. Katherine's eyes widened, instantly realizing what their screams meant even before she looked. She was about to look at Beatrice, but her head snapped toward Adam instead.

Adam's mouth was slightly open, his eyes staring down.

"S-she's alive! The spear missed the heart!" The IBAA representative shouted. "We'll… we'll bring her outside! M-Mr. President!"

"Where do I hold—Shit! Fuck, I cursed!"

Adam's eyes started to tremble, and his head soon followed; his teeth chattering violently to the point his gums bled. 𝓯𝙧𝓮𝓮𝒘𝓮𝙗𝙣𝒐𝒗𝒆𝓵.𝓬𝓸𝒎

"Adam…" Katherine whispered. "Calm down."

"I'm calm," Adam answered, and all his shivering just stopped. "Let's get out of here."

He turned around, quickly following President Ronald and the others. Katherine sighed in relief, but as soon as she also followed behind him…

…Adam suddenly turned back.

"Adam!" she screamed, but Adam was too fast for her to grab.

These people think that just because you allowed yourself to be pushed around… that you would allow this to pass? No. Not this.

Not this.