Free Web NovelChapter 138: Chapter 137 - Escape(Part 2)
Point-of-View: X
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Okay...here I am, back in Sri Lanka. So...now, what? How exactly do I go about finding any Harmony members that might still be here? Hm...yeah, I don’t have clue.
I let out a sigh as I decided to head back to the Lotus Tower, there might be a clue there as to how I might find them. Well, probably not, but I really don’t have any other leads to go on, so yeah, that’s my only option, at least that I can think of.
"Well, if I find nothing, guess I’ll start stirring up some trouble and hope that Harmony responds and sends someone to invest in," I sighed to myself, as I walked out of the airport.
I’d been surveying my surroundings using Appraisal, and so far, I hadn’t spotted any other Meta-Humans. The sense of anxiety I’d felt before boarding the plane had died down a little bit now that I’d arrived here, but it was still very much there.
Even one slip up could mean that I get captured by Eden again, and if they manage to once again place a Condition on me, that’ll be that, they’ll make sure that I never get a chance like this one again.
And somehow, I doubt Anarchy will be so generous as to just use Dispel on me again. I can’t afford to screw this up...I won’t lose my grasp over this freedom I waited so long to attain.
I then flagged down an auto-rickshaw, asking the driver to take me to the Lotus Tower, before slumping down in the back seat with a tired sigh. I’m so damn worn out...I’m pretty much at my limit, both physically and mentally.
But I need to stay sharp for a while longer...I can’t rest until I successfully negotiate with Harmony. My future depends on it, as do Miraliz and Petra.
Tch, there’s a fair bit of traffic up ahead, from the looks of it. It’s gonna be a while before I get to my destination.
I let out a sigh as I took out my phone and tapped on a puzzle game, to kill some time and keep myself from passing out from fatigue. I haven’t got any sleep in hours...maybe I should’ve slept on the flight here, but I was too paranoid to do so.
It’d be an absolute nightmare to fall asleep only to wake up to find myself captured by Eden again. Logically speaking, I know that I’m probably safe now.
They’ve got enough to worry about with Chaos and the loss of Trevor, one of their Category 0s, to spend too much effort on me, someone they’ve openly considered to be nothing more than a tool for them to use at their disposal.
I know that, but still...all I could think about was the absolute worst case scenarios happening, and with that in mind, there’s absolutely no way I could bring myself to relax. freёwebnovel.com
I was actively trying to keep my breathing calm and stable, but my chest still felt really tight, and my body was cold and sweaty, I kept wiping my palms, but they weren’t getting dry at all.
The only part of me that felt dry was my throat, I’d drank a lot of water in the plane, but it didn’t get any better, and it felt dry as a desert right now. But even drinking a sip of water makes me feel like I need to go to the bathroom every five minutes, so I was refraining for as long as I could bear it.
The fact that my body was still in pain all over wasn’t helping matters either. The swelling in my nose had gone down after I got some first-aid treatment in the Ukrainian airport, but it still hurt a fair bit, and my back and right forearm were especially in pain.
Even moving slightly aggravated those injuries, sending stinging pains erupting across the injured spots. It was absolute hell. Sure, I’ve had plenty of worse injuries, but I usually get them healed by Light Skill users.
I may have been a tool to Eden, but I was a pretty useful one, so they at least did that much. Ugh, how do normal humans bear waiting for injuries to heal naturally? I feel so inconvenienced right now.
And the traffic is moving at an absolute crawl, plus it’s super humid outside right now, which was only making me sweat even more.
I’m not used to wearing long sleeved tops or full length trousers, so I was in a lot of discomfort, I felt fabric clinging to my skin in various spots. The spots where my arms bend and the backs of my knees felt especially gross, this is the worst!
I reached up and undid my twintails, before tying my hair back up in a high ponytail. It didn’t make a huge difference, but it did feel a bit less hot around my head. The spots where I’d tied up my hair earlier were especially sweaty, my hair ties are soaked.
I rolled up my sleeves and trouser legs, flapping my top to fan myself a bit...this is barely doing anything, all the air around me is so damn hot! And I may be exposing some of my scars by doing this, but I don’t care.
I was just here a day ago, it wasn’t this hot yesterday! Is the anxiety really making this much of a difference? This freaking sucks!
Eventually, the traffic finally started to disperse a bit, and with a more constant drive forward, there was less stagnant heat and humidity to deal with, and it felt significantly cooler.
I was definitely starting to feel kinda light-headed though...all the pain, fatigue, anxiety and paranoia were starting to stack up, and I was already well past my limit.
"I need a shower...and a cold drink...oh, and some food...I’m hungry...," I grumbled to myself, shaking my head a bit to keep myself awake.
Yeah, I’m starting to lose it a bit...I took out the half-empty water bottle I’d gotten on the flight, and took a small sip, drinking it down slowly, before giving in and gulping down most of what was left, feeling a little better as it cooled me down.
I then tapped on my phone and opened my navigation app, checking how much further to the Lotus Tower...oh, nice, just about ten more minutes.
There isn’t much traffic around at all anymore...well, guess that makes sense, considering that a bunch of people died there yesterday. People are probably going to be avoiding that place for a while.
Unfortunately, as I got within five minutes of the Lotus Tower, we encountered a road blockage, with policemen posted by the blockages.
Tch, guess they’re closing off the area, huh. Fine, whatever, I’m not gonna let that stop me, not after coming this far.
After paying the driver and exiting the vehicle a couple dozen meters away from the police cordon, I slunk away, getting out of the sight of the cops, as I quietly made my way towards the large lake nearby, and then jumping in after making sure the coast was clear.
This lake extends all the way to the tower, I should be able to swim there. There were some swan-shaped paddle boats about, but there was no one riding them, so it shouldn’t be too difficult to swim to the tower without being spotted.
It’s pretty deep, but I can swim pretty well...though, uh, being in water is kinda traumatic after that one time out at sea.
Well, at least I feel a lot more refreshed now, my head feels a bit clearer too. So, there’s that, if nothing else.
I then began swimming, making sure to pace myself to avoid running out of steam and drowning...that’d be a really shitty way to go.
Also, on a related note...what am I doing? This is so not gonna work...why exactly did I bank everything on the possibility of someone from Harmony still being at the tower?
It’s been several freaking hours already! They’d have absolutely no reason to stick around there at this point. But now that I’ve come this far, bailing out feels like it’d be soul-crushing.
Okay, I’ll go take a look around, and once I, presumably, find nothing of use, I’ll go find a cheap inn or something to stay in and get some rest.
Tch...my right arm and back are aching like crazy, not sure how much longer I can keep going. I’m closing in on the tower, but I’m still about a hundred meters or so out.
Alright, come on, power through this, I can do it! Mind over matter-...who am I kidding, acting more determined isn’t going to make this any less painful or difficult.
I let out a dramatic sigh of relief as I reached the railing at the edge of the lake...fortunately a part of it had been broken off, probably during yesterday’s battle.
Hm? I hear some people...probably investigators or something, or maybe a construction crew to repair the damage. Heh, it sure would be nice if it turned out that someone from Harmony is among the people I’m hearing.
Yeah, if only. But there’s no way, that’d be way too convenient and-...huh?
Wait, am I seeing things?
There was a small crowd of reporters, looking like they were questioning someone standing behind a podium that had been set up in front of the tower. And the person being interviewed was...Neo.
Crap, am I hallucinating? Yeah, must be. I closed my eyes and rubbed them vigorously, smacking the sides of my face, before opening my eyes again. Alright, let’s take another look, it’s definitely going to be someone els-...nope, that’s definitely him...
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