Chapter 193: She’s A What?!
Chapter 193
Then after a while she opened her mouth and said, "I’ll believe you... for now."
Alex’s shoulders relaxed slightly.
He had not realized how tense his body had become until that moment. Although he still remained cautious, he finally felt as though the situation might actually be resolved without him having to fight a woman who could apparently cross such large distances in the blink of an eye and catch up with him who was rapidly using Void Step.
He was just about to release a long sigh of relief when she continued in the same cold voice.
"But that doesn’t change the fact that you still saw my bare body. For that, you will still have to die."
The small amount of relief Alex had felt initially, instantly disappeared like a spark of flame meeting cold winter air. And his entire body became tense once more.
"...What?"
"You heard me right."
Her silver-grey eyes remained completely calm.
"I can choose to believe that you didn’t deliberately spy on me, but you still saw something that no man should ever have seen. Do not even think about lying to me again. With your extraordinary senses as an Awakened, you must have sensed my presence before I entered the lake. And once I entered, you undoubtedly saw me."
Alex’s mouth twitched.
He really wanted to argue, but after everything that had happened, he knew that arguing with this woman would accomplish nothing.
She was right about one thing. As a powerful enhanced human, his senses were far beyond those of an ordinary person. If he had been paying attention, he probably should have noticed another person’s presence approaching the lake from a long distance.
Unfortunately, he had been too exhausted and distracted by everything that had happened earlier.
Alex silently cursed his terrible luck.
Of all the places in the world he could have chosen to relax, why had he chosen a lake that apparently belonged to a woman who could kill him with nothing more than her murderous intent?
Still, if this woman truly intended to kill him, then he couldn’t simply stand there like a headless chicken and wait for death.
Alex slowly clenched his fists. Fine. If she wanted to kill him, then he would fight back.
He knew very well that the difference between them was probably enormous, but he had never been someone who would willingly stand still and allow another person to willingly take his life.
Even if he eventually ended up dead, he would at least struggle until the very end.
However, the woman didn’t attack.
Instead, she looked at him for several seconds before calmly saying, "But... there is also another option."
Alex’s expression changed slightly.
"Another option?"
"I can forget about everything that happened here. And I can even decide to spare your life."
Alex narrowed his eyes.
"So what do you want in return?"
"You will join my organization."
Alex’s eyebrows rose.
"Organization?"
"Yes. A special and very secret government organization created specially for Awakened individuals."
The woman spoke casually, as though she were asking him to join an ordinary company.
Alex immediately wanted to refuse.
He hated the idea of working under someone else. The thought brought back memories from his previous life, when he had devoted himself completely to his job only to eventually lose his entire job.
He just didn’t want to work under anyone. However, before Alex could open his mouth, the chibi system suddenly appeared beside him.
[Alex.]
He glanced at her.
"Yeah, little one?"
[I’m not going to tell you what decision to make and not to make because I can’t force you into making your own choices]
She looked toward the silver-haired woman.
[But you must understand something first. This woman right here is far stronger than Nyx’s father.]
Alex’s eyes narrowed. The system continued.
[And I don’t mean slightly stronger or a stronger Master Realm. The difference between them is like a great chasm that cannot be crossed. And the chasm is not like that of Ascendant Realm to Master Realm, but think of it as something more like.... Early Realm to Master Realm]
[And that is even undermining it. If she really wanted, this entire country could go poof in an instant]
Alex’s expression gradually changed.
[She is currently standing at the peak of the realm that exist in this world. The same realm where one finally begins to transcend the will of the world]
There was a brief pause.
[I guess what I want to say is that she is a Transcendent Realm Awakened]
Alex’s eyes shot wide open. For a moment, his mind went completely blank. Transcendent what? Did the system just say Transcendent Realm?
The same realm that stood above Master Realm. The same realm that represented a level of existence so powerful that all Master Realm Awakeneds could only look upward toward them with reverence.
According to everything Alex had learned, Transcendent Realm Awakeneds were practically impossible to kill. No weapon of man’s creation be it nuclear bombs or the like, or even anything below the Transcendent Realm could truly threaten them.
The only way for them to truly die was for another Transcendent Realm Awakened to kill them.
Alex’s knees trembled slightly from the thought of standing before such a powerful presence, but he quickly steadied himself before the woman could notice.
So this woman was actually a Transcendent.
He had just been casually defeated by Caelan, a Master Realm Awakened who hadn’t even been serious during their confrontation, and now the universe had apparently decided it was best to throw an even more terrifying existence directly into his path.
Against a Master Realm Awakened, there had been almost no hope. Against a Transcendent Realm Awakened, fighting would be no different from a powerful deity deciding to crush an ant beneath its foot.
Alex swallowed quietly.
Did the universe really hate him that much? Couldn’t it just let him catch a break?
The woman stood unaware of the storm of thoughts running through his mind. She simply waited for his answer.
Alex suddenly remembered something.
Some time back, a certain Ascendant Realm Awakened he had encountered back then when he was still at C Rank had once offered him a position within a secret organization that sounded really similar to this one.
At the time, Alex had rejected the offer. He had never given the organization much thought afterward.
But now... A secret organization for Awakened individuals. With a powerful woman who stood at the Transcendent Realm. Could they be connected?
It was certainly possible. Because the man had once said they had a Transcendent Realm Awakened inside the organization. And this woman right here was literally a Transcendent Realm Awakened. Besides he had also heard him say that day that only ten countries had Transcendent Realm Awakened.
Which our country was part of. Could she really be the same Transcendent Realm Awakened that man had been talking about.
Alex couldn’t help but give a wry grin.
He had rejected that man’s offer before, only to find himself being forced into the same organization anyway.
Except this time, the person making the offer wasn’t some Ascendant Realm Awakened. It was apparently the strongest person in the country.
And refusing her offer basically meant death. Alex didn’t want to die. He still had too many things left unfinished. Nyx was pregnant and had been taken back to her family. Jade had also been taken away with her.
He still had his other women to protect.
Nyx’s companies and businesses, plus his own, still needed him. Though this one sounded unimportant, he still had to say it. He still had school. And above all else, he needed to become stronger.
Strong enough to bring Nyx and Jade back. Strong enough to protect the people he cared about. He just wanted to be so strong to the point that nobody would ever have the power to take away the people he loved again.
Besides, joining this organization might actually benefit him in another way. If it truly contained a large number of Awakeneds, there was a good chance that some of them would be women.
More Awakened women meant more Desire Energy if he established a meaningful relationship with them. With more desire energy coming his way, then his chances of levelling up to the next level will be significantly much higher and faster.
More importantly, his Infinite Skill Absorption gave him another reason to pay attention to female Awakeneds. If he became intimate with them, he could potentially absorb their abilities and add them to his own arsenal.
That meant a secret organization containing numerous powerful Awakeneds could potentially become an enormous source of growth for him.
Of course, Alex wasn’t planning to randomly pursue every woman he encountered. He still had his own standards, and relationships weren’t something he wanted to treat as simple transactions. But if he genuinely developed relationships with female Awakeneds within the organization, there was no reason for him to waste the opportunities they presented.
In the end, becoming stronger was still his priority.
Alex finally looked directly at the silver-haired woman, who had been patiently waiting all this while for his answer.
"I agree to join your organization. But if I am going to join, I have a few rules of my own."
Her silver-grey eyes narrowed.
"What do you mean by that? Do you think this is a negotiation?"
"No."
Alex shook his head.
"But the fact that you’re asking me to join your organization means you’re in need of more Awakeneds."
The woman remained silent.
Alex continued.
"So wouldn’t it be better for you to hear my terms and decide whether they’re acceptable first?" His expression became serious. "Or would you rather kill me and risk losing whatever you need from me?"
The woman’s eyes became colder.
For several seconds, neither of them spoke.
Alex didn’t back down.
He knew he was walking a dangerous line, but he also knew that if he didn’t establish some boundaries now, he might eventually find himself being treated like an ordinary soldier.
Finally, the woman spoke.
"Fine."
Her voice remained indifferent.
"Say what you want."
Alex relaxed slightly.
"First, I don’t want to be treated like a caged bird."
He paused briefly.
"I have important things outside your organization. I still have school, companies, businesses, and people who depend on me. I can’t simply disappear into some secret government facility and stay there indefinitely."
The woman listened without interrupting.
"I’ll cooperate whenever I’m genuinely needed. And if there’s an important mission that requires my abilities, you can summon me, and I’ll come if I can."
Alex’s gaze remained firm.
"But I won’t stay permanently in your barracks or whatever facility your organization uses. Outside of important missions and matters concerning the organization, I want to be free to live my own life."
The silver-haired woman fell silent...