NOVEL NEXT Chapter 571: The Moon?
For Alex, it hadn't been long since he got to know Faerith. It felt like just yesterday when he accepted her job offer, and ended up gaining the system, meeting Vesa and MingYue.
She was the one who started everything. That's why this information hit Alex like a brick.
Aira frowned, then snapped her fingers. The air shimmered and turned into a screen, showing a picture of her with her mother and father.
Alex's heart twisted into a knot. 'It's really her… Faerith, just what happened all this time. And that man…'
Alex recognized him. He had seen the man briefly while waiting for Faerith. 'Was he her assistant? Anyway, one thing's for sure, they worked at the same company.'
Seeing his expression, Aira realized it, it was the same Faerith. The woman the man in front of her mentioned as his old friend… was her mother. It clicked in her mind, if before it was just suspicion, now it was confirmation.
'He's the outsider.'
Somehow, he had hijacked her city's system. Otherwise, how else would he know about her?
'There's no way he's Jack. Just who is he? Someone that knew my mother from the past…'
She tried to think hard, recalling every single conversation she had with her mother. Then, a name slipped from her lips.
"Alex Campbell… are you him?"
"I see… looks like she didn't betray me," Alex mumbled.
He quickly came to that conclusion. If Faerith had betrayed him, she would've warned Aira to stay far away.
Then a realization struck him. 'Wait, didn't I make her sign a slave contract with me? Since I got here, I haven't felt her death, this means she's still alive.
My real body should be able to track her. I need to send this information outside.'
"Betray?" Aira was confused, not understanding what Alex meant, but she quickly shook the idea away.
"That's not important right now! Since you're Alex, you should be able to find my mother, right? Where is she!?"
Her mother had been missing for years. Even her father couldn't find her, no matter how hard they tried.
They had started to fear that Faerith had been kidnapped by the resistance army. If that were the case… she'd be tortured, forced to spill every secret they could extract.
Right now the system, the quota, nothing enter her mind. She want to throw it all away than look for her mother.
Alex smiled, he walk a step closer, than asked back, "Yes, I'm Alex, now do you see me as a friend, or ally? If I help you look for your mother are you prepared to betray everyone even your father?"
Aira's mouth fell open in shock. She didn't care about betraying the rest, but betraying her father? That was completely different.
"Well, if your father took your mother's side, then it won't be a problem," Alex said flatly. "But I need to ask, just in case he's not. Who knows, maybe he's the one behind her disappearance."
Aira's emotions flared. "NO! There's no way my father would ever betray my mother! I know how much he loves her!"
"It's not that simple, Aira. It never is."
Alex could already see several scenarios where things went wrong. Faerith was locked into a slave contract with him and knew his capabilities, but the same couldn't be said for her husband.
From his perspective, this alien civilization that invaded Earth must seem utterly unbeatable. Out of fear or misguided love, it was possible he imprisoned his own wife just to stop her from doing anything reckless. Knowing Faerith, she probably acted as a double spy.
Alex chuckled inwardly. 'Well, if it's her, her main goal as a double agent was probably more about researching their technology than actually freeing humanity.'
"No matter what! There's no way my father would betray my mother!" Aira yelled. "He would never hurt a single hair on her head!"
"Okay. First, let's talk."
Alex wanted to ask her to log out from the virtual game so he could send the information to his original body. He also needed to learn more about the current situation inside the game, especially about this so-called quota and how everything functioned.
Meanwhile, far away and deep underground, the real Alex and Mingyue finally reached Alice's hideout. But it was different from what they had expected, small, makeshift, and clearly built for one person.
"This isn't our real hideout," Alice said as she opened the door. "I just use this as a mobile base to rest before moving to another spot. The others in the resistance wouldn't survive staying here."
Alex nodded, recalling how strong the cyborgs were. He knew this place wouldn't be able to hold up if discovered. "What about the goblin and the others? Are they alright?"
"It's been a long time. To be exact, you've been gone from this world for 51 years, 3 months, and 12 days."
Alex frowned as he sank into one of the makeshift chairs. "51 years? That's… way too long." His expression turned serious as he looked at Mingyue.
She shook her head calmly. "Don't worry. You said it yourself, the long gap was because of the breaking of the seal.
As for what happened while we were gone… we should believe in them. Your mother and sister aren't weak, Alex.
And I believe in my brother. No matter how naive he was, his conviction was always real."
"You're right. Let's focus on our current situation. Considering the time that's passed, Salomon should still be alive."
"Right now, the resistance is all hiding on the moon. Staying on Earth became impossible. Most of them were goblins.
Solomon rallied them to escape, but he stayed behind. As for where he is now… I don't know. But sometimes, I hear attacks carried out by the resistance, and I'm sure it's him."
"The moon, huh…" Alex let out a low chuckle, remembering the old stories he used to read about aliens hiding on the moon. And now it turned out, humans were the ones hiding there.
"So they're safe, right?"
"Of course not," Alice sighed. "They're busy evading detection as best they can. Thankfully, the Mechalystes seem to have no interest in the moon.
They've focused all their efforts here. But that doesn't mean we have no problem, the resource on moon is very limited."