Endless Journey: Infinite Realms

Chapter 129 Unexpected Meeting

Alex could only stare at the mad scientist, as she stared back at him with her lunatic smile.

"You’re serious about this." Alex said with a deadpan expression on his face as he realized that this woman actually wanted to ally with him!

"Why are you getting fussed with that huh?" The mad scientist replied as she seemed to be offended by Alex’s expression. "Are you thinking that I am messing with you? If you are thinking that way, then maybe we can make the Traveler Truce right now!"

"The what?" Alex blurted as he found the words the woman said to be quite indecipherable." What is a Traveler Truce?"

"...Don’t tell me you do not know that?" The mad scientist mouthed out as she looked at Asteria, who was sitting on Alex’s head. "Your Guide did not tell you anything about the Traveler Truce?"

"...She did not." Alex replied as he managed to glare at the sheepish-looking Asteria. "Oi dumb fairy, what the hell is she talking about here?"

"Well..." Asteria tilted her head as she slowly said,

"There are times where 3 or more Traveler Groups will appear in a World. When that happens, usually 2 of these groups will ally together. In order to make that alliance better, the Endless Monarch decided to create a system called Traveler Truce. With that system in place, 2 Traveler Groups in alliance with each other will have to follow the terms of their Truce or they will die. Naturally, this Traveler Truce made alliance between 2 Traveler Groups much easier..."

"Why the hell did you not tell that to me earlier?" Alex said as he pinched his nose, with most of his attention still trained on the mad scientist. "Maybe you could have just hinted that to me!"

"Why should I tell you that? That system mostly works only when there are 3 or more Traveler Groups!" Asteria shouted in reply as she glared at Alex. "There are only 2 Traveler Groups in this World, meaning that allying with them is somewhat counterproductive! That is why I did not tell that to you! Even if I told you that earlier, will you use that Truce to ally with the enemy Traveler?"

"Well, our Enemy Traveler is crazy enough to try to ally with us." Alex said as he let out a sigh. He then looked back at the mad scientist, who seemed to be still eager for Alex’s answer.

"If I say no right now, what will you do?" Alex asked as his Abyss Sprites started to gather power within themselves. "Will you still continue fighting?"

"Well... I am sure that once you discover that truth, you would want to ally with my group." The mad scientist replied confidently. "And even if you say no here, me and my teammates will just wait for you to change your mind."

"Heh, then I refuse your deal." Alex said as he let out a sneer. "Maybe I will think having an alliance with you once I placed you and your teammates in prison!"

Even if Alex was tempted with a temporary alliance with the enemy Traveler, Alex knew that it was still risky getting close to them.

Maybe the alliance was just the cover for the enemy to discover their real power. Or worse, the alliance could also be a part of the enemy’s plan to defeat them!

Even if this mad scientist said that she was confident that Alex will ally with her in the end, Alex decided to not think about her offer anymore.

"That’s too bad... Well, I guess that wraps up our meeting here." The mad scientist said with a melancholic voice as she let out a sigh. "Let’s just meet again next week, ok?"

"What do you mean meet again? I won’t let anyone of you leave this place!" Alex declared as he decided to go all-out with his Abyss Magic.

But before he could do so, the mad scientist let out her insane laugh as she said,

"Tom Foolery, activate the Chemical Explosives!"

The metal ball guy let out an annoyed sigh as he talked back to the mad scientist. "Alchemist, they are not Chemical Explosives. They are specialized one-time use area of effect chemical dispersers. Oh, and I activated them right now."

"Hmph, it doesn’t matter what they are! They are chemical explosives in my opinion!" Alchemist said as she waved her nozzle on Alex’s direction.

"What the f**k? Chemical Explosives?" Even if Alex was not sure on what these chemical explosives really are, he was sure that they were not good at all. "You had Chemical Explosives placed here in the mansion?"

"Oh no, not here." The mad scientist said as she gave Alex a grin. "The chemical explosives are placed in more special...places."

"Don’t tell me..."

"Oh, I am telling you." The mad scientist said as her tongue lolled out. "I had Tom Foolery place 3 chemical explosives around the Grand Point City! These chemical explosives only have 5 minutes left before they release toxins all around them!"

"!!!"

When Alchemist said these words, she made sure that her voice was heard all around the area.

This effectively halted the fights around Alex.

"What the f**k Alchemist?" This time around, the one who showed an adverse reaction was Glacia herself. "You are placing chemical weapons in the city itself? Are you a psycho?"

"Na uh uh." Alchemist replied as she wagged her fingers. "I just placed them there as a way for us to make the Heroes leave."

"...."

"You only have 4 minutes and 30 seconds left before you can deactivate the Chemical Explosives." Alchemist said as she pointedly looked at the SHA Heroes and Alex’s team. "What the hell are you waiting for? You are all Heroes, right? You should leave right now and find those Chemical Explosives! Deactivate them before they release my chemicals! If you don’t, many will die in this city..."

"You f**ker!" By this point, Alex realized that this devious woman had them cornered.

If they continued fighting with them, the chances of the Chemical Explosives releasing the chemicals will increase, which can lead to devastating deaths.

However, if Alex and the Heroes leave right now, they will be able to deactivate the Chemical Explosives, but Alchemist’s Team will be able to escape!

"I thought you were all Heroes?" Alchemist said as she let out a disappointed sigh. "Don’t tell me you want to catch us in expense of innocent lives?"

"...Let’s go now!" In the end, Alex and Might knew that they must not waste their time here any longer.

They had to force their teammates to leave the place, with the jeering laughter of Alchemist trailing behind them.

"Alex, you and your team should go first." Might said as he gave Alex a hard look. "My teammates and I will go to Tetra and explain to him the situation. Once we did that, we will start looking for the chemical explosives too."

"Good luck to you." Alex said as he looked back at the Alchemist and her group.

To his disappointment, they were all gone now, as if they all slunk away.

"F**king bastards." Alex muttered to himself as he used his EM Sensing to sense where the chemical explosives are. "The next time I see that Alchemist woman, I will be bashing her head with my elbow!"

With that consolation in his mind, Alex’s body blurred as he and his Companions blasted towards their new targets.

***********************

6 hours later.

Luckily for Alex and his Companions, they were able to deactivate all 3 of the Chemical Explosives before they could do any damage.

Alex’s Team deactivated one, the SHA Hero Team deactivated the second one, and Tetra deactivated the last one.

All of these chemical explosives were now under the custody of SHA, on a place where they will not be able to do any damage.

"Cheer up, Eldritch. Villains like them usually use these elaborate plans to keep us Heroes at bay." Might said as he seemingly tried to console a grumpy-looking Alex. "Don’t worry, even if they escaped now, we will be able to see them sooner than what you expected!"

"That’s right, Eldritch." This time around, it was Tetra who swooped in to comfort Alex. "Even if they got the best of us right now, in the end, they will still fall under our efforts! All that we need is just some patience."

"I guess you two are right." Alex said as he let out a sigh. He then continued munching on his tacos as he leaned against the wall. "Patience is a virtue after all."

Right now, all of them were inside a private room in the SHA Headquarters, with all of them using this room to relax and have fun.

Alex was not sure about the fun part, but he was certainly relaxed, with him watching the other Heroes mingling with his Companions.

"Well, with Tetra’s Fundamental Force Manipulation, I am sure that he can easily beat up those Villains the next time that we see them!" Might said as he gave Tetra an idolizing gaze. "There’s no way for them to survive a gravity beam if it was aimed at them!"

"Hahaha! That joke never gets old!" Tetra said as he slapped Might’s shoulder with mirth on his face. "That joke should be a part of my autobiography. Just think of- Hey Eldritch, are you okay?"

Alex found himself stunned as he heard the conversation between Tetra and Myth.

"Your power... is Fundamental Force Manipulation?" Alex slowly asked as his gaze became locked on Tetra. "You can control gravity, electromagnetism, strong nuclear force, and weak nuclear force?"

"Of course I can. Everyone in the World knows about it!" Tetra said as he gave Alex a suspicious gaze. "Why are you asking that, anyway? That is a common information, you know."

"I..." Alex’s mouth flapped open as he decided to observe Tetra’s body.

Aside from the biker jacket, Alex realized that there were actually tattoos visible on Tetra’s neck and hands.

Alex looked at these tattoos closely, and he realized that these tattoos looked eerily similar to the tattoos of one person that Alex had met before.

This said person was also a Fundamental Force Manipulator. However, this person was from the Esper World, and not here in this World!

"No way..."

Alex’s eyes widened as he realized that there could only be one explanation as for why the Hero Tetra has the same abilities and tattoos as the person that Alex met in the Esper World.

Alex looked back to Tetra, who was giving him a worried look.

Alex took a huge gulp as he said,

"Tetra, can I ask you something?"

"Sure, but make sure that your question is a decent one." Tetra replied as he straightened his body.

"..." After receiving this answer, Alex took a deep breath to compose himself. It was now or never for him.

Alex used his power to cover the area around him and Tetra, which isolated the both of them.

With this precaution in place, nobody aside from Alex and Tetra will hear their conversation.

This is a necessary precaution, as the question that Alex will ask was of the utmost sensitivity.

"Here we go then..." Alex stared at Tetra’s eyes directly as he asked him,

"Tetra, are you one of the strongest Esper in the Esper World? Are you the one dubbed as the ’Mad Jackal’? Are you the one with a wife named Natasha and two children? Are you the one with a niece named Alina? Is Clint your actual name? Tell me Tetra, are you that person?"