CHAPTER 42: WE MADE CONTACT?

"This is a nice place."

Both Ether and Silas visited a cafe in a block downtown, where they were met to start their ’reconnaissance’ on the resistance. They decided to relax there, eat and enjoy a chat.

Ether ordered a lot of snacks, so to keep the costs low Silas ordered a cup of coffee. He watched her as she shoved the sweets in her mouth with an amused expression on his face.

"Of course it is," He replied as he curved his lips in an awkward smile. She was the only one who got to taste how much of a nice place this was, and he could only watch in silence.

After all, only one of them was going to pay the bills that day. He just wondered— with a strange gleam in his eyes —where all the food went, as Ether looked just as thin as a twig.

He frowned, shifting his glance to the side where he caught some people staring in their direction. One of them peeked over their newspaper, with two others seated by his left side.

They were a couple, but instead of ’minding their business’ he caught them casting their gaze in his direction, and this made Silas feel uncomfortable, as this didn’t seem too normal.

|JustinLovesFish— It’s weird both of them are interested in your date.

|Kitchen.Soup.98— LMAO, bot. They’re giving the bombastic side eye.

"Ether, what’s your favourite food?" Silas raised his brow, leaned forward and lifted his cup of coffee to hush lips. As he took a sip, he calmly observed the insides of the coffee shop.

There were about twenty people in his sight, with about sixteen of them seated together as couples. Only four customers sat alone. Those three were the most suspicious of them all.

Silas narrowed his eyes. He couldn’t casually turn around, but he knew that outside this group in his field of vision was the barista who served the coffee, seated behind his counter.

There were also two girls who assisted the barista in handling the bills and menu. Silas’ brows furrowed as he drank his cup of coffee, then Silas slowly placed the cup on the table.

"Is that even a question? I love most types of meat." Ether said with her mouth stuffed with sweets. She chewed, then swallowed everything with Silas staring at a loss for words.

’She just casually swallowed ’only god knows’ how much worth of food?’ Silas, even till tomorrow, wondered what kind of monster Ether was. Her body was the peak of terrifying.

Ether sniffed the air, then her expression changed. Silas’ brows jumped at this, then he clenched his hand around his cup of coffee, ’The newspaper guy vanished. This is not good.’

Silas paused, lifting a brow. He could hear a distant, whistling sound. He turned in that direction, staring straight out the cafe window and into the busy street but he saw nothing.

BANG!

The explosive sound jolted Silas. The glass of the window cracked up, then it blew up in his face. At that moment, as the shards of glass hurtled into the room, Silas turned to Ether.

His eyes widened, then his heart rate sped up. Ether lay with her head on the table with blood spurting out of the hole in her head, her drenched hair scattered across her pale face.

"The fuck was that?" Silas asked, rushing to Ether’s side. He noticed that both the man and woman left in the chaos, while the others circled around them, staring and murmuring.

"She was assassinated." one of the men there said with all the colour drenched from his face. He put his hands in his pockets, trying to hide his trembling fingers, "Who is the girl?"

"She doesn’t look like a public figure." A woman from the crowd spoke up as she stared at Ether, forming a pitiful expression on her face, "She was laughing just moments before—"

"Interesting." Silas grabbed the side of his face, shaking his head. He raised his head to stare into the crowd, wearing a supercilious expression on his face, "this was a good plan."

The woman staggered back after staring into his eyes, her legs falling into a trembling mess as she backed into the crowd. The others joined her, backing away from the eerie air.

’I was occupied with the ones in the cafe, so I didn’t notice the sniper.’ Silas thought to himself as he formed a wry smile, ’While I searched for that guy, the sniper took the shot.’

[Ether Was Shot!]

[Pick a Choice,]

[Choice A — Track the Shooter]

—Rewards:

[(5) Gacha Coins]

[Skill, Flash Step]

[Choice B — Finish Ether Off]

—Rewards:

[Skill, Nuclear Expansion]

[Skill, Atomic Combustion]

[Choice C — Leave Them Be]

—Rewards:

[(10) Gacha Coins]

"For the obvious choices, the rewards are so pathetic." Silas complained, feeling Ether’s claws dig into his flesh and raising a brow. Silas lifted his hand before putting it on her face.

He could feel warmth returning to her skin as her pupils finally focused. Ether tried her best to say a few words, but she only gargled on her blood, unable to form a coherent word.

"Don’t stress it, Ether." Silas straightened her spine, petting her on the back as she spat out a mouthful of blood. The bleeding slowed down with hot steam rising from the wounds.

He helped Ether to her feet after a while, watching as everyone in the cafe backed away in horror. He ignored them while Ether wrapped her hands around his neck, sniffing the air.

"How did she survive a bullet to the head?" One of the men there screamed, pointing his trembling finger at Ether. The others were not any less shocked as some fainted on the spot.

’She must’ve sniffed it out, and I judged from the sudden change in her face. To dodge it in time, she tilted her head slightly so it wouldn’t hit her vital point.’ Silas deduced smartly.

Even if they coated the bullet with materials to hinder her sense of smell which — Silas turned to the bullet — they didn’t, the sound it made travelling through the air was enough.

"I am going to kill them." Ether bared her fangs as a chilly aura leaked out from within her to soak the entire cafe. Silas sighed as he felt Ether’s entire body trembling with anger.