Chapter 148: Necklace (2)

Filmos was once lost when he was just five years old.

Far from the abusive family he had and their miserable living conditions, he was somehow dragged away to a kind couple who couldn’t give birth to children of their own.

At just five years old, he didn’t have to break his bones just to earn some food. He didn’t have to suffer the cruel beatings of his biological parents every single night.

Well, that was supposed to be what every child experienced naturally, but the young Filmos didn’t know that back then. He had always thought suffering and beatings were completely normal, since that was the only reality he had ever lived through.

However, with this new couple, Filmos experienced what real life should actually be like. At least, a peaceful and comfortable one.

Things were gently taken care of for him. He was deeply loved by this kind couple, and for at least two whole years, he truly felt the warmth of a real family.

But then, a terrible tragedy happened.

One dark evening, their peaceful house was suddenly attacked. From all corners of their vast mansion, blazing flames erupted, rapidly blocking every possible exit path.

Outside the windows, terrifying figures were waiting—people who desperately wanted to kill his foster parents for reasons the young boy couldn’t comprehend.

"Filmos..."

A trembling woman hugged the young Filmos tightly against her chest, her heart hammering wildly against her ribs.

Filmos looked up into her tear-streaked face, sensing her body shaking violently in pure fear.

The young Filmos didn’t understand any of it, nor did he grasp the extreme sense of life-and-death urgency surrounding them. All he truly knew in that moment was that his mother was holding him as tightly as she could.

Rushing deep down into their basement, his foster mother finally broke her tight embrace on Filmos. She carefully guided him into a hidden shelter, hiding him securely somewhere in between huge wooden crates.

"Mother? Where are you going?" Filmos asked softly, pulling gently at her sleeve.

Her mother wore a solemn, heartbroken face before forcing a gentle, trembling smile onto her lips.

Filmos didn’t understand the true meaning behind that smile.

"Filmos," she whispered, brushing a thumb over his forehead. "We are playing a hide-and-seek game. You must not come out, no matter what happens..."

A sudden, loud explosion shook the entire world around them, momentarily causing Filmos’s mother to lose her balance as dust rained down heavily from the ceiling.

She quickly regained her footing and looked at him one last time. "Hide right there!"

Filmos didn’t know what was really going on. He didn’t know that he eventually fell asleep in the pitch-dark space from sheer exhaustion.

When the next morning came, he finally crawled out of the hidden basement shelter, only to discover that the grand mansion had completely disappeared, reduced to nothing but ash and rubble.

Only the wide, clear morning sky greeted him.

"Where is mother? Mother!"

He called out at the top of his lungs, but no one answered.

He searched frantically through the scorched debris until a bright shine from a piece of jewelry reflected the morning sunlight. His short legs quickly strode over to it. Crouching down into the ashes, he picked up a scorched golden necklace.

’Mother...’

He pressed the golden necklace close to his heart, and hot tears escaped from his eyes, streaming down his soot-covered cheeks.

...

Back in the present, Filmos ran through the dark, damp alleys of Hibiscus City, his vision blurred by tears of pure rage.

That necklace was the only physical memory he had left of the only woman who had ever truly loved him. And his biological parents had casually handed it over to loan sharks for a pathetic three-percent debt reduction.

His pounding feet eventually dragged him straight into the neon-lit back alley where the local collection syndicate ran their illegal operations.

Four heavily built men in leather jackets were standing outside a dimly lit warehouse, laughing loudly as they counted rolled-up wads of cash. One of them had Filmos’s golden necklace dangling casually from his thick, dirty fingers.

Seeing that precious golden glint in the thug’s hand made something snap deep inside Filmos’s mind.

"Give that back to me!" Filmos screamed, his voice echoing violently through the narrow brick alleyway.

The thugs stopped laughing and turned their heads, sneering as they recognized the breathless, teary-eyed teenager.

"Well, look who it is," the lead thug scoffed, tossing the golden necklace into his jacket pocket while stepping forward with an arrogant smirk. "The worthless debt-kid. Did you come here asking for another beating? You still owe us millions, brat."

"I said... give it back!" Filmos growled, his entire frame shaking with uncontrollable anger and emotional strain.

Instead of backing down in terror like he usually did, Filmos reached into his jacket pocket and pulled out his Pocket Sanctuary Card. With a sharp, desperate swipe of his arm, a blinding flash of emerald green light erupted in the middle of the alley.

A massive, shadowy form materialized out of the glow.

The temperature in the alley instantly shifted as the Green Anaconda manifested, its heavy scales grinding against the cold concrete floor. Though compact in its base form, its cold, slit-like yellow eyes locked onto the four men with lethal aggression.

The thugs gasped in shock, taking a collective step back as the sheer oppressive aura of the creature hit them head-on.

"A-A beast tame?!" one of the thugs stammered, his face turning pale as he scrambled to draw a rusted iron pipe from his belt. "Since when does this loser have a beast?!"

"Kill them," Filmos commanded through his clenched teeth, his voice dripping with pure vengeance.

The Green Anaconda didn’t hesitate for a single microsecond. Driven by their seventy percent soul bond, the giant serpent shot forward like a released steel spring, sweeping its heavy, muscular tail across the alley floor.

CRASH!

The heavy tail struck two of the thugs directly in their ribs, shattering their bones instantly and sending them flying into the brick wall before they collapsed unconscious into a pile of trash cans.

The lead thug panicked, pulling out a concealed blade and lunging directly toward Filmos in desperation. "You little shit!"

Before the thug could even take two full steps, the Green Anaconda blurred past Filmos’s shoulder. Its jaws snapped wide open, spraying a concentrated jet of sizzling green toxic liquid directly onto the leader’s arms and weapon.

The metal blade dissolved into liquid rust in a split second, and the acidic venom seared right through the thug’s heavy leather jacket.

"AAARGH! MY ARM! IT BURNS!" The leader shrieked in absolute agony, dropping heavily onto his knees on the cold pavement while clutching his sizzled, burning arm. The remaining thug fell flat onto the floor in pure terror, trembling frantically and begging for mercy.

Filmos walked forward slowly, his heavy boots echoing through the quiet alley. His eyes were cold, completely devoid of his former weakness.

He stopped directly in front of the writhing syndicate leader, reached down without saying a single word, and pulled the golden necklace back out of the thug’s pocket.

Wiping the dust and grime off the golden pendant, Filmos clutched it tightly in his fist, pressing it against his chest just like he did when he was seven years old.

With his powerful beast standing tall and protective beside him, Filmos turned his back on the groaning syndicate members and walked away into the dark night, knowing his life would never be the same again.