Chapter 145: Let’s make a deal

"Hi, Kaelen. It’s nice to finally meet you."

What followed next was an unsettling silence between the two parties as Kaelen kept his eyes on the strange women.

Though his [Sharp Senses] had proved to be useless in that situation, Kaelen could tell the woman whose face was covered by a scarf was extremely dangerous. From her outfit and the fact that she hadn’t spoken but simply remained behind with her hands on the wheelchair meant she was only a guardian to the purple-haired woman in the wheelchair.

Unlike the guardian, Kaelen couldn’t tell a single thing about the crippled woman. It was as if she was either too weak to exist in Kaelen’s perception, or she was simply too powerful and above Kaelen’s perception level.

Even if she was clearly in a wheelchair, it was obviously the latter. That was a first for Kaelen, and suddenly, the 12 quadrillion evolution points sitting in his balance felt insignificant.

"Who are you and what do you want?" He asked, keeping his voice calm.

He couldn’t show any signs of weakness now, even after knowing these two women were utterly above his league. He also didn’t want to cause a commotion that could wake his mother up.

"My name’s Emir. I’m going to go straight to the point; I can help you save your mother and world... if you’re willing to come with me."

Kaelen’s heart skipped a beat, before his brows furrowed in a subtle frown.

The woman not only knew his name, but the current state of his mother.

Just who the hell is she?

He didn’t reply immediately. He didn’t trust a single word that escaped her mouth one bit, but wasn’t rash enough to start picking a fight without understanding who his enemies were and what they wanted.

"Let’s say I believe a single word that just came out of your mouth. Why do you need me to come with you?" He asked flatly.

The faint smile playing across the woman’s lips didn’t falter.

"This isn’t the best place to talk. I can give you the opportunity to save your mother and world, but you can’t possibly believe it’ll be for free." She said calmly, her voice sweet and soothing to the ears. "I want something from you in return, and you don’t have to worry, it’s something I believe you can easily give me and won’t involve anyone else... but you."

Kaelen’s frown deepened slightly. If she was telling the truth, of course it wouldn’t be for free. But she also mentioned what she wanted was something he could easily give her.

What could such a being want from him?

Was it the Transcendant Heavenly Gourmet Cauldron?

Maybe Lysandra?

Or even something involving his Reward System.

But on the other hand, his mother’s life was at stake here. He could see it in her eyes that she was scared of death and wanted to live.

The question now was, if these people were genuine and could offer him an easier path to save not just his mother but find the bastards behind this entire ordeal, was Kaelen willing to sacrifice any of those things?

He didn’t think so.

"How do I know you aren’t making this up?" He asked sharply. "You seem to know too much about me, and that’s not very convincing. I’d like to let you know now that I won’t be going down without a fight."

Emir brought her delicate hand to her lips as she chuckled softly in amusement. "You seem to misunderstand my intentions, Kaelen. I’m not forcing you to come with me. I was only asking and offering you a potential deal you might be interested in. I mean, aren’t you curious about everything? I’m sure you have so many questions that your mother couldn’t answer. I believe you and I have so much in common, Kaelen, which is why I’ve personally gone through the trouble to pay you a visit myself. But if you aren’t interested in hearing me out, that’s also fine. I’ll leave and you’ll never see my face again..." Emir trailed off slightly as she stared at Kaelen like she was trying to peer into his soul. "Because you’ll probably be dead in a ditch somewhere along with the rest of your world and everyone you ever truly cared about."

Kaelen’s eyes widened and his frown deepened. "Are you threatening me?" He asked as his system panel materialized in his vision, ready to dump his entire evolution points into ascension.

"I don’t make threats, neither do I lie. I strongly believe people who lie are scared of the consequences that come with the truth, and there’s nothing that scares me anymore. You and I both know that’s the inevitable fate of your world. You can either accept it or deny it, it’s all up to you. So make your choice, Kaelen; are you willing to come with me or not? It’s that simple, and I’ll respect whatever decision you make." Emir said calmly with a serene expression.

Kaelen gritted his teeth. No matter how strong he became, there was always something that proved to him he was nowhere near the pinnacle of strength. He could tell Emir wasn’t bluffing about humanity’s fate. His mother confirmed it herself. There was really no hope for humankind, except this woman before him was claiming she could give him the opportunity to save everyone only if he came along to talk.

He didn’t have much of a choice here, and as much as Kaelen didn’t trust her one bit, for the sake of his mother’s life, he was willing to compromise. After all, his mother would’ve done the same for him without a second thought.

He exhaled softly. "Where are we going?"

Emir’s smile bloomed. "Back to my place."

Kaelen frowned once more.

"Back to your place? What’s the timeline correlation to this world?"

Kaelen was certain she wasn’t of this world, and after learning the timeline trick from his mother, he wasn’t about to fall into a trap he could’ve easily avoided.

Emir’s smile didn’t falter. "Your mother taught you well. Now that you’ve mentioned it, I’ll surely do my best to adjust." As she finished, the other woman turned the wheelchair around, and they began heading towards the other end of the hallway, which turned out to be a dead end.

What the hell?

Kaelen wasn’t having any of it. "What do you mean you’ll adjust?"

"Don’t be scared; come with me. I promise to take care of you, Kaelen."

"Hold on a second," Kaelen said without moving, but the two women didn’t stop for him. "I’m guessing it’s probably okay to inform my mother before I leave, right?" Kaelen asked sharply. 𝘧𝓇ℯℴ𝓂

The two women stopped dead in their tracks.

Kaelen’s lips curled up faintly. That was a strategic question, and they absolutely fell for it.

If the woman’s intentions were pure and she had a good record, then that shouldn’t be a problem. Except, she had something to hide.

The woman in the wheelchair slowly tilted her head to the side and didn’t say anything for a moment.

"You absolutely cannot."

"The moment your mother learns we ever met, you’ll never see me again, and you’ll lose your chances of saving her or anyone else. This also applies if we eventually come to an agreement... no one can know about us."

"Us?"