New Eden: Live to Play, Play to Live

Chapter 1045: Hope For The Best, But Expect The Worst

Once the matter with their unexpected passenger was settled, Alex stood and walked toward the cockpit.

After knocking on the closed door thrice, he pushed it open, finding the alone in there,

looking at a small, shining blue crystal. She startled out of her hyper focus as the door swung open and stared at Alexander.

"Are we ready for flight?" Alex asked, recognizing the crystal in her hand.

"Ah, yes, sir. Where to, so I can plot a course and send a plan for takeoff?" Major Schrute asked, trying to pocket the crystal discreetly.

"Finland first. Then, we are heading to China. You'll need to refuel in Finland, I'm sure. So you'll have plenty of time to file your paperwork over there. As for now, the sooner we leave, the better for us."

Carol looked at him with a distrustful gaze.

"What did you guys do?"

Alex chuckled at her wariness.

"Nothing, Major. We are accused of something, but we didn't do it. Haven't you watched the news?" he asked, confused that she was in the dark.

She scoffed at him like he was an idiot.

"Hah! The news. If I wanted to hear eighty percent lies and twenty percent fear propaganda, I'd watch the news. It has been a long time since they've actually done their job, those low- life reporters. I'd rather stay in the dark of all their lies."

Alex looked at her with an empty gaze, realizing she was among the few who thought the news was all manipulated media. He didn't want to enter that debate, so he ignored his disdain for that school of thought.

"Doesn't matter. What they are saying is all hogwash, anyway. We aren't guilty of anything other than trying to help. Fear is what motivates them to find a culprit. In any case, we need to leave ASAP. Can you do that?"

Hearing him confirming her views, even if unwillingly, she smiled at him.

"Of course, boss. I'll get right to it," she said, pulling out a tablet to plot her flight plan.

Alex turned to leave, stopped again before the door, and spun around.

"One last thing," he said, stretching out his hand.

She looked at him with an empty gaze.

"What?"

"Hand over the crystal, Major. That is not yours to fiddle around with. I'll excuse the boredom-steered compulsion to take one and observe it this once. But those crystals are extremely valuable, and I can't have one disappear on me. Hand it over."

The woman looked disappointed, but pulled the crystal out of her pocket and handed it back. "I'm sorry. I don't know why I took it, but I couldn't get it off my mind after seeing you drop them in the cargo hold and I stored them properly. I can't even figure out why, however," she defended herself.

Alex grabbed the crystal, waving her excuse away with his hand.

"Water under the bridge. However, please refrain from grabbing the stuff we bring back in the future. We might sometimes bring back objects that can be harmful to regular people. I wouldn't want you to hurt yourself for mistaking a cursed object for a mundane one."

The Major looked at him confused, unsure she had understood his words correctly. But she shrugged and went back to tapping on her tablet.

'A solution would be to get her inside New Eden so she can develop mana. It's unfortunate that the worlds decided to separate at this point in time. So many people who could have joined will now be stuck as weaklings when trouble truly begins...'

Heading out of the piloting cabin, Alex walked down the aisle toward the cargo hold, the crystal in hand, while Kary checked to ensure everyone was okay. David was already back in the cargo hold, and Killian kept his eyes on their extra passenger.

There seemed to be a wariness in his eyes that was a notch higher than the others, but he didn't speak his mind on the matter.

As for the passenger in question, his eyes caught sight of the small glimmering object in Alexander's hand, as he walked past him, and his eyes filled with curiosity.

He stood from his seat, straightening his jacket, before Kary walked in between him and the aisle.

"Sit down," she ordered, her tone firm.

"I just need to use the restroom, young lady. Am I not allowed?"

Kary's eyes seemed to bore through his head, as the glimpse the man had shot toward Alex's hand hadn't escaped her. And with the mana signature in his hand, she knew what was in it without needing to see it.

"Don't lie to me, smuggler. The last person who did turned into a pile of charcoal," she said, her eyes flickering a little.

The flicker of fire in her eyes made a shiver run down the smuggler's spine, and he sat down, giving her a pouting look.

"Fine. I can hold it for now. I'll ask the man in charge later," he said, crossing his legs and sipping his champagne glass.

But his mind was stuck on the flicker in her eyes.

'Did I hallucinate that? That was a flame in her eyes. That couldn't have been true, right?'

Kary was done with her checkup of everyone else, so she sat diagonally to the smuggler, intent on keeping watch on him until they were in the air. There was no way she would let him out of her sight now that she saw the curiosity in his gaze about their cargo. Meanwhile, Alex reached the cargo hold and immediately found the crate where Major Schrute had stashed the mana crystals. Well, in this case, many crates.

They radiated with mana enough that anyone sensible to it would be able to spot them from far away. But it didn't matter.

If anything tried attacking this plane while they were still inside it, it wouldn't end well for the would-be thief. He quickly opened the crate, putting the crystal in his hand away, and

closed it back.

"That was a good haul," David's voice echoed above him.

Raising his head, Alex saw David resting in a makeshift hammock of netting above the crates.

"You plan on keeping watch on these until we return home?" he asked.

"I've already counted every crystal, made a list, and sent it to Jack. With the one you just put inside, I have to update the list now; thank you," David complained sarcastically.

"Our pilot got curious and snatched one, her senses pulling her to it. Know anything about

that?"

David frowned, looking at Alex weirdly.

"Unless she has developed a sense for mana, these crystals should look like worthless gems. Either she has a sharp sixth sense from her service as a military pilot, or she was blessed with a sense of the unnatural. Other than that, I can't think of an explanation," David explained.

Alex nodded, thinking as much.

"I bet it's the former. I've heard that people in specialized military assignments often develop a sixth sense for danger. Maybe her body was trying to tell her the crystals contained

power that was dangerous for her," Alex spit-balled.

"That's my best guess as well," David echoed his sentiment.

"In any case, I hope you warned her to stay away from our shit," he added.

"I did. I told her we might eventually bring back cursed objects that could harm her. That should be enough to keep her curiosity at bay," Alex said, chuckling.

David laughed at the antics.

"Honestly, I've rarely heard of cursed objects, even in my last life. But if it keeps her sticky hands to herself, I'll make some up," he said, rolling back into his makeshift hammock.

They laughed it off momentarily before silence pervaded the room again.

"What do you think happened to Gu Fang?" Alex asked, staring ahead of him, his thoughts filled with scenarios he hoped were wrong.

There was a moment of silence before David turned around in his hammock, which caught Alexander's attention.

"I wish I could say nothing bad. But I would be lying. There were nasty rumours about the Zhong Kui in my last life. Something about people joining them for protection, only to never

be seen again.

"I don't know how founded they are or what would cause people to disappear, but I'm sure

it's not good in any case. We should expect something terrible and hope for something good," he said, looking at Alex with an empathizing gaze.

Alex nodded, walking toward the passenger cabin. He stopped at the door, turning his head

slightly.

"If they killed him, how far are you willing to go to punish them?" Alex asked, his tone icy. David looked at Alex's back, feeling the pressure emanating from him.

"If they aren't worth humanity's future, I'm ready to raze that mountain to the ground. But, Alex. We shouldn't think this way for now. Stay hopeful. You'd be surprised what hope does to

the waves of time."

Alex nodded, his roiling mana calming down.

"Get some rest. I'll make sure no one disturbs you. Our next actions depend on your knowledge and mental acuity. Hell, our future rests on you," Alex said, chuckling after his last

sentence.

David watched him return to the front of the plane, and his mind filled with complicated

emotions.

"Does it, though?" he mumbled to himself.

"Only time will tell. But I get a feeling my part has already long been replaced by yours,

wolfy..."

David was not a person who believed in fate. He believed everyone's choices moulded the future.

It was why he made sure to break every pattern he had taken in his last life. His entire unfriendly attitude was to go against the weak persona of the David Magnus he had died as.

But it was hard not to believe in fate when every action he had taken had led him to Alexander in this life. No matter how much he felt he had a duty to save the world, he couldn't help but

feel like he was only ever the trigger to release something else upon it.

Something that was nipped in the bud last time.

"Let's hope whatever I unleash doesn't end up being more of a problem..."

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