165 A Cornered Rat 1 (1/2)

There was no bloody confrontation that ensued. The face-off within the unstable and static world made by the clone was so simple that it was not even qualified to be described as dramatic. The reason for it was simple. No matter how vile and immoral the father was, a soft spot was still left for his daughter so he, and his clone, didn't make her situation more complicated than intended. Anyways, like what he said to himself a while ago, the favor was already fulfilled.

Whatever would be, would be.

'A trigger was just all they needed. And I'm sure the night wouldn't pass without it being uttered.'

'What a boring mission after years of hibernation.'

Before the separate dimension which resembled the inside of a perfectly captured photo collapsed, 'Fred' looked up to the luminous skies and then let out a sigh tinged with mild irritation.

Not long after, he could no longer feel the connection to that place. It seemed it had already vanished, and every irregularity conjured by his abilities that were quite meager when compared to the real Fred had finally dissipated into thin air. If his guess was correct, since the girl activated a low-level barrier, they'd be stuck there for another thirty minutes, most probably avoiding people's eyes by going invisible.

Now that he remembered it, he was sure she did not use a Body-Swap or Teleport skill or item. It could only be a personal request made to the system, no? Hmm. But there was also a chance it was a reward from previous missions. Or maybe she discovered that previous items or unnecessary skills could be traded with the system for points?

Shaking his head, he sighed again. 'No use thinking about it now.'

Whatever that would come after was already out of his concern. It was such a task that barely made him flex his fingers, what else was there to say?

Hence the reason for his sigh which was definitely not out of relief could only be another thing.

The clone coldly spat out, his intellectual pair of eyes staring up above sharpened when they turned to his left.

”Stop acting like a sneaky little rat, boy. Even if you cloaked your figure with invisibility powder or chameleon device, for me you're still as visible as a monkey clowning around a tree's shade under the bright sun.”

In the middle of a dark empty road within South Alina, 'Fred' remained standing with his back perfectly straight, posing as though age had never caught up with him since his twenties. His face was that of a middle-aged guy since he had copied his Original who wanted to match his age with his countenance when he was still living with his family. However, with the system's enhancement of their bodies, they actually don't have to experience most people their age would start to complain about. Age and deterioration of health.

”I know you have a nose for people like me.” He resumed speaking, almost sneering, he continued, ”But if you're thinking you'll even be able to touch my coat, then you're surely living a very imaginative life.”

”Come out now boy. I purposely teleported to this place just to entertain you.”

Seconds passed that no movement showed from where his eyes laid about. The cries of bugs and cicadas were like mocking replies from the should-be companions he would only have for appearing in such a deserted place. However, he didn't move from his spot of teleported back to where the man waiting for his report was.

As a bored clone who, like his Original, would only have science and mathematics books to dabble in once he returns, he at least could afford to waste time as he dragged on the reporting to the real Fred. With a wave of a hand, he reduced a nearby acacia tree into mere stumps. Uncaring whether the dirt and grasses would cling to his pristine white lab coat, he sat on it, his posture so relaxed, a hand even supporting his chin as he waited for the rat to come out of his hiding place. If only his face was a bit younger, then he would have looked a bit more harmonious with nature.

”Still not coming out?” he coldly laughed. ”Leo Jones, you think a mere clone like me won't know your history and records of how you manically hunted down people like me? Isn't 101's clone your most recent target? What now? Changing sights to me? You sure have guts.”

Annoyance shot out of his eyes again. Talking with air was never a nice experience. Although the totally insane and mentally corrupted sometimes do so out of boredom or lack of reason, for those who were really perfectly awake to reality and were only mistaken crazy for having different morals and viewpoints in life, talking to the air was not really something enjoyable.

With his mood straying from the fine line, the surroundings seemingly matched it, cooling down the place which was already quite cold due to the chilling winds of the fast approaching month of November.

When this condition persistently worsened within a half a minute, a red cap wearing boy in a T-shirt and baggy shorts was forced to cancel his invisibility.

Leo was gritting his teeth.