Galaxy's First Ruler

Aldrich used the Return stone to come out of the Dungeon and the first scene that greeted him was already unexpected.

He saw Baron Edmund standing in awe and surprise, just a few feet away from him. Aldrich couldn't help but try out Flaw Detection and his Divine Sense on him. For the time being, he couldn't sense any ill intention coming out of Edmund's eyes.

The thing that surpassed the boundary of being 'Bizarre' was Mr. Edwin's presence. Especially when he had given him specific orders to not come out of the Guild. There were still quite a few haters and Dreamers who would do nothing but try to harm him in any way possible.

Mr. Edwin, being the new director, would be the prime target of such low-life idiots.

'Why are they here?'

The question was simple but ominous and the hunch of something bad happening had already crossed Aldrich's mind. Aldrich approached the rooted Baron and passed by him, saying no words. The brief eye contact took Edmund out of his reverie as Aldrich heard him asking an obvious question.

"Have you two hunted the Boss?"

Aldrich looked back and nodded at Edmund.

"Mr. Edwin, what's happening?"

The old man bowed and was about to speak when Edmund butted in again.

"Look at this..."

Aldrich saw Edmund taking out a bunch of documents and shoving them towards him. Two Common Dreamers, hired by Mr. Edwin as security guards, came and took away Boomie for healing. A Healer, contracted by the ADA, was always required to be present at a Dungeon.

Aldrich took a seat at the table and Edmund sat opposite to him. Mr. Edwin poured two cups of Black tea for the gentlemen.

"Sugar?"

"No, thank you."

Mr. Edwin only asked Edmund about his preference. As a skilled Butler, he had already memorized all of Aldrich's tastes and quirks.

Aldrich took a sip of the hot tea and savoured the flavor. He took his time reading and analyzing all the data within the document. It didn't take him long to read through it and handed it back to Edmund. As he put the empty teacup on the table, his head involuntarily craned up, looking into the depths of vast space.

The afternoon sun ruled the entire sky, hiding the approaching horror behind its radiance.

"What do you want me to do about it?"

"You... "

Aldrich saw the disbelief mixed with disgust written on Edmund's face. He closed his eyes and the words of Bellerophon kept repeating themselves in his mind.

BANG!

Edmund slammed his hands on the table, shattering the empty cups. He stood up and shouted at Aldrich, who seemed to be seated leisurely in his chair.

"How can you be so calm? You warned me about something like this. Did you know it would happen?"

Aldrich shook the pieces of ceramic off his t-shirt. The lack of a jacket had made his muscles, pulsing with immense power, quite visible. He looked at the fuming Baron and replied.

"If I had known about it, there was no reason to keep it to myself."

As mad as Edmund had been feeling, Aldrich knew his words were nothing but the truth. All petty schemes and underhanded planning failed when compared to a tragedy at the planetary level. The undeniable sentence calmed Edmund's rage but he couldn't just sit back and do nothing.

"We must do something about it, otherwise there is truly no hope left for humanity. You don't believe that the thing coming towards us is natural, do you?"

Hahaha!

Aldrich tapped his finger on the table and couldn't help but chuckle upon hearing Edmund's words. The shock on Edmund's face was a thing to be gawked at. The idea of laughing in a situation like this could have flipped anyone's mental state, even if one were to be one of the strongest men on the entire planet.

"You seem to be mistaken about something, Mr. Edmund. Let me ask you, why do you think it's some moral obligation for me to do something about it?"

The question made Edmund speechless. He had never even thought like that. If it was related to all the lives in the world, he thought it was his duty to stand up for it. But Aldrich had yet to stop asking questions.

"Even a child could tell that it's targeted to annihilate the entire planet. But let me ask you, why should I give a fuck about it? Isn't it better for all to die than struggle unnecessarily?"

For patients like Edmund, Dr. Aldrich Guo knew that only evil words mixed with harsh truths could take them out of their denial.

Aldrich saw Edmund slump down in the chair with incredulity written all over his face. For the first time, it seemed to hit Edmund that no matter what they would do, it would be nothing but a futile struggle. Aldrich saw sweat pouring out of Edmund's head and gestured to Mr. Edwin to give him a glass of water.

Edmund gulped down the water and his heavy breaths receded a little. Aldrich realized it was for nothing that the RECORD had chosen a person like Edmund as a leader. Even if it took Edmund some convincing, the rate at which he had taken control over his emotions had surpassed others by miles.

Aldrich stood up and approached Edmund, whose eyes seemed blurry and wet out of a sudden. He put a hand on Edmund's shoulder and a sweet but gentle voice came out from the infamous Masked Menace.

"Go home, Edmund. People often seem to underestimate the power of relationships as they gain wealth, fame, and strength. If there was a time to put up a struggle, it has already passed. And cherish the thought that they gave us all some time to spend with our family."

*

It was truly a thing to contemplate how the minds like that of Aldrich's had worked.

Mr. Edwin couldn't feel anything out of place. Edmund, as lost as he was in his thoughts, couldn't feel something amiss either. Only one man in the world could catch the subtle hint within Aldrich's words, but he was unconscious.

If Boomie were to listen to Aldrich, the terror he would have felt couldn't be lesser than the Doom arriving towards the earth. For Boomie knew no one should ever fuck up with Aldrich's parents.

At that moment, Aldrich was calmer than he had ever been in his entire life.