Jack was already outside when the power in the city returned.
Several minutes ago, he had come up with a plan.
After noticing his low chances of winning the next battle, he used his head and dragged one of the deceased bodies near the window of the third floor and threw it down, letting it crash all the way to the ground floor below.
Bang! The deceased body exploded at the gleaming hard tiles below like a tomato.
Nonetheless, that sent everyone into alarm and the sudden panic successfully drew attention upward, forcing security forces and police to rush toward the third floor where everyone knew the mayor's office was located.
Right now, Jack watched as police officers poured out of the city hall, dragging a man in cuffs along with others. Some were on stretchers, but the biggest shock was the number of bodies carried out under white blankets.
People were obviously killed in big numbers.
Jack's eyes, this time, were still scanning the area relentlessly. The red flags still dotted his vision map, faint markers hovering above certain people moving through the crowd, but now he can see most of their faces.
And among them, one stood out. There was a single blue flag hovering faintly near the group surrounded by police.
The mayor.
However, Jack's pupils narrowed and started sprinting toward the mayor, drawing the attention of the the cordon of officers.
'I thought he was apprehended like the others… but he was only waiting for the right opportunity!'
Jack's instincts flared.
He saw one of the government employees. It was one of those who seemed to was inside the mayor's office with the mayor at the time.
The man's expression was wrong because it was too calm and too focused. Jack lunged forward and shoved him just as the glint of a knife flashed in the man's hand.
Swish!
The blade swung wide from left to right like an ordinary person would, missing the mayor.
The officers reacted instantly, wrestling the attacker to the ground as shouts erupted around them.
But Jack suddenly froze. His body felt cold.
He looked down and saw red spreading through his shirt. The knife had accidentally stabbed his left torso and had scraped across his abdomen during the push.
For a brief moment, the world tilted. The noise of sirens and shouting faded. Then everything went black as Jack collapsed.
The next moment a steady beeping filled his ears and the smell of disinfectant entered his nose.
Jack opened his eyes realized he was in a hospital.
[You have stopped the terrorists' plan.]
[You have received 100 points.]
[You have been granted 100 points and iron key as a result.]
Jack sighed and waved it away in his mind as she also noticed Lucy sitting beside his bed.
Jack saw Lucy beside him and few police officers in black uniforms.
Meanwhile, Jack couldn't help but notice the presence of the two police officers in black uniforms talking nearby.
When Lucy noticed his movement, her eyes widened.
"You're awake sir… finally," she whispered, her voice trembling with relief. "You scared me, Sir."
Jack groaned in a weak voice.
"Can you stop calling me Sir and just say Jack. Now, how long… was I out?"
Lucy flinched fearing she made another mistake, but chose to enjoy the rest of the evening, "45 minutes Sir, no Jack. You lost a lot of blood. The doctors said you were lucky."
"Doctors always overexaggerate things."
Jack tried to sit up, but the moment he moved, pain shot through his stomach, but he chose to fight against. One of the police officers immediately stepped forward.
Officer 1 opened his mouth, acting familiar, "Easy there, Jack. You need to rest. You took a nasty hit."
"Sgt. Reyes, nice meeting you here." Jack replied politely, feeling the wound as well, but he could just level up and this wound would literally heal in a snap. "Just for today, I give everyone a handicap."
"We just need to ask you a few questions for the record. Standard procedure." Sgt. Reyes then asked.
Jack nodded.
Sgt. Reyes asked again, "You were seen tackling a suspect near the mayor before collapsing. Can you confirm that the man you subdued was carrying a weapon?"
Jack replied, recalling the moment, "Yeah… he had a knife hidden in his coat. I saw him move for it. I just reacted."
Officer 2 then intervened flipping his notepad, "You reacted faster than most our agents. "You saved the mayor's life, Jack. That's something. Still, why were you there?"
"No reason. I was just resting." Jack looked down bearing a smile, scratching the back of his head.
The officers exchanged amused looks. "Were you waiting for a friend? Her perhaps?"
Jack chuckled.
'I don't even know how she found me. I just ask her later.'
"Is this still a part of the procedure?"
"Yes. Just give us anything."
"I was indeed waiting for her." Jack then replied.
Just then the door opened and another male officer in his forties entered. This officer was tall, broad-shouldered, but was wearing civilian clothes instead. The new officer didn't look that special or important but he looked like a hard-working man.
Jack couldn't help but smile faintly. For the first time since yesterday, this must be the only true and genuine warmth he had felt.
"So this is the brave young man everyone's talking about, huh? The hero of Crios City Hall!"
"You're late as usual, sir."
"The traffic is the worse I've seen in a while." The man shook his head and walked over to Jack and Lucy, smiling widely.
"that was one hell of a move you pulled."
Jack frowned a little, feeling embarrassed. The man was too extroverted for him and was clearly trying too much to be overly familiar.
"Father, aren't you at work right now?"
"Huh? It is ok," Manuel laughed. "I haven't told your mom yet. She was going mad last night for you not coming home for the first time in your life, so be careful when you get back home."
"Surely, he won't hit an injured person."
"Oh she will." Manuel said, as if remembering something scary.
Manuel was his father, a police man. Manuel after finding Jack fine, then looked at the beautiful girl next to Jack. Jack was extremely worried for this one.
But Manuel's words shocked him.
"So you are Teresa's child?"
"Yes, sir. Mom told me you have visited our family before."
"Huh? Oh I did?" Manuel was stumped. "I must have. I went to so many places. This is good. It seems like you have already communicated with Jack. You're almost the same age after all."
Jack was flabbergasted. First, Manuel clearly cannot remember Lucy. It was shocking to hear Lucy claim that his father visited their family before, but it was more shocking that Manuel cannot remember if that was true.
And Teresa? Who the hell was Teresa?
Jack sighed.
Jack was able to make sense of Lucy's supposed story after a while of listening to Manuel and Lucy talk, and Jack had to admit he was impressed.
He was sure Lucy was lying, but it didn't look like that.
'Did he memorize all of this? How scary.'
According to Lucy, he was the daughter of Manuel's third cousin back in his hometown. But because that place was high in the mountains and that he had hardly visited, he hadn't been able to communicate with them that much. Hence, the blur of knowledge.
Nonetheless, Lucy claimed to be a highlander. She wanted to study in law as well, and their relatives apparently recommended going to Crios since he was studying here too, and that it was a nice idea to gain some experience as well.
After those relatives communicated with Manuel, it was decided as soon as last night that Lucy would be living with them from then on.
'What kind of bullshit is this?!' Jack felt like his mind was about to turn to ice. 'This is obviously all lies!'
A few hours after that, Jack was allowed to finally get discharged. He had only suffered a shallow wound on the right stomach, and no vital areas seemed to have had hit, and with advanced technology, Jack apparently didn't need to be admitted and the wound would heal on its own in two weeks or so.
Manuel drove them to the house immediately after before going back to work.
Jack was extremely worried when entering, but after Manuel explained what had just happened to Jack and with a visitor with his son, his mom didn't go insane as he'd expected.
In fact, his mom was very happy to see that a girl would now be living with them.
"Everyone here except me are men, so it is really a blessing to have you. Come in." her mom said.
Lucy, on the other hand, didn't change. He remained to be the pretty gorgeous type that seemed to have drunk a potion to negatively reduce her self-confidence.
While the two girls had a tour of the house, Jack merely entered his room, locked the door, and slammed his body onto his bed.
'It had been a long time coming, I miss this.' He thought.