Chapter 44 Manager Han
"Has the beast crossed over yet? Is anyone injured? Are there any casualties?"
There were no formalities when he spoke, as he was actually the police chief's boss.
In fact he was in charge of this whole mining colony. That's what his role of a 'manager' was — to manage and develop the mines on this asteroid for the profit of the company.
"What beast? Who's misinformed you? I think you should follow me for your questions to be cleared up." The police chief was confused at first but he didn't press the matter and instead gestured the manager to the door.
'How can there be no casualties? The people in this station don't even look afraid, just what is going on?'
As they walked through the halls, the manager couldn't help but question the recent events.
'Is it a false alarm?'
This was the most reasonable excuse in his mind, and all personnel responsible for the false alarm would be punished accordingly when it's all cleared up.
"Right here sir, why don't you step inside."
However when the two arrived in front of a normal interrogation room, what the manager was expecting didn't occur.
'Huh? It's just a kid.'
All this while he had been subconsciously ignoring one possibility, refusing to believe that such an impossible thing could have happened.
On the other side of the table, Alex sat there with a distant look on his face. His body may have been in the interrogation room, but his mind was wandering to countless different places.
"Ahem." But he was drawn back into the small room when the police chief coughed.
Alex recognised the chief immediately. He was the same middle aged man who spoke from behind the window right before he was teleported to the Primordial Expanse. It was this man who gave him advice for when he first arrived.
He didn't recognise the other man beside him though.
Beside the chief stood a man who looked to be in his thirties, with short, brown hair and ocean blue eyes. He looked just like an average person, but his intimidating aura and his expensive three piece suit told Alex he was anything from normal.
"Alex, you might remember me. I'm the chief of this little police station."
"This is Manager Han, he runs this whole colony. He reports directly to the company overseeing all mining operations in this system."
With the background of Manager Han being revealed to Alex, his reaction showed slight surprise at meeting such a lofty figure.
Yet he felt rather awkward as well.
'For 17 years I could never have even dreamed of meeting this man, yet now this man came directly to meet me.'
Alex misjudged Manager Han's reason for being there, but if he knew the truth he would find it funny anyway.
Whether he was there for him or for other reasons didn't change the fact that he was standing in front of him at that moment.
"Who is this kid?" Manager Han was surprised at Alex's lack of reaction when the chief revealed who he was.
This made him slightly more curious as to why the chief brought him there.
"This kid is the reason for all the alarm, he just returned from the Primordial Expanse." The chief explained calmly to avoid any further misunderstandings.
"Huh? I haven't heard of any reports from a year ago about anyone afflicted by the curse." This didn't answer any of Manager Han's questions though — only increasing them.
"That's because there were none, he only entered 6 weeks ago." "..."
You could hear a pin drop in the room — it was so silent.
Manager Han felt as if a bombshell had gone off in his head. Everything finally clicked in place, it all made sense now.
However even though everything could be reasoned for, it would be an understatement to say he found it hard to believe.
"Impossible! It's impossible for anyone to return so quickly. This kid must have tricked you somehow!" Understandably, Manager Han wasn't buying the chief's story one bit.
It just made absolutely no sense in his mind. Therefore the only conclusion could be that either Alex or the police chief was lying, and Manager Han was more inclined to believe the police chief's words.
Alex was beginning to get annoyed listening to the manager belittle his achievements, even calling him a liar.
He decided to dispel all doubts then and there.
With a speed only an awakened could achieve ,he reached into his pocket and took out one of the E- rank beast cores he had received from Rowan, its glow illuminating the room.
Shock entered the faces of the two other men present.
Manager Han even put on a much more serious face when he felt the energy of the beast core.
It was genuine.
"Convinced now?"
Both Manager Han and the police chief took a seat opposite Alex when he threw that question in the air.
"Although I still find it impossible, I'll believe you for now." An intimidating pressure exuded out of Manager Han when he spoke to Alex, the full weight of his E+ rank energy leaking out and putting pressure on him.
But Alex was unaffected.
"So, what can I do for the two of you? As I'm sure you can tell I'm currently in no position to offer you any drinks." Alex joked with them as he attempted to dispel the awkward and tense atmosphere, which worked for the police chief.
Manager Han didn't change though.
There were no words exchanged as Alex just looked around in boredom and while he waited for Manager Han to finish fiddling with the watch on his wrist, it was only after 5 minutes that an officer walked into the room and handed a small cube to Manager Han.
"This will prove whether you are lying or not."
Manager Han proceeded to put the cube down on the table, and an array of lights erupted from the small device as a three dimensional hologram filled the room.
The chief gestured for Alex to move to the side of the room, and he joined him while the manager just sat in place.
What played out on the hologram was very familiar with Alex.
'It's a recording of the day I was teleported!'