Endless Journey: Infinite Realms 328 Hey! She's dangerous! Why can't y'all see it?

What happened after this unfortunate meeting went by as a blur.

Alex and Alina, who were forced to take care of Annie, has no choice but to bring her back to their current house.
There, both of them had to endure embarrassment as Annie immediately flared up at the sight of their messy house.

The little girl went ballistic upon seeing this, that she even started cleaning the house up by herself.
According to her, the sight of their place was so bad that she will not be able to sleep properly if it was not cleaned.

Armed with a mop and a broom, the little girl started scouring the whole house, throwing away anything that she deemed dirty.
At this point, Alex and Alina cannot just let this girl clean the house by herself. So, the two of them donned their cleaning suits as they joined Annie on her cleaning quest.

And thus, a night only dedicated for cleaning has occurred.
**************
THE NEXT DAY

"So Alex, this little girl will stay with us?"

The one who asked this question was Kiera's grandfather, who was smoking a cigar while sitting beside Alex.
Wafts of smoke covered the old man's face, making him look like a solemn figure.

"Yes, this little girl will stay with us." Alex replied as he fanned away some of the smoke. "Oh, and why are you smoking that way? Are you trying to look cool?"

"Come on Alex, I barely had chance to smoke a good cigar like this… Can't you just let me have my moment?"

"Moment my ass" Alex snorted as he glared at the old man. "Where were you and Kiera when we were cleaning yesterday?"

"Umm… I brought Kiera to a nearby theme park." The old man replied as he stared back at Alex innocently. "Is there something wrong with that?"
"Sigh, why did I even bring the two of you here?" Alex muttered as he shook his head. "Maybe I could have just left you with Queen Mother and Professor Frances."

"But you could not stomach leaving Kiera on the Trash Prefecture." The old man commented as he gave Alex a wry smile. "Wait, now that I see it, it seems like you have a soft spot for kids, Alex. Why don't you just make one with Alina? Surely she will love to have your children too."

"Hak!" If Alex was drinking something right now, he surely would have spat it out already. "The f**k are you talking about? We're talking about little girl who made me suffer yesterday!"

"…Did you really suffer, Alex?"
"Tsk, you two are lucky you came home late." Alex muttered as he cupped his head.

"…Was it that bad?"

"Bad? It's more than bad! It's hellish!" Alex almost shouted out as he gritted his teeth. "That little girl… I thought she was just a bratty girl. But she was worse than that! She… she is just like a grumpy old woman!"

"Oi oi Alex, that's just too much…"

"Too much? You should have seen how dedicated she was on cleaning last night." Alex muttered as he slumped on his seat. "She did not even care if what she saw was our property. As long as it was dirty, she will immediately throw it away! Hmph, if it were not for my efforts, even your things could have been thrown away too!"

"Oh… that is bad indeed." The old man replied as he let out another huff. "And to make it worse, you cannot disobey her last night, since she was just doing your best to clean your mess."

"You don't need to remind that to me, old man." Alex said as he sighed. "I know, I know, I am a messy person. But still…"

"Alex, just let it go." The old man said as he tipped the cigar's ashes on the ashtray. "Even if she was like that, you can see that Annie is a good, disciplined girl."

"…You think that girl is a good girl?"

"Of course she is!" The old man said with full confidence on his voice. "You should have seen how obedient she is to me this morning! She even called me grandpa! Hahaha! I tell you Alex, even if she is a cleaning freak, she is still a sweet little girl! I mean, she's even playing with Kiera right now! Do you think someone bad will play with my granddaughter?"
"Hmph, she could just be pretending." Alex grumbled as he stood up. "You know that her mother tricked me 3 times already. Do you think her daughter will not be the same? Hmph, just you watch! She will also show her true colors."

Right after Alex said these words, the door in front of them opened, as two small figures came bounding in.

These two figures were Kiera and Annie respectively, who were both looking at Kiera's grandpa with excitement.

"Grandpa! Annie told me that there's a good chess place nearby!" Kiera said as she and Annie started to pull the old man by his hands. "Grandpa, you like playing chess right? Let us bring you there!"

"A chess place? Hahaha, you two really are adorable!" The old man said as he let out hearty laugh "Okay, let's go there!"
He then proceeded to stroke the heads of the two little girls, eliciting giggles from the both of them.
"Sigh, you two girls just makes me so happy…"
"As long as you are happy grandpa, we will be happy too!" Kiera said as Annie continued giggling.
"Hahaha, you two girls are really a blessing to me!"
If a person can die from happiness, then Kiera's grandpa right now could be a victim of that. The sheer amount of happiness that he is letting out right now was too much, even for Alex's emotion sense.

"Grandpa! Does your shoulder hurt? Let me massage it later." Annie said when they were close to the door. "Mother always made me massage her stiff shoulders, so I am already an expert!"

"Hahaha, Annie, you can do anything that you want!" The old man said as he emanated the aura of supreme bliss. "You are a good kid, so I have no problems with whatever you do!"

"Really? Okay grandpa!"

"Hahaha!"

"…" In front of this blissful scene, the only thing that Alex could do was to solemnly pray for the old man's well-being.
"...He's been hooked. There's no more escape for him." Alex muttered to himself as he gave the old man a pitying look. "This girl Annie is actually this devious… I must find a way to expose her!"

"Alex, you still suspect Annie?" Alina, who suddenly appeared behind Alex, muttered in annoyance as she stared at him. "Can't you just accept that she's just a normal girl who was raised by an abnormal woman?"

"…So you're even charmed by her too." Alex said solemnly. "This cannot go on anymore."

"….Suit yourself Alex. Just don't do anything rash." Alina muttered as she shook her head.

"…"

"Alex, remember that our goal this time is to gather important info from Annie." Alina continued talking as she saw Alex going silent. "Can we get info from her if you act this way? Please treat her like a normal person!"

"As long as that Annie does not make any devious moves against us, I will treat her properly." Alex replied as he stared forward. "But besides that, I will treat her just like a stranger. As for our goal to get info from her? I can easily do that by myself."

"…You should just ease up Alex. Annie's not a superweapon that can annihilate all of us." Alina replied as she placed her hand on Alex's shoulder. "She was just a girl that's usually neglected by her mother. Please give her some slack."

"…."

*******************
6 HOURS LATER

"I thought those three will just go to a chess place and then drink tea later? Why are they still not coming back?" Alex grumbled as he impatiently waited inside the living room. "That Annie, is she doing something tricky right now?"

"Calm down Alex. Those three could just be having too much fun." Alina said while washing the dishes. "You know that those three sometimes crave to do something fun…"

"Hmph, they could be having fun, but for 6 hours? There is something wrong here." Alex said as he stood up from his seat.
"Alex, you can just use your power to sense where they are, right?"

"Alina, I am using it already." Alex replied hurriedly as he narrowed his eyes. "And guess what I sensed? Nothing. Those three? I can't sense any of them inside my sensing range."
"…"
"If I can't sense them, then it just means that they went some place farther than my range." Alex said with suspicion in his eyes. "Alina, don't you think that something fishy is going on here?"

"…"

"Okay Alina, I will be going out." Alex said as he strode towards the door. "I may not like Annie, but she is still my responsibility. I have to make sure that she is safe, along with Kiera and her old man."

"Alex, even if you look for those three, I am sure that you will see them safe and sound." Alina replied as she stared at Alex. "You know that the TimeMasters also treat Kiera and her grandpa lavishly. As for Annie, it's obvious that she also receives special treatment from them."

"…"
"Alex, there's no way that they will be in danger in this place." Alina concluded as she started piling up the plates. "If you look for them, I'm sure that you will see them playing on an arcade shop or an-"

"Boom!"

Right after Alina said this confident claim, booming sounds filled the air as the whole area shook.
Even the ground trembled, as Alex saw cracks appearing on the yard outside their house.
"Woosh!" The skies then howled as powerful winds unleashed their fury on the tall buildings. Some of these buildings did not stand a chance, as they immediately broke down, falling to the ground with a crash.

As for the nearby people, they all started running on the streets with panic evident on their eyes.

Pandemonium started to crop out everywhere, with the panicking people making it worse.

"!!!"

Alex immediately stood up from his seat as his eyes flashed dangerously.

"Alex, what is happening right now?" Alina asked as she summoned her katana back on her waist. "Is this another rebel attack?"

"I don't know, although I can sense multiple powerful presences attacking the nearby places." Alex replied as a murderous aura erupted out of his body.

"You're right!" Alina exclaimed as she also sensed what Alex just detected. "And from what I can sense, these attacking people are all Immortal Cultivators! Are they the escaped members of the Covenant?"

"I'm not sure Alina. The only thing that I am sure of is that right now, this whole area is plunged in chaos!" Alex said as he gritted his teeth. "Of course with the power of the TimeMasters, this attack will surely be quelled quickly. But before that can happen, I'm sure that a lot of innocent people will be hurt."

"People will be hurt… Alex, Kiera and Annie might get hurt too!" Alina blurted out as Alex's face became grim.

"Yes, that's our main problem right now." Alex said as he kicked the door open. "Since things have escalated to this, you already know what we should do next, right?"

"Of course. We are going to save them!" Alina replied, with her katana glinting dangerously. "If those attackers dare to lay a hand on Kiera or Annie, I will make them experience the pain of losing their lives!"

"…Alina, you really love kids… Do you really want to have one that badly?"

"Hie? W-w-what are you talking about Alex?"

"Oh nothing. Why don't we just get going?"

Chapter end

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