116 Airpor

…..

At the end of the concert, Hayden and his group went backstage. On the way, they ran into Shu-Ching, who came from the restroom. She walked shoulder to shoulder with Hayden, who was in front of the group.

This all surprised them. Including Hayden. As for the trio, they all had the premonition that there was something going on between the two.

"Hey." Shu-Ching spoke to Hayden with her soft and quiet voice. "Did you enjoy the concert, Hayden-ah?"

"Every single bit of it." Hayden admitted. "Did you enjoy your own concert?"

"In spite of my reserved nature, you know that I like performing." Shu-Ching gave an indirect answer. "Plus, you Filipinos are really dedicated. The cheers energized us."

"I guess so, huh?" Hayden snorted.

"So, what was the result of your basketball camp?" Shu-Ching shockingly wanted to continue the conversation.

"It was good." Hayden bobbed his head. He lightheartedly asked, "Want to play basketball with me sometime? Me vs you?"

"Sure." This answer of Shu-Ching was incredibly unforeseen. This wasn't part of Hayden's calculations at all. "Where should we play basketball?"

"I… I will inform you when the time comes." Hayden blinked. He activated his Divine Perception. The smell of attraction was there, but it wasn't strong. 'Indeed, it is something else… It's more of a… Compatibility…'

Hayden was sure that he wasn't the only one feeling it. Shu-Ching and him was more compatible of friends instead of lovers. 'Paradoxically, the best kind of love stems from a friendship… I'm getting greedy.'

Thankfully, by that point, they have reached the room that was exclusive to CHORUS. He didn't want to continue this conversation for the meantime. Hayden opened the door for Shu-Ching, entered, and held the door for Daniel, Zeke, and Scarlet.

Nobody from the trio was startled of this action since it is basic manners. Holding the door was basic etiquette for people. Well, not like doors like this one was common as most doors are automatic nowadays.

When Hayden entered the room, Eun-ha and Sayuri immediately approached him. They both wore not that heavy makeup. Hayden couldn't help but feel that Eun-ha and Sayuri were more beautiful without the makeup on.

Don't get him wrong, he had nothing against makeups, or any cosmetic. It was simply a matter of preference and taste. And Hayden wasn't fond of that rosy blush makeup. It was… Unnatural.

Regardless, he ignored it and kissed the two. "Congratulations for a successful concert."

"Okay." Hayden didn't stop them. He unhanded his two girlfriends and walked to Daniel. "Be safe, you guys. Oh yeah, don't forget, Daniel. We have a flight to World Government Island tomorrow."

"Yeah, yeah, I know. Jeez." Daniel rolled his eyes jokingly. "Okay, dude, goodbye."

With that, Hayden was trapped with CHORUS for half an hour. With Eun-ha and Sayuri's insistence, he waited for them in the exclusively-CHORUS room as there was still the pre-departure fansign event held in the same place. That took about two hours.

On the way back, Hayden was accompanied by Eun-ha and Sayuri. They both comfortably fell asleep at the backseat on the way. Them being able to do so comfortably was evidence that they both trusted Hayden and was comfortable in his presence.

When he arrived at his house, Hayden alighted and opened the backseat door. Eun-ha and Sayuri were both leaning on each other, snoring away. It was a cute scene.

Hayden admired them for a few seconds first prior to sitting and gently shaking them awake. "Hey, we're home."

The two groaned. They rubbed their eyes before eyeing their surroundings. They both stared at Hayden. Hayden smiled at them. "Should we move in the bedroom? You'd get better rest there."

The two nodded their heads, still exhausted. They did interact perform in a concert, held four encores, and interact with 1,000 people. Even if you're a wielder, the mental taxation of that activity would be high.

When the two alighted, Hayden squatted. He stretched both of his arm outwards. "Want a lift to my room, Gonjunim? Sunshine?"

They faintly smiled at Hayden and sat on his arms, facing each other. Hayden effortlessly lifted the two up whilst his arms were parallel to his waist. The two held him by the collarbone.

When he entered the house, Hayden was startled of his mother and father on the dining table, eating reheated food. His parents gazed at him with a questioning and startled look.

"I'll explain later." Hayden disregarded the two. "Love you guys."

Hayden darted for the stairs. He heard his parents' conversation as he ascended.

"You raised a womanizer." Hayden could hear her mother's eye roll. "He's bringing home two women. Two beautiful women. At 16. Tsk."

"Hey, do not blame me." His father laughed. "That kid's growth spurt was unexpected. He's taller than me by a head! Women naturally prefer people with his stature."

"He took after you when it comes to looks." His mother had that suggestive tone. Hayden stopped eavesdropping subsequent to that.

Hayden let Eun-ha open the door to his room. Going in, Hayden kicked the door close without looking. He put the two down on his bed. He was going to walk away when Sayuri called out to him.

"Not going to sleep?" Sayuri smacked her lips. She was clearly exhausted. "Can you?"

"Okay." Hayden postponed his recording. His work was important, but was it more important than them? 'I can probably come up with an excuse of not uploading… It's Annual Youth Pride week anyways. Not like people will watch my videos since I'll be in the Annual Youth Pride…'

Taking off his shirt, Hayden climbed onto the bed bare chested. This flustered Sayuri to no extent. As for Eun-ha, she has seen it plenty of times. Hence, she lay down on his chest without a single word.

Admiring Hayden's body for a second, Sayuri did the same as Eun-ha. Hayden tightened his hug on the two. "Good night to the two of you."

…..

Waking up, Hayden still had the two beauties on his arms. The first thing he did was think of what mystical thing should he put in his house.

As such, he skimmed through his memory database of world of wielder materials. One in particular jumped up on him. It was Abyssal Gold.

'If I'm correct, this material is just hard to acquire, but it isn't rare.' Hayden thought. 'In the Mariana Trench, it is rather common.'

The thing with Abyssal Gold was the powerful deep sea cognizants. Specifically, the Abyssal Water Dragon: A creature that killed a Pangkat Anino wielder during an expedition to get Abyssal Gold.

That water dragon is part of the reason that no human has ever succeeded on going down the Mariana Trench completely. In fact, it was forbidden by the World Government.

'Holy shit…' Hayden's eyes widened at his epiphany. 'The World Government… Banning the exploration of Mariana Trench in spite of having the technology?'

Hayden minded the possibilities. 'If I can say something for certain, humans are greedy creatures by nature. Humans have intense thirst for knowledge. At least some of the smarter ones. There is no way that they would leave something like the Mariana Trench unexplored…'

There are two likely possibilities from this. With Hayden's estimation, these two has the same amount of probability. The first one is that the World Government has encountered creatures of extreme strength without knowing the existence of cognizants. As such, they banned it as they were terrified.

The second is basically the first one as well. Except that this time, the World Government has wielders amongst it. Or has wielders behind it. Accordingly, they banned travel to the Mariana Trench because of the extreme dangers.

'However, if Pangkat Anino has discovered Abyssal Gold…' It wasn't hard for Hayden to put two in two. 'Then that opens a third likely possibility.'

And that possibility is that the World Government hoarding these supplies. However, this is less plausible than the first and second one. It doesn't make sense.

Unless the World Government is being manipulated from behind the scenes. By a wielder. Which was a bit farfetched if Hayden must say so himself.

'Besides, the Philippines is the closest country to the Mariana Trench.' Hayden made sense of the ease of exploration of Pangkat Anino of the Mariana Trench.

'Enough of that. Since there's still 1,000 tons of Abyssal Gold in Pangkat Anino.' Hayden wondered. 'I will buy some to be used for my house's framing.'

A house with an Abyssal Gold frame will definitely be nigh-indestructible, in combination with High-Grade Carbon Concrete.

'And what if those formations are laid down around the periphery of my house.' Hayden was fascinated of the idea. 'It will be a citadel. An impenetrable fortress. A safehouse that may never be infiltrated by anybody.'

Hayden was longing for that kind of haven. Something that he can absolutely relax. 'Well, there's nothing where I can truly do that… If a Level 5 attacks, it may as well be the end of my life.'

For the meantime, Hayden threw that at the back of his mind. He sent a message to the group chat of him and his employees. He was informed that the house frame would cost 30 million credits.

Hayden transferred them the credits without asking anything else. 30 million credits was a bargain in Hayden's opinion. And 30 million was not a loss for him at all if he gets scammed. Well, they wouldn't dare to scam him anyways.

Hayden also sent some minor revisions. Eun-ha timely woke up the moment he finished. She let Hayden know by smooching his neck.

"That was some quality rest." Eun-ha muttered as she rubbed her head on him. An oddly effective action of affection. "I love resting with you. So warm, so homely."

"Awesome." Hayden pecked her on the head. "You guys will be on World Government Island, right?"

"Of course we'll be." Eun-ha muttered. She sounded a wee bit sleepy. "I didn't tell you? We're going to be singing the Korean national anthem this year."

"Oh yeah, I think I heard a bit of that one time." Hayden shrugged. "Guess our month will be prolonged, huh? What about after that?"

"I'll come here every night." Eun-ha chuckled. "Don't worry about missing out on me. I can fly pretty fast. I'm considerably faster than you. My maximum speed is 20,000 kilometers per hour."

"You'll travel to and fro South Korea every night just to see me?" Hayden was touched.

"Of course. I rest better when I'm with you." Eun-ha smiled at him. Her sleepy eyes made it cuter. She supported herself up. "And it seems she does so too."

She gently placed her head back on Hayden's chest. "If anything, I'll rather stay here and leave my life in South Korea. Alas, I'm bound by responsibilities to the group and Lunar Assembly. Also, you'd say something along the lines of…"

Eun-ha adorably mimicked Hayden's voice. "It is unwise to leave your life in South Korea. I'm not saying it will happen, but there is that minuscule of a possibility that we will break up. Please, don't do it only for the sake of being with me."

Hayden was speechless. Not because of Eun-ha's mimicking. It was that this was terribly accurate. In truth, this is precisely what he would say.

"Goddamn… You know me too well…" Hayden sighed out. "Howbeit, you left out one thing. The reason for this. It's that I don't desire for you to live your life revolving around me. I'm measly a part of your life. Your life remains for you to live."

"As usual, sage advice." Sayuri was the one to speak up this time. She yawned and rubbed her head on Hayden's chest the same way Eun-ha did. "That makes sense. We like him, but we are not fully his, nor is he fully ours."

"When did you learn to dish out advices?" Eun-ha rolled her eyes. "But yeah, honey. That's why this was my decision. Going with you every night instead of leaving my own life behind."

"You do grasp that you'll be carrying me every night, right?" Sayuri lightheartedly interjected the conversation. "To go here?"

"Yeah, yeah." Eun-ha answered in an irritated manner. Nevertheless, the two understood that this was her being playful.

At 3:00 AM, Hayden had to prepare. He apologized to the two for not being able to send them back. This Sunday was going to be hectic for him.

For the next two hours, he recorded alone. Thereafter, Hayden packed clothes for the week within 10 minutes. Next, he took a fast shower.

He bought first-class tickets for his family to World Government Island prior to the event. As for him, he'll be in a separate plane with his team. And Dusk and Dawn. Who were put in pet-cages and was delivered to the airport earlier.

As he was in Pangkat Anino now, there was nothing to worry for him. If he or his family was touched, The Boss will be the one they have to deal with. And from members' accounts, The Boss was the strongest Level 5 wielder.

Actually, even without The Boss, Pangkat Anino was powerful in its own right. From the database, every single member had the power of at least ten men. On top of this, they all had ingenious and creative minds.

Finally, the base was absurdly well-protected. That base was the securest one in the world. It was plausibly safer than the Presidential Complex in World Government Island.

Moving on, Hayden wore a black polo shirt, jeans, and sneakers. He then took a taxi to Manila. On the way, the driver requested his signature and communicated with him.

Hayden gladly entertained the driver's question pertaining to parts of his life and Annual Youth Pride.

The driver was shocked when Hayden gave him a two hundred-credit tip. It was an act that the driver did not anticipate at all.

Hayden arrived at the airport at 6:00 AM. Unlike the last time he traveled, the airport was full of people. Many were holding up signs with his name on it and 'good luck.'

Hayden was overwhelmed by the sheer amount of people. It was as if he was a true celebrity. An extremely popular one.

He was spotted by a person. When that person shouted, all heads turned to him. They all cheered at the sight of him. The good thing is that Hayden has predicted this, getting Dominic to hire a number of robotic sentinels.

The robotic sentinels all blocked the people. This resulted in him walking inside with next to no interruptions. All the while, Hayden waved and smiled at the fans.

Inside, Hayden was greeted by more fans. It was deluging his social stamina. He powered through it by increasing his pace ever so slightly.

At last, Hayden arrived at his terminal. Fortunately, terminals don't allow those who doesn't have tickets in. Hayden grabbed this opportunity to take a breather.

A second passed before he calmly walked to Dominic and Sophia, who were sitting. "Told you this would happen."

"Yeah, yeah." Dominic rolled his eyes. "By the way, I haven't informed you this, but… The World Government Island is a strange place."

"No shit, Sherlock." Hayden sat down beside the two. "An island in the Atlantic, precipitously showing itself? There's no way in hell that's natural."

"Shut up. You haven't even heard what I have to say." Dominic coughed. "The World Government Island has a generally purer essence energy. You will notice this by the abrupt increase of your essence energy circulation."

"That's… Huh…" Hayden formed a thoughtful expression. "You're saying this to warn me to not get caught while I circulate, right?"

"Yes." Dominic nodded. "Despite of our Origin Limiters being activated, us Level 3 wielders can use our sensing ability. That's an advantage that Level 3 wielders have over you Level 2 wielders. If wielders in South Korea exists, The Boss is certain that there are wielders from the rest too. You know what I'm going to say next."

"Indeed." Hayden closed his eyes for an entire second. "How long is the range of your sensing anyways?"

"For me, it's 50 meters. For those similar to you who are compatible with essence energy, at least 100 meters." Dominic said in a matter-of-factly tone. "For Level 4 wielders, this increases to about 250 meters and 500 meters. Be careful."

"Got it." Hayden had a grave expression. "So I take it that you do want me to exploit this opportune moment to close the gap to Level 3"

"Yes." Dominic didn't deny it at all. "The Boss is pinning his hopes on you. You have a greater potential than Rose."

"Oh yeah, about that…" Hayden turned his head to Dominic. "What are Rose's Abilities? There's no record of it anywhere."

"Her second Ability's name is not disclosed to people outside of Walong Sinag ng Araw." Dominic shook his head. "Her first one is named as the Demonic Berserker. At first, it was merely an aura that enhances her physical prowess. In the present, it is a transformation Ability. One similar to yours."

"Demonic Berserker, huh?" Hayden narrowed his eyes. He leaned to his knees and supported his head with his hands. "What are its full capabilities?"

"Its Level 1 is the physique-augmenting aura. Its Level 2 is a transformation into a full demon." Dominic explained. "Its Level 3 is its power to create blue infernal flames that is absurdly hot. Its Level 4? Nobody has ever seen it yet. Or at least nobody who witnessed it has ever come out alive. Including Sitan, the previous Level 5 leader of Kamay ng Lagim."

"She's that strong, huh?" Hayden gulped. 'She's stupid. If she's that strong, she can live in whatever way she wants. Yet, she wants to go out of her way to help people.'

Irrespective of this being true, Hayden held her in high regards. He was simply criticizing her of what he would do if he was in her shoes. Hayden wouldn't forget that Rose was still the main reason that the Philippines was safe for normal people. Relatively.

Plus, her reason for waging a war is justified. This was rare. 'Nonetheless, I disapprove of her ways. She's idiotic if she thinks she can trust the Triple A.'

At the end of the day, human minds are fickle. Hayden was no exception, as evidenced by his decision to accept Sayuri as his girlfriend. If Hayden's mind was fickle, what of people that wasn't him?

This is more severe for regular humans. Most humans' thought process upon encountering someone with these superpowers will be that of jealousy, enviousness, or greed.

'This is even worse with people of power.' Hayden thought. 'Humans will never be contented of what they have. Tsk.'