Chapter 827 T.D.O.N.B: Face To Face

- This building - said Daniel, pointing at a pretty freaking nice mansion.

It was quite close to the city center, but hidden well behind rows of buildings, so you just couldn't spot it easily. The only way in was if you came from the direction of the training facility.

It looked like a few flattened cubes put on top of each other, but not in a nice way. They were displaced. Three to be exact. the top one had big windows so you could see the dark, but fancy interiors. The second one had much smaller ones, so nobody from outside was able to peek in. Since it was all surrounded by a wall, there was no way of looking at the ground-level cume without passing it.

I just jumped over. Immediately I noticed a pool on the left side, with two columns very close to it, supporting part of the second floor. there was also an entrance to a nice day room there, which I was able to see through the big windows, practically serving as a wall.

There were more of them, so you could see the Wills's kitchen and everything.

I approached the front door and rang the bell. Soon they opened, and I saw Will holding a glass of whiskey in his hand.

He had a dark shirt on, with a few unfastened buttons at the top, revealing part of his chest. It was mixing well with his suit pants and the gold watch on his wrist. His hair got slightly longer, clearly fixed with some spray to look nice. He also had a short beard.

His eyes immediately went wide as he saw me.

- Holy fucking fuck. The prodigal son has returned. Where are the fanfares? - he asked.

I didn't say a word, just extended a hand. He shook it, then invited me in with a gesture. We headed to the second floor, where, as I found out, was his office.

A room with only one window. It was put behind a big desk, with some items on it. The walls were completely covered in bookstands one part of them filled with vinyl records. There was also a stereo placed in the middle of the wall. The other part was some sports stuff. Baseball balls, signed bats, hats, and basketball balls, were also signed. Even the American football ones.

Among that he found a little spot for his collection of alcohol put behind glass. In the middle, on a nice red rug, he had a coffee table, a sofa, and two armchairs.

He pointed for me to the seat, then asked:

- Do you want a drink?

- Sure - I said, and want to sit down on one of the armchairs.

He opened the glass cabinet, pulled out a bottle and a second glass, briefly putting his on top of it. Then poured some, and returned to put both containers filled with brown liquid on the coffee table.

- I success, I presume? - he asked. - You ate the fruit?

- Not really ate, but yes, I did consume it - I confirmed, then took my glass to take a sip.

The whiskey surprised me. It was quite nice. It had this herbal aftertaste, but not a strong one.

- And? - after a moment of silence he asked.

His face was clearly showing how excited he suddenly got. His eyes were wide, focused on me.

- Hard to describe, but nothing extraordinary, if you even could use this word, happened. I'm stronger. Much stronger, but that's it - I explained.

- So... What now? A second city, to get more? You have the dead, don't you? - he grabbed his drink too, then crossed his legs.

- No. It will probably take time for the rest to show up, but I don't plan on actually building a new city. It takes too much time.

- You should have left it, gotten more seeds, and then plant cities, and upgrade them with the crystals from the first one - Will pointed out.

- Yeah. You are right, but... I never thought about it. I was too fixated on getting that damn fruit... But if we will be able to capture Aaraam'soturi, we could potentially get access to all the cities left by Bahumdabars. We could... - I was unable to finish.

- Stop! Stop, stop, stop! - he interrupted me. - Are you insane? Ixa wasn't able to get that damn city, and you needed three people to fight her. You barely made it! How do you want to get Aaraam'soturi back? This insane!

He got so agitated that he put his drink back.

- I can't sit idle. I need to do something - I pointed out.

Will sighed.

- I know that I won't be able to convince you, but let me just tell you, that we thought some kind of apocalypse happened when Ixa went after that damn city. She ran back with her tail between her legs. It was a bloody miracle that we weren't overrun by the ghosts - he explained.

- I can just shadow walk to Loistavadvaar. They won't be able to follow me.

Will just shook his head.

- I fucking know that no matter what I say, you will try to do it anyway. I just want you to know I'm against it. It's stupid. It's better if you build another city alone, using crystals from ghosts. For fuck's sake, be logical for once, Peter - he said.

- I'll think about it. How about we change the topic? Let's talk about something more relaxing, shall we? - I offered.

Will snorted.

- Ok. I've returned to hunting if that interests you - he told me picking his glass once more from the table.

I nodded.

- It does. Tell me more - I said, although I wasn't that interested.

Changing the topic was more important for me.

So we talked about Will's adventures after putting control over the whole city on the application, and systems built with help of mister Wu.

From what I understood he got a lot stronger, but he wasn't too keen to tell me about his freshly acquired skills. He mainly focused on the monsters he fought around the city of Arc. I noticed the differences between what he was telling me and my observations from Petrograd, but I left them for myself.

In the end, we spoke throughout the whole night.