GOD OF ALL SYSTEMS
Chapter 17 - 17: The Mastermind behind the Curtains (New)

In the skies over the orphanage, Patrick hovered as he stared down at the orphanage. A smile washed on his face as he watched the hundreds of children happily playing around. He also saw a group of four boys who were secretly inspecting each other to know who carried the pie smell.

Patrick's face suddenly became solemn as numerous memories flashed in his mind, from the day he came to the orphanage, the people and connections he made, including a black and silver-haired girl who demanded Patrick become her man when they grew older.

Memories of him building his first cleaning robot called Art. Another is about when he hacked an online shipping company and ordered a computer, how he then later upgraded that computer and built his artificial intelligence called Alpha. And most importantly how his project of the Mana Core Accelerator came into existence.

All his memories throughout living in the orphanage resurfaced in Patrick's mind as he heavily inhaled and calmly exhaled. Again, as if he had severed ties with the world, Patrick's eyes suddenly became cold and distant as he expressionlessly stared below at the orphanage.

<<< Sire, all transactions are in order. The lesser version of me at HQ will handle all financial businesses for the orphanage. I also upgraded the weapon systems installed around the orphanage and finished the photon energy shield barrier which was in progress.

Now it will take someone ten times stronger than a Mythical rank Awakened to break the shield, and even then, it will require the gravitational force of ten thousand suns for there to even be a crack. >>>

"Hmm... good, that should be enough."

"Master, are you certain about leaving the orphanage?"

"... Yes, Grace... I stayed out of caution and security, or at least until I had guaranteed my dominance in the world of Awakened. And now that I have, I need not be cautious anymore. Mother Martha contributed to my plans. With her provision, I was able to buy enough time to accomplish many things.

My financial support should be considered payment for her hospitality, and as for her time... Grace?."

"Certainly, Master. I have restored eight years on Martha's life span, she should be as beautiful as she was eight years ago. And Master, might I make a suggestion?"

"...You want to reform reality and bring back the parents of every orphan in the orphanage, correct?"

"Yes, Master. Why do there need to be orphans when their parents can just be there and die of old age, as things naturally happen."

"You are right, I can do anything I want, including bringing back the dead parents of those kids. But sometimes things were meant to happen, Grace. For there to be an effect, there must be a cause; I am who I am because of the things and events that transpired in the past. If my parents were still alive, do you think I would have been bored enough to create King Technologies?

Or better yet have the motivation to build the Symbiotic Adaptation Suit?"

"Well, Master, I may be Omniscient, but I am unqualified and cannot see your future, and I can only see your past because I was installed with permission. But yes, there is no effect without a cause."

"Then, you must understand that if we reform reality and make things perfect, these kids will never get to be their destined selves. And besides, I could care less about other people's lives."

"Master knows best."

"Now, let's go see Ludwick."

Patrick spoke as black sunglasses materialized on his eyes, he then shifted his location as he now stood before Mark Willis, who was patiently waiting for him at the orphanage gates.

______

At the orphanage gates, the fifty-year-old Mark stood in a black suit and tie as he patiently waited for his newly accepted Master. He even wore black gloves and black sunglasses to match the appearance of a chauffeur. But while Mark stood ready for his first day on the job, he watched as this new boss of his suddenly appeared before him in a blink.

Marveled at his master's speed, Mark bowed halfway as he spoke.

"Good...good afternoon, Sir. Hope you are having a pleasant day."

"Yes... Let's go."

Hearing his boss, Mark nodded but had a confused face. He thought... 'Wait, there is no car, does Sir want us to run there? But with Sir's speed, he would be there in a blink, and I would have to run for dozens of minutes.' Mark had a worried face when he thought of how fast his boss was and how awkward it would be running in the middle of a highway.

But before Mark could express his thoughts, he witnessed as over twenty black luxurious vehicles, all of which were technologically advanced, drove as they lined up on the street as if here to escort a King.

Seeing the scene, Mark couldn't help but express with widened eyes and opened mouth, and as if that wasn't enough, Mark watched as over eighty people, men, and women, dressed in black and wearing dark face masks, emerged from the vehicles as they respectfully stood next to the vehicles attentively. The men in the group wore long pants while the women wore skirts that stopped at their thighs.

The actions of the eighty-plus people were so in sync one would mistake them for robots under the same programming.

Then, from among the twenty technologically advanced vehicles, the back door automatically opened as Dylan Ludwick stepped out. Casually arranging his suit, Ludwick raised his head as he saw two men standing in the distance, but with a glance, Ludwick knew who he was there for, as the majestic aura around the tall dark-skinned young man was too overbearing to ignore or disregard.

It was as if he was meant to take the spotlight with his presence alone.

"We finally meet, Mr. King... I am Dylan Ludwick, your trusted employee... pleased and honored to meet you in the flesh."

Standing before Patrick and Mark, Dylan bowed with a gesture of hands as he formally introduced himself. The rest of the eighty-plus bodyguards knelt on one knee and bowed their heads as they also paid respect to Patrick.

The current scene resembled mortals paying respects to their god, but in this case, Patrick was the said god being paid respects to. Despite having over eighty people kneel before him, Patrick remained unfazed as he gestured with his left hand and spoke.

"Rise! You have done a great job, Ludwick, I'm impressed."

"I wouldn't dare take credit for Sir's work. You created everything from scratch and provided the resources. All I did was add winds to the flame that already existed. I should be the grateful one, as I wouldn't be where I am today if it wasn't for Sir saving the homeless orphan I once was."

"It's quite noisy here, why don't we find someplace quiet?"

"Certainly, Sir. We own ninety-eight percent of the city, with the two percent belonging to the orphanage. One of our hotels is nearby, does Sir perhaps want to go there?"

"What's the point of owning something if I don't use it?"

"Very well then, as you wish, Sir."

________

United Kingdom, London

Relatively within the central parts of London, a building that was one hundred and ten floors long and fifty office spaces wide stood tall, towering over all the nearby buildings and structures within a hundred-mile radius of the city. At the very bottom of the building, three massive letters hung, representing the name of the building, W.A.O.

Within this massive building, numerous people of different ethnicities and both genders hurriedly roamed the building as they carried on with their daily schedules of working at the World Awakened Organization, better recognized as W.A.O.

On the seventieth floor, a group of people sat in a conference room as they seemed to be discussing something important. On the leading chair was a bald elderly man wearing professional attire with a large sword scar on his left face.

But despite his hideous appearance, the old man held a calm expression as he listened to the contents of the meeting, he sat relaxed on the chair with his fingers interlinked as he scrutinizingly listened to the meeting.

Suddenly, a young woman carrying an iPad standing behind the old man stepped forward as she relayed a message to the elderly man. Receiving the message, the man remained calm and unreactive as he nodded to the young lady. As if saying the final statement to an agreement, the old man spoke with a serious tone.

"Listen, I understand the Blake family is an important shareholder and investor in our organization, but you can't just request us to stay clear from a newly opened B-rank Gate when there haven't been any proper inspections yet. What if it's a Gate that's destined to become a Dimensional Crack, then your little Blake family won't be as commanding as they are now, will you?"

"Chairman, I would advise you not to associate my family's name with the word "Little." As we both know our family is far from such a description. And besides, a "little" family wouldn't happen to be the top five investors in your W.A.O now, would we?!"

On the opposite end of the elderly man, a beautiful young woman with sharp eyes, long black hair, and a face that screamed extremely spoiled, sat with a cold and distant expression with fingers crossed on the table as she spoke expressionlessly. The room of over twenty men and two women went silent as no one interrupted the woman.

"I must reiterate, Chairman. Coming here today was not to request your permission, but rather to inform you and your... people.... to stay clear of our path, failing to do so would result in serious unpleasantries."

Hearing the young woman's words, the elderly man's face remained unreactive as he stared at the expressionless woman and spoke with a hinting tone.

"I'm sorry, young lady, but are your words perhaps a threat, and if so, should I take them as the words from Lavius himself?!"

The room went silent as an overbearing wave of pressure descended, the glass table trembled intensely and shattered after. Most of the men in the room fainted, leaving only three men and the two women remaining conscious.

One of the women was the lady standing behind the elderly man, and the other was the young lady opposite the old man, who was being protected by two masked-wearing men who radiated energy pressure similar to the old man's, as they counteracted the overbearing pressure from affecting the woman.

"I speak no threats, Chairman, and no, I am not my father's speaker. One last thing, You may be the Chairman, but don't forget who keeps the lights on. Hope our next meeting isn't about today's subject."

The woman spoke calmly and unbothered as she directly stared at the Chairman. Then, finishing her last sentence, the two masked men behind her joined fists as the group of three vanished from the room, leaving the chaotic scene and the Chairman.

Seeing the group's disappearance, the old Chairman remained unreactive as he turned around to the young lady and spoke.

"Marie, if you don't mind?"

Hearing the Chairman, the young woman, who was the spitting reflection of Maria Spike, nodded as she snapped her fingers. Her eyes glowed green and verdant colored Mana washed over the room as the unconscious men began regaining their consciousnesses.

"Now, what was it about that report again?"

"Yes, Chairman... It's a C-rank Gate. The team that went in didn't return, and exactly three hours after their entry, the Gate became a B-rank Gate. We currently have men monitoring the location and preventing Awakened from entering."

".... Hmm... and what were the origins and levels of the unit that entered?"

"From our investigation, the team was under the management of the Watson family. Their captain was Mohamed Sahil, an African immigrant and a B-rank Awakened with eight years of experience with his team."

"... A B-rank captain in a C-rank Gate, yet none made it out alive... strange! The team has been together for eight years, so their chemistry must have been remarkable, but yet not even a member survived... this means the monsters are getting stronger. Marie, do we have men in the Gate yet?"

"No, Chairman, we are waiting for approval from the Watson family, since that's their Gate. Should I perhaps use the Emergency Overtake Code?"

"... No, no need. Julius is a good friend of mine, if he hasn't approved, then it must mean he hasn't received the news yet. Don't worry about it, I will give him a call later. Now, if there isn't anything that requires my attention, I suggest we go for lunch. That Blake girl took our lunchtime with boring matters."

"Yes, Chairman. And Maria, have you heard anything?-"

"Calm down, worrybird, your sister is safe and returning to HQ. Now, I suggest you drop that annoying word you keep calling me!"

"Yes.... Grandfather!"

_______

Metro Heaven Hotel

The afternoon skies illuminated the environment, the sun, showering everything beneath it with its heavenly radiance. On the fiftieth floor, Laniz Blake stood by the window with a white towel wrapped around his waist as he stared down while talking on the phone to someone, the voice over the phone was female.

-"Laniz, can you stop playing "Mr. Independent" and return to London? What was the point of opening that guild anyway, Your trust fund alone is thrice your guild's net worth. And besides, Mother has been worried sick, and Father keeps brushing the matter before it's even mentioned.

You know, your ex-girlfriend visited last week, She thinks you left because of her, and she forgives you for cheating on her."-

"Lania~~~! Stop with the nonsense. Tell me, what's happening?"

-".... Very well then.... yesterday, a Gate opened next to "That Place," it was an S-rank Gate. Father wanted to lead the men to clear it, but to our surprise, the monsters didn't attack us like they normally did, instead, they spoke and requested an accord with us. I don't know much about what they wanted, but Father sent me to W.A.O to prevent them from prying into the matter.

They were a bit salty about it, but the Chairman had no choice but to obey."-

"Lania, I know you know more than you are letting out. And since our family never serves anything for free, tell me, what do you want"

-"Ohh Laniz, how Blake of you to be so considerate... very well, I want a blood sample from you... You wield an impressive ability to traverse through solid objects, and for someone as UnAwakened as me, I want to study it."-

"... You aren't planning to make a clone of me, are you?"

-"Funny! For someone who already has three thousand clones in the family as backup, that's quite comical."-

"... Deal, I will send the blood sample tomorrow."

-"Haha.. big brother, so formal. Don't worry, I already have it. I just wanted to see how desperate you were for the information. Fine, I will tell you... I don't know what the deal was, but whatever it was, the reward would end with us being Immortals.

Ok, I have said enough, you better return before it's too late to reap the benefits of being a Blake."-

The woman spoke as she cut the call. Laniz stood with contracted pupils as his mind wandered into a daze, he couldn't help but murmur one word, "Immortals." But suddenly, a woman's slender arms wrapped around Laniz's back as they hugged him from behind.

"You are awake..."

"Well, whose fault is it for keeping me up all night?"

Laniz and the woman exchanged words as Laniz kept his eyes staring outside the window. The woman's voice was quite familiar, similar to a certain Julia Arimor whose temperament was cold and distant.

"Huh? What's going on"

Hearing Laniz's question, Julia Arimor also stared through the window as they saw almost all of the workers in the hotel standing outside as if waiting for someone. The workers, male and female, all stood in three straight rows in attention as if they were a military troop. Julia Arimor went to the Telephone and dialed a number.

-"Metro Heaven Hotel, main desk, how may I be of assistance?"-

"Hi, my friend and I wanted to call for our car, but the entrance is blocked, what's happening?"

-"I'm sorry ma'am, but the hotel will be shutting down for the next three hours, no cars are allowed at the entrance of the hotel. Please remain in your rooms, customer services will be up again shortly."-

Julia dropped the call with a confused face as she walked to Laniz and asked.

"What do you think is going on."

"I don't know, but from everyone's reaction, it must be someone of importance that's coming, but who is it?"

Before Laniz could finish his question, a line of over twenty vehicles arrived and parked at the entrance of the hotel. Then, an organized group of over eight people all in black emerged from the vehicles as they stood in formations of twelve.

Then, from one of the luxurious black vehicles, Ludwick stepped out as he went and manually opened the doors to the most luxurious black and gold vehicle on the scene. The back door was opened as a tall dark-skinned man stepped out, the young man was 6'6" tall and had curly silver hair.

Seeing the young man emerge from the vehicle which a famous man, Dylan Ludwick, personally opened, Laniz Blake and Julia Arimor expressed with shocked and confused faces as Julia spoke.

"That... isn't that Dylan Ludwick?! The CEO of King Technologies? Why would he personally open a door for someone?"

"And who is that someone Dylan Ludwick opened the doors for?!"