Doomsday Pillars

The idea of having the powerful golem was very alluring to the regent. It's always been his enjoyment in life to collect powerful weapons. For years, he's been amazed at the most advanced guns, vehicles or airplanes. Five years ago, because of the regent's demand, Indonesia managed to have the latest nuclear submarine. But in his mind, none of those were comparable to the temptation of the stone golem.

Alex saw the glimpse of interest from the regent, but the lust in the regent's eyes suddenly calmed down. The regent had spent 30 years leading the army and for the last 10 years, he led the nation. At this moment, his years of experience made him able to control his emotions. Regent Suryo didn't quickly answer Alex's question. "How does it actually work?"

Alex explained to the regent how a person can create a binding with an artifact, with just a drop of blood the user can use the artifact with just a thought of his mind.

(This guy wanted to trade that powerful golem for Arief and Aria. Are they really worth that much? It's not like they will lose their loyalty after a year.. But what is it that he's aiming for... What is it that he's hiding... Or did something really happened between Aria and Alex?... I guess I really am too old. These days, I heard people in love are really hard to predict... I'll test out the waters then.)

"Ehem... Ehem... As you know, my granddaughter is really precious to me. She is my one and the only family in this world. As for the colonel, he has been with me for as long as I can remember, both of them are really important for me." The regent seemed hesitant but continued saying. "For the golem, I am willing to let you choose one of them, the colonel or my granddaughter."

"!!!"

Everyone in the room was startled with the regent's decision. Aria, who is in the next room, heard the regent's decision and became tense.

"..."

It's now Alex turn to think. He was very comfortable with Aria, and her skills will be very important later on. But Alex also needed someone like the colonel who can deal critical damage to the opponent given the previous events. The regent gave him a headache by presenting a choice, but Alex decided to go all in to achieve his goal. "Regent if you assigned both of them to me for just a year, I will not just lend you the golem. I will let you keep the golem as long as you want! How's that?"

"!!!"

Alex felt hesitant to give away his precious golem, a medium stage golem would not be easily accessible on the first stage of the pillars, but almost every survivor who could reach the second stage could have one. Alex also thought of the fact that it's not like the golem will go missing or anything, this golem could be useful for the regent to defend the west region of Indonesia.

"You… Are you serious?" The regent's face cannot hide his joyous emotions, it was as if a little boy had just been offered a holiday in Disneyland. This reaction gave Alex and even his trusted aide a shock. But again, within just a second, his expression turned around 180 degrees. "No..No... As I said earlier, choose one."

(I need to push how much that guy value my granddaughter.)

"..."

Alex suddenly felt that either this regent was really an unreasonable person or his business nature had gone down the drain. Alex gave the thought a little consideration. If he truly needed to choose one of them, he will choose... "Regent, if this is truly your final decision. Then, I will choose your granddaughter."

BRACK!!!

Suddenly, a loud sound came out from the next room, it's from Aria. The suspense was too hard for her to handle, she tried so hard to control her skill that she accidentally knocked down a piece of furniture. 

"Who's there?!"

The regent has few guards in this mansion, but he knew that there should be no one in the next room.

Aria became panicked.

(Nooooo!!! I should run!)

(No No Aria... don't do that, that will be more embarrassing.)

She composed herself and slowly walked to the room where the regent and Alex were discussing. "It's me... grandfather."

"I see... so have you been listening to the conversation?"

"... Yes... I have."

"Then what do you think? Will you follow this man for another year?"

Aria unconsciously looked at Alex and both eyes met, her heart was racing really fast. "...No grandfather. I choose to stay with you."

(Stupid Stupid Aria... You are a coward.)

Aria was fighting with her thoughts, she very confused right now, she used to think that she's the type who never cared about anything and just did or said whatever was on her mind. This is a new experience for her.

The regent understood her granddaughter really well, he was practically her parent. Seeing this, he felt very glad. He decided to tease her a bit. "Mr. Alex as you can see, this girl is really clumsy. It's my fault really... I think I raised her incorrect. You should probably reconsider and just choose the colonel instead. This guy is a 40 years old bachelor because he's been taking his duty too seriously. He practically has no other life besides the army, he could probably learn a lot about relationships from you. So, what will be your decision? Will you choose the colonel instead?"

Alex was a little bit confused on what the regent said about the relationship part... But he really didn't want to make a big deal out of it and focused on what was important. Alex faced Aria and asked. "Don't you want to stay with our group anymore?"

Aria, because of her confusion and with Alex's eyes staring directly at her, was unable to think right. She cannot differentiate the part [stay with our group] and translated it in her mind as [stay by my side]... And within her confusion, she said. "I want....no! no!... I can't!"

The regent, for the first time, saw this side of her granddaughter and felt really happy. "Hahahahah... Alex, I will allow her to stay with you for another year. But promise me to let her visit home after a year... I am an old man, don't let this old man become sad and in wanting the company of a family, will you?"

"Yes, regent I promise."

"Remember one year. Not a day longer. In order to make sure you succeed with your task, I will allow you to take Colonel Arief as well. In fact, I will assign another 100 of our Deathsquad soldiers to you, how does that sound?"

"!!!"

Everyone in the room was once again startled... This regent was really hard to predict.

The regent faced Aria and said. "Do whatever you feel is right... Follow where your heart leads you."

Unconsciously, tears fell down on Aria's cheek... 

"Aria, don't embarrass yourself... you may go now. There are a few things that I need to discuss with this man."

Aria was speechless. Even though the regent raised her, they never had a familial relationship. Aria knew that the regent loved her, but he had been raising her just like any other soldier... "Girl... Toughen up." That's what the regent always said in the past. Deep down inside, she wanted to hug the only family she has left, but a barrier in her heart made her unable... she decided to leave without saying a word.

There are now only three people left in the room. They walked to the living room and are now sitting on a sofa.

"What can I do for you regent?"

The regent gave a sign to the colonel. The colonel walked to a cabinet on the corner of the room, he took out two folders and put it on the coffee table in front of Alex. The two folders were about 20 to 30 pages thick. Each folder has a name written on it. One was Alex, the other was Rico.

Alex opened up the files and started skipping through the pages. It has all the information about him, his family, his works, his friends, and even his religious activity. His hobby, his most visited dining places, even his favorite internet activities. But none of these bother him as he's no longer that person anymore. He just skipped through all the pages while smiling as if he was looking at an old photo album.

Browsing through the pages, the last few pages caught his interest. There were details of the events that happened in the last few months; his travels to Bali, US, and Singapore. Even the occurrences after the doomsday started. His tactics on rescuing survivors, the battle at Bali airport, the monkey forest, the attack of mutated animals and among other things. All were explained in detail. It even included the latest fight in Surabaya up to the fight with the stage two black zombie. 

Alex knew that there were a lot of people who were the regent's eyes and ears within his fighters, after all, the regent provided a big portion of Alex's current army. But what interested him the most, was the fact that the long-range radio communication was just connected less than a week ago, and yet, the regent already had the detailed report in his hands. It appears that the regent is a very prudent and thorough person.

After reading through his files, Alex put it back on the table, he didn't touch Rico's file. 

The regent saw that Alex was not interested in reading the remaining file and could not help but ask. "Aren't you a bit curious as to what kind of person is our current commander-in-chief?"

"Not really." Alex calmly answered the question. Why should he care about Rico's past when he has already seen the future. Rico was his friend in his previous life. Thus, Alex trusted him completely.

The regent could read between the lines, he observed that there was something about Alex's relationship with Rico. This somehow puzzled him. After all, there was no record of Alex being acquainted with the man earlier than 3 months ago. The regent was concerned about this man named Rico.

"Alex, tell me honestly. Do you want to be the leader of this nation?"

"..."

"Because if you do, I will fully support you, even without a military background. What you did in these last few months really impressed me. If you want to lead the nation, I am confident that at least half of the people within Rico's army and cabinets will follow what I say..."

"..." Alex kept his silence and listened to the regent.

The regent continued. "Tell me what are your plans. In times like these, we need a strong leader. I know that Rico is a capable leader, but I am not sure if I can trust him."

Alex slowly gave his response. "I trust him, but I know trust is not something that can be given, he needs to earn it. A wise man once told me the best way to test someone's integrity is by giving him power. I believe he deserves to be given that chance... Let him lead."

The regent startled with Alex response, give it a thought and said

"What about you? What are you planning to do?"

Alex closed his eyes and re-lived the terrors from his previous life. The screams of pain and suffering, flames and blood, death and destruction everywhere. There was only despair, there was no hope.

With determination in his heart, Alex looked intensely at the regent and said. "I will go find hope."

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