"Instead of doing it alone, I can try taking the help of others. At Least on the first try. I can deal with the aftermath later. If the first try fails, I can think about using the second try more carefully. Overall, it should be good to take help," Ryder muttered as he smiled.
Without waiting for even a second, he picked up his phone and called a number again.
Soon, the person he called picked up the phone.
"No, I don't have that information yet. I told you I'd send you as soon as I get them," Ray replied instantly as soon as he picked up the phone.
"No, I didn't call for that. I wanted to talk to you about something else," Ryder said.
"About something else? What?" Ray inquired.
" Tell me one thing. If I had called you five hours before the blasts and told you about them and their location, would you be able to help me stop them?" Ryder asked.
" Five hours before the blast? I don't think I could have. I was in the headquarters at the Capital City. Getting here alone would've taken over an hour, and that too after asking for all the necessary permissions. I would have been able to help in other ways, though. With my help and reach, the Police and all the other authorities in the city would have believed you and helped you stop the attacks," Ray said.
"Using cops and others? Nah, that wouldn't be as effective. I would have needed much more professional and trained people that would've been able to lead, not only listen," Ryder muttered as he frowned.
"Also, the cops here and I aren't on good terms. They wouldn't trust me, let alone support me. Also, I don't have faith in them," he added as he sighed. "A single mistake could have resulted in hundreds of lives lost, and in the end, I would have been blamed because I warned them about this."
'These options seem bad. Even if I succeed in stopping the attacks, I would be on everyone's radar. If Ray were able to lead his teams and deal with these while I acted from the shadows, it would've been possible, but with cops, it's not as easy,' Ryder thought.
'Should I go with Shu's help?' he wondered.
" No, you wouldn't be blamed. I would have handled everything. I wouldn't take your name. You would've worn your mask and acted as a secret FBI agent. As for the necessary permissions, I would've tried handling it," Ray replied to Ryder.
" Even if I gave you no evidence about how I knew this or if it was actually going to happen?" Ryder asked.
" Ah, I would've believed you even if you didn't give any proof since I know who you are, but my Higher Ups would've needed proof of this information and the validity of it. Without that, I don't think I would've been able to get the permissions on time. I don't have enough authority after all," Ray said as he sighed.
'It's useless then. How can I get proof?! I can't tell them I had traveled by death and had seen it happen? I don't even know their base and all,' Ryder thought as he shook his head.
"Alright. It's useless then. I'll handle it myself. Get me the information I need as fast as possible," Ryder said.
"Wait!"
Just as Ryder was able to disconnect the call but he was stopped by Ray.
"What?" Ryder inquired with a frown.
"Why were you asking it? Did you know about these attacks?" Ray asked Ryder.
"No. I was asking so that I know what I could do if something like this were about to happen again, and I knew about it," Ryder answered before he disconnected the call.
"Asking for help is useless. There's too much questioning involved. If Ray was the Director of FBI or in some higher position, he could've helped without any questions asked, but the current heads will not believe anything without questioning, and I don't want to go through that," Ryder muttered as he sighed.
"If only I were close to a person of authority I could take help from, like the President or the Secretary of State," He let out as he looked down at his laptop screen.
'Shu is powerful, but getting him involved is not a good idea. He'll be blamed if things go wrong. It doesn't take time for rumors to spread after all. His company's reputation might suffer, as well.' Ryder thought.
'It's going to be a try, so I might as well try seeing what would happen if I take his help. He should have trained men that can deal with this while staying undercover. If things go right, I can follow the same pattern in the next trial. If things go wrong, but we still succeed, I can improve it on the next try. If things go horribly wrong, I can go solo on the second try and go with my original plan,' he thought.
He laid down on the bed and started forming up a plan in his mind regarding the information of the five attacked spots that he had received from Ray.
****
Back in the city, the flames had died down, but the damage caused was still there. The rescue operation was ongoing. The bodies were still being collected and taken back to hospitals from under the rubble. The scene was horrifying.
On one tall tower of the city, a man was standing, looking down at the cop cars going back and forth from one place to another.
He roamed his gaze all over the city.
'Sigh, the party is over, but our guest still isn't here. Did he not live in this city?" the man muttered in an emotionless tone.
"No worries. We have many more cities left. We'll keep destroying the cities and leaving our mark behind until we find the person we're looking for." The man said.
He glanced back as he heard the sound of footsteps.
"I don't think that's possible. You'll never get the permission to do that from Master. Just getting the permission to target this one city without being involved ourselves was already hard, let alone trying to get the permission to destroy the country," the newcomer said as he looked at the masked men.
"What can I say? To find that guy, we need to do it. I'm sure Master is interested in the guy as well. The guy who can not die," The masked man muttered as he laughed out loud.
