Ryder left with Alice for the airport.
He tried dialing Shu's name as he wanted to ask him what had happened last time and why Shu hadn't logged in last night.
"The number you're trying to reach has been switched off. Please try again later."
As he called, he only heard the recorded message about the number being switched off.
"What's happening to him? Did he forget to charge his phone?" He wondered.
He didn't outright think of bad things that could have happened. Instead, he tried to make excuses to make sense of the situation.
Shu was a multi-billionaire, and he was in the office of the company he owned, which was one of the safest places in the world because of the security. He didn't think that something could have happened to him.
'Sigh, he's so busy at work that he didn't even call. He even didn't keep his phone charged. Is this the Work-mode of Shu?' Ryder thought.
There weren't many times when Shu had left the Estate for work, so Ryder didn't know how Shu was at work generally, but he did hear that Shu was very serious when he was at work and didn't waste time.
He kept the phone in his pocket and started.
"He must be busy at work. I heard there are people that keep their phone off when they want to immerse themselves in work entirely," Alice told Ryder, seeing the concern on his face.
"Right," Ryder replied.
They reached the airport and boarded the plane that was destined to take them to the new capital.
At the same time, Luke boarded a plane in Russia that was going to lead him to Ryder's City.
And two planes coincidentally took off at the same time from different places towards different destinations.
Ryder and Alice got the seats right beside each other. Both of them relaxed in comfort and played a movie on the screens in front of them.
The movie was selected by Alice, and it happened to be a romance movie.
The two watched the movie together. As the journey was not long, they couldn't even finish the movie before it was time to land.
They left the airport, got a taxi, and stopped straight at the hotel that Ryder had booked for the two of them.
The hotel was close to the FBI headquarters, but it wasn't too close. He had tried to keep sufficient distance not to make it too obvious even if someone had found out.
"So, where are we going to travel and when? How long will it take for you to be done with your work?" Alice asked Ryder after they kept the stuff in their room. They had only booked a single room, but it was big enough for them to share without worrying.
"How about we go out right now? We can take a walk through the city since it's still morning? As for work, my meetings start from tomorrow, and they will continue for 2-3 days. After that, I'll be free, and we can spend more time together," Ryder told Alice.
As he talked to her, he checked about the city and various places of tourism that were near the FBI headquarters since he wanted to go there to see the place with his own eyes to have a general idea as to what he was dealing with.
"We can go out now? Awesome!" Alice said excitedly as she hugged Ryder tightly. "I thought you'd get busy right away and leave me alone."
"Let's get going," she said as she freed Ryder. She held his hand and dragged him outside without letting him rest.
"You're too excited today, aren't you?" Ryder asked as he smiled wryly.
"Of course I am. I always wanted to travel here, and it's not every day that we come to places like this," Alice answered.
"That's all fine and well, but Alice, aren't you going to let me freshen up? We just arrived here, and I was thinking of taking a shower. We still have a lot of time after all," Ryder told Alice by the time she dragged him to the door.
Alice freed Ryder with an embarrassed look on her face. "Oh, right. What are you waiting for? Go and get ready."
"Little girl, don't worry. We will have a lot of time to travel the city. We're here for six days. Even if I exclude the two days that I'll need for work, we would still have seven days left," Ryder said. "You won't be disappointed."
He walked towards the bed and opened the bag. He took out a new pair of clothes and entered the shower room.
****
On a beautiful Island, a palace existed surrounded by nature.
Aluren was sitting on his throne inside the Palace. The Thirteen Kings were also in the chamber as well.
"Speak. What matter did you want to talk about?" Aluren asked casually.
"Your Majesty, our bases were raided by the FBI," the Fifth King said.
"They were raided? Since you tell me now, I suppose this matter isn't as serious. Tell me what actually happened," Aluren said.
"Your Majesty, we already knew about the situation since the people already tipped us off. We had changed our bases."
"Good. Then what are you talking for? This can't be as simple," Aluren muttered.
"The interesting part is about the person who found out about our locations. I had noticed something strange about the locations that were discovered. Strangely enough, these were all the places that the Twelfth and the Thirteenth King had stayed in during the last month. No other place was exposed." the Fifth King said.
"Are you accusing us of telling them?" The Thirteenth King asked in a grim tone.
"Not at all. Why would I accuse you? You know as much as I do about our sources in the agency. You would never be so stupid as to tell them about us. But guess who could be the person that tipped them off?" the Fifth King asked, frowning.
"The person that I think is the person who beat you," the Fifth King said, smiling.
His taunt frustrated the Thirteenth King. "I wasn't defeated! I was about to kill him! Who knew he would use our own bombs on us. I only underestimated him."
"Wait a minute, are you saying that he's the one that tipped them off?" he suddenly asked.
"I think so," the Fifth King said, nodding his head.
"Doesn't that mean we can get to him?" The Third King asked.
"That's right. This can lead us to that guy," the other kings also agreed.
Aluren slowly raised his hand, gesturing for others to be silent.
He gazed at the Fifth King and asked, "What are you doing about that then? Why haven't you found him?"
"The guy in the agency who had a link to the tipster has been captured. Our guy is already interrogating him. In no time, we will have an answer. The guy will expose the truth soon enough," the Fifth King said.
"If what you're saying is true and you find the guy, you would be rewarded heavily. If you're wrong, be ready to be punished for telling us unverified information," Aluren warned the Fifth King before he closed his eyes.
"This is the famous statue of the Capital. It was created in the last ten years, but it's one of the most amazing pieces of artwork known throughout the world," Alice told Ryder as she pointed towards the fifteen feet tall statue.
The statue was of a man who was riding a horse.
It was said to be the artwork of a famous sculptor.
Ryder and Alice had left the hotel long ago after getting dressed, and they were treading towards the destination that Ryder actually wanted to go to.
Alice didn't know that it was mostly a reconnaissance mission for Ryder, which was disguised as the sightseeing of a couple.
"Not a bad one. I did see it in pics, but it looks even better in real life," Ryder said, nodding his head.
"Let's continue. I heard that the FBI headquarters are nearby. One of the biggest malls in the country is also in that area. Let's go check that place out," he told Alice.
"Ah, right. The mall is also here. How could I forget about that? Let's go!" Alice said excitedly as she held Ryder's hand and dragged him.
"I can walk myself," Ryder replied as he laughed. He matched her face.
'She looks really cute when she acts like a kid. If I knew it was going to make her so happy, I would have arranged for more trips like these,' he thought as he saw the smile on her face.
Soon, they reached outside the FBI Headquarters, which was a massive building that covered a significant portion of the land.
'The security here isn't bad. As expected of a place like this. It's going to be tough breaking inside. There are cameras everywhere as well," Ryder thought as he subtly observed the security details of the place.
