Chapter 29: Chapter 29: Michael’s Warning

"Who are you?"

The fake Calmness on Derrick’s face faded away, replaced by a sharp alertness. He did not touch the desert sitting before him.

"*Whistle!* what a look. If I did not know better, I would have never believed you were just a 16-year-old boy. Should I say man? You are, after all, legally an adult."

"What do you want from me? Did that family send you?"

Derrick ignored him and started off with some basic questions trying to probe the unknown powerhouse sitting before him.

Not for a single second did he buy the carefree, harmless attitude of the man.

Someone who could deal with Enhanced beings can be anything but harmless.

"Slow down~ so many questions at the same time. You are making me lose the drive to answer any one of them." With a lazy look in his droopy eyes, he waved the spoon before Derrick.

"My name is Michael Baldwin. Let me ease your worries; I am not from the West family in case you are wondering."

’That does not ease my worries in my mind at all.’ Derrick’s jaws tightened. He could have understood someone from the West family coming after him, but why would someone unknown be after him?

"As for what I want from you—"

Ring

Before Michael could finish his sentence, Derrick’s phone rang, catching the attention of the two men.

"Go ahead, take it." Michael shrugged and swallowed a huge scoop of ice cream without any worry of the brain freeze that followed. "Hehe... pain."

Derrick started at him the same way Cassie had looked at him when he was eating a peanut butter and chocolate spread sandwich.

The phone continued to ring, so he surpassed his disgust and picked it up.

"Derrick? Honey, where are you? It’s been so long since you went for a walk." Rebecca’s worried voice came from the other side.

"Ah, I found a market with some interesting stuff, and I got engrossed looking around. I am sorry I made you worry. Should have sent you a message." Derrick calmly replied to her as for the background noise. No other voice than his voice crossed over because of the function of the phone.

"It is fine, Derrick. Enjoy yourself; just inform me if something unexpected comes next time. Cassie was about to go out to look for you." Rebecca let out a sigh of relief.

"Tell her there is no need unless she wants to come to the market as well."

Rebecca repeated his words to Cassie before relaying her response to Derrick.

"She is shaking her head like she has seen a ghost. You know... Cassie hates places with huge crowds. She is the kind of girl who would rather stay home than go on a school trip."

"Anyways, come back safely before it gets too late." After that Rebecca cut the call from her side.

Derrick pocketed the phone before looking up ahead to see Michael looking at him with a faint smirk.

"You are oddly good at lying. It’s like breathing to you."

Derrick shrugged without adding anything on the topic. "You were about to tell me why you came looking for me."

"Indeed, I was." Michael supported his head with a hand and pressed the elbow on the table while swirling the remaining ice cream.

"I am here on the orders of the Higher-ups."

"Stop beating around the bush; you said that before as well. Who do you work for?" Derrick frowned in displeasure.

"Haha, alright, kid. So Impatient. I work for the government. We saw your BPI. Only the government has the authority to see it besides the student; after all, the whole process is autonomous to prevent any leaks."

Derrick finally understood.

The government was trying to recruit him. Just like the guilds, governments also had their own institutions, but people preferred to join guilds because of their fame.

Since the government was in the business of governing laws, their institutes were not very popular. Only the poor people with decent or little talent joined it.

But even then, the Government stood tall because it was supported by the royal family.

"It is still not leakproof." Derrick added with a frown.

"Of course, I personally think it is a complete waste of money. Young people tend to tell their classmates and friends about their scores, and it spreads from there. I have been fending off the guild recruits for the past few days."

Derrick looked at the man, and his eyes widened. "How long have you been following me?"

"Since the day you fought with that kid of the West family. I have been trying to see if you were really worth recruiting or just one of the reckless kids who get arrogant after becoming powerful."

"But I don’t want to join the government." Derrick kept a straight face as he rejected the guy before he could even bring out his question.

Maybe if Derrick did not have a system, he would have joined them. But with the powerful system, he wanted to start his own business.

His goal was to make money and live a life of leisure while people worked for him to make more money.

"Wait. For real?"

"Yep. I never intended to join the government as a hunter. I mean, I will register as a special class citizen once I break through the Enhanced Being Stage, but I plan to start a business instead of being a hunter."

The laziness of Michael’s face vanished without a trace. He looked at Derrick like he had seen the end of the world.

"A business?"

"Yeah, I mean. There is more than one way to make money, isn’t there? I don’t have to be a hunter. As for fame? I will get it along the way."

Derrick was not ignorant enough to deny he needed fame. Any business that succeeded did so on fame.

He too would need it.

"Honestly..." Michael let out a long strained sigh. "Kids these days are a handful. I will relay your words to the higher-ups but know that my protection will end here. The people from the guild will try to contact again."

He waved his hand, and the two of them were standing in the alley once more. The knocked-out bodyguards were still lying there unconscious.

"I will manage it somehow. Anyways..." Derrick looked around before facing Michael. "Did you pay the bill?"

"Oh, that? It was an illusion. Only my ice cream was real; I bought it on the way here." Michael shrugged lazily. "Good thing you did not try yours; you would have eaten dog poop lying in the corner."

Derrick’s eyes twitched, and he felt like punching the man, but recalling the difference in their power levels, he forced himself to calm down.

"One more thing." Michael looked over his shoulder. With a serious look on his face, he asked. "About the West family... stay away from them."

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