James and the others gulped the moment they were free of Alex's aura. They all had a similar line of thought as they gazed at Alex with varying emotions.
'Monster!'
Of course, the said monster saw their expressions and chose to turn a blind eye to their expressions, maintaining his calm and delighted smile.
What was even more surprising was the fact that his aura disappeared completely, almost as if he had none and was a mere mortal.
Alex could pass for a mortal and no one would doubt it. His aura was that hidden.
"Alex… Is this really...?" James broke the silence and asked. None of the others, even Julia's father could muster the courage to say anything as they were still reeling in shock from what they experienced.
"In the flesh," Alex replied warmly. "But what brings you guys here?" Though he had a guess, he decided to give them the floor to speak.
He didn't want to come across as cold and calculating. He may have become strong, but he was still the same Alex. Well, only time would really tell.
No one evolves and stays the same. He was different on a fundamental level.
"W-well…" James looked around and explained. "We came here to deal with them. But that won't be necessary anymore." He shook his head in disbelief.
"You did all this, didn't you?" Charlotte finally chipped in after regaining her composure. It was surprising seeing the boy he had heard so much about become this…
The S-Tier creature was still in Alex's hand as he hadn't let it go yet. "Yeah, yeah I did." He replied softly, seeing no reason to be modest about it.
Then, under everyone's gaze, they watched as Alex made a grabbing motion toward the creature, and its core rushed into his hand. The core was about the size of a bowling ball.
The brilliance of the core brightened the space as the amount of energy it gave off was off the charts—literally. There was more energy in that core than all their ships combined.
"What happened to you, Alex?" James finally asked the most pressing question. For Alex to be able to deal with the monster they themselves had feared, then he must have had one hell of an experience.
"It's a long story," Alex said with a small smile and then looked over to the fleet of ships. "Why don't we head to the ship first? You can get your men to come harvest the rest of the cores."
"Right. Sorry about that." James laughed apologetically. He glanced at the others and turned around to the fleet of ships.
"Which one is yours?" Alex suddenly asked, his gaze roaming the ships in the distance.
James turned to him and then back to the fleet, "That one." he pointed at the mother ship that was not much different from the rest.
"Mm," Alex acknowledged as his gaze pierced through the distance, promptly identifying the exit bay.
Then, just as the group were about to fly to the ship, Alex spoke. "Sorry about this." His words puzzled them, but all of a sudden, they felt their environment change as they found themselves on the ship!
"…."
Once again, the group turned to Alex with sombre eyes. They didn't sense anything! In fact, they barely felt a change in their bearing! Almost like they didn't just shift through space.
'Just what the hell has the boy turned into?' Lucas gulped in fear, his gaze burning holes in Alex.
The boy he knew all those years ago was no more. Right now, he might be standing in the presence of the strongest being in this universe.
"Can I get a room, James?" Alex suggested and James snapped out of his shocked state.
"Of course! Right this way…" James guided Alex away under the curious gaze of all the workers and hunters.
Evelyn and Charlotte exchanged glances, noticing the existential crises in their eyes.
They had never felt so unimportant before. They were no longer in the limelight as Alex took control of the entire exchange.
They could only stand aside and watch!
"That boy might no longer be human," Evelyn commented in a grim tone.
"Doesn't matter right now. He dealt with a problem we weren't sure we could accomplish. His actions have saved a lot of lives and will save more in the future." Lucas said as he stepped forward.
"For now, let's collect those cores and make our back. It's going to be one hell of a storm."
Lucas could already see the waves Alex's return would cause, not to mention the kind of strength he wielded.
'And he is going to be family…' Of course, his final thoughts were different after he regained his composure.
...
Most of the hunters on board the various ships saw the new person who appeared and some were able to recognize him despite his change in appearance.
What shook them to the core was when they were asked to go harvest the core of the void creatures as well as collect some of the intact carcasses.
Creatures that they were dreading all lay wasted and floating in the void. And all that was done by one man. It was hard to believe but, they couldn't see anyone else doing it.
While the hunters went about harvesting the resources, a particular group was busy sending out a message to their organization—The Order.
[You're sure it's him?] A feminine voice over a communicator rang in the private chamber of one of the hunters.
"Affirmative. He doesn't look that much different from years ago. I think it's time we make our move." The hunter said in a low voice.
[That's for the leaders to decide. But if what you say about his strength is true, then I suggest you forget about monitoring him. He will spot you before you even breathe in his direction. We can't afford for him to see us as the enemy.]
The voice warned in a grim tone the hunter didn't fail to notice. Fortunately, he was on another ship and nowhere near Alex.
"Yes, ma'am."
With all things in place and harvesting concluded, it was time for the hunters to go back home.