Rebirth: 100 Days Before Doomsday - Chapter 136

Chapter 136: The Last Question

The living room of Unit 2103 had been turned into the official meeting room of the group since they had been, unconsciously, gathering there for their important meetings ever since they moved to Building K12.

This afternoon, the place was once again filled as everyone arrived there to attend the meeting that was being held to decide how they were going to handle Rune’s case.

Grace had already told everyone about what she found out from Rune this morning. After discussing about the matter, she and the others decided to held this meeting to make the final decision. As per Davian’s request, Rune was also invited to this meeting.

Everyone settled down at the long table, filling the place with absolute silence as no one spoke, waiting for meeting to start. Finally, Davian decided to break that heavy and uncomfortable silence first.

He stood up and looked around at the people present there, his gaze briefly stopping at Grace before moving on and then finally fixing on Rune who was sitting at the opposite end of the table.

“We all know that the purpose of this meeting is to decide whether Rune will stay in our team or not.” Davian began, his tone calm but serious, just like the topic of their discussion. “We have already learnt the important facts about his past and the reason behund his abrupt decision of killing that group of cloaked people. But there are still some questions I would like to ask him before the final decision.”

Grace’s attention shifted from Davian to Rune, waiting to see if the latter was ready to answer any further questions or not. Since Davian didn’t tell her beforehand about his questions, she hadn’t told Rune anything either, this made her worry a little.

But it seemed like she was worrying for nothing as Rune seemed completely fine with the further questioning. He gave a slight nod to Davian, ready to answer whatever questions the latter wanted to ask.

Before continuing, Davian spared a quick look at Grace. Though she had no idea what questions he wanted to ask, she trusted him enough to give a small nod in response, telling him to begin.

That’s probably all he wanted because he immediately shifted his attention back to Rune and began – “My first question – Do you want to stay with us as a teammate?”

That’s right! While they were holding the meeting to decide whether they were going to keep him in the team or not, no one actually asked him if he wanted to remain in the team. They all just assumed that he must want it since he hadn’t left. But then why should he leave – no one focused on these questions.

Rune’s gaze immediately shifted to Grace and without wasting any time, he gave a nod of his head in a positive response to the question before adding – “I want to stay in your team.”

“Why?”

Davian’s next question left everyone slightly surprised as it sounded way too straightforward. Not like there was anything wrong with the question, but still no one was expecting it, not even Rune.

The young man took a moment to think about his answer before he answered, “As you all know, I can no longer return to my realm-”

Before he could have continued, Kevin interrupted him. “Sorry to interrupt but this reminded me of something. You said you couldn’t return to your realm because the portal is lost. Was it true or just a story you came up with to stay with us? And if it’s true, then how come those people entered our world?”

Rune didn’t look bothered about – either the interruption or the questions. He looked at Kevin first before glancing around the table as he began answering, “I didn’t lie about the portal. I really can’t locate it. If I have to guess about the appearance of that group of people from my Realm, there are two possibilities…”

Everyone listened closely as he continued – “… first possibility is that they entered this world before the disasters began and the portal got either lost or closed. The second possibility is that someone from the enemies opened a second portal to let them enter earth.”

“You guys can do that – open portals between worlds?” Dr. Kian asked as his scientist mind was amazed by this particular discovery. Opening portals between different cities or countries was already a huge power, but to be able to open portals between different realms – it sounded like a next-level power.

“Not everyone.” Rune answered as his attention briefly shifted to Dr. Kian. “Being able to open portals between different worlds requires immense power, and not anyone or everyone holds that much power. In the past several hundred years, barely a dozen people in my world have been able to master this power and even they could open portals that lasts only for a few minutes.”

There was silence at the table following his revelations and it was Aleena who broke it. “Since someone among your enemies can open a portal, it makes them really powerful.” It wasn’t a question, but a statement.

“That’s right. If it’s the second case, then it only makes my enemies more dangerous than they already are.” Rune didn’t deny the possibility even though there was no guarantee that the second scenario was what really took place.

There were several nods around the table before Kevin spoke, “You can now continue answering King’s question.”

Grace noticed the small twitch that curved the corners of Rune’s lips for a fleeting second before he schooled it perfectly. He was always so quick with shifting his expressions that she had started wondering if she kept seeing wrong.

“Back to where I left – since you all know that I can’t go back to my world and have no other place to live in your world which is on its way to destruction, you all are my only acquaintances. Instead of struggling on my own, I will like to be a part of your team to strive for the future together. I will have a safe place to live, food to eat, clothes to wear, and protection if I stayed with you all. So, of course, I want to stay in this team.”

“Is that all?” Ryan was the one who asked the question. His gaze was fixed on Rune as if he was trying to see through the man.

“Of course not.” Rune replied and his attention once again shifted to Grace as he continued, “I want to stay in this team also because of these two jades. Though I no longer want to take the bracelet, I still want to make sure that these pieces stay close and together.”

There was silence for next minute or two and then he finally gave his last reason. “And my most important reason to stay here is the woman you all call Boss. I think I’m falling for her and will love to stay by her side as long as I can.”

Grace couldn’t tell about others, but she sure stopped breathing at that moment. All she could do was to stare at Rune while he looked at her with so much warmth in his eyes that she felt like turning into molten lava.

How can he say that out loud in front of everyone? She asked herself as she tried her best to not let her cheeks turn pink from embarrassment. The last thing she wanted was to show everyone that she was actually affected by that statement.

She wasn’t sure who cleared their throat, but someone finally broke that awkward silence. She wasted no time and looked away, not finding herself strong enough to look into Rune’s eyes for the time being.

“Your reasons are good, but I don’t think they are still enough for us to put aside the troubles you will bring to us.” Davian spoke, bringing everyone’s attention back to the main issue.

He was looking at Rune with no sense of friendliness or sympathy, instead, he looked almost as cold as he seemed when he finalized the future of his two men who failed in the DNA alterations.

“But I’m not as bad as you might be thinking. I’m giving you one chance to convince us to keep you in our team despite your lies and the dangers that are following us. Give us at least one strong reason to overlook everything and accept you as one of us.”

This time, the silence felt extra heavy. All eyes were focused on Rune, including Grace’s, and she was surpised to find just how fast her heart was beating. It wasn’t until that moment did she realize exactly what she wanted.

Rune was silent for a long time, and no one rushed him to answer. They all waited patiently, knowing just how serious the question was.

After what seemed like several long minutes, he finally spoke, and the words that came out of his mouth – they changed a lot… almost everything.