Strongest Superhuman System - Chapter 465

Chapter 465: I’ll Give You Five Minutes
Susanna turned to Alec and shook her head, and Alec put a hand to his chin and hummed before he spoke up.

“I apologize if I offended you, Mr. Clayborn. There was a recent development that I think you need to know about. I am not going to beat around the bush since I know you are a straightforward man. It has come to our recent attention that your daughter, Arit, is the one responsible for the death of those students, and we have also been led to believe that her boyfriend, Mark Vanitas, was responsible for covering up her involvement in it.”

SLAM!

“You better watch your fucking mouth!”

Arthur slammed his hand on the desk before getting up to his feet in anger! He sneered in Alec’s face, and Alec just stood still without moving a muscle as he weathered the storm of Arthur’s anger!

“If you think I’m going to stand here and listen to you defame my daughter’s name like this, then you have another thing coming! I spoke to my daughter just a week after those murders, and she was fine! She spoke to me like she always did! Are you saying my daughter is a heartless monster that could kill someone and then talk to her father like nothing ever happened!? Who the fuck do you think you are!?”

Alec knew that Arthur would get angry, so he didn’t allow Arthur’s rant to affect him at all. He just waited patiently for Arthur to take in a few breaths before he spoke again.

“We are not saying that your daughter is a monster, Mr. Clayborn.”

“Then what the fuck are you trying to say!?”

“We are trying to say that your daughter, Arit, is no longer your daughter.”

“… What?”

“Remember what I said about the anima-human hybrids? How the NSA conducted experiments on humans and turned them into monsters? We believe that Arit was also affected by a similar experiment once when she was kidnapped by Anima and taken to an island off the coast of City C. We know you will find it hard to believe this, but please, try to understand. That ‘thing’ is no longer your daughter. It is no longer human. She is an anima parading as a human. A monster.”

“RARRRGGH!”

BAM!

Arthur immediately slammed his fist into Alec’s cheek, but Alec turned his head at the proper angle and allowed Arthur’s hand to only brush against his cheek so that Arthur wouldn’t break his wrist. Alec’s bones were like metal, so Alec knew that Arthur would definitely get hurt if he hit them straight on.

But even with the shift, Arthur still felt his entire arm rattle from the punch. He grabbed his hand in pain and screamed at the top of his lungs.

“FUCKING HELL! What the hell are you made of?!”

Arthur cursed as he sat down and began massaging his hand. Alec called out for someone to bring some ice, and a man entered the room a few seconds later with a bag of ice. Arthur thanked him with a frown as he collected the bag and applied the ice to the bruise. After a few moments of silence, Arthur finally spoke up again while staring at the ground.

“So what are you trying to say to me now? You’re telling me that my daughter—my baby girl—is a monster like those things I saw on the internet? You’re saying she killed people and she can still talk to me like a normal person? Do you think I’m stupid? What kind of father do you think I am? You really think I wouldn’t know my own baby girl?”

Arthur looked up at Alec, his eyes burning with anger. Alec could see that Arthur was on the edge of simply walking out of there. The only thing keeping Arthur in the room was the nagging possibility that Alec might be telling the truth. With all the powers and magic that had become part of the world recently, learning that a person had become a monster wasn’t the most shocking thing Arthur had ever heard. But it was difficult for anyone to just accept something like this without proof.

Alec turned to Susanna and signaled for her to leave. She nodded before she quietly filed out of the room. Alec then walked closer to Arthur and spoke in the most understanding tone he could muster.

“I know this is a shock to you, Mr. Clayborn. Honestly, it was shocking for me when I first learned of it as well. I never thought one of our own could be an accomplice in such a crime. But we cannot turn a blind eye to this. Not after everything that the country has gone through in the past few weeks. Ignoring this would be an insult to everyone who has been killed by these monsters. We wish to bring them both into custody with your help.”

Arthur’s head was bowed into his hands as he listened to Alec talk. When Alec said that they needed his help to bring Arit and Mark in, Arthur looked up at him in disbelief.

“You’re asking me to hand my daughter over to you on a silver platter? Have you gone mad? What happens if you’re wrong?! What if you’re wrong and all this is just a mistake on your part?! What then?! You’d have made her go through all this for nothing!”

Alec nodded.

“If we are wrong, then we will face whatever consequences come with that outcome. But we cannot ignore the possibility of us being right either. Honestly, we initially thought of simply going in and arresting them both. We could have tried to take them, and if they were to resist, we would have used force. But that idea was turned down due to the possibility of a fight breaking out between me and Mark Vanitas. I’m sure you know what he is capable of.”

Arthur chuckled as he remembered watching the news and hearing about Mark fighting and winning against an Elder Eldritch. Of course, he knew what Mark was capable of. Mark had enough power to end America if he wanted to.

Alec continued after a short pause.

“We decided to go with this method because, even though it isn’t very moral, it seems to be the more sensible approach. Are you willing to help us?”

The room descended into silence, the only sound being Arthur’s harsh breaths. He was trying his best to calm himself, and Alec gave him as much time as he needed.

Finally, after what seemed like an eternity, Arthur spoke up.

“I want your word that you won’t harm her. I want to talk to her. I want to look into her eyes and talk to her one-on-one. If she’s not Arit—if she isn’t my baby—then I can tell. I know I’ll be able to tell. So promise me that you’ll give me that chance.”

Arthur looked up at Alec with a pained expression, and Alec closed his eyes as he thought about the request. Honestly, Alec was not authorized to give Arthur this opportunity. The director of the Superhuman Alliance specifically told Alec to detain Arit the moment he laid eyes on her and to bring both her and Mark in for questioning no matter what. But Alec knew the pain of losing a loved one. He knew what Arthur was going through right now because he had lost his niece to the exact same thing. And in a moment of selfishness, Alec decided that he wasn’t going to be heartless.

“I can grant you five minutes alone with her. That is all.”