Stan noticed he was being pursued and the moment he looked back to see it was Ling and Rudo whom Trisha had said was the weakest link, he was happy, so he looked for the next lonely street to take, somewhere he could easily take out the two of them, not necessarily killing them.

As he took the turn, he stopped at a distance and waited for them. From his experience fighting those thugs, he knew that it would take some time before Sullivan and the other would end the fight but for sure, he knew that the thugs would lose. So it was for him to make good use of his time.

Ling and Rudo were surprised to see that Stan stopped when he could have continued running, Rudo was the one to notice Stan’s fist showing that he wanted to fight them. “This is not necessary, Gibson.”

“You know you can’t beat us, so surrender and come with us, you might be spared if we plead to the masters on your behalf.” Ling added.

From the way they both sound, Stan could see the reason why Trisha said they were the weakest link. Their words showed that they did not want to hurt him, but one thing he was seriously thinking about was why he could not see this other side of them when he was still in the school.

Well he then recalled what Trisha had told him was the best way to stop them from chasing him, thus he set his heart to taking them hostage and later on, negotiated their release with his freedom.

“You will have to force me to go with you back to that school.” Stan challenged them to attack as he muttered to himself.

With his words, Ling and Rudo looked at themselves for a second before attacking, ready to beat him like they did when he tried training with them in the school.

Stan watched them closely as they came at him, so he was able to predict their first move. Knowing that Ling would be more difficult to beat, he targeted Rudo first, knowing that he was not near the top twenty best fighters. He knew Rudo’s speed was his only advantage in fighting, nothing else.

Ensuring that they miss their first blow, he releases a counterpunch to Rudo’s nose, while entangling his legs so that he falls to his back with the force of the punch.

He was successful in his moves, but afterwards, received a deadly strike for the Chinese boy as Ling was being addressed by his friends as if he was the only person from China in the school. As if that was not enough, Ling released the second blow which Stan could not dodge, and then came the third one landing on Stan’s mouth, which resulted in instant bleeding, causing him to fall down.

At the sight of blood, Ling withheld himself from attacking, thinking Stan was going to surrender at this point, so he turned to check on Rudo and also helped him up.

As Ling turned around, Stan spat out blood, jumped to his feet, attacking him from the back.

“Look out!” Rudo warned Ling.

Being smart, Ling swung his arm backwards, hitting Stan’s jaw with his elbow but Stan refused to let the strike stop him, he grabbed those arms very tight, pinned to Ling’s neck in a way that Ling was left with the ability to move only his feet in struggle to break free.

Yet Stan’s grip was so tight that in his struggle, he was pinned to the ground. Rudo came to help but since he wasn’t a major threat, Stan rotated on the ground, still holding Ling firm as he brushed Rudo to the ground, which led to him passing out due to the force used in hitting the ground.

Then he unties his belt, using it to tie Ling’s hands backwards before letting go.

Since they were both down, he unzipped his bag, tore one of his clothes, converting it into a rope which he uses to tie them up properly.

[Attributes upgraded. Strength: twenty five. Stamina: Fifteen. Speed: thirty eight. Agility: Eighteen. Stealthily: five. Vitality: thirteen.]

Hearing the rating of his attributes, he was happy, wearing a smile, then his eyes met his watch, making him remember Sullivan and those fighting the thugs. So he knew that they would soon be on their way to join Ling and Rudo, so he had to carry the both of them out of that place so that Sullivan would not meet him there.

Stan was back at another abandoned building with Ling and Rudo. He tried them to a chair while he waited for them to regain consciousness. The reason why so many buildings were desolate was because the occupants had died due to one reason or another that was all linked to the present situation of the world.

He sat opposite the two while he ate some chocolate as waited for them to wake up. Soon Rudo opened his eyes and was surprised to find himself tied up so badly. So he began to shake the chair which caused Ling to open his eyes too due to the noise.

“I don't think that is going to help.” Stan advised Rudo to stop shaking the chair which he was tied onto.

Ling on his part was very calm. He did not know what to say. The whole thing seemed to be a dream to him, he could not imagine himself being beaten by Stan of all persons though he also had to take the blame. If he had not resisted, then he wouldn’t be in that condition and that was the exact thing the teachers were always telling him.

“Hey, look up,” Stan said to Ling who refused to look up after opening his eyes.

“How long are you going to keep us here? They are going to find us in no time. And you can’t run forever.” Rudo was threatening his captor.

“Say something,” Stan ignored Rudo as he spoke to Ling. He wanted to hear what Ling had to say before knowing what to say and how to judge Trisha’s guess.

Since Stan was asking him to speak, Ling then raised his face and asked. “Why? Why did you tell us? Why did you choose humiliations when revealing a simple secret would have stopped it all? What was and is your gain? Why?”

The series of questions which Ling asked all pointed to the idea that he was also implanted with a chip like the rest of them. Normally, Ling was right to think that way, and at the sound of queries, Rudo was also made to think in that direction, thus giving ear to hear what Stan’s response would be.

Stan understood where he was going with those questions but he did not know who to answer the questions. He did not know how he would make Ling and Rudo believe that he truly did not and does not have an implant in him.

“I’ll really use some water. Are you thirsty?” he stands from his seat to the sink to fetch and drink some water. There was no response concerning his question so he took their silence to mean they were not thirsty. So he came back to the seat without any water for them. “So where were we?” He pretended to have forgotten their questions just to make them ask a different thing.

“Why didn’t you tell us that you have an implant like the rest of us in the school?” Rudo asked directly, he was not good at beating about the bush, he loved going straight to the point since he did not like coded words and questions.

Just before Stan answers his question, Trisha shows up, walking down the staircase as she exclaims. “I knew it! I knew you would be able to beat them.” She was full of uncontrollable joy.

“Trisha!” Stan was surprised to see her again, he thought she would not come back to him after leaving him to fight those alone.

Ling and Rudo were not too surprised to see her even though they did not expect her to be around Stan knowing he was their main target.

“What are you doing here? I thought you left?” Stan asked her angrily because he knew that was going to ruin his plan.

“Trisha now is the time to make up for your wrong, lose us and we’ll speak of your deeds to Master Sullivan asking that he forgives you.” Rudo said to her, thinking his words were going to have any effect.

“I only left to save my head. I’m not into combat so you don’t expect me to fight those thugs with you.” Trisha answered Stan, ignoring Rudo. She further continued, “Now you’ve got them, let’s take them to Master Sullivan and strike a deal with him so he will stop chasing us.”

Ling understood what she meant so he did not hesitate to say. “You must be crazy to think Master Sullivan will hear you out.”

“Wait and see for yourself.” Trisha replied and then to Stan who was speechless. “Come on, we don’t have all the time. It's better we take them to him than let him come here.” While she spoke she did not even wait for his reply before making the move to act according to her plans.

[Gibson, you will need them.]

“You dare not touch my prisoners.” Stan warned Trisha after hearing from Adoth. It appeared he was waiting for Adoth’s words all along. After that command he was silent again to hear the next thing.

Both Trisha, Ling and Rudo were shocked by his command, Trisha froze and could not continue with the action she was about to make.

“Is this what we are? Your prisoners?” Rudo asked in surprise of how the timid Stan Gibson he knew in school had become so fearless all of a sudden.

“Maybe you have another name of which you wish to be addressed as?” Stan answered him.

Then Trisha draws close to him, “Gibson, this could be our only chance to stop Master Sullivan from hunting us. Don’t let it go to waste.”

Trisha was advising him based on her own benefits too, but that does not mean he wouldn’t gain from it. Yet Stan refused to listen to her, he was waiting for Adoth to tell him what to do before taking any further action.

[They have arrived. Earth has been invaded.]