Chapter 227: Alex!

Chapter 227

For one second, Alex could only stare at the hand. Despite everything he had already witnessed, a small part of him desperately prayed that it did not belong to the pregnant woman. He had seen enough death in his previous life to know that some memories never truly disappeared, and the thought of finding her buried beneath the wreckage made him feel kind of uncomfortable.

Then his vision caught something around the delicate looking wrist. It was a small silver bracelet with diamond encrusted inlays.

Alex’s eyes widened slightly as he recognized the design. Hadn’t that been the same bracelet the pregnant woman’s friend had been wearing earlier? He remembered seeing the two women together, and although he had only glanced at them briefly, the bracelet had been distinctive enough to leave an impression.

Still, he tried to force himself to remember whether maybe it was the pregnant woman that might have been wearing it or it was her friend, but the effort immediately sent another wave of pain shooting through his skull like a freight train on steroids.

Damn, The Eye of Chronos was already being pushed beyond what his body could comfortably endure, and the intense pressure behind his eyes was making it difficult to concentrate.

There was no time to think about it.

Alex swept his gaze across the totaled corridor, searching for any other person while the explosion continued to creep forward slowly underneath the influence of his ability. It didn’t take up to a couple of seconds for him to immediately pick up something farther ahead.

There! Finally he found the pregnant lady, but her condition was not looking too good. The pregnant woman was lying on the floor several meters away, with her body slowly moving in a defensive posture thanks to the slowed passage of time.

She had one hand shielding her face while the other remained protectively wrapped around her stomach, as though her first instinct even in the middle of the disaster had been to protect her unborn child.

And above her was a large shelf, filled with countless supplies, was tipping over.

Because of the effect of his Eye Of Chronos second ability, it was descending so slowly that it looked like it’ll take just about forever for it to finally land, but that did nothing to reduce the danger. Once his ability ended, the shelf would crash down in an instant.

Alex rushed toward her, even when the damn awful pressure in his head became almost unbearable, and his vision was beginning to blur at the edges, but he still forced himself forward. He was able to reach the woman just as the shelf continued its slow descent and carefully placed a hand against her shoulder.

Then he immediately followed it up by activating Void Step. It was time to finally leave his place. As for whether there might be other people still alive in the building, he had already checked everywhere and there was no one else again. As for those that died there was nothing he could do, he had already done his best. Besides, it was not his problem.

At that exact moment he left, the world suddenly snapped back into its normal speed as Eye Of Chronos deactivated on its own.

The explosion that had seemed almost motionless instantly surged forward, consuming the corridor with terrifying speed.

Fortunately, Alex’s void step had already activated at almost precisely the same moment.

Less than a second later, Alex and the pregnant woman reappeared outside the shopping center.

And what followed behind them was the loud, tremendous explosion. The remaining section of the building collapsed amid a violent cloud of dust and debris. People who had already been rescued stared toward the ruined building they had just been shopping in, not too long ago, in disbelief, while several survivors instinctively covered their ears and crouched down.

Alex barely paid attention to them, he propped on the ground, breathing a little heavier from using Eye Of Chronos and Void Step.

Around him, confusion quickly spread through the crowd. One dark woman looked around with wide eyes and asked,

"How strange. Weren’t we all inside just a moment ago? How did all of us end up outside?"

Several people immediately murmured in agreement.

"I was inside the store."

"I was near the food court."

"I don’t remember getting out."

"Neither do I."

The questions continued spreading through the group as people tried to make sense of what had happened. None of them remembered being carried outside, and because Alex had used Void Step repeatedly while the Eye of Chronos was active, their memories contained no clear explanation for their sudden relocation.

A middle-aged man eventually raised his voice above the others.

"It’s a miracle from God!"

The surrounding people turned toward him.

He pointed toward the ruined shopping center and continued,

"If it wasn’t a miracle, then who can explain why all of us are standing here alive and safe when we were just inside that building?"

His explanation was simple, but in their current state, it was easier to accept than trying to imagine something they couldn’t comprehend.

"Yes!" someone shouted from the crowd. "That seems like a very reasonable explanation!"

More voices followed, with some people agreeing while others simply stood there in stunned silence.

Alex almost smiled.

Apparently, he had just performed a miracle without even intending to.

Still, he didn’t have the energy to think about it for long. The pain behind his eyes had not completely disappeared, and his body was beginning to feel the exhaustion that came from repeatedly using his abilities while racing against a collapsing building.

He looked through the crowd, and finally found the person he was looking for. Olivia herself.

She was standing several meters away, looking completely dazed. Her eyes moved around the crowd as though she was desperately searching for something, or rather, someone, which he knew was him by the way.

Alex’s expression softened. He quietly got up and moved through the people toward her.

Olivia slowly turned in another direction, still unable to find him. Her breathing became increasingly heavy as the strange realization settled in her mind that Alex was nowhere around her.

"Alex?"

There was no response. She looked around again.

"Alex!"

Still nothing. Whatever fear that had been suppressed while she was trying to understand what had happened, suddenly broke through. Her chest tightened with a pain so overwhelming that she could barely breathe, and she didn’t even realize when tears began spilling from her eyes and striking the ground beneath her.

She had already experienced a lot of things in this life, but the thought that Alex might have remained inside had been too frightening for her mind to fully process.

She even felt her knees weakening. And just as she was about to collapse onto the ground, a solid and familiar embrace caught her.

Olivia froze, and was about to struggle when a very familiar voice reached her ears.

"I’m here, alright? Nothing bad happened to me."

The second she heard those words, Olivia slowly lifted her head. Alex’s extremely handsome face gradually appeared before her, his forest-green eyes filled with genuine concern.

For a moment, she simply stared at him as though she couldn’t quite believe what she was seeing. Then she threw her arms around him in a tight hug full of emotions.

"You’re okay?" Her voice trembled as she held him tighter. "You’re really okay? I’m not dreaming, right?"

Alex gently wrapped his arms around her.

"No, you’re not dreaming."

Olivia continued hugging him for several moments, repeatedly checking that he was actually here. The relief washing through her was so powerful that she could hardly stop the water works dripping down her face.

Eventually, after she had calmed down enough to think clearly, Olivia pulled away and immediately began examining him.

She checked his arms, shoulders, chest, and even his face, searching for injuries. As for Alex, all he could do was to allow her to do whatever she wanted.

After finding nothing wrong with him, Olivia finally released a long breath.

"You’re really not hurt."

"I’m perfectly fine."

She looked around again, her expression still filled with disbelief.

"Alex, I can’t help feeling as if this might be a dream, because one second we were inside, and the next second we’re outside. Everything is just so strange. It feels completely unreal."

Alex smiled inwardly. Of course it felt unreal. He had practically saved dozens of people out of a disaster while moving through frozen time.

Outwardly, however, he simply nodded with a thoughtful expression.

"Yeah, I have no idea what happened either. Maybe we were somehow carried outside by the... No, that sounds dumb...."

...In the distance, sirens could already be heard approaching.

It looks like it won’t take long for various news reporters, police officers, and firefighters to arrive soon, and Alex had absolutely no desire to remain at the scene long enough for anyone to start asking questions.

There was also another reason he wanted to leave.

There was a good chance that the pretty female police officer with aquamarine eyes would be there. The last thing Alex wanted was for her to notice him here and somehow decide to take him to the police station for questioning.

He had absolutely no interest in spending the entire evening explaining anything to anybody. So gently taking her soft hand, he asked in a low voice.

"How about we go back home."

Olivia nodded. The two of them left before the police and emergency responders could fully establish control of the scene. Alex made sure they stayed away from the approaching vehicles before eventually reaching their car and heading home.

When they finally arrived, Alex had no choice but to leave after dropping Olivia, because that prick Zack apparently decided it was the best time to come back.

...As he reached the door of his penthouse, he couldn’t help sighing inwardly.

If only Zack hadn’t come back, he probably would have been able to spend much more time with Olivia today.

Still, there was nothing he could do about that now. Alex pushed open the door.

The familiar interior greeted him, and his gaze immediately landed on Celine, who was sitting comfortably on the couch with one hand propped against her cheek while she watched the news.

A female reporter was speaking on the television about the bombing that had occurred at the shopping center.

The broadcast then showed footage of the damaged building while the reporter explained that a large number of people had miraculously survived the attack. Several survivors had already given statements, and although none could explain exactly how they had escaped, many of them were describing what happened as nothing short of a miracle.

Alex’s mouth twitched slightly.

Celine seemed absorbed in the broadcast, unaware Alex had caused the miracle. She continued watching the TV for another moment before finally turning her head toward the doorway.

"Oh, you’re back."