New Eden: Live to Play, Play to Live

Chapter 1061: Swapping Cars

In each car preceding the one Alex was in, other sets of instructions were given, each with their own backstory and fake identities.

David was forced into pretending to be a single father to Cory and Jonathan; their pretend mother dead a few years back. His story had been the easiest to pull off since the records of the deceased rarely included notes of their entire families.

Instead, they held data on the marital status and number of children.

Pulling out an ID number for three people was much simpler when they were faking them from an actual person’s records.

Of course, this made David grumble since he hated the idea of pretending to be a caring father to two boys he already had trouble liking. To be fair, David had difficulty liking everyone, so Cory and Jonathan didn’t feel offended by his complaints.

In Ri-Chu’s case, he was forged an identity that kept his name but changed his surname, and Jin-Sil was given the identity of his newlywed wife. When they saw their fake passports, the former’s face became so red the driver thought the young man was having a stroke.

Jin-Sil managed to calm him down, saying it made sense, but his nerves shot through the roof again when she joked about it being good practice for their future. Of course, she was only teasing him, not wanting to put this kind of pressure on him so early in their relationship.

But there was always an ounce of truth behind every little lie or tease. The thought of one day walking down an aisle toward him made her heart flutter a little, and she had to contain herself, lest her true emotions bleed through her collected facade.

As for Killian and Winston, they were made to be brothers who had been living as expatriates in China for a few years, working a low-level office job for one, and going to school for the other.

Kujaku’s contact for fake passports had complained about how making counterfeit documents for people who were recognized outside their own countries was complicated.

And by that, he meant Killian and Kary, who had a career as professional gamers with enough competitions abroad to their names; a single photo could make a search page light up like a Christmas tree.

Of course, he had still done the work, but his warnings were taken into consideration, and Kujaku had made sure to pass on the cautionary words to the people concerned.

“All of you have to be careful not to stop anywhere before our rendezvous point. A single picture taken of you by someone who thinks they recognize you can alert local law enforcement, and it’ll be infinitely more challenging for you to reach your destination.

“If things get out of hand, forget making it to Shaanxi province, let alone Huashan Mountain. You can kiss the chance to help your friend goodbye,” Kujaku warned the three in the car with her.

“Your group is being given similar warnings, so don’t take it lightly. If this infiltration is to be successful, you need to stay as low-profile as possible. The least stops, the least apparitions outside the cars, and by the gods, no unnecessary use of your powers,” she added.

Alex felt like she was treating them all as children on a school trip, but he kept his complaints silent.

There was no point in starting to protest now.

Especially since they were out of time.

The cars before them had already been vacated, and everyone was en route toward the rendezvous point except them. And they were about to follow behind, as their vehicle parked at a spot on the artificial island.

“Alright. Wait for us to be gone for at least a minute before you head out to your car,” Kujaku instructed, grabbing a purse and coat that she slipped on with practised ease.

“The driver and I will head to our escape vehicle, and once we are gone, you can head to yours. Remember. No stopping aside from the customs check. Drive there directly and rejoin up with the rest of us.”

Alex, Kary, and Violette nodded, their nerves tensing up.

As the two people up front left the car, silence pervaded the cabin, and seconds seemed to stretch out forever.

“Alright. It’s been a minute. Let’s get going,” Kary said, pulling open her car door.

Violette disembarked on her side, while Alexander left from the other, and they rejoined at the front of the car, as Kary clicked the start button on her little remote.

A little honk and beep echoed from their left, and the three of them headed that way, going toward the only car running. Without a word, they boarded the strange grey vehicle of a brand they had never heard of before, before driving toward the customs check.

Alexander was driving, and his hands were tight around the steering wheel.

“Relax. If we look this tense, they will surely pull us to the side,” Kary said, laying her hand on his thigh to calm him.

Alex took in a deep breath. He has always been a pitiful liar, and having to fake it like this, with such a price on the line for failure, made him incredibly nervous.

Taking the shoulder that brought him back to the main road, Alex looked ahead at the short line waiting to be checked and swallowed nervously.

He checked his employee tag on the vest Kujaku had handed him to ensure everything was perfect and looked ahead.

Feeling his angst from inside him, Luna decided to wrap his mind in a calming wave of mana, trying to reassure him without words. She knew what was going on from their connection, and even though she couldn’t pass through the veil, that didn’t stop their minds from staying connected.

It had been a while since she started feeling her master again, and it pleased her, but her words couldn’t yet reach him. That didn’t keep her from helping as much as she could,

though.

Feeling the mana wave envelope his mind, Alex’s body suddenly relaxed, and he sighed in relief.

‘If you can hear me, Luna, thank you,’ he said in his mind, recognizing the mana signature of the wave.

He had also been feeling her presence in his mind, but he knew they couldn’t reach out to each other quite yet. The presence was too faint.

But this mana wave was a sign that whatever kept her from reaching this side was slowly

giving way. Was this a good sign or a bad one?

Only time would tell. But her intervention here was a welcome one.

The line before them quickly shrunk until it was their turn at the customs booth.

The agent looked at the white man behind the wheel, and already his face turned to a frown.

“Passport and identification, sir.”