Bab 20: 20. tricycle chasing us.
Ten pounds of chicken, please, ma'am.
Aiden was standing in front of the deli counter inside Megamart. The butcher was an
older woman in her late fifties. She looked surprised when she noticed his cart was filled
with groceries.
Wow, you must be quite a strong young man to be able to push that heavy cart, she
remarked. Are you buying groceries for your family? Aiden answered with a simple nod.
Silently, he thought to himself, hurry up lady, I don't have time to stand here and chit-
chat all day.
Such a handsome young man, but I wondered why you called me ma'am just now. Do
you really think I look as old as that? She raised her eyebrows. You know, if you call me
honey, I might go ahead and decide you only have seven pounds of chicken here, not
ten at all.
What do you think? Ding! Beginner level charm activated. Proficient level flirting skill activated. High chance of discount detected if the host continues to chat with the older
lady.
Damn, honey? Aiden looked up at an old woman and said without hesitation, honey?
Honey? What is honey? Aiden thought to himself then. Ha ha ha ha! The lady laughed
loudly. In the end, Aiden paid only half the retail price for the ten pounds of raw chicken
she carried out of the store.
Touching his chin and thinking to himself as he walked toward the store exit, he
wondered how many more old ladies would give him free stuff just for being cute. Dora!
Just as Aiden was about to leave for the parking lot, a heart-wrenching scream sounded
from behind him. He turned around and saw that an old man had fallen to the ground,
pointing a quivering finger at a figure now retreating into the crowd.
He writhed helplessly and screamed, Kidnapper! A kidnapper took my granddaughter!
Someone, please catch him! The old man's wavering voice was quickly drowned out by
the noise and chaos in the store. The little girl, held tightly by the retreating figure,
shrieked in panic and desperately tried to wriggle free from the kidnapper's grasp. In the
blink of an eye, both vanished into the crowd.
The old man, seemingly injured, was unable to lift himself from the ground to pursue
them. He could only wail in anguish while lying helplessly on his back. Someone help me!
Please! Dora! When Aiden was still a child, he had almost been kidnapped during a trip
to the grocery store with his father.
Remembering that, and hearing the old man's desolate cries, he couldn't help but feel
sympathy for him and his poor little granddaughter. Aiden knew there was nothing in the
world crueler than having your loved ones taken from you right before your eyes.
Whenever Aiden saw stories about these kidnappings in the news, he felt an intense
urge to hunt down the perpetrators and rip them into a thousand pieces.
After half a second of deliberation, Aiden decided to help the old man. Furrowing his
brow in concentration, he closed his eyes and focused all his attention on his hearing.
The clamor of the crowd lingered in his ears.
Vegetables. Meat. Fruit.
Snacks. Phone calls. A stream of voices filtered through Aiden's hearing as he struggled
to make out the one he wanted to hear.
Ding! Distinguishing between different sounds. Hearing, plus one. Leveled up to
proficient level.
Current progress, eleven out of a hundred. After his hearing leveled up, the chaotic
sounds of the store suddenly fell into some semblance of order. In the distance, Aiden could discern the weak and immature cries of a young girl amid a sea of voices.
Grandpa! Found her! Aiden's eyes snapped open instantly. The sound of the girl's voice
had revealed her location. It was no time to waste.
I guess all those long nights of torture weren't a complete waste. Running over to the
fallen old man, Aiden brought his cart to a stop beside him and said, look after my
groceries for me, please. I'm going to bring back your granddaughter.
The old man, stunned by the sudden turn of events, was about to say something, but by
the time he opened his mouth, Aiden had already vanished from sight. Ding! Flexibility,
plus one. Current progress, one out of ten.
Current level, beginner level. Ding! Evasion, plus one. Current progress, one out of ten.
Current level, beginner level. Ding! Short distance sprinting, plus one. Ding! Aiden
focused all his attention on the sound of the little girl's cries, knowing he might not be
able to find them again if they were lost amid the noise.
Nimbly, he moved through the crowd. Just before he reached the exit of the grocery
store, Aiden caught sight of the kidnapper's retreating form.
Bro, I think there's a tricycle chasing us. The kidnapper wore a black rider's uniform and
a dark mask on his face to hide his features. The little girl struggled desperately to free
herself, but the kidnapper's grip was too tight, and her efforts were in vain.
As the kidnapper left the store with the screaming child, the shoppers loitering near the
entrance began to realize something was amiss. Just as a few tough-looking men were
about to approach the kidnapper, a black motorcycle drove up through the parking lot
and stopped in front of them. The man driving the bike, obviously the kidnapper's
accomplice, was dressed the same way he was.
The next moment, the kidnapper hoisted the little girl onto the back of the motorcycle
and got on behind her, so she was sandwiched between the two men. The motorcycle
engine roared, and the kidnappers quickly rode away from the scene, leaving behind
them a dirty, smelly cloud of exhaust. Aiden, with the look of determination on his face,
ran to retrieve the electric tricycle and pursue the kidnappers.
After a few minutes, the motorcycle was in sight, and soon it was right in front of him.
Kling-klang, kling-klang! The old electric tricycle was now in hot pursuit. Bro, I think
there's a tricycle chasing us, observed the front seat rider in a deep voice.
The kidnapper in the back covered the little girl's mouth tightly with one hand to stop
her from screaming for help. At the same time, he turned to look behind him. When he
saw that the person chasing after them was riding an electric tricycle that was about to fall apart, he couldn't help but sneer.
You want to chase us down with that pile of crap? Don't worry about him. Let's just hurry
and leave this place as fast as we can. There was a dilapidated construction site near
Megamart, and the road in front of it was covered with potholes as well as random
pieces of steel, rocks, and cement.
Consequently, the motorcycle was forced to slow down to avoid an accident. Even so, it
was still going much faster than Aiden's shabby little electric tricycle. Seeing the space
between them grow, Aiden began to feel anxious.
Ding! Riding on an electric tricycle. Driving ability, plus one. Driving ability increased to
proficient level.
Current progress, eleven out of a hundred. The next moment, Aiden felt a sudden shift in
his driving ability. It was as though he had become one with the electric tricycle.
Aiden pressed down hard on the accelerator, pushing it to its maximum speed. During a
series of difficult maneuvers, the electric tricycle somehow avoided all the obstacles in
its path. The tricycle shook violently beneath Aiden, and he could feel it getting hotter as
he continued riding at top speed.
It wouldn't be long before the ancient trike had taken all the punishment it could handle.
By now, the two kidnappers could hear the clanking sounds of the tricycle approaching
them from behind. When they turned to look at their pursuer, they were stunned by what
they saw.
The boy rode the electric tricycle like a ghost rider, passing through obstacles as though
they were air while it rapidly approached the motorcycle. The kid riding the tricycle
stared at them with cold, murderous eyes. Right now, they felt more like they were being
hunted by a cold-blooded killer than chased by a goofy teenager.
They were like prey for this relentless, predatory pursuer. They trembled as a strange,
indescribable fear suddenly gripped their hearts. Ding! Intimidating presence detected
from host.
Vigor, plus one. Th-this... this shouldn't be possible! Impossible indeed. How could a
worn-out electric tricycle catch up to a magnificent, state-of-the-art, and very expensive
motorcycle? Such an incredible turn of events was surely the stuff of fiction, right? This
old tricycle is really weird.
Hurry up and get rid of it! Vroom! The engine roared once again, and the motorcycle
shot forward like a bolt of lightning. Still, the kidnappers felt Aiden's cold gaze on their
backs. In a moment of panic, the driver hit a rock with the front wheel of the motorcycle,
and the bike instantly began to veer out of control.
The next moment, the motorcycle came to a sudden stop as its rear end tilted upward,
nearly throwing the backseat rider into the air. Aiden's eyes lit up when he realized what
he needed to do next. He drove the electric tricycle over a small mound of dirt and sent
it soaring into the air with enormous speed before it finally descended, crashing into the
upward side of the motorcycle.
Status Power Mingguan
-- Peringkat
Power 
-- Power
stone