章 5: Chapter 5: A Strange World Part 1

Just as Don moved to take a seat, an elderly man in the cleanest tuxedo Don has ever seen appeared with a tray of various items in hand. He had a balding haircut with grayed hair in the sides. But despite that clear indicator of old age, he had surprisingly flawless skin with no wrinkles in sight.

If it wasn't for the trimmed white gentleman's mustache he had, one could easily mistake him for a young man with a strange fashion sense.

"Your tea m'lady." He politely stated as he placed the tray down on the wooden base mounted table.

"Thank you Gary." Lady Noir replied flatly before picking up a pair of surgical gloves hidden under the tray.

After placing it down, the man addressed as Gary turned to face Don and smiled, or at least Don assumed he was smiling as it was quite hard to tell through the gentleman's mustache.

"Ah, sir Predator, tis a pleasure to see you again. A funny thing time? Is it not? *Haha*I barely noticed given how often m'lady talked about you." Gary politely revealed, his tone incredibly soothing.

It even made Don smile, feeling relaxed for the first time since waking up in this new identity of his. However, just as he smiled, a bright flash momentarily appeared.

"Huh?" Confused, Don immediately, turned his head only to see Lady Noir holding surgical gloves and a camera the size of a laptop.

Without saying anything, she put it down and began taking off her gloves. At that same time, the door suddenly opened and two large figures dressed in hazmat suits walked in with a solid gold box.

They proceeded to pick up the camera before placing it in the box carefully, after which they immediately left with it, never uttering a word.

Don was so perplexed that he didn't even know what to say in reaction. Gary just continued to smile at him innocently whereas Lady Noir was elegantly settling a cup of tea down on the tray after having taken a sip.

She then sighed, "We've arrived quicker than estimated. Time flies so quickly doesn't it Predator?"

'I'll just pretend I didn't see that. I genuinely think the old Don must've gone insane after being called that name for so many years.' Don thought, still far from accepting that aspect of his new identity.

On the surface, he forced a smile, his unfazed trait working overtime. "Yea, it sure does. Uh? So… where's here exactly?"

Lady Noir gave a small smile to the question and snapped her fingers. In the next moment the entire interior vibrated before beginning to neatly come apart.

By some miracle, the combination of Don's unfazed trait and his constant telling himself to not act out, he remained calm as this began to happen. After a few of the panels were removed, allowing for the outside to be seen, Don could see a figure dressed entirely in black hovering in the air above them with his hands spread out.

'What tha…' Don, still very much confused, didn't utter a word. Instead he simply watched as the strange luxury chopper they were in got taken apart.

Lady Noir stood up in the next moment and looked at Don with a small smile. "Let's go Predator, your surprise is in the main office of our secret base."

"I have a secret base?" Don thought, to which a system prompt appeared.

——

**Don**

Net worth: $0

——

'…' Don looked unamused by the reminder but it definitely caused him to no longer be excited.

He simply turned to follow Lady Noir as they stepped onto a large obsidian pier, several feet wide and several feet above the crystal blue ocean below.

The pier led to a large entrance way carved into the mountain on either sides as pillars hundred of feet high.

'This looks like it's straight out of a movie,' Don couldn't help but compare as he questioned what he was even looking at.

Just then, he squinted his eyes and could see a dark vehicle fast approaching. Looking at Lady Noir and Gary, he saw no reaction and so he also decided to just stand and wait.

While they were waiting, Don decided to look back and see what was done to the chopper but it, along with the person dressed in black who moved it, were gone.

'…am I really supposed to pretend all this is normal here?' Don wondered, just as the vehicle arrived.

Once up close, Don was surprised to see that he could recognize the make of vehicle, as such brands were present in his world as well. 'A Rolls Rayce, wow, didn't expect to see that. Does that mean I'm mean I'm in a parallel world or something? Or is that dimension. Dammit, I should've watched those weird late night International Geography shows when I was younger.'

As the vehicle came to a stop, all four doors opened and men dressed in black stepped out from either side before saluting, however this particular group made Don widen his eyes as he noticed that each of them had a mask with his face printed on it.

"Welcome back m'lady." They collectively spoke out, their voices practically identical.

'I don't think that bronze unfazed trait will last much longer at this rate. I mean, what the hell is this supposed to be?' Despite having such scattered thoughts, Don powered through and maintained his composure as Lady Noir looked his way and gestured for them to enter the car.

The strange men remained saluting as he and Lady Noir walked over to the car with Gary in tow.

However, just as Don and Lady Noir entered the backseats of the car, the doors closed. At that time, he looked to the window and asked, "uh, aren't they coming?"

To which Lady Noir nodded as she strapped into her sit. "No need, the car is self driving. They will run beside it."

'I cant have them ruining this moment. Only I should enjoy the air he exhales.' She concluded to herself, though looking incredibly calm on the surface as she turned to face Don, urging him. "You should sit down and relax, take deep breathes… very deep breathes and let it all out."

'Wow, she takes her breathing very serious. Still weird that she has guys bring the car only to have them run outside. Is this power of money in this world?' Don wondered, causing a system prompt to momentarily appear in the corner of his eye.

——

**Don**

Net worth: $0.00

——

'…I get it I have no money.' Don bitterly thought, before proceeding to layback into the comfortable seat. He then closed his eyes and took a deep breath.

Unaware, as his eyes were closed, tiny compartments in the car opened up and numerous tiny cameras captured footage of him in that state. And just as he was about to open them, they disappeared and Lady Noir looked incredibly calm, as if nothing happened.