Chapter 124: Killing Fate
Seeing Pekwarsky being so cooperative, Chris immediately told Wesley to untie him, no longer giving him a hard time.
"Why is Cross here?"
Chris was a bit confused. According to the movie plot, Cross was Sloan's biggest threat.
How could he possibly let Cross waltz into his own headquarters?
If Cross had fought his way in, Chris felt that didn't make sense either.
Because he could see the textile factory's defenses weren't empty. The number of assassins Wesley killed plus those who died in the explosion aftermath wasn't small.
Pekwarsky rubbed his wrist, noticing Chris's confusion, and explained with an awkward expression, "This seems to be connected to you."
"Me?" Chris was a little surprised. How did this circle back to him?
He didn't think he'd even met Cross except for that one time he grabbed Wesley, right?
Under Chris's surprised gaze, Pekwarsky recounted Sloan's bizarre actions over the past two days.
Including but not limited to declaring fate's miracle, having them search for Chris's location, and negotiating a truce with Cross.
At first, Pekwarsky didn't understand Sloan's game plan.
But after watching Chris effortlessly level the Brotherhood headquarters with a weird firearm, Pekwarsky finally got what Sloan meant by "disaster."
Looking at the surrounding destruction, and the devastating casualties that had nearly wiped out the entire Assassin Brotherhood, Pekwarsky could already imagine how Fate would feel seeing such a scene.
If there really was a Fate.
That's right, Pekwarsky didn't believe in Fate either. He thought the organization's propaganda about fate's guidance was bullcrap, just propaganda used to keep people united.
But now, seeing Chris actually show up and witnessing what he'd done, Pekwarsky was starting to believe some of it.
Chris, frowning, listened to everything Pekwarsky said, and pieced together the general situation.
It was nothing more than Fate wanting to kill him, then extract and absorb the misfortune ability from him, completing its own power.
After all, Chris had a strong craving for this so-called Fate, so logically, this Fate should also have a strong appetite for him.
In the fantasy novels he'd read, this should be what they called a 'clash of destinies.'
Realizing this, Chris also got energized, "Do you know where the Loom of Fate is?"
"Uh..." Pekwarsky looked around, unable to pinpoint where the Loom of Fate was stored for a moment.
It was Fox who scanned the area and located the spot.
This wasn't just because Fox had higher rank in the Brotherhood and had visited the Loom's room more often, but also because she hadn't been disoriented by the explosion's aftermath.
To survive the blast, Pekwarsky had even tried hiding in the sewers.
Unfortunately, before he could actually crawl in, Chris spotted him and forced him out.
Led by Fox, the group soon arrived at a relatively intact room.
Apart from blown-out doors and windows, the overall structure was still solid, and even the Loom inside was completely undamaged.
Everyone gathered before the Loom, curiously examining this legendary artifact supposedly guiding the Assassin Brotherhood.
However, apart from Stewie and Chris, even Wesley, who was closest to the superhuman realm, couldn't sense any mysterious power from this thing.
Stewie broke free from Fox's hold, jumped directly onto the Loom, curiously pulled off a few strands of thread to examine, then tossed them away with a look of contempt.
"There are no residual laws. This thing's power level isn't as high as that Grim Reaper."
Chris also saw the essence of this Loom of Fate. In his perception, the main consciousness of this Loom was cowering inside like a frightened bird.
This thing had no way to deal with Chris at all. Now, seeing Chris arrive, it could only try to survive by playing dead.
However, in Chris's perception, it was just a weird conceptual blob, not some cute pet or attractive form.
It was clearly impossible to slip by like this, so Chris had no intention of negotiating with it.
Having the others stand behind him, Chris fired an explosive round at the Loom of Fate.
After a violent explosion, a stream of orange energy merged into Chris's body.
In terms of power level, it was only similar to a Wendigo, and a newly spawned Wendigo at that, so no wonder it had no way to handle the current Chris.
After absorbing this energy, Chris only felt that the range of his misfortune ability had increased slightly, but he was temporarily unclear about the specific improvements.
And at the same moment Chris destroyed the Loom of Fate, Cross felt his body go stiff, and then that magical power withdrew from him.
Fortunately, he'd already killed Sloan, so whether or not he had that mysterious power's blessing didn't matter anymore.
After firing a few more rounds into Sloan's corpse lying on the ground, Cross turned and left the secret passage, coming to the surface.
Although he'd had a premonition while chasing Sloan, when Cross saw the textile factory reduced to rubble with his own eyes, he was still deeply shocked.
He'd initially thought the police force had been deployed, using heavy firepower like mortars to bomb the textile factory.
But now, to cause this level of destruction, it could probably only be a military strike.
Cross speculated wildly in his mind, but still couldn't understand why the government would suddenly attack their Assassin Brotherhood.
But as Cross moved through the ruins, he noticed something was off.
If the military had acted, it shouldn't be so deserted here.
Logically, there should be cleanup crews handling the aftermath.
Just as he was thinking this, Cross saw a scene that surprised him.
After dealing with the Loom of Fate, Chris led Wesley and the others toward Cross.
And before Cross spotted them, Wesley and company had already discovered the cautious Cross.
After all, Cross was still worried about enemies being around, but Wesley knew Cross was here and was deliberately looking for him.
So when Cross saw Wesley, Wesley had already activated his adrenaline state and was running toward him quickly.
"Alright, let's hang back here for a bit. Let's give the father and son some space to talk," Chris said with a smile, stopping Pekwarsky who still wanted to approach.
"Oh..." Pekwarsky gestured, then understood Chris's meaning.
In the current situation, there was no need for Cross to verify his identity. The fact that he'd dared to come with them to find Cross already proved he was on their side.
Thinking this, Pekwarsky relaxed and sat down on the rubble to rest.
However, looking at everyone who'd let their guard down, Chris felt a bit confused.
Because based on past experience, it should be time for him to leave by now.
But according to Chris's gut feeling, he had no desire to leave at all.
Could there be other mysterious entities behind the fate of this world?
Chris looked at Stewie in confusion, but the little guy was already lying in Fox's arms, fast asleep.
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