Chapter 907
Undercurrent
Chapter 907 Undercurrent
As night deepened, the streetlights gradually came on.
Stern hadn't encountered a single customer buying ice cream for half an hour; the empty street was eerily quiet.
Normal vendors wouldn't do business at a time like this, so Stern couldn't either.
He turned off the flashing colored lights on the roof of the car, switched off the music that made him want to vomit, and slowly packed his things.
Looking back, Principal Fontana stood under a tree in the distance, his expression obscured by the shadows.
Stern took a deep breath, as if he had made up his mind.
He turned and walked toward Principal Fontana. Looking at the old man in Muggle clothes, and thinking of his companionship and protection throughout the day, his heart, which had been hardened for so long, couldn't help but soften.
However, Stern quickly regained his composure.
"Mr. Fontana..."
Stern stood a few steps away from the old man, lowered his head, and helplessly wiped his hands on his apron. When he raised his head again, his eyes were slightly red, as if he was restraining himself from showing too much emotion.
“I appreciate your concern, really… but sir, please give me a little more time, okay? I… I don’t want you to see my messy private affairs…”
He pleaded in a low voice, then said, "I swear, once everything is settled, I will... I will definitely come to you and tell you everything..."
—Next time you go out, you must never let your guard down because of past successes. You must always be prepared to disguise yourself!
Stern thought bitterly to himself.
On the surface, he seemed like a man on the verge of being crushed by life, yet barely managing to retain the last shred of dignity.
In the darkness, Fontana quietly gazed at the student before him, whose face seemed to bear the marks of struggle and pain.
He remained silent for a long while, and his eyes, which always seemed to be able to see through people's hearts, were now veiled in a thin mist.
Stern lowered his eyes "painfully," worried that making eye contact would reveal his emotions, and even more worried that someone would take the opportunity to possess his mind. Therefore, he had long ago gotten used to avoiding eye contact with wizards.
Therefore, at this moment, he did not see the understanding and pity in Fontana's eyes.
After a short while, he finally heard the answer he wanted:
"……All right."
Fontana's voice carried a barely perceptible sigh as he looked up, patted the student's shoulder, and said:
“I’ll be waiting for your reply, Rolando… but not too late.”
"Yes... I will definitely give you an answer by tomorrow morning at the latest."
Feeling the hand on his shoulder being withdrawn, Stern's tense emotions immediately relaxed a bit. He made a promise, then bowed deeply, almost gratefully, before quickly turning and leaving.
Fontana didn't move, but watched as the figure fled towards the ice cream truck, started the engine, and disappeared into the endless stream of New York traffic.
……
After wandering the streets for another ten minutes or so, confirming that he was not being followed, and even Apparating twice, Stern finally returned to the Purifiers' temporary stronghold, shivering with cold and utterly exhausted.
He walked around the corridor but didn't see the leader, Brolin. He only ran into Glenwright, the vampire he had joined.
Stern frowned.
These dark creatures were once hunted so relentlessly by wizards that they had almost no place to live and had to beg for mercy just to survive. Now, most vampires have accepted their fate and become pleasure-seeking good-for-nothings, but there are still some who still hope to restore the glory of their ancestors.
Glenn White is such a vampire.
He joined the Purifiers under the pretext of seeking revenge against wizards, but in reality, he had his own group and didn't usually associate with others.
If it weren't for the recent relentless investigation by the IRS into all of the Purge's companies, large and small, forcing them to abandon most of their peripheral members and begin to shrink their influence, Stern wouldn't have seen this guy at the outpost.
But rather than serving the organization, Stern felt that this guy seemed to prefer developing his own offspring among the Purifiers, especially those highly talented young wizards.
Stern felt a surge of annoyance at the thought of Khalil, who had been taken away and never returned.
He actually thought highly of the boy's potential, but because the organization brought him back in such a brutal and simplistic way, Stern was worried that he might turn against the organization in the future, so he hadn't figured out how to deal with him.
While he hesitated, Glenn White took advantage of the situation—
Because this vampire had performed a great service, the then-leader Thorne rewarded Granwright with the unstable element, Khalil, and asked him to transform Khalil into a vampire.
But with only this vampire in front of him, Stern suppressed his annoyance and asked, "Where is Mr. Brolin?"
“At the train station, of course,” Glenn White said amicably. “What else, besides those big toys, could possibly capture our leader’s attention these days?”
As they were talking, Abigail walked over from the crossroads, carrying a huge backpack on her back.
“Sera?” Stern asked in surprise, “Aren’t we supposed to be in a period of silence lately? It’s so late…where are you going?”
“Mr. Brolin’s orders,” Abigail stopped and said, “to go to Washington and make contact with a woman named Liana Lightfoot.”
Stern frowned and asked, "Who is that?"
“It’s a member of Prometheus,” Abigail explained. “We need to express our initial intention to cooperate and see if the other party is sincere.”
Stern's face instantly turned frosty, and he could barely contain his anger.
He took two deep breaths to stop himself from roaring; the sound was almost squeezed out from between his teeth.
"How could I not know about something this big? Making contact before we've fully assessed the risks and agreed on the terms is just handing them ammunition!"
Abigail said with a slightly bewildered look, "Mr. Brolin only made the decision this afternoon... He said you're being watched by Fontana, and there's no time to wait for you to come back to discuss it."
Grant White suddenly laughed and said, "Besides, Mr. Brolin is currently our leader, so he naturally has the authority to decide the organization's next direction."
With a smile, he suddenly leaned close to Stern, and before the other could step back, the vampire whispered something in his ear:
"Besides... Yodel Brolin isn't a wizard. Do you really think Prometheus cared about experimenting on wizards?"
"But you are a wizard, and a very good one at that... right, dear Rolando?"
Stern's pupils suddenly contracted. He did not respond to Glenn White's provocation, but turned around abruptly and strode towards the underground station as if he were a gust of wind.
Glenwhite smiled and turned to Abigail, saying, "Let's go, Sera."
(End of this chapter)