The next morning, Aiden was not naturally awakened; Marlene's banging knocks on the door made him, rarely, have some morning temper.
"Uncle..."
After opening the door, Marlene still dragged her voice and called him once, then jumped onto his bed, jumping around on it.
"Marlene, come down, let me lie down a little longer." Aiden pinched his eyebrows and said, while sighing that children's energy was indeed too good.
"You can't sleep anymore, Aerith big sister and Elmyra aunt have already gotten up to prepare breakfast." Marlene stopped her actions, stood with her hands on her hips looking at Aiden.
"And, Aerith big sister said, later you still have to go together with her to send me back to the Seventh Sector!"
"Alright, alright, I won't sleep." Aiden scratched the back of his neck, started dressing, then went downstairs together with Marlene.
"Good morning, Aiden."
Just as Aiden went downstairs, he met Aerith who was carrying breakfast to the table; she immediately greeted him.
"Good morning, Aerith." Aiden responded, then went to wash up.
Marlene had already told him, early in the morning, Elmyra had gone to buy washing supplies for them.
After he finished washing, everyone sat around together to eat breakfast.
"Aerith, Aiden, you must safely send Marlene home." At the dining table, Elmyra instructed the two.
"Don't worry, Miss Elmyra, with me around there won't be any problems." Aiden took a sip of porridge and seriously said.
"Then that's good." Elmyra rubbed Marlene's head and nodded.
After breakfast, the three rested for a while, then said goodbye to Elmyra and left the house.
"There's a station nearby, there are vehicles to the Seventh Sector there."
On the street, Aerith and Aiden were walking side by side; of course, between them was Marlene, she was being held by one hand by each of them.
"Aerith big sister, have you been to the Seventh Sector?" Marlene raised her head and looked at Aerith.
"Been a few times, to sell flowers." Aerith said, then regretfully patted her forehead, "Damn, I should have brought some flowers, that way I could make a bit of money to help the household."
"Don't worry, big sister, after you send me back, my dad will definitely give you a reward money." Marlene said.
Aerith shook her head, "That won't be necessary, Marlene, sending you home is not for the money."
"Alright then." Marlene said a little disappointedly, then turned her head to look at Aiden, finding that he seemed to be thinking about something, with a somewhat serious expression on his face.
"Uncle, what's wrong with you?" Marlene asked him.
"Your expression just now was very serious."
"Nothing." Aiden collected his thoughts, smiling and shaking his head, then glanced sideways behind them and lightly snorted. He sensed someone following them.
"Aiden, don't worry, he has no ill intentions."
As the only Ancient Species, Aerith was not a weak girl; possessing special perception ability too, she knew what Aiden was worrying about.
"Mm." Aiden nodded, then no longer cared about the person following them, turning to chat with Aerith and Marlene.
Soon, they arrived at the station.
Before coming, Aiden had already exchanged money in the system shop, but he was completely unfamiliar with the place; while he was still looking at the routes, Aerith had already bought the tickets.
Seeing the somewhat depressed Aiden, Aerith said to him with a smiling face, "Next time, I'll let you pay, okay."
Then she picked up Marlene and pulled Aiden to board the bus heading for the Seventh Sector.
———
The bus's speed was very fast, and it soon reached the overpass between the Fifth and Sixth Sectors. Unexpectedly, there were Shinra soldiers guarding here, but they only boarded the bus for a simple look and did not carefully check or ask for identities, letting the bus enter the Sixth Sector.
After that, the bus continued toward the Seventh Sector, but it hadn't gone far when it was stopped by a group of people.
They were a group of people who didn't look easy to mess with; one especially strong big man, after the door opened, boarded and shouted to the people inside, "Under Boss Don Corneo's orders, we need to check the people on the bus. Please don't be afraid."
Though the words were polite, his tone was full of an undeniable meaning; then he brought some little brothers and started checking the passengers one by one.
"Really unlucky, how come we encountered this kind of thing." Aerith frowned and said unhappily.
She knew what kind of person Don Corneo was, a leading figure managing the dark forces of the streets, and most importantly, he was extremely lustful, so his subordinates often wandered around looking for beauties to please him. In the Midgar slums, no woman didn't despise him.
"Don't worry, with me here." Aiden pinched Aerith's arm and said in a low voice.
Soon, that big man arrived at the row where Aiden and Aerith were sitting. When he saw Aerith's appearance, a flash of amazement crossed his eyes, and he instantly had an idea.
'If I offer her up, the boss will definitely reward me heavily.'
But just when he was about to signal his underlings to grab people, he noticed Marlene lying in Aerith's arms. He froze, immediately took out a photo from his pocket, glanced at it, and showed a joyful face, this little girl was precisely the person their boss was looking for.
'Truly a double fortune.' The big man grinned, then waved his hand to have his subordinates surround them.
"This beautiful lady, and this cute little girl, please come with us, our boss wants to meet you." The big man completely ignored Aiden sitting by the aisle, speaking to Aerith and Marlene.
Aerith didn't even look at him; she just hugged Marlene tightly and looked at Aiden beside her.
"Can I refuse your boss's invitation for them?" Aiden tilted his head and looked at the big man.
"What do you think?" The big man glared fiercely at Aiden, "Kid, this has nothing to do with you, get lost now."
"What if I say no?" Aiden stood up, coldly staring at him.
"Then be ready to feed the rats in the sewers." The big man said fiercely, then raised his hand to grab Aiden's collar.
But his speed was far too slow compared to Aiden's; before he could touch Aiden, he was grabbed by the throat and lifted up.
This big man was over 1.9 meters tall, weighing at least 100 kilograms, but in Aiden's hand, it was like lifting a chicken, very easy.
Being choked, the big man couldn't say a word; even breathing became difficult, his face turning red as he kept slapping Aiden's arm that was choking him.
"Put down our boss!" After freezing for a second, the little brothers on the side shouted, but none dared step forward.
Joking, even their super-strong boss ended up like this, wouldn't they just be delivering themselves?
"Aiden." Seeing that the big man's face was turning from red to purple, Aerith pressed on Aiden's shoulder and shook her head.
"Don't do it here." She wasn't pleading for the big man, but reminding him that Marlene was still here.
Of course, Aiden wouldn't kill someone in front of Marlene; he also didn't want to be too flashy. Feeling the big man was almost about to suffocate, he loosened his hand.
"Huff huff!"
The big man, extremely lacking oxygen, fell sitting onto the aisle, gasping heavily for air, his face no longer showing any arrogance, his gaze toward Aiden full of fear. He could feel it, this man just now truly wanted to strangle him to death.
"I'm sorry."
The big man was someone who could bend and stretch; after feeling the man's ruthlessness, he quickly crawled up, deeply bowed to Aiden, then hurriedly took his little brothers and got off the bus.
"All of you move aside."
After getting off, the big man drove away his men blocking the bus, then bowed deeply in a please gesture.
"Continue driving, Mr. Driver." Aiden shouted to the driver.
"Ah… ah, okay." The driver swallowed a mouthful of saliva and hurriedly started the bus.
Watching the bus drive away, the big man touched his neck and let out a breath of relief. But before he finished exhaling, a hand patted his shoulder.
"Which blind fool..." The big man, already upset, cursed while turning around.
Then he froze, behind him stood an exceptionally handsome long-haired man.
And beside that man, followed a group of fully armed Shinra soldiers.
"Just now, what did you do after getting on the bus?" The handsome long-haired man asked with a smile.
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