The Human Father of The Child [2]

Ling Ling let go of Deathstalker's hand and ran toward the man.

"Gàn dé hǎo... Gàn dé hǎo... (Good job... good job...)," the man praised her and patted her head. He then gave her something from his pocket. The girl received it joyfully before running into the building.

"Huānyíng, wǒ de péngyǒumen (Welcome, my friends)," the man greeted, catching Deathstalker and Bruno's attention. "Qǐng jìnlái (Please, come in)," he added, inviting both men into the building that appeared to be his house.

Deathstalker and Bruno exchanged glances before finally deciding to accept the man's invitation. They didn't know what his intentions were, but at least he had helped them escape the guards at the port.

Inside the building, they were both amazed and unnerved. The interior was a mix of high-tech and traditional ethnic decor. A large carpet floated across the room. There was also a tea set, likely made of copper, which seemed to be of Hindi origin. That wasn't strange in itself, but the fact that the jug was pouring some kind of liquid into two cups on its own was extraordinary.

"Huush... Bholu, behave!" the man commanded, and the carpet abruptly stopped flying, rolling itself up and settling in a corner.

"You can speak English!" Bruno exclaimed, noticing the man's words.

"You can, too?" the man replied. Bruno nodded. "He can speak English, too?" he asked, referring to Deathstalker.

"Fluently," Deathstalker answered.

"Thank God!" the man exclaimed joyfully, his face flushing with excitement. "I finally get to speak something other than this stupid language!" He grinned sheepishly, realizing he might have offended them. "Forgive me," he said, placing his hands together in a prayer-like gesture. "I didn't mean to insult Eastern languages. They're beautiful, but the people here use them with such poor grammar. It drives me crazy," he explained, shaking his head.

"That's okay," Deathstalker replied. "I hate it, too."

"So, you're human?" Bruno asked the man.

"He is," Deathstalker answered.

"How do you know?" the man asked.

"Simple. You have a philtrum. None of the guards have one," Deathstalker replied.

The man smiled. "You're right. I am human. My name is Sukraj," he introduced himself.

"I am Ming Huo. I'm here looking for my wife," Deathstalker said.

"And you are?" Sukraj asked, turning to Bruno.

"I... I am Master Ming's slave. My name is whatever Master Ming calls me," Bruno said meekly.

"Come on, there's no slavery on Earth nowadays," Sukraj said, disbelieving.

Bruno exchanged a glance with Deathstalker. They didn't know enough about Sukraj to decide if he could be trusted, but he was clearly an intelligent man.

"He is Ferdinand, my friend—not my slave," Deathstalker finally said.

"And I suppose your name isn't Ming Huo, either?" Sukraj asked.

"I am Jan Yung Bin," Deathstalker admitted with a sigh. "We're looking for his girlfriend, who happens to be Eastern as well. The information we gathered said people here don't accept anyone who isn't yellow-skinned, except as slaves. That's why he asked me to help by pretending he's my slave."

Sukraj nodded. "That's true."

"But how are you accepted here?" Bruno asked. "Your skin isn't yellow."

Sukraj shrugged. "I can be yellow whenever I want." He laughed. "Come, have a seat and a drink first."

Bruno and Deathstalker exchanged another look before sitting on a couch in the middle of the room.

Sukraj handed them the cups that the jug had filled earlier. "The creatures here rely more on their sense of smell than sight. They can see, but their noses are much sharper. That's why, even at night, they need almost no light."

Deathstalker nodded, understanding why this house had the most lighting in the area. But there was still something he didn't understand.

"Why did you tell Ling Ling to help us?" Deathstalker asked.

"I didn't tell her to specifically help you," Sukraj replied. "I told her to stand near the port gate to help any humans captured by the guards."

"Why?" Bruno asked.

"Because I still have a heart. Even though I've lived here for over eight years, I'm still human. I can't bear to see other humans being mistreated."

"Mistreated?" Bruno asked again.

Sukraj nodded. "You noticed we are inside the earth, right? We don't have a sun here. Thus, we don't have any real vegetables or meat. No plant or animal can survive here, so all food here is artificial, thanks to their technology and power. The only real food they can have is human flesh. It's their top-notch cuisine."

Sukraj's explanation gave Deathstalker goosebumps, even though he had already guessed that they were bitten by the leader's pet to poison them so they wouldn't become prey.

Bruno turned to Deathstalker. His eyes were swollen from holding back tears, and his lips trembled as he whispered, "Lily..."

"Did Ling Ling save a woman... a few months ago?" Deathstalker asked Sukraj.

"A few months ago... no," Sukraj said. "But she did save a woman maybe four days ago."

Deathstalker patted Bruno's shoulder as he dropped his head in despair. Lily came here four months ago, not four days. So this woman could not be her.

"You said... they prey on humans. How could you survive?" Deathstalker asked again.

"Like I said, they rely on their sense of smell. It's simple: I just trick them by having no human odor," Sukraj answered.

"You can do that?" Deathstalker asked in disbelief.

Sukraj laughed. "Back when I was still on Earth, I was a fairly well-known scientist. I invented many things. One day, I met this woman named Jolline. She was not only beautiful but also incredibly powerful. She was captured by my government and used as a research subject in the lab where I worked. Long story short, we fell in love. She eventually told me her secret: she wasn't human. She was from here below the Earth, and she would die if she didn't return.

I did believe her. But I'm not a fool, and I didn't want to lose her. So I told her I would release her if she allowed me to go with her. She warned me I wouldn't survive here because I'm human, and her people eat humans. I said I would find a way to conceal my humanity. She then gave me information on where I could enter this place, so whenever my research succeeded, I could join her here. Twenty years later, I finally found the solution and came here. I assumed Jolline would be old by then—it had been twenty years on Earth—but it turned out that twenty years on Earth is only eight months here. Thus, Jolline was still as beautiful as when she was on Earth, but I had already aged. Yet, she loved me the same..." Sukraj chuckled at the memory.

"Wait... so a day here is a month on Earth?" Bruno asked excitedly.

"It is," Sukraj answered.

"So... so..." Bruno trailed off, silenced by a nudge from Deathstalker's knee.

"That thing—the creation that helped you survive here—what is it? And more importantly... do you still have it?" Deathstalker asked, bombarding Sukraj with questions.

Sukraj smiled so broadly it was almost a grin. "It's a potion. Initially, it only allowed me to camouflage myself for a day. But with the help of my late wife..." He paused, sadness crossing his face. After a heavy exhale, he continued, "With her help, I was able to develop a much stronger version. Not only can it camouflage me for three days now, it also really helps with the gravitational differences."

"So... you still produce the potion now?" Deathstalker asked.

"Yes," Sukraj answered.

"Can we... buy it?" Deathstalker asked again.

Sukraj sighed, pretending to think hard. "It's very pricey. I mean... the ingredients are rare here..."

Bruno dragged the suitcase in front of him and opened it. "We have these..." He showed the gold to Sukraj. "How many bottles can you give us?"

Sukraj groaned while inspecting the gold bars. "Actually, this isn't enough. I mean... gold is currency here, but my potion is far more precious. I need to endangers my self sneaking in and out the earth to find the ingredients. That was why though I have left earth surface for moe than 200 years of earth time, I knew about Earth's updates."

Deathstalker and Bruno sank in disappointment. Seeing their expressions, Sukraj sighed again. "But... you two seem like good people, so I'll give you one bottle for those gold bars."

"What?"

"Only a bottle?"

Sukraj shrugged. "That's all I can do."

"A bottle for both of us... that means we only have one and a half days. What if we haven't found our friend by then?" Bruno murmured with a pleading expression.

"Or... you can work for me as payment. I always welcome a hand or two to help me around," Sukraj suggested.

"But if we work for you, how will we find our friend?" Bruno asked again.

Sukraj shrugged. "It's your call."

Deathstalker sighed. "Let's just buy one bottle with what we have and try to find her in that time," he said heavily.

Bruno nodded. As he bent down to close the suitcase, an orange fell out from the bundle of cloth he was carrying and rolled across the floor toward Sukraj.

Sukraj picked it up, and his facial expression was indescribable. "Is this... is this..." He couldn't finish his sentence, his voice shaking. He brought the orange to his nose to sniff it and, once he was sure it was real, his hand trembled. Tears began welling in his eyes.

"It's only an orange," Deathstalker said calmly, observing Sukraj's reaction.

"Only an orange?! Do you know how many years it's been since I've tasted one?! Eight years! EIGHT!!!"

Bruno smirked. "I still have one more..."

Before Bruno could finish his sentence, a woman's voice called Sukraj with a spoiled yet alluring tone, "Sukraj.. Qīn'ài... Wèishéme zhème jiǔ cái huílái? Wǒ yǐjīng gěi nǐ nuǎn bèiwōle… (Sukraj... Dear... why it took you so long to return ? I have warm the bed for you...)"

Then there was the sound of footsteps descending the stairs. "Lái ba...wǒ děng bùjíle... (Come on... I can't wait to...)"

The woman finished her words with a sharp gasp as both Deathstalker and Bruno exclaimed in surprise, "Viper!!"