Chapter 11

Heavy rain continued to pour down on Newtropolis, making the atmosphere insanely depressing. Stacy ran as quickly as she could toward the junkyard. Paul couldn't die! He couldn't! Stacy would return to his side soon! Half an hour later, Stacy finally reached the junkyard. By then, Paul was already drenched in blood. He began trembling at the sight of the little girl. At the same time, he shook his head with all his might. "Don't come here, Stacy! Don't come here!" he yelled. But Alan's goons spotted Stacy before Paul could warn her. They rushed toward her in an instant. Of course, Stacy couldn't outrun the goons, seeing as she was just a kid. Paul somehow managed to summon enough energy to dive at Stacy. He then pulled her into his arms and shielded her protectively. "G-Grandpa, are you okay?" Stacy asked hoarsely. Paul responded by hugging her tightly while panting heavily. "S-Silly girl… What are you doing here?" Stacy stared at Paul's injuries. She tried to stem the bleeding by pressing her hands onto the wounds. "Don't be scared, Grandpa. Daddy will be here soon. He'll protect us. Grandpa… Grandpa? Grandpa!" But Alan refused to give Paul a chance to live. He picked up a metal pipe and stalked toward Paul menacingly. "Beat the life out of him!" Loud thuds sounded from Paul's direction. Everyone busied themselves in beating Paul up with their metal pipes. "Release her! Why are you still protecting her? If that's the case, go to hell!" Alan's furious yells were mixed with the loud pitter-patter of the rain. The heavy rain washed Paul's blood into the mud. Finally, Paul couldn't handle the beating any longer. He hugged Stacy as tightly as he could and squeezed out the last few words with all his might, "Stacy, your father loves you. You have to live a good life in the future… I love you, too." Sorrow gripped Stacy by the heart. "Grandpa, don't die… Please don't die…" She began bawling at the top of her lungs. "Grandpa! No! Please, someone! Save my grandpa!" … Meanwhile, Tabitha's phone rang when she and Atlas were still outside the Grayson residence. The moment she answered it, she heard Alan's menacing laughter coming from the other end of the line. "Hello. This is Tabitha Grayson," Tabitha said cautiously. Before Alan could say anything, Stacy shrieked into the receiver immediately, "Grandpa! Grandpa, you can't die! Please!" Tabitha's body went limp. Clearly, Alan had gone to the junkyard. Paul, who had been taking care of Tabitha and Stacy for five years, was an innocent soul. Why did Alan choose to kill him? "Mr. Dawson, just name your conditions! Don't do anything to them! Whatever it is, you can just come at me!" Tabitha exclaimed anxiously. Alan just grinned. "Tabitha, my men have beaten that old geezer to death. I'll give you time to make your way to the junkyard. I promise that your daughter won't die before the next dawn, but I will make sure to torture her as slowly as I can." Tabitha almost fainted from the declaration. Her body had gone completely limp by then. Alan was here to avenge Xander. She was about to respond to Alan when the latter ended the call. Clearly, he didn't plan on negotiating with Tabitha at all. Noticing that Tabitha was done with the call, Atlas asked, "What's wrong?" Tears rolled down Tabitha's cheeks as she screamed, "Atlas Blackwell, this is all your fault! Do you even know who Xander's father is? "Great! Just great! Alan Dawson has made his way to the junkyard! It's all thanks to you that my savior is dead! Stacy and I will be next on the chopping board!" As Tabitha sobbed, she began clawing at the old scars on her body. It had been five years, yet none of those scars showed any signs of fading away. Tabitha managed to survive the last five years, but how was she supposed to face an underworld overlord like Alan? Her only choice was to die with Stacy. Atlas' heart wrenched in pain when he saw how distraught Tabitha was. He promised her, "Don't worry, Tabitha. I'll rescue Stacy from Alan. No one in this world can hurt you two." A glint appeared in Tabitha's eyes at that moment. She grabbed Atlas' arm immediately. "Right! Atlas, can you please plead with Sierra on my behalf? She's quite a prestigious character in Newtropolis. There might be a chance for Stacy and I to survive if Sierra can convince Alan to stop." Tabitha hated Sierra's guts the most. She knew very well just how brutal and underhanded Sierra was. She also knew that Sierra was the one who had framed her five years ago. But at the same time, Tabitha was willing to do anything for Stacy's sake, even if that meant admitting to having seduced Atlas at the wedding and getting blamed for everything that had gone wrong in this world. "If she wants me to apologize for what happened at the wedding, then I'm more than happy to oblige. Please ask her to help me out!" Atlas froze immediately. As if he'd ask Sierra for help! There was no way he'd do that. Besides, he didn't need that wench's help at all. Women like Sierra didn't deserve to hear his pleads. Atlas just shook his head. "I don't have to beg anyone for help. I can settle this matter once and for all." Tabitha couldn't help but sigh when she noticed Atlas' impassive expression. "Right. Why would you plead to Sierra on my behalf? Since you're not doing that, I'll beg her myself." After that, Tabitha left the area without bothering to listen to Atlas' explanation. Then again, Atlas didn't feel like explaining himself as well. He needed to save Stacy as soon as possible. At that moment, Ian rushed over to Atlas' side. "Mr. Blackwell, I've gotten to the bottom of the matter. It turns out that Xander's father is Alan Dawson. He's an extremely influential man in Newtropolis. "Also, he's also a former member of Abyssal Gates. Now that Abyssal Gates has made its return, many members are flooding into Newtropolis as we speak!" Atlas clenched his fists tightly. "How many people are there?" Ian made some quick calculations. "The Dawsons have thousands of subordinates employed under them. Since Abyssal Gates will be making its return, I have no idea just how many members there are in total." Atlas' knuckles cracked under pressure. How dare Alan kidnap Stacy! He was definitely courting death! It didn't matter how many people Alan had under his command. Atlas wasn't intimidated in the slightest. Atlas commanded loudly, "Light the beacon tower!" Ian shuddered at the command. He quickly got down to his knees. "Mr. Blackwell, you mustn't light the beacon tower! If you do, everyone in Aerial Blade will be attracted to this city!" But Atlas' resolve never wavered. "Light them!" Ian dared not defy Atlas' orders. He pulled out his phone and called the military base in Newtropolis "I have orders from Mr. Blackwell. Light the beacon tower in Newtropolis!" The people who received the command at the base were stunned, to say the least. Their hands began to tremble out of fear. Newtropolis was located in the innermost section of the entire nation. There wasn't any need to light its beacon tower over the past hundred years or so. Was something major about to happen? The military headquarters dared not defy Atlas' orders. Soon, they lit the beacon tower in Newtropolis. Thanks to the lit beacon, smoke soon engulfed the entire city. The bright flames lit up the night sky. All the guards stationed at the beacon tower were instantly alerted to the changes. "W-What's going on?" "Get ready, everyone! Be prepared to move out!" The shift in atmosphere was instantaneous in the military base. All the soldiers were ready for the upcoming battle. Little did Newtropolis know that a bloody battle would occur soon enough.