CHAPTER 224: AWAKE

In the real world, a person wearing golden metallic armour was being lifted out of the mountain of blood beetle carcasses with the help of a crane.

Though the entire person was covered in blood, filthy, fragments of blood beetle carcasses and grime, the lustrous armour shone when illuminated by the search lights around it.

The crane operator slowly lifted the heavily armoured person out and placed him near the roadside.

Quickly, the medical support team standing by came to assist.

They took out their gear and tried to diagnose the reason for the loss of consciousness.

However, the person was covered from head to toe in unbreakable armour that completely shielded him. They couldn’t even find a crack to check whether he was alright.

Finally, after a while of fruitless endeavour, the first responders sent by the hero union gave up and moved him to a nearby armoured van.

–

A few hours later, at dawn. The golden armour-wearing person showed some change. The thick armour around him turned to liquid metal and flowed back into his body. Those who were on standby were shocked to see a bloody body appear from it.

Quickly, they once again moved to secure and verify if he was injured. And while doing so, they came to the startling conclusion that the man was perfectly okay, without a single injury. All the blood they were seeing was the blood of the beetles that attacked the city.

A few minutes later, after the entire armour receded into his body, the person opened his eyes.

*Blink*

*Blink*

Oliver casually sat up.

Seeing that, the paramedic who was monitoring Oliver reeled back.

The paramedic was a young woman in her early twenties. She cautiously looked at his body for a few seconds before turning away with her neck and ears flushed.

After the battle with the beetles, the clothes Oliver wore had been ripped into shreds. He barely had a few scraps covering his crotch and thighs.

When Oliver sat up, the piece of cloth covering his waist tore with a loud noise, almost revealing everything below.

Fortunately, the young woman was quick and immediately turned away.

Or else, she would have seen something she was not ready for.

Oliver quickly grasped his situation and looked down. When he noticed the skin around the neck and ear of the paramedic turn bright red, he understood the reason.

However, he was the shameless kind. He didn’t care much about anything other than his goals.

So, without a delay, he asked.

"Miss, how long was I unconscious?"

Despite many questions arising in his mind as to why he revived through his body, he wanted to know what was happening instead of things he had no control over.

"Ah!"

The paramedic exclaimed, startled as Oliver’s piercing gaze collided with her.

The young woman calmed her thumping heart and looked at Oliver’s chiselled body.

The rough, but detailed, shoulder and chest muscles, along with the sturdy abs, pulled on her heartstrings once again.

Despite being a superhuman with enhanced physical attributes, she didn’t believe a person could be that well-developed.

Stealing a quick few glances, she brought her eyes back up and met Oliver’s.

To prevent any misunderstanding, she quickly hid her expression or tried to before answering.

"You fell out of the sky and had been unconscious for almost eight hours."

"Eight hours!"

Oliver was shocked.

There was a lot of missing time in between.

"I slept for eight hours?"

He couldn’t believe it.

Meanwhile, the paramedic noticed his shock and spoke.

"Mr Oliver, it is a miracle that you only slept for eight hours after doing what you did. If someone else had been in your position, they would have been directly brought to be cremated."

The young woman stole a few glances once again, imprinting the memory deep within her while speaking.

Then, she asked Oliver to lie back down with a hint of concern in her voice.

Well, how could she not be concerned?

Oliver had fought a war, single-handedly against the blood beetles for more than nine hours straight. Even if he were physically built like a bull, he would still have to rest and recover. And if you consider the mental exhaustion a battle like that would put him through, she believed he had to sleep even more.

Oliver could see her concern, but he didn’t bother replying and quickly stood up.

His pants...or what remained of them almost slipped down. Instinctively, he grabbed the pants and covered his body.

Then, with an embarrassed smile, he asked.

"Miss, can you lend me something to wear?"

Oliver could still hear the blood beetles screeching outside. Although not as intense as in the beginning, he believed the blood beetles were still attacking the city. So, he wanted to leave and make sure everyone related to him was okay.

"...And, do you know where my phone is?" He added after a short pause.

The young woman shook her head while taking out a set of paramedic uniforms from behind her seat.

Then, slowly, while taking a few more glances at Oliver’s body, she handed the clothes to him.

The clothes were navy blue, featuring a Federation logo and a Hero Union badge embedded on them.

Oliver took the pants without a logo and quickly put them on, ripping apart the ones he had worn.

The young woman turned around quickly and covered her eyes with her hand, desperately holding back from looking at him.

After wearing the pants, Oliver flicked the jacket over his shoulder and jumped out of the armoured van.

Immediately, the smell of blood assaulted his nose.

Oliver, who was extremely sensitive to the smell of blood, felt his senses being overwhelmed by it.

He frowned and shook off the feeling before gazing up at the sky.

In the dimly lit sky, there were no more dense clouds of blood beetles.

Only a few stragglers could be seen flying in small clusters.

"They are leaving..." Oliver commented as he observed the direction of their flight.

The beetles were flying away from the city centre, back towards the city walls.

The shrill cry was their scream as they escaped with their life.

Occasionally, Oliver could see skylances and other military aircraft blitzing through the air.

"They don’t need me anymore," Oliver muttered.

As he was thinking, the young paramedic rushed out to stop Oliver; she never imagined Oliver would leave casually after lying in a coma for hours.

"Mr Oliver, wait a second. You can’t leave just yet. We have to make sure you are okay. And the Hero Union officials were here. They wanted an interview. They asked me to inform you of that. Everyone in the city is waiting to hear from the Golden fiend." She quickly said.

Oliver turned around, waved his hand at her and walked away.

Interview?

Hell no.

He couldn’t be bothered to give an interview.

’Where is the damned Root? He should have known the moment I woke up?’ Oliver thought and waited for a car to pull up beside him.