The two men on the other side of the mansion's gate had assault rifles aimed at him and seemed ready to shoot him down at a moment's notice.
Seeing this scene, his expression turned grim for a moment before indifference replaced it. Then, he calmly walked toward them.
Each step he took made the two men narrow their eyes, their fingers twitching on the trigger.
When he was just ten meters away, one of them shouted. "Stop right there. If you come any closer, we'll shoot you dead. This is the first and final warning."
Max looked the man in the eyes for a moment, his gaze darkening. Then, he turned his head around and swept his gaze across the street, noticing many figures previously hidden gradually reveal themselves.
From their body language, he could tell over half of them, almost 100 people, were hostile to the Governor's Mansion for reasons unknown. Moreover, none of them looked like they had been eating less.
After a moment's thought, he shifted his gaze back to the two beyond the gate and announced in a loud enough voice for everyone to hear.
"I have no intentions to cause anybody any trouble. I'm here just to take my mother away. I hope you won't refuse."
"Just get lost—" The man who gave him warning before snarled, but before he could finish his sentence, the other man stopped him and asked Max, "What's your name, Kid?"
"Maxwell Williams." Max stated.
"I see." The man muttered and then said, "Do you have any weapons on your person? If yes, take them out for us to see."
Max nodded and took out the kitchen knife tucked in his pants.
"Just this?"
"Yeah." Max nodded.
"Alright. Now, drop the knife and slowly come forward." The man instructed.
Clank!
His face expressionless, Max dropped the knife and walked forward. When he was a meter away, the man looked at his partner and nodded.
His partner clicked his tongue and said, "Raise your hands in the air and make no hasty movements, understood?"
Max nodded and raised his hands.
Clink!
The man unlocked the gate, "Now, come in."
Max stepped inside and the man shut the gate close before fixing his gaze across the street.
It was at this moment the first guy who had asked his name said, "Go to the administration building. Report your name to anyone you see there. They will take you to the Governor."
Max furrowed his brows.
Seeing this, the man narrowed his eyes at him, "What? Did you want to take your mother away without informing the man who has been taking care of her?"
"Taking care of her? What do you mean?" Max asked, feeling something wrong.
"What's with all these questions? Just go in. You are being distracting." The other man said impatiently.
Max didn't even bother to spare him a glance and just stared at the man, who frowned and said, "Governor will tell you whatever you want to know."
"I understand." Nodding, Max headed inside and soon spotted the administration building. When he entered it, he saw a middle-aged woman, probably in the early forties, sitting on the reception desk with a heavy frown on her forehead. 𝑓𝑟ℯ𝘦𝓌𝘦𝘣𝑛𝑜𝓋𝑒𝓁.𝑐ℴ𝓂
Tak! Tak!
"Hello, Ma'am." Max lightly rapped the tabletop and called out, bringing her out of her thoughts.
"Huh, who are you?" The woman asked before her eyes widened in horror and she shrank back in her chair.
"Don't worry, Ma'am. Those people are still outside, everything is still peaceful." Max said, knowing why she looked so afraid, "I'm not one of them. My name's Maxwell Williams. Those two at the gate said you'll take me to the Governor."
Upon hearing he wasn't an enemy, the woman relaxed and patted her chest as she heaved deep breaths.
Then suddenly, her eyes widened, "Wait! What did you say your name was? Williams?"
"Yes. I'm Maxwell Williams." Max nodded while feeling curious.
"You are little Max?" The woman stood up and looked him up and down excitedly, "You have grown to be such a fine young man."
"You know me?" Max finally couldn't help but ask.
The woman came out from behind the desk and gently took his hand, smiling, "Of course, I know. Miss Sarah used to talk about you all the time. She would praise you to the moon, making everyone think you were the sweetest child in the world. I even wanted to meet you, but—anyways, let me take you to the Governor."
'Hm?' Max's eyes flickered when he saw her suddenly change the subject and he hadn't missed the subtle shift in her expression.
He didn't want to make any wild guesses, but he was beginning to feel uneasy.
Soon, following the woman, he arrived in front of a room deep within the mansion.
"Can you wait for a bit? I'll quickly go and tell the Governor about your visit." The woman apologetically asked.
"Yeah, no worries, Ma'am." Max nodded.
"Don't call me Ma'am. It doesn't sound pleasant. Call me Aunt Vivian." Saying this, she stared at him, her expression saying, 'Come on, do it.'
Max smiled wryly and said, "Aunt Vivian."
"Good." Nodding in satisfaction, Vivian knocked on the door two times before entering.
Just a minute later, she returned and said, "Go in."
Max nodded and was about to enter when she grabbed his hand and worriedly said, "Max... you know, if the Governor is rude to you, please don't mind it and no that he doesn't blame you for even a bit."
Max's heart rate, which he had been keeping in check all this while, began to spike hearing this. But he didn't ask her anything because he could tell she wouldn't tell him anything.
Taking a breath, he entered the room and immediately saw a grey-haired, feeble old man, sitting on the sofa, looking at him with his murky eyes.
Max stared at him.
He had seen the Governor's photo before, but in that photo, he looked like a rugged middle-aged man, completely different to his current self.
Just then he heard him ask, his voice hoarse and weak, "Is that damned bastard... dead?"
"Hm?" Max stared at him in puzzlement. He knew he was talking about his father, John, but he didn't understand why he looked so angry or asked this question.
Then he realized he wasn't feeling angry even though the old man had just cursed his father.
Seeing Max's expression, rage flashed in the old man's murky eyes and then he broke out in a coughing fit.
Max hurriedly moved to his side, and patted his back. Once he calmed down, Max was about to give him some water from the table, but then he heard the old man let out an enraged and wounded roar.
"That bastard... He didn't even tell you about us. How dare he?!"
Max waited for him to calm down a little before he gave him some water and asked, "Sir Governor, I'm a bit lost here. Can you tell me what's going on?"
"Why would I tell you anything when that bastard father of yours didn't do it? Who do you think I am, your family's dog?" The old man raged.
Then, he raised his hand and...
Bang!
Bang!
Shaking in rage, he slammed the table hard.
"I should have never let Sarah marry that scum. Your accursed William family... it has never birthed a decent man. I should have stopped her even if she hated me for it."
While murmuring this, he looked at him, his eyes red and gleaming with tears. Seeing this, Max's heart fell.
But before he could ask him anything, the old man raised his head and began howling like a madman.
"I HATE YOU WILLIAMS."
"I HATE ALL OF YOU!"
"You Destroyed My Family!"
"I really hate... you... all."
While shouting, his voice weakened, his eyelids fluttered shut and his shoulder slackened. If Max hadn't held him in time, he would have fallen head first on the table.
...
After putting him on the bed and covering him with a blanket, Max stared at him for a few moments, his black eyes flickering in thought.
Then he walked out of the room and met Vivian who worriedly asked, "What happened? He didn't talk?"
Max smiled at her, "He did."
"Then why did you come out so soon?" Vivian pressed, suspicious.
"There wasn't much to talk about." Max said and before Vivian could say anything more, he added, "Is there an empty room? I want to rest for a while."
"What? You aren't leaving?" Vivian's eyes widened. Then, she said, "He didn't talk to you, did he?"
"He did, Aunt Vivian. Now can you—"
"Then why are you staying? Don't you know how dangerous it is to stay here? Those people can attack any time." Vivian interrupted him, looking very anxious.
Seeing how much she cared for him, Max felt warmth in his heart. Smiling lightly, he stepped toward her and embraced her.
"Everything will be alright, so calm down, alright?" He softly consoled while stroking her back.
Then suddenly, his eyes widened and cursed inwardly, 'Damn it!'
Now, to be completely honest, Max hadn't had any perverted thoughts ever since he left Martinez Villa. Even as he hugged Vivian, he deliberately ignored the soft sensation of her body in his embrace. Despite that, he was getting a hard-on.
Worse, however, was the fact that it was pressing against Vivian lower abdomen and from the slight tremble of her body, he knew she had already felt it.
No matter how thick his skin might be, at this moment, he felt embarrassed. Even so, he didn't break the hug because it might cause Vivian some embarrassment. So, instead, he slowly pulled his lower half back so he would no longer poke her.
He felt Vivian relax when he did so and the distraction helped in calming her down.
After a while, when Vivian patted his back, indicating she was alright now, he pulled away and smiled at her, "Now, can you please take me to a room?"
"Sure." Vivian nodded and led him away.
...
A short while later, he was sitting on bed in a room, staring at his status screen, his brows furrowed.
Vivian had just left the room. She had asked him whether he wanted something to eat or drink. Even though he told her he was alright and didn't need anything, she still brought him a glass of water and an apple, making him smile wryly.
[Name: Maxwell Williams]
[Level: 4 (0/50)]
[Physical: 13]
[Spiritual: 11]
[Harem: 2]
[Harem Points: 152]
[Abilities: Discerning Eyes Lv 3. (0/100)]
'Now, what should I do?' He thought.
Before coming here, his plan was simple. He would take his mother away. Given the state of the world, one less person was less consumption of resources, so the chances were that the Governor Mansion would let him bring her away.
But even if it did not, he could tell them about the impending attack and if they weren't completely incompetent, they would know how dire the situation was... so they wouldn't stop him.
However, if they still did not allow him, he would use force.
After seeing how the mansion guards were equipped with assault rifles, he had no choice but to temporarily drop the plan to use force. Though he didn't mind it much because the above two options were still open.
However... As they say, man proposes and God disposes.
The governor turned out to be his grandfather.
Since those people outside were targeting the Governor Mansion, they would definitely not let him take him away and his words 'You destroyed my family', though directed at his father and could mean several other things, he felt his father had somehow implicated them and those people were targeting the governor mansion because of that.
Now, even if this conjecture was wrong and his father wasn't responsible for it, it did not make much difference because what he had to do remained the same. He had to protect his family—his mother, grandfather, the kind aunt Vivian and their loved ones. In other words, he had to protect the entire governor mansion.
But the problem was, since they, according to Harman, managed to destroy the mansion despite the mansion's people having assault rifles, they most likely also had firearms.
This meant he couldn't face them head-on. Though even if they did not have any, facing them head on would still be foolish because he wasn't much stronger than an MMA fighter, who could be dealt with by a group of few people.
But the enemy group didn't have merely a few people, they had almost a hundred, meaning the moment he clashed with them, he would end up dead.
Of course, this was the case if he went as he was now. Any other person would have to accept their fate and find the ways to escape, but he was different—he had the system and 152 Harem Points to spend.
If he used them wisely, he could resolve this problem without facing much danger, if any at all.
Currently, leveling up wasn't a good option because each of his stats would only increase by 2 and just the first level up would take 50 points.
However, if he were to increase his stats directly, given the HP needed didn't increase, he could increase his stats by 30 points in total. If he wanted, he could divide these 30 between the [Physical] and [Spiritual], or he could just put them all in [Physical] which would make more sense.
However, he didn't rush to do it. Instead, he opened the system shop, took a breath, wrote in the keyword 'something that can conceal my presence' and hit enter.
[Harem Points: 152→151]
One HP was deducted and a screen popped up in front of him.
[Choose one of the items to add to the system shop!]
Max glanced at it and saw there were quite many items, costing from 10 HP to 150.
He looked at the cheapest first and immediately, his eyes shone.
[Breath Concealing Talisman, Low Grade (1 Piece/10 HP): Can conceal presence of beings up to level 5 from being up to level 5. Duration: 10 Minutes]
With a thought, he added it to the system shop, but didn't buy any. Then, he used 100 HP and increased his [Physical] by 20 Stat Points.
[Harem Points: 151→51]
As soon as the HPs were deducted, a stabbing pain along with a burning sensation spread throughout his body.
Ha! Huff! Huff!
After a while, when the pain and burning sensation disappeared, he was left gasping for breath, his muscles felt a bit sore and his skin was a few shades redder.
Clearly, increasing the stats by so many points in one go was taxing for his body despite the recovery system provided at the end.
Thankfully, this amount of discomfort didn't compromise his ability to move around. Which meant...
A cold gleam flashed in his eyes. "It's time for slaughter."