Strongest Nova: Path of Vengeance

Chapter 220: Benjamin Scooper

Benjamin Cooper woke up the next day after a terrible nightmare where he relived the day he found out his daughter had died.

He saw her charred corpse in pieces again. It had been a nightmare that frequently haunted him for the past few years. He took a sip of the water next to his desk and massaged his face to wake up more.

He looked around with fuzzy eyes. He reached for his glasses to the side, but couldn’t find it at all. He moved his hand around, trying to find anything.

"Taylor!" he shouted to his ward. He waited for the young man to come in, but he heard no sound.

"Taylor! I can’t find my damn glasses. Come search it for me," the old man said touching around his nightstand. "Dammit! I really should get the visions surgery as they say."

He waited for a while, but he heard nothing again.

"Taylo—"

Two hands placed the glasses on his face and the old man quickly pushed it in. "At least let me know if you’re already in he—" his words paused again when he saw the person that was sitting right next to him.

He moved away a little seeing the unfamiliar person in a black hooded jacket.

"Who are you? Where is Taylor?" the man asked.

"I don’t think you should be worrying about someone else in this situation now, should you?" Nova spoke, slowly raising her hood to show her face. "As for who I am, I’m sure you remember you."

"You... " the man’s eyes narrowed. "Are you... Nova?"

"So you do remember me," Nova said. "It has been a while, Senator. How have you been doing? My condolences for your daughter’s death."

"I..." The man couldn’t believe that he was looking at Nova at all. "What are you doing here? And what did you do to Taylor?"

"Same thing I will do to you if you don’t stay still," Nova said, 3 sharp metal wires moving around her, targeting the man.

The man looked at the wires with his glasses and could see them clearly. "You... you seem stronger," he said, with a few breaths. "Did you get the upgrade or what?"

"I got the upgrade," Nova said.

"Not surprised," the old man said. "Although, I am surprised to see you here. I’m not sure if what I heard was wrong, but I remember hearing that you had left the wings of the Azure Clan."

"I did," Nova said nonchalantly.

"Was it after or before you got your new upgrade," the Senator asked.

"After," Nova said. "My powers got easier to use, so I could run away."

"I’m sure your parents and your brother are missing yo—"

"Do not speak of my parents," Nova’s voice grew cold as the metal threads landed on her old man’s neck, ready to pierce.

The old man groaned a little in pain from the sharp metals and leaned back a little. "Alright, alright, I won’t speak of them," he said, but Nova kept the wires there.

The man felt fear for the first time. "Are you... are you here to kill me?" he asked. "Are you working for some other senator? Did that bastard Jackson send you here to get assassinated?"

"Who the hell is Jackson?" Nova asked. "Another senator, never mind. I am not here to assassinate you. Although, I would like to ask you the same question."

"What?" the man asked.

"Were you contacted by the Azure clan?" she asked. "Did they ask you to kill me for them?"

"Huh?" the old man was even more puzzled now. He couldn’t tell what was happening at all. "I do not know what is going on here. Please, explain to me what is going on here."

"You do not?" Nova’s eyes narrowed. "Then, was it really just the watch?"

"The watch?" the man asked.

Nova showed the watch to the Senator. "This one, your daughters," she said.

The senator’s eyes widened in shock. "You... why do you have that watch?" he asked. His eyes slightly glowed with fury. "Did you... did you kill my daughter?"

"Kill your daughter?" Nova chuckled a little. "I have no need to kill little miss princess Tiara. I’m sure you know who killed her. Or at least, you know it was your enemies"

The old man stayed quiet.

"You also know that I only left the clan a few months ago. I would’ve had no time to kill your daughter even if I wanted to," Nova said.

The man thought for a bit and that made sense. He nodded a little. With a calmer mind, he could see the flaws in his logic. The girl in front of her couldn’t have killed his daughter at all.

"So you really just sent the assassin on us for this watch, huh?" Nova asked.

"I did," the man said. "Were... were you hurt?"

Nova chuckled a little. "You are worried about that now?" she asked.

"If... if the clan finds out that I hurt their little princess, I will be dead," the senator said.

Nova looked into the man’s eyes a little. "So you truly were not contacted by the clan?"

"No," the senator said. "I’ve left the clan for a few years already. They want me back and contact me for that, but that’s the extent of it. They actually haven’t contacted me for months now. I have grown accustomed to that peace."

"Hmm," Nova said. "I see, so it was all really just a coincidence then."

"Yes, it was," the man said.

"Well," Nova said. "I guess we can let it all go that way then."

The man sighed in relief. He did not want to die here in a conflict with this little girl. If he was attacked, he could die. If he attacked and she died somehow, he would still die when the clan eventually found out.

The only thing he could do right now was to let the problem between them settle naturally.

"Except," Nova continued, as if to pour waters into his thoughts. "You called the Black Lake on us, didn’t you? You called the most elite group of assassins to find the ones that had your daughter’s watch."

"No!" the man shouted loudly. "I did it to kill the ones I thought had killed my daughters. I saw the transaction show up in her account and I was sure that it was her killer. You have it was a wild set of coincidences."

"Coincidence it might be, it was still the Black Lake. It was a relief that the ones that attacked were weak. Had they been strong, I would’ve been dead right now," she said.

Weak? Black Lake Assassins? The old man did not believe that at all. The Black Lake assassins were trained to kill even the most heinous fighters in the world. They have even boasted of killing Novas before.

Were they really thwarted by this little girl? How strong had she grown past her power’s upgrade?

"Anyway, you called the Black Lake assassins on us and that is a debt you will have to pay one way or another."

The man gulped. "Do you want to kill me?" he asked.

"Yes," Nova said. "But I’m not going to. I would rather use you for myself."

The man frowned a bit. "What do you want to use me for?"

"How many gangs are under you in the Low right now?" Nova asked.

"I have no gangs—"

"I know how this works, so let’s skip to the part where you tell me the truth, okay? While I would enjoy torturing the answers out of you, you’re so frail that you would probably die if I stuck my metals into you."

The man gulped. "4," he answered. "And half a dozen smaller ones. I don’t really know much about them. My ward, Taylor manages them for me."

"I see," Nova said. "I want them for myself."

"What?" the old man asked in surprise. "You want all of my gangs?"

"They all follow you, correct?" she asked. "I want them to follow me now."

"I can’t," the man said. "I can’t just hand over my gangs to you. You can take 1 at most."

Nova smiled a little. "Do you know why I left the clan?" she asked. "Do you know why I ran away?"

The old man was curious. He gulped a little and asked, "Why?"

Nova got close to him and whispered the answer into his ears. She moved away to look at the shock in the old man’s eyes.

"Impossible," he said.

"I’ll make it possible," she said.

"You’ll die," he said.

"It will be a death that matters," she answered.

The man couldn’t believe his ears. "You’re a maniac," he said.

"Damn right I am," she said. "So, what will it be? Will you give me all the gangs or not?"

"What will you do if I give them to you?" the man asked.

"If you give them to me, I won’t have to kill my way through to make them all mine," Nova said. "If I do get them this easily, I can just go on to finishing part of my plan in this city."

"What... what plan?" the old man asked.

"I’m going to be the lord of the underworld here," she said. "There won’t be a gang here that doesn’t fear me. I will rise to the status of those I left behind and I’ll show them what I can do on my own."

"Now choose," she asked. "You can either refuse and watch me as I bathe your gangs in red, or you can accept my offer and watch me as I clear out your enemies."

"What will be your choice?"