Several minutes later, after Liam had explained everything as best he could, the old lady still said nothing as she lifted her teacup to her lips for another sip. There were myriad emotions swirling in her eyes as she wordlessly surveyed the person in front of her.
Liam also did not rush her. What he had exposed them to was not something that could be disgusted easily. So he gave them a few minutes to think things over.
Finally, the elder opened her mouth after ten more minutes or so. "Let's say that I believe everything you are telling me. Now, what do you want from me?"
Liam smiled. This part was simple. There was only one thing he wanted from her. "I want you to join my guild."
"Hmm?" The old woman raised her brow in surprise. Coincidentally, there was a different reaction from her granddaughter. Ning Xi seemed to clutch her dress in excitement.
It looked like this girl was already interested in playing the game but perhaps did not do so because of the strict rules of the dojo.
"Let me be more clear." Liam reiterated. "I want you and your dojo members to join my guild. Our guild has the resources to quickly acclimate you to the game and also help provide you with certain resources for your growth and safety."
The old woman nodded. Now she understood Liam's purpose in coming to visit her, but there was no free lunch in this world, so the next question was obviously coming. "And what do you want from me?"
"In summary, nothing. I simply want you to join us and fight alongside us. When the world around us inevitably changes, there would be no law or no government."
"There could be terrifying dangers lurking in many corners that no one person or one group would be able to face." He paused.
"When that time comes, I want us to together fight for our survival."
The old woman's eyes silently widened as she listened to this. There was also nothing else Liam could say, so he stood up shortly after that.
"You don't have to give me an answer right away. Take your time. Though I do want to be honest with you, I came here today because our guild is facing a huge challenge before the end of the day."
"So if you want, you can join the game and play with our guild for the next week and then make a decision whether you want to stay with us or not. I am not going to compel you."
"But mark my words. It doesn't matter if you stand by us or not, but at the very least log into the game and play it. Otherwise, when the world changes, you might be left behind or worse."
Liam waited for a response, but the duo still remained silent. Unfortunately, this was all the time he had for them. There was really nothing more he could say to convince them if they weren't already convinced.
"This is my address and contact number. Please give me a call and leave a message when you have made the decision. I trust that you will not reveal the things which happened here to anyone else?"
The old woman nodded. Liam then bowed to her and began to leave.
Though there was still a chance that he might receive the call later, he knew that if he walked out of here today without getting any response from the old lady, the chances of them joining the guild were really slim.
There was nothing more he could do about it. Unlike Alex or Mia, this was not someone he wished to coerce into submission. He owed her at least that much.
Seeing Liam silently leave, Ning Xi began getting restless. "Grandma… stop him. Say something. I have heard about his guild, Crimson Abyss. He is really not lying to us. I think he is genuinely trying to help us."
"Hmmm? You think so?" The old lady muttered in deep thought, but even so, she watched Liam leave and did not say anything. She simply closed her eyes and laid back.
"I thought I had already seen everything there was to see in my life but is it still not time for me to pass on peacefully? What will the future bring?"
"Grandma…"
***
At the city's train station, Liam stood on the platform in deep thought, waiting for the next train to arrive. As the train station was on an elevated platform, he looked through the window to see the beautiful cityscape.
Unfortunately, everything was going to be ruined really soon. But he did not care too much about it. Maybe the world needed an awakening before it completely fell into the abyss of human greed and became a concrete jungle with no end in sight.
Rather what he cared about was…
"Did I forget anything else?" He looked around the cityscape, wondering if there was any other item or artifact that he should be plundering before things turned to shit.
If only he had more time on his hands, he could have summoned the strange rabbit out and used her like a treasure detector. Yup, that was really not a bad idea.
'Should I maybe give the rabbit to one of the guild's family members and ask them to go around different places?' Liam pondered but quickly decided against it as it would be too risky.
Most special items or artifacts would be in special places, and if the rabbit ran around to casually steal something, then they might get caught. It was just not worth the hassle.
Chucking away that idea, Liam silently hummed as he peaked forward to check if the train was coming when, all of a sudden, another voice shouted his name from the back.
"Hey! Hey! Wait! Don't go."
"Hmmm?" Liam smiled. He did not have to look back to see who it was. It seemed like his trip this time was not a total waste after all.
