Raiden was strolling alone in the manor. Well, this manor was indeed massive, much larger than Tony mansion on the East Coast. Perhaps Raiden should hire some staff.
After all, it was impossible for him to manage such a large estate all by himself. He needed some security personnel to ensure the safety of the manor, as well as gardeners to take care of the plants and flowers.
Oh, and cleaning staff too. With such a vast estate and so many buildings, Raiden would need a whole team of people... OMG!
The moment Raiden thought about having so many people in his life, he suddenly felt very uncomfortable. He preferred living alone.
However, maybe he could ask Tony to install an intelligent butler system, something like JARVIS, to assist him.
That would be a great idea. An intelligent butler like JARVIS? Having such an assistant in life would be nothing short of perfect. Thinking this, Raiden mood lifted and a smile of boundless anticipation for a wonderful future spread across his face.
Still smiling, Raiden walked into the mansion located within the estate. This place was much larger than his apartment in Manhattan. It felt like a castle, a dreamlike castle.
There were three main buildings: one for living, a three-story structure covering nearly a thousand square meters; one for entertainment, equipped with various facilities and spanning nearly two thousand square meters; and another with mostly empty rooms, which Raiden could freely modify.
Here, Raiden could find everything he had ever fantasized about. It was a beautiful, comfortable, and dreamlike place—a place Raiden loved.
The doors of the mansion required access cards to open. In the bag Obadiah had given Raiden, there were five access cards.
Of course, one could also use fingerprint recognition to access the various facilities within the estate. But once Raiden had Tony help him set up an intelligent butler, things wouldn't be so troublesome.
Raiden walked through the long garden corridor, taking over ten minutes to reach the first building—the one for living. This would be the place Raiden could call home in the future.
As Raiden entered the mansion and passed through a corridor with a vintage, slightly Chinese-style decor, he arrived at the living room. To the right of the living room was an extended space with excellent natural lighting, offering a perfect view of the outdoor swimming pool.
Raiden walked over and sat down, lying on the soft sofa. As he gazed through the floor-to-ceiling windows at the swimming pool outside, he suddenly felt a sense of unfamiliarity and detachment.
Not only did he see the pool and the exquisite decorations around it, but he also noticed the cameras on the lights by the pool, which were in standby mode.
Raiden hated cameras. Perhaps he should also have someone redo the security system in the estate. Maybe he could ask Tony to handle it. Such minor issues should be a breeze for Tony.
Of course, replacing the camera wasn't because Raiden suspected Obadiah of tampering with it.
It was just that... when it came to his own things, he always felt more at ease using something he had set up himself.
However, Raiden was quite pleased with the champagne and cola Obadiah had prepared in the fridge. What could be more refreshing on a scorching summer day than an ice-cold cola?
Raiden happily picked up a bottle of cola, opened it, and started drinking.
But suddenly, a low, rumbling dragon shout echoed from behind him! At the same time, a bolt of lightning flashed across the sky.
What was this?
This was a dragon shout Raiden currently had no ability to unleash—Strun, the Call of the Storm. Though it was only the first stage of the shout and had manifested as just a single sound, the power it carried was unmistakable.
More importantly, that low rumble was so close... which left Raiden puzzled.
There was no one else around him, so who could have unleashed the dragon shout behind him? And such a high-level one at that.
At present, Raiden mastery of dragon shouts was limited to only three: Unrelenting Force, Whirlwind Sprint, and Frost Breath, along with a few minor techniques derived from these three.
As for powerful shouts like the Call of the Storm, Raiden current strength was far from sufficient to unleash them.
So, who could have released this mysterious dragon shout?
The smell lingering in the air seemed to give Raiden an answer... a foul stench.
Oh shit, could it be because I just farted?
No way! How could a fart unleash a dragon shout?
Where would I even get that much energy?
Just as Raiden was utterly baffled in the real world, in the depths of his mind, hidden in the darkness, a black, ferocious phantom grabbed a white phantom and slammed it heavily to the ground.
"Didn't I warn you? How dare you release your power! What are you trying to do? Do you want to make him as weak as you?" the black phantom roared in anger.
The white phantom curled up into a ball, trembling on the ground.
"He has forgotten! But we must not forget. Only when the time comes will this fool lost in his fantasies remember us, and only then will he need us. That's when our power can truly help us! Do you... do you want that kind of life too? Yes, that's the life you want, isn't it? You coward!"
The black phantom snarled, his face filled with hatred. Beneath that twisted expression, however, was a face that bore a faint resemblance to Raiden.
...
In the chaotic Middle East.
In a ruined, abandoned village surrounded by rubble, a group of armed terrorists had set up camp. The village was filled with their men, and it was stocked with all kinds of weapons and equipment.
In the darkness, on the distant horizon of the desert, several black SUV approached. The terrorist guards, after a brief inspection of the people in the vehicles, let them pass.
But what they didn't know was that in the desert, behind these vehicles, several fully armed teams were quietly closing in on the village from all directions.
The vehicles drove into the village, where a small outpost made up of tents and campfires stood at the center. A group of terrorists was waiting there, and standing in front of the central tent was none other than the leader of the Ten Rings—the bald man.
The bald man stood there, waiting calmly. The vehicles pulled up and stopped by the campfire, and the people inside got out.
One of them was Obadiah...
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