The pet master

The day after, Max stood in front of a press conference.

After hiding the treasures, he decided to keep,

Max went back to the ruins, published a few videos, made a few phone calls, finalized the entire ordeal, and claimed the discovery to himself.

Countless people express disbelief.

a civilization that was never heard of before, yet somehow, multiple other ancient civilizations seem to know about its existence.

Some Professionals in the field directly accused Max of lying; their thought process is simple: all of this is fake. simple propaganda to Garner Fame.

However, such voices were the minority, mostly from people who hate Max on a personal level.

because of Max's reputation, multiple professionals in the field are on their way to the location.

Max stood in front of the journalists, giving a lengthy speech about how apologetic he was for endangering the species that inhabit this environment.

But, ladies and gentlemen, we stand in front of a discovery far greater than what you might have imagined.

At this moment, Max stopped talking to intensify the anticipation.

I suspect that this specific civilization is most probably a technologically advanced one, at the same level as modern times, or maybe even higher in some aspects.

The crowd went wild after his words.

Mister Max, why do you believe so?

Mister max...?

Sir, how do you explain..?

Max ignored their questions, held a big steel hammer, and walked to the stone walls.

The police didn't stop him.

The crowd got confused for a moment; they forgot to ask more questions; however, their eyes widened in disbelief as they watched Max lift the hammer to hit the wall.

Did he go mad?

someone stop him.

is he crazy?...

Ding the hammer hit. Ding. ding. ding. ding ding.. And kept going.

Silence. Only the sound of hammering kept ringing like a bell.

Everyone looked at the intact stone wall, stunned.

....

A few hours later, the news went viral, and countless experts from different professions converged.

.

The government made the location a restricted zone; only professionals may get access, under supervision, of course.

Max expected this, but he didn't care much.

Looking at the sunset, he smiled.

His name is already immortalized, the biggest discovery in the century, with a slight chance of it being the biggest of all time.

I am done; I guess I'll announce my retirement tomorrow.

Either Money or fame, he got plenty.

Now it's time to enjoy life to the fullest.

....

In the next period, Max received multiple complaints about his retirement and a bunch of invitations to help decipher the new language found inside, but he ignored all of that.

He was passionate about his job, but now that he has already achieved the very peak in it, that passion has died down, and all that remains from it is his collection hobby.

.....

5 years passed.

With a lot of free time and a lot more money, Max experienced everything there is to enjoy life.

Today a big party was being held at James' place.

Max had a wide smile on his face, walking, greeting friends here and there while enjoying the loud music.

He never knew why James loved to host parties; he is already 52, maybe 54.

Most likely, it's a cover-up for some shady business he didn't know about.

Although he didn't care, the party was fun, and that's it. For him, compared to High Society life. He preferred this lifestyle, staying among gangsters.

Back when he was still in high school and his parents had just died, Max was in a tight spot.

he tried to keep strong, but it was hard, the depression from losing the two people he loved most, the lack of money to keep his studies, the annoying and greedy family members, his parents only left him the house and they wanted it, the unsuppressible anger he had for the person who killed his parents, it was a car accident true but he had to pay one way or another.

Max didn't care whether that person was drunk and pulled some strings to walk out of it. Nor did he care if it was truly an accident; he had to pay, and that's it.

All of that pushed him to gang life; he got the money to go to college, kept his family house, and after a few years, took his revenge, taking the guy's life with his own hands.

Of course, it wasn't all flowers and sunshine, the complete opposite; his life was miserable, and he almost died multiple times.

But after so much time, it became a part of him, the life he entered out of desperation, the same life he wanted to escape from.

Now... Sigh

Max sighed; well, he isn't a real member now, not anymore, not for a long time; he is just a rich retired middle-aged man. ,

Oy, Max, get over here, called James while holding two hot babes, one in each arm.

Seriously, old man, aren't you a bit too energetic? Compared to you, I feel like a 60-year-old man.

Joked Max as he sat next to James.

Hhh. I am not that old max, don't make fun of me.

Max just smirked while joining the fun.

Sometime later...

Max suddenly felt irritated for no reason.

He subconsciously held his necklace, the same one he got 5 years ago.

He always felt that this thing was mysterious; from the moment he got it, he had been feeling much better physically overall; at the same time, he got this unreal-like feeling about different things, like an intuition of sorts.

Looking around at the bustling party.

I have a bad feeling about this.

Suddenly, seeming to confirm Max's intuition, one of James's henchmen rushed inside while taking quick breaths.

Boss problem, big problem.

Kid takes a deep breath, keeps yourself together, belated James with a frown on his face.

Boss, the cops. Cops, no.! it's a Special Forces squad.

James was stunned; dealing with the cops wasn't a problem for him; he would just cooperate with them, and after they looked around, they found nothing.

he would just make a few phone calls.

and surprise, he is back home.

at worst, he would go to see his friends in prison for a month or less.

But the special forces were a completely different matter; those guys don't move unless there are big problems with solid evidence.

James was sure that since they were coming, they must be sure they could keep him in prison.

He closed his eyes; he was already this old, and he didn't want to spend the rest of his life behind bars.

He didn't know whether he had made a mistake, left a lead somewhere, or someone snitched on him.

But it no longer mattered much; they wouldn't take him, at least not alive.

All along, Max just watched James's emotional changes without speaking, deep in thought.

James stood up; you go get the guns; everyone else gets ready for a fight.

James looked at Max next.

What about you max? What's your plan?

Max just smirked at him, I don't plan to go to jail anytime soon, not even for a day, so just give me a gun.

Max was a decisive person; if they caught him, he would go to prison, for one reason or another.

He wanted to enjoy the rest of his life, not spend it behind bars. Even if it's just one year, it's not something he can accept.

More importantly, he had a vague feeling that today's matters were because of him.

He thought of the coin necklace but then shook the idea out of his mind: it no longer matters why, or at least such a question should be left for when he survives this.

As long as they deal with this batch, they can escape.

Their current location is close to the sea. Big Mafia bosses like James always liked to keep close to the sea,

After all, if things go wrong, the ocean is either their second chance for life or a sure death. In both cases, it's more welcomed than prison. At least for people like James and Max.

James didn't question Max's decision; he already left to give orders while making phone calls.

The reason he was ready to fight hard is that he was almost sure they came prepared to give him a life sentence; the reason he was sure is that he did not know about this raid.

You have to know that with his status; he has multiple cops under his paycheck. He didn't get a single piece of news about today's matter; that in itself expresses how serious Things Are.

Max was handed an AK47.

He took cover behind the kitchen wall and calmed himself.

A SWT truck parked in front of the door, and fully armed Special Forces rushed out.

Boom. Ta. ta. Ta !

Boom !

Ta ta ta ta ta ta.! Boom !

A rain of bullets greeted them.

While aiming, shooting, and then taking cover, Max couldn't help but confirm his guess. The Special Forces didn't come for James; if they did, they would have brought more people; plus, they seemed to be surprised by the rain of bullets, completely unprepared.

Thankfully, the others didn't notice this minor detail; all of them were caught in the rush of the moment; even James, showing his yellow teeth, laughed aloud ha ha ha, you want to take me? Here are some bullets first.

GA.. ta. ta.. Ta. ta. ta. Boom !!

Soon the smoke subsided, and the bullet from Melody stopped.

Unprepared, outnumbered, and ambushed, the Special Forces had no chance.

Oy James, did we get them all? Yelled max.

I think so; get over here; we don't have time.

Max rushed over and asked directly, what's the plan?

James didn't hide anything from him; he trusted Max enough.

I have a boat, big enough for all of us, but we have to hurry.

Do we have some time, James? I have lots of cash and expensive antiques, enough for us to spend for the rest of our lifetime, and also a small boat, if needed.

James's eyes brightened, but he gave Max a weird look. Good guy, why are you so prepared? Am I the gang boss or not? Why are you better prepared than me?

But James didn't molle over it. Then what are you waiting for? Go get them. You got 10min, no, make it 7, run fast.

Max ran out of the house without a second word.

In front of his door, he grabbed the keys and!!! ...

Suddenly, he felt a chill, and his body froze; looking back, he saw a heavily injured special forces member aiming his gun at him.

Sh.. It. Cursed Max. That guy looked dead just now.

Before Max could react... Bam....! Headshot!.

Max couldn't see anymore, no think matter of fact.

The second the bullet hit his head, he seemed to see his necklace floating while emitting black light, at the same time hearing some weird language that he instinctively responded to.

One clear thought ran through his mind. Indeed, they came for you, my senses didn't trick me. You are a treasure, ha ha ha.