Doomsday Pillars

Alex quickly made his way through the corridor of the Bali headquarters as he headed towards the meeting room where the representatives from Singapore and China were. When he was about to open the door, a group of people beat him to it as they came out of the room. Leading the group there was a young girl, Zhao Wei, the granddaughter of Earth\'s strongest spirit enhancer Zhao Fan.

Seeing the group that seemed to be leaving, Alex asked, "Miss Zhao Wei, are you guys leaving already? How about the meeting?" He then continued with an apologetic tone in his voice. \'I\'m sorry I had kept you waiting. Today has been a very busy day for me. Let\'s head in now." 

The usually cheerful 20-years-old girl now looked gloomy. After hesitating for a while, Zhao Wei opened her mouth.

"I\'m sorry, Big Brother. For some reason, we are not joining the meeting."

.

Upon hearing that, Alex was stunned. "You are not joining the meeting?"

"...Yeah." said Zhao Wei in a small voice.

With an incredulous expression, Alex asked, "Why?"

Zhao Wei was fidgeting as she answered. "Uhm… I\'m sorry, Big Brother. I can\'t really say the reason."

Seeing the troubled expression on the young girl\'s face, Alex decided not to inquire any further.

"Alright, I will not pressure you into answering. Then, let me check what is happening inside."

However, Zhao Wei suddenly blocked Alex\'s path, when he stretched out his hand to grab the door handle. 

"Big Brother Alex… Before you enter, I…"

A look of apparent hesitation appeared on Zhao Wei\'s face. The young girl seemed hesitant to say something.

Seeing that, Alex immediately tried to calm her, "Zhao Wei, please tell me what you want to say. You can tell me anything, if you think it might be helpful."

Zhao Wei lifted her head, worry flashed through her eyes. "Big Brother, I heard that you are good friends with Big Sister Christina. So...can you please help her?"

Alex asked calmly, "What happened? Tell me."

Remembering Christina\'s attitude lately, Alex was greatly worried for her. The usually friendly and easygoing Christina seemed to have vanished, replaced by a new cold and indifferent Christina. Therefore, Alex was eager to know what had happened.

Resolving her thoughts, Zhao Wei asked, "Have... Have you heard the news about the situation in Singapore?"

"Yeah, of course. But I only know about the general situation." replied Alex.

From the reports he had received and read, it seemed in the last month there had been a coup by the Singaporean generals to overthrow their president, President LeSimo. However, it appeared their plan was thwarted before it could come into fruition. One of the rebellious generals, along with hundreds of troops, managed to escape to Malaysia. Meanwhile, the rest of the rebels were arrested and thrown into the prison.

The last intel he got regarding the issue was that the escaped general seemed to have received support from the Malaysian government to fight against Singapore.

However, Alex was puzzled about what this had to do with Chirstina\'s changing attitudes and emotions.

"Here\'s the thing, Big Brother. What happened in Singapore really affected her. However, her mind was devastated due to something else," explained Zhao Wei.

The words that Zhao Wei said brought an explosion into Alex\'s mind. He quickly asked, "Devastated? What made her like that?"

"S-Someone\'s death. A boy to be more precise." 

!!!

"Caleb died?" asked Alex in disbelief.

Alex knew that, ever since the death of her daughter Cally, Christina considered her son Caleb to be the most important thing in her life. He grew even more convinced about this when Christina asked a personal favor from him to personally pay attention to Caleb.

Alex had dispatched an overseer and informant who were monitoring Christina\'s son in Singapore. And it seemed that in the latest information Caleb was still doing well.

Zhao Wei quickly waved her hands in denial, when she heard Alex\'s words. "No, no, no, Big Brother. It was another boy she picked up from Hong Kong. I think his name was Ma Sing, an orphan Big Sister Christina rescued in Hong Kong. And ever since then, Christina had cared for him as if he was her own son."

"But… he died in a crossfire during the incident last month." continued Zhao Wei. "And since then, she\'s been like that..."

Alex frowned when he heard Zhao Wei\'s explanation. He knew Christina was a woman with very deep feelings. Hidden behind her friendly visage, there was a woman who was hurt because she lost someone she loved, starting from her daughter Cally, and now that boy named Ma Sing. Thinking about the situation, Alex realized that Christina was surely in a very delicate situation now.

"I see... I understand, Zhao Wei. Thanks for telling me this" Alex said with a smile. However, it appeared that Zhao Wei still wasn\'t done.

"There\'s more, Big Brother. Even though her son Caleb was fine under her uncle\'s care, apparently the man has been keeping Caleb away from her. And after what happened with Ma Sing, this has been a very sensitive issue for her."

Hearing all that, Alex had come to understand Christina\'s current situation a little more. And of course, as a close friend of hers, Alex planned to give Christina his complete support over this matter.

Zhao Wei then took out a letter from her storage ring and gave it to Alex. Alex received the letter with a confused look on his face.

"Big Brother, it\'s from my grandma. As you already know, she is a seer who can see what we cannot see," said Zhao Wei with a smile. She then continued, "And for some unknown reason, my grandma specifically said that I and my fellow countrymen are not allowed and should not interfere with what has happened in Singapore."

"However, I hope you will do it, Big Brother. For our stead and for Big Sister Christina," she said while flashing a smile. "Will you do it, Big Brother?"

With a faint smile hanging on his face, Alex answered, "Of course."

Hearing that, Zhao Wei bowed to Alex. She then brought the other China representatives away, while Alex waved her a goodbye. Pocketing the letter he received, Alex was about to enter the meeting room when he heard a loud sound.

Crash!

A loud sound of glass breaking could be heard from inside the meeting room. Alex then immediately rushed into the room only to find a furious red-haired female fighter with glass pieces near her feet.

Christina, who was seated across from her uncle, said to the woman, "You should go out, Maxine. You only make things harder here."

The woman\'s expression changed. "I\'m sorry, sister. But that man is outrageous!"

"Just go."

Maxine then walked out of the room in exasperation. She just glanced and passed Alex who stood at the middle of the door. At this moment, Alex could see there were two people standing behind Christina. The woman with long hair named Corrie and the man who had a tattoo on his shoulder named Nam.

When Alex entered the room, the situation inside felt extremely tense. However, Prime Minister Sidao kept his smile and welcomed Alex as if nothing had happened.

\'Ah! Mister Alex, I see that you are here. Come in and join us in our discussion," said Sidao. He then added, "Please help me convince my nephew to come to her senses."

Alex ignored the latter part of the man\'s words as he calmly entered and took a seat among them.

"What can I help you with, Mr Prime Minister?" asked Alex calmly.

"There\'s indeed something you can help, Mr Alex. You see…I\'m sure that you already know about the current political situation in Singapore." Alex nodded in recognition.

"Because of the coup, we lost many of our fighters and due to that, I\'m worried that the good citizens of Singapore won\'t survive the next tribulation."

Prime Minister Sidao then stood up and pointed his finger at Christina, who eyed the man calmly as if this had nothing to do with her.

"Despite our extremely dire situation, this stubborn niece of mine instead chose to keep herself busy with the Chinese."

BAM! 

Christina slammed the table while glaring at the Prime Minister coldly. "Uncle, stop it."

"Cut to the chase and don\'t dramatize anything. What exactly do you want from me this time?" asked Christina with a tone laced with extreme coldness.

Hearing that, Sidao smiled evilly. "It\'s simple. I need you to protect Singapore from the tribulation. It should be easy with your strength, right?" and.. yes! Please destroy our Abyss Hole as well while you are at it. Simple, right?"

Christina was silent for a moment before she said, "I will help you, uncle. But, please let my mother and my son Caleb go."

Sidao feigned a surprised expression when he heard that. "Huh?! What do you mean with \'let go\'? They are my family too! They are currently living happily in my place, so you don\'t need to worry about them." said Sidao while waving his hand. He then added, "Oh!? And also your famous bodyguard, the girl with a scar on her face. She\'s fine too!"

Upon hearing that, Christina and Corrie were shocked. The woman in question was Jennie, the oldest member of the firebirds and Christina\'s best friend.

Clenching her fists, Christina asked, "What did you do to her?"

"The girl? Nothing. I just confined her for trying to sneak into the prime minister house like that. But overall, she\'s fine."

Alex could tell from this conversation the prime minister was using Christina\'s son and mother as hostages to control her. It seemed a lot of things were going on behind the developing politics in Singapore.

Sidao then threw his gaze at Alex and said with a smile, "Oh, yeah, Mr Alex. I heard that the two of you are a pretty good friend. Therefore, if you can send us your best fighters to help, I\'m sure things will be much easier for us."

The man then bowed his head before he left the room. Christina, who had been silent, turned around and looked at her two companions.

"Corrie, Nam. Please leave us alone. I need to talk to Mr Alex here."