<h4>Chapter 409: House Arrest</h4>


    ’It’s going to be tough breaking inside,’ Ryder thought as he observed the strict security of the headquarters.


    The ce was nothing less than a fortress.


    Ryder wanted to call Ray directly and ask about the head and where his office was, but he couldn’t even do that. After he had disconnected the call with Rayst time, Ray had called him again, saying that he was going to delete Ryder’s number.


    He told Ryder to never call his number again unless he called from his side. It was to protect Ryder since Ray was sure that after he went back, there was a good chance that his phone was going to be taken.


    He was sure that someone had leaked the information since he believed Ryder’s words. That only left one possibility. The chief was the one who was working for the Dark Uprising members, using their team as a pawn to further their mission. He found it absurd to believe, but it was the only possibility.


    Thus, he removed all his connection with Ryder to make sure that the enemies didn’t reach them.


    Ryder also respected his wishes; thus, he didn’t call Ray. It was obvious that calling Ray was going to reveal his identity at this crucial moment, which he didn’t want, especially since it was evident that this information was going to go to the Dark Uprising guys.


    That not only ced him in danger but Alice as well. He needed to finish this mission and get four times stronger, even to have a chance of battling the Kings on a close to equal footing.


    Alice looked to her side but didn’t find Ryder there. With a confused look on her face, she looked back.


    She could see Ryder walking slowly.


    "Come on, turtle. Why did you slow down? The mall is there!" Alice told Ryder as she gestured for him to move faster.


    Ryder stopped watching the FBI Headquarters and shifted his focus back to Alice. "Sorry. I was just fascinated by the buildings here," Ryder answered jokingly.


    He increased his pace and caught up to Alice. He had already memorized the security details that he was able to see from outside anyway.


    Ryder and Alice went to the Jigglybuff Mall, which was thergest mall in the country. It was also a part of the Jigglybuff group ofpanies that owned malls with simr names all around the world. They were also one of the big names when it came to business.


    The two of them entered the Mall, which was said to consist of almost everything.


    It was a mall consisting of 27 floors with the bottom floor being mostly a ce for rxation.


    "It’s so big; it’ll take us hours to finish going through all the floors. Do you have anything specific in mind that you want to see?" Ryder asked Alice.


    "Nothing like that. I just wanted to see this ce, not because I wanted to buy anything. Let’s just roam around. There should be many ces we can enjoy," Alice answered as she dragged Ryder towards the lift.


    "It has been hours. Ray, why don’t you give up. Tell us the man who pranked you by giving you false information. He needs to face the consequences of toying with us. If he’s someone you know, we can go easy on him. All we ask for is his name so we can tell him never to do it again."


    Inside a room, Ray was sitting on a chair in front of a table.


    There were only three people in the room. One was Ray, another was the Director of the Bureau, and thest one was another Agent who had the same position as Ray in the agency.


    The Director of the FBI was called Mark Rubin. He was a middle-aged man who had short silver hair, brown eyes, and pale looking skin.


    The other person was called Sui, who was a dark-haired young man.


    Mark was the one who was asking the questions at the moment.


    "Ray, don’t be stubborn. You are one of us. We are a team. We all work for this country. Why are you trying to hide information from us?" Mark asked again. "I already promised you we wouldn’t harm your source. We would only tell him that it’s not good to lie."


    "I’m not hiding anything. It was an anonymous tip. It’s the anonymous tipster that had been leaving true information around my house for a while, and most of them turned out to be true. So when he gave this information, I believed that as well. It was my mistake. I should have been more careful," Ray answered, not seeming as if he was lying at all.


    "Do you really expect us to believe that? Ray, you have worked under me for years now. I know you more than you know yourself at this point. I’m not a kid you can fool with this excuse," Mark said, shaking his head.


    He was sure that Ray was lying. No Agent could be stupid enough to ce at much information on a tipster without actually knowing them and discussing with them. He was sure that Ray knew the person who gave this information, and he wanted the name of that person at any cost. Even he was under pressure.


    "Ray, I’m sorry, but I need to ask for your phone since you aren’t cooperating with us. For national security, we are taking your phone. Since you im that you don’t know the tipster and never talked to him, then you wouldn’t need to worry about anything, right?" Mark inquired as he squinted his eyes.


    "Of course, not at all. Here, you can go wild with my phone. I’m not lying, so I have nothing to fear," Ray said as he confidently handed over the phone up Mark.


    "Sigh, I’m sure you already took all the precautions to make sure that we don’t find anything from your phone, but as I said, you can be rest assured, we aren’t taking your phone thinking that we can find the tipster using it," Mark let out as he took over the phone.


    He and Sui left the room.


    After they stepped out, Mark gave the phone to Sui.


    "Sui, after we are done here, give this phone to forensics. I want you to get the contacts of Ray and all the details about the people he called recently. I’ll handle the rest from there."


    Mark’s n was simple. He wished to see the contacts of Ray to find the tipster but not only that, but he also wished to see who else Ray was in contact with to make sure he covered all bases.


    While schemes were going on in the FBI headquarters, Ryder and Alice were going around the Jigglybuff mall, seeing the various attractions that this ce had.


    There were water fountains on the floors. Small Trains that led people to different sections of the mall and even the staircase that had games on them.


    The staircase had some screen technology used, which tracked the motion of feet. It made the images of squishy slimes on the stairs that the people going up or down needed to step on.


    If a person broke the record of the lost slimes squished in the time the bottom stair took to reach the top, then the person was rewarded heavily.


    Ryder didn’t y the silly game, but Alice yed the game with full zeal. She stepped on all the smiles she could before they disappeared; however, she still failed to break the record.


    Seeing the depressed look on Alice’s face, Ryder gently rubbed her head. He softly said, "You can try again when we go to higher floors."


    "Right. I’m already enjoying being here," Alice said as she hugged Ryder’s hand.


    The two of them spent the rest of their day together, going on rides inside the ce, eating icecreams, fast food, and even shopping a little.


    It was only at night when the two of them left the ce.


    Ray was in a room that had a ss window looking outside. Even though he wasn’t arrested, he was kind of under house arrest. He wasn’t allowed to leave his room. There was only a single bed in his room.


    There was also a small camera ced on all four corners of the room.


    Ray walked towards the window and looked outside, bored.


    ’I don’t think they can find anything even if they trace my call details. They have no idea who they are dealing with. As for me, I can easily take care of myself. They can’t do anything to me without proof. At least, he can be safe, fighting against the Dark Uprising,’ Ray thought as he looked outside.


    Cough! Cough!


    He abruptly started coughing intently as he saw something he initially thought to be his imagination.


    He closed his eyes and rubbed them to make sure before he looked outside again, but he was still seeing the same.


    He could see Ryder walking with Alice on the streets.


    ’Why is he here?!’ he thought.