Chapter 379: Aquarium

"It's... just a giant dumpster."

"It's actually quite different on the inside."

"..."

Riley's breaths of disappointment continued to whisper in the air as he looked at Angela. He stared at her abyssal eyes, before looking back at his hand that was touching that colossal metal box.

And with a sigh, he waved his hand- instantly ripping away the wall that stood more than 500 meters and flinging it away towards the Atlantic ocean... probably.

And now, the inside of the House of Super has revealed itself. It was as Angela said, it was quite different from the inside — it seemed closer to a grandiose mall, with several visible plazas inside littered with people. And this was only on the lowermost floor.

And perhaps the most noticeable and prevalent of all were the red banners scattered everywhere... as well as portraits of Riley and another person.

A man with a small petite patch of a goatee, clearly trimmed in perfection right to the millimeter. The man in the portrait was also wearing a red uniform resembling that of the British royal guards, adorned with a black cape, however.

"...Can you find him?" Riley then said as he glanced at Angela.

Angela, however, just shook her head,

"There's no need, she said, "He's coming towards us."

Riley then looked back towards the colossal base, only to see a man moving closer to them; each of his steps, causing the other people around him to bow.

"We finally meet," the man then stopped short of stepping out of the base; his voice, resonating through the air and causing the ground to tremble. His words, almost echoing throughout the entirety of Toronto.

"..." Riley's eyes slightly twitched from the noise; before slightly shaking his head and covering his ears with a set of earplugs he got from his pocket.

"Welcome to the House of Super, Riley Ross."

And similar to the portraits scattered everywhere inside the colossal base, the man's hair was neatly combed in a single direction; his goatee, also cleanly lined in a single stroke. His red suit and black cape, even more colorful than the ones in the portraits.

"It was such wonderful news when I heard of your revival," the man stepped forward, "I am truly overjoyed that— Hm?"

The man was about to step out of the base but found that even though Riley basically ripped an entire side of the base, he replaced it with another wall that they couldn't see.

"..." The man did not seem to mind, however, as a smile even formed on his face as he stepped back.

"I am truly overjoyed with your return," he just continued addressing Riley on his own, "You might have heard of me. I...

...am the one they call Caesar."

Caesar then bowed, "And if it wasn't obvious already, I am a very big fan of yours."

"Hm," Riley only let out a small breath as he once again looked at the portraits of himself scattered on the walls of the House of Super alongside Caesar's.

"Do you like them?" Caesar smiled as a high-pitched breath escaped from his lips, "I...

...painted them myself."

Caesar's voice once again reverberated—No. His giggles thundered in the air, causing the entire House of Super to tremble; the people inside, kneeling as they cover their ears.

"..." Angela, who has been listening to Caesar spout his words, could not help but squint his eyes as she saw the pebbles beneath her start trembling,

"Hypersonic voice," she then whispered.

"Oh?" Caesar seemed to have heard her words as he suddenly looked at her, "I didn't expect a puppet of a human to be so perceptive."

"Y—" Angela wanted to say something, but before she could do so, people started emerging and showing themselves on each floor; everyone, looking at Riley as soon as they stood on the edge of their floors. Their number, clearly more than ten thousand.

"..." Angela was slightly shocked at the number of people. But then again, concerts held in football stadiums can house a hundred thousand people — but these are all supers. And last she checked, there should be at least more than a hundred thousand of them as well.

And soon, their whispers and murmurs filled the air. Their words, all diverging into a single word — a name, Riley.

"Silence," Caesar raised his hand; his voice quiet but still reaching everyone's ears,

"Only Riley and I are allowed to speak."

And as Caesar's words continued to echo, everyone else just bowed their heads. As for Caesar, he just took in a deep breath as he once again looked Riley straight in the eyes,

"Do you see this, Riley? Absolute obedience."

"..."

"You can be a part of this--No. You can be on top of this," Caesar stretched his hand towards Riley, swinging his majestic black cape as he did so, "You can rule alongside me. Together...

...we can be the king and queen of this world."

"..." Riley, however, just remained quiet... before also stretching his arm to the side a few moments later.

And as soon as he did so, the walls inside the House of Super all crumpled into a ball, leaving only the pillars and exposing all the rooms and interiors of the base to the outside world.

Their private rooms; even their bathrooms, now exposed for the world to see.

"What... are you doing?" Caesar slightly gasped as he looked around, "The... the paintings I made of you..."

"..." Riley just looked at Caesar, then towards the thousands of people at the edge of the building, before letting out a long and deep sigh... and walking away.

"Where... where are you going!?" Caesar screamed, causing the entire House of Super to tremble— this time, however, the vibrations of his screams no longer affected anything outside their base.

Caesar tried to step out of the building again, but the invisible wall was still there. He could really only watch as Riley continued to walk away from him.

"..." In truth, Angela had the same question as she followed Riley,

"Where... are we going? I thought we were going to end this once and for all?"

"We already did," Riley only shrugged, not even glancing at Angela as he continued to walk away from the headquarters of the House of Super.

"...What?"

And as the two of them reached a certain distance, Riley raised his hand; erecting two chairs from the ground as he did so.

"They're already dead," Riley sat on the chair as he looked at the base of the House of Super,

"You should also take a seat, this will take a while."

"..." Angela used her abilities to see if the organs of the people were destroyed by Riley again, only to see all of them very much alive,

"What... do you mean?"

"What happens when you don't fish inside an aquarium?"

"...Huh?" Angela stared at Riley for a few seconds in complete confusion... before finally grasping what he meant.

She then looked back at the metal box that is the base of the House of Super...

...only to realize what it looked like now without one of its main walls.

It was an aquarium — an aquarium for humans.

"...No."

"Yes," a smile quickly formed on Riley's face, "They will be there for weeks, maybe even years if they started giving birth and eating themselves."

"Don't... don't do this," Angela muttered instinctively.

"Run, hide — it doesn't matter," Riley then whispered as he looked directly at his phone's camera,

"Death will come for the House of Super. Beautiful...

...Isn't it?"