“Quickly get the madam’s car!”

“Kora! What are you dipshits doing? Get the car moving!”

“Less talking and more working!”

“Move your ass, ass wipe!”

The baby Lord saw a flurry of movement in front of him as he entered the underground parking lot. There were men in bald heads and black suits carrying machine guns, hurrying about as they got his car ready. He was bundled up in his mother’s arms who was hugging him closely to her chest. Angelo was escorting the both of them, his beady little eyes ever vigilant.

Seeing the three of them arrive the group of men paused what they were doing, and bowed towards them in unison.

“Greetings Mistress Veinmar, Greetings young master.”

Their loud voices reverberated through the parking lot. They bowed respectfully, their torso's bent to an almost ninety-degree angle. The baby Lord’s mother raised one gallant hand upwards to stop them.

“Get back to what you were doing. Get the car ready, quickly.”

“Yes Mistress.” The men spoke once again in unison. They quickly went back to securing the parking lot and getting the cars ready.

Angelo went forward and started ordering them. He wanted to leave this enclosed vulnerable position as soon as possible.

“Secure the entrance. Check the ventilation duct. Milo, Melo check the far end.”

The men jumped to attention and went to complete their tasks. They quickly checked the areas Angelo had pointed out, with their machine guns cocked and ready. They carefully checked under the cars and the various pillars in the parking lot, leaving no stone unturned. The baby Lord looked approvingly at the efficient way they completed their work. Furthermore, he liked the uniformed black suit and matching bald heads. They make for excellent minions. Looks like his luck was finally turning around! Other than the assassination attempts this family wasn’t so bad!

The baby Lord turned about and fidgeted in his excitement which his mother mistook as distress.

“It’s okay, sweetling! We will be going home soon.”

The baby Lord looked up at his new mom. She was smiling down at him lovingly. The baby Lord blinked his large eyes in confusion when she raised him up and gave him a kiss on his forehead. She then began rocking him to sleep. The baby lord averted his eyes, not knowing how to deal with this situation.

He was tired and overwhelmed. The last few hours had been crazy. He was born, and then he was targeted for assassination. While he did manage to take out his assassin, it was only now he was dealing with the fatigue of undergoing such a horrendous ordeal. After all that, he didn’t even get a pause to rest, and now he had to deal with being adopted into a whole new family. He needed some time to process all of this.

His mom was still gently rocking him back and forth. His mother was a portly woman, quite on the plump side. She was neither ugly or excessively pretty, but she had a refined and stately aura. Every gesture she made was elegant and graceful. It’s as if nothing would crack her placid demeanor, but the baby lord knew that was not true. He had seen the other side of his mother.

The baby Lord didn’t know what to make of the woman. At one minute she was sweet and kind but at the next moment she was yelling obscenities at someone. She had got into an argument with another pregnant lady. By the end of it she looked like she was ready to roll up her sleeves, and beat up the other lady like a thug.

The incident happened after the Snatcher was apprehended. All the pregnant ladies and their newborns were brought together and placed in a safe room, while the staff and security personal dealt with the situation.

The Police were called and they were on their way, but Mr. Steelburn and Angelo had other ideas. By the time they were done, Snatcher had double the amount of bones he came in the hospital with. Currently, he was laying tied up in the trunk of one of the family cars.

While the baby Lord was stuck in the safe room with his mom, all the ladies gathered together to talk. Things were going pretty well until they came to the subject on whose baby was cuter. One of the ladies had the audacity to say that the baby Lord had large ears.

His mom then spat at the woman with such venom and vitriol that the woman was surprised. She then continued to berate the woman’s entire family. She had already reached the 7th generation of her ancestors when the other ladies had pulled them apart. The baby lord had nodded in approval, it was nice being defended so vehemently. It felt good.

Unfortunately, it was Rosie that was finally voted in as the cutest. Even the baby Lord had to reluctantly agree, that Rosie was cuter than he was, seeing how she managed to completely charm all of the new mothers. He snorted, trying to convince himself that this little bit of loss didn’t matter in the grand scheme of things. The baby Lord remembered she had also rejected his offer to be his first minion. The demon Lord could sense she had a special power. He couldn’t tell what it was right now, but he could feel her power set was unique.

He tried to mend his bruised ego by thinking that he can definitely get back at her when he finally achieves world domination. He will hold a beauty pageant for all his minions and make sure her invitation gets lost in the mail!

'Ha! that will teach her!'

He was happily going about his daydream about his minion beauty pageant as he watched the bald men in suits go about their work. He saw himself in the judging panel looking at his imaginary minions. They were buff, they were bald and they were now doing cute baby poses! The baby lord shuddered, trying to erase what he saw from his mind.

That was dangerous! There is an old saying that one must be careful what they dream during the day, because they might come true. Shuddering, the baby Lord shook himself awake. He was still in his mother’s arms being rocked gently.

‘Who is going to be my first minion?’ He thought to himself sullenly.

The baby Lord absentmindedly reached for the ambient mana in the air to replenish his parched aura. He had used a considerable amount during his fight with the Snatcher. He reached for the mana in the air but he found none.

'How odd?" he thought to himself. He carefully scanned his surroundings. The men in suits were going about their security check. It looked like they were nearly finished.

The baby lord tasted the air around him. It seemed lifeless and sterile. The magic he felt naturally in the air in his previous life was absent.

"Interesting." He quietly mused.

The men in black suits had finally finished their preparation. Seven identical black SUV's arrived in front of the baby lord. Their powerful engines roared with life. The baby Lord noticed that the cars didn’t have any wheels and where stably hovering few inches above the ground. With their engines running, they looked sleek and deadly.

Angelo opened the car door for his mother and quickly ushered them in. Just as they were about to get in the car, the baby lord noticed something through the corner of his eye. A body was lying lifelessly in the shadows of the parking lot. The smell of copper and iron invaded his nostrils as the bloody corpse was dragged away by one of the men in suits.

“All clear.” The bald man said into his headset.

The baby Lord gulped. Another assassin? Looks like his new life won’t be filled with sunshine and rainbows! This family was crazy!

The baby Lord and his mother got into the car, and Angelo followed in after them. The inside of the car was wide and luxurious, with seats that looked like plush leather sofas. Two soft seats the size of benches where place facing each other. The entire passenger section was closed off from the driver’s section by a partition. On the partition was a tiny window which at this time remained closed off. Sitting on one of the seats was a smiling blonde girl in a maid's outfit.

“Mistress Ana” she greeted excitedly.

Mrs. Veinmar Seated himself on one seat while Angelo seat herself on the opposite one, beside the maid.

The baby lord looked at the maid. She was a cheery young lass with golden hair that was tied behind her head in a bun. She had a cute button nose and slightly pointed ears. Her sky-blue eyes twinkled brilliantly, matching the radiant smile on her face.

She cooed softly when she saw the baby in her madam’s arms.

“Young master!” She exclaimed delighted.

Angelo shot her an annoyed look. He looked across at Mistress Veinmar.

“Ma’am?”

She smiled and gave a small nod.

Angelo rapped the partition separating the passenger and driver compartment with two loud knocks. The small window in the partition slid open.

“Set a course.”

“Yes sir!” The driver replied. The partition slid shut as the engine purred to life. The seven cars engines revved up as they prepared to set off.

“We are in an awful rush! Assassins are here? Shouldn't we wait for the police?” The maid asked her questions in rapid fire. The words shot out of her mouth like bullets from a machine gun.

Angelo winced, hearing her loud and fast talking. He shot her another annoyed look.

"No, Millie." said Mrs. Veinmar with an enigmatic smile.

"Where one assassin appears, the others will soon follow. As for the police, they can have their questions answered at our home."

As though to punctuate her statement, muffled groans came from the trunk of the car where the Snatcher was tied up.

The maid Millie looked at the baby Lord with concern.

"I hope the young master wasn’t hurt! Does he need anything? Food? Water? Air?"

Angelo snorted at the young maid's ignorance.

"He will be fine. I gave him some milk. He is too tired now to drink anymore."

The baby lord clenched his jaws as he remembered his humiliation. Being treated like a baby and an invalid was getting really grating. When he saw that it was feeding time and he will soon be forced to drink milk, he deliberately put his soul to sleep. His adult consciousness went into sleep mode and only his baby brain controlled his body. This way he avoided any mental scarring.

The baby Lord sighed forlornly. It looks like he will be using this method a lot, considering the situation he was in.

Outside, the baby lord could here several doors being slammed shut as all the men in suits got into the other cars. The engines of the hovering cars roared to life as the randomized route taken to the Veinmar household was planned and prepped.

The seven SUV's adopted a staggered formation with the Veinmars in the center, as they drove off out of the parking lot. The baby Lord's car was kept in the most protected part of the formation.

The underground lot was connected to the surface through a tunnel. The tunnel was already cleared of traffic for the Veinmar's departure. The seven cars drove through the tunnel for about a minute till they finally got to the surface. Light was streaming in as they approached the entrance.

As they left the parking lot into the sunlight, the baby lord felt a sudden feeling of apprehension and excitement. He was finally out of that hospital and out into the real world. He was giddy with excitement. He wanted to know how much the world had changed since his absence. There was significant increase in the level of technology, so he was definitely in the future. The real question was how far into the future he had come.

There was sudden increase in gravity as the car lurched upward. The direction of the sunlight changed and it threw the lighting in the car into sharp contrast. The shadows in the SUV grew and shrank as the car changed its direction.

Angelo gave a sharp knock on the partition between the compartments in the car. The small window in the partition slid open, and the face of the co-pilot appeared before Angelo.

“Tell Mario to ease up on the assent. We got a kid on board.”

“You got it boss man.” He gave a thumbs up and slid the window shut.

The baby lord craned his head trying to take a look outside the window. He really wanted to know what was going on outside. He had been stuck in that stuffy hospital for way too long! It's time to check out the domain he would eventually rule!

“You want to look outside, munchkin?” His Mom asked lovingly.

She then raised him up to the window, giving him a better look at the scenery outside.

The baby Lord's eyes widened. They were flying!

The seven vehicles were surrounded by clouds, which spread about them in a dense sea of white. Slight turbulences could be felt as the cars skimmed across the clouds as they looked for place to safely exit. The white sea stretched on for quite a while until the cars came across a small section were the city scape could be seen below. The seven made a beeline for that section.

The seven cars tore through the cloud layer with ease and followed through a route with more clear visibility. The sights around the sky was clear now with only a few patchy sets of clouds following the vehicles. Streaks of jet streams were left behind as the cars zipped through the sky. He could make out through his blurry vision several avian creatures chasing each other up high in the sky. Down below was a sprawling metropolis. There were also other flying cars in the sky, but they gave the seven black SUV's a wide berth.

The seven monstrosities flew with the grace of an eagle cutting through the sky with predatory grace, leaving small jet trails around their edges.

The baby lord shook his tiny arms in excitement.

'There were flying cars! This was awesome!'

This was something that everyone on earth wanted to see. The baby Lord was also influenced by their aspirations and was thrilled to see their dream become reality. This was a man’s romance and he got to see it firsthand.

The baby lord entertained the possibility that he was on earth, but then he quickly dismissed it. Their planar rules did not allow mana and magic to exist. This was something different. He was still in his old plane he was quite sure if that. It was just that he had been transported far into the future. But how far? That was the question.

Mom brought him down from his raised perch and hugged him back into her bosom.

“He is quite an active little guy, isn’t he?” Millie said looking at the baby lord curiously.

“I’ve never seen a baby this young so active before!”

Mistress Ana raised her nose in the air with pride.

“That’s because he is my little baby boy, of course. He is the best!”

The baby lord looked up at his mom in new light, feeling sudden feeling of closeness.

The baby lord turned his head away from his mother and gave a cute little snort.

‘Well I suppose you are worthy to be my mom after all.’

The baby lord still had his head turned away. He learnt it the hard way that trusting humans wasn’t without its dangers. These humans were tricky, its best to stay on guard.

The baby lord once again reached out to try and replenish his parched mana supply to find the air devoid of any ambient mana.

He clicked his tongue. He thought ponderously while being rocked gently back and forth by his mom.

‘Why is there still no mana in the air? Were they staying in the middle of nowhere? Or were they living at the edge of a null zone?'

In any case it is best to portion his mana carefully from now on. It looked like his powers will be handicapped till he finds a better source of mana.

The baby lord grimaced. He really didn’t like being left vulnerable like this. There will probably be many more Snatchers coming after him, considering how insane his new family was. He had a good idea what his family did for a living but he was keeping his fingers crossed that he was wrong. Snatchers and assassins will be the least of his problems if what he was thinking came true. Thinking of the snatcher he realized something odd. The snatcher never used any basic protective measures. Not even a basic mana shield.

'Was the education in this place so lax? Not even the fundamentals where used!'

“Doesn’t he look cute?!”

he heard Millie's cherry voice.

“The young master looks like he is in deep thought!”

His mom just smiled contentedly as she continued to rock him to sleep.

The baby lord paused himself in mid thought when he realized something.

'Wait! Activating an aura shield in a zero ambient mana environment, isn’t exactly a good idea! Don’t tell me mana shortages are so severe? Is there no place to recharge?'

The baby Lord gave a quick scan around himself. His mom was still rocking him back and forth. Millie was fidgeting about the car, occasionally giving him a glance. Angelo kept his focus outside the car, keeping his eyes peeled for any dangers in the sky.

The baby lord gave out a quick mana pulse to check the inhabitants of the car. His mom and Millie remained oblivious, but Angelo's eyebrows gave a small twitch. His beady little eyes slowly scanned the room. The baby lord gave a gulp and pretended to go back to sleep.

‘Nothing to see here! Just an innocent baby here!’

After a few seconds, the baby lord cracked one eye open to look at Angelo. He had gone back to looking out of the window.

The baby lord frowned. This was getting curiouser and curiouser. Looks like no one practiced the arts anymore. They were all left completely defenseless. Maybe the mana shortages were more widespread than he thought.

The baby lord's eyes began to droop as he was gently rocked to sleep. He yawned. He will just have to solve this little mystery later. Just as he was about to sleep, he sent his mind into baby mode to conserve his mana.

He just needed some rest. He had enough excitement for one day. A long uninterrupted refreshing nap wouldn’t be too much to ask. Would it?