The Tycoon's Odyssey

Chapter 277: 277:Hidden Footage

The sun had barely crested the skyline when Raghav found himself entwined through the city streets, a familiar routine for a day's work.

It wasn't a glamorous job—delivering food to people too busy to cook or too lazy to step out—but it paid the bills. Today felt no different than any other day until he neared the bustling heart of the city, where something caught his eye. Explore new worlds at ???

The usual path he took was blocked. Barriers stood tall, with security lining the streets leading to the path leading to the Grand Blue Hotel.

Curious, Raghav pulled over to the side, removed his helmet and glanced toward the crowd gathered around the barricades.

"What's going on?" he asked the nearest person, a young guy with a camera slung over his shoulder.

"Movie shoot," came the reply. "Big one, apparently. I heard some action stars are here."

Raghav raised an eyebrow, his interest piqued. "I see."

He wondered what kind of action film warranted this level of security. The Grand Blue Hotel was extravagant like a backdrop of glittering luxury, its tall windows reflecting the morning sun.

His gaze lingered on the hotel standing fairway and a slight spark of curiosity flared up within him.

He wanted to hang around and wait to see what kind of movie shoot was going on and then maybe go and try his luck to get a glimpse of the action stars, maybe even have some pics and selfies.

But work called. He had deliveries to make, after all.

He unlocked his bike, the hum of the engine breaking the momentary silence, but just as he was about to kickstart it into gear, a deafening sound shattered the air behind him.

BOOM!

The ground beneath his feet trembled as an explosion erupted from the top floors of the Grand Blue Hotel. His body froze, instincts warring between fleeing and staying to figure out what had just happened.

"What the hell?" Raghav whipped his head around, eyes wide as he stared at the hotel.

A plume of dark smoke billowed out from the burst windows, with debris raining down in the distance.

Screams filled the air, chaotic and sharp, as people began to panic, rushing away from the building.

"What was that? Did you see that?" a woman's frantic voice cut through the chaos, her hand pointing skyward. "Something dropped from the sky!"

"What? Are you serious?" a man nearby responded, disbelief etched on his face.

"Of course! Something came straight from the sky and struck the building. I saw it!"

Raghav felt his heartbeat quicken as more people joined the frantic conversation.

"Was it a missile?" another voice asked, panicked.

A chilling silence fell over the crowd, and at that moment, Raghav realized the severity of the situation.

Everyone around him seemed to be thinking the same terrifying thought.

A missile, out in broad daylight.

Was it the start of some kind of big attack?

Terrifying feelings gripped his heart as a chill ran down Raghav's spine. A missile? Had an attack really happened? Was this a declaration of war or something else entirely? The tension in the air grew thicker, fear creeping into the eyes of everyone around him. Sirens began to wail in the distance as emergency vehicles sped toward the scene.

While others scrambled for cover, Raghav felt something stir inside him, an instinct he couldn't ignore. Instead of fear, he felt a strange thrill course through his veins. This is it, he thought.

He had a side gig, shooting videos of his delivery experiences, highlighting the struggles and quirks of his everyday life on Metube.

The chaos unfolding around him was the kind of content that could make his channel explode in popularity.

Raghav pulled out his smartphone, angling it toward the smoking building. The camera captured the panic, the smoke, the shattered windows high above. He narrated the scene, his voice trembling with excitement.

"Guys, you won't believe what just happened! There was an explosion at the Grand Blue Hotel, and people are saying something fell from the sky!" he said breathlessly, panning the camera over the chaotic scene. "Check out the smoke. The whole top floor is just…blown to bits!"

As he spoke, he squinted his eyes at the dark column of smoke that was rising into the sky. His eyes widened as something shot out from the thick cloud, speeding toward the heavens. His phone camera barely caught it.

"What was that?" he muttered to himself, lowering his phone momentarily. "Did anyone else see that?"

"Missile?" someone nearby gasped, but Raghav shook his head.

"No, no, that wasn't a missile," he whispered. 'Whatever it was, it moved too fast, too sleek for a simple missile.' His heart raced as his fingers itched to capture more footage.

But just as he prepared to follow the object, a voice boomed over the crowd, cutting through the noise.

"What are you doing?"

Raghav snapped his head around to see a few men in security uniforms charging toward him, one of them scowling.

"Hey, stop recording! This is a restricted area!" the man barked, closing in fast.

Raghav didn't wait for the consequences. He knew when to bail.

Pocketing his phone, he hopped onto his bike and revved the engine. The man shouted something behind him, but Raghav didn't stick around to hear the rest. He twisted the throttle and tore down the street, weaving between the scattered pedestrians as the chaos continued to unfold behind him.

He sped away with his heart hammering in his chest. Adrenaline fueled his movements as he glanced back at the smoking hotel, the strange object that had disappeared into the sky had been etched into his mind.

"What the hell was that?" he muttered again, this time with a mixture of awe and confusion. Whatever it was, it was far beyond anything he'd ever encountered.

"I need to upload it quickly. This is my only chance."

Making up his mind, he dived straight home, even leaving the delivery aside, and immediately started editing the footage.

"WHATTTT!" he gasped in bewilderment as he saw a sleek robotic-like thing emerging out after he zoomed and slowed down the video to get a clear view.

"This is it…People are gonna go fucking crazy over this."

He shouted, dreaming about his good future but little did he know this was gonna soon going to start the big undercurrents.