After leaving the room with Celine and changing their clothes, the girl continued to smack her lips while relishing the feeling from earlier.
Both of them sat in a separate room in the little restaurant and were personally served cups of hot tea. They lifted the cups and drank from them slowly.
“The new batch of goods has almost arrived. Should I get the convoy to send it directly to your factory or should they be sent somewhere else?” Celine took a big gulp of her tea before placing the cup down slowly and asking her question.
“Sending it to the factory will be fine. I’m taking the blended solution there to solve the issues,” Garen nodded and said. He had taken the effort to look for an experimental solution that seemed mysterious but was actually just a normal mediator to conceal the process of his Peacock Technique absorbing the compositions of the Peacock Stones.
Fortunately, the absorption process of his Peacock Technique could not be seen by most obstructed auras. The numerous blue lines that seemed extremely distinct could not actually be seen by most people. This applied to those with strong Willpowers as well. Garen had secretly looked for one of Celine’s bodyguards once to test this out. This man had Level 3 Willpower and although he was supposedly just a bodyguard, he was actually an individual that Celine really respected as those who possessed Level 3 Willpower were considered as high-level individuals. Even though he could not surpass the Level 3’s in the army who were skilled in actual combat, those in his level could not simply be hired easily.
After testing it out with him, Garen discovered that the blue lines could not be discovered by most people.
“That will be fine too,” Celine raised her arm and looked down at her watch. The convoy would arrive soon.
“That’s good. I’ll go get the goods. Will they be at the same place?” Garen stood up.
“Of course. Should I just add today’s tally to your account directly?” Celine asked casually; she was too lazy to get up and send him off.
“Up to you. Or you could just deduct it from my account. Frankly, we don’t have to be so concerned about this sum of money,” Garen waved his hand and turned around before exiting the little hall. He passed the teacup in his hand to the maid outside the doorway.
After leaving Celine’s villa and walking out of the main door of the white flower garden, Garen saw two young girls walking into the villa from the side door coincidentally. They looked like Celine’s friends.
“That girl has normal female friends too? How weird.”
He rearranged the collar of his shirt and walked out of the main door of the garden. The car that Celine had arranged for him earlier was waiting outside now. It was a fully black streamline Casipa sedan car that he liked. It looked like small-scale flying fish model interstellar airship. Surveillance cameras and lights were installed all over the body of the black car while the exhaust opening at the back resembled numerous cannons.
He pulled the car door open and sat inside. The driver looked like an earnest middle-aged man.
“Same place?” he asked in a low voice.
“Yeah, sorry for troubling you again, Uncle Carway.”
“What are you talking about?” the driver laughed as the car started moving slowly.
He sat inside the car and watched the scenery outside the car disappearing past. The pedestrians on the side of the road moved past the car window occasionally while his car sped past a few Hover Cars as unhappy drivers honked at him from behind.
They traveled from the academy, which was also where they’d left Celine’s residence. They went down the road around Blackboard Region and passed through a long stretch of student residential areas. Students who did not wish to stay in the academy would either buy or rent houses in this residential area. Next, they passed through the Commercial District where the number of cars and people had gradually increased greatly.
There were many traffic lights in the Commercial District. They had to wait for five or six traffic lights consecutively. Although more than half an hour had passed, they had barely passed through the Commercial District to enter the actual ring road that bordered the city.
There were fewer cars on the ring road and Garen was soon overcome by boredom. He decided to send a few text messages to Nono’s family to ask about their recent situation.
Nono’s parents’ new work positions suited them very well and they put all their energy into adapting to their work. They had spent many years working at the lower levels before being promoted to new positions that were neither too high nor too low. These positions were just right for them and allowed them to develop themselves to their fullest potentials.
After gradually communicating with each other more frequently, their tone of speaking became more confident and cheerful, unlike their previously silent manners. Frankly, they were unaware that everything was due to Garen’s efforts. Instead, they assumed that their quiet contributions were finally properly noticed by their company which had decided to promote them to their new positions.
After knowing the gist of his family’s situation, Garen was satisfied and decided to ask about the circumstances of his younger siblings.
“Your younger sister has gotten herself into a bad society with a scoundrel named Ansel. She won’t listen to us no matter how we urge her! She starts smashing things and throwing temper tantrums for the most trivial reasons…” when she spoke of her youngest daughter, his mother spat out all of her bottled-up grievances and feelings of helplessness. As she lamented, her previously cheerful tone disappeared at once.
“The last time she came home was a week ago. We nearly made a police report because we thought that she had gone missing. In the end, she ran home suddenly and we only realized that nothing was wrong when we found her asleep at home. I’m too afraid to even ask about her personal matters now. There was even an instance where more than ten scoundrels came to our doorstep to invite her out to dinner…”
His mother sighed heavily,”It’s fortunate that your younger brother is still very obedient. He’s working at that bakery while attending night classes. According to him, all of his coworkers are gentle and he likes working there. He won’t leave that job even though our circumstances at home have improved slightly.”
“I offered to let him attend a regular school once. What did he say about that?” Garen raised his eyebrows slightly and asked.
“He felt that he wouldn’t be able to catch up in a regular school or integrate into it properly after delaying it for such a long time. He’s fine with attending night school because he can just take regular exams later,” replied his mother.
“It’s good that he made his own decisions,” Garen nodded.
“Recently, however, your father and I have discovered that something is not quite right with your brother,” said his mother after hesitating for a while.
“What’s wrong?”
“I feel like he’s always hiding something. I don’t know what he’s doing and his voice has become extremely quiet. His entire body seems paler while his chin has become sharper. If I didn’t see him daily, I would have assumed that he was someone else,” said his mother with an uncertain look on her face while speaking on the Terminal screen. “He won’t say anything even when I ask him and I’ve started to stop worrying just like I have with that girl.”
“Is that so…? I’ll go and look for him to chat when I’m free. Perhaps there is something that’s bothering him but he’s just too uncomfortable to talk about it,” Garen smiled faintly. “Don’t worry, it shouldn’t be a serious matter.”
“Yes, it’s fortunate that you’ve grown up, Nono. You’ve become wise…” said his mother while looking at him with a relieved expression on her face.
Unconsciously, during this short period of time, Garen had gradually become the backbone of this family. He was also their main pillar of support.
He turned off the Terminal and stroked the screen on his watch gently while feeling its cool smooth surface. He remained silent and merely sat there quietly while pondering something.
The driver Uncle Carway glanced at him through the rearview mirror but remained quiet to avoid disturbing him.
The car drove across the ring road quickly. They finally reached the delivery location, an old abandoned factory, after ten minutes.
Their surroundings were completely devoid of people. Only stray cats and dogs could be seen passing through the area occasionally before vanishing into the nearby undergrowth here.
Two little white trucks were already waiting at the entrance of the factory. A young man in white clothes stood beside the vehicle and walked over automatically when he saw Garen get down from the car on the other side.
“I apologize for troubling you with having to personally check the goods this time.”
He shook hands with Garen while smiling enthusiastically. This fellow had sunken cheeks and the air of a soldier around him. He had actually served in the military service before.
“I wanted the goods, so it’s only right that I come over and take a look at them,” Garen nodded without wasting time on unnecessary chatter. He walked over to the back of the truck and pulled the trunk door open with a ‘clang’ before looking inside.
A large wooden box was placed inside the dark boot of the vehicle. After jumping on top of the car, Garen opened the box quickly. The box was filled to the brim with white Rainbow Stones that were the size of a fist and were clearly of good quality.
“Don’t worry. All of these are fine objects that we picked out carefully. None of them are unsatisfactory!” said the skinny man outside the car.
Garen picked up two random stones. It looked as if he was rubbing the white Rainbow Stones together and checking their quality. However, he was actually using his Peacock Technique to test the stones secretly.
“They’re truly not bad,” after checking them for awhile and confirming that these stones were of sufficient weight, Garen put the stones in his hand back down and closed the box before jumping off the truck again.
“You can send them to the Factory Number One directly. We’ve taken over the goods so you can return and report on your task now.”
The skinny man nodded and smiled. He was not one of Celine’s people. Instead, he and the other person who had driven were Vivienne’s people who were also members of Blue Narcissus. Garen had hired them over as temporary workers just to perform minor tasks.
After receiving the goods successfully, Garen sat inside a truck with a new driver and returned on the same road.
The road was not as congested this time, allowing them to return to Blackboard Academy within twenty minutes.
Without any delay, he jumped out of the car and returned to his dorm room to take the solution that he had prepared earlier before entering the truck alone and getting the driver to take him to the factory immediately. He stayed in the car alone without allowing anyone else to enter.
Inside the dark car, Garen could vaguely feel some swaying movements from the car. He ignored them and raised his head to look at the surveillance cameras inside the car. He reached his hand outwards and covered it directly until the corners. Next, he placed a little hat on it that he had specially prepared earlier to cover the range of its line of sight.
Once all of his preparations were completed, Garen sat down and crossed his legs while looking at the whole box of white Rainbow Stones in front of him.
“This is a critical moment that will impact my absorption…” he murmured quietly while looking at the Attribute Pane at the bottom of his vision. There was only a distance of approximately twenty percent before his Peacock Technique could reach Level 4. This box of white Rainbow Stones would definitely help him surpass his limitations to truly reach the first grade of Level 1 Willpower.
“Begin… Truly break off the little Moonfang now and enter Level 1 Willpower… Obtain the true strength that belongs to you…”
He took a deep breath and outstretched his hand to open the lid on the box.
******************
Beside Blackboard River
Pfoo… Pfoo… Pfoo…
Clint’s forehead was beaded with sweat. He bent his waist and panted while supporting himself with his hands on his knees.
While looking at the large pile of black Mech pieces in front of him, a strange sense of accomplishment stirred in his head suddenly.
“How… How is it…? I went through great pains to piece together a complete… system…” as he looked on at the pile of odds and ends, although they looked extremely miserable, he knew that these items were sufficient as the basis of the first step to establishing the detection abilities that would allow them to distinguish and determine enemies.
“What ‘how’? You’re just using your basic physical body to live, so what’s the big deal?” said Red Moon impatiently. “Don’t disturb me. I’m still investigating the original documents regarding the links of the interior circuits.”
“Sigh…” Clint felt slightly discouraged as he’d initially expected that he would receive Red Moon’s praise instead. “What are we going to do next?”
“Keep assembling the parts. Follow the blueprints the same way I taught you earlier and link the parts to form the shape I want,” Red Moon explained. He sounded somewhat distracted when he spoke and it was obvious that he was busy with something else.
“Understood…”
Clint’s hair was constantly blown backward by the river breeze, making him seem like a child’s shaggy toy.
When he walked over to check some parts that he had picked up, Clint was about to move his hand to shift a piece when he suddenly saw a person walking towards him slowly from the far end of the river bank. This person’s figure was very familiar but also slightly strange. They were dressed from head to toe in black clothing and had covered themselves up fully even on a hot sunny day like this. They even wore a baseball cap and large sunglasses that shielded more than half of their face.