The atmosphere during dinner was a bit awkward. Ringo looked at them both with a mix of amusement and exasperation. Eva looked somewhere between angry and embarrassed, and Lena, he thinks, was purely embarrassed. After the adrenaline wore off, she realized what she'd done and went back to cooking with her head down, never looking up again.
Ringo sighed and went to prepare the dogs' food. Will and Jack quickly jumped after him, excited, they hadn't eaten all day!
After putting the meat on to roast, being watched again by the Wolf Bear duo, he returned to the kitchen, where the pair seemed to have remained motionless.
Ringo finally sighed and decided to break the ice. -How did you find out I'm back?
Eva looked at him, took a deep breath, and tried to speak casually. -We put out a reward for information about you, but you just showed up, we got several calls all at once.
-Oh? How much did you pay? - he asked curiously.
Eva looked embarrassed for a moment, and Lena lowered her head.
In the end, it was Eva who spoke. -Well... we started with just 100,000, but it didn't work. It was already 2 million. We used the credit card you left.
She spoke softly, looking embarrassed.
Ringo just laughed and shook his head. - It's okay, I hardly use cash anyway. - He shrugged, unconcerned. He didn't even remember how much was on the card, but it must still have been around 20 million.
But he seemed to think of something and said. - Eva, come here.
Eva looked at him curiously, but got up and walked over to him. He took her arm and placed his hand on hers. Lena was already looking over her shoulder by this point.
"There," he said, removing his hand.
On her hand, a circular purple mark glowed, before slowly fading.
- What was that? - Eva asked curiously. Lena lowered the flame and approached, looking at her hand curiously.
-A power of mine. With this, I can always come to you. - Ringo said.
Eva immediately brightened, happily holding her hand. Lena pouted and held out her own, embarrassed.
Ringo laughed and placed one on hers as well.
-What is this and how do you use it? - Lena asked curiously.
-hm... it's very complicated to explain what it is. Explaining it would raise too many questions, so let's wait until later for that. As for how to use it, this is like a teleportation point for me. I can appear directly next to you if I need to, but it's not much use to you. - Ringo shrugged.
Eva rolled her eyes but didn't complain.
Lena looked even more curious, so Ringo added. - I can only do three of these.
The duo's eyes sparkled, the weight of the marks growing on their hearts.
Eva scoffed and asked resentfully. - So the last one should be saved for Emma?
Ringo paused for a moment and thought of something.
Ever since he received this ability, he had been thinking of a plan, this plan involved Hila, and this ability would be for her.
Eva pouted and asked. -Was I right?
-Not really... - Ringo began, wondering if he should speak now that he was taking the duo more seriously. He thought it best to make it clear. He doesn't like toying with other people's feelings, at least he didn't want to do it to them. -It's for another girl...
The duo paused for a moment, looking at him in shock. - Another girl?!
Even Lena, at that moment, approached, her eyes narrowed. - What do you mean, another girl?!
Ringo sighed and asked them to sit down. He thought it best to be more open with them, so he decided to talk about his time in Germinal. But that would have to explain his power. Now that he was a B Grade, did it really matter if he explained?
In fact, ever since he awakened as an Esper, much less an Evolution, Ringo has been afraid, not for his present, but for his future.
Esgod.
That name is stuck in his mind. Esgod has gone too far through the Evolution Cube. If he finds out about his ability, there's a 99.9999...% chance he'll come after him.
Even after reaching S-Rank, he's unsure of how he can hold his own against him. Han Xiao was worried about the future of the universe, he was worried about his own life.
If it were before, the fewer people knew, the better, but with his new abilities, a plan formed in his mind.
The Germinal leader has access to his information, as do most of the high-ranking members and possibly even some others. The people at the base he left from probably knew as well, but he killed most of them.
If he goes to the leader and decides to expose him, when Han Xiao brings Planet Aquamarine into the galactic era, this information could fall into the hands of interested individuals.
So he's always wanted to silence Germinal.
But why not use Germinal? With his power, bringing a clone inside and infiltrating the Germinal leader shouldn't be difficult, right? As a nightmare, whether by silently killing or controlling him, it's entirely possible.
Hila will be the entry ticket, after all, he doesn't know where the Germinal leader is. Let the clone use the nightmare mark to reach Hila when she's with the Leader. Even if his clone only has 50% of his strength, 50% of Grade B isn't something a mere Grade C who hasn't even made it through the first life hierarchy advancement can handle.
In the end, control Germinal, kill everyone who knows anything about him, delete the files, use what's left for yourself, that's the plan.
Germinal was destroyed by Han Xiao, but it can rise from the ashes in his hands.
With a plan ready, he was ready to make things clearer to the pair. He already had some basic trust, and now the plan was formed.
Then he began talking about the Valkyrie experiment, about his genetic awakening, about the months of torture. At this point, Eva broke a piece of the table and Lena lost her shyness. Anger seemed to flow between them. He didn't tell her everything, but he said enough. Finally, he talked about Hila.
-So... she was forced to work for Germinal because her sister was captured? - Lena asked, frowning.
-Yes. - Ringo continued.
-But what does that have to do with you liking her? - Eva asked, confused and irritated. -She tortured you for months and didn't lift a finger to help. She even tried to stop you. So why?
Ringo was also dubious about this. He thinks it's a mix of factors. The main one was that Hila was his favorite female protagonist in the original. It hurt to see the author choose Ames, but he still liked Hila more.
When he was being tortured, he not only knew about her future, but also knew she didn't want to do it. Combined with his own madness, he practically placed all his emotional baggage on Hila. She became an emotional support, his desire was distorted.
After everything passed and his mentality returned to normal, his desire for her didn't go away. Precisely because he knew her future, her potential, her personality, along with those months of torture, he wanted her.
He wanted her with every fiber of his being. In fact, it never seemed like simply some distorted desire, although he admits it's a strong possibility. But there was something more, something that even now he could barely decipher.
But it wasn't supposed to make sense, it's a jumble of so many coincidences that even he can't understand his own mentality. So that doesn't matter now, he wants her, that's what matters.
Ringo didn't answer Eva's question at first, but instead, he narrowed his eyes and spoke seriously. - I don't know, but I want her. She'll be mine.
Yes, since he doesn't understand, it doesn't matter. He's always been more instinctive than rational, why should he make this so complicated? She's his, simple as that.
Eva and Lena narrowed their eyes.
Something in Ringo changed in that moment, almost animalistic, this primal desire, begging to be released. Ringo didn't notice, but they did. When he spoke about Hila, his eyes became erratic, his breathing heavier, his expression distorted slightly. It was for a split second, but they saw it.
The pair looked at each other, worried. They didn't discuss Hila anymore, but they talked about Germinal.
-So, what's the plan? - Eva asked.
-Plan? - Ringo raised an eyebrow.
-Don't pretend, we know you want to do something, we're not going to be left out. - Lena shook her head.
Ringo paused for a moment and laughed, but he didn't disagree, but he still denied something. -You're right, there is a plan, but you're not going to participate...
As they frowned in discontent, Ringo continued. -...Because neither will I.
.
--x--
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