He shook his head to clear the lingering headache and went home.
The four little ones were having the time of their lives-hide-and-seek, card games, whatever came to mind.
Childhood friendships were always the most unforgettable.
Even the bald one, Lex, was scratching his head, trying to calculate while cheating at cards.
Shirley shot him a glare.
He immediately shrank back in fear.
His face was covered in crayon-drawn dogs.
The three girls had slips of paper stuck to their faces.
Raven-Mystique-was having the most fun of all.
She had food, a place to sleep, and people to play with.
No one bullied her.
The three women treated her gently, like their own child.
They even took her shopping for clothes that afternoon.
She was genuinely happy here.
"Wow, Big Brother is back!"
"Young Master Ryden!"
"Ryden, you're back!"
The moment he stepped inside, he was greeted by a chorus of sweet voices.
...This feeling was pretty great.
"Oh, you little ones are having fun." Ryden laughed. "Next time, I'll design more toys for you. Go heat up the food. I need a shower first-I'm exhausted."
"Oh! Okay!"
The four immediately abandoned their games and squeezed into the kitchen.
Aunt Sarah sat on the sofa, a tear of happiness forming at the corner of her eye.
This was what a home felt like.
"When will I have a few cute children of my own?" she murmured, resting a hand on her slightly swollen belly.
A small life was growing steadily inside her.
Young Master Ryden's child.
A hot shower.
Fragrant fish soup.
Steak with mashed potatoes.
The feeling was perfect.
Ryden ate very little rice, focusing instead on vegetables and meat.
Dense nutrition. Maximum energy replenishment.
That was why future hotels served so little rice.
Still, rice was good.
Great for filling the stomach.
Just a different habit.
Neither was better-it was personal preference.
After dinner, he went to Aunt Laura's room for the night.
Naturally, some naughty things happened.
The next morning, he went back to class as usual.
He also ordered a set of elementary school textbooks.
Aunt Sarah could teach Raven.
Ryden had no intention of raising her into a "gold digger."
He wanted to train her as a secretary.
A very special kind of secretary.
And if there was nothing to do?
Then she could study.
Learning made people progress.
Right?
The next day, Ms. Jennifer arrived at the lab.
Her expression wasn't great.
But there was also a hint of relief.
"Mentor, what's wrong?" Ryden noticed immediately. "You don't look well."
"It's nothing." Ms. Jennifer shook her head. "I met an old friend yesterday. Ryden, what kind of person do you think I am?"
Ryden stroked his chin and slowly circled her, examining her seriously.
"Do you want the truth," he asked, "or a lie?"
Ms. Jennifer's eyes lit up.
"Oh? I want both."
"The lie," Ryden said, "is that you're very beautiful, kind of smart, and... a bit strong."
Ms. Jennifer frowned.
"So the truth is that I'm ugly, stupid, and selfish?"
Anger crept into her voice.
Ryden laughed and casually patted a certain part of her lower back, appreciating the elasticity.
He shook his head.
"No. The truth is that you're very beautiful. Very charming. Extremely attractive to men. You're smart, and you know how to care about people."
The flattery worked.
Then Ms. Jennifer exploded.
"You bastard! Where are you touching?! Get back to your experiment!"
Ryden fled to his workstation.
Ms. Jennifer's mood instantly improved.
She subconsciously brushed her silver hair aside, poured herself a cup of tea, and returned to her usual calm reading.
Ryden was busy with the crude computer he had started assembling the day before.
Unlike first-generation behemoth computers, this one used the latest available technology.
Many components weren't even sold publicly yet.
That was fine.
He could make them himself.
The materials were available.
The circuit boards were the real problem.
Fusing plastic and wiring required professional machines and molds.
He could only grind rough substitutes by hand.
Scientists who were good with their hands were usually very good with hammers and pliers.
Ms. Jennifer glanced at the boxy machine, completely confused about what her student was building now.
She picked up a biology book and began marking the key points.
Everything else was filler.
If you wanted to master a book, you focused on the core.
It was like eating a Boston lobster.
The lobster mattered.
The tomatoes and cheese on the side didn't.
Same logic.
"If you want to do a good job, you must first sharpen your tools."
Ryden decided to finish the computer first.
It wasn't hard.
It only needed to handle simple calculations.
In this era, developing computers meant crawling step by step.
After World War II, computers would slowly spread.
Experts would appear.
Software and code would explode.
But right now?
That was still a dream.
Diodes and light-emitting diodes were the main materials.
Before LCDs, colorful LEDs replaced black-and-white displays.
They consumed a lot of power.
The image quality was poor.
The lifespan was short.
But there were no color TVs yet.
Only black-and-white.
That alone made it a potential patent.
Lately, Ryden had fallen deep into a money pit.
He couldn't help it.
His expenses were terrifying.
Even working in his mentor's lab cost money.
Nothing was free.
Especially disposable components.
And that didn't even include parts requiring special processes or molds.
Scientists could make money fast.
But they could also burn it just as fast.
As long as an invention could be commercialized, the profits were massive.
The prerequisite was investment.
And a lot of capital to burn.
Not everyone was like Ryden.
Not everyone could copy, improve, and reinvent technology they'd seen before.
Every technological breakthrough cost an astronomical amount.
He carefully arranged the colorful diodes one by one.
Needle-nose pliers in hand.
Precision mattered.
One mistake meant a blurry display-or a useless one.
Unlike LCDs, a single failure could ruin everything.
That was why TV repairmen were extremely profitable in this era.
At least for a few years.
Every 100 Power Stones gets 1 bonus chapters!