Miss Wang Weina, even your cousin won't do!

Chapter 119 Departure

Behind Vayne were two followers, one was Kal'tsit, and the other was also Kal'tsit.

Well, actually, she only had one follower, Kal'tsit, and that was it. Wayne was quite surprised that Vina would choose this great lynx, whom he hadn't had a very good impression of at their first meeting, as her "agent." But as Vina later explained...

—If Wayne truly wants to escape surveillance, sending more people to his side will be futile. Rather than creating trouble later, it's better to send only one trustworthy person who won't be swayed by Wayne from the start. Kal'tsit is such a suitable candidate.

Although she appears young and quite attractive, Kal'tsit, as a member of Theresa's support group, has always maintained a proper distance from Wayne. And after her successful proposal to treat the comatose Wayne in the North, which she was tasked with during a crisis, her slightly unfavorable first impression on Vina has largely disappeared. In short, Kal'tsit is a suitable choice for both Theresa and Vina.

He seems much more reliable than Surtr, who's been spending his time in ice cream piles lately, and Mudrock, who's been holed up in his room doing who-knows-what.

For some reason, Kal'tsit, who had just been brought out of the detention center, showed an instinctive reluctance after receiving this mission, as if she wanted to keep a certain distance from Wayne. Her unusual behavior naturally attracted the attention of Theresa, who knew her personality well. But strangely, even Theresa couldn't figure out what was going on in her mind this time.

Moreover, shortly after showing her reluctance, she took the initiative to approach Theresa and Vina, expressing her willingness to accept this glorious task and become "the eyes of Her Majesties".

Thus, the current comical scene unfolded: Wayne stood in front of the boarding gate, gazing at the control tower in the distance, while Kal'tsit stood behind him, her eyes flashing with doubt. She wanted to ask a question, but seemed somewhat afraid, wanting to avoid talking to Wayne, and thus kept her mouth shut.

The two stood there, one in front of the other, bathed in a pale golden glow under the afternoon sun—but that was just an illusion; in reality, Wayne was extremely hot.

"Why aren't they here yet?"

Muttering something to himself, Wayne took out his phone from his pocket, opened his contacts, and dialed Vina's number.

"Hello, is this Vina? Yes, I'm about to leave, I've been waiting for a while."

"The plane is delayed? No, no, no, how could it be? What delay could a private plane have? I'm waiting for the attendant you arranged. Where is she? Can you contact her? Or give me her number so I can reach her... Kal'tsit? Kal'tsit has arrived. What's wrong?"

"Well......."

Wayne hung up the phone, slowly turned his head to look at the lynx behind him who was tilting its head back, pretending to look around at the scenery. He wiped the sweat from his forehead, stamped his foot, and asked:

"Kal'tsit! Why didn't you speak up when you were the only one there?"

Kal'tsit calmly lowered her head, seemingly looking directly at Wayne, but her gaze subtly avoided his face, instead focusing on the slightly askew tie at his chest, caused by the heat, and said:

“I’m sorry, Your Highness, I really didn’t know you were waiting for ‘me’. I am honored to be their special envoy, responsible for accompanying and regulating your every move, thanks to the favor of the two (future) empresses.”

"So that's why you just watched me stand in the sun for half an hour?"

Ignoring Wayne's incredulous expression, Kal'tsit insisted:

"I really didn't expect that someone as wise as His Highness Wayne would make such an empirical error."

Wayne couldn't do anything about her. For some reason, he felt that ever since last night, Kal'tsit had been subtly working against him.

Is there some misunderstanding? Or is it simply that menopause has made them more irritable?

Wayne couldn't figure it out, so he simply stopped thinking about it. Anyway, as long as Theresa was around, Kal'tsit wouldn't do anything to her. Regardless of whether the lynx's personality was arrogant, spoiled, or extremely arrogant, whether she was an iceberg, a furnace, or a yandere with a cleaver, as long as the grip strength meter's bad ending wasn't triggered, Kal'tsit was a very reliable person.

Gazing at Kal'tsit, Wayne stepped into the aircraft, casually found a comfortable spot to sit down, and calmed himself down.

The big cat's words are always infuriating, but she's much better than before now, since she hasn't ridiculed anyone in a long time, has she?

However, speaking of riddles, Wayne remembered something. He looked at Kal'tsit, who had just sat down behind him, and asked:

"Kal'tsit, speaking of which, what you told me that night..."

Upon hearing Wayne mention what happened that night, Kal'tsit's emotions suddenly became inexplicably agitated. She frowned and abruptly interrupted Wayne without warning, even though she considered this to be extremely impolite.

Kal'tsit clenched her fists, as if she were holding onto something:

"There's nothing there. Please don't mention what happened that night. I don't need your explanation. I will verify it in my own way!"

Wayne nodded, seemingly understanding but not quite.

Isn't this just common sense about nine-year compulsory education? Do we really need to verify it in our own way?

Besides, didn't you say it yourself? Do you not believe these things?

He certainly didn't know that what suddenly enraged Kal'tsit wasn't those ordinary, ancient "common sense" facts that had vanished into the annals of history, but rather the person who casually uttered them—Wayne himself. Otherwise, he might have gloated a bit more, since besides these facts, Wayne also knew about Earth's revolution and rotation, the six winds and seven climate zones, and other geographical facts, and had even watched the rocket launch, dubbed "an ark soaring through the stars," on television.

Since Kal'tsit didn't want to talk to him, he was too lazy to interact with this older, menopausal riddle-maker anymore. After silently making a note in his notebook that "she was inexplicably arguing with me today," Wayne took out his phone in the last moments before the aircraft took off.

First, I sent a message to Rhine Life in Colombia to let them know that he had already departed and that they were ready to pick him up.

Secondly, he sent a message to Columbia Planet magazine using Joseph Pulitzer's encrypted phone number, demanding they release it publicly. The message was simple: "I am coming!" Wayne wasn't worried they wouldn't release the message as he wished. People will die for money, birds will die for food; these profit-driven capitalists wouldn't let such a good opportunity for hype pass them by—an upcoming technology expo and an approaching righteous journalist, interest groups versus lone heroes, behind-the-scenes manipulators versus superheroes of justice—this kind of plot always has a market.

As for Wayne's true purpose—investigating the Loken Water Tank Laboratory—it would naturally be overshadowed by the upcoming science expo, and no one would be able to discover it. Everyone would subconsciously assume that such a major event in Columbia as the upcoming science expo was the focus of Pulitzer's attention, even though Pulitzer himself had not made any related statements.

This has already been confirmed by the tense Rhine Life.

Once everything was ready, Wayne looked at the special number that had summoned Pulitzer, thought for a moment, and sent out a half-true, half-false email.

“I have arrived in Colombia. If it is convenient, please come in person for a meeting, client.”

Chapter 120 Olivia Himer (End of this volume)

Columbia, Silicon Valley, July 2nd, 6:10 PM.

In the year 1092 of the Terra calendar, the city I lived in was named the most prosperous technology city in all of Colombia. Companies lined the streets, the economy was booming, and the flow of money was like the lifeblood of the city, supplying countless minds full of dreams to take root and sprout within it.

But I don't care about these things. I'm just an ordinary researcher who wants to do ordinary things. I have dreams, but I'm not the kind of person who would risk everything for them. I have my own principles, family, friends, lover, and my current life. They are all above my dreams.

Some say I'm the most out-of-place Liberi in this vibrant city, but I know I'm not the sleepy researcher they describe. My name is Olivia Himer, a Rhine Lab trainee researcher.

Carrying fresh vegetables pre-ordered from an unmanned self-service convenience store, Hermer took out his key and inserted it into the lock in front of him. But this was only the first step. Colombia's advanced modern technology provides maximum protection for the home security of its people. In addition to inserting the key, fingerprint verification is also required.

"Authentication successful, Ms. Olivia Hemer, welcome home."

"Welcome home." Hemer hummed softly, bent down slightly, lifted his foot, took off the high heels that the company had recently required him to wear to deal with the reporter [Joseph Pulitzer], placed them on the shoe rack by the door, and walked barefoot into his cozy little home.

The house was far from cozy; the larger the house, the emptier and more desolate it seemed, and the more lonely one felt living in it. Once, a Colombian tycoon, drunk as a madman, scoffed at the state police's request to take him home, claiming that he didn't own a home, and that those detached villas and penthouse suites that countless poor people envied were just his houses, not his homes.

But Himer insisted that her house was different; it was indeed home because it housed the little cutie she had found.

“Fiona, I’m back.”

After putting the vegetables in her hands into the kitchen, Hermer peeked out into the closed bedroom and called out.

Upon hearing Himer's voice, the sound of shoes being put on came from inside the room. Then, a silver-haired Waifan girl tiptoed to open the door, timidly glanced into the living room, and after confirming it was Himer, she smiled brightly and quickly ran to the Liberi girl.

"Aunt Himer, welcome back!"

"I told you not to call me 'Auntie'."

A vein throbbed on Himer's forehead. He gritted his teeth and ruffled the little girl's long silver hair with his wing.

Welcome home.

She answered, and this time it was clearly much more genuine than the time she had answered the mechanical voice at the door.

Himer put the girl who was clinging to him down, turned around, opened the food bag, and took out one ingredient after another that the little girl had never seen before, explaining:

"Tonight we're making Yan cuisine, shredded pork with green peppers."

"Stir-fried green peppers and pork?" the little girl asked, sounding puzzled. Hemer confidently patted his chest, about to launch into a long explanation of how important the nutritional value of stir-fried green peppers and pork was for a growing child, when the girl's innocent question silenced him.

"Is the shredded pork with green peppers delicious?"

I've heard that some people really can't stand green peppers. Hemer thought to herself that this was her first time trying this dish; she'd only ever heard colleagues mention it before, and she'd have to try it to know for sure.

However, when it comes to coaxing children, Himer is a natural-born expert. Faced with Fiona's questioning, she remained calm and composed, gently pinching Fiona's little cheek as she replied:

"Of course it's delicious, the most delicious food in the world."

"...Well, okay then, good luck, Aunt Himer!"

"I told you not to call me 'Auntie'." The vein on Hermer's forehead throbbed again, and the faint guilt she felt for deceiving a child vanished with the wind.

You think it sounds good? If you don't like the taste later, consider it your punishment!

Watching little Fiona run back to her room, Himer refocused her attention on cooking. As a researcher, she had never cooked before, but since finding Fiona, she had unknowingly taken on the role of "mother," and naturally, she had taught herself some cooking skills.

Unexpectedly, she had a talent for this, so Himer studied it in depth and is now one of the top cooks at Rhine Lab (although no one else knows this).

Speaking of which, it's almost been a year since we found Fiona, isn't it?

Hamer still vividly remembers that dark, rainy night about a year ago. It was said that a research institute affiliated with a large company in Silicon Valley had illegally used high-energy minerals, causing a short circuit in the city's Originium network for several hours. It was the darkest night in Silicon Valley's sleepless city. Having left work early, Hamer missed the last bus and had to walk several kilometers back to her residence.

As the rain gradually subsided through the crowds, the rusty railings guided the way forward. At the end of the road, amidst a ruin of mechanical parts that had appeared out of nowhere, Himer brought to an end her ordinary yet lonely solitary life.

There, she found a girl covered in wounds and took her home to treat her. This amnesiac girl, whom she met by chance, was eventually named Fiona, after a "brave and tenacious female swordswoman" from Colombian folklore during the Great Opening-up period. Himer hopes that she can be like that "Fiona," determined to live on even after losing everything in an accident, overcoming tragedy, overcoming wounds, overcoming illness and death, and living a wonderful life.

Thinking of the girl covered in wounds and on the verge of death in the ruins of her memory, Hermer chopped the vegetables with much more force.

The mere injury wasn't enough to enrage Himer, but as he dealt with the wounds, he repeatedly discovered that a large portion of them were man-made.

The bruises from whipping, the injection marks, and the contusions from prolonged restraint—these wounds were not formed naturally. What heinous things had been done to this child? And when she collapsed by the ruins, she was likely not an accidental exile, but rather abandoned in that wasteland, waiting to be taken to the landfill by a scrap metal truck and thrown into the incinerator.

Hamer did not tolerate this behavior and conducted a detailed investigation over the course of a year. However, as a researcher and intern, she had very limited resources and intelligence gathering methods at Columbia University. Even with her best efforts, she could only target two large biotechnology companies that were competitors at the time—Rhine Life and Loken Aquatech—without breaking the law.

She joined Rhine Lab, a place with a strong academic atmosphere, a thirst for knowledge, and very strict regulations. It didn't seem like an organization that conducted human experiments on children and abandoned Fiona, so she turned her attention to Loken Tank.

However, the internal security of Loken Tank far surpassed that of typical Columbia corporations, and Himer was unable to uncover anything, even nearly putting herself in danger several times. Left with no other option, she had to temporarily abandon her investigation and devote herself to research, hoping to elevate her authority level within Rhine Labs and gain access to more social resources to investigate Loken Tank's illegal activities.

But it was a long process, and during that time, Hermes had more than once considered giving up the search for the truth and simply protecting Fiona so she could live on. Until recently, when this thought reached its peak, she saw a glimmer of hope.

Joseph Pulitzer exposed the religious corruption in Laterano and the embezzlement of Grand Duke Victoria. He was a journalist who was fearless in the face of power and upheld justice, and most importantly, he was so capable that no one had yet seen his true face or discovered his whereabouts.

With the greatest hope, Himer sent him a request through the Lontinim Morning Post to help investigate the Loken Water Tank. This was both a search for allies and a reminder to herself not to forget her original aspirations in her comfortable life, as there might be many children suffering the same harm as Fiona had.

She had assumed this letter would disappear without a trace, like the anonymous letters she had sent to numerous self-proclaimed righteous individuals in the past. But to her utter surprise, just three days later, she received a reply from the Pulitzer Prize.

"I promise you, I will help you."

Hammer was overjoyed to have finally gained an ally in this battle against the behemoth of a company, but he was also worried about whether the Pulitzer journalist was really him or just a sting operation.

Time didn't give her much time to think about the pros and cons of her choice. Just before she was so distracted that she almost chopped her own fingertips with the cleaver, her phone in her pocket suddenly received an email notification.

“I’ve arrived in Colombia. Would you be interested in meeting me, client?” — by Joseph Pulitzer

Hamer fell silent. To go or not to go, to see or not to see? That was the question.

Going to meet her would undoubtedly involve risks, and could even completely change her current life, but if she didn't go, what about Loken Water Tank, and so many children...?

Recalling Fiona, covered in wounds and on the verge of death, Himer still couldn't give up on this possible opportunity, and she replied:

"Tomorrow, Silicon Valley, the mobile city, 33 Simpson Avenue, Ed Cafe. I'll be waiting for you there. Please bring something to prove your identity, Pulitzer reporter."

Leave request (for the college entrance exam) plus some casual discussion and explanations of plot points

The author is taking the college entrance exam tomorrow, so I'm taking a three-day break. I apologize for this and ask for your understanding.

This is considered force majeure.