Checking the water meter??
Lucas was stunned for a moment.
But...
It's past seven in the evening..
Don't property management staff get off work on time? Coming over to check the water meter at seven in the evening, using their own time off? What a modern-day model worker.
Shh~
Lucas silenced the others in the conference room. He then took over Alina's body and went downstairs with FrostNova.
Alina: "Mr. Reeve, have we been exposed...."
Alina started to worry.
Or rather.
Everyone had been worried during this period.
Even as their days grew more stable, and the Yeti Squadron had become familiar with the lifestyles of the city center's upper class, they still hadn't forgotten their origins. They were from the Reunion Movement, and their role in Chernobog was merely that of a vanguard team.
If they were discovered, the consequences would be unimaginable.
In fact, to prevent any real accidents.
Lucas had already used one of the system's assistance opportunities to obtain an ability that could just barely guarantee everyone's escape in a crisis. After exchanging for this ability, Lucas only had three free help requests left...
"I don't know..."
Lucas wasn't sure.
Although he believed he had been almost seamless when going out, deliberately erasing his presence from the minds of anyone who had seen him, as if he had never left the house. Moreover, to avoid arousing suspicion on the Landship, Lucas had actually bought tickets for that particular journey in advance in Columbia with Jessica's help...
Theoretically.
Lucas and his group had arrived in Chernobog as perfectly normal travelers and shouldn't have stood out.
However...
As long as a person exists in this world, no matter how perfectly they hide, there will always be a tiny trace left behind.
So Lucas was always prepared for the worst-case scenario.
He pressed the button for the video doorbell at the villa's gate.
The screen showed the scene outside.
A man in a suit, who really did look like a property management staff member, was standing squarely in front of the camera.
.....
Lucas frowned.
This person really did seem to be from property management.
Just as Lucas was about to ask why he had come so late, the other party seemed to know what he was about to ask and explained first.
"I'm very sorry, Miss Alina. I came by during working hours today, but you didn't seem to be home, so I came back this evening."
The person's tone was very sincere, not seeming to have any ulterior motives.
"You can come in..."
Lucas pressed the gate's access button, and the iron gate slowly opened. However, they didn't plan to go out, instead saying through the intercom: "The water meter is in the southwest corner of the courtyard. You can go check it yourself. I'm not coming out."
"Alright."
Lucas carefully watched from the window. He saw the property management staff member was indeed checking the water meter. Then, Lucas immediately had FrostNova keep an eye out while he used [Spatial Perception]. As his Spiritual Power was released, amplified by his plant catalysis ability, Lucas could suddenly perceive a range of several li. Within this range, no movement could escape his ears. Then, a faint buzzing sound reached Lucas's ears.
A drone?
Hmph...
Lucas opened his eyes.
His gaze grew sharp.
"They really came prepared. There's a drone on the tallest tree seven hundred meters away, and another on the other side... they've been monitoring everything..."
Alina's soul was shocked and quickly asked.
"Mr. Reeve, does this mean... we've been discovered?!"
FrostNova also frowned at this moment. She couldn't figure out how they had been exposed.
Rather than being exposed.
Lucas was more inclined to believe.
There was a [Serpent's Scales] among the city's higher-ups, and... perhaps there had been surveillance around the Reunion Movement's camp all along. So they knew how many people left Reunion that day, and by investigating some clues, they guessed that this group that left Reunion had likely already infiltrated Chernobog...
Sigh~
Lucas felt a headache coming on...
This [Black Serpent]!!
So annoying.
If it weren't for him keeping an eye on them, any normal person would never have noticed their infiltration. Even if Lucas were to bring all the other members of the Reunion Movement over in the future, it would have been done without anyone noticing, moving the entire population from the tundra to the mobile city like ghosts.
He had to find a way to completely kill this [Black Serpent]...
Otherwise, when he was ready to make big moves to gather Prayer Power, this [Black Serpent] would likely become an unexpected obstacle.
After the property management person left.
The drones still hovered in the distance, carefully monitoring every move at the villa.
After returning to the conference room.
Lucas informed the Yeti Squadron of what he had discovered and told them to halt their future operations.
——————
Mayor's Office.
Marquis Boris was ecstatic after hearing his subordinate's report. By repeatedly comparing surveillance footage.
He could confirm.
The eight people in that villa were indeed the eight Infected ants that had left the Reunion Movement.
Marquis Boris hadn't expected these Infected to be able to infiltrate Chernobog so effectively, even obtaining new identities and moving into a luxury villa. And... it seemed this group had some connection to Raythean Industries, because all these things were provided by Raythean.
Tsk...
Since when did the Reunion Movement have ties with Raythean Industries?
This point gave Marquis Boris a slight headache.
As Columbia's number one corporate giant, and indeed the top giant in all of Terra, Raythean Industries' corporate scale was comparable to that of a small country. Its annual revenue even surpassed that of many small and medium-sized nations, and it even had its own mobile city...
Why would such a company help the Reunion Movement?
According to the memories Marquis Boris had from when he possessed Talulah's body, no one in the Reunion Movement, including Talulah, had any connection whatsoever with Raythean Industries. Suddenly, it was as if a connection had been established, which gave Marquis Boris a sense of losing control, which he disliked. Though... it was only a dislike.
Could it be that person...
Marquis Boris thought of Lucas Reeve.
If it was him, it wouldn't be that difficult to explain.
As a soul that has lived for who knows how many years, it would be natural for him to have connections with Raythean Industries. Perhaps he was like him, not just a single soul, but also had other individuals like his 'Serpent's Scales'.
However, another point gave Marquis Boris a headache.
He currently had no way to get rid of Lucas Reeve.
Direct soul-level annihilation.
He couldn't win.
To dispatch high-end combat forces, he would need power stronger than six Emperor's Blades. Although that fellow Buldrokkas'tee was not here, Marquis Boris did not dare to be careless. Combat power stronger than six Emperor's Blades... Ursus had it... but not much of it, and it seemed difficult for him to mobilize. As for directly dispatching an army group, this was inside a mobile city. A direct military bombardment would probably kill ordinary civilians before Lucas Reeve died. In that case, not only would he not bring glory to Ursus, but he would be dragging it backward.
Right now.
For Marquis Boris.
Lucas Reeve was like a tick latched onto his face. Pulling it out forcefully wouldn't work, but leaving it there was incredibly annoying...
————————
Lucas originally thought the [Black Serpent] would cause trouble, but unexpectedly, their side passed a month in such peace.
However, Lucas could also guess that the other party probably had no way to deal with him for the time being.
If he were in the wilderness, perhaps they could send more Emperor's Blades or even an army to encircle and suppress him. But he wasn't in the wilderness; he was in the city. The dense population in the city made many extreme measures impossible to implement.
And.
Most importantly.
The Black Serpent, like himself, was a [God] at the soul level without a physical body. If it were any god with a physical body, Lucas was certain that even if he joined forces with Patriot, they would be no match. The Black Serpent's specialty, the soul level, was also his own specialty.
And this month, to ensure safety.
Lucas didn't let the Yeti Squadron go out, lest the Black Serpent shamelessly capture them to threaten him. And he himself had not been idle this month, spending most of it in Columbia guiding the laboratory's progress.
And Jessica truly lived up to her title as Lucas's greatest helper now.
With the funds in place, various equipment was already on-site. Even before the company was formally established, as soon as the equipment arrived, the research maniac Silence immediately began studying the special power Lucas had provided. Furthermore, with Lucas's personal cooperation, the research proceeded incredibly smoothly. In just over a month, the first version of the reagent was finally completed.
A month is far too short to develop a drug.
But Lucas had provided the power directly, which was equivalent to Silence not needing to do much research herself, but simply to analyze the principles and components of this power.
It was like.
Lucas directly gave an answer, and let Silence break down the specific steps based on that answer.
However, the effect might be somewhat weaker.
But.
Silence was still continuously studying the Oripathy-suppressing power provided by Lucas, trying to upgrade and optimize it, attempting to create a higher-quality Oripathy inhibitor.
After all.
This ability of Lucas's was just a freebie from the system.
It definitely wasn't the best...
After all, the system wouldn't let Lucas get the best for free.
The ongoing research and development work was handed over to Silence and Ptilopsis, while Franka and Liskarm had been off missions for a while to accompany Jessica and help with the company's establishment.
Transported by Raythean Industries' logistics company.
The first batch of finished reagents was successfully delivered to Chernobog.
At the same time.
Lucas's phone rang as expected.
Looking at the number displayed on his phone, Lucas smiled faintly.
"Hello... Mr. Hellagur."