NoGift

"MASTER, I've turned off the defense on one part of the island.  We could now enter and land," White said.

Zhang Lei Feng glanced outside the window of the flying shuttle.  There was nothing there a moment ago.  But then he saw an opening in the air and glimpsed some trees inside.  Which meant that, just like this flying shuttle, there was stealth technology covering whatever it was in front of them.  In this case, an island most probably.

The shuttle then slowly descended and entered the said opening.  From above, you could see a rather big facility.  It was not big in terms of height.  There was only one story but it covered a wide area.  The shuttle landed on an open hangar that was part of the building.

Seeing this, Lei Feng almost thought he was back in their original world.  How impressive.  Argent was able to build something like this in a world where technology like this wasn't supposed to exist.  An almost imperceptible smile appeared on his lips.  Truly, only a genius like her could do something like this.   

Argent turned to her mother.  "Mother, we're here," she said and supported her mother to stand up.  She was almost as tall as her mother so it wasn't that much of a problem.

She helped her mother sit on a floating chair that was already prepared on the side.  It was something that she made a month ago before they depart for Victoria City.  Because she knew that the possibility of her mother being unable to temporarily walk was high.

"Sorry about this, Argent," her mother said apologetically.

"There's no need to apologize, Mother.  None of this is your fault," Argent said, pushing the chair out of the shuttle.

Anthea smiled bitterly.  No, she definitely had some fault.  If she just carefully considered the situation, she might have planned some counter-measure.  But no, she was too preoccupied by the thought of finding her husband that she almost neglected the safety of her daughters.  If they were not as capable as they were, things would probably not end like this.  With all of them safe.

[Dorian, I'm starting to doubt if finding you is even worth all these.]

Then the bitter smile on her lips turned into a sad one.  Because Anthea knew that even if she thought that, she would still look for him.  No matter how much time passed, her love for him still remained strong.  But no matter how strong that love was, even she was slowly getting tired from it.  Which was something she should never let herself feel.  Because once she did, then that strong love would only turn into hate and resentment.

Once Argent pushed the chair out of the shuttle, she looked back at White who already walked out of the shuttle alongside Lei Feng and the elf.  "White, take Lei Feng and Janea to Master's villa so they could rest."

There were only three villas on the island.  One that belonged to her and her sister, the other belonged to Felicia, and the last one belonged to her master.  She couldn't possibly let these two guys rest in Felicia's villa.  Of course, hers and Aurum's was definitely out of the question.  So the only one left was her master's.

Argent was sure her master wouldn't mind.  Especially since he wasn't even on the island right now.  Ah, that's right, she still had to contact his master regarding that Apostle she met at Victoria City.  The one who knew her master and seemed to be also from Kano.

He immediately recognized her Sui-Ryu style.  Which meant he's quite familiar with it.  This might become a big trouble for his master if she didn't warn him.  Especially now that he's in Xing.  A country that was pretty close to Kano.

"I'm not tired," Lei Feng said.  "You and your mother haven't had lunch yet and it's already one in the afternoon.  So, I'd rather make lunch for everyone than rest."

Now that Lei Feng mentioned it, Argent did feel hungry.  Her mother was probably hungry too.  She should have been more thoughtful.  Especially because of her mother's current weak state.  But right now, no one in the island knew how to cook.  Her sister went off with that Clay.  White was not programmed to do something so mundane.  Felicia was not here but in Xing.  So, the only choice was Lei Feng.

If she cared about etiquette and such boring stuffs, she'd probably feel embarrassed for letting her guest cook food for her.  But since she didn't care about those things, she had no qualms letting Lei Feng cook for them.  And besides, Lei Feng's cooking was good.  She'd rather eat his cooking than heat some frozen food.

"Okay.  Then follow me," she said.  Then she turned to the elf.  "How about you?"

"I- I want to rest, please," Janea said.

He hadn't had a decent sleep since he left that small village where an orphanage owned by the Temple of Gaia was.  After that, he was taken to Victoria City and then put in an underground dungeon.  Who could actually sleep peacefully in that kind of surrounding?  But somehow, he felt that he could sleep here without worrying that these people would do something to him.

"White, bring Janea to Master's villa.  Also, give him a clean change of clothes."

"Yes, Master," White answered.

While White led Janea to Hattori's villa, Argent pushed the chair where her mother was sitting.  Lei Feng followed beside them.

Anthea glanced at the stoic young man standing on the side.  She would have never thought that such a serious looking young man would know how to cook.  Then she noticed something unexpected.  The young man named Lei Feng was looking at her eldest with such gentle eyes.  Truly contrary to his strong momentum.

Her eyes widened a bit when she realized something.  Could this young man be…?

----------

After eating their lunch, Aurum, Black, Clay, and Flora were all sitting in the small living room of the wooden cabin.  Clay had already told Aurum about the gist of his conversation with his sister.  Aurum was truly glad that Flora agreed.

"Thank you for agreeing," Aurum said to Flora.

"No.  I should be the one saying thank you.  This deal will really be a big help to us," Flora answered.

Aurum then remembered her brother's message.  "If it's alright, could I see the pendant now?  I'll just take some pictures and then give it back to you."

"Okay." Flora then immediately took off the necklace she was wearing.

The chain of the necklace was just a simple silver.  But the pendant hanging on it was truly extraordinary.  It was shaped like a leaf.  Its color was a very rich green.  The green was swirling and moving as if it was alive.  Aurum was immediately attracted by it.

She carefully reached for it when Flora handed it to her.  She held it in her hand.  She was planning to touch it when she noticed that the small cut on her finger that she got earlier while cooking opened.  Before she could put it away, a drop of blood already fell on the pendant.  And then, an unexpected thing happened.

The pendant suddenly emitted a bright green light!