"The gamma potion has shaken up every office. The public fury died down, but the discontent didn't. There is a lot of work to do." Blue Flash walked back and forth in the living room as she ranted about her situation.
"…sure." Varian leaned back on the sofa and checked his comm.
They had already returned to Earth. To be precise, they were currently near the moon.
Kyle and Maya seemed to be doing fine. Even though it seemed a bit too early to conclude, Varian wasn't too worried.
Because while the idea to drop off Kyle and Maya at a safe location was his, the one who decided the location was the frustrated woman in front of him.
"They keep calling me and you know, the marshals are all asking for a deep inves—"
Varian ignored her words and glanced at her with a smile.
Blue Flash was the one who picked Edwina as the safe haven. She did plenty of background checks already and in her own words. 'Even when most of the shadow guardians were against Enigma, Edwina was standing firmly with us. I can entrust my son's life to her.'
Varian decided to believe in her. After all, despite not being a mom who can spend time with her son, she did care about his safety.
'Well, I did run background checks on Edwina.' Varian did it without Blue Flash's knowledge.
Even though he trusted Blue Flash's competence and intent, he had to be sure. So, not only did he run to dig up Edwina's past but also gave her an open favor along with a covert threat.
'I…feel bad.' Varian sighed deeply and covered his face.
Because of him, the lives of people closest to him were thrown into chaos. In the foreseeable future, they wouldn't be able to return to their normal life.
'No. Until I can crush Julius, he can always target them.' Varian felt worse, realizing that it might actually take long.
Even for him, reaching the Sovereign state wasn't easy.
But there was almost a cross-dimension level difference between others and him.
While everyone else would think 'Can I reach a Sovereign state?', few were confident. Even they knew it'd take many decades.
'How many months?'
That was Varian's thought. If anyone, even the frustrated Blue Flash knew his thoughts, she'd drop everything at hand and start beating him up.
'Months? What months? It takes a lifetime and we still aren't sure!'
But of course, Varian was Varian.
'Status'
[Body Path Level 6: 2/6
Space Path Level 6: 3/6
Lightning Path Level 6: 2/6
Morpher Path Level 6: 2/6
Telepath Path Level 6: 2/6 (+2)
Telekinetic Path Level 6: 1/6 (+1)
Water Path Level 5: 0/2000 (advanced)]
Varian noted the changes and nodded to himself. The torture on Dr. Thomas was also an exercise for him.
He had to be careful with the amount of force he was using and how he was using it. For the same reason, the telekinetic path also improved.
'Sarah helped me advance in the water path.' Varian's lips curled up. 'She taught and fought me until I advanced.'
But his smile vanished as he recalled her little, but strange cues.
When she congratulated him, Sarah was genuinely happy. He could feel it. But along with the happiness, there was another emotion.
…Fear.
'What is she scared of?' Varian didn't understand. 'My increasing strength won't bring her any harm, then why…'
Due to his almost perfect memory, he recalled her face.
She had a bright smile on her face as she congratulated him, but her eyes… were filled with anxiety and fear.
'…Could it be because of Sia?' Varian felt it might be the case. The stronger he was, the closer he was to reaching Sia.
That meant—
"Hey!"
The loud call shook Varian out of his thinking. "Yes?"
"Are you listening at all?" Blue Flash placed her arms on her hips and leaned forward.
She looked like a frustrated housewife who wanted to rant about her daily problems.
Varian would've been fine if that was the case. But the problems she talked about were federation-level and something he currently couldn't bother with.
"I'm totally listening," Varian said with a face so full of honesty that he put even the real honest people to shame.
"Oh really?" Blue Flash smiled, her smile wasn't so kind. "What was my mission again?"
"Investigate the Xanders, find out the crucial information about the gamma potion and control the public sentiments," Varian said with a confident face.
"You…" Blue Flash opened her mouth in shock.
'How did he?' She was pretty sure he wasn't listening.
Varian snickered at her reaction while inwardly thanked his cute ghost. Boo was listening to everything through his comm.
'Thanks, Boo. You deserve a million simps.'
'Hehe. Then I will simp for you, master.'
'What? Just don't!'
"….Yes. So, I have to go back to Athena group." Blue Flash sighed in exasperation. Her shoulders slumped as she collapsed next to Varian. If she wasn't this frustrated, she'd thought of Boo's role instantly.
With the intention to console her, Varian patted her shoulder lightly. "That's your main job, though."
"…" Blue Flash glared at him.
"What?" Varian shrugged with an innocent expression.
"…I'm worried." Blue Flash collapsed on the sofa like a hollowed balloon. "They are all newbies. Even though the old guys on our side returned, they are only a few of them. I'm afraid they can't the newbies do simple missions."
"He'll train them well, don't worry," Varian assured her. "He is a lazy man himself, but he makes everyone else sweat till the last drop."
'Sweat more during peace and bleed less during the war.' Those words were his justifications.
Blue Flash stared at him for a while before nodding. "He's the best choice we have."
"Well then." Blue Flash sighed and her body disappeared before appearing at the ghost ship's exit.
Varian also teleported after her.
Blue Flash stared into Varian's eyes intensely and said. "I am really awaiting our next meeting."
With those words, she jumped out.