In the end, Lei Ting practically fled in disarray. There was no helping it; he simply couldn't handle the man. By comparison, he would rather wrestle with a United Mecha or make repeated attempts to manipulate biological neural potentials with his ability, even though he knew his power lacked that level of precision for now.
Speaking of which, if he could one day manipulate metallic elements at the atomic level, perhaps the "Metal Manipulation" aspect of his "Solaris" ability could be renamed "Atomic Mastery." By then, all things would hold no secrets from him...
...No. Lei Ting thought. Even if that day came, he would likely still find it difficult to figure out what Ernan Valen was thinking.
The young man let out a frustrated sigh.
He didn't think Valen liked him; he felt Valen was merely making an "early investment," as he wasn't narcissistic enough to believe everyone would fall in love with him. The man was well-traveled, psychologically stable, and a Beta who wouldn't be influenced by pheromones—no, he seriously suspected that even if the man were an Omega, he wouldn't be swayed by pheromones.
In short, Ernan Valen had no reason to be interested in him personally. And he himself only felt that the man was... attractive, rather than truly being in love with him...
...Probably.
...Besides, their first few meetings were just normal business transactions. Now his attitude had suddenly changed? Was that logical? How was that possible?
That change in attitude had started back on the ship, and it had nothing to do with Lei Ting pulling Valen out of harm's way during the crisis!
Faced with such an abrupt shift, Lei Ting couldn't find a shred of rationality in it. Therefore, he refused to face the bouquet Valen had tossed his way, even if it was indeed full of temptation.
The chaos of the future was worrying, and he had more important things to do. He had no time to play emotional games with anyone, nor did he ever feel that romance was a necessity.
As for just "playing around" with the man, that was also impossible. Lei Ting didn't like doing that. After all, toying with emotions was like crumbling a mung bean cake. It smelled fragrant and tasted sweet, but if you wanted to get every last bit, you had to bow your head and lick it up.
He was not one to bow his head, nor did he want to toy with anyone's feelings.
Because if he wanted to "have" something, he would have it all.
Inside the transport sphere, the black-haired youth sat upright with his hands clasped, staring blankly at a piece of metallic calcium that was constantly changing shape before his eyes.
Straight lines, curves, a tangled mess... finally, the silver-bright metal returned to a cube.
He suddenly pulled up his communication interface, clicked on Valen's contact, and sent a message:
【Next time you want to find someone to amuse you, I suggest you pick a different target.】
Within a few breaths, the other party sent back a reply: 【Don't you think someone who looks overly serious is more fun to tease?】
Lei Ting: "?"
The corner of Lei Ting's mouth twitched.
—As expected, this guy... just wanted to see him lose his composure!! What kind of twisted sense of humor was that!
He didn't know whether to laugh or cry, but he relaxed slightly, leaning back and letting out a soft breath.
This made him appear as though he had let go of a sliver of worry or something else. But even he didn't know why his heart had been in his throat just moments ago, or why he now felt something unknown quietly surging in his chest.
...
A short while later, Lei Ting, carrying his precious luggage, walked alone into the lobby of the Central Police Department of this district.
There were many people here. As soon as he entered, he felt more than one gaze fixed upon him. However, the gazes didn't come from the colorful crowd, but from the guard drones floating in the corners of the ceiling.
Presumably, those things doubled as surveillance, and someone was watching him from behind the scenes right now.
Lei Ting looked up at a drone and gave a polite wave.
"He noticed us." In an inconspicuous office, one of several people gathered around a surveillance projection exclaimed in surprise. "According to the files, he's only eighteen this year, right?"
"You should say he only turned eighteen today," another whispered. "He hasn't even finished his growth and development period..."
—Although the people of Orion, like the original humans of Earth, began to bear legal responsibility as "adults" at eighteen, their growth and development period wouldn't truly end until age twenty-three at the latest.
At eighteen, Lei Ting had only just begun his growth spurt.
"Eighteen years old, Alpha, First Military Academy, Super-powered Mecha Department, Double S..." The few people slowly looked at each other. "...Who's going down to bring him up?"
"I'll go," said the person sitting at the head of the conference table.
It was a beautiful woman dressed in a police uniform, her expression serious as she closed the data pad in her hand and stood up.
"It's a good chance for me to see for myself..." she said in a deep voice. "Just what kind of rising star is this person, whom the Headmaster considers to have even more potential than 'Starstream'!"
***
In a corner of a commercial district on the Third Planet, in an office upstairs at the small company "Far-Light Fine Materials," Ernan Valen stood with a humble expression, head bowed as he reported all his work results for the past year.
Then, as expected, he was scolded.
"A whole year, and your regular customers can be counted on one hand?" A data pad was slammed onto the desk in front of Valen with a *thwack!* "Ernan Valen, what have you been doing!"
"I am very sorry, very sorry. Please give me another chance..."
Valen had completely lost the relaxed air he had shown in front of Lei Ting. He bowed and apologized repeatedly, making no attempt to defend the fact that almost no one on the *Solaris* would buy those raw materials.
After all, the head office had been well aware of this fact from the start. The shop on the *Solaris* wasn't opened to make money, but to establish a connection with that school to enhance the company's prestige. It would be even better if they could get in touch with the faculty or the Headmaster himself... and even if none of that happened, they should at least build relationships with some promising students!
"I am very sorry," the weary-faced black-haired man said hoarsely.
The other man naturally wouldn't let him off so easily. After a few more angry curses, he waved his hand. "Fine, get out."
Valen thanked him repeatedly and gave a subtle compliment before leaving with silent steps. But just as he reached for the office door, this superior—who wasn't even his direct boss—suddenly instructed calmly, "Go get ready. You're going to accompany an important client to dinner later."
...It was almost time to get off work, and he had only just returned from a long journey.
The corner of Valen's eye twitched. He turned back and replied without a change in expression, "Yes, General Manager. Thank you for your trust. May I ask who the client is...?"
—Although the man was only a *Deputy* General Manager, if Valen dared to include the word "Deputy" when addressing him, he'd surely be given a hard time later.
Regarding this question, the Deputy General Manager, who had been eyeing Valen's appearance and physique, gave a snorting laugh.
"The big boss of Kang Pharmaceuticals, Essen-Gale Kang. He's the older brother of the famous 'Starstream' from back then—someone you could never afford to offend in your life," he said. "Someone else is hosting him this time; we're just tagging along. You just need to be a piece of decoration on the side."
"..."
In an instant, a universe of thoughts flashed through Ernan Evenhyre Starstream Valen's mind, as he subtly recalled the scenes of his younger self pinning his older brother to the ground and beating him up.
"............" He remained silent for a moment, then responded with a straight face, "...Understood. In that case, I will go and prepare."
"Clean yourself up well. In a setting like that, your looks are the only thing you have going for you," the Deputy General Manager waved him off. "By the way, give me the full record files tomorrow."
"Although there is work from the Project Department that requires my cooperation tomorrow, I will do my best." Valen bowed compliantly and backed out of the office.
A while later, he returned to his own supervisor's office. Upon opening the door, he saw someone sitting inside—his direct superior, a manager one level higher than him.
He wasn't surprised by this, only saying, "By rights, I should have gone to your office."
"But matters related to the *Solaris* are indeed important enough for me to have a reason to come to yours, aren't they?" The other man smiled and crossed his legs, asking casually, "Though I don't know what method you used to get on board... but that giant ship, isn't it beautiful?"
"Indeed," Valen nodded as he took off his coat and hung it by the door. "It lives up to its reputation."
—The importance of the *Solaris* far outweighed almost all other work content; he knew this better than anyone.
The Deputy General Manager's earlier fuss about the unsold goods was merely a way to make it more "legitimate" for his own people to swoop in and claim the credit, which was exactly as Valen had expected.
To that end, he hadn't recorded Lei Ting in the customer list from the very beginning.
With the help of "Pacific," no one could learn from the surveillance that Lei Ting had visited that shop. All of his purchase records had been surreptitiously transferred to the Headmaster and the Logistics Director. After all, it wouldn't be surprising for either of them to buy anything.
Of course, this wasn't to hide Lei Ting's ability or to protect him, but to prevent anyone from guessing what metals Lei Ting was carrying.
His ability couldn't be hidden no matter what. Firstly, every class at the Academy indeed had military spies enrolled, and secondly...
Secondly, this guy was simply too strong, and his rate of progress was too fast. He didn't need a method of protection that might not even stay hidden for long.
Only the weak needed to hide; the strong only needed to grandly display themselves to the starry sky and then crush all malice.
In any case, while his ability was high-risk, it wasn't *that* high-risk. It wasn't naturally terrifying like some of the extremely high-risk abilities that had appeared in the past.
"Triggering the birth of a black hole," "Selecting a target with specific information to inevitably die with oneself," "Lowering the intelligence of all living beings within range," "Accelerating the flow of time within range," "Shattering space," "Taking over the body of whoever kills you"... these were all abilities of Double S-rank espers that had appeared in the past. And if one wanted to find a person with a normal mind and stable spirit among beings with those abilities, one could barely find half a person out of ten.
And that half was usually a split personality.
By comparison, Lei Ting, this Double S, was truly safe, stable, and healthy. Everyone felt at ease looking at him...
Although this also meant he would face more assassinations and threats than those people in the past, it didn't matter. As long as the Federation could stall for time until he passed his growth period, everything would be resolved.
As for Valen, his cooperation with the Headmaster's intent to hide all this from the outside world... naturally had his own reasons.
"Has the news been sent back?" he asked casually. "What did the higher-ups say about the appearance of a 'Double S'?"
"That's exactly why I'm here." The manager stood up, his face grave. "Ernan Valen, the higher-ups require you to get close to him. After gaining his trust, wait for further instructions. Although I don't know why the higher-ups think you can accomplish this, good luck."
—Although the grassroots staff of this company had basically been replaced by their own people, Valen was still the only one who frequently received direct instructions from superiors and was allowed to contact different handlers simultaneously.
The manager knew this man's identity was certainly not simple, but he wisely never asked. He only sincerely wished him luck every time.
"Mm-hmm... thank you for the blessing." Valen shrugged. "And, regarding what you said, I'm already doing it. Furthermore, it's been quite effective."
***
**Glossary**
Chinese | English | Notes/Explanation
---|---|---
原子掌握 | Atomic Mastery | A potential evolution of Lei Ting's metal manipulation ability.
远光良材 | Far-Light Fine Materials | The company Valen works for as a cover.
埃森迦尔·康 | Essen-Gale Kang | The older brother of "Starstream" and a high-ranking figure in Kang Pharmaceuticals.
太平洋 | Pacific | Likely an AI or a secret organization assisting Valen.
埃南·伊文海勒·星流·瓦伦 | Ernan Evenhyre Starstream Valen | Valen's full name, revealing his connection to "Starstream."
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