"Paige, you... you're gonna be late for class..."
The next morning around breakfast time, Mike originally intended to go into the little girl's room to use the computer.
To make studying easier for her, the only computer in the mansion was kept in her room.
But who would have thought that Paige, who was normally never one to sleep in, was still in bed today? In fact, all bundled up in her blanket, she looked incredibly exhausted, as if she hadn't slept at all the night before.
The moment Mike stepped into the room, he caught a faint scent of blood in the air, mixed with another peculiar odor.
Realizing what was going on and wanting to save the girl from embarrassment, he casually backed out of the room as if nothing had happened.
Afterward, Mike called the little maid Carly over and asked her to go into Paige's room to teach the young girl some necessary biological knowledge about growing up.
About ten minutes later, little Paige emerged from the room accompanied by Carly, her face flushed bright red. Looking as if she didn't even dare to meet Mike's eyes, she quickly ducked into the bathroom.
Getting her first period and having Mike be the one to figure it out was undeniably a bit awkward for Paige.
Turning fourteen this year, it seemed the little girl was finally ready to drop the "little" from her title.
...
After breakfast, once Carly drove Paige to school, Mike finally went back to the computer.
Checking his personal inbox, Mike saw the files Father James had sent over.
Just as he suspected, the supernatural events documented by the Church were far more numerous and comprehensive.
A large portion of the files consisted of exorcism records performed by Church members. But there was also a smaller section covering incidents that Mike found genuinely fascinating.
There was a magical remote control that could literally manipulate a person's life, a supernatural ability to hear women's inner thoughts, and even a superpower that physically prevented a person from telling a lie.
What surprised Mike the most was that he even found a record of Mark's "return to youth" incident in the files.
He had to admit, the sheer scale of the Church's intelligence network was far more massive than he had imagined.
After filtering through the extensive list, Mike eventually zeroed in on a "lucky guy" named Nick Marshall.
This was the guy who possessed the ability to hear women's thoughts, and he was currently working at an advertising agency right here in the Big Apple.
Looking at the map, the agency wasn't too far from Wall Street.
"Needy, we're going out~"
Intrigued by the mind-reading ability, Mike decided to go make contact with this Nick guy.
Speaking of Nick Marshall, even in his middle age, he still possessed a handsome face and was highly popular among certain women.
At the same time, thanks to his top-tier social skills, his career at the company was booming. He was right on the verge of being promoted from Senior Designer to Creative Director.
He was practically at the "peak" of his life~
However, right when Nick was riding highest, the big boss suddenly brought in an outside hire for the Creative Director position: Darcy McGuire.
As a woman, Darcy wasn't just stunningly beautiful and highly capable; her professional design skills completely outclassed Nick's at every turn.
Under these circumstances, desperately trying to win back his lost "manhood," Nick had a sudden, wild idea to completely immerse himself in Darcy's mindset.
As Sun Tzu's Art of War says: Know yourself and know your enemy, and you will never be defeated.
So, this middle-aged man didn't just start mimicking Darcy's working style—when he was completely alone, he even started trying on women's clothes and makeup, trying to literally step into her shoes.
For a grown man, this was both incredibly difficult and undeniably "perverted."
However, hard work pays off!
After Nick had "religiously" tested out lipstick, mascara, hair removal cream, face masks, and various other female beauty products to better understand Darcy, his "devotion" seemed to finally "move" God.
Next, right as he was mimicking a woman taking a bubble bath, God blessed him with a nasty electric shock—and simultaneously gifted him the ability to hear women's thoughts.
After that, by constantly eavesdropping on Darcy's inner ideas and passing them off as his own, Nick managed to regain his footing at the company, vaguely reaching a point where he could rival her.
In reality, Nick had no idea that the moment he first acquired the mind-reading ability—and went to consult a psychiatrist because he thought he was going crazy—his bizarre, supernatural symptoms had already caught the Church's attention.
But because Nick's ability wasn't particularly useful to them, the Church simply logged the incident for observation and didn't interfere with his normal life.
As for the deeper reason behind this, Mike had also gotten the answer from Father James.
For "lucky guys" like Nick who suddenly acquired "superpowers," their abilities weren't permanent.
Over time, once these individuals achieved their initial "desire" or resolved their core conflict, God would immediately revoke the power.
And this duration usually wasn't very long. It could be as short as ten days or half a month, and at most, it would never exceed a year.
Therefore, taking various factors into consideration, as long as these temporary superpower recipients didn't pose a massive threat or possess game-changing abilities, the Church generally ignored them.
...
Departing from the mansion, Mike rode in the Tesla Roadster driven by Needy, quickly arriving at the creative ad agency located just a few blocks from Wall Street.
Judging by its scale, Nick's agency was definitely high-end.
"I'm Mike~"
At the agency's front desk, Mike flashed his business card for King's Investments and said, "I'd like to set up a meeting with your boss."
"Right away, Mr. Mike. Please wait a moment while I contact him."
Seeing Mike dressed head-to-toe in designer brands, not to mention the luxury sports car parked outside, the beautiful receptionist was extremely accommodating.
It's worth noting that King's Investments, backed by an initial capital of nearly fifty million dollars, had officially launched its investment operations under Chris's management.
And to help the company maximize its tax write-offs by the end of the year, Chris had already started purchasing luxury goods under Mike's name.
The tailored suit Mike was currently wearing, the luxury watch on his wrist, and even the sports car outside were all essentially bought using tax-deductible funds.
"Welcome to my agency, Mr. Mike. I'm David, the owner..."
It didn't take long for the agency's boss to personally come out to the reception area.
Clearly, the beautiful receptionist had accurately conveyed just how "valuable" Mike's status was.
After exchanging some pleasantries, David escorted Mike—a massive potential client—into his private office.
"So, Mr. Mike, what kind of business brings you to us today?"
After serving two cups of freshly ground coffee, David got straight to the point.
"King's Investments needs a new logo designed. Think your team can handle it?"
Mike didn't beat around the bush.
Running a major ad agency, Boss David's information network was bound to be extensive.
Even on Wall Street, King's Investments wasn't exactly small fry, so David had definitely heard the name before.
"May I ask what your budget is for this project?"
Sure enough, upon hearing the name King's Investments, David's attitude became even more "friendly."
"Between two hundred thousand and two million dollars. Depends entirely on how much your agency can deliver..."
Mike said casually.
Don't let the size of David's ad agency fool you; whether they could even pull in two million dollars in pure net profit a month was highly questionable.
Therefore, Mike absolutely qualified as a "VIP whale."
"Please rest assured, our agency's design capabilities will absolutely not disappoint you."
After making the guarantee, David turned to his secretary and instructed, "Go get Darcy and Nick. Tell them to drop whatever they're doing and get in here right now. Tell them I have a major VIP."
It seemed that to lock down a massive whale like Mike, Boss David was throwing his two absolute "aces" right into the mix.
Of course, this played perfectly into Mike's hands. Nick was the exact guy he was looking for.
Before long, a man and a woman, both dressed in sharp business attire, hurried into the office.
The woman, standing slightly ahead, looked to be in her thirties but still possessed incredible charm. If she were just a few years younger, she'd undoubtedly be a knockout beauty.
The middle-aged man trailing half a step behind her had a glint of ambition in his eyes, an unusually thick head of hair, and was undeniably quite handsome.
This man was exactly Mike's target for today—Nick Marshall.