Javier let out a sigh of relief, finally feeling at ease. It was truly not easy to bring this girl home. With another super strong combatant, Javier felt like his organization was almost comparable to the protagonist's team.
"Ha... Javier?"
"Forget it, I'll just call you Mr. Javier!"
Manuela, upon hearing Javier's request, immediately shook her head and refused, replying with a somewhat unnatural expression.
After all, Havier Li shared the same name as her father, Javier Idalgo. Calling him that occasionally was fine, but too often made Manuela feel extremely strange, so it was better to give up—
However, Javier didn't mind.
It was a happy reunion; how this girl addressed him didn't matter anymore.
After the helicopter arrived at the government building in Colombia, Javier secretly took Manuela and Rebecca on the last flight from Colombia to the United States. Leon and Krauser stayed behind temporarily to handle the aftermath and would return a little later.
The plane departed at 11 PM.
By late afternoon the next day, Javier and the two girls slowly arrived in the United States. They disembarked at the airport and called Catherine, the hidden rich heiress, to send someone to pick them up.
It was almost 8 PM when Javier finally returned to the wealthy residential villa with Manuela and Rebecca.
And the one who came out to greet them was Lisa—
As always, she wore a white lab coat over a black uniform, red-rimmed glasses, and a neat ponytail, looking as if she had just emerged from the underground Laboratory. Her dark red eyes narrowed slightly as they swept over Rebecca and Manuela, as if she was contemplating something.
After all, there was nothing that could be done about it.
Seeing Javier suddenly bring two unfamiliar women home, any woman would be surprised. But Lisa, at this moment, had mastered the art of palace intrigue and was not at all startled by the sudden situation. She quickly became composed again.
This bizarre situation...
It sent shivers down Javier's spine.
It was better for her to be angry; not being angry actually made Javier feel a chill. Rebecca, beside him, also watched Lisa with wary eyes.
To be honest...
The two had only met once at the Mansion Villa.
At that time, Lisa was still dressed in coarse cloth, with disheveled hair, wearing shackles, and looking like a monster with a human-skin face and a large head. But now that Lisa had evolved and transformed so much, Rebecca couldn't recognize her at all.
But Javier actually allowed a woman to live with him, which meant... was this woman his type?
A white lab coat... hmm, the same type as herself, she was also a researcher. Red-rimmed glasses? Hmph... even the attributes were the same.
But long hair in a ponytail, Rebecca herself had short hair. However, their temperaments were both capable, no big difference. Hmm... chest size, uh... slightly inferior, but it didn't matter, Rebecca felt she still had room for development.
If that was the case,
Their previous gap didn't seem to be very large?
Looking at her opponent, Rebecca clenched her fist and muttered to herself. Lisa, on the other hand, rolled her eyes at Rebecca. This flat-chested girl didn't seem to be her opponent, and her aura was too childish. She probably wasn't Javier's type.
"As for this one..."
"Is this the T-Veronica Virus infected body you mentioned? She is indeed very special. I can feel that the power within her is the same as Alexia's, but it's not as stable. It's as if something neutralized the virus's power, completing the fusion too early?"
With just a glance at Manuela, who was hiding behind Javier, Lisa saw through the secret.
This girl had been getting stronger and stronger ever since she consumed the T-Veronica Virus with the G Virus, but her personality had also become increasingly strange, leaving Javier a bit puzzled.
"Yes,"
"That's right. She will likely become one of us. Cough, cough... of course, not in the way you're imagining, Lisa. She shares your plight, and her parents have also passed away. I hope you can help take care of her."
"Help Manuela stabilize the T-Veronica Virus in her body, and of course Rebecca. I'd like to hire you to be Manuela's attending physician for now, to carefully observe Manuela's physical condition."
As the saying goes, three women are a drama.
Javier's home already had an unknown number of women, and Javier understood how dangerous this behavior was.
But there was no other way. Javier still wanted Lisa and Rebecca to help Manuela, as this girl's physical condition had always been the most serious problem.
"Alright,"
"If it's your wish, and I can't stand by and watch a fellow infected person die. However... Javier, it's almost nine o'clock. Aren't you really in a hurry?"
"You're already late. If that girl Sherry sees that you didn't attend her school's evening party, she'll probably throw a tantrum when you get back!"
Just when Javier thought Lisa was about to explode,
To his surprise, Lisa accepted it with a calm expression. Her indifferent demeanor made Javier feel like he had seen a ghost.
What the heck? When did this girl become so mature? How many twisted ideas did that old woman Alexia instill in Lisa while he was away?!
However,
When Javier heard the latter part of the conversation,
A sharp shriek from Javier immediately echoed through the wealthy residential villa. Damn it! He almost forgot about that!
He had promised Sherry before he left a few days ago that he would attend her school's evening party as a parent/guardian, and today was that very date. The party was supposed to start around 8 PM, but it was already 9 PM?!
"Oh no..."
"I'm doomed——————!!!!"
PS: I hate overtime. I'll endure for two more months, then I'm quitting and slacking off.
Volume 6: Birth Four / Village
Legend has it that in the distant Wolf's Valley of Spain,
There is an interesting story passed down through generations.
In the distant 15th century, within the territory of Wolf's Valley, lived a remarkable noble family, the Salazar Family. They were the land lords of the Wolf's Valley region.
Because they often helped and cared for the local villagers, they were deeply loved by them, and under the leadership of these virtuous noble lords, they always lived a prosperous life.
Every year, as autumn harvest approached,
They always reaped abundant wheat and ripe fruits, as well as fat and strong cattle and sheep. These bountiful harvests made the local villagers very happy and content.
Therefore, gradually, to celebrate the autumn harvest season, the villagers often held harvest festivals.
Besides thanking heaven for bestowing upon them a fulfilling life of food and warmth, they also thanked the wise actions of their local lord, who often led them on the path to prosperity, and at the same time... gave them corresponding rewards and encouragement for their hard work.
The villagers began the festival party in the evening, lighting bonfires in the center of the village. Large quantities of wheat bread and fruit mead were brought to the tables, and golden, crispy roasted whole lambs were being grilled by the bonfire, among other things. The mouth-watering aroma of pork and beef permeated the entire village.
Every villager held hands, dancing gracefully under the brilliant sparks of the bonfire, humming local folk songs, their faces beaming with happy smiles, fully enjoying the fruits of a year's hard labor today—
This was an annual event specifically held by the villagers of Wolf's Valley.
It was also the day every villager looked forward to most in their ordinary lives...
However,
Whenever this time came,
Just as the villagers were immersed in joy, a group of uninvited guests would disturb them from outside the village.
They were a group of black-robed believers, led by a preacher named Sadler. The flag they held high bore the symbol of The Illuminados, and they were all followers of The Illuminados.
This group was the most unwelcome religious group in Wolf's Valley. Not only were they idle and had nothing to do on weekdays, but they also often used the name of preaching to defraud money from some nobles or foolish people who believed their slander.
And the most annoying thing was that whenever the harvest festival party began, this group of annoying black-robed preachers would appear and disturb their enjoyment of the harvest festival party.
However, because the villagers had abundant harvests year-round,
They had endless wheat bread to eat, refreshing fruit mead in summer, and stored pork, lamb, and beef in winter. They even had very warm sheepskin coats to wear, which led to a consistently high happiness index among the villagers of Wolf's Valley.
They never prayed or believed in any so-called deities; they only focused their energy on working. The more they worked, the more wheat bread they could eat.
As a result, Sadler, this preacher of The Illuminados, no matter how much he vigorously promoted The Illuminados and tried to enlighten these foolish villagers, the lost sheep who accepted enlightenment remained few and far between.
Including the few black-robed believers around him,
They were all homeless people picked up by the Sadler Family on the road, on the verge of starvation...
Therefore, the Sadler Family, who had always been unable to expand The Illuminados and attract a large number of followers, felt extremely angry and enraged by this—
And this situation,
Only changed one day.
Sadler, the leader of The Illuminados, who was still tirelessly preaching everywhere, attempting to become the largest religion in Wolf's Valley,
One day, on his way to preach in the next village, he suddenly saw a strange insect crawling out of the ground.
It was a peculiar insect resembling a cross between a spider and a scorpion.
It was much larger than a palm, had four pairs of slender legs, but no pincers like a scorpion. Its tail was not a stinger but rather tangled, twisted tentacles. Its entire body lacked a hard shell, instead exposing tender flesh. From a distance, it looked like a soft, boneless white worm.
Driven by curiosity,
Sadler, the leader of The Illuminados, reached out his hand, intending to touch the strange insect before him.
But the next second, an anomaly occurred. The insect was incredibly fast, stinging Sadler's finger in an instant. The sudden sharp pain made him cry out, and very quickly... a peculiar object took the opportunity to swiftly burrow into Sadler's mouth.
The leader of The Illuminados clutched his throat, struggling painfully on the ground, but it was ultimately futile. The strange insect successfully entered his body and attached itself, parasitizing his spine.
From then on,
Sadler, the leader of The Illuminados, welcomed his new life, gaining new power. And this strange insect was the Plaga parasite—
An ancient species that lived on Earth in ancient times, but due to a great upheaval on Earth, these ancient Plaga parasites were forced to hide underground. Now, tens of thousands of years later, these ancient species have finally seen the light of day again.
And very fortunately—
The Plaga parasite that parasitized Sadler was not a subordinate type, but a Dominant Plaga. All at once, Sadler not only did not lose his sanity, but also gained strength enhancements from the Plaga parasite, possessing powerful magical abilities comparable to a divine shaman.
Sadler, having obtained the Plaga parasite, was extremely obsessed with it. He led the other followers back to the land where he first encountered the Plaga parasite and ordered the followers to dig down. Sure enough, they found many living Plaga parasites inside.
Due to the Dominant Plaga, Sadler could easily control these subordinate Plaga parasites and manipulate them all to parasitize the bodies of his Illuminados followers, thus gaining the most loyal followers.
Sadler could control these believers, who were parasitized by the Plaga parasite, like a puppeteer manipulating puppets, letting them do his bidding.
And after discovering the power of the Plaga parasite,
Sadler, as the leader of The Illuminados, was ambitious. His gaze immediately turned to the foolish villagers of Wolf's Valley who had once insulted him. With the Plaga parasite, he could wantonly spread The Illuminados throughout Wolf's Valley.
Possessing such a powerful secret treasure,
Sadler regrouped and, with the help of a year of disaster, successfully infiltrated the villages throughout Wolf's Valley again. At that time, droughts and plagues were frequent in various parts of Wolf's Valley.
Not only did the wheat yield nothing, but people were also dying or falling ill. The villagers, who had not experienced such disasters for a long time, fell into a panic.
And at this time,
Sadler, leading the followers of The Illuminados, appeared and began to vigorously promote The Illuminados, claiming that natural and man-made disasters were the will of the gods, and that as long as they believed in The Illuminados and "purified their blood," they would have another year of abundant harvest next time.
Normally, the villagers would not believe such ridiculous claims, but at this time, with natural and man-made disasters converging and people panicking, quite a few foolish villagers still believed Sadler's slander.
They accepted the so-called blood purification, which was to accept the Plaga parasite—
Because the villagers were parasitized by the subordinate Plaga parasite, Sadler ordered these villagers to widely publicize the miraculous power of The Illuminados in the village, causing more and more people to be deluded and all accept Sadler's Plaga parasite.
In an instant,
The followers of The Illuminados in Wolf's Valley rapidly expanded, directly becoming one of the largest religious organizations in the region, and even expanding The Illuminados Castle. Sadler had achieved his ambition.
But the more people there were, the more prominent The Illuminados became, and at the same time, things would become more and more difficult to control...
Because Sadler was the only one with the Dominant Plaga,
While there were hundreds of subordinate Plaga-infected villagers and followers, many of these villagers and followers were spread too far apart for Sadler to manage.
Some villagers who were parasitized by the subordinate Plaga parasite, after being questioned by other villagers, began to lose control, go mad, and bite people.
And such incidents became more and more frequent in Wolf's Valley.
The "madness" incidents began to attract the attention of Gregorio Salazar, the head of the noble Salazar Family, the lord of Wolf's Valley—
As the lord,
Gregorio Salazar had an obligation to manage all matters within his territory, including extreme conditions like "madness." Therefore, Gregorio Salazar ordered his subordinates to thoroughly investigate the matter, and soon after, they found the source of the problem.
It was from strange insects called Plaga that entered people's bodies and made them go mad, and the source of these insects was in the hands of Sadler, the leader of the new religion, The Illuminados, which had recently become prominent in Wolf's Valley.
Using strange insects to control people's minds,
Undoubtedly, this was cult behavior—
The enraged lord of Wolf's Valley, Gregorio Salazar, led his subordinates and knights to The Illuminados, burning all infected and parasitized villagers, Illuminados followers, including Sadler himself, and all the Plaga to ashes, and clearing out The Illuminados Castle that Sadler had built out of vanity!