"Hey, this is Roy Black."
When the satellite phone suddenly rang, Roy thought it was Gerald calling, but to his surprise, it was someone else entirely.
"Roy, it's really you! I knew you'd be okay!"
The excited cheers of several women came through the phone. Roy could hear Penny, Dalia, Amy, and Serena all in the background.
It was Heather calling him. Had Gerald gotten in touch with her?
Back when Roy was in Los Angeles, Gerald had met Heather and Penny a few times, so they definitely knew each other.
"Was it Mr. Orin who told you?"
"Yeah! As soon as we got back to land, Gerald called and said you were fine. He gave us your satellite phone number—Roy, what's that noise?"
What noise? Oh, just the sound of a rolling pin flattening dough!
Roy didn't tell the truth, though. Heather and the others were genuinely worried about him, and he didn't want to spoil their joy.
"Uh, I'm just eating!"
Heather didn't suspect a thing. Everyone knew Roy could eat like a horse, so it wasn't surprising.
"Heather, let me talk to him! I wanna chat with Roy!"
---
Eventually, the phone made its way back to Heather, who seemed to remember something.
"Oh, right, Roy! Mr. Orin said they set out at 4 a.m., but they couldn't get through to you then, so he asked us to let you know."
At 4 a.m., Roy was still underwater playing master fisherman, with his satellite phone tucked away in his inventory. No way he could've answered Gerald's call.
"Got it! Heather, I'm still eating, so let's wrap this up for now. I'll head back to reunite with you all as soon as I can."
"Roy, we love you!" ×5
But while Janice was full, the "cat" she was raising was still hungry, so Roy had to keep working hard.
The only tricky part was that Janice's "cat" acted like it was one second away from starving, gobbling up everything in a frenzy.
Roy tried to reason with her.
"Janice, slow down. There's plenty of time."
Janice, tears streaming down her face, sobbed, "No, there's never enough time, waaah…"
Who cries while eating?
Most women cry after they're full, but Janice doing this made it seem like Roy wasn't doing a good job!
So, Roy decided to make Janice lose all ability to think, so she'd stop worrying about goodbyes or running out of time.
[Ding! Obtained Janice's Conquest Chest! Open it now?]
Looking at the chaotic "battlefield" and a deeply sleeping Janice, her face still streaked with tear marks, Roy couldn't help but think this was one weird fight. It felt a bit like eating stir-fried noodles.
Luckily, Roy's "chicken essence" was top-notch, so Janice wouldn't catch any illness that'd take ten months to recover from.
Patting the fluffy "greedy cat," Roy decided to open the chest.
[Opening Francesca's Conquest Chest…]
[Gained 1 Mental Attribute Point!]
[Gained 1 Willpower Attribute Point!]
As expected, Francesca's chest didn't yield anything great.
Though this Italian woman was stunning with a killer figure, Roy didn't have much of an impression of her, meaning the actress playing her probably wasn't famous.
A beauty like that, if she'd starred in a few big commercial films, Roy would've remembered her better. Either she retired early to get married, or she was an artsy type.
Time to check another chest.
[Opening Antonia Grassa's Fate Chest…]
[Gained 3 Mental Attribute Points!]
[Gained 2 Willpower Attribute Points!]
Still nothing special?
Roy started to wonder if his luck was off today.
Was it because Janice's "greedy cat" wasn't up to par, or were these chests just duds?
Frowning, Roy summoned Francesca from his revolver.
The cursed dual daggers were still with Heather, so Francesca was the only female ghost by his side right now.
When Francesca appeared, her eyes immediately landed on the sleeping Janice. As a seasoned ghost, she knew exactly why she was summoned.
So, Francesca tossed her hair back and prepared to get to work.
"Wait a sec, let me pet the kitty first!"
Francesca gave Roy a playful eye-roll but complied, letting him "wash his hands" with the "kitty."
After washing up, Roy let Francesca "wash his hair" while he continued opening chests.
[Opening the Color Out of Space Fate Chest…]
[Gained 3 Memory Attribute Points!]
[Gained 3 Mental Attribute Points!]
[Obtained Color Out of Space Embryo!]
Finally, something good!
But what's with getting a Color Out of Space from its own chest?
[Color Out of Space Embryo: The Color Out of Space is an incomplete material entity from the cosmos, capable of affecting ecosystems and all life within them through a special energy. Fortunately, this is just an immature embryo.]
So it's an unripe Color Out of Space. Sounds like a plant.
Roy pulled the embryo from his inventory. It was a transparent hollow sphere with colorful substances flowing inside, looking more like a marble than an embryo.
But what was it good for? It seemed like it could only pollute the environment.
Roy wasn't some unethical jerk who'd go around dumping pollutants.
Guess he'd have to store the embryo for now and hope to find a use for it later.
Francesca, looking up in surprise with a muffled voice, asked, "Roy, what's that? It's so pretty!"
"It's a seed from space. Francesca, hush and keep going!"
At that, Francesca focused on her task.
Roy had lost hope for today's chest openings. The last one was Janice's.
Kelly Brook only played roles in low-budget films, so it probably wouldn't yield anything good.
[Opening Janice's Conquest Chest…]
[Gained 1 Strength Attribute Point!]
[Gained 1 Agility Attribute Point!]
As expected, just the bare minimum 2 attribute points. Roy sighed, closed the system panel, and vented his frustration over the lousy chest results on Francesca.
Francesca went all out to please Roy. Honestly, her limits in this department were lower than any of the women around Roy—on par with Lilith.
But since Lilith was using Jennifer's body, she had to consider Jennifer's feelings sometimes.
Francesca, on the other hand, was a ghost who'd fallen hard for Roy and was willing to do anything.
Unlike Sadako or Kayako, who needed Roy's guidance, Francesca just needed a glance from him to get started.
After releasing all his negative energy, Roy lay down to rest.
For the next few days, Janice didn't leave Roy's room. It was basically eat, sleep, eat, sleep. Roy had to go out to grab food and bring it back for her.
Feeding two mouths at once was no easy feat!
Maybe she figured this was her last chance, so she wanted to eat her fill.
As long as she didn't leave Roy's room, this "session" wouldn't end.
It wasn't until Gerald arrived in the area that Janice finally left.
By then, Roy had unlocked every "position" with her, clearing every path—even places Jack never reached.
When Roy saw Jack, he felt a bit awkward, like Jack had turned entirely into the color of forgiveness.
But Jack had no complaints about Roy. After all, Gerald had shown up with an entire carrier strike group to find him.
Talk about a grand entrance. Even Roy hadn't expected Gerald to go that big.
"Let me introduce you. This is Lieutenant General Frank Hammer, commander of the carrier strike group, who'll be assisting FEA with this mission."
Gerald's tone was formal, acting like he barely knew Roy.
In such official settings, it wasn't the place for personal familiarity.
Frank Hammer was a tough-looking military man, probably in his fifties, with a stern demeanor.
"To be precise, we're protecting FEA to complete this mission, Mr. Orin!"
Gerald's face showed a hint of exasperation. This General Hammer didn't seem easy to deal with.
"Nice to meet you, General Hammer."
Roy shook hands with Hammer, who gripped Roy's hand like he was squeezing a stress ball.
What was this about?
Did this old geezer think he could hurt Roy's hand with his nearly 90 Constitution points?
Roy smiled as Hammer strained, veins popping on his neck, but to no avail.
Gerald noticed something was off and quietly asked, "General Hammer?"
Hammer suddenly let go, flashing a stiff smile.
"Haha! No wonder you're the heavyweight boxing champion from this year's Sydney Olympics! When Mr. Orin first mentioned your name, I thought it was just someone with the same name."
Roy's lips twitched. He wanted to say, "Kid, that's not funny."
Hammer's smile faded as he looked at Roy.
"Mr. Black, what's the situation with the drilling platform?"
Roy briefly explained last night's events to Gerald and Hammer, who both frowned.
"An energy-based alien lifeform? Mr. Black, can you tell me how you dealt with it?"
Hammer's eyes bored into Roy.
Roy glanced at Gerald before answering.
"General Hammer, that's personal."
"In matters of national security, there's no such thing as personal!"
Hammer wasn't backing down, determined to get answers.
Roy's brow furrowed.
What was this old man's deal? Why was he picking a fight right off the bat?
Roy wasn't one to take it lying down and glared back.
"General Hammer, are you doubting me?"
As the tension spiked, Gerald quickly stepped in to mediate.
"General Hammer, Mr. Black is with FEA. If there's any investigation, it'll be handled internally."
Gerald subtly implied Hammer was overstepping, which was never a welcome move.
But Gerald's status was lower than Hammer's, who'd arrived with a carrier strike group.
FEA, on the other hand, only brought some FEAR agents from California—not even the full team.
The military tended to be overbearing. After Gerald's subtle jab, Hammer didn't apologize, just snorted and walked off.
"Mr. Orin, what's going on?"
Roy looked at Gerald, annoyed.
This guy's forehead was getting shinier, looking more and more like a certain bald agent. Roy wondered if he should get Gerald to try an eyepatch one day.
Gerald sighed.
"It's complicated. After I reported the drilling platform issue to headquarters, they passed it to the White House. Then the Pentagon got wind of it. They lobbied the President to get involved, and, well, here we are."
Fine, everyone knew the White House leaked like a sieve.
Presidents come and go every four or eight years, but some bureaucrats stay forever.
No need to spell out what choices some people make.
"What a hassle! Mr. Orin, just get me out of here already!"
Gerald gave a wry smile.
To be continued with Janice
-500
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