"Yanan is acceptable," Elizabeth said after a moment of consideration. "She has the right temperament and enough medical background to understand biological concepts."
"But if you seriously send Elsa and Emma to my laboratory—" she fixed Elric with a pointed stare, "—do you honestly expect me to conduct experiments in peace? Or should I plan to mediate their constant fighting instead of doing actual research?"
Elric paused.
"That's... actually a valid point."
Elsa and Emma were fundamentally like oil and fire—completely incompatible personalities that reacted explosively when forced into proximity.
And Elsa, in particular, seemed to genuinely enjoy stirring up trouble wherever she went, creating drama and tension as if it were a recreational activity.
Letting those two stay together in a confined laboratory space for extended periods would almost certainly end with delicate experiments turning into full-scale verbal warfare and possibly physical confrontation.
Productivity would be nonexistent.
"You can help me recruit a few qualified PhD researchers instead," Elizabeth continued pragmatically. "Female doctoral candidates with relevant specializations. With capable assistants who understand scientific methodology, my experimental progress will increase dramatically rather than being hindered."
"Alright," Elric agreed without hesitation, already mentally cataloging possibilities.
Not long after concluding his conversation with Elizabeth, Elric left her laboratory and walked purposefully through the residential building's corridors toward a sealed room in the restricted wing.
Inside that particular room, isolated from the others, the blue-haired girl Mia was still being held under guard.
That's right—Elric hadn't paid her any direct attention over the past two days, deliberately letting her stew in uncertainty and fear.
According to Grace's regular reports, Mia still hadn't fully given up her psychological resistance or accepted reality. She continued clinging to hope of rescue or escape.
So today, Elric had finally decided to speak with her again personally and resolve the situation one way or another.
Click.
The door's electronic lock disengaged with a soft sound.
Elric stepped inside calmly, closing it behind him.
The moment Mia saw him enter, she immediately jumped off the bed where she'd been sitting and retreated defensively into the far corner of the room, panic flooding her delicate features.
"Please... sir," her voice trembled with barely controlled fear. "Please listen to reason."
She pressed herself against the wall as if she could somehow phase through it.
"My mother is the founder of Junlane Sanctuary—one of the largest organized shelters in this region. She commands hundreds of people, controls significant resources and territory."
Mia's words came faster, more desperate.
"She may not be as personally strong as you are, but if you let me go peacefully—can't we just consider this the beginning of a friendly diplomatic relationship? An alliance between powers?"
Even now, after days of imprisonment, Mia still desperately clung to her last psychological lifeline.
Her mother. Her powerful, influential mother who commanded respect and fear.
She genuinely believed her family background still carried meaningful weight, that her mother's position made her untouchable.
Unfortunately for her naive hopes—
Elric didn't care about there influence in the slightest. They were insects compared to his growing power.
The parasitic threads he'd left dormant in her nervous system suddenly tightened.
Mia lost complete control of her body instantly, limbs locking in place.
"W–wooo..." Muffled sounds escaped her throat as tears welled up in her frightened eyes.
But fear and tears couldn't change what was inevitable.
Just as Elric took a step forward—
Voices suddenly echoed through the Heart Network directly into his consciousness, sharp and urgent.
Elric's expression immediately darkened with irritation.
"What is it?" he projected back through the psychic link, tone cold and clipped.
He absolutely did not appreciate being interrupted at critical moments like this.
Natasha's voice came through the connection, cautious but professionally composed despite the situation.
"Honey... something unexpected happened that you probably need to personally decide how to handle."
She paused briefly before continuing.
"Just now—Junlane Sanctuary's director and founder, personally led an armed team directly to Star God Sanctuary's perimeter."
"She's demanding an immediate audience. Says she's here to take back her daughter—Mia—and won't leave without her."
Elric glanced down at Mia, genuine surprise flickering across his features.
So... her mother actually came. The woman had real maternal devotion after all.
"And?" he asked calmly through the Heart Network, unfazed. "Can't you handle one shelter director?"
With Natasha and Grace's current combined combat strength—Magma Fruit and Ice Fruit working in coordination—dealing with a mere shelter leader shouldn't pose any difficulty whatsoever.
Natasha hesitated noticeably before answering, which was unusual for her typically decisive nature.
"It's not that we can't deal with her militarily if it comes to combat."
"It's that... Laura lane isn't someone we believe you'd want us to casually hurt or antagonize."
Another pause, more meaningful this time.
"From what we can observe at close range—she definitely meets your standards. Possibly high-tier standards."
"We were worried that if we acted too aggressively or roughly during confrontation, we might damage or traumatize... potential valuable assets you'd want to acquire intact."
"So for now, we're maintaining dialogue. Talking rather than fighting."
"Trying to verbally persuade her to voluntarily join our family instead of escalating to violence."
Elric blinked, processing this unexpected information.
Then his lips gradually curved into a slow, predatory smile of genuine amusement.
"Oh?"
"So... Laura Lane is actually a beauty herself?"
He hadn't expected that development.
From Mia's various comments over the past days, her mother should already be over forty years old—potentially mid-forties, even.
Elric glanced back at Mia, whose face had gone completely pale as she processed what little she could hear of the one-sided conversation.
The blue-haired girl's last hope was crumbling visibly.
Interesting, Elric thought with dark satisfaction. Very interesting indeed.
Since Mia was still stubbornly clinging to the naive illusion that Laura Lane would somehow heroically arrive and rescue her from captivity...
Elric decided there was absolutely no reason to drag out this tedious situation any longer.
If the mother insisted on personally coming to his territory, making demands—
Then he would simply take them both. Mother and daughter. A complete set.
Once Laura Lane fell into his hands and accepted reality, Mia would finally understand her true position with perfect clarity.
No more delusions. No more false hope.
With that thought crystallizing in his mind, Elric glanced once more at Mia with complete indifference, turned around smoothly, and headed out of the room.
Time to greet his guest personally.
Outside the Ginkgo Community
At a major intersection near the residential community's defensive perimeter, two distinct forces were locked in an increasingly tense standoff that could explode into violence at any moment.
On one side stood the representatives of Star God Sanctuary.
Positioned at the front were Natasha, Grace, Emma, Lily, and several other core members of Elric's inner circle. Their posture radiated calm confidence and quiet aggression—women who knew they held overwhelming advantages.
On the opposite side stood the delegation from Junlane Sanctuary.
Around twenty to thirty armed individuals formed a defensive semicircle formation. Among them were several familiar faces—men carrying military-grade rifles with professional bearing, along with the red-haired woman Elric had encountered before during the initial raid.
And standing prominently at the very front of Junlane's formation—
Was Laura Lane herself.
She stood at approximately five-foot-eight, her posture militarily straight. She wore a crisp white blouse that somehow remained clean despite apocalyptic conditions, tailored black slacks that emphasized her maintained figure, and striking red high heels that clicked sharply against the cracked pavement with each subtle movement.
Her gray-blue curls framed a face that looked carefully sculpted rather than naturally aged—remarkably smooth skin despite her years, sharp intelligent eyes that missed nothing, elegant bone structure that genetics and good health had preserved.
At first casual glance, she genuinely looked no older than her early thirties—perhaps thirty-five at most.
But anyone who actually met her penetrating gaze could immediately tell the truth.
This was a woman who had survived genuine hardship, commanded difficult people, and endured circumstances that would have broken weaker individuals.
That hard-won experience didn't diminish her striking beauty at all.
If anything, it enhanced it—adding gravitas, presence, authority that pure youth could never replicate.
Laura Lane, co-founder of Junlane Sanctuary and its current de facto leader. Mia's mother.
She hadn't slept properly for four consecutive days.
Four days earlier, she had sent her most trusted and capable subordinate—to retrieve her daughter from what should have been a routine extraction.
On the return journey, the team had planned to conduct a standard supply trade with a smaller allied group.
Instead of a simple transaction—
The trade goods were violently stolen. The precious physical-enhancement fruit was forcibly seized. Several team members were injured.
And worst of all—her daughter Mia was taken captive by unknown forces.
Mia was Laura's only remaining family left alive in this entire devastated world. Her sole reason for continuing to fight and build despite everything.
When Laura finally learned—after exhausting every information channel and calling in every favor she possessed—that Mia had been taken by the mysterious man who controlled Star God Sanctuary, she had wasted absolutely no time on further investigation.
Today, she had personally led her most elite combat team straight into Star God territory, prepared for confrontation.
She wanted one thing and one thing only.
Her daughter back. Unharmed.
But what she never expected—what shocked her to the core—
Was the response she received from Star God's representatives.
Not only did the women of Star God Sanctuary refuse her reasonable demand outright with casual dismissal...
They calmly, seriously suggested that she herself should willingly "offer herself" to their husband as compensation.
That insulting suggestion alone nearly ignited there entire armed team into immediate violence.
Multiple faces flushed deep red with barely controlled fury. Hands tightened on weapons. Several people took aggressive steps forward before being restrained.
To them, this was blatant, intolerable humiliation of their respected leader.
As for Laura Lane herself—
Despite maintaining her carefully practiced external composure, her chest physically tightened with genuine shock and restrained anger.
Being spoken to like this—propositioned like some commodity by women half her age who should show basic respect—was not something she had ever experienced in her entire adult life.
Not before the apocalypse. Certainly not after.
Natasha crossed her arms and spoke with infuriating calmness, as if discussing weather rather than making an outrageous demand.
"Director Lane, please think rationally about this situation."
"As long as you submit willingly to our husband and accept your proper place, today's entire incident can be completely forgiven and forgotten."
"Mia will be returned unharmed. Relations between our shelters can be normalized."
Grace smirked slightly and added her own comment, tone dripping with condescension.
"That's absolutely right. Once you belong to him properly, we're all family."
"No one here will have any reason to harm you or your daughter. Everyone benefits."
Emma laughed softly, her voice carrying dark amusement.
"Honestly, Director Lane, you should think very carefully about this generous offer while you still have the choice."
She glanced meaningfully at the others.
"Because if our husband arrives here personally to handle this situation himself..."
Emma's smile widened.
"...you might end up agreeing to exactly the same terms anyway. Just with less dignity and more... persuasion involved."
The women weren't bluffing or exaggerating for intimidation effect.
They were genuinely competing—with each other, internally.
Competing for contribution points. For favoritism and recognition. For those precious Slippery Fruits that could elevate their positions.
Successfully recruiting Laura Lane would be an enormous prize worth substantial rewards.
Laura's expression darkened dangerously at the continued disrespect.
Someone from Junlane Sanctuary's formation stepped forward aggressively, unable to contain their outrage any longer.
"This is completely outrageous—!"
"How dare you speak to Director Lane with such—"
But Laura raised one hand sharply, cutting off the protest.
Immediate silence followed her gesture.
She stared directly at Natasha and the other Star God representatives, her jaw visibly tight with controlled anger.
"So this is how Star God Sanctuary operates now," she said quietly, voice cold as winter ice. "This is your idea of diplomacy and negotiation."
"I believed we could resolve this situation peacefully, as reasonable leaders."
She exhaled slowly.
"In times like these, with humanity already on the edge of extinction... it seems I was pathetically naïve to expect civilized behavior."
Laura's eyes sharpened like blades.
"Today—if you do not immediately and unconditionally hand over my daughter—"
Her voice dropped to a lethal whisper that somehow carried perfect clarity.
"Then there is absolutely no reason for Star God Sanctuary to continue existing as an organization."
She raised her hand sharply in a prearranged signal.
"Move. Now."
Behind her, Junlane Sanctuary's armed personnel immediately surged forward in trained formation, weapons raised.
Laura Lane had genuine confidence in this confrontation.
Her people were professionally trained by former military personnel. Well-armed with scavenged police and military equipment. Battle-hardened through months of desperate survival combat.
Star God Sanctuary was comparatively young—barely established, from intelligence reports.
New. Inexperienced. Probably overconfident from early easy victories.
She absolutely did not believe—
That it could successfully stand against Junlane Sanctuary's full concentrated force in direct combat.
There is 70 chapter Advance, in my patreon. If you are interested can check it out.
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