The banquet finally ended amidst laughter and cheer.
However, after all the relatives had dispersed, Jessica's parents specifically sought out Lucas Reeve to ask about his specific situation.
In other words, a background check.
Generally speaking.
Columbian culture leans towards 'freedom', including freedom in love and marriage.
Under normal circumstances.
Ordinary Columbian parents would not actively interfere in their children's relationships, feeling that as long as their son or daughter was happy, that was all that mattered. Moreover, the concept of family ties in Columbia is not as strong as in Yan or his past life. Generally, many families will kick their children out to live on their own once they become adults.
Parents as concerned as Jessica's, who were like parents from Yan, were very rare in Columbia.
Faced with Jessica's parents' questions, Lucas Reeve naturally couldn't tell the whole truth. Instead, he made up an excuse.
For example...
He was just a child from an 'ordinary family', his parents were ordinary office workers, and he was just an ordinary university graduate. His meeting with Jessica was purely accidental, on an ordinary night.
Jessica's father would naturally not believe such a reply.
Who would believe that?
An ordinary person with that kind of aura?
Whose ordinary family produces someone with an aura like that?
In Jessica's father's eyes, Lucas Reeve's words were just like someone living in a top-tier mansion telling outsiders that they were just an ordinary family, except that maybe their house was a tiny bit bigger than an ordinary person's.
Pure nonsense!
This Lucas Reeve was definitely hiding something from him.
However.
Judging by his daughter's expression, she probably knew Lucas Reeve's origins.
She was unwilling to tell him...
There was only one possibility...
This identity could not be revealed, or she was afraid he wouldn't be able to accept it after it was revealed.
Heh...
Couldn't accept it?
Jessica's father immediately dismissed such a naive thought.
What kind of grand scene hadn't he witnessed? Even if Lucas Reeve's identity was the current Crown Prince of Yan, he could still accept it with ease. What more powerful identity could there be? He couldn't possibly be a god, right?
Jessica's parents were also quite open-minded.
Since their daughter knew and was even actively hiding it from them, he didn't press further. However, before parting, he specifically instructed Lucas Reeve that he must take good care of their daughter.
Franka was a bit drunk.
At first, she hadn't drunk much and was at least conscious. But when several cases of white liquor from Yan appeared on the table, she and Zumama polished off a case. It was a good thing Franka's constitution was much stronger than an ordinary person's. If an ordinary person from Earth had drunk such high-concentration spirits, they would have long since kicked the bucket and met their maker. Only someone like Franka could just barely manage to get drunk, walking with a sway in her step.
Jessica was happy.
She knew her parents' attitude all too well.
Since her father said that, he must have approved of her and Mr. Reeve's relationship. Although... Mr. Reeve hadn't made his stance clear yet, but... Jessica had confidence!!
"Wow~ It's snowing! I want to have a snowball fight!"
Drunk, Zumama showed such a talkative and lively side for the first time. The usual Zumama, though not shy, was not one for many words and rarely initiated conversations. Only when others spoke to her or asked her something would she talk on and on.
But today, after getting drunk, she showed her childish side.
Since Columbia is located in the north, it was perfectly normal for it to snow in December. However, Zumama had grown up in the rainforests of Sargon and had never seen snow in her life. Upon seeing it for the first time, her tipsy face kept shouting about wanting a snowball fight.
Lisa looked up, a trace of melancholy and longing flashing across her cute and delicate face.
*Mom... are you okay in Siracusa? I'm very happy in Columbia right now.*
"Mr. Reeve..."
Jessica suddenly asked.
"Yes."
"This should be the first snowy day we've spent together, right?"
"That's right. But time flies. I remember it was only spring when we first met. I didn't expect more than half a year to have passed in the blink of an eye."
Lucas Reeve looked up at the sky. Flurries of snow slowly drifted down from the heavens. In just a short while, the snowflakes transformed from scattered specks into goose-feather-sized flakes.
Jessica fidgeted, her throat feeling as if something was caught in it. She wanted to speak, but didn't know how.
*Huuu~*
She took a deep breath of the cold air.
Jessica adjusted the scarf around her neck and asked in a low voice.
"Then... on future snowy days, Mr. Reeve... can you spend them with me too?"
As she asked this, Jessica's cheeks flushed crimson, like ripe apples. Her large eyes were watery, a little shy, yet also filled with longing for Lucas Reeve's answer.
Lucas Reeve wasn't surprised. He looked off into the distance, then gently patted Jessica's head, brushing off the snowflakes on her forehead.
"You say that as if we're going to be separated. I'm always by your side."
Just then, a drunk Franka stuck her head between the two of them. The smell of alcohol was distinct on her tipsy little face.
"Hehehe, little cutie Jessica is confessing her love~ How nice~ I've never confessed once in my life. Is this what youth is?"
Franka's voice was loud, causing many people around them to glance over, including many passersby on the street. Many older couples smiled, reminiscing about the beauty of youth.
"Aah!! Senior Franka, stop talking!!"
Lisa stayed at Jessica's house for a few more days, until after the New Year, before returning to Siracusa with Lucas Reeve.
Lisa's training curriculum was basically over. What Lucas Reeve could teach was only this much; the rest depended entirely on her own combat experience. After all, practical combat was often the most important thing. Years of theoretical knowledge were often no match for a few months of hands-on experience.
Perhaps it was because the name "Invisible Ghost" was gradually becoming famous in Siracusa, many former wrongdoers went into hiding or ran far away, afraid of becoming a name on the Ghost's kill list.
After the fall of Wolf Fang.
Only three of the four major Mafia families that could somewhat suppress Sicily remained. Moreover, after Sicily devoured a portion of Wolf Fang's territory and the Raythean Industries Siracusa branch was officially completed, they made a fortune. With money, they naturally didn't lack manpower, and more and more people chose to jump ship and join Sicily.
Furthermore, many of Sicily's Mafia members even had dedicated combat instructors to train them, determined to make them as disciplined as a regular army.
And.
In the commercial war.
The combined forces of the remaining three major Mafia families could only barely manage a stalemate with Sicily, and were even being suppressed.
However, a month later, a crucial trigger became the key for Sicily to take control of all of Siracusa in the future.
The current patriarch of Famiglia Venezia died in the hospital, and the various branches of Famiglia Venezia, which had been united against outsiders, fell into a vortex of power struggles.
Siracusa's legendary assassin, Vulpisfoglia, also appeared that day. Having laid low for several months, Vulpisfoglia assassinated Antonio, a major figure in one of Famiglia Venezia's branches, on the spot. Furthermore, she publicly released records of Antonio' various criminal, profit-making, and heinous activities.
Moreover, Vulpisfoglia seemed to have reached some sort of agreement with the Sicily family.
In any case.
The more chaotic Siracusa became, the more a lot of the local thugs and smaller Mafia gangs became.
Lisa was still young and not as powerful as her mother, so she only operated on the outskirts of Siracusa's core, continuously hunting down evil Mafia members to alleviate some of the pressure on her mother.
Since Lisa had grown quite a bit.
Lucas Reeve gave the soul bead that Little Moti had given him to Lisa, in case a crisis occurred when he wasn't around.
During this time.
Lucas Reeve couldn't possibly be idle.
Having obtained a large amount of materials and resources from the former Wolf Fang research base, including a large chunk of Active Originium, Lucas Reeve's task these days was to work with the High Priest to cut and separate the Active Originium, and then find a way to fuse it into a crystal similar to the one before.
This was a massive undertaking, and relying on just Lucas Reeve and the High Priest was not enough manpower.
But this Active Originium was too dangerous. If anyone else came over, even in protective suits, there would be a risk of infection. Only a spirit like Lucas Reeve and a long-lived species like the High Priest were completely immune. After half a month of separation and extraction, they finally extracted a small piece of Active Originium Crystal. At the High Priest's strong request, Lucas Reeve installed this piece of Active Originium into the medical cart.
According to the High Priest.
"I want to ask you to modify my dear for me."
As for Franka.
She was a woman of her word.
With the encouragement of Liskarm and Jessica.
She...
Actually tried to debut!!
With the resources of Raythean Industries, she easily got into a famous performing arts academy in Columbia, studying alongside a large group of young actors famous in Columbia and around the world.
However...
After just one week.
Franka couldn't take it anymore.
She found that she didn't seem to have the acting talent she had in her dream. However, her martial arts talent was indeed good. Once, during a martial arts demonstration class, the teacher casually asked a student to come up and demonstrate. Seeing that Franka was a new face, he asked her to come up.
However, Franka didn't use much force...
And the teacher ended up in the hospital...
One can only say that the constitution of people cannot be generalized.
Although Franka had now been relegated to a combat unit, it was undeniable that she was an upper-mid-tier Elite Operator of Blacksteel Worldwide. The difference in constitution and combat power between her and an ordinary person was greater than the difference between an ordinary person and a pig.
Fortunately, because of her connection to Raythean Industries, even the principal didn't dare to expel her. Otherwise, with Franka's cringeworthy acting and lack of restraint, she would have been expelled long ago. Of course... there were also some directors or agencies who took a fancy to Franka's looks and figure, proposing that she become a sexy star or act in roles that required a good figure.
Of course, these directors and agencies were coldly rejected by Franka, and some third-rate directors who pestered her were directly knocked to the ground by Franka.
Because of this.
Franka's dream of debuting was shattered. However, with the encouragement of Jessica and Lucas Reeve, she chose not to act and to become a singer or join a girl group instead!
However, who knows how long she'll last this time.
——————
Ursus.
The cold wind from the uninhabited frozen lands of the far north blew across all of Ursus.
Mobile Cities were fine, but many poor residents in the border towns certainly couldn't bear it. Every year at this time, many poor people would freeze to death.
With the roar of snowmobile engines.
Many fully armed Ursus military police and members of the Infected Pickets charged in one direction. They had received news that there was an 'Infected squad' on the snow plains—it had to be the Reunion Movement!!
And in a remote part of Ursus.
A large group of people was caught in a fierce battle.
"Are these Ursus people crazy!!"
One of the Sarkaz mercenaries shouted.
"We're just passing by!!"
"Why are these people calling us the Reunion Movement!! Damn it!!"
"Big Sis, what do we do!!"
And this was the leader of the Sarkaz mercenaries.
A towering figure, completely shrouded in grayish-white clothes and armor, wielding a heavy hammer. With every swing of the hammer, countless military police were sent flying. However, these Ursus soldiers seemed to have gone mad. They could even faintly see a large number of reinforcing soldiers approaching in the distance.
Just then.
A young girl with long red hair, wielding a greatsword taller than herself, happened to pass by.
She looked at the battle zone ahead and sensed an aura similar to her own from one of the groups, both originating from the Sarkaz. After a moment of thought.
Scorching flames burned, and the snow on the ground melted.
Behind the girl, a giant, headless monster slowly climbed out from the molten ground behind her.
"Laevatain!"