~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
For 40 advanced chapters, visit my Patreon:
Patreon - Twilight_scribe1
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Skye's mixture of disappointment and indignation looked utterly adorable to the group of shameless adults.
People always said that the joy of teasing children was something outsiders could never understand.
As long as you weren't the child being teased, who wouldn't enjoy it?
Still, seeing that expression inevitably softened someone's heart.
Thena, who had spoken very little throughout the evening, finally broke her silence.
"While I can't let you move in here, you're always welcome to come visit whenever you like."
"Really?"
Skye practically jumped with excitement.
Instead of answering immediately, Thena turned to Henry with a teasing smile.
"Would that be alright?"
Ignoring the playful jab, Henry answered seriously.
"I don't mind, as long as you agree to one condition."
"What condition?" Thena asked.
Even Skye stared at him expectantly.
If his condition turned out to be ridiculous, she was fully prepared to denounce him as a chauvinistic pig.
Henry replied,
"Don't cover for her.
"Don't lie to me on her behalf.
"For example, if she sneaks out somewhere she's not supposed to be, don't tell me she's with you and make me think she's safe.
"If something really happened because of that...
"No one would be happy."
The little girl immediately exploded.
"When would I ever do something like that?!"
Every single adult looked at her sideways with obvious skepticism.
The Eternals had lived for more than seven thousand years.
Even if they hadn't spent every moment among humans, they'd seen enough of humanity to judge character fairly accurately after only a few exchanges.
It wasn't that Skye was dishonest.
She was simply young.
She still lacked the maturity to understand which situations truly mattered.
Even though she'd survived in the filthy underground world beneath New York and experienced things ordinary children never had...
That didn't necessarily mean she'd always make the safest decisions.
Taking unnecessary risks was practically a defining trait of childhood.
So no one believed she would never do what Henry described.
Judging by her reaction...
She'd probably already been considering exactly that.
Thena loved children.
That was why she enjoyed spending time with them.
But loving children didn't mean she'd lie for them without question.
She nodded without hesitation.
"That's fine.
"I'll keep an eye on Skye as well.
"I certainly won't let her..."
She paused.
"...'go fooling around.'
"What exactly does that mean?"
Henry blinked.
How did one define that?
"Well..."
He thought for a moment.
"Anything you think is inappropriate—anything you feel a child shouldn't be doing—counts."
Skye immediately protested again.
"That's way too broad!"
Henry shrugged.
"If you want to be responsible for yourself, then you'll have to grow up faster.
"As long as I'm still your legal guardian, if you get into trouble, I'm legally responsible too.
"So it's my job to keep an eye on you and stop you from making bad decisions.
"Understand?"
"I never wanted you to be my guardian anyway!"
"Aha!"
Henry grinned.
"Objection overruled.
"That's what the law says.
"If you don't like it, grow up, run for Congress, get elected, and change the law.
"Don't ask other people to break it—or break it yourself."
Skye bared her teeth and looked ready to pounce on him.
Unfortunately...
She knew perfectly well she couldn't beat Henry.
She couldn't even hurt him.
At best she'd end up covering him in saliva.
So all she could do was sulk angrily off to one side.
Watching her reaction, everyone was reminded once again:
Teasing children truly was endless entertainment.
The heartless adults even raised their glasses in celebration, shouting toasts in various languages.
Even Thena joined in.
While everyone else continued laughing, joking, and somehow ending up shoulder to shoulder singing songs no one quite knew the origin of...
Thena remained noticeably quieter.
She realized another pair of bright eyes was watching her.
Not Skye's.
Gwen's.
Smiling gently, Thena said,
"Gwen, you're welcome to visit too.
"But the same condition applies.
"I won't help you hide things from your father."
"Oh—I can come too?"
Gwen's face lit up.
"That's wonderful!
"I've actually wanted to ask you something.
"Thena...
"How do you stay in such amazing shape?
"And how do you use all those workout machines in your apartment?
"Could you teach me?"
Whether this universe would ever produce Spider-Gwen remained to be seen.
But that didn't stop Gwen from secretly aspiring to become a tough, capable young woman herself—
Rather than a delicate princess waiting for a knight to rescue her from a dragon-guarded tower.
The housewarming party eventually came to a successful close.
Everyone who needed to be escorted home was safely dropped off.
Thena and Gilgamesh settled into their respective apartments.
Ajak stayed in New York for several more days to spend additional time with old friends she hadn't seen in ages.
Kingo, however, had to return to work.
The film industry wasn't like an ordinary nine-to-five job.
If filming stopped, countless crew members lost their livelihoods.
For their sake, Bollywood's leading star had to hurry back and make another successful movie.
As for Henry...
He returned to the building to finish the remaining cleanup.
Although everyone had helped tidy up after the party, little details inevitably remained.
With his super speed, the rooftop was spotless again in no time.
Afterward, Henry sat alone on the edge of the roof and lit one of the rare cigarettes he occasionally smoked.
Buying property in New York had admittedly been an impulsive decision.
Especially buying so close to the Financial District.
But now that he'd done it...
He had no regrets.
Purchasing the entire building had consumed roughly two-thirds of his liquid assets.
Fortunately, he'd paid cash.
There was no mortgage to worry about.
That didn't mean there wouldn't be ongoing expenses, however.
The annual property tax alone would be substantial.
Henry had heard more than enough stories about immigrants arriving in America, investing all their savings into rental properties in hopes of living comfortably as landlords—
Only to discover they couldn't find tenants.
Eventually, property taxes alone drove them into bankruptcy.
If the building were solely for his own use...
Henry would probably manufacture several more BB units.
One core robot assigned to each floor would handle routine maintenance effortlessly.
He could simply earn money elsewhere to support the building.
But if he intended to rent apartments to ordinary New Yorkers...
If he wanted rental income to offset those property taxes...
Then building maintenance and security needed to be handled by actual people.
That way he wouldn't expose his own technology.
Besides, most people simply didn't trust unfamiliar technology very much.
So...
Should he establish his own property management company?
It could handle maintenance, leasing, and all the day-to-day problems that came with tenants.
Or would it be better to outsource everything to a real estate management firm?
Back when he'd rented in Los Angeles, old Gary had handled every one of those responsibilities himself.
Because Gary carefully screened his tenants—and because he'd been a lifelong Angeleno who knew the city inside and out—there had rarely been any major problems.
Well...
The New York property market still needed time to recover anyway.
There was no rush to decide.
More importantly...
Henry had somewhere else to go today.
The New York Continental Hotel.
Ever since John Wick had quietly warned him nearly a month ago, Henry had pushed the matter to the back of his mind while dealing with the property purchase.
Now that his personal affairs were finally settled...
It was time to pay the Continental a visit.
Hopefully, it wasn't anything troublesome.
Better yet...
Perhaps the issue had already resolved itself during his absence.
Henry sincerely hoped he was making the trip for nothing.
But life rarely turned out the way people hoped.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
🎉 Power Stone Goal Announcement! 🎉
I'll release one bonus chapter for every 500 Power Stones we hit!"
Let me know what should I do
Your support means everything—let's crush these goals together! Keep voting, and let the stones pile up! 🚀
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~