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TFC Chapter 69: Colleagues
🕑 Added 2022-07-10 09:50:08 +0000 UTC“The main contractor I decided to use is Silver Slivers Mining Company, I’ve seen them respect their engagements for 15 years without failing for the military, and their secondary company, Silver Slivers Transportation Company, is equally trustworthy,” showing Aven how far he had come concerning the establishment of supply chains for basic ores, Bhanas spiritually shone from confidence.
“Sounds good enough,” expecting nothing less, Aven quickly moved on, “And what about the rare earths, platinum group metals, and basic chemicals?”
“I’ve already contacted a few major chemical industries to get a steady supply, and I’m only missing the numbers to make a report. Rare earth contracts have been kindly handed to us by the Conglomerate who smelled an amazing opportunity, and as for the super expensive metals…” Stopping on his report for a moment, he browsed through his endless list of mails in search of something.
“I have 3 contracts. Eland has a special stockpile it’s ready to give as long as you prioritize military results. The Conglomerate wants first pick on improved integrated technologies. And the Vow Church wants to send people to work with you directly, and between the lines, I read about Star Trail being involved,” he reported.
“Which one were you going to accept?” Aven didn’t give his opinion and instead asked him his own.
“I’ve put Eland on hold for when we have results to show even if they’re not military-related, I’ve indefinitely delayed the Conglomerate, and entered the negotiation stage with the Vow Church,” Bhanas confidently elaborated on what he had done.
“Ah~ Is that what it feels like to relegate things to someone with the simple directive of ‘give me what I want’ and authorize them to do anything except signing contracts that will restrict me?” Finding spiritual solace in Bhanas, the man he had willfully appointed as a production manager of Rainbow IRC on a whim, Aven felt at peace.
Sometimes, things just worked out.
“Well, having no one above me except a bunch of childish directives is really a completely different experience compared to what I had to do in the military,” seeing him daydream just like that, Bhanas helpfully supplied how he felt about his new job.
“Maybe…” Refocusing on the present, a simple smile reappeared on Aven’s face, “Anyway, you’re still unawakened, right? I can’t detect any energy fluctuation from you, so take those. All for increased productivity!”
Changing the subject as abruptly as he had become used to, he opened his shop, ignoring his diminishing FCP reserve, and claimed one of the possible bonuses from working for him according to the contract he and Drayce had written.
Faction Contribution Shop: Nation of Eland
Faction Authority: Violet Fairy
Faction Contribution Points: 38 597 125
…
Energy Growth Wonder Flower (780 000 FCP): A flower only found in nature in extremely luxuriant environments with growth conditions not yet understood. Awaken any life that eats it while also giving it the natural energy growth energy talent.
Tireless Apple (810 000 FCP): An apple that grows every decade from a tireless tree in good condition. Gives the eater the tireless spirit spiritual talent, a talent that can grow the more it is used.
Self Revolving Energy Mutation Elixir (1 460 000 FCP): An elixir created through an ancient rainbow fairy formula with most of its ingredients being extremely difficult to gather. Gives the self revolving energy energy talent to anyone consuming it.
Energy Growth Wonder Flower (Claim?)
Tireless Apple (Claim?)
Self Revolving Energy Mutation Elixir (Claim?)
3 050 000 FCP volatilized just like that, but for Aven, it wasn’t a question of gain or loss as long as it concerned people that could increase his own productivity in the long-term by allowing him to focus on what only he could do.
“You read your contract, right?” He casually said as 3 light swirls manifested around him in the shoddy prefab office, “You know you’re not just working for me, it’s also not a normal job, you’ve decided to dedicate your personal life and time to me and my projects after we only met one single time months and months ago. How do you feel now that I’m showing you it’s not a joke at all?”
Lost in thought, and probably emotion, as he looked at the 3 item materialization phenomena, he only mustered the strength to answer after a few seconds, “I feel like it’s the opportunity life gave me after I worked so hard through it, dedicating all my life to my career that would have eventually ended after I became a general overseer military production manager.”
“Ho~” Narrowing his eyes at this answer, Aven opened one of his boxes and got a camera out of it, “Can you say that again? With tears in your eyes preferably? It’s in the contract you call your life opportunity if it can help you become more emotional, all for content!”
“Ah… What I wouldn’t do to help you, boss…” Resigning himself, he squinted his eyes to try and get his eyes a bit wet, then he looked at the fairy holding a camera telekinetically, “Your contract is an opportunity-”
“No! Not contract!” He cut him off mercilessly, “Say something like ‘working with you blablabla’~”
Getting in the proper mindset, Bhanas showed he wasn’t a kindred spirit of his boss for nothing, “You’ve given me both the opportunity of working with you and… You’ve opened a path to save myself from my previous limited life. The only way I can repay you is by…”
And thus started a small half an hour content recording session before both Aven and Bhanas started acquainting themselves more with the other, the two searching for how they inexplicably resonated in their opinion on making friends and their comparatively small circle of friends in general.
In the end, the discussion only reinforced Aven’s opinion that both of their brains were metaphorically wired similarly.
They were just separated by different life experiences.
…
“My good old pal Alain, how’s my favorite retired super ops officer doing?” Catching sight of his next target after Bhanas, Aven acted like him being here was a pure coincidence for the heck of it.
“Since when do you read through the past of your colleagues? I’m not at peace with my past so please don’t bring it up so casually,” turning away from the lively testing area he was overseeing, the always serious-looking Alain Estrade transmitted his dislike.
“You haven’t changed one bit I see~ And it’s not my fault, you were just included in an investigation report ERA did on me~” Treating the brown-haired, black-eyed, and tanned brown-skinned man in front of him as a brother as they had already worked together for a few months, Aven mischievously swirled around him.
“Oh. Sorry for the assumption,” apologizing directly, he followed with a very predictable comment, “I see that even after becoming a fairy you haven’t changed one bit too.”
“I changed! I’m even more honest and straightforward than before because nothing can kill me directly anymore! Even if Green explodes, I’m sure I can survive!” Changing mental gears, he started bragging about how safe he felt with all the growth he went through since he had awakened as a fairy.
“Arrogance is never something you can feel, but I’ll override it for now as you need the experience to know that power comes in very different forms,” saying something uselessly complicated to counter his bragging, Alain turned around once again and overlooked the testing area again.
The duo became silent for a moment as they both looked at the different painting jobs, the hundreds of protected lights being installed, the different tempered glass windows being embedded into the intended walls, and the general hard-working mood that filled this place.
“I’ve seen the IUM,” it was surprisingly Alain who broke the ice again as he brought a certain project name up.
“Good for you~” Not following along and asking a logical question back, Aven simply continued taciturnly looking ahead.
Alain didn’t press forward, instead relapsing into a contemplating silence.
“I’m not sure if… The world…” The moment he started talking again with a serious undertone…
Energy Growth Wonder Flower (Claim?)
Tireless Apple (Claim?)
Self Revolving Energy Mutation Elixir (Claim?)
Three mystical lights manifested, stopping and prompting him to look at the only possible culprit that could have caused this situation.
Looking back at him, Aven smiled until all his teeth could be seen, and asked him a question with certainly more than one meaning, “It’s all about timing, don’t you think so? And I’m the only one who can control this one. Who else can do what I can do?”
…
“How’s my favorite human resource manager doing?” Landing on the edge of an opened prefab window with a camera and 4 boxes floating outside, Aven asked the green-haired man who was musing over his keyboard on whatever problem he was confronted with.
“He’s doing fine overall. It’s all about timing I guess,” Drayce's simple reply put a horrified look on Aven’s face, shocking him enough to fall from the edge of the window and into the shoddy office room proper.
“How… How!” Bringing the camera to before his face, he grabbed it with his small fairy-sized arms and started shaking it as much as he could, “Did you see that! His innate ability has so much potential for freaking you out! He can scam as many superstitious grandmas and grandpas as he wants!”
“Or maybe…” Aven suddenly looked around him in horror, “Is this a hidden camera? There’s no way your innate ability made you guess the super cool thing I said just a dozen minutes ago!”
“Why don’t you help me decide… No, forget it,” stopping himself from requesting help from the content creator maniac that was ready to do anything to show how crazy he could be, Drayce simply sighed and stopped thinking about all the offers he had received, sent, and got replied to, “Actually, creating some entertainment content is a good way to relax, isn’t it?”
“Oh~ I see that you’re not set in your way despite being more than 100 years old,” erasing the crazy look on his face in a second, he looked at the camera and angled it so that both of them were displayed on the small return screen, “You don’t know yet, but those footages will be recorded in history as the starting point of the most-watched series of the world!”
“Only the world? Humph,” agilely changing his posture into a judging one by reclining on his comfy-looking leather chair, Drayce fully showed how he underestimated the impact this content would have.
“Well, if I can develop interstellar travel technology, I’ll make sure to take everything I recorded with me, so let’s say the future most-watched series of the Galaxy! And when I find intergalactic tech, the most-watched in the Universe! And…” Aven stopped talking suddenly, “What comes after the Universe? Maybe the dimensions?”
“Across different timelines? An intertemporal drive sure sounds like an interesting concept~” Drayce forwarded his most far-fetched idea, getting into the right mood to create dramatic content.
“Well… You set the bar a bit high there, what the hell comes after gaining the ability to travel through time?” Genuinely impressed by this fantasy idea that could break reality if it was ever realized, he looked at the camera again, “Can you think about what would happen the moment a single timeline or dimension gets the ability to travel through time? Some food for thought for you~”
“Are you perhaps talking to your future watchers?” Playing his part as the content grandpa, the green-haired young man questioned with very bad acting.
Yet, it was already too late as Aven finally breached into the subject that brought him here, “How far have you gone in your research for people with precedent in exotic research? I’ve thought about it a bit more and maybe you should also circulate the offer through the underworld. While I certainly intend to dismantle it at some point, I’m months and months away from even starting to circulate this idea around.”
“Hum…” Drayce stopped reclining on his chair and closed his eyes to think, or use his innate ability, only he could know, “I guess I could do that. The benefits will certainly attract some problematic people, but does it matter?”
“That’s it~” Happy to hear that Drayce had gotten his point, Aven’s wings fluttered as he took off, “I’ve already met and discussed with you plenty of times already, so I don’t feel like starting a snack time with you. See you~”
Escaping through the same opened prefab window he had used to enter, he headed for the research area where he settled down for a bit over 5 hours, helping the workers with the difficult tasks they had to do.
His social needs were fulfilled, and now the only thing that remained in him was his drive to push his plans forward as fast as possible.
…
“Summer…” Admiring the setting White from a spot at the summit of the Rainbow Mountain, Aven drifted into a melancholic mood.
The summer season on the Eland Continent lasted for a long time, much longer than the winter season in fact, but it didn’t last eternally, and eventually came a time where Green’s planetary alignment and drifting axis forced the hot season to end.
“The winter break should start in just a few months…” Picking up his phone to confirm his hunch on the current timeline as his sense of time had long ended up in pieces with his wake and sleep cycle now being based on an independent cycle unit, he saw that the date was really approaching the transition period.
Eland’s winter season was characterized by an extremely swift drop in temperature that covered the whole continent under more or less thick snow yearly. It was an inevitable event that paralyzed lots of industry, brought joy to many students, and annoyed loads of people.
“Would anyone reading about me in the future believe the speed of my rise? Not even a year, and yet…” Closing his eyes and turning to lay down on his side instead of on his back, he didn’t hear a single straining creak from the wooden platform.
Aven knew his spirit would soon be losing the battle against his naturally generated exhaustion, and as always, there was nothing he could do against the whole thing.
A spirit needed to secure its continued wholeness and total imperviousness, and it would stop at nothing to make sure of it. That was a universal law that not even psy super specializing in this precise area could influence much.
“I’m sure there’s a way to accelerate the growth of my tireless spirit talent… But it all comes back to starting the research on exotic in the end…” Silently musing, he created new thought pathways.
Obviously, all his plans hadn’t come naturally. For each and every inspiration of his, nothing and no one had been there to help him, he only had himself, his knowledge, and his imagination.
“The filming supplies I requested should all have arrived by the time I wake up… If I start recording the introduction episode… By the time I’m finished, the supply contracts should have come into effect…” He guessed at the most optimal short-term path he had already known, wanting to second-guess himself, but failing as there really was nothing to hold on to.
Aven didn’t want to let himself go with the flow, he wanted to refine his schedule as much as he could, and use his time in the most perfect way. He had already proven that if he wanted something done, it wasn’t an unfinished hall and an “expected few days of work” that would stop him.
A super had the power to change a lot of things, a fairy had the power to change a lot more things, and a proactive perpetually awakened driven fairy…
One only needed to look through the historical records concerning all the eras preceding the human era to know what such a being could do.
The White eventually vanished over the horizon, and accompanying it was Aven’s spirit vacillating against the endless and relentless assault of a natural spiritual phenomenon that touched all known lives, from the abominations to the abandoned beasts.
Not feeling like flying to a bedroom tree house, he just closed his eyes and found the best position that combined comfort and optimal warm mountain wind intake into his body.
With a relaxed mind, an immaculately natural and safe environment surrounding him, and a pseudo energy domain that used his sensitive energy talent to make sure nothing could creep on him, it didn’t take more than 5 minutes before exhaustion took him.
His spirit had fought yet another battle and learned more about how to fend against exhaustion. For the next cycle, that would translate to 15 more minutes of complete exhaustion-free independence.
…
“Do you all really have so much free time? To have the leisure to come here?” Using his telekinesis to wrap up the furnishing of the recording area of the Rainbow IRC, Aven overtly mocked the 4 people who had come to observe him.
Those 4 people weren’t tourists, they were 4 people who had signed a symbolic contract that would link them to the interests and goals of the Rainbow IRC helmed by Aven for the coming years.
“I’m curious about what you prepared for introducing yourself to the world, I hope certainly not what you recorded in my office yesterday,” with the same perpetually slightly smiling face, Drayce justified himself.
“I was just passing by,” Saum, the recently recruited dark-haired, dark-eyed, and dark-skinned fairy with vested interests in beating others and researching more about cultivation resources, revealed without any emotion.
“It’s all about timing,” Alain satirized the situation as much as he could with an interesting choice of words that 3 people, including him, knew and had said before.
“My job is pretty much finished and all the contracts that needed to be signed have already been signed, so yeah, I have both free time and the leisure to come here~” Bhanas happily reported his situation.
By pure coincidence, all the 4 people Aven had symbolically contracted to his project were there to see him start on his public image stranglehold project.
