New Game+

Seeker was dragged to the back of the room as Charles announced and arrangements to bring more Exoskeletons provided by the family.

Unlike Seeker, Lynd had a character profile that was displayed to everyone and showed the ability he could do.

Seeker stood up, and the panicked and wounded dancers all stopped their facade and began to walk around.

"Good job, gang!" Seeker praised.

"Those wounds weren't in the original plan. You're trying to get Zeraphine to be worried at you." Meryl appeared and began to mock Seeker.

"I have no choice. You guys made things worse. Besides, spending time with Zeraphine at this time is dangerous. We don't know what techs they have to study us when we are with them secretly. The same goes for Lanterk. And if you read Jane's full report…"

"NO." Meryl gave a distinct answer.

"Meryl… This is a perfect way. Zeraphine did kill a lot, but in the end, she couldn't kill me. That's how an Inhuman defeated her. It was obvious in Lanterk's very amazing glance that he likes you. You are developing your Light. And it's beginning to eclipse that of the Tyrant Empress's light. Hanging out around a Presider is a very dangerous game. With their techs, we don't know what they can discover from us. But now, we have something that can blind them. If we play the victim card right, we could make him an obsessed boyfriend that basically does whatever you want. Who knows? You could even force him to wage war on the secret Presider in Egypt, which will help us complete Arthur's plan."

Meryl frowned.

"You want me… to use him, manipulate him, make him do crazy things for me, and not really love him but use him like a tampon, discarded when done using?"

"Exactly."

"I'm in. Let's do this!" Meryl made a diabolical laugh.

"We'll have to discuss something, though… Your cells must be toned down by a bit. Can you do it?"

"Yes. I've learned to create a switch on my own. I can improve and revert my cells at will. It consumes a lot of energy to bring it back up, though."

"That's good enough. I recommend constantly bringing down the cells on several occasions and bringing them back up. That way, he can't study you but will have to refresh his research parameters constantly."

"That's it? That's the plan the great Seeker Carlean can come up with? I plan to bring it down drastically while I'm with him. And then, I'll fake a seizure. Well, with my Unlocking, I can forcibly start a seizure. I plan to do a dangerous one that will force him to save me. This will give him that feeling of being 'the man', and I'll treat him like a savior. That way, his hatred for the Presider experimenting on me will slowly increase."

Seeker was impressed with the plan Meryl gave.

"That's… a really good plan!"

"I'm not yet done! I'll tell him that I am an experiment salvaged by the Progenitor from Egypt! I was discarded after being used by the Presider there. I was her perfect slave and was her lover even at a young age, and then I was tossed away to this place! Boohoo! I am a discarded girl. Am I not beautiful? Am I not enough? Will no one ever love me?" Meryl began to act out the scene exaggeratedly.

"And then… the Progenitor found me and created a fake identity for me and operated on me to make me look like my parents. They tried to save me but couldn't because of my ever-changing cells."

"Wait. That will spur Lanterk to do experiments on your cells! He will work hard that he might figure out something!"

"Yes. He'll figure out something and apply it to me because he's obsessed with saving me. I saw the Realm King's ability. I want Nuclear Fusion. If this Lanterk can figure out how to stabilize it in my body and apply it, then I should be at least at the World Champion level." Meryl answered with a straight expression.

Seeker was starting to fear the terrifying power of Meryl.

"With my constant yearning for affection, whatever research he will make will be directed to me. I don't think he'll have time to think about other applications once I'm done with him. You said he's a schemer? Then this will be my training. Will his scheme and plans be better than my beauty? Or will he be blinded by my light?"

"Ugh. This was what I was talking about. Only Lynd understood me. But in my future, I saw how the Tyrant Empress's beauty just utterly destroyed the plans of the Presiders. And even now, it seems that the elaborate plans in my head to gain whatever advantages are easily achieved by you being cute." Seeker laughed.

"It's good, you know!"

"But what about if he starts digging up your past?" Seeker questioned.

"Since both my mom and dad are EAA spies, then it will make it more convincing! With such sad background, he could conclude that the Progenitor faked all known details about my past life. If he digs it up and finds witnesses, testimonies, and proofs that I was there, it'll make things even more suspicious! After all, he will realize that Harker, one of the pawns of the Progenitor, is protecting me." Meryl smiled.

"I guess you're right…" Seeker agreed.

"Don't worry, Zeek! Focus on getting whatever you can from Zeraphine. You should take her innocence and elope with Kristine. And with Alphie, if you can. I'll make that Alexander my little pup. He'll be getting so angry at the Presider in Egypt that he would probably nuke that Presider when they finally meet!"

"Alright. It's weird how you get so smart with these things all of a sudden."

"I've read the reports of Arthur about how they are playing that poor experiment with Kristine. I took hints from that. I've been writing some fan-fiction stories about Kristine and that other guy. Admiral Ramsden's reports seemed to have been written by a rather skilled romance writer. I mean… that report had dialogues."

"It was intended to look like a story. We didn't have the advantage of creating the networks we have back then, so the best way that Arthur could send the detailed report to us was in that form. So that if any Presider chanced upon it, they would think it was a Romance-Tragedy novella. Of course, it's still risky business. The Aragarians may pick up something."

"So that's why those rather steamy scenes were inserted! But why is that format still being used? We already have the networks set up. There's no need to write those reports in that way! Especially since it still has a huge risk of being discovered!"

"Would you rather Arthur stops?"

"Honestly, no."

"Exactly. That book is quite popular among the Unlocked women here when you were away. And… apparently, Rosa, Irvana of the Four Winds, and the Tyrant Empress love it. They are treating Arthur's reports as a book. So… Arthur couldn't afford to stop it. The Tyrant Empress told Lennox V.3.17a to tell Arthur that she will raid Egypt and interfere with Arthur's plan if he stops writing those books. So even if it's risky, Arthur can't afford to stop it now."

"Who's the writer anyway? She's really good!"

"Of course it is. Just like Granite Malang, this one has a skill in writing. That's why Arthur chose her to write the reports."

"Wait...Then those things I envision when I read her report… it's all because of her Skill?"

"Yes. Arthur's bringing that girl to Egypt. Just like how we are bringing Malang to South America, she will be the important informant who can pass on that message."

"Amazing. These Skills are scary."

"Scary and unexpected. The Presiders believe themselves to be the kings. Their pride and arrogance cause them to blame their fellow Presiders when something odd like us appears. The more we discover more Aragarian terms, their history, their leaders, the more we can make it look like that their enemy is, in fact, Presiders. As for you, use Jane's own terminology. Phallium Suit. That's what your body is."

"Still can't believe we're going through this whole Phallic language symbolism. Phalanx, Pallium… what's next?"

"You're not the only one shocked. I can't believe Lowengren's little joke has blown up to be this huge." Seeker shook his head.

"Anyway, this means that Danny will be spending a little bit more time with you."

"No. Danny will be spending a lot of time with me."

"What? But you'd be with Lanterk."

"Zeek. I'm beautiful. This little Small Willy will be the friend I run to when hurt. It'll make him more desperate because Danny will be the playboy that somehow filled the void of my past pain. And I will keep running to him. Danny will be the toxic relationship that Lanterk will try to replace."

"He won't. I'll fake some heart attack or something when Danny gets an attempted assassination from one of the families."

"He will?"

"Yeah. I showed my body outside. Do you think Lanterk will be the only one interested in me? When they find out Danny's my boyfriend, they will try to kill him. That will make Lanterk protect Danny. With Danny's Unlocking, although he can't be as good as the spies, his Unlocking alone that allows him to see, hear and even smell things far beyond the human capabilities will definitely allow him to spy on Lanterk. Actually, I plan on letting Danny gets caught trying to spy on Lanterk!" Meryl laughed.

"Oh right! To Lanterk, Danny will just be the jealous boyfriend trying to snoop around and find out who Lanterk is! With Lanterk's mysterious family and appearance, Danny can openly spy on Lanterk and not be suspicious!" Seeker realized it.

"Oh yeah! You're right! Now that you pointed it out, that does work! I guess I can make those adjustments in my plan."

"Wait… That's not why you're doing it?"

"Well… Cliff's explanation about how he convinced me to undo my Exoskeleton and reveal my skin… inspired me. And you could blame Arthur's reports for this." Meryl had a creepy smile.

"Meryl…? What are you planning?"

"Well… Lanterk's going to be the best friend I have who gets nothing, right? So… Danny and me are going to have this fake fight after an intense love-making session, which is, of course, also fake. Wipe that smile off your face, Zeek! And then… after this fake fight, I'm going to go on a seizure because of the heartbreak I get from Danny, who decided to go after another girl. That's how I meet Lanterk. He'll save me then… And then… I'll tell Lanterk to help me fake something. And that is, that Danny will be told that during my recovery, Lanterk took videos of me… naked."

"I'm sickened by your plan, Meryl." Seeker had a disgusted look on his face.

"Go on…"

"Of course, I'll also tell Lanterk to do me that favor. I'll ask Lanterk to pretend to be my boyfriend to make Danny jealous. That way, when Danny and Prince begin to spy on Lanterk, he won't kill the two because of the reason you just said. He'll think that they're looking to delete that video. Of course, this will depend if Lanterk will create some sort of small base here. He will do that, right?"

"He has to. Although he doesn't need it, now that he knows this place has possibly two or more Presiders, he will use a room and apply his techs to mask it. This is a good plan. Getting Prince in that room will definitely be beneficial. We are Unlocked. Lanterk will never expect Prince to have ways of spying on him that are beyond his estimates. My concern is Danny. I don't think he's capable of that level of spying."

"Oh, that's easy. I'll only be telling Danny to fake our fight. But I won't tell him the truth that Lanterk didn't get a video of me naked when I was unconscious in his lab."

Seeker felt a strange chill.

"What?" 

Seeker knew that Danny would assume that the unconscious Meryl in the lab of a Presider, who sees earthlings as mere animals, would definitely abuse Meryl.

Meryl smiled. 

"I'm just curious if Danny really likes me. I know his fear of Arthur is stopping him. So a little NTR should be the push he needs. What about you and Zeraphine? Want some help as to plan how we… play with her?"

Seeker nearly teleported to get away from the dangerous look that Meryl had on her face.