A square patch of earth slid as the New Moon, the stealth jet created and named by Melissa and the cyborg with the help of Luke's Blood Creation Quirk, landed and disappeared underground.
The jet dropped Mushroom-nimi's overly large body as Luke and Melissa stepped out of the cockpit, the former carrying Nyx in his arms delicately.
A few small robots came whirring toward them suddenly.
They put down a massive stretcher and beeped loudly as they rolled the cyborg over it before taking him deep into the Headquarters.
Mushroom-nimi didn't need any recharging from an external power supply.
All they needed was time to let their Idle Energy Regeneration kick in, countering the adverse effect on their body caused by the mutation. Sadly, as the mutation itself had consumed nearly 40 kt of energy in a very short interval of time, surpassing the limit of recoverable output of 10 kt, it was permanently lost.
Now, the cyborg had only 400 kt of Recoverable Energy left.
It seemed more than enough at a glance, but Luke, for a fact, knew that this was only the beginning.
Mushroom-nimi was one of the trump cards of the Apostles of Mr. Fool, just like all other Apostles.
The cyborg's existence became even more important given that, for now, only it effectively countered Amon.
Speaking of trump cards, Luke took out the Worm of Time from his pocket and gave it to Melissa. "Properly store it with the one I gave you before," he said. "Remember to seal the box. Call me if you feel your Spirituality is not enough for the ritual."
Melissa's eyes shone as she looked at the worm again, carrying a hint of dread.
"Is this…" she asked, delicately lifting the worm with her gloved fingers. "… usable?"
Luke nodded. "It should be," he said. Then, lampooning, he added, "two-three more times and we will have enough for each one of us."
Melissa would have instantly frowned at the joke before.
However, after becoming a Clown herself, she had… decided to change how she looked at things. If she wanted to digest the potion, she needed to see the humor where others couldn't. It was not necessary, as a Clown could act in many ways, but… she wasn't natural like Leader and Raven. So, she had no choice but to walk in their steps and take a page out of their book.
Still, the more she repeated Luke's words in her mind, the more she found it amusing, making her lips arch up.
Luke nodded within at that.
That was more than he had expected from a Clown Melissa.
At least, the girl wasn't cringing every time he made an inappropriate joke anymore.
"Will it truly be that powerful?" Melissa asked, temporarily storing the Worm of Time in a box. "The Charm, I mean."
Luke remembered the ritual that used the Worm of Time, creating a… Fate Siphon Charm.
"Yes," he said, taking a deep breath of excitement and anticipation. "Yes. It will be. Call Iron Mentor and Trick*Star and let them know what happened vaguely. They should be able to make a full picture out of it. Tell them not to use their Beyonder powers for some time, especially Iron Mentor. Also, ask them to record their voice praying to Mr. Fool and use it as a ringtone. Hmm… Setting it as an alarm ringtone will also serve as a good caution. Ask them to set an alarm on their mobiles with an interval of every 15 minutes."
Praying to Mr. Fool wouldn't result in Him helping them, as only Luke had a direct connection to the God above the Gray Castle.
However, when the Apostles prayed to Mr. Fool, Luke was alerted directly by Miss Justice.
Also, even if Mr. Fool couldn't act against prayers made by anyone but Luke, He could still get some feedback. Otherwise, there would have been no point in gathering more followers of His faith in this world.
In the worst-case scenario that Amon somehow prevented the Apostles' prayers from reaching him, perhaps Mr. Fool could let him know through the System, Luke believed.
"…" Melissa gaped at the man walking next to her, her eyes wide in admiration.
Luke didn't look like a teenage boy, but like a full-grown man at this time. His height didn't change much, but… combined with the expression on his face, and the authority he carried, there was a charm about him, and his casual preparations, that was hard not to notice by a Clown.
Not getting a reply, Luke looked at the girl, who snapped her head in the other direction, blushing.
"…?" Luke frowned before remembering something else. "You said he woke up?"
"Ah, yes," Melissa nodded several times, her heart beating out of her chest. She had to take several breaths, hoping Leader wouldn't use his abilities to… pry into her soul just like she had inadvertently done with big sis Kazuho.
Melissa licked her lips and said, "… He woke up right after you dismissed the meeting, leader. I would have alerted you in the morning."
Luke nodded, stopping at the crossroads.
"I will pray to Mr. Fool and ask for directions before confronting our guest," he said. "Let me know if you have any updates on Mushroom-nimi. Also, think of a better way to use the Faux Sealed Artifacts… efficiently, given that we can only use them limitedly. They are our trump cards. We cannot afford to be extravagant about them."
"You are, too…"
"Huh?" Luke looked at Melissa, puzzled.
Melissa concentrated on her Clown abilities to not blush so much that she felt her Potion digesting by a tiny amount. "I meant…" she said, shuffling on her feet. "… you are also a trump card, leader."
Luke and Melissa looked at each other before the Faceless burst out in a fit of laughter.
"Good one!" Luke said, holding his stomach. "Keep at it, Ms. Shield. You will digest your potion in no time. Haha!"
Then, as Luke walked toward the medical unit laughing, Melissa sighed.
"How in the name of Mr. Fool will he attend classes tomorrow…" She grumbled, "… if he spends all night laughing like an idiot?! Tch!"