Lena's eyes widened. For a moment, she could only stare at the box, the soft radiance from the crystals reflecting in her pupils like tiny suns.
Even Xiao Yun, who had only ever seen one once in her life, froze completely. The air seemed to thicken around them. The green, blue, and golden solakris pulsed faintly, as if responding to the presence of living energy nearby.
"Wh-why? H-how..."
Lena was flabbergasted, while Xiao Yun looked so shocked she could barely speak.
"Well?" Kang asked again, looking at Xiao Yun and waiting for her confirmation.
Xiao Yun drew a deep breath, then with a trembling finger picked up the blue crystal, examining it closely before nodding.
"It's exactly the same as the one we had, except for the color. Definitely a solakris, without a doubt!"
Her confirmation made Kang smile, while Lena stared at him in disbelief.
"Seriously?! B-but why do you have them... and not only one, but three?"
"How do I say this... it's kind of a souvenir, I guess~"
Kang shrugged. It really was a souvenir from Rosaline. She had given them to him, saying they were valuable and that he might need them in Neo Asian. He had thought they were just large gems—apparently, they were even more valuable than that.
"From whom?" Xiao Yun asked, curious about who would give away such priceless things as a 'souvenir.'
"Er... well," Kang scratched his head. "You know, the people at the lab that dug me out of the ice gave them to me as compensation for helping with their research."
Xiao Yun seemed genuinely impressed by their generosity, but Lena's eyes narrowed slightly. She looked straight at Kang, trying to probe deeper.
"People? What people?"
"Er... the doctor in charge of me, I guess~"
"A woman?"
"Is that important right now? The point is, we have solakris. Shouldn't we just be happy about that?" Kang dodged the question and looked away.
Yup, definitely a woman, Lena thought to herself. This man was just too damn popular with women—but then again, she wasn't one to talk about that either.
"Listen, this is indeed great news. However, we have to think about what to do next with these... these solakris."
Lena sighed. She never thought one day she would be in trouble because of having too many solakris.
"I thought we only need to insert them into our power system and BAM, electricity on?" Kang asked.
Both Xiao Yun and Lena looked at him in disbelief.
"Okay, stop looking at me like that! I'll have you two know that I've never gone to school a day in my life," Kang mumbled.
Lena burst out laughing, then began explaining to Kang in detail.
"We do have a power system, but we need to connect it to a solakris generator first. And we don't have that, or the tech required to bootleg one. The only ones with that kind of tech in this area would be..."
"The Institute!" Kang and Xiao Yun blurted out at the same time.
"Correct~" Lena said cheerfully. "And fortunately, we're now considered allies as part of BISON. So I think we can make a deal with them about this."
They decided to move ahead with that plan as soon as possible, since having electricity would greatly improve their living conditions and open up many opportunities.
"Let's try to keep it low, though. The fewer know about our solakris, the better," Lena reminded them.
Kang nodded. They often said that a man with gold attracts robbers. A man with solakris would be even worse.
Now that they had agreed on what to do the next day, Kang put the solakris back into the box, closed it, and tucked it back into his backpack. Then he unlocked the door and opened it.
"Oh, you can go back first, Yunyun. I still have something to discuss with Kang..." Lena said, trying to sound casual. Her ears were a little red, though.
Xiao Yun was a bit surprised, then maybe realizing something, her ears turned red too.
"G-Got it. See you tomorrow, Lena sis. Good night, senior brother!"
After saying her goodnights Xiao Yun left extremely fast, like she was running away from something. The door quickly closed behind her.
"Is there anything left for discussion?"
Kang asked with a puzzled expression.
"Are you seriously asking me that?" Lena smirked. "If you're playing dumb then too bad, it's no use! Today, I'll have my revenge~"
There was a rustling sound as clothes fell to the ground.
"I see... Well, what can I say except... you asked for it, woman!" Kang grinned menacingly.
Click.
The door was locked, and it wouldn't be opened again for quite some time.
-----
2328 A.D. Neo Asia. Slum 9 Institute HQ.
Kang and Lena arrived at the Institute HQ the next morning.
"Are you sure about leaving Xiao Yun behind at the temple?" Lena asked while they waited for Zero Jack.
"Yeah, right now she's better off staying there, teaching the others the Core Forms. It'll help her improve too."
Kang didn't want to go too deep into the subject, it was a secret of their dojo that even Xiao Yun wasn't aware of yet.
"What about me? Are you going to give me private lessons?" Lena winked, licking her lips.
Damn it, not you too Lena. Kang cursed inwardly. Why do women enjoy licking their lips so much? Don't they know how deadly that is? Wait, maybe they do… and that's exactly why they keep doing it!!!
"Sure, you'll get private lessons from me later, but not the kind you're hoping for!" Kang grinned.
Back then, he had been called the Mad Instructor for a reason. Lena would soon regret her provocation. Then again, when hadn't she?
They didn't have to wait long before Zero Jack entered the room to meet them, alone.
"Business?" he asked curtly.
He didn't seem like the roundabout type, which suited Kang just fine. He wasn't a fan of useless pleasantries either.
"We need a solakris generator, and we'd like your team to help install it and do a full checkup on our power system."
Lena went straight to the point, continuing under Zero Jack's widening eyes.
"Oh, and we want your solakris as well, along with its bootleg charger — the one that lets you recharge it from the power grid."
Zero Jack nodded silently, then turned and started to walk out.
"Hey, wait~" Lena called after him.
He stopped.
"Invalid deal," he said flatly. "Nothing you can offer for that."
"Don't be too sure about that!" Kang spoke up, smirking. It's showtime.
Zero Jack gave him a skeptical look.
"What's the rank of your solakris? In case you don't know about solakris ranks, just tell us what color it is~"
Zero Jack's expression twitched, just a fraction, but Kang caught it. After a short pause, Zero Jack shook his head.
"No."
Kang expected that, he shrugged.
"Never mind then, because I'm pretty sure whatever it is, it will be lower than… this."
He opened his palm, revealing a shimmering blue solakris.
Zero Jack's eyes almost popped out of their sockets — now that was the reaction Kang had been waiting for.
"Can we talk now?"
Lena smiled sweetly, gesturing for him to return to the table.