Chapter 104: Are You Free Tonight?

The numerous captains who had been whispering quietly abruptly fell silent. The entire council chamber grew so still that even the sound of a pin dropping could be heard, as if a great mountain had descended upon them, suffocating everyone present with a terrifying weight.

After a moment, Byrne broke the eerie silence. "A man like this, who brazenly challenges the authority of the Enforcement Squad, deserves death!"

"Mr. Clark, what’s your opinion?"

"Very good. You did well." The man who was questioned squeezed out the words through clenched teeth, his face calm as the storm before it breaks. With a detached remark, he strode away from the scene without looking back.

The once fierce accountability meeting abruptly ended, turning the discussion of punishment for Charles into a farce.

Clearly, the other party, backed by a Level Three Soul Master, showed no respect for the Enforcement Squad and even dared to hurl insults. If such a man were left unpunished, it would be impossible to maintain authority, and the other Enforcement Squad members would be deeply disheartened.

After the meeting dispersed, Byrne took Charles aside into a separate room, a look of approval on his face. “Honestly, I didn’t expect you to have a Memory Stone like that. Well done.”

“I only used it for self-protection. In fact, every mission I handled was fair and just—never reckless,” Charles answered meticulously.

When he received the mission, no one informed him that the other party was the direct heir of the Clemens family, but from the looks exchanged by others, he sensed the gravity.

So Charles didn’t hesitate to spend over a million to purchase a Memory Stone.

The Memory Stone, one of the academy’s top technologies, mimics the structure of certain image-recording organs in living creatures, capable of recording visual footage over a period of time.

In essence, it’s a camera, but exorbitantly expensive, powered by source energy, making it inaccessible to the general public.

Not only ordinary people, even most Soul Masters can’t afford one. Charles was able to acquire it only by covertly enlisting Monto’s help, anticipating unforeseen circumstances.

Now, with this, he had recorded the other party’s ugly outburst, leaving Clark’s attempt to reduce his guilt utterly futile.

“Clark and the head of the Clemens family are friends. So that earlier mission was just a formality—it would have been revoked after a while,” Byrne said with a helpless shake of his head, a hint of disbelief in his voice. “You were reckless, charging in without regard for anything and taking someone out—though I have to admit, that’s very much like me back in the day. I like it!”

“Uh…” Charles was caught off guard by the sudden shift in tone, never expecting such words from this man.

“That look in your eyes… Did you think I called you here just to scold you?” Byrne added, clearly exasperated.

“Thank you. If you hadn’t been there, I wouldn’t have escaped so easily,” Charles said solemnly.

The Memory Stone was indeed useful, but the other party was a Level Three powerhouse and one of the five superiors in the Enforcement Squad. Clark could have easily found other reasons to punish him.

Yet with Byrne present, who was on equal footing, Clark had to tread carefully and was forced to let him off for now.

“But don’t get too comfortable. That guy is petty. You’ve clearly earned his grudges by crossing him. Be careful in the future.”

“Understood,” Charles replied.

He knew this matter was far from over, but he didn’t dwell on it. Given the twisted nature of the Modulator White Spirit, when the other party had meticulously planned to harm him, the tables might turn—and it would be anyone’s guess who would end up tormenting whom.

After leaving the Enforcement Squad building, Charles noticed a petite figure sitting on the embankment directly facing the entrance.

“Xiao Jin, are you waiting for me here?” he asked in surprise.

“Mm-hmm. Do you have time tonight?” she nodded in response, standing up and lightly patting the hem of her skirt.

“I do…” Charles replied with a peculiar expression.

He wondered if their roles had somehow reversed, and whether she was too young for this.

A gust of wind rose, rustling the nearby trees as white petals drifted down, stirring an inexplicable emotion within him.

It was as if, at a moment like this, beneath a blooming crabapple tree, he had once confessed like a girl... and failed.

“You’re a good person,” was her reply.

“All right, I’ll find you later,” Charles said as he came back to himself. She left a brief sentence and then turned away.

He shook his head, dispelling the strange sadness from his mind, and strode toward Garfield’s laboratory.

Next, he was about to delve into experiments related to organ transplantation.

On the Azure Star, kidney and other organ transplants had been realized, but the technology lagged far behind this world, burdened by many limitations that prevented most people from benefiting from such treatments.

But in Morent, the technology had long matured, capable of perfectly cloning organs.

For example, if a leg was eaten by a monster, one could return and pay a hefty price to have a new leg cloned and implanted.

The cultivation process took less than ten days, sometimes as fast as three!

Achieving this was impossible without source energy—a special power that granted Soul Masters extraordinary strength and the ability to realize many possibilities.

Organ transplantation was one of these achievements.

Inside the laboratory were individual compartments labeled with names like Fish, Insects, and so forth, indicating the different experimental creatures.

Charles frowned as he examined a peculiar creature in his hands—a being similar to an octopus but infused with the bloodline of another species.

Octopuses were too soft-bodied; though good for escaping, their attack power was low, unable to constrict armored or skeletal creatures like a python could.

Especially in this world, where numerous abnormal totem creatures boasted astonishing defenses, making the octopus utterly useless.

But Garfield valued its powerful regenerative ability and its eight tentacles, persistently researching how to transform it into a formidable totem beast.

He conducted experiments attempting to merge the bloodline of other creatures, seeking to completely remake it into a creature suited for their needs.

Progress had been made, but bloodline rejection and reproduction issues remained unsolved.

The experiments continued, one after another.

Charles casually tossed the lifeless octopus into a nearby shredder, pulverizing it before moving on to the next trial.

When he wearily returned to his quarters, it was already past eight or nine in the evening.

Under the streetlamp’s glow, he saw a tiny figure quietly standing at his door.

“White Fox, do you have time now?” the little girl asked again.

“Uh, yes. What is it? Why are you looking for me so late? Could it be... that kind of thing?” Charles stared at her in surprise.

“Then come with me. I’ll show you another world.”

The little girl walked over, took his hand, and moments later, Charles felt as if he had passed through something extraordinary—the scene before his eyes suddenly transformed!