Chapter 50

I glanced at Margaret, feeling the urge to call her out. How could she ask me about the room's purpose? Maybe she forgot this was a studio for making 'Enchanted items'. But ever since I brought her here, we hadn't done any work. We were just fooling around.

But now wasn't the time to reveal Margaret's true nature. I decided to play along. "This is the core area of Tortoise City, the 'Enchanted item' production studio," I said seriously.

"Did you hear that, Sophia? My work isn't as easy as yours. Stop whining about life and learn to enjoy it. Work is the most important part of life," Margaret said.

Listening to Margaret's odd words, I felt bad for Sophia. How could she have such an aunt?

"Alright, dear Sophia, when my dumb brother wakes up, he'll take over the work. I think he'll recover soon," Margaret tried to comfort Sophia.

I suddenly asked, "Vincent hasn't recovered yet? Didn't you say he'd wake up in three to five days?"

"Who knows? He should've woken up yesterday. His breathing is normal, but there's a lot of energy fluctuation in his body. He must be evolving," Margaret said casually.

"Is it dangerous?" I asked, and Sophia looked worried too.

"Everyone faces death. He's an adult. Don't worry, even if he fails, he'll just become an ordinary person," Margaret explained.

It seemed like this was out of our hands. I hoped Vincent would successfully evolve. In front of Sophia, I took out the first item I made in the studio. "Sophia, don't worry about your dad. Good people have good futures. Here, try this. It's a gift just for you," I said softly.

Sophia took the gift and gasped, "What is this? It's so beautiful!" The item in her hand shimmered with colorful light, looking very high-end.

"This is magical armor. Try it on," I said. Right now, the studio could only make defensive 'Enchanted items', so I planned to make a full-body armor.

Soon, Sophia put on the armor. It fit her perfectly, even the chest size was spot on, like it was custom-made. The armor even had a visor, covering all defense angles.

"So light," Sophia said, jumping a few times and moving her arms and legs without any trouble. She even shot a fireball, and the glove part of the armor only turned slightly red. "Thank you, Mr. Steele, I really like this gift!" she said happily.

Seeing the armor, Margaret was envious and couldn't help but say, "Mr. Steele, do you have a thing for Sophia? Sophia, be careful. And why does the chest part fit so well? Mr. Steele, did you measure it with your hands?"

"Of course not!" Sophia and I almost shouted at the same time. We glanced at each other, and Sophia's face turned red.

"Sophia, try to connect with the armor's superpower. There are surprises," I said, changing the subject.

In an instant, Sophia vanished, leaving Margaret stunned. "What's going on? Where is she?" Margaret asked, surprised.

I chuckled and said, "Not bad, huh?"

Sophia was still in the room, but you couldn't see her with the naked eye. Even with the tiny super fireflies lighting up the place, she was completely invisible.

I called out to the air, asking Sophia to drop the invisibility. Surprisingly, she had snuck up behind me. Even though I could sense something approaching, thanks to my mental power being 505 times stronger than normal, I still couldn't pinpoint her exact location.

Margaret, intrigued, came closer to touch the armor and asked, "How did you do it? I mean, without using extremely low-temperature ice blade cutting, how did you shape the armor?"

"Well, I didn't use the Hell Worm shell. This is actually made from Mary's scales, which are super easy to shape. Plus, the scales have the invisibility superpower. Since making the shield last time, I realized you don't need to inject superpower into the material. If the material itself has superpower, you can trigger it with special patterns," I explained.

They seemed to get it, but Margaret still had questions. "Sure, the invisibility is great, but without enough defense, this armor isn't very useful in a real fight. It could face heavy attacks and you'd be toast on the battlefield."

I didn't say anything, just pulled out my M4A1 automatic rifle from a cabinet and started shooting. The gunfire was intense, each shot hitting the armor, making Sophia crouch on the ground in fear.

"Ryan, are you nuts?" Margaret quickly used her superpower to create an ice wall in front of Sophia.

By then, I had already stopped shooting. "Margaret, see how strong the armor's defense is?" I said confidently.

Margaret realized the bullets hadn't done any damage to the armor, not even a scratch.

Sophia, clutching her chest, was clearly shaken. She gasped, "That's amazing! I saw the bullets hit the chest, and the armor turned metallic. I didn't feel a thing. It's so magical. As befits an 'Enchanted item'!"

I thought to myself, 'Of course, this armor has the superpower of skin reinforcement, can turn invisible, and enhances hardness. It's top-notch.' If I didn't have these superpowers myself, I would've made one for me ages ago.

The cost of making this armor was huge. I nearly stripped Mary bare of its scales. It almost fought me at first, but later, it started enjoying shedding scales. Not that Mary turned weird, but the price I paid was high. One scale for 1 point of cosmic energy. This armor used up 1000 points. But Mary only needed to use some physical strength to regrow scales. That annoying Mary, if it were human, it'd be a total profiteer.

"Mr. Steele, are you mad?" Sophia asked.

"Nah, just remembered something. Why would I be mad?" I scratched my head and said.

The more Margaret eyed the armor, the more she wanted one. "Dear Mr. Steele, make one for me too. You know my bust size very well," she said with a wink.

I quickly shut down her teasing. "The cost of the armor is really high. This one is just a prototype," I explained. This armor had cost 1000 points of cosmic energy, which was way too expensive. I still needed the remaining energy to tame the evolution beast.

"As long as money can solve the problem, it's not a big deal. Have you thought about something?" Margaret said, trying to catch my attention.

"What do you mean?" I asked.

"Secret Operations Team!" Margaret raised a finger and smiled.

Her words hit me like a lightbulb moment. I could totally assemble a special team with invisible armor! It would be a nightmare for our enemies!

"It's a good idea, but the high cost I mentioned isn't about money. It's about manpower. Margaret, no more slacking off. Starting today, you're staying here to make armor!" I said seriously.

"What?" Margaret looked shocked and very reluctant.

I opened another cabinet, revealing the remaining scales I had collected and a bunch of patterns I had imprinted. I asked Margaret to practice with them. "Come on, I have high hopes for you." Then, I took Sophia's hand and left the studio.

As we closed the door, we could hear Margaret throwing things inside. Her temper was still as fiery as ever.

Outside, Sophia looked apologetic and said softly, "Actually, Aunt Margaret is very kind and gentle."

"Really?" I sounded as dramatic as my strained throat allowed. I might believe Margaret was kind, but gentle? No way. 'Dear Sophia, you should spend more time with your aunt.' I thought. I took Sophia with me to avoid being in the same room with Margaret. Margaret was so strong, but after making love, she was exhausted. As for me, under her, my poor cock had almost all the pressure. I was even more worn out than she was.

"What's wrong, Mr. Steele? You seem a bit excited," Sophia asked with concern.

"Nothing, I'm just planning the next three months," I said, pretending to be serious. Damn castrated version of the 'Super Zombie Virus,' it would take at least three months to expire. 'Why did Jessica research such a thing? It's such a pain in the ass. I have to punish her!' I subconsciously showed an evil smile.

"Mr. Steele, your smile is so sinister," Sophia reminded me.

"Alright, I just remembered something and need to go to the lab. If there's nothing else, you can rest. It's been a hard day of pottery burning," I waved my hand to Sophia.

"Well... could you go to the lab later?" Sophia looked slightly apologetic.

"Is there anything else?" I was curious.

"I met a lovely girl today. Would you like to meet her? She's in your office," Sophia hesitated.

I didn't know what she was thinking. It seemed like someone else wanted to join the 'Big House.' I felt that Sophia was just too kind, always easily agreeing to others' requests. "Sophia, the room is almost full here. Are you sure the girl you recommend is someone I want to meet?" I asked.

"Yes, she's very smart! And she can write!" Sophia insisted."Alright, since you recommended her, I'll take it seriously." I gave Sophia a hug and then said, "I'm planning to announce the new schedule tomorrow. We'll work five days a week and rest for two. On weekends, I want to invite you to go hunting together, just the two of us. Are you up for it?"

Sophia looked at me in surprise. Judging by her expression, she seemed to be thinking about something, and soon she nodded in agreement. Then she covered her face and ran off.

'Did she misunderstand something? I just want to test the durability of the invisibility armor,' I thought, rubbing my chin. 'I should try to meet her expectations. What kind of date would she like?'

Leaving the studio, I planned to meet the girl Sophia mentioned. But before I reached the office, I heard Grace's familiar voice, "Dinner's ready, we're having grilled Hell Worm meat today." My stomach growled. So, I headed towards the dining room, which was Grace's domain.

In the dining room, Lucy was setting the table while Grace was pouring soup into everyone's bowls. The soup smelled delicious. "Tomato meat soup? Nice, I like it," I muttered. The women gradually gathered in the hall, sat down, and prepared to eat.

I called Lucy over, "I have a guest in my office. Can you bring her over to join us for dinner?"

Lucy left her seat and walked towards the office. Everyone looked at me with curiosity, wondering who the guest was.

I gave Sophia a faint smile and said, "It's a girl here for an interview. I can't let her starve in the office."

Soon, Lucy returned with a girl. She had fair skin, brown hair, delicate features, and big eyes like Lucy, giving her a lively look. She was not tall, about half a head shorter than Sophia, but had a large chest. She wore a coarse cloth dress, indicating she probably came from an average background. It was because of this casual dress that her beauty was better revealed. I swallowed slightly, and from the side, I even saw the pink nipples under the dress.

"Sorry to interrupt your meal, I'm Emma Thomas." She was very polite, not shy, and her voice was sweet. She bowed to everyone, and the warm-hearted Grace invited Emma to sit beside her.

I only said a few words of welcome before starting the most anticipated meal of the day. Usually, we didn't discuss work during mealtime, and today was no exception.

Everyone was sharing interesting stories, and I noticed that Lucy was particularly talkative today, as if she was deliberately showing off. The only ones not talking were Jessica and the newcomer Emma. Jessica was always quiet and not fond of socializing. But Emma should at least be a bit more proactive.

Subconsciously, I had already approved of Emma. Regardless of whether she was smart or not, at least she looked good as a secretary by my side. I also noticed that Emma's cutlery had not moved, and she hadn't even taken a sip of the soup. "Emma, are you not used to the food here?" I asked curiously.