chapter 35 the young refiner competition preparation (work in progress)

Sophia was usually laid back for the most part, and happily let any child make mistakes and learn from them when it wasn't life-threatening, but now that she came back and learned a bit more about Daniel she was reluctant to make him be around teens, he was too smart and unfiltered, she was sure that if a conflict arose with someone he wouldn't care about his foe well being, he would be cruel and merciless, in her experience intelligence and emotion erased each other, and daniel was too smart and methodical

Sophia sent a mental message, leaving Daniel out, and said "with the three of you he didn't speak for months after he discovered you guys withholding information, what would he do to people who cross him if he doesn't care about them"

Vincent wanted to sigh but couldn't or he would give away to Daniel that they were secretly talking so he just responded "he's not like my sister, you shouldn't worry about that"

Wilhelmina specter, was Vincent's sister, and a proper stereotypical villain, the kind who tries to develop deathrays one day and steal valuable shiny things just for the thrill the other, once upon a time she was the most acclaimed genius in formation building, she could event trap 10th stage people for almost 20 minutes with the right preparation, when she was only at the sixth stage, she obviously couldn't arm them, but could keep them busy for enough time while she fled from the scene of the crime, she even stole from Andrea, and was now in a prison cell in the family vault inside the restricted section, she was also a bully to Sophia when she had just started to date Vincent

Daniel said "anyway, you guys are the experts, I'll just be happy to know what this mesh is made of, I can also leave this sample to you, just promise to bring it back, I took it out of the belt, without this it doesn't work anymore"

Phoebe had an idea and said "I'll take care of it" she could use this excuse to do some work and also hire a young refiner in her personal unit since the last one retired from the army and choose a more geographically stable job to stay near his family since his wife was pregnant

Daniel nodded and said "ok let me know" before going back to the lab, now that both the lance and belt were taken care of, all he had to do was hack the crystal, he had already lost hope with the bracelet and left it for future Daniel to deal with

the next day Phoebe was already preparing a healthy competition for the privilege of working in her unit as a PR stunt for the Sun Federation army, while talking on the phone with commander Perry

commander Perry cheerfully said "that's a wonderful idea admiral, you will get the young master answers and a new refiner at the same time, I'll start preparing everything, how about the end of the month for the competition, we will have 21 days to make sure everything is ready"

Phoebe had a troubled expression, but then a memory flashed in her mind she said "21 days it's a long time, I'll have to somehow manage to keep Daniel's mind busy, do we still have that thing in storage?"

commander Perry was puzzled and asked "yes, why?"

Phoebe smiled and said "bring it to me, if I'll give it to him he will, maybe, be occupied for a month or two"

commander Perry nodded and said "ok, I'll be there tomorrow at 900 hours"

Phoebe kept smiling and said "good, come on in when you arrive, goodnight"

commander Perry made a salute to Phoebe, and said "roger wilco, goodnight admiral"

the next morning at 9 am, commander perry entered the specter domain, and walked towards the castle, as she approached she saw Daniel sleeping under the sun in a deckchair on a piece of lakeshore between the lab and the castle and thought "since when there's another building here?"

commander Perry went inside and found Phoebe and Sophia, if a normal person would have entered they would just see two women chatting, but being an accomplished cultivator commander perry saw something extremely different, the pressure emanating from Sophia was so thick commander perry fell with her knees to the ground, both Sophia and Phoebe noticed the new guest arrival and restrained the pressure

it was already impressive for the peak seventh stage Phoebe, to resist the full pressure of the ninth stage Sophia, who had recovered her cultivation and had now the power of an initial ninth stage cultivator

Phoebe looked at her and said "you arrived perry, I suppose you brought it"

commander perry nodded and with a wave of her hand, a 2 mt by 1mt object appeared, it was bigger on the front and had clearly a seat in the middle, but it kept an aerodynamic shape

Phoebe looked happily at the strange object and said "good job perry, with this Daniel will be busy for at least a month, this puppy came straight from that smuggler collection, whatever kind of vehicle it is, it can't be something simple"

Sophia looked at her and said "Vincent gave him a couple of pieces of technology, there was no need to give him another, he has plenty to keep him busy"

Phoebe played with the mesh sample and said "I need him to be busy, I can't trust whatever Vincent gave him, 99% of the counterfeit stuff in his collection turned out to be surveillance equipment, with this, he will not only be busy for sure but will also buy me 21 days since he will soon ask for his stuff, I'll tell him to study this vehicle and that it will take some time"

Sophia nodded and while laughing said "you are basically bribing him"

commander perry nodded and said "totally a bribe" then realized what she said and added "cough, cough what a splendid idea admiral"

Phoebe chuckled and said "it isn't a bribe, it's just a little distraction"

the three women kept chatting, commander Perry wasn't just Phoebe's second in command but also a friend, so Sophia happily helped her with the problem commander Perry encountered during her cultivation and helped to strengthen her knowledge and reinforce her foundations with a little pressure

before they knew it, it was lunchtime and a barely awake Daniel walked in, he could feel the usual energy emanating from Sophia, but just felt it was cultivator stuff and totally ignored the pressure, then he saw commander perry and said "you are mom's friend" than expectantly looked at Phoebe and asked "as she bought news about that stuff?"

Phoebe patted his head and said "sorry Daniel it will take a while, but she found this in our warehouse, it's something we seized from a smuggler, and it is apparently some kind of vehicle, give it a look"

Daniel's eyes lit up, he knew from Tickles reaction that this was good stuff, Tickles came out and entered the vehicle after a minute Daniel started laughing maniacally and jumped on the seat, and before anyone could stop him, he shot through the window like a rocket, shattering it in thousands of pieces while laughing and screaming "THIS IS WHAT I WAS TALKING ABOUT" while making loops and flying at crazy speeds through the air

Sophia and Phoebe immediately flew up to stop Daniel before he broke his neck falling from the dangerous vehicle

Sophia turned to look at Phoebe and said "what the hell did you give him?"

Phoebe had a flash of guilt in her eyes and said "I don't know, we were never able to make it work so I thought it was broken"

Daniel was still laughing and said "it wasn't broken, like the lance it had a genetic lock, so only the owner could use it, but, you know, TIckles, now I'm the owner, it even as a full tank, I can fly for the next 10 hours" thanks to the inertial shielding, he wasn't feeling even a lick of wind on him and could hear them perfectly

Phoebe was still worried, and since he could hear her, she said "land, it's dangerous, I gave it to you to study, not to drive"

Daniel was still smiling and laughing and said "it's ok, it is very simple to control"

Sophia also worried, said "come down anyway, you should not be on something like that without some sort of protection"

Daniel was like struck by lightning, he obediently landed in front of the castle and as soon as Sophia arrived he said looking at her "something like an armor, maybe with that stuff inside so I can float down or even fly without this, that's a really good idea grandma, I'm going to the lab" before she could respond the bike flew again but this time much slower, and went towards the lab garage door from where the robot could exit

Sophia hadn't finished talking and asked "what about the window"

and Daniel without looking back said "what about it?"

Sophia turned around and saw the shards of glass had disappeared, and the window was there, fixed and clean like it was never broken, a small silver scaly dog with horns was running to Daniel from below it, while he entered the lab

Sophia shook her head and said to Phoebe "soon we will not be able to control him"

Phoebe nodded, and replied "I already knew that since he was two, but today sure confirmed it"

in the meantime commander perry was still shocked stiff, she saw daniel fly through the window like a rocket with two experts following him, trying to catch him, then she saw a small scaly dog come from where Daniel lifted off, turn into a puddle of metal, and use the bits of the broken window to build a new one, all this in a very short time

she then went to the window and she saw daniel entering the lab, while the two, who in her mind were colossal figures, were shaking their heads in resignation, commander perry couldn't describe her emotion, but today her vision of the world became a little wider

the days passed, and while daniel was trafficking in his lab studying the flying bike and thinking about the new armor, Phoebe and perry were working around the clock, competition like this not only attracted talented dark horses, but also promoted army enlisting, and brought entertainment to the cultivator's long lives, this competition will also be transmitted through virtual reality live, so that the people who couldn't afford to come to verulus to see a competition will be able to see it from home

and obviously being something organized by a member of the specter family a certain flare was necessary, these days apart from sending the invitation and opening the registration online for whoever felt up to the challenge, they also had to invite famous refiners as guests and judges, prepare a big flashy location, decorate it, prepare the materials for the participants, and rewards for the winners from 1 to 3, plus the participation rewards for the others, not to count refreshments and the necessary standard tools and referees, to eliminate equipment advantage, and possible cheating

so Phoebe and Perry, flew all around verulus and found the perfect location for a refining competition, but it was a dangerous place outside the city, so while perry started to look for construction workers, Sophia called the unit to act as security, why hire weaklings when they were more than qualified to do it

so now the entire unit and many construction workers were building a giant arena in the middle of two lava rivers flowing from a volcano to a pristine desert, the occasional giant scorpion or sandfish still attacked regularly, but the real problem were the lava blowfish, that shoot lava to the passing people

in the meantime, Phoebe and Perry, were calling for referees, and judges, after Perry found a catering service for the guests and participants

everything went swimmingly thanks to the unit protection and the powerful specter name, with 2 days to spare, everything was ready for the competition