Demonic Po*nstar System

Chapter 125 125: Calling Vespera

Grace managed to calm herself and was now eagerly watching with curious eyes as the chairman lifted his phone to his ears. She would never admit it out loud because she was a loyal and professional secretary, but she was bursting with excitement to hear how this conversation would unfold.

However, the woman became dismayed when she realized she wouldnʼt hear the respondent as things stood. Grace was a resourceful, smart woman, though. To solve her problem, she pushed her glasses up before speaking up, ”Sir, I believe it to be beneficial to the Awakened Association for me to silently listen in on the conversation. As the person tasked with observing Vesperaʼs son and his harem, I might catch something meaningful that would fly by your ears without notice.”

The chairman eyed her for a mere second before sighing once again and putting the call on speaker mode just before the call connected.

”Miss Ashborn, itʼs me. I hope life has been treating you well,” The chairman greeted.

”Yes?” Vespera replied to his amicable, gentlemanly greeting with a single, cold word.

”Miss Ashborn, I know that youʼre a busy woman, so Iʼll skip the formalities.”

”...”

Not receiving a single word this time around, the chairman fought a sigh back before continuing, ”Can I ask what you know about your firstborn son and the recent developments surrounding him?”

For the first time since the call began, Vespera parted her lips to deliver a response that was more than a single syllable; ”Iʼm spending a million dollars a day to fund a team that solely exists to surveil him offline, online, and on the awakened platform, so excuse me, chairman, but youʼll have to be more specific. If I begin detailing all my information—which is not something I would do for you, by the way—this call will never end…” She paused for a moment before clarifying, ”Literally. Iʼm getting updates on the surveillance targets faster than I could convey them.”

”Haaah…” The chairman was on a sighing spree today, it seemed. He couldnʼt help it; this womanʼs control freak nature perfectly collided with her mother bear instincts to create a true monstrosity.

When Vespera disowned Kaiden, he told her to stop stalking him or heʼd have to call the cops for a restraining order. Vespera was a mother who wanted to give her son the freedom to pursue whatever he wanted in life, but that didnʼt mean she would listen to him.

Just as he could do whatever he wanted, so would she, as far as Vespera was concerned. Therefore, the first thing she did after stepping out of the sushi restaurant was to ignore his words and begin establishing a team with the sole purpose of spying on him and the three ladies.

That being said, Vespera was not going to barge into his life when danger approached; that was not what this was about. She didnʼt step in to stop his reckless duel with David where the odds were overwhelmingly stacked against him, and she didnʼt even rush to Kaidenʼs rescue when he was in the middle of his death battle with the level 5 silverback mauler.

Kaiden was an awakened now, a modern-day warrior.

Vespera firmly believed that battles to the death were the best way for an awakened to become stronger, not just because of large XP gains but because it forged civilians into proper battle-hardened combatants.

Of course, as a loving mother, she was worried for Kaidenʼs life—just like a certain little sister who went absolutely ballistic and had to be restrained to not rush to his side during the fight with the silverback mauler monster—but Vespera hardened her heart to let her son pave his own path in life.

Thus, the reason for her spying was not to make his life easy but to safeguard him from nefarious actors of the human species with incredibly high levels and high-tier classes, such as the man who was on the other end of the communication line.

”Miss Ashborn, Iʼm referring to the current broadcast that can be found on Valhallaʼs Sinners.”

”Yes?”

ʼStop playing dumb, you damned woman! You just admitted to knowing everything there is to know about him!ʼ These were the thoughts swirling inside the chairmanʼs head, but he only displayed a tired frown.

That was more than enough to elicit a muted giggle from the ever-observant Grace, who was having a greater time right now than any cinema or theatre could ever provide her with. Her eyes danced with glee as she anticipated the next part of this very entertaining drama.

”Heʼs running around in the beginner dungeon with new spells under his belt, and the same is true for his three partners. They all underwent something strange, as if they just passed their first bottleneck before even reaching level 5. This is a completely unprecedented phenomenon in the entire decade-long history of the mana apocalypse!” The chairman informed Vespera with all the patience he could gather.

”Okay.”

*Crack!*

A fierce vein bulged on the chairmanʼs forehead as he gripped onto his chairʼs armrest by utilizing all the Strength stat he had to his name, which resulted in him pulverizing it entirely.

The chairman closed his eyes as he slowly, deliberately breathed in and out. He repeated it a few more times until he managed to calm himself down.

”Miss Ashborn, I wish to inquire if you would be willing to provide your consent to us re-evaluating their awakened tests. The information we might glean from doing so could be more valuable than any amount of wealth.”

”Iʼm not their manager. Iʼve never even spoken to three of their four members. Youʼre overestimating me, chairman.”

”…” The chairman grimaced.

Although his words might seem rather straightforward, they had hidden meanings behind them. Namely, the Awakened Association could legally force awakened individuals to submit themselves to re-testing, but only once a year. As a result, he couldnʼt strong-arm the members of Valhallaʼs Sinners into re-evaluation for more than 360 days using legal methods.

The association could only ask them nicely, but the chairman understood that any sane person would deny re-testing in their case like their life depended on it, because it most likely did. If the results were to be released, numerous underground organizations would be vying to kidnap him and the girls as curious subjects to study.

Hence, the chairman wasnʼt asking Vespera if she would kindly ask Kaiden in his stead to submit himself for a re-testing, but if she would raise hell should the Awakened Association force the four youngsters into doing it, whether they liked it or not.

Vesperaʼs answer, on the other hand, was that of feigned ignorance, pretending to be clueless. She likely wanted to catch him saying these thoughts out loud so that she could record it.

”Name your price…” the chairman grunted, feeling his nose ready to begin bleeding at a momentʼs notice.

”A first-class, one-way ticket to Beijing should do it. Their president did invite me for ʼsightseeingʼ many times, maybe I should oblige. Itʼs rude of me to ignore him for so long.”

ʼHere it is!ʼ Grace cheered inwardly, ʼSheʼs threatening treason on a recorded government line. Vespera is so damn badass!ʼ Most women tended to look up to an inspiring, heroic person like Scarlet, the awakened with the Flame Monarch title. However, to Grace, Vespera was the most badass woman to have ever existed.

”… Iʼll permit you to be present during their re-testing.”

A cold, mechanic voice came as a reply. ”I once ate curry in a restaurant, but it was horrible. For years, I told myself I would never try it again, but then I realized I was being a close-minded woman, so I visited three more Indian restaurants, but the meal was still terrible.

However, my taste buds are perfect, and curry is a beloved dish all across the globe, so it makes no sense for me to hate it. This train of thought led me to realize it might just be the American cooks who canʼt make a good Indian dish or the ingredients become stale by the time they get here. Thus, I was forced to conclude that the only surefire way for me to ascertain whether I like curry or not for good is to visit the origins of the meal to try it as it was meant to.”

”Vespera…” the chairman growled.

”Yes?” the woman asked innocently.