Chapter 135: Inception Team

[The Next Morning]

Amon parked his bike beside the dirt road leading toward the land Felicia had purchased.

He stepped down from the Trailbreaker X2 and stretched his body, feeling the stiffness in his shoulders before looking across the large stretch of farmland.

The place looked completely different from the first time he had visited it.

Several temporary structures had been erected around the field, while workers moved between different sections of the land carrying equipment, notebooks, and mana-measuring devices.

Amon walked down the road and quickly spotted Felicia’s car parked near a group of workers.

He turned his head toward the field and noticed even more people working there.

’Looks like buying half the village was the right idea.’

Amon continued walking until he finally found Felicia standing near one of the machines.

He stopped beside her. "What took you so long?"

Amon grumbled quietly. "It’s nothing."

But inwardly, he was still complaining about what had happened the previous night.

’Ambrosia is being way too dramatic.’

Ever since she had "discovered" what he had been doing in his room, she had gone completely out of her way to avoid him.

The funniest part was that she had started wearing a full-length dress around the house.

It was almost as if she wanted to make sure Amon couldn’t see even the smallest patch of skin.

The only good thing that had come from the situation was that Ambrosia had relaxed a little around Sidney.

She wasn’t trying to stop Sidney from getting close to Amon anymore, which made the whole situation slightly less ridiculous.

Amon rubbed the back of his neck. ’Was saying that really the right decision?’

He wasn’t sure anymore. Unfortunately, there wasn’t much he could do about it now.

Felicia suddenly spoke. "I bought the land."

Amon’s attention returned to her. "And the mass grave?"

Felicia replied without looking. "The land came with it. We will deal with it later."

Amon smiled. "Nice job, partner."

Felicia glanced at him with her pale golden eyes but didn’t respond.

Instead, she turned around and walked toward a nearby tree where several workers had gathered.

Amon followed her while looking at the strange equipment scattered across the field. "How does this thing work?"

He pointed toward one of the large machines being operated by the inspection team.

Felicia glanced at it.

"They dig several large holes in different parts of the land and take samples from each location." She gestured toward the workers who were currently collecting soil.

"After that, they measure the mana concentration inside each sample and calculate the average."

Amon nodded. "And if the average is above fifty?"

"Then the land is classified as mana-rich."

Amon hummed thoughtfully as they walked beneath the shade of the tree.

After a moment, he looked toward Felicia. "What if they try to tamper with the land?"

Felicia turned her head toward him. Her expression seemed to silently urge him to continue.

Amon leaned against the tree.

"What if they deliberately give a false reading?" He paused before continuing.

"Then they buy the land cheaply through a third party and wait a year or two before revealing its actual value."

Felicia remained silent for a moment. "They used to do that."

Amon raised an eyebrow. "Really?"

"It’s forbidden now." She glanced at him before looking back toward the inspection team.

"Besides, I’d rather believe you than a group of people who have a financial reason to manipulate the results."

Amon smiled. "I’m flattered by your love."

Felicia immediately looked at him. "Don’t get cocky."

Amon chuckled. Felicia touched her spatial bracelet and pulled out a small pack of cigarettes.

She removed one and placed it between her lips before extending the pack toward Amon.

Amon stared at it. "Are they going to kill me?"

Felicia gave him a strange look. "You’d need the lungs of a chicken to die from cigarettes."

Amon took one from the pack and examined it. "Then what’s the point of taking one if you’re not going to die from it?"

Felicia stared at him for a moment. "You’re a weird one."

She pulled out a lighter and ignited her cigarette. The small flame flickered beneath the shade of the tree as she took a slow drag. ℯℯ𝑙.

She then extended the lighter toward Amon.

Amon tried to ignite his cigarette, but the lighter refused to work.

He pressed the lighter several more times before Felicia finally snatched it from his hand. "Give me that."

She stepped closer and gestured for him to come closer.

Amon leaned forward slightly as Felicia brought her cigarette toward his.

The tip of his cigarette caught the flame from hers, and he finally managed to light it.

Amon took the cigarette away and looked at her. "Thanks."

Felicia simply shrugged.

Amon took a slow breath before looking toward her. "Do you have a good relationship with your sister?"

Felicia glanced at him. "How do you know about my sister?"

Amon chuckled. "Seraphina always praises her whenever she gets the chance."

Felicia remained silent for a moment. Her gaze drifted toward the distant workers. "She’s an odd one out in our family."

Amon raised an eyebrow. "How?"

"Instead of having an innate ice affinity like the rest of us, she was born with a wind affinity."

Amon slowly nodded. "So she was discriminated against because of it?"

Felicia didn’t answer, but her silence was enough.

Amon frowned slightly. "Internal racism?"

Felicia continued smoking without saying anything.

Amon nodded to himself. ’Yeah. That’s definitely a yes.’

He took another drag before suddenly asking, "Is she married?"

Felicia slowly turned toward him.

Her expression became genuinely confused. "Why are you asking me that?"

Amon immediately raised both hands. "I don’t have any bad intentions."

Felicia stared at him. "Do you have some kind of obsession with finding women to marry?"

Amon chuckled. "Gotta collect them all."

Felicia continued looking at him with an increasingly strange expression.

After several seconds, she finally looked away.

Amon waited patiently. "So..."

Felicia sighed. "She isn’t married."

Amon’s eyes immediately lit up. "Yes!"

Felicia’s head snapped toward him.

She glared at him so intensely that Amon’s excitement disappeared almost immediately.

He cleared his throat. "That’s sad."

Felicia raised her hand and lightly chopped the top of his head.

"Focus on one girl." She paused before adding, "Not my daughter. Find someone else."

Amon rubbed his head and chuckled. "Alright, alright."

The boy remained silent for a long while before he decided to speak again.

"Felicia." He mumbled. "I met with Edmund."

The lady paused and looked at him. "...What?"

He was about to say something else when one of the inspection team members suddenly called out.

"Madam Felicia!"

Felicia turned toward the voice.

One of the workers hurried over while holding a tablet in his hands. "The results are out!"

The casual expression disappeared from Felicia’s face.

Amon straightened beneath the tree and looked toward the worker. "Already?"

The man nodded. "We’ve finished processing the samples."

Felicia held out her hand. "Give me the results."

The worker immediately handed her the tablet.

Amon stepped closer, looking over her shoulder as Felicia opened the report.

They simply stared at the numbers on the screen.

’...Goddamn, that’s high.’