Chapter 235: The Haven in the Slums

"Let’s make a stop there," Lynx said quietly. "We’re going to buy food, supplies, toys, and clothes for those kids first. Real supplies, not leftovers."

Isabel watched Lynx speak, her dark orange eyes shimmering with deep emotion. This was the Lynx she knew from when he was ten. Not the tournament champion.

The boy who shared his bread even when he was hungry. She walked over, gently wrapping her hand around his arm, leaning her head against his shoulder.

Eleanor, Ophelia, Rose, and the rest of the girls looked at Lynx with eyes filled with overwhelming warmth and admiration. This wasn’t a PR stunt. This was him.

"You really have a sweet heart, Lynx," Rose murmured softly, stepping up to kiss his cheek. "That’s why we fell for you. Not the power. This. Well... I fell because of the good sex, but you get what I’m saying." She winked at him.

Lynx just smiled.

"Alright. Let’s load up." Layla grinned, cracking her knuckles. "I know a wholesale place that sells big stuffed bears!"

For the next hour, Lynx used his black card to purchase three entire transport cars worth of high-grade food, fresh fruits, luxury blankets, brand-new learning hTablets, clothes, and toys from the capital’s wholesale markets.

He didn’t buy cheap bulk stuff. He bought the same brand of fruit they ate at the Galleria. The same blankets from Veyron & Co. If you’re going to give, give properly.

The contrast between the central capital and the southern outskirts was stark. Here, the gleaming skyscrapers and floating gardens gave way to older, worn brick buildings, narrow paved roads, and simple, hard-working normal citizens going about their daily lives.

The air smelled like fried food stalls and exhaust. People stared at the three luxury cars like they were spaceships.

The convoy pulled up outside The Hope Children’s Home, a two story, slightly run down brick building with a fenced courtyard where a dozen children were playing with worn-out sports balls.

The paint was peeling. The swing set was rusted. But the courtyard was swept clean. Someone cared.

When the three luxury cars parked outside the fence, the kids stopped playing, staring with wide, curious eyes.

Timothy, a tall, grey-haired man in his sixties, with rough hands and a bent back, and his wife Rebecca, a kindly woman wearing a simple apron stained with flour, hurried out of the front door, looking anxious.

They thought it was an inspection or another wealthy person trying to buy this old property.

"Can we help you, folks? This is a private property, the kids are-" Timothy started, his voice protective, stepping in front of Rebecca.

Timothy’s words caught in his throat as Lynx stepped out of the black car, followed by Isabel, Eleanor, and the rest of the stunning group.

Fourteen beautiful women in high-end dresses stepping into a slum courtyard, Isabel still holding her giant white bear from the arcade. The entire courtyard went silent. Even the kids stopped playing.

Lynx’s eyes flickered for a second, that faint system overlay only he could see. Two status windows hanging above their heads.

[Timothy Grant - 63 - Human]

[Rebecca Grant - 60 - Human]

"Timothy? Rebecca?" Lynx asked smoothly, walking up to the gate with a warm, friendly smile.

"I hope we’re not intruding. Amira told me about you. We brought some things for the kids."

They opened the trunks, and boxes were carried in by hand.

Dozens of large, beautifully wrapped boxes of fresh food, high end clothes, learning tablets, sports gear, and boxes of sweet pastries were stacked neatly on the courtyard grass.

The kids gasped in absolute, disbelief-filled silence before erupting into ecstatic cheers.

"FOOD. LOOK AT ALL THE FOOD!"

"IS THAT A NEW H-TABLET?!"

"OH MY GOD! IT’S LYNX! IT’S THE GUY FROM THE TOURNAMENT! THE BLESSED!"

Rebecca stood frozen, tears instantly springing to her eyes as she covered her mouth with trembling hands. "L-Lord... what is all this? We... we can’t possibly accept... this is too much..."

"Please accept it, Rebecca," Lynx said gently, walking up and taking her worn, rough hands into his warm grip. "Every child deserves a good meal, good clothes, and a chance at a bright future. Timothy keeps this place clean with nothing. Imagine what he could do with something."

Timothy stared at the mountain of boxes, then at the group of stunningly beautiful young women in expensive dresses standing in his cracked courtyard holding fried chicken boxes and plush toys. His hands were shaking.

Rebecca stepped forward, her apron still covered in flour, wiping her hands nervously. Her eyes kept darting from Lynx to Eleanor to Amira to Isabel, her face getting redder and redder.

"W-wait... I... I know you," Rebecca whispered, her voice trembling. She pointed a shaky finger at Eleanor, then Amira, then Rose. "You’re... you’re Lady Eleanor, the Year 4 Queen of Aether Blessed Academy! And... and Lady Rose the professor! And Lady Amira! You... all of you! Blessed Beings from the Academy! The Tournament!"

Timothy finally recognized them too. His mouth fell open. He took a step back like he couldn’t believe his own eyes.

"The Aether Empire’s Blessed...? All of you... here? In our little home?" Timothy stammered, looking from Lynx’s face - the face from every poster in the city - to the fourteen girls who were on every billboard.

"How... how did you even get here? Why... why would you come here? How do you know this place? We’re... we’re nobody... we’re just a small home in the south district..."

The kids had stopped opening boxes and were staring too. One of the older boys whispered, "That’s really them... they’re the guys who won the tournament..."

All the kids were big fans. They all had seen the tournament on their old cracked hTablet.

Amira stepped forward then, taking off her sunglasses with a soft, almost embarrassed smile. She looked at Timothy and Rebecca.

"It’s me. Amira Kay," she said.

Rebecca nodded. "Lady Amira... oh my heavens... we... we saw you on Instalite this morning! You were at the Galleria!"

"I know you two are probably confused how we found you," Amira continued, her voice a little quieter. "Lynx asked me if I knew a real orphanage that actually uses its money well. I told him about Hope."

She hesitated, then sighed.

"Actually... Timothy, Rebecca... I’ve known about this place for a while. For about two years. I’m the secret gifter. The anonymous donations you got every three months - the 200,000 H-crystals, the food crates, the winter blankets? That was me. Through my mom’s subsidiary trust. I told my accountants not to put my name on it."

The courtyard went dead silent.

Rebecca’s knees buckled. "W-what...?"

Timothy’s hands started shaking violently. "The... the anonymous Kay’s Trust donations...? That was you? For two years? You... you were the one keeping us alive this winter?"

Amira nodded, a little emotional herself. "I worked with a lot of orphanages that were scams. Fake kids, fake accounts. Yours was one of the few where every crystal went to food and repairs. I saw your audit logs from the subsidiary company you used to work for - you retired and you put your pension into this place. I... I respected that. So I kept sending help quietly. I didn’t want press."

Rebecca burst into tears instantly, covering her face, her shoulders shaking. "Oh my goodness... oh my god... we thought it was just... just a kind rich person... we prayed for you every night... we didn’t know it was you... Lady Amira..."

Timothy wiped his eyes with the back of his rough hand, bowing his head deeply, his voice thick. "Thank you... thank you, Lady Amira... thank you... you saved us... we were about to close last winter... if not for that money..."

Eleanor and Rose stepped forward too, placing hands on Rebecca’s shoulders.

"We all know you now," Eleanor said softly. "Amira told us everything in the car. She said you two are the real deal."

"You deserve more than this," Lynx said quietly.

He then reached into his coat pocket and pulled out his checkbook - a real, black, imperial-grade checkbook with the Aetherian crest watermarked on each slip, and his personal hPhone. Isabel and Amira gave him these kind of stuff.

"Timothy, I want to do this properly. For rebuilding, for teachers, for the kids. I can’t just tap my phone and make money appear. What’s your home’s registered account?"

Timothy fumbled, wiping his hands on his pants, and hurried inside with Rebecca, returning a minute later with a faded, creased document - the official registration certificate for The Hope Children’s Home Charitable Trust.

With a bank account number printed on it from the Southern District Community Bank. The paper was old and the edges were torn. Rebecca held out her own old thanks , screen cracked.

"This is... this is our account, Lord Lynx. We’ve had it for twelve years. There’s only 4,000 h-crystals in it right now..."

Lynx took the certificate, looked at the account name carefully, and opened his banking app on his hPhone. He typed in the account number slowly, double-checking each digit out loud with Timothy.

"St. Hope Children’s Home Charitable Trust... routing 0017... account ending 4829... correct?"

Timothy nodded, his whole body trembling. "Yes... yes, that’s us..."

Lynx filled out the check as well as a backup, writing in neat, sharp handwriting.

Pay to the order of: The St. Hope Children’s Home Charitable Trust - Amount: 50,000,000 H-Crystals.

He signed it, and then on his hPhone, he initiated the transfer. He had to confirm with his fingerprint, then face ID, then enter the amount again.

BEEP!

On Lynx’s hPhone: [PENDING CONFIRMATION: TRANSFER 50,000,000 H-CRYSTALS TO ST. HOPE CHARITABLE TRUST - CONFIRM?]

He pressed confirm.

A second later, Timothy’s old tablet vibrated violently.

BEEP! BEEP! BEEP!

[INCOMING TRANSFER RECEIVED: 50,000,000 H-CRYSTALS FROM LYNX AZARION.]

Timothy looked down at the screen. His knees literally gave out and he had to grab the fence to stay standing. His eyes nearly popped out of his head.

"F-FIFTY MILLION?! FIFTY MILLION H-CRYSTALS?!" he choked out, his voice cracking so loud the kids turned. "L-Lord Lynx! This... this... this is enough to completely tear down this broken building and rebuild it from the ground up! Purchase proper beds! Hire real teachers! Fix the swing set! Feed these children for thirty years! This is more than this entire district sees in a year!"

Rebecca burst into tears, both hands over her mouth, shaking. "Fifty million... oh my god... oh my god... Timothy... and Lady Amira... you both..."

"Then rebuild it," Lynx smiled warmly, steadying the old man with a firm hand on his shoulder, and handing him the signed check as a physical receipt.

"Hire proper staff, build a modern facility, and give these kids everything they need. I listed Amira’s family trust as the reference guarantor, so if the district office gives you any trouble or asks where the money came from, you call Amira directly. No one will touch it. Keep the check as proof."

Timothy clutched the check and the tablet to his chest like they were sacred relics, tears streaming down his wrinkled face, bowing so deeply his back hurt.

"You are a true blessing to this city, Lord Lynx! You all are! Blessed beings with blessed hearts! We will never forget this! Never! The children will pray for all of you every night! Thank you, Lady Amira, thank you for two years of kindness!"

The children swarmed around Lynx and the girls, laughing, hugging their legs, and opening the boxes.

Eleanor, Layla, Ophelia, and Isabel sat on the grass with the kids, helping them unbox tablets and playing games.

Kira was teaching two little boys how to throw a proper punch. Rose was braiding a little girl’s hair. Isabel gave her giant arcade bear to a little girl who had been staring at it.

As Lynx was handing a box of chocolate pastries to a group of young boys, a young girl stepped out from the doorway.

She was roughly fifteen years old, wearing a simple denim jacket and skirt. Her hair was tied in two ponytail braids, and her pale blue eyes were staring at Lynx in absolute, wide eyed shock. She was frozen in the doorway.

In her hands, she was clutching a custom phone case printed with Lynx’s official tournament photo - she was wearing a hoodie with the logo "LYNX CRUSHERS" - his official fan club on Instalite. The hoodie was clearly handmade.

"L-L-Lynx...?" the girl choked out, her face flushing bright crimson.

Lynx turned around, offering her a smooth, charming smile. "Hey there. What’s your name?"

The girl’s knees shook so violently she almost collapsed! "M-Mia! My name is Mia!"

"Nice to meet you, Mia," Lynx chuckled gently, stepping over and handing her a box of pastries. "You seem to know who I am."

Mia clutched the box to her chest, her eyes brimming with tears, her whole face bright red. She looked up at him, her voice shaking but determined.

"I... I’m your biggest fan! I lead the local capital Chapter of Lynx Crushers on Instalite! I watched all your tournament matches ten times each! I... I really, really like you, Lynx! I mean... like LIKE you!"

The courtyard went quiet for a second. Rebecca covered her mouth. Timothy froze.

Lynx blinked, then let out a soft, amused chuckle.

"Thank you, Mia. That’s really sweet of you to say," he said warmly, giving her a quick, friendly, brotherly pat on the shoulder.

Mia didn’t back down. She clutched the pastry box tighter, emboldened.

"I’m serious! I’m fifteen. I’m turning sixteen next month. You’re eighteen! That’s only two and half years! Two and half years is nothing!"

The girls behind Lynx burst out laughing. Eira, who was sitting nearby with a little girl on her lap, tilted her head and nodded innocently.

"Honestly... she kind of has a point. Two and Half years isn’t that much," Eira said.

Lynx threw his head back and laughed out loud, patting Mia gently on the head.

"Nice try, Mia," he laughed. "You’re still too young. Focus on growing up strong first, okay? Graduate, get into a good school, then come and argue with me about age gaps."

Mia pouted dramatically, but her eyes were shining with pure happiness.

"Can I at least get a follow back on Instalite then? Please!"

"Sure thing," Lynx smiled, pulling out his own hPhone and then gave her. She looked her name up, she was already following him, she handed him his phone back. He hit FOLLOW BACK.

Mia literally dropped to her knees on the grass, clutching her hPhone to her chest!

"HE FOLLOWED ME BACK! THE KING FOLLOWED ME BACK!"