After that, Rudy went back to the castle to see how the renovation was going. He planned to leave for Hel soon after and had no plans of staying in the castle until it was completely renovated.
In the castle, he met Angelica, who was resting in the lounge, alone.
"What's up?" he asked with a smile.
"Just resting."
Rudy sat beside Angelica on the same couch and leaned back.
Angelica quickly changed sides and moved close to Rudy to put her head on his lap.
Rudy chuckled softly and began to caress her head gently.
"What are you planning, Rudy?" she asked.
"Hmm?"
"I know you better than anyone, since I have spent the most time with you. What do you plan to achieve by bringing the lot here?"
Rudy stayed silent for a few seconds but after realizing that Angelica wouldn't give up until he answered her question, he let out a short sigh and muttered,
"I am making allies."
Angelica raised her brows and turned her head to Rudy with a baffled look on her face.
"Since when did you 'need' allies?" She asked. "Who humbled my man?"
"No one has humbled me. It's part of something greater and better."
"And that is…?"
"I can't get too deep into it or it will spoil everything. Not to mention, I can't tell the other girls and tell you."
"At least tell me the reason. I don't want to know what you plan to do with them. I want to know why you brought them here. You could have taken them elsewhere."
"I saved them out of sympathy, but also to put an end to the supergene experiment. I couldn't afford them sending a new superhuman to attack me or my loved ones. So I simply removed the problem from the existence.
Think about it, if I couldn't have them as my allies, they would have become my enemies. Even if they meant nothing to me… they were potential threats that could harm my loved ones— or someone close to them— when I am not around."
"That's true."
"I will implement more things tomorrow. I have yet to name my dynasty. I will introduce currency and other tasks which they have to do. I am not letting them live here for free. They will have to work for it," Rudy asserted in a solemn voice.
"And what about us? Do we have to work also?" she asked with a grin.
"Yes. You girls will have to work hard to love me even more and more."
"Are you asking for more sex?" She squinted her eyes.
"Perhaps I am. Perhaps I am not."
"I am down for it always."
Rudy rubbed his thumb on Angelica's lips and asked, "How are you feeling?"
"Are you asking physically, mentally, or sexually?"
"Umm.. more like spiritually. How is your body holding up? It's been a while since you last recharged yourself using my body."
"I have some ghostly powers which let me take the surrounding energy to recharge my soul. It's not a convenient method, but at least it's automatic."
"Isn't that a tedious process?"
"It is."
Angelica grinned and asked, "Or is it that you are missing me?"
"I miss everyone when they are not with me."
"While I miss everything when I am not in your body. I would usually know everything, and now I am as clueless as others."
"That comes with…" Rudy turned his head to the side as his eyes glowed brightly.
Angelica nudged Rudy and asked, "What's wrong?"
"A few people have gathered outside the castle gates."
"Gates? Isn't that far away from the actual castle?"
"Yeah."
"..." Angelica sat up and calmly questioned, "Since when can you sense something that far away?"
"I could always do that. I increased the radius of my radar."
'But… didn't you say you don't use your sensory powers when you are with us?' Angelica couldn't bring herself to ask him that.
She was afraid of the changes in Rudy, worried that he might become a new person.
"My sensory powers are active because I am surrounded by thousands of thousands of people," Rudy muttered.
Angelica looked at her hands and then checked if her body was touching Rudy, but it wasn't.
"How did you read my thoughts when I wasn't touching you?!" she asked with a baffled look on her face.
"I no longer need to touch a person to read their thoughts or emotions. As long as they are near me in the radius of 1.5 meters, I can read everything about them," Rudy asserted.
"That's scary."
"It's not under my control," he shrugged. "I can stop that if I want to, but why should I? I don't need to worry about anyone's privacy since they themselves reveal everything about them on the internet.
Even if they don't, the device they use collects their data and uses it. Those who worry about their privacy should stop trusting the system."
He got up from the couch and said, "I will go check why they have gathered outside the castle gates."
"Can I come with you?"
Rudy moved his hand towards Angelica, seemingly a gesture to hold her hands.
Angelica sighed in relief, knowing that Rudy was the same no matter how much power up he gets. She held his hand and smiled.
Rudy teleported outside the castle gate and asked Angelica to step back a little.
He inspected everyone and then asked, "What brings you here? Is there something that is not to your liking?"
The group was of both the humans and the mythical beings, implying that they both had the same queries, or that they had already discussed and planned to ask for Rudy's help in the matter.
They looked at the floating ring garden around the castle and asked, "My Lord, what do you plan to do with the newborn babies you extracted from the facilities?"
Rudy raised his brows with an amused expression on his face, and he smiled.
'Well, well, they passed their first test. They were worth saving, after all."
