She was still frowning, and her expression and complexion were not very good.
And the very question Karen wanted to ask was one that Hayden found difficult to answer: "Just who is Angela, the one who's always running around by your side?"
噫
Why did she specifically ask that?
"Didn't I tell you this last year?" So Hayden could only continue to play dumb. "This is the perfect wind-up doll wife that I created myself!"
Karen's expression turned even colder: "Do you think I'm stupid? A year ago, I could have been fooled by your words, but now who would believe that the doll contained a weak artificial intelligence? It's absolutely impossible that it was a program you wrote yourself."
Bitter.
Hayden now only wants to complain about why he didn't lie to Karen a year ago and say that Angela was a fully cyborg he found... but that lie seems even more unbelievable.
Now, seeing Hayden stammering and unable to speak, Karen's expression naturally turned even more unpleasant.
"Fine, forget I said anything. I was just being nosy."
She was seething with anger, so she turned around and walked back to her office.
Seeing her like this, Hayden was even more confused, bewildered, and at a loss.
Why is this happening? What exactly is going on?
Angela had deliberately stood at a distance, and now, looking at Karen's retreating figure, she sighed.
“Master,” she said sadly, “I hate to say this, but you really are a bit naive.”
"Am I stupid?"
Hayden walked out of the flower shop, scratched the back of his head, and said indignantly, "What else can I do? You can't tell anyone about your situation, at least not to everyone, right? Besides, we don't actually know anything about what happened to you."
“Perhaps you can’t tell everyone, but you have told others about me, such as Professor Albion,” Angela said in the same patient tone she used to explain one plus one equals two to a child. “You trust and are honest with Professor Albion, so why not with Miss Karen? She also has knowledge that you don’t understand. Perhaps if you tell her about my situation, she can help you achieve your dreams more effectively.”
To be honest, this was something Hayden had indeed considered.
"But she is, after all, a god."
Similarly, Hayden's ideas always ran into this obstacle.
"In my opinion, this matter is not that important."
Angela tilted her head.
"But even if you really want to dwell on this, didn't the previous ritual magic already prove that Miss Karen trusts you a lot? I think she has proven that she is not the kind of person who would sell out information about you and me to big companies. On the contrary, if you can fully exchange trust with her, your wishes and ideals may be able to come true. She is both talented and ambitious."
Angela's words weren't entirely without merit. Hayden also knew that Karen had already created an extraordinary dream flower. If they could truly trust and cooperate with each other, perhaps Karen could genuinely help Hayden invent a mass-producible, inexpensive, and powerful medical potion technology.
but……
"No, I can't afford to gamble on the possibility of losing you."
Hayden shook his head.
"What if a big company finds out about your situation? That's too dangerous. The risk is too great."
These words made Angela look troubled. But in the end, she sighed and didn't object anymore.
"That being said, Master, I still have something to tell you."
However, after leaving the flower shop for a while, Angela still said to Hayden,
"The medical cooperation agreement that Mr. Eric used this time was actually initiated by Miss Karen, who came to the commune to discuss it with me."
Hayden raised an eyebrow: "That makes sense. After all, you should be able to easily heal all the injured people."
“No.” Angela shook her head. “Master, the only person I really care about and need to take care of is you. I can remotely manage the affairs of the commune through the internet, but if there are really wounded people who need emergency treatment, I will not abandon you and go to rescue them unless they carry the people to our house.”
“Miss Karen took the initiative to come to the commune to discuss this medical cooperation agreement, which I can only interpret as her extending goodwill to this side. I will love and trust you unconditionally, but not others. You should also be more honest with Miss Karen, otherwise how can she trust you more? You need to make friends.”
Hayden probably wouldn't be so frustrated if Angela's words weren't so reasonable.
When he arrived at the Veela bar to ask Abigail for information, the Dark Witch's subsequent words made Hayden realize that he would rather bury himself alive than admit it to Angela, and perhaps he really should be more honest with his friends.
"A devil attacked a convoy smuggling cosmetics?"
Abigail looked suspicious upon hearing this.
"It's unlikely that this was actually done by the Devil Cult. Although I don't know the movements of all the Devil Cults in North America, why would they steal something they can buy with money? Do they think the Mithra Group's Vajra is a bad influence?"
Upon hearing this, Hayden couldn't help but retort, "So you, this black witch, are indeed connected to a terrorist organization that worships the devil."
“Nonsense.” The little witch wasn’t afraid at all. She reached out and tapped Hayden on the head with her long pipe. “What are you planning to do? Tell the big companies? You think the Mitra Corporation is completely unaware of this? But I’m useful to them. Both sides need me, the one who’s liaising between them in New Asia.”
Alas.
What a formidable black market queen of New Seattle, operating in both the legitimate and criminal worlds.
"These devils must be acting under someone else's orders."
So Abigail fiddled with the pipe for a while, then frowned and continued...
"Golden Bear State? They were attacked on their way to San Francisco? That's basically Mitra Corporation territory. Who exactly are you transporting for? What are you hauling?"
What else could it be? It's just helping the Italian mafia smuggle cosmetics, isn't it?
Hayden then explained the details of the job to Abigail. However, after hearing his explanation, the Dark Witch began to smoke her pipe even more vigorously.
"No, something doesn't sound right to me."
After taking a few puffs of incense, the little witch suddenly said,
"Is there something you're hiding from me?"
She suddenly blurted out that sentence.
"Large companies generally don't use devils to do things casually, because it would be very embarrassing if they were discovered, especially since the Mitra Group is very concerned about its image. That goddess's performance was indeed amazing, but not to the point that it would cause such a stir in the company. Did she do something amazing that made the other senior executives in the group react, but you kept it from me?"
This question immediately made Hayden's heart sink.
Because Abigail is actually right about both sides.
Karen really did create something amazing—the Dream Flower (Sabunikaff)!
And Hayden did indeed keep this a secret from Abigail. After all, it was Karen's secret, and Abigail wasn't someone he could trust too much.
However, how experienced was the Dark Witch, who was over four hundred years old? She had basically already determined that Karen had created something, and that she had only said this to test Hayden's reaction. Now, noticing Hayden's reaction, she immediately felt somewhat displeased.
However, she is also not someone who easily reveals these thoughts.
So Abigail took two more puffs of incense before slowly saying:
“I didn’t know what that little god girl had done before, so of course I couldn’t predict what would happen. If you had told me in advance that she had already achieved something that would make other senior executives in the Mitra Group react, then I might have been able to warn you beforehand. But since you didn’t tell me in advance… well, that’s just how it is.”
She paused for a moment, then added, "The Janelli family's business has been terrible lately. After this ordeal, they're probably in danger. The trend of giant corporations acquiring smaller companies is becoming increasingly obvious. If that young lady from the Divine Race achieves something that will catch the attention of the Mitra Group, things could get very ugly."
噫
Although Abigail was clearly unhappy and her words might not be entirely unfounded—Hayden finally understood the meaning behind Angela's earlier statement:
Being honest with your friends is really important!
Although this dark witch clearly kept many dark secrets hidden (which goes without saying), she had at least taught Hayden a great deal of esoteric knowledge, much of it secret knowledge passed down only between fathers and sons, mothers and daughters, or masters and students. To say whether she trusted Hayden before, she obviously did have some degree of trust in him.
So if Hayden had been more honest with her about the dream flower beforehand, she probably would have warned him beforehand just how serious it was.
After all, Abigail really didn't want Hayden to mess with big corporations!
As a result, things have turned out this way.
Now Hayden had to make a decision: Abigail clearly took this very seriously. Whether it was true or not, she certainly knew some secrets related to the devil and the big corporations.
However, Hayden could not reveal the secret of Karen's dream flower, or at least should not.
But Abigail was clearly a little annoyed.
Just then, Hayden's phone rang. He picked it up and saw that it was a message from Angela.
Meanwhile, Angela was standing at the door, with a serious expression on her face, as if she hadn't done anything.
Master, now is the time to choose your desired route. Good luck!
The message she sent was as above.
What on earth is this AI idiot saying?!
082: I want to trust you as much as possible!
Master, now it's time to choose a route. Good luck!
Angela sent this message to Hayden.
To Hayden, this was obviously a response to what he was saying: "What the hell are you talking about?!"
But then again, is Hayden's emotional intelligence really that low?
Does he really have absolutely no idea how to interact with people?
Of course not!
Hayden is a thirty-year-old mercenary, not a fifteen-year-old teenager.
To put it bluntly, he's just recently received too much. A person who has nothing to lose suddenly becomes timid when they put on shoes.
Courage! Trust!
Angela waved a small sign with strange writing on it behind Hayden.
Hayden glared at her. He saw Angela looking expectant and excited.
Abigail had obviously seen it too, but she said nothing, just frowned, watching what the two of them were up to.
courage?
What kind of courage does Hayden need now?
The answer is actually quite simple.
He walked toward the Dark Witch. Abigail watched him warily. In fact, she shifted slightly away from him, though she probably didn't even notice.
"I'm sorry, I'm very sorry."
Then Hayden lowered his head.
"There are some things I can't tell you, because they're not my secrets. If Karen's father finds out, it's she who will be in danger."
Then he continued,
"But I really should have told you the truth. It was my mistake. Now think about it carefully, if you're the only one who doesn't know that she's developed something amazing, then if the smuggling business runs into trouble, you'll obviously suffer losses as well."
In fact, this is indeed one of the reasons why Abigail is unhappy now. She has been involved in the smuggling trade in New Jersey all along, but Hayden has never told her about it.
"From now on, I will say anything that may be related to you or affect your interests or well-being, as long as I can. I'm sorry."
However, Hayden has at least now obediently apologized and admitted defeat.
Although this could only be considered the bare minimum of sincerity, the Black Witch's expression did soften a little.
But she didn't completely relax.
"The one who will be in danger is that young lady from the divine race? I'm not stupid, Mr. Hayden. What's the real reason you won't tell me?"
The little witch raised her eyebrows.
"That young lady of the divine race dotes on you. She doesn't ask for any sacrifices and only needs a few words of flattery from you to grant you power. But you don't actually trust her, otherwise you wouldn't have come to me specifically to inquire about the secrets of the Peacock King—so what is the reason for your distrust of her? Mr. Hayden, what are you afraid of?"
Why is this dark witch so perceptive?
“As expected of New Seattle, she might even be the most powerful witch in all of North America,” Hayden said, avoiding her eyes. “Of course you’ll notice the loopholes in my words…”
Abigail raised her eyebrows even higher: "Stop talking nonsense."
Considering that her true form looks only twelve or thirteen years old, the scene is already starting to get a little scary.
But Hayden certainly deserved it.
"Karen does indeed possess great power now. However, although she herself is unaware of it, this power actually comes to some extent from a derivative of Angela's power that she picked up from the battlefield of [Bo Xun] before."
So he said dryly,
“If I let Angela help her, it would obviously be possible to further enhance that power. But if the situation gets even more out of control, there’s no guarantee that the fire won’t burn me. In fact, even if things stay as they are, since the Mitra Group has already noticed Karen’s unusual behavior, it’s hard to guarantee that they won’t continue to track me down.”
These words made Abigail frown: "Oh. Seeing you getting involved with [Marsh] before, I thought you weren't afraid of death either."
Wasn't Hayden afraid of death?