Chapter 126: Lights in the Sky
Naia took in the entire herb farm. It was just a small farm, only a few acres small, consuming the rest of her empty space. They spent a few hours there, making sure they didn’t miss anything important.
After this, they passed by another town north of Amber City and stayed the night there. The Capital City was not too far away now. If one counted a straight-line distance, they were already halfway through.
There were mountains in between, but, fortunately, there were new infrastructure projects involving tunnels through mountains, so they were only a few hours away from the Capital.
The Town was relatively lively because it was one of the pass-throughs between the two cities (Amber City and the Capital). They headed to the industrial area, though the tenants weren’t limited to factories alone.
"I invested in a startup here," he said. "There are already prototypes, so I figured we should get them."
"..."
Okay, Naia was particularly impressed, and she already knew Kael before.
It had been, what, 2 months? How was it that he accomplished so much!?
Their pace was relaxed, so they didn’t rush to visit their destination. They rested well in the local hotel, had breakfast, and only then did they head out.
The group entered a warehouse structure with various open offices, laboratories, and so on. It wasn’t big, but it was not small either.
They were greeted by a number of scientists and engineers who handed him several boxes. Before leaving, Kael didn’t forget to tell them about their location in the Capital (should they need a place to stay) and left them a duffel bag each.
These scientists and engineers probably had a lot of responsibilities, including family members, since Kael didn’t bother recruiting them now.
The group left, but Naia and the others were so curious about the parcel that they decided to open it in the car.
He showed them light fabric, very comfortable and breathable. Other than fabric, there were also several sets of jackets, sweatshirts, pants, and so on for each of them.
It was light but durable and had very high insulating properties. The technology used here actually incorporated some of the concepts from the patents he inherited. He had already memorized it, and they wouldn’t commercialize it, so he didn’t get into a conflict with the blokes who bought the patents.
"It should also be partially bulletproof," he said, though hopefully they wouldn’t need it.
In time, he hoped to improve this tech, too, which was why being unable to recruit the current talents who developed it was regrettable.
He’d probably try to send out recruitment notices again to the people here when he landed in the capital. He’d use the guise of building a laboratory there.
Before leaving the Town, Kael brought them to a high-end standalone restaurant at the edge of downtown. It was the kind that had lasted for decades and always had full parking.
Today was a Saturday, and the queue was even wilder. They saw a line of cars waiting for a parking slot to accommodate them.
He had called in for a reservation in advance and also made advance orders for several sets of takeout. The past couple of months they had a habit of taking at least 20 sets of takeout of various options on the menu. They had built up a small mountain of takeaways in Naia’s space.
When they arrived at their private room, the food was already prepared beforehand, so they did not have to wait long, and the table was filled. There were various cuisines there, several meat dishes, vegetables, sides, and so on.
Gulp.
Naia pulled everyone out of her space after covering the CCTV, and the whole team went to enjoy one of their last high-end meals before settling down in an unknown place.
Impressively, Kael had ordered a few dishes that each person preferred. They hadn’t been together long, but his memory was indeed impeccable.
Not to mention: Each dish was delicious and memorable! It was no wonder the place was so popular. The strong flavors were impactful but not cloying, and she could tell that not many unhealthy ingredients were used.
Kael smiled. "I also ordered dozens of copies of each dish for takeout later. Place them in the preservation space. We can also order more of the dishes you liked."
The siblings clapped their hands. "Wow! Brother-in-law is the best."
Naia chuckled at them and just continued eating. Kael smiled and served her a few pieces of meat and vegetables before taking a bite himself.
However, what was supposed to be a peaceful and relaxing meal did not remain that way for long.
At the time, Naia looked out the window casually, her eyes curiously looking out at the streetscape.
It was here that she saw the cars outside had mostly stopped, finding a place at the side of the road, with the people all looking up. The group followed their sight and saw flashes of light all over the sky.
"Wow! It’s a meteor shower!"
"That’s HUGE!" a man exclaimed, looking excited. "So beautiful!"
Millions of phones were now open, capturing the sight as much as they could. It was quite a sight. After all, even if something major happened, only a group of people would stop and take out their phones, right?
At this time, everyone stopped doing whatever they were doing. A few almost got into accidents as they gaped at the sky.
It was at their blind spot, though, so Naia wasn’t quite sure what they were looking for. But she did have a heavy feeling in her gut.
Her pupils constricted at a thought, and she whipped her head to look at Kael, who also had a troubled expression on his face.
There should still be more than two weeks left.
It couldn’t be that the Fall was happening already?
.
.
.
BOOM!
When they heard echoing explosions at a disturbance, followed by the intense shaking of the ground, Naia and Kael already knew the answer.
Something changed in this life. They wondered: Did their arrival have something to do with it?
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