The greasy middle-aged man''s chubby cheeks quiver as he stares at Ethan, all smiles now, "I knew it! The ckwood family''s too big to just up and vanish. Must be some strategic move, huh?"


    Having lived two lives, Ethan can tell n''s just fishing for info!


    Ethan keeps his cards close to his chest.


    Since ckwood did skip town, but even on the run, he can still wave the ckwood g—after all, no one really knows what went down!


    He chuckles softly, "n, you''re asking too many questions. Can''t a small fry like me do business with you?"


    "Of course, of course!"


    n grins, "Please, Mr. Ethan, go on."


    "It''s not about talking, it''s about seeing."


    Ethan tosses a Storage Ring to n.


    When n catches it, a red fruit appears in his hand. He feels the strange energy within, frowns, then his watch lights up and scans the beast blood fruit.


    His expression freezes, "This... we''ve never seen anything like this on our! Each one contains 100 points of strange energy, can be stored and digested in the human body, but... the fruit is full of blood, probably cultivated with fresh blood, kinda illegal, Mr. Ethan."


    "Ah? Illegal? I''m all about following thew, so if it''s illegal, let''s forget it, huh."


    Ethan reaches out smilingly.


    Seeing this, n''s mouth twitches. He was hoping to haggle, but Ethan''s not biting!


    "Ha... Mr. Ethan, you''re too serious. It''s a bit, but it''s all above board. I''ve been in business for years, I know how to handle it."


    "That''s good to hear. My folks say this stuff is like candy for Iron Will Psychics. One isn''t much, but a bunch, or even more, and its effects grow. Rich kids eat these, and even the ones with no talent might break through the Emerging Ability phase before they''re even grown."


    Ethan grins, "n, how much do you reckon that''s worth?"


    As Ethanys out the fruit''s benefits and value.


    n grips his milk tea tighter, feeling like he''s being yed by this young ckwood chap!


    "Got more?"


    n cuts to the chase, knowing there''s no point in dragging this out with Ethan, who''s clearly got the upper hand, "If you trust me, Mr. Ethan, I can find buyers for you. I want a 20% cut."


    "20%?"


    Ethan''s expression cools, he slowly extends his hand forward, "3%, or no deal."


    "15%!"


    "3%, I''ve got more where that came from."


    "10%!"


    ...


    "Alright," so after some tough haggling, Ethan got n to settle for a 5% broker''s fee. n lets out a wry chuckle, "Mr. Ethan, I''ve dealt with your new head honcho before, thought you''d be just like him. Guess I was wrong. Now, to me, Mark''s nothing but a pig."


    Ethan''s fists clench instantly. He realizes that Mark had been dealing with n when the family took off!


    Keeping his cool, Ethan responds, "Oh? He did business with you? That''s news to me."


    "You''d make a better leader than the new one," n shrugs, stuffing the Storage Ring into his pocket, "I''ll sell these twenty pieces for you as a trial run for our partnership. I believe we can make a fortune together."


    "Sounds good."


    As n turns to leave, Ethan stops him, "Hold up, n, got something else you might wanna see."


    "Oh?"


    n raises an eyebrow, growing more suspicious that the ckwoods hadn''t really fled but found some resource-rich to secretly develop. And here''s Ethan, probably plotting something big on the down-low!


    Soon enough.


    Ethan brings out... a bird''s nest from the room!


    Scanning it with his watch, n''s expression turns intrigued, "A new species... with abilities?"


    "Yep."


    Ethan knows that look. With interster development, new species are dime a dozen, but beasts with abilities are rare in the cosmos.


    "n, you understand the value of this. I don''t want you selling it to some freaky beast scientist," Ethan says with a grin, "But make sure it brings in a hefty load of Energy Stones, got it?"


    "Understood."


    n snaps out of his initial shock, exhaling deeply, "Mr. Ethan, don''t worry. I won''t let this opportunity slip. Everything will be done in secret, no one will suspect you''re doing business on this. And I''ll figure something out for your future Energy Stone expenses."


    "Please, n."


    Ethan smiles, ushering n out of the house, then breathes a sigh of relief, "Finally can keep myself afloat and get back to gaming!"


    He hurries back to his room, keeping an eye on ckwood''s progress.


    Outside.


    n rubs his face, "Damn, I knew ckwood hadn''t fled. No wonder they left Ethan behind, the kid''s sharp as a tack, acts like he''s lived centuries, didn''t let slip a thing."


    "All this new stuff, fresher than anything ckwood''s pharmapany ever sold, can tap into new markets, we''re gonna be rolling in it! And those creatures called Baili Pigeons, man... ckwood''s really about to take off on the sly!""