By using that dreaded excuse, the cultivators gave up on their questioning. They all knew that it was impossible to get anything more out of Jin whenever he resorted to his ‘Trade Secrets’ and were ready to leave the instance until the Rabbit cultivator noticed something amiss.
“We all helped you with your little challenge, so how come the Tiger Princess didn’t get one?” Luo Bo asked loudly, and Jin bitterly laughed in return. Yang Ling blushed a little and said she did not need the plushie. (Although Luo Bo could see that she wanted the same as the rest of the cultivators too. Who doesn’t want a customised plushie from Jin’s store!? They probably have yet to know the magic it contains.)
“All I wanted was some battle data for my prototype suit. It’s fine even if I don’t get the plushie.” Yang Ling insisted, but Luo Bo …persuasion skills were scarier. (To the point, Jin asked System to create a mental note not to provide such plushie challenges again with Luo Bo in the participation pool.)
“Boss, you do have it, don’t you?” Luo Bo stared at Jin for a moment, and before he could reply, Shi Zuo dragged his girlfriend by the ear and out of the instance. Xiong Da, who could read the situation understood immediately, thanked Jin for his challenge before also hurrying away.
Once everyone was gone, leaving only Jin and Yang Ling in the room, a period of awkward silence settled between them.
“Sigh… alright I do have something for you. It’s not a plushie, but I suppose you might prefer this over it.” Jin was the first to speak, and he took out a large metal suitcase placing it on the table. Yang Ling came forth and watched Jin click it opened.
Only to reveal a brand new Gearbox suit.
“I hope you’ll like it. As you might recall when you initially asked me to help out with your demonstration we were kinda short on time, so the one I gave you was a rushed model… Anyway, my researchers had a lot of fun creating it, and in the meantime, they also started modifying it.” Jin explained as he looked at the nearly busted Gearbox suit that Yang Ling was wearing. Yet instead of trying out his the gearbox suit, the tiger princess went straight to the specification sheet manual.
“I see…” Yang Ling noticed a significant increase in the power output and a better metal composition which she did not believe to be possible with such innovative methods. When she picked a piece up, Yang Ling realised how light it was compared to the one she was using.
However was it also durable? She was unsure about that as she threw one of the pieces with all of her might and it startled Jin for a while. The piece cracked the wall panels, and Yang Ling went forward to pick it up. “Not bad. It is rather solid for something this light.”
“You could have given me an advance warning that you were going to do that…” Jin grimaced and Yang Ling bit back at his sentence.
“Same to you too. You didn’t give me any warning that you were going to give me such a pleasant present.” Yang Ling said as she retrieved the piece and put it back into the suitcase.
“You sure you want to give this to me? It must be rather expensive making it? I mean, with all your expenses. Wait…UNLESS YOU-” Yang Ling’s face turned rather black as she gasped as the possibility. “YOU DIDN’T! …did you?!”
“No! I swear, apart from you and me not a single human on Earth possesses any of these custom made Gearbox products!” Jin gulped his saliva as he spoke the truth.
“Not a single human on Earth, you say?” Yang Ling was a little suspicious on his rather strange choice of words, but she could sense an aura of truth through the use of the psychic powers. She noticed it was getting harder to read Jin each time they met.
Though she was diligently training her powers in that regard, it seemed that the dungeon supplier was also keeping pace with his own training to not get affected by it and she could not really fault him for that.(… If only she knew, that it was mostly Pei protecting him although its the System that doing her work right now. If she were present right now, she’d probably tell Jin ‘You owe me one.”)
It was easier for her to read other people. Luo Bo, for example, was sincere in wanting to help Yang Ling in her endeavour to get into Jin’s pants whereas rest was merely joining for the fun of it. Yet, the Tiger Princess did not say a single word at all about it.
Also, was it because she could not read Jin that she felt this way about him? She didn’t have an answer for this yet.
However, what Luo Bo mentioned wasn’t exactly wrong. Jin was indeed not looking to have any romantic relationship at the moment, and Yang Ling also had her own agendas. After Yang Ling discovered that she could walk again, it didn’t take long for her father to learn of this as well.
The Tiger Lord began giving her more responsibilities than her two elder brothers because of their narrow mindedness in wanting to become the next Tiger Head.
“Then I assume this is a bribe?” Yang Ling curled her lips as if wanting to trap Jin in another awkward situation. As expected, Jin sighed and nodded his head.
“… I at least hope you can believe that I didn’t intend for it to become one. Your dad came by just now, and he wanted to proceed ahead with the combined military and police training exercise for the monster horde simulation. I am totally on board for it, but it’s just that he pushed the deadline way too near for comfort.” Jin tried not making himself sound too whiny, and Yang Ling stopped him.
“You want to know why he’s pressing you for the exercise, right? I believe I do know the answer. What did he say about Northern Shenzhen status?” Yang Ling questioned.
“He told me everything is all fine in the northern forests and mountains for now. He seemed to be more worried about a coastal attack.” He replied, though a bit confused as he saw Yang Ling started to ponder over something.
“Really? Hmm. That information kind of contradicts what I learned…”Yang Ling murmured to herself before she looked at Jin with a serious look.
“What I am telling you will be confidential and can’t leave this room.” She said as she had accepted the improved customised prototype Gearbox and stored it in her ring.
“Monsters are getting more rampant in the northern forests, but the Border Guards are still able to keep them under control so far. Still, there were times where the monster remains got possessed by demons. We do not know if it is a deliberate act, especially since demons do not appear as often until recently.” Yang Ling revealed to him though it made Jin frown hard. If this was true, then it meant that the JODE organisation had purposely avoided sharing this information with him.
He did not like to be blindsided, and it was one thing to let him create the centre and work it for them, but it was another issue if they were using him to disguise some ulterior motive. Furthermore, assuming Grandma Yuan was in it too, Jin believed that a certain kind of trust had already been broken before he even started.
“Should I confront JODE about this directly?” Jin asked for Yang Ling’s opinion. She was surprised as this was the first time she had seen the usually relaxed Jin with burning eyes. Only later did she connect the dots and realised that Jin must have been furious of being used to create the centre.
“I do not know what you are thinking, but one thing’s for sure. The creation of a Shenzhen operation and training centre had always been the goal for JODE. If not you, they might have gone with somebody else. Reason being that it was nearer to the APAC (Asia Pacific) for collaboration purposes. Not just Demon Exorcists from China but from other APAC countries as well.” Yang Ling tried to reason it out, and upon listening, Jin seemed to cool down a little.
“… I see. I might have read to much into it.” Jin then forced a smile out.
“Still, no harm asking your elder about it. She might have some clue about these occurrences. Especially when you are now a Demon Exorcist and a soon to be Branch Manager, this information should be privy to you.” Yang Ling relaxed her stance a little when she saw Jin returning to normal.
“Alright, thanks for the information. Oh, and please make sure to go back early. Your dad made it pretty clear that he would personally hold me responsible if you came back late.” Jin said, and Yang Ling rolled her eyes up for a moment.
“I bet he just wants to give me more work. I swear he’s enjoying the free time he’s getting by making me do that stuff for him. … still, I wouldn’t want him to come and bite your head off.” Yang Ling joked before she waved goodbye to Jin. The tiger princess then reunited with her guards, and they went back together.
As for Jin, he had some pressing matters to settle.
