Chapter 23: Wilson's Gift

As the meeting concluded, Wilson instructed Daoist and Ash to tell his other guys to bring the food and drinks inside the meeting room.

"Wow, you even present us with foods and drinks at meetings?" said Lambda to Wilson. He looked like he couldn't wait for the food to arrive.

"A tiring meeting like that deserves good food after. No offense, General," replied Wilson, turning to Alan.

Alan simply replied, "None taken."

Right after that, the meeting room doors opened, and a few of Wilson's men came in with plates of meat steak and glasses of water.

Lambda couldn't wait, so he jumped right into his meal. "This is cow's meat, yeah? The normal one, not the three-headed one, right?" Lambda asked Wilson.

Wilson nodded. Alan asked, "The food sure is good. But the drink... You don't have anything stronger?"

Wilson replied, "Wow, General. That kind of drink is hard to come by these days. Even with my connections, I can't simply get a hold of a bottle easily. So, I am keeping mine for some special occasion only."

Alan said, "You don't think that this is a special occasion for all of us?" Wilson stuttered, "Erk... Ermm.. No.. I mean.. Yeah.. But...."

Suddenly, Lambda shouted, "Oh, come on, Mr. Wilson! It could be the end of your days, and you still wouldn't open the bottle if you keep waiting for that special occasion that you haven't made up your mind about! Get the bottle!"

Alan smiled. Wilson finally obeyed and went out of the meeting room to fetch the bottle himself. Maybe he kept it in a hidden place where not even his subordinates knew.

Wilson came back with a bottle of red wine in his hand. He poured the wine into the glasses of everyone, except Ryland and O'kuyo.

Then, everyone enjoyed the meals and the drinks. Rocco and Juice were so focused on talking about how they should manage the Olha Mine Shaft. Lambda just smiled and told them to proceed as is. He reminded them that their particular concern is to provide enough Mercurial to Wilson's Gang.

Wilson, on the other hand, approached Ryland and O'kuyo. "Too bad you both are still too young to try this drink. Though I started drinking when I was a lot younger than you are right now. Bahahahaha!"

O'kuyo and Ryland shared a glance. Then they continued eating their meal. Wilson then said something that triggered something important for them.

"Kids, we are going on a harsh adventure soon. Do you guys have proper attire for it? Or are you gonna keep on wearing those rags?" Wilson said to them.

This time Ryland's eyes widened. He looked at his clothes right now. He was wearing a baggy T-shirt with dusty jeans. Then he looked at O'kuyo, who was wearing a gray robe with patched holes in a few places.

"Shit, our attire is not well-equipped for an adventure," Ryland thought to himself. O'kuyo smiled and said, "Don't worry, Mr. Wilson. I have my own Dyna-Suit."

Ryland was surprised, "Dyna-Suit? What the hell is that, O'kuyo?"

But Wilson was rather impressed by that information, "Oh really? You have a Dyna-Suit? That's good. Ryland, a Dyna-Suit is a suit developed by the Dyna-Might Production Company that has produced lots of rather good pieces of weapons and armors. The Dyna-Suit is a very good suit compatible for infiltration and subterfuge missions."

"Yeah. I like how it can camouflage me according to my surroundings and enhance my speed with the joint boosters on it," replied O'kuyo.

"Wow. Since when did you have your hands on this kind of thing, O'kuyo?" Ryland asked. O'kuyo hesitated at first, but then he told Ryland, "Grandpa gave it to me a few days after I awakened my power. He said it would suit me and my power."

"Bahahahaha! You have been left out, Ryland. Bahahahaha!" Wilson laughed at Ryland. Ryland gave a smirk on his face.

"Hey, chill out, kid. Don't get annoyed by me."

Suddenly, Wilson grabbed Ryland's shoulder and said, "Come with me, kid. I have a gift for you. But only if you have a knack for it."

Ryland was thinking what kind of gift that would be. Wilson, followed by Daoist, went to the door and called out to another of his subordinates, "Betty! Somebody get me Betty!"

Ryland stood up and quickly followed Wilson and Daoist. Ryland thought, "He might want to give me some good attire or perhaps armor that's gonna suit me." O'kuyo, who's been there all this time, quickly put the last bite of the steak into his mouth and followed Ryland.

Along the way, suddenly a woman with silver mohawk hair, dressed in a sleeveless see-through white shirt that exposed her black bra inside and baggy jeans with suspenders, called down to Wilson from the 1st floor.

"What's up, Boss? You called for me?" she said.

Ryland and O'kuyo nudged elbows as they gulped their saliva. "Oh my God. She's hot!" Ryland thought to himself.

"Betty! My love! Come down here," Wilson said to Betty.

Betty responded, "Shut it, Boss. I told you not to call me 'your love' again. Or I will burn your balls to a crisp when you sleep next time." Betty climbed up the railing and jumped down to the group.

"Oh my... Ever the rebellious one. That's what I like so much about you. Will you give me some face? I got my new friends over here," said Wilson as he grabbed Betty's shoulder.

Betty slapped Wilson's hand off her shoulder and said, "Not in a million years, Boss."

Ryland and O'kuyo burst out laughing a little. Wilson then turned his gaze to them and introduced Betty to them. "Kids, this is Betty Palace. Betty, this is Ryland Vorheus and O'kuyo Moukoko."

Ryland and O'kuyo couldn't hold their eyes from looking at the black bra inside the see-through white shirt Betty was wearing. They stuttered, saying, "Ermm.. Hi..."

"Eyes up here, kids. Urghh.. I can't stand virgins," replied Betty. Wilson and Daoist burst out laughing.

Ryland and O'kuyo's faces reddened. Ryland said, "Sorry, ma'am. We will try not to be so obvious next time." Betty was kind of triggered hearing that answer. But Wilson quickly stopped her, "Enough, enough. Betty, take us to Rey."

"Sure, Boss," replied Betty, and she continued to walk down the corridor to outside the Warehouse. They all then took a left turn and proceeded to a gated fence. Inside, they walked a little bit more and stopped right at a rectangular cubed wall made from dirt. The wall's height was about 10 meters. "It seems like they are keeping something inside these walls," Ryland thought to himself.

Wilson then said, "Kids, Betty is an Earth Elementalist. She is in charge of construction work around my compound. What I'm gonna show you will require her expertise to help us to even have a look at what you are about to see."

Ryland and O'kuyo nodded. Wilson then said, "All right, Betty. Take us up."

"Right away, Boss." Betty then waved her hand upward like an uppercut but in a slower motion, and the ground on which they all stood slowly raised upward.

Ryland held his staff to the ground, and O'kuyo was holding on to him. Right around the top of the wall, Betty gave a sign for everyone to keep silent.

Slowly, everyone could see what's inside those rectangular walls. To his shock, Ryland asked, "What the heck is that?"

Everyone's gaze changed to Ryland. Daoist smacked his palm on his face.

Inside those walls was a 4.5-meter-long Mutated Komodo Dragon, a fearsome beast that towered over its natural counterparts. Its scales were an iridescent mix of green and silver, shimmering in the light, giving it an otherworldly appearance. The creature's eyes glowed a fiery red, adding to its intimidating presence.

Hearing Ryland's voice, the Mutated Komodo Dragon quickly turned to them and spewed green acidic liquid from its mouth at them. Betty quickly lowered their position to evade that attack.

"Bahahahaha! Kid, don't get us killed along with you in your first encounter with Rey," Wilson said to Ryland. "Rey?" Ryland responded.

"Yeah, that's what we named him. One day, this Tier 4 Beast came into our compound from out of nowhere, wreaking havoc, causing destruction to my properties, and injuring a few of my mates. We tried to fight it, but its scales were so hard that even bullets and my Mercurial found it hard to penetrate," Wilson explained.

"Wow... A Tier 4 Beast. That's on the same level as the famous Ember Tiger and Proud Wolves, isn't it?" asked Ryland, wondering.

"Yeah, I've read about this beast before," said O'kuyo, "aside from its sharp claws, the acidic liquid from its mouth can dissolve your skin in an instant."

"Damn, this thing is dangerous!" Ryland responded.

"So how about it, Ryland? You think you can take on this thing? If you want, I will help you defeat it so you can add it to your summons," Wilson said to Ryland.

"That's great! I would love that, Mr. Wilson," Ryland responded. "But we must plan our strategy, or we could be its next meal."

"You're sure right about that," Betty added, "the last time I fed it a whole meal was 3 days ago, so it might be a little 'hangry' right now."