Wipe Your Mouth First, Future King of the Seven Seas

John glanced at the transparent plastic tank in Kevin's arms. The goldfish inside was blowing bubbles with a vacant look.

He picked up two strips of trimmed toast crust and placed them on Kevin's plate.

"Save these for your buddy, but don't feed him to death."

"Thanks!" Kevin treated them like treasure, carrying his plate over to sit at the low table in the corner.

Everyone sat around on the floor mats, eating lunch.

Kevin carefully pinched off a few bread crumbs and dropped them into the fish tank.

Charlie the goldfish swished his tail, surfaced, and swallowed them in one gulp.

"He actually eats that."

Reggie leaned over curiously as he chewed a big mouthful of beef. "I thought fish only ate bugs."

"Charlie is a fish with taste."

Kevin lifted his chin proudly, a little salad dressing still clinging to the corner of his mouth. "When we're underwater, we can even share really deep secrets."

Sitting opposite him, Tommy found it rather amusing and used telekinesis to pass him a tissue. It wobbled through the air and landed on the table in front of Kevin.

"Wipe your mouth first, future King of the Seven Seas."

Annie found it fun too. She held out her small, fair hand, letting a little warm golden light shine from her palm onto the side of the transparent fish tank.

Refracted through the water, the light cast shimmering golden patterns on the wall behind it, looking utterly dreamlike.

"Wow..."

Kevin's eyes widened as he watched the light on the wall. "That's so cool, Annie. Charlie says he really likes this color. It's just like sunlight under the sea."

Watching the children gather together and play, Lynn sat in an armchair beside the floor-to-ceiling windows, holding a cup of warm coffee with a gentle smile on his face.

John brought his lunch over and sat beside Lynn.

"That guy Kevin sure talks a lot."

John took a bite of his sandwich and watched the boy chattering away at the fish tank. There was little annoyance in his voice; instead, he found it rather novel. "But Annie and the others laugh more with him around."

"A team can't be made up entirely of quiet types, or entirely of soldiers ready to fight at any moment."

Lynn took a sip of coffee, his gaze calm as he watched the children. "Kevin's ability might not stand out much, but there's a natural ease about him. It can offset the stress everyone builds up in this building. John, you need to learn to appreciate the different sides of each person."

John nodded thoughtfully.

He watched Kevin rock with laughter at a face Reggie made, nearly knocking over the fish tank again before scrambling to catch it, and couldn't help smiling too.

Back in the sterile room, all he had faced were cold walls and researchers in white coats whose eyes held fanaticism and fear.

He had never known that sitting with a group of children his own age, eating ordinary food and watching a goldfish blow bubbles, could feel so reassuring.

The afternoon break passed quickly.

With their stomachs full, the children sprawled across the padded mats in the activity room for their nap.

Annie slept soundly with her stuffed toy in her arms, and Reggie even began to snore softly.

Kevin carefully cradled the fish tank in his arms as though protecting some priceless treasure, a silly little smile still on his lips. He was probably commanding his seven oceans in his dreams.

Lynn found a few thin blankets and gently covered each of them.

John stood to one side, watching Lynn perform these small yet heartwarming tasks.

He suddenly felt that even if he still lacked the strength to take Lynn away to live a truly free life, simply being able to keep watch over these quiet breaths like this seemed rather nice too.

He walked to the door and gently pressed the switch for the activity room's blackout blinds.

The room gradually darkened, leaving only a few soft slivers of light filtering in from outside.

John leaned against the wall beside the door and quietly closed his eyes.

At three in the afternoon, nap time in the activity room ended right on schedule.

The blackout blinds slowly rose, and warm afternoon sunlight filled the spacious room once more.

The children rubbed their sleepy eyes and climbed off the mats.

Kevin immediately ran to check on Charlie, his goldfish. Only after seeing the little fellow swimming energetically around the tank did he let out a long sigh of relief.

To burn off his abundant energy, Reggie began practicing jogging on the track around the edge of the room, trying to learn how to control his legs without whipping up a gale.

Lynn sat on the sofa by the window with a cup of freshly brewed black tea, his expression relaxed as he watched the children gradually grow accustomed to life here.

Just as he was about to lower his head to drink, the activity room door was pushed open.

Madelyn walked in on high heels.

Her steps were much more hurried than usual, and her expression held less of her usual practiced business smile and a touch more gravity.

"Lynn, you need to come with me to Conference Room Three on the top floor."

Madelyn strode over to the sofa and lowered her voice. "President Edgar is there too."

"What happened?" Lynn set down his teacup and stood.

He knew that unless a difficult problem had arisen, Stan Edgar would not attend a routine meeting in person.

"It's the people from Japan. The Yamato Conglomerate suddenly sent a high-level delegation over today."

There was clear displeasure in Madelyn's voice. "The company has been actively pushing to introduce Compound V into Japan's domestic market, with plans to establish a complete superhero business system there too. But this proposal has encroached on the interests of some traditional local powers."

Lynn immediately understood.

The so-called Yamato Conglomerate was nothing more than a corporate shell the Japanese Onmyōji forces used as a cover in the secular world.

Vought International wanted to take Compound V to Japan and mass-produce people with superpowers. That was practically digging up the ancestral graves of those traditional Onmyōji families.

For those families who considered themselves descendants of the gods and wielded ancient powers, the mass production of artificial heroes would utterly destroy their lofty status and sense of security.

"Understood. I'll head over now." Lynn straightened his collar.

"I'm coming with you."

John, who had been resting with his eyes closed against the wall beside the door, suddenly spoke, his tone firm.

Although he did not know what the Yamato Conglomerate was, his super hearing had picked up Madelyn's slightly quickened heartbeat.

His instincts told him those unexpected visitors had come to cause trouble.

Madelyn paused, instinctively wanting to refuse.

After all, this was a business negotiation between senior company executives. Bringing an eight-year-old child in would hardly follow protocol.

But Lynn glanced at John and nodded. "All right, come with me. But stay quiet in the conference room. Without my permission, don't speak out of turn, and don't use force."

John nodded obediently.