Volume 2 Episode 8

Eric Lindon was sitting in the living room of Lin Hamill's apartment. Jason stood beside him, and was curiously looking around the room. They heard footsteps approaching, and we're greeted by the figure of Master Lin.

"Mr. Eric Lindon, it's a pleasure to meet you in person. I hope you won't try to kill me for making you wait."

"Hahaha.. very funny Mr. Lin, I also really hope you won't give us a hard time."

As the two men shook hands, there seemed to be an immeasurable amount of tension arising between them. Jason, who was standing beside them couldn't help but be cautious. However, contrary to the atmosphere they emitted, both of the parties were smiling at each other. To an outsider, they may even look like they were best of friends.

After the intense hand shaking, they finally sat down, causing the weird atmosphere to die down. 

"So Mr. Lin, I hope you know what we're here for."

" I was going to say the same thing to you Mr. Lindon."

"Haha… well I did expect you to be aware of the matter at hand. If you didn't I would've been severely disappointed." As Eric Lindon and Lin exchanged pleasantries, the mood had somewhat shifted.

"Well, I'll be honest with you Mr. Lin. I hope you will stay quiet about my, let's call it 'helping hand', in the recent incident at your apartment. I hope you shall not report the matter to your higher ups. Can I expect your cooperation?"

" Well, I do hope you can consider keeping quiet about my Dual Power machine as well Mr. Lindon. After all, for there to be cooperation, both parties need to gain benefits right?" Lin answered Eric's question and looked at him. Judging from Eric Lindon's expression he seemed to have expected such a request, as there was simply no difference shown on his face.

"Why of course we can do that. In fact, I was even thinking of sponsoring Mr. Lin for the upcoming School tournament. Of course, that is only if Mr. Lin agrees to it." Eric Lindon smiled at Lin. He had been planning on taking advantage of the fact that Lin had more to lose on it if the deal goes south. So he was giving more benefits to Lin in order to harvest benefits from his side. Unfortunately, Lin couldn't think of a way to refuse his deal yet.

"Fine, as a form of appreciation, I'll provide you with my Dual Power Procedure as I completely finish the testing, which might take a few months." Lin had essentially created a deadline for him to be part of the deal without giving the information about the powers.

"Oh, I thought you had perfected it though? Isn't it why you used it on yourself?" Lindon seemed not to believe it though.

"That's because that procedure was curated specifically for me. I can show you if it actually works on someone else if you want to." Replied Lin. Well, it wouldn't work if you don't have the same blood group anyways. 

"No, no, I believe you Mr. Lin. I'll wait until the machine is ready to use." Perhaps seeing the confidence in Lin's eyes, Lindon refused to do the test. 

"He must've figured out that there might be some specific features that restrict other users from using the machine. This bastard is more clever than I thought. Looks like this is going to be a pain in the ass." Lin thought bitterly as he thought about how to deal with the Lindon family in the coming months.

"Don't worry about it Mr. Lindon, it would probably only take about six months. After that you may receive the procedure."

"Oh that would be wonderful. Please take all the time you need." Although Lindon said that, both Lindon and Lin knew he didn't actually mean it. It was more of a courtesy than an actual statement.

The meeting came to an end, and both the parties had reached a compromise. They both then exchanged pleasantries for a few more minutes before Eric Lindon got up to leave.

"Well then, I'll be off now Mr. Lin. I hope you pull off the experiment soon. It would be beneficial for my family to receive it. Oh, don't worry about it much though, I wouldn't want to pressure you or anything." As Lindon was leaving the apartment, he turned back and reminded Lin, although it seemed more like a threat than a request.

"Of course, please don't worry about it Mr. Lindon, and don't forget about sponsoring me for the tournament either. Wouldn't want your aging memory to get the best of you."

"Funny as always Mr. Lin. That's what I like about it." Eric Lindon laughed off the insult as a joke, and both the parties bid farewell.

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"Master, why didn't you call out the bullshit that Mr. Lin had spewed earlier about the tests being not completed? He was obviously searching for an excuse to delay the process of delivering the information to us as long as he could to think of means to escape." Jason, now a little bit less stiff, asked Lindon about the situation at Lin Hamill's apartment. He had figured out that the tests had probably already been completed, and Lin was thinking of ways to not hand over the information to them.

"Of course I know that Jason. Do I look like an idiot to you? He might've done it to extend the handing over of information, but there might still be reasons for him to be so full of confidence that the procedure won't work on other people. As long as we don't know that, we can't use it. And he's the mastermind behind it anyways, so handing it over to others isn't a viable option for us either. In the end, he definitely did take advantage of the power he had over the procedure, and he is probably thinking of ways to escape the compromise," as he looked outside the window of the car he was in, and continued speaking, " whatever he does, whatever he tries, we just have to know about it before he even implements it. That's the only thing we can do. We definitely have the power of information over him, and we can only use it if we're one step ahead of him."

As the car raced past multiple vehicles like a professional race car, Lindon calmly sipped his tea and smiled.

"In the end, the one who is the quickest shall win."