Chapter 23: The Lair of the Followers of the Sun Goddess

"Hey hey hey, where are you looking?"

Sensing Wayne's gaze wandering, Vivi raised her fist and shook it, landing a punch on the lecher's stomach.

Wayne let out a soft hum, weak and feeble, not even strong enough to hit someone, and he called himself a magician.

If you have the ability, then continue, he promised not to fight back!

Vivi said, "Sister Kris has been busy lately. Her mentor assigned her a new task at the last minute, and Veronica is busy with her thesis and reports, so she asked me to bring the gift."

"Don't you have to rush to finish your thesis and reports?"

Wayne was surprised; he remembered that Vivi and Veronica were roommates, and both were close to graduation.

Could it be that this girl is a top student?

It made sense, though. She played the role of a tomboy so vividly, and she seemed to have strong learning abilities.

"No need, I can copy Veronica's reports, co-author the thesis with her, and just sign my name when it's done." Vivi said proudly and without guilt.

Wayne: "..."

Indeed, it's you. Fits my stereotype of big-boobed girls.

Vivi and Veronica's graduation thesis was not a typical university thesis but a theoretical assessment of magic learning at the inner academy. It allowed multiple authors, and the practical assessment was even simpler: destroy a cultist hideout and submit a report on the mission process.

As Veronica's roommate and best friend, Vivi entrusted the heavy responsibility to Veronica's shoulders under the guise of trust.

As for the graduation thesis of Evanston Women's College, how could a magician be hindered by mundane matters? Shamelessly, she let Veronica use her financial power, and the thesis was already taken care of.

Seeing the girl boasting openly, Wayne couldn't help but look at her with envy, no, disdain.

How nice it would be; he also wanted a financial level hero to save him, he also wanted to cling to Veronica's thigh.

"So, where's the gift?"

"It's at my house. Come with me; I guarantee you'll be satisfied."

"..."

Your wording easily leads people to think otherwise!

The gift prepared by Vivi was at home, and to put it simply, Wayne had to choose the gift himself.

Carrier Pigeons!

As a magician, carrier pigeons for communication were indispensable. Not only were they trusted companions of magicians, but they could also be used for specific spells.

Carrier pigeons had a long history of inheritance, and even with the invention of phones, this tradition was still preserved.

In the taxi, Vivi mentioned that the carrier pigeons were just part of the gift, considered their welcome gift to Wayne, congratulating him on gaining magic and becoming a promising apprentice magician.

The gift wasn't expensive, but it was invaluable. Many wild magicians couldn't find a way to get carrier pigeons and had to spend a lot of time nurturing them themselves.

Wayne could get ready-made ones, find carrier pigeons that suited him, fill out the forms, and take them away.

Vivi talked endlessly, often mixing up her words, stepping on watermelon peels wherever she went, and Wayne took quite a while to understand.

Carrier pigeons were bred by the Tri-Goddess Alliance and only given to the followers of the Three Goddesses. Veronica, along with Vivi, signed a guarantee for Wayne, allowing him to pick up two carrier pigeons in advance.

One for daytime, one for nighttime, divided into day-use and night-use types.

"It sounds like menstrual pads..."

Wayne murmured softly as the taxi stopped, following Vi down to a bustling street.

The North District of Lendan, also known as North Lendan, while not as central as the downtown area where the elites gather, along with the West District, it gathered the middle class of Lendan, much more prosperous than the East District where Wayne was.

The streets of the North District are very spacious, even the sidewalks are wide enough for three cars to drive abreast, but like all streets in Lendan, they suffer from a lack of greenery.

City greening and such were passed two years ago through the Green Belt Act, but the urban layout has basically been established, and there's no space to plant trees in the short term.

The taxi stopped in front of a gym, with a simple and rude name—Strength and Faith Bodybuilding Center.

Wayne was surprised that gyms had appeared in this day and age, even more surprised at Vi's surprising statement that this was her family's gym.

Vi pushed open the door and walked in, with Wayne following behind. A wave of heat hit him, making his eyes blur, and he almost shed tears.

So hot, in the middle of winter, are they burning boilers here?

Wayne rubbed his eyes and saw a spacious gym with various old-fashioned equipment displayed in front of him.

For Wayne, the style was outdated, but in this era, the gym was fully equipped with all kinds of professional equipment, definitely modern.

Pull-up bars, dumbbells, barbells, stair machines, rowing machines, punching bags, bench presses, boxing rings...

Next door is the women's only gym area, and further away, through the glass door, you can see a swimming pool.

Several decent-looking fitness enthusiasts were working out in the equipment area, each with a big muscle coach providing one-on-one guidance. The coaches all wore white coach uniforms, sleeveless vests + shorts, their exposed muscles clearly defined, making people want to strike up a conversation.

Average height of two meters, all bald.

Even if they had thick hair, it wasn't on their heads.

In the boxing ring area, two coaches with nothing to do were wrestling, wearing only shorts, their muscles rubbing against each other, sweat colliding with sweat, creating an infinite sizzle.

Before long, the scar-faced bald man gained the upper hand, using his superior ground skills to pin his opponent down, a throat lock completely controlling the situation.

His thick muscular arms were as solid as rocks, like a python slowly tightening, the opponent's face turning red from being choked, but still stubbornly holding on without surrendering.

Around them, seven or eight coaches and fitness enthusiasts were watching, cheering, or cursing, imagining how they would crack this move if it were them.

Their voices were so loud that it was definitely considered noisy, to the point where Wayne couldn't hear the voices of the two fighters in the ring at all, but based on visual observation, he could imagine the sound of their muscles rubbing against each other.

"I'm back~~"

Vi waved towards the ring cheerfully.

"Oh, it's Vi!"

"You're back."

"Why so early today? Don't you have to go to school?"

The coaches crowded around from all directions, enthusiastic and kind, only showing a silly smile when meeting people.

Soon, almost instantly, the coaches completed their encirclement of Vi.

More accurately, they completed their encirclement of Vi and Wayne.

The raging heat rushed straight to the door, the smell rushing to his head, very unfriendly to Wayne, who had a dog's nose, and... whether it was an illusion or not, he felt that this group of muscle men had a big problem with him. Behind their simple and honest smiles were faces that looked like evil spirits.

Wayne couldn't help but shiver. This place wasn't suitable for staying long. He needed to get the gift and leave quickly.

Vi didn't feel that way. Everyone was as warm and hospitable as usual. She believed Wayne would surely like her family. Faced with the coaches' questions, she answered one by one, quickly getting dizzy and getting spun out of the encirclement.

"Why did everyone leave?"

"Wayne, come with me... Huh, where's Wayne?"

Wayne was in the coach's lounge next door.

He could see it very clearly. These big muscle men were deceiving Vi with their hypocritical masks. After shaking Vi off, they showed their fierce fangs to him. Crowded together, pushing each other, using their chest muscles and biceps to squeeze him in mid-air, and carried him to this next-door room.

"Kid, you're pretty close with Vi!"

"When did you meet her? Tell us about it to us, young man."

"What kind of work do young people like you do? How old are you? Have you graduated? Have you ever been beaten up and disabled by someone?"

"Don't be afraid, we're not good people!"

"Hehehe..."

Wayne remained expressionless, finally understanding why Vi's portrayal of gay men was so vivid, not like acting at all, probably due to her living environment.

As expected, these steamy muscle men were all followers of the Sun Goddess.

So this was the base of the Sun Goddess's followers. No, this honor, this aura, was more accurately described as a stronghold.

Fortunately, he had made his move early and pledged himself to the Moon Goddess's white translucent lace hollow jumpsuit dress.

"Get out of the way, this is Vi's guest. Making a commotion like this, how would our guest feel scared!"

A pair of large hands parted the crowd, bringing a wave of heat to Wayne. His tall and strong figure stood out among the crowd of two-meter tall muscles, casting a large shadow just by standing there. Compared to Wayne's height of one meter eighty, he was like a giant.

"I'm Keane Dick, the head coach here. Just call me Coach Dick. Young man, you must be Wayne, right?"

Coach Dick grinned, his teeth gleaming white.

A scar twisted from his forehead to his chin, like a centipede crawling on his face, moving when he smiled.

The scar-faced bald man on the ring.

"Speak up, our boss is asking you a question!"

"Shut up, I said to be polite to Vi's guest!"

Coach Dick was furious, turned around and threw a punch, not caring who was talking just now, and randomly picked a poor guy to fly.

Boom, the unlucky one was embedded into the metal cabinet.

Wayne:

What is this, a show of force?

Heh, scared of him?

People who say it plainly know what's what. He originally treated Vi like a buddy, but judging by the way these uncles and seniors acted today, he would make Vi cry until she ran out of breath in the future.

"Don't mind them, just fooling around. After all... this is the first time Vi has brought a boy home, especially such a cute one like you." Dick patted Wayne's shoulder, flashing a friendly smile.

Wayne: ∑(o_o;)

He understood this sentence well. No need to speak plainly; he knew Vi regarded him as a buddy. With the uncles' approval today, even if Vi made a move, he wouldn't budge.

"Have you seen Wayne?" The door to the coach's room knocked, and Vi peered in.

"Didn't see him."

"Here I am!"

Wayne raised his hand, afraid Vi might close the door too soon.

As he tried to walk towards the door, he was caught by a large arm from behind, wrapping around his neck.

Dick lowered his head close to Wayne's and chuckled, "Vi, your friend is quite interesting, very humorous. Everyone seems to like him."

"That's great! I thought you guys were going to bully him!"

"How could we!"

"No way!"

"Haha, we wouldn't bully anyone..."

"That's right."

Amidst the laughter, Dick issued a warning in a voice only Wayne could hear: "Kid, be careful. My eyes are on you all the time. You know what I'm saying!"

"Dick, what are you whispering about over there?" Vi frowned, pulling Wayne behind her.

Wayne extended his hands protectively, shielding the big bad wolf.

"The coach said I'm a good person because I'm your friend, and he's willing to give me a free gym card. I won't have to pay when I come here in the future." Wayne intervened to ease the tension.

"Really? Are you telling the truth?" Vi seemed a bit skeptical.

She wasn't stupid, just not that sharp.

"Of course, it's true." Dick took over the conversation, nodding repeatedly, giving Wayne an appreciative look, and smiling.

Kid, you're quite clever!

Wayne also nodded. Keep smiling while you can, old man, you better enjoy it now. Congratulations in advance, you're gonna be a grandpa a year early!