Is It Necessary?

10. Is It Necessary?

"You ... did you seduce some female CEO twice your age or something?" Shan Yuezhi, who was always beside me, asked. Her eyes were glued on me curiously.

"What are you thinking? She's my aunt, like real aunt ... I live with her in this city."

"Oh ... so who is she?"

"Do you know Koei Tech?"

"No ... don't say that your aunt is—" the one who asked was Li Quan, I nodded before he could finish what he said.

"Yeah, she's Yumi Koei."

"No way ..." his face bleached white. It's whiter than the arctic snow.

I ignored him and made another call; this time it was to Samsul Harris from the military.

(Who is this?)

"Hello, Mr. Harris. It's me, Arman Maul. I ... have a favor to ask."

(Oh, it's you ... what is it. If it's within my capability, I can be of help.)

"Yeah, someone annoys me, and I just can't stomach him. He flaunts his father's influence who was a technocrat and defaming my friend."

(You want to help me deal with him?)

"I want to ask whether you could help me revoke his father's title or not."

(That's impossible ... revoking a title of a technocrat just because his son is causing trouble is nonsense. It never happened before. A technocrat is a personal title, it has nothing to do with his family ... if his family causing trouble; I don't think you can pin the blame on the technocrat.)

"Really now ... but I remember that in article 30 clause IV A of the Code Fundament Javashya there's a sentence which stated ... I don't remember the exact thing, but I remember that 'When a technocrat or a member his/her family abuse the name of a technocrat to threaten, blackmail, or coerce other people directly or indirectly with whatever method. The said member would have to pay the fine, or else he/she must spend a minimum of two years in jail.' And then, on article 30 clause IV B, stated that 'The son or daughter of a technocrat who abuses his/her father/mother's name and influences would implicate them in any crime they did. Wherein if there's damage of any kind occurred then the technocrat would be held responsible because of the inability to educate his/her children. In which on the extreme case could revoke his/her title in entirety.'"

I explained plenty of things to him. Why do I remember such stupid rules and regulations about technocrat? Well, it's for preparation for this exact situation. Prepare your umbrella before it's raining, prepare your logic and rhetoric before you are arguing.

I went on by saying. "It's not that it never happened, but no one complains about it, nor they know that there's such a regulation on this."

(... if you already know that, then you know that you have to file a complaint to the police so they could forward the case to the court. Why do you ask me? I can't help you with something like this, I'm a part of the military remember. Something like this is out of my duty or jurisdiction ... ah, hold on, what echelon is this technocrat you're talking about?)

"Third Echelon, he's an immigrant."

(So, it's some low tier ... I think I could be of help. Though I can't touch the upper echelon, if it's just an immigrant, I can help you. But that depends on how much you could pay back?)

"Oh, come on ... do me a favor just this time, alright?" seems like he won't give a free meal to me. Well, if even my aunt won't give it for free, how could he do it to me for free? And a favor from somebody like me worth nothing to both of them.

(Fifty milliliters of yours ... that thing. And consider it done. What do you say?)

"Hiss ... 50 ml is a bit too much. How about 10? That's the least I can produce per month, anyway."

(At least, 30 ml.)

"Three months quota for free? How about 20?"

(28 ml ... I can't go on lower than that. I'm staking on my reputation to help you here.)

"Twenty-two..."

(Yeah, let's just make it 25.)

"Okay, fine. Send your men soon, and you can get the first twenty-five milliliters for free."

(It's not free ... you asked me a favor, and I comply with it because you'll be paid for it. Who is it this man who blackmailed you?)

I'm not blackmailed ..., well, whatever then, I'm not in the mood to explain what happened to him, anyway.

"Li Yongming's son, Li Quan."

(I'll make the preparation.)

There you go, I just colluded with the military. Seems like Samsul Harris is not clean at all ... if someone like him isn't oh-so-clean, then maybe the inside work of the military is rather murky.

"Done ... there's no turning back now. I just paid a heavy price just to take your father down. Even if you apologize now, it's too late."

"Haha ..." a burst of stifled laughter, "Hahahaha ... so funny kid, you think I'd believe that? Just because you make a fake phone call, saying that you're Yumi Koei's nephew. You almost scared me there. As expected of a braggart, you can turn the heaven and earth upside down."

I shrugged my shoulder, his inability to read his own situation is pretty good indeed. "Whether you believe it, it's up to you."

Then, there's a phone call. It was not me, but Li Quan's. He picked it up while still in front of us. Unfortunately ... he speaks in Chinese, so I don't understand a single bit. I could just hear 'nima shi shenme' or something along with that sound. But seeing that his face turned ashen pale, and the roaring sound across the phone ... I know it's bad news for him.

"Miss Shan, you know what he's saying?" I asked a bit puzzled.

"I heard what he just said, but I can't hear the other party so I don't know their conversation for sure. But judging from his expression ... he's doomed." Shan Yuezhi said plainly. She then gazed at me with twinkling eyes as if looking at a rare treasure, "Little brother Arman, just who are you really?"

"If I told you I'm just a regular high schoolboy. Would you believe it?"

"Bah, you don't look like a normal high school boy at all." Shan Yuezhi scoffed instantly.

"Hahaha ..."

After some time, Li Quan closed the phone with despair in his eyes. He then kneeled in front of me and begged.

"Mister, no, Boss! Please have mercy. Don't do this ... I ... I'm sorry for what I just said. I won't dare to do it again in the future! Please ..."

"As I said, there's no turning back. The trigger has been pulled, a bullet shot out from the muzzle, whether it's hit or a miss I don't care."

"Boss! Please ... don't do this, my dad has poured his fortune just to build his enterprise. I'm sorry, I'm so sorry."

"Now, you're regretting it? Well, you learn from this one experience, don't you? That you're responsible for whatever you say and do."

"I ... I ..."

There is no trace of his arrogance this time, he just looks pitiful with eyes lost their focus. But I don't have a shred of sympathy for him. Though he didn't hurt me, I just can't stand someone who said anything he wants and thought that he's above the cloud. And above all, he humiliates miss Shan. I'm not a feminist or anything ... but I can't stand her being degraded because of me.

The two henchmen brought Li Quan out of the private room. The room turned gloomy suddenly.

"See ... I'm a party crasher. I don't think I belong here." I said jokingly to Shan Yuezhi.

"Heh, who cares with someone like Li Quan? I don't. Let's just eat, I'm starving!" the woman with no sense of direction also doesn't know how to read the air and seems to be at her own pace.

We sat down at the table and once again I introduced myself to them.

"Nice to meet you, everyone. I'm sorry for the little conflict, let me reintroduce myself again. My name is Arman Maul. Shan Yuezhi's ... friend, maybe?"

Right now, they're looking at me fearfully. No longer seeing me just like an adult to a kid would. It's all because I've asserted my dominance with the matter of Li Quan. I originally have no intention of doing that, though.

"Z-zhou Ran. Nice to meet you." the heavy make-up girl said.

"Liu Mengqi." said the taciturn woman ... no, that's wrong. She didn't speak, but I can hear her voice inside my head.

"Telepathy?" I asked.

"True." Liu Mengqi nodded while sending that word telepathically.

"Hehe ... Mengqi is always like that after her awakening. So please don't mind her eccentricities." the only man said with a bright smile. "I'm Ren Fangyuan."

"How did you guys meet? And how did you become a friend?" You Nanchan asked.

"Well ..." I glanced at Shan Yuezhi and the person nodded her head. "Actually, we just meet this noon. So I don't know if we can be called friend or not, but she insisted on treating me to a meal so here I am. As for how I met her, I saw her when she's lost in the market near here."

"I'm not lost! And you forget mentioning about the robbery!" she slammed the table.

"Ah ... yeah, that happened." I nodded.

"What's this ... did you get robbed? Really, this Zhizhi?"

"Chan'er you're saying it as if it's something unusual."

"I mean, you're Zhizhi, right? The strongest woman from our school ... why and how could a society trash rob you?"

"I'm not robbed by trash, that person's super. And it's invisibility superpower. I got surprised because of that."

"Heh ... how did you help her, Arman?"

"I ... tied him when he's trying to run away. His body is invisible, but I can still trace his footstep so it's kinda easy for me to catch him."

"Hmm ... but how?"

"He used his superpower, of course." Shan Yuezhi stated. "His power is like senior Rattner, he can conjure string and rope to tie or inflict injuries to the target."

Rattner, where did I hear this again? Ah, isn't that Esme's last name? Hold on, so you know her?

I involuntarily asked, "You know Esme?"

"That's her pet name, you said it as if you're so close with her. Do you know her?" Shan Yuezhi knitted her brow as she said that.

Just last night, I've claimed her virginity fucked her in various positions, and smeared my cum inside her four times. Yeah, you would never believe it even if I said that.

"Ehhh ... ahh, no I know her name because ... right, because our power is similar, so I did a lot of research about her. I'm a big fan of her so ... yeah, that's it." I somehow thought of an excuse.

"Really?" she glanced suspiciously, "I can introduce you to her if you want. You can ask for her advice about how to use your power. But you mustn't call her with her nickname like that, she hates it when it was said by some stranger."

"I-is that so? But you don't need to do that. I'm fine already. I don't want to be an inconvenience to Miss Rattner."

"... alright, then."

We chatted and ate the meal. I learn they were all alumni of Second Highschool and Esme was their senior in high school. I also learned about what they do.

Shan Yuezhi was super with temporary self-buff type super condition. A herculean strength but for a short time. She didn't join the military academy, rather she trains under a martial artist who lives at a secluded temple at top of a mountain. Currently, she was jobless and rely on her parent to live and her friend teased her about it. But she defended herself by saying that recently she tried to apply for a job at a security company.

As for the other four, they were also supers, but it was all auxiliary superpowers with no combat capabilities.

You Nanchan has downgraded tamer ability. Although it was not as great as the real tamer, she could make wild animals such as snow wolf or tiger become docile ... for short time. She worked as a zookeeper.

Zhou Ran can mold metal like clay with her hand. With such ability, she studies liberal art, and now she was a contemporary sculptor.

Liu Mengqi used her telepathy ability on her job as a prison overseer. Somehow, I can imagine this girl sat inside a surveillance room and communicate with the other wardens telepathically.

Ren Fangyuan has eyes that could focus until he saw things as if it was using the help of a microscope or telescope. With this ability and his love of biology, he becomes a researcher on that subject.

"By the way, what's your plan for the future Arman? Are you joining the military academy? Or you're gonna enter university?" Ren Fangyuan asked.

"I am not interested in becoming a super-soldier. Though, it's an honorable path ... but I don't want to lose my life warring the Harban. So ... I'll try to enroll the college."

"Coward ..."

"Ms. Zhou, I don't think this has anything to do with cowardice."

"You have the ability that is perfect to be a super-soldier, but you didn't choose to be a soldier, what are you if you're not a coward?" she rebuked with rhetoric.

"It's my life, who are you to say something about what path I choose? Are you my mother, did you raise me up? And besides, there's no such thing as perfect ability, there is only perfect user. If I say ... in my eyes, your ability is also fit to be a soldier material. So why you choose to be an artist?"

"That's ... you don't know the limitation of my super, who are you to judge me?!" she shouted in anger.

"Then, let me ask. Do you know my limitation? Do you know what condition I need to fulfill to use this ability?"

"I ... don't know." her voice turned dim.

"We're the same, then. You know nothing about me nor my power, so it's not your place to say whether I'm a coward."

"Come on, this boy is always oversensitive ... you know you'll get hated by girls if you continue like this." Shan Yuezhi said while poking at my inflated cheek.

"I'm not oversensitive ... and why should I care if other people hate me? Haters gonna hate, that's the way it is. Why should I change myself for their sake? That's illogical."

"Alright, let's drop this off." Ren Fangyuan faked a cough, "But if you really have the same ability as senior Rattner, perhaps the military might be interested to have you. I heard from my friend that senior Rattner is joining the special ops team and faring pretty well."

"I don't like the militaristic life. It's something personal."

Inside the military, there's one word I hated so much. Obedience. And it's not just obedience, but absolute obedience ... and discipline. I am a person which lacks that in this life. If I entered the military, while I have lied to them all along regarding my power ... it's like entering the hole I dug for myself.

"So, which university do you have in mind?"

"I'm planning to try Bandung Institute of Technology, School of Business and Management."

Zhou Ran squinted her eyes, asking. "You're gonna enter that? That's got nothing to do with your superpower though. And SBM ITB, that's just a place for rich heir and heiress to hang out ... you'll learn nothing."

"You already know that I'm a rich heir ..." I laughed lightly.

Although both of my parents are dead, they left me quite the sum amount of money that could let me live without worries for the future. Added that with how aunt Yumi keep stuffing me with extravagant allowance. And with how profitable the prospect of the sperm business ... I don't think I'll ever lack in money in this life.

"For somehow, I hate people like you ..." Zhou Ran pursed her lips.

"Miss Zhou ... just like every person in this world, I can't make friends with everyone or make them like me. And did you know, just before, the matter with Li Quan. It's my first time asking my aunt and friend to deal with someone like that. Usually, I care little about it."

"... do you, really have to do that? Is it really necessary to destroy someone else's life just because he provoked your ire?" Ren Fangyuan asked.

I'm also wondering about that ... I'm not that good to lend a hand to someone else when I don't see the benefits. Even more when I must pay something for it. I lose the chance of getting 375 M emas just to make his family struck and fall. 

Is it because of Shan Yuezhi? No, though this woman with a zero sense of direction is pretty and attractive on her own ... she didn't move me for a bit.

So is it because of her super? Yeah, I don't know if I can fuck some Superwoman from the military ... and I become interested in her after knowing she's a super. Thus, I tried to get close to her. Hmm, yeah, maybe because of that.

After sometimes of thinking, I just heaved a sigh.

"It's not me who started it. As for it is necessary or not, I don't know. But he said a rude word to Miss Shan and I can't stand it. I can tolerate if someone purposely demeaning me, if I can't retort it then I'll choose to stay silent. But he said something that hurt Miss Shan. Although I don't know what is between the two of them ... I can't just stand idly saying nothing while he defames her."

"In short, you did it because of her. You like Yuezhi, don't you?" Liu Mengqi suddenly said, this time it was not telepathy.

"What? Oh ... no, how could I? Err, there's an age gap and everything ... I just can't. And Miss Shan probably just treat me as a younger brother." I tried to act flustered saying that.

And it worked ... they saw my fluster as affirmation. There, Shan Yuezhi has her cheek turned crimson and didn't dare to look at me. You Nanchan and two other girls tried to restrain her giggle seeing that. I also avoided my gaze by looking downward, I tried my best to restrain my mouth to lift into a smirk.

I noticed that Zhou Ran was staring at me with intense desire, I'm not sure what her desire is. Huhu ... although she's kinda annoying, but I can't just ignore some potential capture target.