Gathering Wives with a System

Chapter 181: Searching For The Idol

”Not even a message? A hint? Anything?”

”No.”

The tension in Arlene’s posture collapsed.

Her shoulders slumped, and she leaned lightly against the wall.

It was like watching a balloon slowly deflate.

Her breath caught in her throat, and for a second, it looked like she might start sobbing.

”That girl,” she muttered, voice uneven. ”She always does this to me.”

Isaac was silent.

He didn’t know her well—he didn’t know Celia that well either—but it was hard not to feel stunned watching someone who had entered the room like a composed executive suddenly fall apart.

”She always just disappears,” Arlene continued.

Her voice was picking up speed, frustration mixing with exhaustion.

”She goes off doing whatever she wants while I have to deal with the mess. She doesn’t answer messages, doesn’t follow schedules, and now today, of all days...”

Her eyes stared blankly at the opposite wall, not really looking at anything.

”We’ve been planning this for three months,” she whispered. ”Rehearsals, logistics, tech runs, security checks. And now, when everything’s finally happening, she vanishes.”

Isaac cleared his throat. ”Did you report it to Titan Edge Guild?”

Arlene nodded slowly. ”Yes. They’ve deployed people to search discreetly. But they haven’t found anything. She’s just... gone.”

Isaac frowned.

Celia could teleport.

It was hard to track her if she didn’t want to be found out.

”We are done for,” Arlene said. Her tone was bitter, resigned. ”She’s good at hiding when she wants to. Too good.”

Isaac crossed his arms and leaned against the side wall.

”Do you think she’s in danger?”

Arlene looked at him like the idea hadn’t even occurred to her. Then she shook her head with confidence. ”No. I don’t think that’s possible.”

Her tone left no room for doubt.

”She’s not careless. She carries powerful artifacts with her. If anyone tried to hurt her, they’d regret it. Honestly, if anyone’s in danger, it’s whoever she teleported near.”

That was reassuring, if not a little terrifying.

Isaac tapped his fingers against his arm, watching her. She looked calmer now, at least on the surface, but the way her eyes kept drifting to the floor said otherwise.

He made up his mind.

”I’ll help search for her.”

Arlene blinked and looked up. ”You will?”

”I want to help,” he said simply.

Her lips twitched like she wanted to smile but didn’t believe him.

”Thank you,” she said, though her tone was cautious. ”But if Titan Edge can’t find her, I don’t see how you’re going to do it.”

She wasn’t wrong. A single person didn’t stand a chance against a professional guild’s resources.

But she didn’t know Isaac.

He had his own ways.

Isaac gave her a nod and left the room.

Once outside, he quickly made his way back to his car.

Sitting in the driver’s seat, Isaac pulled up his system interface and activated Sovereign of Land.

His influence extended downward and outward.

Mana flowed out like invisible tendrils, embedding themselves into the concrete and earth beneath the city.

It wasn’t just a single patch. It was spreading, slow and steady, as far as his current capacity would allow.

The skill gave him control and awareness over terrain.

But more than that, it let him sense.

The ground absorbed faint traces of mana from everything and everyone walking above it. And with enough focus, he could feel those lingering signatures.

He took out three Tier 2 Vitality Grains and swallowed them one after another.

His mana pool was large, and his regeneration rate was excellent, but the kind of wide-range scanning he planned to do required sustained effort.

It wasn’t a one-time burst.

He needed to maintain the skill across sectors for as long as it took.

’Titan Edge will probably start their search from far out. They’ll assume she teleported somewhere far to avoid being tracked.’

That gave Isaac an opening.

’If they’re focusing on distant areas, then the zones closer to the event might still be unchecked.’

He gripped the wheel.

’I’ll start with those.’

Isaac drove through Sector 8 first, eyes scanning traffic but attention buried in the pulsing connection to the land beneath.

Every few blocks, he stopped, shut off the engine, and activated Sovereign of Land to its fullest extent.

The mana flared, and his mind was filled with raw, sensory data: density shifts, footsteps, the faint trails of recent mana users.

Nothing.

No familiar signature.

He moved to the next location.

Again.

And again.

By the time he finished Sector 6, he had already burned through a third of his mana pool again.

He paused long enough for his Mana to recover to sufficient level before continuing.

The search wasn’t fast.

Every stop required focus.

Every expansion of Sovereign of Land took effort.

Unlike most of his uses before, which focused on controlling roots at father patches of land, this time he was purely trying to extend the range.

He was stretching the skill to its absolute limit.

It was the first time since the Metavore Hive battle that he’d exhausted himself like this.

Even then, he had pushed himself like this.

But here, he was sustaining high mana output non-stop.

And the pressure was only building.

One hour passed.

He had covered most of Sectors 5 ~ 9.

Now he pushed into the outer ring: Sector 10.

Time was running out.

Only half an hour remained until the event’s end.

If she wasn’t found by then, people would start asking questions, and the event would be in danger.

He pulled up beside a loading area near an industrial lot and activated Sovereign of Land again.

Suddenly, the world trembled around him.

Sovereign of Land has reached Level 9 → 10.

Active and passive effects strengthened by 120%.

Isaac’s eyes widened as another line followed.

Sovereign of Land has reached MAX Level.

Skill effect strengthened by 500%.

You have mastered a skill to perfection. Title [Perfectionist] gained.

He leaned back in his seat, stunned.

His range exploded outward, spreading through the entire sector like a wave.

He could feel everything.

Streets, concrete, underground pipeways. Footsteps, wheels, vibrating engines. Every faint trace of mana that had touched the earth.

Even the faintest trace of mana became vivid.

He could sense where someone had stood just minutes ago, the kind of element they used, and even how long they lingered.

His search radius had multiplied severalfold, and more importantly, his precision was sharper than ever.

With only a few minutes left before the event began, Isaac’s search speed tripled.

He pushed on without rest, darting between key locations, checking anything that remotely carried Celia’s presence.

His senses combed the sectors inch by inch.

Then, he found it.

A trace so clear and familiar it was like a name being shouted in his ear.

Celia.

His hands tightened around the steering wheel as he narrowed in on the location.

Then his expression shifted, hardening slightly as the coordinates grew more specific.

”...It’s an orphanage?”

He blinked, staring at the glowing map projected on the car’s interface.

The area pulsed in soft green light, confirming again and again what he already knew.

Isaac leaned back slightly, expression unreadable.

He didn’t have fond memories of orphanages. They reminded him of the past he wanted to forget.

The old feelings that were buried deep, sealed off within him would rise and it would make his skin prickle.

For a moment, he considered turning around.

Then he laughed under his breath and shook his head.

”What the hell am I thinking about that for?”

He wasn’t that person anymore.

He drove through the outer ring roads until he found the place.

A modest-looking building with faded white paint and a metal gate, nestled between two small parks.

The sign read Sunrise Children’s Home.

It didn’t look particularly special, but there was something quiet and peaceful about it.

Isaac got out of the car, approached the gate.

He looked at the building for a few seconds, then he rang the bell.

A few moments later, a middle-aged woman appeared behind the bars.

Her hair was graying but neatly tied in a bun, and her clothes were a simple beige blouse and long skirt.

”Can I help you?”

”I’m here for Celia,” he said, holding up his ID card as a badge. ”From the Sanctum of Masters.”

The woman’s eyes widened slightly at the name, then scanned the ID.

The name of Sanctum of Masters had weight behind it. Even if she didn’t recognize Isaac personally, the affiliation spoke for itself.

”I see,” she said. ”You’re here because...?”

”Her crew is searching for her. I was sent by them.”

She gave a small nod and unlocked the gate.

”She’s in the backyard.”

Isaac thanked her and walked inside, but before he could go far, she spoke again.

”Are you Celia’s friend?”

He turned back, slightly caught off guard by the question.

”Yes,” he said. ”We know each other.”

The woman chuckled. ”Well, it’s just that we’ve never seen any of her friends before. She visits often, but always alone.”

He paused. ”So she comes here regularly?”

”She visits a lot of orphanages,” the woman said, folding her hands in front of her. ”But she always asks us not to publicize it. She says she doesn’t want attention drawn to the kids. It could lead to problems.”

”Then isn’t it strange you’re telling me all this?”

She raised an eyebrow and smiled. ”Didn’t you already know she was here? You walked straight in, after all. If someone like you come all this way, how could we possibly hide her?”

Fair enough.

Isaac nodded and continued walking.

The backyard wasn’t very large.

It was just a patch of green surrounded by a low fence, with a few plastic slides, a worn-out swing, and a sandbox.

He expected to see Celia sitting calmly under a tree, maybe reading a story to the kids or singing for them.

Instead, he was greeted by chaos.

”You little brat! Come back here!”

Celia’s voice rang through the air, sharp and frustrated.

Isaac rounded the corner and stopped in his tracks.

Celia, warm, smiles, always composed Celia... was currently running after a boy who looked about six years old.

Her expression was serious—deadly serious—as she held a piece of crumpled paper in her hand like a weapon.

”You called my drawing garbage? Do you even know how hard I worked on that?!”

The boy laughed and stuck out his tongue.

”Even I can draw better than you!”

Isaac stared, baffled.

Celia didn’t look like a famous idol or one of the most influential young women in the city.

She looked like a regular neighbor girl chasing her annoying little brother after losing an argument.

”Come here!” she shouted again, still chasing him across the grass. ”I’m going to spank you so hard you won’t be able to sit for a week!”

The child darted behind the slide, giggling.

Isaac blinked.

This was... not what he expected.

He stayed frozen for a few seconds, unsure if he was supposed to interrupt or pretend he hadn’t seen any of this.

Eventually, Celia noticed him standing near the entrance.

She stopped immediately.

Her eyes widened.

For a second, she looked like someone had thrown cold water on her face.

Then she coughed, fixed her posture, and tucked the crumpled paper behind her back.

”Oh. Isaac,” she said smoothly, her voice slipping back into that friendly calm tone. ”What a coincidence to see you here.”