Others Summon, I Forge Beast Armor

A/N: Please read this Chapter before the Chap 103

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Luke hadn’t been paying enough attention to how armor works. It was this Bodyplate that opened his eyes because it was the most important part of armor.

The bodyplate is like a canvas, while the other armor pieces are the paint, that’s why the bodyplate covers many areas that belonged to other armor pieces.

Now, the more pieces Luke equipped, the more complete the ”painting” would be because the bodyplate is the foundation. It gave the other pieces something to build around, attaching themselves, interlocking themselves, until there would be no space between each armor piece.

Without a bodyplate, there would be spaces.

Luke dismissed it after learning its use. But there was a difference between a bodyplate and the Olympian Serpent Bodyplate.

The Olympian Serpent Bodyplate was so flexible that it made moving in the rest of the armor easier. It bends and stretches with the body rather than restricting movement. This was especially useful around the waist, shoulders, and other areas that needed to move constantly during a fight.

The average bodyplate sacrifices mobility for full protection. But this one had both.

WHOOSH!

Luke returned to the tea shop as quickly as possible to keep waiting for Lin Moon. But to his surprise, she was already there, standing and watching him curiously.

”Mr. Luke. Were you having a seizure?”

”No, Miss Moon. Why would you think that? Can’t a guy just close his eyes and rest for but a moment?”

Lin Moon folded her arms and put on an expression for Luke.

She was dressed in an olive green servant-like dress but tailored for formality with a bow tie. The dress was short-sleeved, showing most of her thin arms, while her hair was pinned up and square glasses framed her face.

”Excuse me, but it did not look like you were only resting,” she said. ”I waved, and I called your name a hundred times. I was about to phone a doctor too. Tell me why I shouldn’t.”

Luke stood up from his chair and arranged his clothes. He was only an inch taller than Lin Moon, which made it hard for her to be intimidated. But Luke didn’t want to intimidate her.

”I will beg you not to. This city belongs to my family, and some of them want me dead. Calling a doctor would increase the chances of my untimely death,” Luke said. ”A doctor will have access to my body and could do something to me that prompts my capture.”

”What do you mean your family wants you dead?” Lin Moon asked inquisitively.

Luke realized she didn’t know a lot about her client, so he narrated as much as he could, starting from his banishment till this conversation. He didn’t forget to differentiate the family members who wanted him dead from the good ones.

After Lin Moon heard his story, she thought about her own story growing up.

She didn’t have a family; no parents and no siblings. The apocalypse made her an orphan. The apocalypse was also cruel because she didn’t awaken any beast. She was alone in every definition of the word.

Then Mr. Blackstone picked her up and trained her. This is why she was very loyal and patriotic to him.

He made sure she survived, so Lin Moon became determined to pass that on to Luke, and make sure he didn’t become a scapegoat in this city. What better way to accomplish this than help him build the biggest, largest beast armor shop in the entire world?

Lin Moon saw herself in Luke. Helping him meant helping that helpless girl who watched her parents and siblings devoured by monsters.

She folded her arms.

”So, if you’re a crook to the Kingsleys, why are you sitting around in a public place with your eyes closed?”

”Heh heh. The nearest hotel is a long way, and I was really tired,” Luke replied, scratching his head while chuckling anxiously.

Lin Moon sighed and looked around the tea shop. Her ride was outside. She had come to meet up with Luke to discuss progress with the million-dollar project they had at hand. It was time to do just that.

They got into the ride and set off to the warehouse district, which belonged to Luke now.

”First, the contractors,” Lin Moon said, opening a folder on her tablet. ”The main construction team has been doing well. They finished most of the groundwork, but we’ve had a few problems with the some systems.”

”How bad?” Luke asked.

”Not too bad. They should be able to fix it within the week. The bigger problem is that some of the smaller contractors have been asking for more money. Material prices went up. Some of them are blaming transportation costs, others are blaming the new tariffs set by your father, the Duke.

There are merits to keeping the current contractors. They already understand the project, and replacing them now would waste time. But there are also demerits. Some of them are taking advantage of the situation because they know we’re already invested.”

Luke rubbed his chin, acting like he was formulating a solution, when it was the opposite.

”Dang it. We shouldn’t have paid that hag. We need all the money we can get...”

”Who? The City Chamberlain?”

”Who else?”

”Haha. My Lord, 1 million Scrips doesn’t change our situation,” Lin Moon said. ”The tariffs would have affected us nevertheless. Apocalyptic resources are expensive.

We’re building for a world with gates, monsters, Hunters, and all kinds of new technology. The electrical grid has to handle more power. The roads need to support heavier vehicles. Even the security systems are more expensive.”

”But don’t worry,” Lin Moon continued. ”The project is still moving forward, but there’s one more thing.”

”What could that be?” Luke asked.

”You’ll need personnel once your establishment is operational: Security, maintenance, workers, managers... all of that will become another expense.”

”Urgh,” Luke groaned, rubbing his face.

All he wanted to do was forge and sell beast armor. He didn’t need people working under him and staff he had to pay. That was Mr. Blackstone’s idea: to put up this facade of formality.

”I understand it’s early to bring up personnel, but I’m just making sure you don’t wake up one morning and realize you’ve spent millions on a business you can’t afford to maintain,” Lin Moon said.

”Fair enough,” Luke replied.