Slime Evolution

Chapter 419 - Gift

Lohan’s consciousness traveled back through the vacuum of hyperspace, crossing through streams of data until it crashed into the cold reality of his room.

The young man opened his eyes slowly, feeling the usual weight of the virtual reality helmet on his head and surprisingly, a faint sweet smell in the air that hadn’t been there when he went to sleep.

He took off the Elysium helmet with careful movements, sitting up on the edge of the mattress while still lying there lazily. Lohan stretched his arms and back hard, feeling his joints let out audible pops that gave away his urgent need for physical movement after so many hours of total immobility on the expensive mattress.

Even though his body was incredibly stronger and healthier due to the constant integration of Halon’s high level stats, his mind still carried the sluggishness of spending days operating on multiple processing tracks nonstop. He felt too tired to do his usual routine of intense daily exercise, opting instead to just walk slowly to the bathroom for a nice, warm bath in the tub, just like Lisa said she constantly did.

Even without technically needing running water to stay clean, since his Digestive Filter was able to digest any impurity directly through his pores with perfect efficiency, Lohan still valued the comfort of freshening up under clean water. The bath brought a pleasant sense of relaxation that calmed his nerves.

While he dried off, the optical communicator attached to his left eye let out a beep, signaling a new message on the Syn app. Lohan opened the floating screen with a blink of his eyes, seeing Lisa’s elegant ID glow at the top of his digital display.

[Lisa: I just logged off too, Halon. Before you go to sleep, remember I put the rest of the Grade SS solution vials I brought you in the fridge. Enjoy using them, and if you notice anything different, let me know so I can pass it on to my family’s production team. I’ll make sure you have a steady supply of these solutions from now on.]

Lohan gave an involuntary smile reading her care, but Lisa’s next message contained something that immediately sparked his curiosity.

[Lisa: Btw, I arranged a special delivery to be made directly to your apartment tomorrow morning. Don’t worry about the cost of it, just accept the gift as a personal thank you for the effort my right hand has shown these past few days. Try not to ask too many questions and just get a good night’s sleep, you stubborn thing.]

Lohan blinked in surprise, staring at Lisa’s words with curiosity. He knew the proud but extremely generous temperament of the Vance girl well enough to know that trying to refuse the gift or pry out more information about what would be delivered would be a waste of time.

[Hayes: Thanks for looking out for me, Lisa. I gladly accept the mysterious gift, I just hope it’s nothing too over the top haha. Have a good night’s sleep, Madam President.]

He closed the Syn app and lay down under the covers with the deepest sense of comfort he had felt in days. Knowing Astralis Requiem was safe, that the Broken Suns had been defeated, and that he had a real friend looking out for him made Lohan’s mind relax completely, and he fell into a supreme, nightmare free sleep within a few calm minutes.

Lohan’s Sunday morning wake up was triggered by the beep of his ocular communicator. He blinked a few times to focus his vision, noticing the screen showed an urgent voice call coming from the security desk of his residential building.

He answered the call with a sleepy, somewhat displeased voice command. ”Hello? Hayes speaking. What’s going on that you’re calling me at this hour of the morning?”

”Good morning, Mr. Hayes.” The attendant’s voice came through in an apologetically formal tone. ”We’ve received a priority air transit request for a package registered directly under your name. Protocol requires the resident’s manual authorization to allow the vector to access the open area of the penthouse. Do you authorize the landing?”

Lohan furrowed his brow, feeling confusion take over his mind for a moment. Normally, ordinary packages were accepted at the front desk and delivered later by the building’s service robots. Why would the front desk need manual security authorization for a simple weekend delivery?

”Yes, I authorize the landing,” Lohan replied, getting up and putting on a pair of comfortable gray sweatpants as he walked toward the wide, open concept living room of his penthouse to properly receive the item.

On his private terrace, a deep sound began echoing intensely through the corners of the apartment. It wasn’t the noise of the ordinary delivery drones that flew back and forth across the sky. That was the intense hum of a military transport drone!

Lohan opened the glass doors and stepped out onto the terrace, his eyes widening in shock at the scene revealed before him under the sky.

A massive armored drone, painted in a pearly white tone and displaying the silver logo of the Vance Group’s medical division, hovered over his pool as the magnetic thrusters generated air currents that shook the terrace’s decorative plants.

With perfect precision, the drone’s titanium mechanical arms began descending toward the marble floor of Lohan’s terrace. Attached to the cables was an enormous metal case, two meters long by one meter wide, gleaming under the sun with hermetic medical security latches and lights blinking a pale green.

The drone set the huge metal case down onto the terrace with a startling gentleness, releasing the latches with a dry decompression click before rising back up toward the artificial clouds of the High Zone, leaving Lohan Hayes alone on the terrace, frozen in shock as he stared at that gigantic metal structure gleaming before his eyes.

”What is this, Lisa?...” Lohan murmured to himself, his voice coming out weak from the sheer astonishment overwhelming his chest as he took slow steps toward the metal case. ”How much nutrient solution would she need to buy to fill a metal case this size in such an absurd, impressive way?!”

The mystery of that huge gift was gradually starting to reveal itself in his mind, bringing a great satisfaction that warmed his chest, making Lohan smile fondly as he sensed the redhead’s real, kind intentions, with no idea that what was inside was far more shocking than nutrient solutions.