Chapter 503: One more ripple and the stone that caused it.

*Bing-Bong*

We interrupted your regularly scheduled chapter to inform the reader that we will be returning the focus to Zhen Liu and Zhen Li shortly, we just have one more side story to tell, this time focusing on two characters as opposed to one.

On that note thought...

Have you figured out the connection yet?

*Bing-Bong*

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"Kit, once you’re done refilling the nut barrels, would you mind sorting out the jelly candies?"

"Yes, mother."

"Kit, have you finished your language homework for the day?"

"Of course, mother."

"I love you, Kit."

"I love you too...mama."

It had only been a few days at most since Zhen Liu had created Kit, a taffy-based kaijin, to serve as the child for one Elsa Reinhart.

One would assume such a relationship would feel forced at best, or disturbing at worst, but this was far from the truth.

In reality, the two actually got along as well as any other single parent and child, albeit, more in the vein of a modern retelling of Pinocchio or Frankenstein except the scientist wasn’t a total shit bag of a father.

Did they have those formative baby years like many other families may have had?

No.

Did that stop them from being parent and child?

Fuck no.

Granted, it also probably helped that many of the materials used to create Kit had both physical and spiritual connections to Elsa.

Regardless of their circumstances though, it didn’t change the fact that the two were family.

Although, there was one thing that Elsa had a small issue with in regards to her child.

"Hey baby, you free this afternoon for tea?"

"Oh my~ What’s a handsome thing like you doing working in a simple place like this?"

"...I’m starting to think I might actually be bisexual..."

"Uh..."

She didn’t know how to address the sheer amount of new customers that showed up to explicitly hit on her child, or more specifically, the human forms they would adopt when they were requested to work the register.

When Zhen Liu had created Kit, the man had defaulted on making the kaijin have the same mental and physical maturity around his own age, which was as far as Elsa could tell, around late teens to earl twenties.

As a consequence, whenever Kit had to take on a human disguise, they would default to a twenty something year old person that happened to look like a younger, comelier version of Elsa...whenever Kit decided to depict themselves as female for the day anyways.

Perhaps due to Elsa’s wish for the kaijin to make their own choice on how the rest of the world perceive them, the taffy-bodied kaijin had been experimentally flip-flopping between looking like a young maiden or a young gentleman, or somewhere in-between, based solely on their own whims.

Evidently, this change based on whims had lead to the rumor that Elsa had triplets that were so beautiful that if they didn’t go in one at a time like they were doing so, it would cause a singularity of attractiveness and kill everyone in the area via nosebleeds.

The imagination of young, desperate people is truly a sight to behold.

Regardless of this new annoyance, Elsa was happy to have a child of her own now, and not much in this world would be able to change that.

"Hmmm. Hey, Kit?"

"Yes, mama?"

"How do you feel about us closing up the shop early and going out for dinner tonight? I heard there’s a noodle shop in the area that likes to mix in chili powder into their dough."

"Oooh. I’m not entirely familiar with spicy flavors, so this should be interesting. Let’s do it!"

"Great!"

With the prospect of a tasty meal that neither had to prepare looming in their future, the parent and child kaijin proceeded to work even faster in order to close up the shop in time.

However, it was right in the middle of this cleaning binge that the mother and child heard a trio of voices approaching the door.

"Oooooh! This place smells way sweeter than fruits and honey combined!"

"Rodenia, wait!"

"I get that she is like three feet taller than us, but how the fuck is she this fast?!"

"What the-"

"GOOD AFTERNOON!"

"WHOA!"

Just as Kit and Elsa were curious about who or what was making such a racket, a six foot tall Amazonian insect woman with four massive arms came bursting through the door, arms stretched out in excitement and joy.

Trailing behind her was a young couple that Elsa could best describe with the term "svelte".

Judging from the way they were looking at the giant bug woman and acting, they were probably her companions.

From the not so subtle hand prints peeking out part of the clothing...maybe more.

Although, Elsa didn’t know many religious types who would willingly cavort with non-humans.

Regardless of how shocked Elsa was at the sight of this giant bug woman though, Kit was significantly more shocked.

So much so that they immediately changed back from their human disguise into their original kaijin form right before the trio’s eyes.

’Oh shit!’

Panic overcame Elsa as she saw this situation unfold and the shock registering in couple’s eyes at Kit’s sudden transformation.

Elsa’s old military training finally kicked in after the moment of shock had ended and she immediately came up with a plan to-

"Hold up!," the giant bug woman suddenly exclaimed as she saw Kit suddenly transform, interrupting any trains of thought anybody in the room may have had with a shout.

Not wasting anytime, the giant bug woman strode right up to the taffy kaijin with her finger pointed directly at them.

Kit for their part just sort...of leaned back in awkwardness and shock as they didn’t know how to respond to this unusual customer.

"You...," the bug woman said while squinting her eyes at the taffy-born humanoid for a moment.

"Yes...?," Kit asked nervously, unsure of what the bug woman’s next action was going to be.

"You...are just like me!," the bug woman yelled in elation before suddenly grabbing Kit in a massive four-armed spinning hug.

"Huh?"

"Huh?"

"Wait, what?!," Elsa asked in a shocked voice.

"Okay so you’re hugger," Kit commented, "I have no idea how to feel about this."

"My name’s Rodenia," the bug woman said while maintaining her hug, "It’s so nice to meet you, mister...miss...uh..."

"Kit...uh, Kit Reinhart."

"Gasp! You have a surname?! I don’t have one...I think..."

In this moment, Elsa and the young couple accompanying Rodenia just shared this moment of absurdity with silence...followed by introductions shortly after.

"Uh...my name’s Leon, nice to meet you."

"Mine’s Isa. We’re...missionaries."

"I figured from the clothing...my name’s Elsa Reinhart. Is it safe to assume the giant bug kaijin is yours?"

"Wait, what?"

"You know what she is?!," Isa asked in shock.

"You don’t?"

Needless to say, Elsa and Kit’s dinner that evening was an eventful one to say the least.

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=Huh..=

<What’s up?>

=You get the feeling we might’ve forgotten something important and now that thing we’ve forgotten is about to come and bite us in our incorporeal butts?=

<Uh...no?>

=Eh, probably nothing then.=

<By the way, why the fuck is this main branch guy taking so long to answer the question? It’s not that hard of a choice!>

=To be fair, unlike us, humans have to worry about things like...morality and...honor and...yeah, I don’t know why, this deal is real easy in retrospect. We’re not even asking him to murder anybody.=

<Right?!>

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’By the heavens above this motherfucker is taking awhile to think about this,’ Zhen Liu thought to himself as he stared at the contemplative Zhen Li, ’I mean...I get it, but godsdamn bro it is a simple yes or no question.’

Zhen Liu, under the guise of a powerful Aether Overlord, presented Zhen Li a very simple offer.

All Zhen Li had to do was essentially serve as a spy for him for the duration of the Zhen branch clan’s stay in main clan’s estate, informing him, or one of his disguised kaijin and/or zakos, about any shenanigans that the main branch leaders might cook up in regards to the branch clan.

In return for doing so, Zhen Liu would have one of the kaijin possess his ass long enough to empower his formula and make it significantly easier for the young Aether Master to breakthrough to Aether Grandmaster without any side effects whatsoever...aside from some minor personality shifts, but he didn’t need to know that.

Alternatively, Zhen Liu would just wipe the man’s memories of everything that had occurred here and what he had seen at the riverbed and this whole affair will be like it had never happened.

Ultimate power in exchange for a little extra information, or literally and metaphorically washing one’s hand of any involvement of whatever he had stumbled into, simple as that.

Which was why Zhen Liu was really fucking annoyed that Zhen Li was silent for a solid five minutes.

’Seriously, what the fuck is going on in his head?,’ Zhen Liu wondered.

That’s the funny thing about life changing offers...it has a tendency to cause one to...think about their life choices to a point...

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"Zhen Li...you’re a disappointment...’