Laura decided to call her elder daughter. She had to inform her about Blue. She picked up her phone and sent a video call. If she remembered accurately around this time of the day her daughter had some free time in the academy.

"Mom, did you just return home after the visit?"

"Yes, Clara. Me and your sister chose a splendid kid. He is about to be 18 in a week so Karla now has someone to accompany her to the ceremony."

"Eh? So he is almost an adult, no? I thought you would choose someone far younger to be adopted."

"Well… let's just say when you meet him in the future you will understand my decision."

"Fufufu. Alright, alright. We'll see about that. What's his name?"

"Blue. Quite a unique name around here."

"Huh, based on a color? Well, there are all sorts of people out there who name their kid just about anything."

"Clara, he is now our family and you should be treating him as such. Don't say any demeaning words."

Laura reprimanded her daughter, Clara. She was 20 years old and was studying at the academy after becoming an awakened. The academy forbids any student from returning home before they graduate, thus she had been away from home for a bit over two years now.

Just like Karla, she was also reluctant to her mother's decision two days ago and now that an unknown individual had become her family she was feeling very complex inside. However, she had gone through much in the academy and she was well aware of her mother's situation as well as her worries so Clara wouldn't pester her in any way.

"I am sorry, mom. I didn't mean to. How about this? Give me his number and I will call him later and have a proper conversation."

"As you should. Oh, wait. I don't have his number."

"..."

"Don't look at me like that. It just escaped my mind. I will get Karla to send it to you. That girl seemed to have taken a liking to Blue. She definitely has his number by now."

"That prideful sister of mine who once said that all boys are annoying to her? Does she even have a good impression of him? This is interesting. I will definitely see for myself just what he is selling for you all to be always wet talking about him, hmph!"

"Huh, you—"

"I know, I know. I am just curious, that's all. I need to go now. Bye, mom. Take care."

Before she could lecture her daughter some more Clara hurriedly said her goodbyes and ended the call. She shook her head in exasperation.

Laura looked at her phone screen with a bitter smile as the memory of her son's last video call surfaced in her mind.

°°°°

Blue thought that he would have raised Karla's favorability point by 70 in just five minutes but it turned out he was sorely mistaken.

[Behavioral Trait: Straightforward

Current Emotion: Pleasant

Favorability Point: 69 (Interested)]

This was Karla's present appraisal result. He had been chatting with her about all sorts of stuff such as their daily life, their hobbies, likes and dislikes, movies etc. Yet only six points had increased after half an hour and her emotion remained pleasant.

He was feeling frustrated now. How could this naive girl be so difficult to work on? At one point it even hurt his pride that had been built over 3 million years of experience. If not for the fact that he could plainly see her emotion and favorability in points then he would have rested easy.

Alas, it seemed that this side mission was forcing him to change his tactics. Initially he thought to keep her around the hook by playing the perfect crush on her who was unaware of her interest in him but treated her well. Now it seemed such an easy-going tactic was deemed not enough to raise her favorability point to 70 by system's standard. Then he could only show his true "expertise" from now on, the very reason why he had one of the most powerful factions dominating the Inner Area of Abyss back in the day.

He called it "The Conqueror's Route".

Blue really didn't want to take this route with her. In his eyes Karla was just a mortal human who was unnecessary in his life. She didn't hold much significance except for the fact that her mother had the Blessed Womb physique and she might bring some surprises after her awakening.

If not for the fact that the system deemed her important enough to generate a side mission and the time limit was approaching swiftly he would never bother with her. Whenever he used this route on a girl he always made sure to thoroughly conquer her heart and made it so she couldn't live without him.

The girl's mindset would become such that whatever he did later she would always be the first to support him and pave the way for his benefits. Her self-interests would then become secondary but his will be paramount. Her wellbeing could be neglected but he must live in luxury. That's the horror he can bring to a girl if he puts all his mind and effort into it.

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An insanity that would embrace the girl.

Of course, he would make sure to accompany her for the rest of her life in reward for such devotion. He wasn't a heartless statue but just a scum ensuring his survival in this merciless void.

Now Karla would have the first honor to join him in this insanity in his new life. A cruel ecstatic reality where she would have to be with him for the rest of her life as he would make sure that her entire being craves for his affection and from then on his decisions would matter the most for her.

So he began the conquest of Karla.

"So your big brother hasn't contacted anyone for a year now? Is he alright out there?"

Blue asked in a very concerned tone as if he was truly worried about her brother's wellbeing. Karla frowned as the conversation finally tilted towards that ingrate brother of hers.

"Hmph! After getting a taste of power and status he has thoroughly forgotten about his family. He is more than alright. His Life Lamp is still the same. Oh, you wouldn't know about the Life Lamp. It is a mysterious lamp that—"

She began to explain about the Life Lamp. Blue obviously knew what it was but still pretended to be fascinated by her words. Karla had a smug expression on her face as she continued explaining. She truly liked his fascinated expression. It seemed to stir something inside her.

"I see. It is regrettable that he doesn't value familial ties much. Well, not everybody could resist such temptations but let me make a promise to you, Karla."

He then looked at her seriously. Karla's heart skipped a bit at his handsome face which showed such a serious expression for the first time.

"Since Miss Laura and you have made me a part of your family I will forever treasure this relationship. I will make sure not to be disappointed with the decision that was made today."

She looked at him with a dazed expression. Even after a dozen of seconds she kept staring at him as she wanted to burn this expression of his in the depths of her memory. This was the very moment she felt glad from the bottom of her heart that she wanted this man as a part of her family.

Ding!

[Side mission (Karla's First Crush) has been completed. Please check the Mission menu to collect your reward]

Blue smiled as he went close to her and gave a gentle hug. He looked at the appraisal result.

[Behavioral Trait: Straightforward

Current Emotion: Blissful

Favorability Point: 73 (Infatuated)]

He had finally taken the first step to conquer her. He felt that it was natural for Karla to fall for his words. He even had Obsequious Charm physique's abilities such as Persuasion which he guessed did the same as its name suggested.

His honeyed words were now way too effective compared to his past life. He also guessed that Scent Pheromone and Opposite Sex Allurement abilities had already been doing a number on her. As for the exact effect of those abilities he could only guess that they did something similar to their name just like Persuasion. He also learned that from 70 onwards it was infatuation and from 60 onwards it should be interesting or that's how this system dubbed it as.

While hugging Karla he checked the spectral screen that popped up after the mission was completed.

[Mission]

[Current Main Mission: None

Ongoing Side Mission: 0

Completed Main Mission: 0

Completed Side Mission: 1

(Karla's First Crush)]

He was willing to see the details and only two lines appeared inside it.

[Collect The Reward?]

[Yes/Later]

He held back from choosing yes and chose "later" to postpone it.

He then broke away from the hug much to Karla's dismay and talked about some other things. He later told her that he would see her at lunch thus signaling her to give him some privacy. She nodded and reluctantly left his room.

After the door closed he finally chose yes to collect the reward. At that moment, the system notified him again.

Ding!

[The host's subspace will now be retrieved]

[Estimated time to complete the retrieval: 10 seconds]

[Please wait for 9 seconds]

[Please wait for 8 seconds]...

Ding!

[A new menu has been unlocked. Please check the spectral screen]

Blue opened the spectral screen and there was indeed a new menu available for him.

[The Progenitor System]

[System Level: 4/??]

[Evolution Rank: Awakened (Initial)]

[Next Evolution Requirements: ??]

[Menu Unlocked: 4/??]

[Host Stats] [Appraisal] [Mission] [Subspace] [??]...

Without any delay he opened the [Subspace] menu and sure enough it was the same as when he first accessed it in this world, only the most basic functions being available. System didn't seem to bother giving him an overview since it already knew that he was well aware of this menu's usage.

"Finally I have my stuff back. It must be chaos back in the square. Well, I don't care as long as they won't barge into here. I was wondering where it would keep the subspace for me or how I could even take it around with my weakling state but it straight up added a menu to get the job done. Hmm… it must have already been planned to do so from the start."

"Completing the side quest and accepting the reward to unlock a new menu was probably its acting or some kind of rule it follows? Whatever, I don't have enough information for now anyway."

He then thought back to the girl who made this possible.

"Heh, that Karla girl deserves a reward but it will have to wait for now."

He didn't want to rush the conquest as he wanted to experiment if he could get more side missions out of her. There was still some time before lunch so he decided to check the subspace for anything that could come in handy in a tricky situation and any equipment that could give him a good boost after becoming a player without attracting any trouble.

The result was both satisfactory and unsatisfactory.

He found a lot of stuff that could be used to solve many dangers and needs at his current state but he couldn't find any proper equipment. To be more precise all of it was either too strong for him to use or too specific to the Abyss that may reveal his identity.

He could only wait for his awakening to finally unlock that bloodline ability to relieve his urgent need of suitable equipment.

He checked the time and headed out of his room for lunch.