She Is Not Human

Chapter 9

"Feeling a bit smug, are we?" Patricia's mocking voice cut through the air. "I heard everyone came here just for you. You've really got some clout."

Patricia was dressed up and looked stunning—definitely a head-turner. Maya was still young and not quite developed yet, but Patricia had all the curves and feminine charm going on. If she kept quiet, you'd think she was from one of those well-off families.

But right now, her eyes were burning with jealousy as she glared at Maya, making her look pretty ugly.

Barbara sighed to herself; it seemed like this woman wasn't worth much after all. She'd invited Patricia over because the vice mayor's grandson asked her to. The vice mayor's group was tight with the Rodriguez family since her aunt was married to his son, the current director of the Energy Output Bureau. But Barbara didn't expect Patricia to act so embarrassingly.

A few sarcastic comments were enough; too many would just come off as tacky. After all, they were in public! Going overboard would only make them look bad, too. With that thought in mind, Barbara quietly stepped back a little.

Little Eric noticed this and smirked internally before giving Maya a light pat on the shoulder and whispering, "Just watch me handle this."

"What are you up to?" Patricia glanced nervously at Little Eric as he suddenly approached her and took a step back in panic. This guy had quite the reputation for being a playboy—definitely not someone who cared about appearances.

With a grin, Little Eric said, "You mentioned my date has too much clout? Honestly makes me feel awkward standing next to her! How about we team up today instead? What do you say?" He leaned casually against the pillar nearby while trapping Patricia in his arms since she had nowhere else to go.

"You...you!" Surrounded by his masculine presence made it hard for Patricia to think straight, even though he was younger than her; he exuded confidence like no other! The fresh scent of his cologne filled her senses and left her feeling dazed.

You know, she had her eye on Little Eric before, but she never really got the chance to get close to him.

Today was finally that chance, but what would people think if she acted like this while being engaged to someone else?

"Mr. Smith, I'm not kidding. Please let me go, or I'll call for help."

"Haha," Little Eric chuckled. "Go ahead and call. When I have my sights set on beauty, I never let her go."

As he leaned in to kiss her, Patricia couldn't hold it anymore and screamed.

Everyone turned their heads at that moment, just in time to see Little Eric holding Patricia tight in his arms. Gossip is such a sneaky weapon; it spreads quietly at that special moment.

"Let's go," Little Eric said as he patted Maya on the shoulder and walked away with a big laugh. That's just how he was—if he didn't like you, watch out; if he did like you, no one could touch you. Patricia hadn't done anything wrong by his standards, but who could blame him for being mad when she ignored Maya right in front of him?

Patricia fell down onto the ground, her face pale with anger and shaking all over. What seemed like an affectionate move from Little Eric felt more like poison whispered into her ear—it made her fists clench with hatred.

He said something along the lines of: "Since you're so jealous of Maya, why don't you act like her for a bit? Everyone knows Little Eric loves women!"

She tightened her fists even more. No way! She was nothing like those kinds of girls! This wasn't fair!

Barbara shook her head, seeing all this unfold, and turned around the corner while dialing a number: "Sister, Little Eric is super protective of her. Even after everything that happened earlier today."

The voice on the other end was cool and calm: "That's because it didn't work out."

"What should we do now? Sis, you're the one who's about to marry that brat Little Eric!" Barbara was feeling a bit annoyed. "Or maybe we should..."

"Okay, hold on," the woman cut in, "We messed up by not digging deeper before. We didn't realize she was Max's sister. Now that Max is in City 9, we can't touch her."

At this point, she suddenly went quiet. The silence stretched on so long that Barbara thought she'd hung up.

"Barbara."

"Sis, what's going on?"

"Speaking of Max, I heard something else." The woman chuckled, but her tone stayed cold and distant. "What do you think would happen if people found out their relationship was weird and saw it with their own eyes? Would he still be so protective of her then?"

"You mean…?"

"Is that d**g still available?"

"Sis, but Max isn't around."

"Without him here, we can just whip something up ourselves, right? When others catch them red-handed, who's gonna care if it's really Max or not?"

The main worry was using a fake against his sister... Barbara had met Max before and felt a chill at the thought of him. She instinctively warned her friend: "Sis, let's not poke the bear..."

Before she could finish her sentence, the call dropped.

"Sis..."

Barbara wanted to call back, but didn't have the guts. She knew that once that person set her mind on something, no one could change it.

Maya had no idea someone was already scheming against her. She was only focused on getting stronger with those energy crystals, because how else could she beat Max and make him submit?

Her silence made Little Eric feel kind of bad.

"Sorry about this girl. My bad reputation is dragging you down too."

But Maya looked up and asked casually, "What does having a bad rep even matter?"

She really didn't get how people worked. How could a bunch of random words hurt someone? The thing was, she just couldn't figure out what the other person was trying to say. If Patricia realized that Maya's silence wasn't because she was mad but just meant she had no reaction at all, she'd probably be banging her head against the wall in frustration.

Nothing is more annoying than when your verbal jab gets totally ignored.

Little Eric thought for a second and smiled, shrugging his shoulders. "You're right."

As they chatted, they walked into a huge hall, like several hundred square meters big. It felt super high and spacious with fancy decorations everywhere. The red carpet and gold accents looked great together, plus there were floor-to-ceiling windows all around, giving an amazing view of City 9.

The butlers in their sharp suits and shiny shoes greeted everyone with big smiles while the bodyguards who came down from the Phantom Airship stood tall by the pillars lining the hall.

There were three rows of seats here, getting fewer as you moved toward the center. Right in the middle was an energy crystal on display—it had this soft blue glow that made Maya feel like something inside her was resonating.

It felt like dry land waiting desperately for rain to come.

"I want that one," Maya said, pointing at the energy crystal.

Little Eric grinned. "Me too! But first we have to win it. Let's see what those guys are betting on."

"What if we lose?"

"If we lose, we have to give up something worth about as much as it is. Since City 9 doesn't have any minerals or anything like that, usually we can only pay cash. Even though this energy crystal is pricey, it's doable for us. "Don't sweat it; let's just think of it as a game."

Little Eric said this, but honestly, he wasn't so sure. He had a nagging feeling in his gut. If they wanted to make a bet, why did Maya have to be involved? If what they were after wasn't cash but someone instead, would the whole bet still go down?

He glanced over at Maya. This girl—aside from her heavy makeup and questionable habits—was actually pretty cute. But really, how much was her beauty worth? Not enough for an energy crystal, that's for sure.

The other side might be targeting him or maybe even "Mr. Anderson." Little Eric had done some digging after getting stopped by folks from the Radiant Organization and found out that Max was Maya's brother; he had just learned that now! But the details about Max's family ties and his connection with the Radiant Organization were still fuzzy.

For once, Little Eric couldn't wrap his head around who Max really was or what kind of person Maya turned out to be.

"I'm Michael from City 5. Sorry for making you wait," said a middle-aged guy in his forties as he politely bowed and smiled at everyone sitting around him.

The game itself was pretty straightforward. Some young guys from City 5 picked up something at last month's "Treasure Fair," but it didn't work like they thought it would, and they didn't want to toss it aside either.

They heard City 9 had loads of talented people and decided to challenge them with a bet: whoever could open this item would win a prize! Of course, if you fail? You'd have to pay up somehow.

Setting up bets on impossible tasks isn't exactly rare—it usually means trying to snag some cash or assets off people who can't resist taking a shot at it because of their curiosity or love for challenges.

But right next to the prize sat some serious players: the mayor's youngest son from City 5, the grandson of the minister in charge of the Space Union Security Department, and one of those young hotshots running things at the auction house where they held these "Treasure Fairs."

These folks never seemed short on money or resources; when they showed up like this, it felt like there was no way they'd back down until they got what they wanted.

The way to do it was pretty straightforward, definitely not as complicated as Little Eric had thought. But when he saw what Michael pulled out, his expression changed right away.

The method wasn't hard, but this thing... No wonder these guys were willing to take a gamble on it.

What Michael, the host, showed off was a clear bottle surrounded by some crazy energy. Normally, currents can't hang out in a closed space like that, but this bottle totally broke the rules of physics. The flashes of blue light inside lit up the whole room. The currents twisted and turned silently around a small chip floating in the middle of the bottle.

When Maya spotted this item, she shot up from her seat with her eyes glued to it. If Little Eric hadn't held her back, she would've dashed over there without thinking.

"Be careful! Don't go near it," Little Eric warned. "You've never seen anything like this before, right? This is called the Soul Bottle."

"Soul Bottle?" Maya looked confused. To her eyes, it clearly seemed like a communicator linked to mechanical space.