Chapter 1497 Very Soon
Leonel patted his hands and opened the double glass doors to the treatment center from the inside, grinning at Aina. Right this moment, she had a slight sheen of sweat on her body, but it only seemed to make her more attractive.
Aina hadn't worn makeup ever since the Metamorphosis descended, but she only seemed to get more perfect as the days went on. Even in this state, she looked too good.
If it wasn't for Leonel's status, who knew how much trouble her beauty would have brought them? Fighting Leonel was one thing, but stealing his woman was a completely different matter. Things related to marriage and future betrothals were all mostly decided by families. Considering who Leonel's parents were, even if he didn't become the Heir Apparent of the Morales family, there were very few who would dare to interfere in this.
Even when it came to Eliot speaking of stripping Aina naked, this was more of a scare tactic than anything else. Doing something like humiliating Leonel's future wife was in line with castrating an individual, it was truly that important.
For the same reason castration was taboo, crossing the line in this fashion wasn't something many would do. Only those who didn't care to give face to the Morales family would ever dare to do anything to Aina. Or, more accurately, dare to take things too far with Aina.
It could be said that Leonel had most definitely benefited from his status again. Or else a woman like Aina, who was definitely soon to enter the Queen Beauty Rankings, wasn't one most would idly sit by and watch a rookie like Leonel woo her without challenge.
Leonel beamed a smile at Aina and stepped aside to let her in.
"Welcome to your Palace, my Queen. It's a bit shabby, but make do with it for now. I'll find you a better one very soon."
Aina laughed and shook her head, but the Green Thread Faction members, still trying to pick themselves up outside nearly vomited up more mouthfuls of blood, this time from rage rather than their injuries.
Shabby? Not even counting the wealth of Force Herbs and other medicines they stored inside for the treatment of their patients, just the materials, architecture, and building itself cost almost 50 million Void Points.
This wasn't an amount most Galaxy Ranked disciples could even make without several decades of effort. But, even daring to spend it all in one sitting was another matter altogether. Too few would even dare to stomach such a thing.
However, the couple didn't even seem to hear their grievances as they closed the doors, and entering the spacious lobby.
"So what do we do now?" Aina asked. She had left all the planning to Leonel, and this man really couldn't be bothered to explain things ahead of time. By now, she had just learned to compromise and take certain things as they came.
"Well, first, there are still patients here. We'll need to treat them first. They'll be our vanguard as well as our advertisement."
Aina rose an eyebrow before nodding in understanding.
"We'll have trouble beyond that, though," she responded. "Even if word of mouth spreads that our service is good, not many would dare to come here, to begin with. I'm almost certain that their Faction will take a page out of your book."
Aina gave Leonel a look, but he only laughed at this. Of course, Leonel had thought of this as well.
What was the strongest weapon of a large Faction? It was obviously intimidation.
One might be scared of Leonel, but he was still a single person, there were only so many places he could be at once. But, the Green Thread Faction practically controlled all the medicine at the Nominal, Quadrant and Galaxy Ranked, having done away with all their competition.
Even if others feared Leonel, he couldn't possibly deal with everyone who needed treatment from Treanna's medical centers, right?
Plus, Leonel didn't have the heart to do such a thing anyway. One reason he didn't destroy this building was that it was more useful intact, but the other reason was that he didn't want to harm the people who weren't related to this matter at all.
"There are a few ways I've thought to handle this. But the first and most important right now is anonymity.
"I chose a location nearby a Senate Branch not because of safety, it wouldn't be safe here anyway after we offended them, and not for traffic either, after all by the time we're done, people will be flocking.
"I chose it because there'll be plausible deniability. Once I'm done, it'll be impossible to tell if someone came here to visit the Senate Branch, or if they came to be treated. By the end, the flow in will be so great that it'll no longer matter.
"So lets deal with these patients first, then we can go to the next step where you'll have to take center stage... There also happens to be someone here who should be somewhat useful to us."
Aina raised a brow but didn't say much.
…
The process was quick. The number of patients numbered in the high dozens, but the combination of Leonel's and Aina's abilities, not to mention the latter's expertise, and it felt like they were blessed by some sort of god.
Under usual circumstances, patients would probably be reluctant to be treated by someone they didn't know, but disciples of the Void Palace didn't usually have such luxury. And, because the commotion didn't reach them, many had no idea that the two weren't even part of the Green Thread Faction until they were discharged.
What astonished those outside was that many who had entered half dead began to come out mere minutes later in the best condition of their lives, only to be shocked to learn from the growing crowd that it wasn't the Green Thread Faction that had treated them at all!
…
"Alright, I'll focus on building the formation to protect this place."
Aina nodded. "Then I'll go to the Force Pill Faction."
"Knock their socks off," Leonel said with a laugh.
"Who says that anymore? You're getting old."
Leonel could only watch Aina's hips sway off into the distance.
In the end, he smiled and focused on his task. Very soon, his girlfriend would be sending the Void Palace into another shock, so how could he fall far behind?