The next day after their employment, Scarface, Bob, and Johnson resumed to work early in the morning.
"Morning, Big guy."
A constructor greeted him when they appeared, his helmet covered in dust.
"You must be Scarface, right? Professor Oliver told me you'll be helping us out." The man said, handing the three evolved helmet, boots and gloves.
Scarface nodded.
"Alright, let's get to work."
Scarface assumed it would be easy, given they were just building houses. However, an hour into the work, he realized how terribly wrong he was. Since he was the only evolved with earth control ability, he was delegated with most tasks. The building structures were bizarre and strange, like something out of a movie. He had to be careful so as not to make mistakes.
"Mr Sam, who made these buildings plan?"
Curious, he had asked the constructor.
The man shook his head with a wry smile. "Surprised, right? I've also never seen anything as complex as this before. However, I heard from Professor Oliver that it was the Leader who designed the plans."
At this answer, Scarface began to wonder who this so called leader was. Based on what Sam said, he pictured a well built middle aged man with a serious expression. Someone like Nanami from Jujutsu Kaisen Anime.
Three hours into the work, he was pleasantly surprised. His precision at earth control had increased, even if only by a little. It was a welcome bonus that pleased him.
"Oi, Scarface, are you sure you're alright?" Bob's worried voice interrupted him.
He turned to the red head, confused. "What do you mean?"
"I mean, you were grinning foolishly while working. It looks weird."
"Ah, was I?" The large man regained his serious expression, though anyone could tell that he was embarrassed.
"Ugh. My arms are starting to get sore from carrying bricks. Damn. What are these bricks even made of?!" Johnson complained bitterly as he passed a brick to Scarface who quietly used his ability to join it with the others.
"Get used to it, it'll make your arms stronger." Sam laughed, showing off his bulging muscles despite his scrawny physique.
"Arms stronger my ass!" Bob snorted.
At that moment, the sound of a truck entering through the gaze attracted everyone's attention.
The workers paused, growing wary. Shadow stepped out from hiding, his eyes sharp and focused as he awaited the truck driver to come down.
'This guy was monitoring us all long? And we didn't notice?' Bob was surprised, realizing Anna wasn't the only formidable evolved here.
Click!
Finally, the truck's door opened and the driver stepped out. Dressed in neat short sleeve cream shirt and cream trousers, a black and white sneakers with black socks. His wrist was adorned with a gold Rolex watch and black knuckle-gloves on his hands. He looked young, barely twenty. Strange white hair and glowing violet eyes. A sunshade glasses rested on his nose lazily as he took a sip of a canned drink.
"What the fuck?"
Bob couldn't hold back a curse. Even Scarface agreed with him. Who the hell was this? The scene was charming, odd, and out of place. The guy looked like a teenager with golden spoon from birth. He didn't even look like he had experienced the apocalypse. The workers whispered among each other, speculating the identity of the stranger until Shadow's excited voice cut through.
"Boss!"
Boss?!
While the other workers were surprised, Scarface, Bob, and Johnson were confused just as much as they were astonished. Did he mean Boss as in his own personal boss, or the settlement's boss?
However, their doubts were lessened when Ye Ming, Professor Oliver, and Amelia appeared to welcome the young man, their demeanor respectful. Still, they couldn't believe it just yet. Perhaps, the young man's father was the owner of the settlement.
'Right?'
Bob asked himself doubtfully. However, another voice shattered his doubts completely. Rumored to be the sister of the Leader, Cassie was a popular figure.
"Brother!"
Her bright, cheerful voice as she hugged him tightly confirmed their suspicions. The young man was indeed the leader of the settlement.
Anna appeared a moment later, then gave him a respectful bow.
Leon was surprised by her respectful approach but didn't think much about it. Instead, he ruffled her hair and pulled her into a light hug. The girl was embarrassed and reluctantly left his embrace. Seeing that everyone was gathered except Ye Ming's son, he led them into the tower.
From the distance, Scarface watched him leave with a complicated expression. His image of the mature leader had shattered. He hadn't expected him to actually be that young.
'He's an enigma.'
He felt uneasy when he saw the young man, a feeling he would only come to understand days later.
'Perhaps I really made a good decision joining this place.'
.....
After arriving at the conference room, Anna gave Leon a detailed explanation of the chain of events that occured during his absence. When she talked about the second level zombie she had killed, he was surprised. Obviously that zombie was special with its intelligence. If it had been before his evolution, perhaps consuming it might have been helpful.
He didn't dwell much on that, though.
He was more intrigued by the guy called Scarface. Despite being brawny, that guy seemed to be simple minded. A faint thought rose in his heart but he ignored it. He couldn't confirm it until he personally saw him in person.
"So you asked him to survive ten of your strikes?" His expression turned weird as he asked the question.
The others in the room were equally bewildered by Anna's strange test that day.
Ignoring the looks they gave her, she nodded seriously. "Yes. If he can't even withstand them, he is not useful."
Leon suppressed the urge to facepalm. She sounded like those clichè sect elders in cultivation novels—something he always read to pass time when he was younger.
"Alright." He nodded at her, dropping the matter.
Instead, he turned to Old Pipe, his eyes narrowing with curiosity.
"I can see that the constructions are halfway done. How is it going?"
The old man straightened, then answered him.
"Honestly, it wasn't easy at first. Especially after we tried creating the bricks using the method and formula you gave us. Thankfully, the experienced workers quickly adapted and the construction proceeded smoothly. Although most were confused by the structure of the buildings, they have been able to build them without any problem."
He paused, letting the information sink in.
"Also, we had that Scarface and his crew join us in the construction and unexpectedly, our speed has increased. We should be able to finish them in a week."
Hearing the guy's name again, Leon became more interested in the man called Scarface. When he inquired about why that had been so, the old man had simply said.
"He possess a class called Earth Mage so it is quite easy for him."
With this, Leon's doubts deepened. 'Could it really be him?'
If it was, then...
"Brother, why do you have that smile on your face?" Cassie grimaced.
Leon ignored her jab and instead continued the meeting.