Why is his holy light red?

Chapter 69 Everything Has a Price

Mercury declined the Mother of Life's offer to fly the aircraft directly to his doorstep.

The Mother of Life's personal vehicle is parked in the root zone; Mercury will be trending again in less than half an hour.

Early Saturday morning, Mercury returned to the association's branch building. The imposing aircraft was already parked on the top-floor helipad.

This time, Mercury stepped into the cabin while fully conscious.

As soon as he stepped through the airlock, he felt that the design looked somewhat familiar. After a moment of recollection, Mercury realized that this aircraft was not entirely based on Earth technology.

He had previously seen footage of alien invasions in the news, and the internal structure of those alien warships that descended to Earth through space gates seemed somewhat similar to the spacecraft in front of him.

Clearly, the Mother of Life obtained alien technology and used it to create or modify the spacecraft.

Walking down the coldly lit corridor, Mercury spotted the brightly colored calico cat immediately. The little creature showed no feline reserve in his presence, leaping up like a cannonball and slamming directly into his chest.

Mercury grunted and caught the heavy creature, which felt as if its veins were filled with mercury. Before he could even catch his breath, the calico cat in his arms eagerly spoke in human language: "Hurry up, your master has been waiting for you for a long time."

Mercury held the cat, which was far too heavy for its size, and his expression was a mixture of amusement and exasperation.

This "Mother of Life," revered by outsiders like a deity, looks more like a lonely old lady who attracts her grandchildren to come home for visits with fluffy little animals.

After passing through several heavy pneumatic doors, Mercury entered the core compartment.

The Mother of Life stood before a giant holographic screen, on which extremely complex double helix models and computational formulas of the genome were rapidly scrolling by like a waterfall. Hearing the noise behind her, the old woman turned around, her face still bearing that dignified and kind smile.

"Child, I didn't expect to see you again so soon." Her voice was gentle. "Even earlier than I expected."

"It's much faster than I expected." Mercury seemed a little flustered. "This request was indeed very presumptuous."

He knew perfectly well that the two of them had only met once, at the club. And yet, just a few days later, he had the audacity to come knocking on his door, demanding a highly valuable hero authorization license. If word got out, he'd be seen as a shameless opportunist trying to ride on the coattails of a big shot.

The Mother of Life smiled and shook her head, her all-seeing eyes gazing at him gently: "There's no need to feel presumptuous. The bonds between people are sometimes so wondrous. We just happened to meet before, but who knows—perhaps in the future, I really will become your rightful elder."

Mercury: "————"

The muscle at the corner of his eye twitched involuntarily. Wasn't that a blatant hint?

Is this Aunt Savina really my own grandmother?

Mercury hesitated for a long time before finally deciding not to ask his guess directly. The topic was far too awkward; even with a 90% certainty, he couldn't risk it. If he guessed wrong, Mercury would probably have to buy a standing-room-only ticket and flee Earth that very night.

"Thank you for your kindness." Mercury managed to squeeze out a single word before quickly steer the conversation back on track. "Then, Aunt Savina, could you please issue me a hero authorization license?"

Savannah looked at him, her smile deepening. "Of course. However, there are several types of permissions, so it depends on which one you need. Do you only intend to get a temporary pass for this one case, or do you need me to provide you with a guarantee period of several months? Or perhaps—"

She paused slightly, then said enticingly, "You want to be directly affiliated with me, and have me become your true mentor?"

This is the most crucial power struggle within the Hero Association.

Of the three options, the most significant is undoubtedly the last one, "permanent authorization." This means that Savannah will directly take him on as her protégé. From now on, no matter what huge mess Mercury makes outside, this important figure will cover for him until he survives the long internship period and officially debuts.

Moreover, this master-apprentice bond is for life.

According to the Superpowers Act, apprentices even have the right to inherit their mentors' property. For heroes like Angel of Light, whose true identities are unknown, all their assets will be inherited by their apprentices if they were to fall. For superheroes like Mother of Life, who are registered under their real names, apprentices can also legally be included in the list of heirs, ranking higher than some distant relatives.

As for the first two types of permits, they are purely temporary, just for employees. Once the case is closed or the term expires, the permissions are immediately cleared, and everyone is even.

According to publicly available information, this living saint, known as the "Mother of Life," had no children and lived alone. If Mercury were to nod and call him "Teacher" now, he would be directly bound to this nuclear-powered aircraft carrier with endless wealth and prestige, instantly becoming the legitimate heir of this world-class figure.

This temptation is enough to drive any sane ordinary person in the Tree Roots area into madness on the spot.

But Mercury didn't hesitate for even half a second before decisively giving his answer: "I only need permission for one case, specifically for investigating immortality technology."

The Mother of Life paused slightly, seemingly surprised by Mercury's choice: "This does surprise me. I thought no young man could resist the temptation of becoming my apprentice."

"That thought did cross my mind, and it would be a lie to say I wasn't tempted," Mercury said very frankly. "But my father taught me from a young age that everything has a price, and I am not qualified to be your apprentice right now."

"Your father—" Mother of Life repeated the word softly, as if very interested, "What kind of person was he? I am really curious about what kind of family education could produce a child who could remain unmoved in the face of such temptation."

Mercury sighed inwardly. After going around in circles, the topic still revolved around his old father. So, it really was the same old melodramatic story of a mother and son separated?

But he didn't want to continue the conversation on that topic, and could only give a vague answer: "He's a typical workaholic, but he's really good to his family. A friend of mine once commented on him—even without any superpowers, he's always at the forefront of reporting whenever a disaster happens, so in a sense, he's a hero."

These somewhat stiff and polite words clearly failed to satisfy the Mother of Life's curiosity, but before she could press further, Mercury instead posed a question: "Aunt Savannah, aren't you currently collaborating with Immortal Life Technology? And it's precisely Immortal Life Technology that I want to investigate. Why are you still willing to grant me authorization?"

"Our cooperation is legal and compliant, and your investigation is also legal and compliant, isn't it? So, as long as Yong Sheng Technology hasn't broken the law, what conflict could there be?"

That was a very skillful way of speaking, but no one could find any fault with it. He truly is a genius; he does things flawlessly and leaves no room for error.

However, since the topic had come up, Mercury inquired about the fact that the Mother of Life was derived from a banned drug.

Mercury asked, "Aunt Savannah, have you studied the several potions that Eternal Life Technology secretly sells?"

My father told me that we should consult you about relevant information, especially regarding that cannibalistic succubus.

Mercury shared the information he had gathered with the Mother of Life, and also briefly introduced the legend of the ogre succubus.

"Ogre Nightmare—" Mother of Life seemed lost in memories, but after a moment she said to Mercury, "I know nothing about this superhuman, but I can tell you something about the research on immortality technology. The products of those potions all have two common weaknesses: low temperature and high frequency vibration."

Mercury remembered it well and was about to express his gratitude when the Mother of Life suddenly said jokingly, "You're right, everything has a price. I think that makes a lot of sense. Since you want to take the authorization from me, then do me a small task in exchange."

"What do you need me to do?" Mercury immediately replied, as long as he had the authorization, anything was fine with him.

The Mother of Life did not answer directly, but turned around and tapped twice on the control panel behind her. Accompanied by an extremely slight mechanical sound, a metal compartment on the control panel slowly slid open, revealing a uniquely shaped miniature instrument.

It was an extremely exquisite glass hourglass. The outer layer was wrapped in a cold, silver metal frame, while the inner glass tube was deliberately twisted into a structure similar to the DNA double helix, with extremely fine pink fluorescent sand flowing quietly inside.

Mother of Life picked up the hourglass and gently placed it in Mercury's palm; the metal frame still felt slightly cool to the touch.

"Help me complete a simple experiment." She pointed to the fine sand that kept slipping away, "Before your authorization expires—make the sand in this hourglass flow backward."