Over the course of a week, many changes have occurred. Kain, Amelia, and the children finally took the body cleansing potion.

He thought it would be simple. For the children, it was. The only issue was that they had to go to the bathroom often during the day.

For him and Amelia, it was a completely different affair.

They oozed black sludge, lived in the toilet, and felt as if their bones were being broken and remodeled.

The number of times Kain cursed the system was endless.

When it was finally over, he shot a resentful glare at the children who had laughed at him. Now him and Amelia have been branded with the titles of ’Stinky Mom and Dad.’

The title aside, after the cleansing, they found it easier to take in Source Energy. Their bodies felt stronger than ever. The process was much smoother than they could have ever expected.

Kain became a level 3 Awakened. Amelia and the children were now level 2; the rest of the Nightfall team was able to awaken and become level 1.

Seeing the children at level 2, Kain felt a sense of crisis. He knows the children were born at level 1. If not for their constant struggle and lack of knowledge, they might have already been level 3 when they met.

That simple fact made Kain aware that he had to step up. He couldn’t allow his children to become stronger than him. Even if they surpass him later, that’s fine.

Being surpassed by his own children, a feeling of incompetence rose in his heart. Yet, the sense of pride was also present.

Just like any other day, everyone except Matthew and Claire, who were still ’testing’ ways to circulate Source Energy, holed up in Kain’s house.

Unlike other days, Kain received an alert.

After the system had taken the five floors into its range of motion, many things had changed. One such thing is the security system.

Mounted on the wall, the TV clicked on. They saw a group of people standing outside the security gate, banging on it.

Kain pressed the intercom, "Is there something you need?" His tone was clipped, impatient.

He had no interest in interacting with these people.

The people outside heard the voice, and their eyes darted around until they met the red light at the corner of the gate.

An older man with a scholarly air was pushed forward to speak.

"Ah...Hello. My name is Jon Myer. One of the neighbours noticed you moved in last week. We wanted to talk before, but we thought it would be best to give you time to settle in. If you don’t mind, we could talk face to face."

Kain hummed in response. "Which one of you tried to break my security gate?"

His eyes scanned the group when he asked. A balding middle-aged man stiffened momentarily. Kain smirked.

"Who approved baldy messing with my gate?"

The scholarly man’s hand trembled slightly, but Kain still caught it.

"Sure," Kain replied, voice flat. "We can do face-to-face. You can explain to me why you tried to break into my house."

With that, he switched off the intercom. "Anyone going with me?"

"I’ll go," Dominic said quickly.

A small smile graced Kain’s face. Unexpectedly, Dominic was willing to go with him.

Seeing Dominic willing to go, the others didn’t step forward. After spending time with the family, they realized Dominic was the quietest of the three children, but he was the most precise and decisive.

His eyes saw everything at once.

If they had a choice between Kain and Dominic, they would choose Kain.

Kain could restrain himself and be at ease, but Dominic was cold all over. Only Kain and his family would think he was a lonely child.

They were embarrassed that a child could make them feel so cold.

With Dominic and Kain gone, their meditation continued.

On the way, Kain asked Dominic, "Why did you decide to come with me?"

A faint blush appeared on Dominic’s face. Kain saw it and said nothing. The child didn’t know how to show his feelings. He could wait.

"I want to see their numbers," he replied.

"Oh, why do you want to see their numbers?" Kain asked curiously.

"To know if they’re useful to Dad," the child’s voice was faint.

Thank goodness his hearing was exceptional. If not for that, he wouldn’t have heard anything.

"My little man wants to help? That’s fine. But have some more confidence. I told you. Besides me, you’re the boss. If you don’t look like the boss, how will they accept you as the boss?"

His little cheeks puffed, and the displeasure was strong on his face. Kain laughed, consoling him that he was extremely confident.

They arrived on the fifth floor to see the group of people standing at the gate.

Kain’s smiling face became impassive. He watched the people before him with the interest of someone seeing a gnat.

He walked coolly, holding Dominic, and stopped in front of the gate.

With a small, polite smile, he asked, "How may I help you?"

Despite the polite smile, his tone was co cold; it made them flinch.

Jon quickly caught his bearings. He cleared his throat. "Well, we wanted to talk about pooling our resources. I’m sure you’ve realized there has been no water in the building for two days..."

No water? He looked at the unkempt appearance of the people before him. The dark circles under their eyes, their bedraggled clothes.

They tried their best to look presentable, but Kain could see the subtle changes.

As for not having any water, he probably didn’t notice because he had set up his own water filtration system. Once the building’s water system failed, his would automatically kick in.

He sighed inwardly. He had been living quite comfortably.

"...some of us have some water stored. We thought it would be good to pool resources for food and water."

He glanced at Dominic, who was staring at them, then down at himself. 𝘧𝘳𝘦ℯ𝓌𝘦𝒷𝘯𝑜𝑣𝘦𝓁.𝒸𝘰𝓂

His clothes were rumpled, his lips were cracked, and he had a good rest. Does he look like a sucker?

Yup, that’s definitely it. He is too pristine for this world. It has only been two weeks. Surviving for two weeks is already good.

Kain raised a hand to stop Jon. "I understand. I will talk to the others. If we decide to ’pool resources’, we’ll let you know."

Jon opened his mouth, ready to speak again.

"We will let you know." Kain enunciated, his words a bored drawl. "We still haven’t settled the matter of the gate. We’ll definitely be in touch."

Giving a withering smile, he turned and walked away.