"Do you have any other questions? What exactly is your purpose for coming here?""I'm really just curious! By the way, do your mermaids engage in trade? I don’t know if you have any unused items that we could exchange.""Trade?" The mermaid chief seemed to ponder for a moment. "We have many seashells, pearls, and various medicinal herbs from the ocean. But nothing else.""What do your people want in return?""Human fruit!""Fruit? What kind of fruit? Do you mean actual fruit, or something else?""Sometimes, humans throw edible things into the ocean, and we love them. They're soft, and after being soaked in water for a while, they break apart. I think you call them bread. We also like various vegetables, fruits, and corn. We actually need these things, but we can only get them by sneaking ashore to steal them sometimes...""Heh, stealing, huh?""Yes! We can't let humans see us. If they do, they capture us and eat us!"

"Willy! This spacecraft is way too fast!" As everyone marveled at the stunning scenery, Big Shot’s first reaction was to focus on the speed.  "This is how fast a spacecraft is supposed to be," Willy finally admitted openly.  "So what about our military models?"  "Big Shot, those can’t be this fast! You wanted combat-ready crafts. If I set their speed to match this one, you wouldn’t even be able to operate them in battle! By the time you fire a shot, you’d already be out of range—maybe even back in NVMD before realizing it."  Big Shot thought for a moment and nodded. Willy had a point. There was no use in questioning it further, so he simply leaned back and enjoyed the view with his wife.  Seeing that Big Shot had dropped the subject, Willy relaxed. He picked up the intercom. "Everyone, please remain seated. Next, we’ll be taking a tour of our beautiful Earth."  He slowly maneuvered the spacecraft until it

The two students who had been gossiping quickly turned around when they heard a voice behind them. Seeing their instructor standing there, they immediately responded, “Yes, sir! We understand!”“Good. Now get to class.”As the instructor walked away, the two students whispered again.“Damn, what bad luck. First, we run our mouths, and then we get caught by that guy.”“Yeah, let’s just drop it and go. We’ll know soon enough if it’s good news or bad news.”Meanwhile, Willy was on his way to Grok University. Logan, having been summoned from the Diamond Business Tower, was traveling in another car, both heading for the same destination.By 4 PM, New York’s traffic had started to build up. The distance between Willy Manufacturing and Grok University wasn’t too far, but the congestion slowed things down.Logan’s vehicle arrived first. The moment his sleek bl

What Thomas didn't know was that in the next two hours, he would lose everything. On top of that, he’d be drowning in debts and legal trouble—all because of his precious granddaughter.  His phone buzzed, the screen flashing an unknown number.  Thomas frowned. His number was highly private; he never received spam calls. After a moment of hesitation, he picked up.  "Hello? Who is this?"  "Is this Thomas Adams?"  "Speaking. Who’s calling? What’s this about?"  "This is Logan from Willy Corp. Your granddaughter, Fiona, just verbally assaulted my boss—with some extremely nasty insults, I might add. You and Luke need