Slime Evolution

Chapter 450 - Motherly Instinct

When Evelyn saw her own daughter step out of the passenger seat, instead of the driver’s seat like always, she raised an eyebrow, genuinely surprised, which was a rare gesture considering everything that woman had already witnessed throughout her own life.

And when the car, which she recognized perfectly as belonging to her daughter, smoothly took off and disappeared into the night sky without the driver even getting out to introduce himself, that curiosity only grew even more inside her.

A suggestive, typically motherly smile slowly formed on Evelyn’s face as she watched her daughter approach, trying her best to maintain a neutral, serious expression that definitely wasn’t fooling anyone.

"So this is how you greet your mother, whom you haven’t seen in so long?" Evelyn asked, in a teasing tone that carried a deliberate provocation.

Isabella felt her face heat up instantly.

"Mom, I didn’t know you were coming today," she replied, trying to change the subject. "If I’d known, I would have..."

"Would have what? Sent your companion off earlier?" Evelyn cut in, with an exaggerated drama deliberately loaded into her voice. "It seems like after finding a little boyfriend, my daughter is really starting to change her whole way of life."

"He’s not my boyfriend," Isabella replied quickly, her voice coming out low, but still loud enough for her mother to hear clearly.

"And who is ’he’?" Evelyn continued, not fazed in the slightest by the denial. "The maids told me you left for a last minute business meeting, but what I just witnessed looks a lot more like a teenage romance encounter than any corporate meeting I’ve ever seen in my life. Not to mention that business meetings rarely end with the executive stepping out of the passenger seat, smiling that silly smile you’re trying to hide right now."

"I’m not smiling silly," Isabella protested, immediately fixing her own expression, which only made the situation worse.

"Ah, now that made it obvious," Evelyn commented, crossing her arms, clearly enjoying this more than she should. "Maybe he’s someone from work? Someone like... Halon, perhaps?"

Isabella’s face turned completely red at that question, too on the mark to be a coincidence.

"How did you..." she started, but stopped, realizing that any attempt to deny it would only confirm her mother’s suspicion even further.

"Mom, look, today isn’t a good time for this conversation," Isabella tried, in one last desperate effort to escape. "It’s been a long day, I just want to take a shower and sleep."

"A long day full of very productive business meetings, apparently," Evelyn teased, giving no quarter. "We’ll talk about this calmly tomorrow at breakfast, my dear. Don’t think for a second this is going unnoticed."

Unable to come up with any sufficiently coherent response, Isabella simply nodded quickly and headed toward the front door with rushed steps, practically fleeing that conversation before her own mother could extract any more incriminating information.

Evelyn’s smile widened even further at seeing such a telling reaction, satisfied with herself for having guessed so precisely, and she followed her daughter into the house, but not before casting one last curious glance toward the sky, right where that black Porsche had disappeared minutes earlier.

Meanwhile, far from there, Lohan was flying the car back home with genuine tranquility, savoring every second of that smooth ride, feeling just how comfortable and pleasant that vehicle really was, even more comfortable and pleasant than he remembered from the first time.

Considering he was more used to it by now, Lohan was able to fully enjoy the sensation and the calm of it all.

It was in this moment of peace that a discreet notification appeared in his vision through the ocular device, alerting him to an incoming call.

The name displayed made Lohan frown, confused.

’Devon is calling me?’ he thought, genuinely surprised. ’He’s never done that before.’

Answering the call with growing curiosity, considering the unusual timing of that contact, Lohan heard Devon’s rushed and tense voice on the other end, carrying an urgency that immediately put all his senses on alert.

"Halon, sorry for calling out of nowhere," Devon began, his breathing visibly quickened. "But I needed to warn you. A gang picked up on Sara’s magic trace during a patrol in the Low Zone, and they’re following her right now."

"Wait, what?" Lohan asked, his attention instantly sharpening, any trace of his earlier calm evaporating completely. "What kind of gang? How many are there?"

"I don’t know the exact numbers yet," Devon replied, his voice carrying a nervousness he was trying to control. "Seems to be a big group, the kind that usually patrols the edges of Sector 4 looking for unprotected Players to capture. Some device of theirs must have picked up on her magic and decided it was worth following the trail to find out where she lives."

"And where’s the rest of you now?" Lohan asked, already mentally calculating how long it would take him to get there.

"Everyone’s grabbing their bikes and heading out to help her," Devon continued, his voice growing even tenser. "Skye’s leading, but it’s only seven bikes against a group whose size nobody knows for sure yet. I’m only calling to warn you that if something happens, some of us might be out of Elysium for a few days because of this, and we didn’t want you finding out only afterward."

Lohan felt a genuine pang of worry cut through his own core.

"Send me the location," he said, without hesitating for a single second. "I’m coming too."

On the other end of the line, Devon went momentarily hesitant, a brief silence taking over the call.

"Halon, you don’t have to, we can handle this..." Devon started, but Lohan’s voice cut through that with a cold, cutting authority that left no room for argument.

"Devon. The location. Now."

Hearing that tone, so different from the casual friendliness Lohan usually showed, Devon sighed, recognizing there was no more room to argue, and quickly passed along the location, feeling, despite everything, a quiet relief spreading through his chest.

Because with Halon on his way, their chances of getting Sara out of that situation safe and sound had just increased drastically.