Chapter 87 - And Suddenly, There's Kingdom Building
(MC POV)
So… I've come to the conclusion that both my sisters were beyond help, or rather, I was too late.
Elaria had revealed to me all the plans that they had implemented so far, showing me that she was already prepared to expand this town into the technological capital of the continent.
The only reason why this town has yet to expand into a city was because she was unsure if I would have preferred returning to a place I was still vaguely familiar with.
In her own words, "If I expanded this town too fast… Onii-sama might not like coming back to such a big place…"
Yeah, she just totally ignored the fact that even if I did come back because I regained my memories, the town was already vastly different from the past because of all the technological advances she introduced.
Basically, size matters to her.
I honestly don't know if I should stop her or not.
On one hand, I see an advent of a technological apocalypse waiting to happen. A scene of Practitioners, Monsters, Youkai and the new 'Techies' engaging in an all out war due to ideological or political differences came into mind.
On the other hand… There's self flushing toilets and heated toilet seats…
Alright, toilets win. Hands down.
I'll let future problems be solved by future people instead.
Who knows? I might not even stick around long enough to see that happen anyway, so just enjoy the benefits this will bring me for now.
Elaria was in the middle of showing me how she processed Monster Crystals to power her generators when one of the machines nearby started beeping.
All three of us turned towards where the sound came from.
A rectangular machine with various wires connected to it was making the beeping sound quite audibly.
Three short beeps, three long beeps then three short beeps again.
Odriana rushed towards the machine just as the same beeping rhythm started repeating itself in a loop.
Picking up what seemed like an earpiece, she plugged the wire into a socket and began scribbling a series of lines and dashes on it.
It took her a good minute of scribbling before she passed the paper to Elaria.
My little sister glanced through it before passing it back, her face growing grim.
Since I was way shorter than my sister in my current form, I wasn't able to see what was written in that piece of paper.
"Trouble?" I asked innocently.
Elaria turned back to me, her pupils reverting back to the sparkly ones from before.
"Onii-sama is worried about me? Ehehehe~ I forgot how it feels like to have Onii-sama pamper me already!"
She tried to reach for my cheeks again but this time I managed to side step her efforts.
Elaria pouted at me but I wasn't going to let her have her way with me just because I'm smaller now. I still have my pride damnit!
"So… What was that all about?" I asked again, this time directing the question to my elder sister.
"Ufufufu~ It's just some troublemakers showing up at one of our businesses, no need to worry about it. Your dear sisters will take care of this in a jiffy~"
Elaria nodded, "Mhm, Onii-sama can stay in our room while we handle this little piece of tras-- inconvenience."
Sounds shady but ok. I think getting involved less with whatever they're planning would be a better idea.
No wait… I should actually follow them right? To see how much they've influenced the rest of the town and at what stage of development they were at.
That way I can better prepare myself for the future.
If this town continues to develop accordingly as they had planned, I have no doubt that this place would become a powerhouse of its own that may overshadow Jin city.
In that case, this may be another way for me to secure my easy life!
Just invest in the businesses that are sure to succeed and I get a source of easy, passive income without even worrying about anything!
Can't believe I almost passed up on this chance!
"How about I follow you?" I suggested.
Odriana shook her head, "Oh, my sweet, dear little brother. You should just stay here where it's safer. No need to involve yourself with these trivialities."
"Yes, Onii-sama does not need to trouble himself! Your imouto shall take of things now! It will be daijobu!" Elaria agreed.
Already anticipating a rejection, I took a page out of Cai Hong's book.
I placed my index finger at my lips, bending my upper body forward slightly and tilting my head upwards to look at them with upturned eyes.
Forcing a little bit of tear to the corner of my eyes, I gave them the finishing blow.
"I can't?"
My sisters took a step back as though physically struck, their hands clutching at their chests while they stared at me with wide eyes.
Both of them immediately rushed forward to hug me.
"Ahhh~~ Of course my most adorable little brother can come! Let your big sister take you out to town!"
"Onii-sama! My most cutest Onii-sama! Please let your little imouto show you how our town has changed! In fact… Please don't leave your imouto again!"
Heh. Hook, line and sinker.
Well, there's a reason why I acquiesce to Cai Hong's request most of the time. Not that she gives me unreasonable requests anyway because she's such a good girl.
Yep, Cai Hong is just too cute.
As much as I want to go back to my disciples now, I should keep my sisters separate from them for the foreseeable future right now.
It would be absolutely terrible if my disciples end up getting influenced by them and get similar ideas about this 'An Ney May' of theirs.
I've even spent so much effort to ensure they remained as innocent as they can be when I took them in, making sure whatever they had was the best I could give.
And why wouldn't I give them the best anyway? They will be the ones taking care of me in the future, so doing the best for them equates to doing the best for myself as well.
And the fact that they had begun spreading their knowledge to others without my prompting increases the number of people I can rely on in the future.
Heh, maybe I might get a large group of followers without doing much?
What about the possibility of them using the knowledge I taught them against me one day?
Well, I did say I would give them the best, but I never said I would give everything.
Why else do you think I taught each of them separately?
I catered each of my lessons specifically for every individual disciple. So if another tries to use what I taught another for themselves, they would find it rather difficult to comprehend as compared to the disciple I planned it for.
I still highly doubt my cute disciples would turn against me, but it doesn't hurt to be prepared.
That's what I learnt during my time in the other two Planes anyway. After witnessing and experiencing all those damn betrayals and backstabbing you start to be extra cautious in life, ensuring you always have cards hidden up your sleeve at any given time.
Anyway, since father and Dailus were taking care of my disciples, I highly doubt they would get a chance to meet my sisters though.
Well, I'll just be following along to see the town anyway, what's the worst that could happen?