[Every 300 Power Stones = Bonus Chapter]
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After resting, it was time to increase the number of people in his group.
He chose to summon 3 at once.
[Elastigirl (Glory Days) - (The Incredibles)]
[Erza Scarlet (Fairy Tail)]
[Alice Nakiri (Shokugeki no Soma)]
When the three appeared simultaneously, they were confused at first, until their eyes were directed toward Caleb.
Caleb didn't speak, he just remained silent, watching them while sitting in the chair. The three also didn't speak for the next 58 seconds.
"So you must be my Master, right?" Erza was the first to break the silence that had formed, placing her hands on her hips: "I only have one question for you — are you a damn scumbag?"
"I don't believe so." Caleb replied, thinking how familiar that question felt…
"Haha, that's a typical answer from a scumbag." Alice, who had been silent, said with a chuckle.
"I agree with the cutie here." Elastigirl, in her white superhero suit, said with her arms crossed.
"See? Even the 'Auntie' agreed with me~" Alice said teasingly.
"Auntie? Who's an auntie? I'm only 20 years old!" Elastigirl did not like what she heard, feeling offended.
"Silence!" Erza shouted: "We have more important matters to discuss, don't we?"
Erza's shout somehow made the other two fall silent.
Looking at Caleb, Erza asked: "Why did you summon us?"
"My reason for summoning the three of you is simple." Caleb replied calmly: "I want you to be part of my team."
"Team? A team for what exactly, if you don't mind explaining," Elastigirl asked.
"Before that, I need to explain a bit about this world I summoned you three into." Caleb replied.
To that, none of the three disagreed. They were indeed curious about the world they had been summoned into.
As the saying goes: Knowledge is power.
Only by learning more about the situation they were in could they form their own opinions. Just as they could decide what to do next, whether to agree or not to be part of Caleb's team.
After Caleb finished talking — taking over 20 minutes just to cover the main points — they were now more or less aware of the situation they found themselves in.
"So there are World Nobles, also known as Celestial Dragons, who believe they're gods... Pfft, how childish~ They sound like a bunch of kids who need help even to wipe their butts~"
Caleb said: "Although I agree with you, that doesn't change the fact that, unfortunately, they are the ones sitting at the top and running the world however they please. If you think about it that way, it's even scarier, since they're childish crybabies, but with great power, they can simply kill someone just because they didn't like them, or enslave them because they did. Just like that."
"Tsk, they're a bunch of bastards, that's what they are." Erza crossed her arms: "If I see them, I'll cut them down."
With her finger almost touching her lips, Alice asked, seeming thoughtful: "Well, if you do that, won't you become a wanted person by this so-called world government or something?"
"Do I care? If they're scumbags like he described, I'll beat them up to knock some sense into their heads!" Erza said.
'Did I make the wrong choice summoning her?' Caleb wondered, shaking his head with an ironic smile.
"Slavery, corruption, pirates everywhere... Well, looks like there's a lot to do in this world." Elastigirl murmured, then added while looking at Caleb: "By the way, as a superhero, don't even think about using me to do something like kill innocents, etc."
"I wouldn't do that." Caleb replied, adding: "At the moment, I'm a bounty hunter. Simply put, I go after pirates whose actions I dislike — what they do or what they've done."
"I'm just saying this upfront." Elastigirl said: "I can accept being part of your group, since it's part of the reason I got a new chance at life and I'm not ungrateful, but the moment I feel like you're just using us to do something nefarious, I won't hesitate to stop you!"
"That's fine by me." Caleb looked at Alice and Erza: "And you two?"
"I feel the same as she does." Erza replied.
"Ara, as long as I can cook and do my research, I'm fine with anything." Alice said: "When I was run over and died, I thought that was the end for me. Since I got a new chance, I just hope I can continue chasing my dream, even if it's in another world."
"I have no problem with that." Caleb agreed to their terms.
...
After talking for a few more minutes and getting familiar with each other, Caleb heard a voice coming from outside the house.
"Caleb-sama?"
No need to identify the voice to know who was calling him. At the moment, only Saeko addressed him this way.
"Saeko, you can come in." Caleb said out loud.
"Excuse me."
It didn't take long before Saeko walked through the living room door and saw them.
She looked really tired, sweating a lot with wet hair sticking to her forehead, even her clothes were clinging tightly to her sweat-soaked body.
"Huh? New members?" She asked as soon as she spotted Erza, Alice, and Elastigirl.
"Yes." Caleb replied, introducing them.
After the formalities were over, Saeko asked: "Caleb-sama, when did you have time to build this house?"
"I'll explain later." Caleb said: "You probably want to take a shower, but unfortunately there's no water in this house yet."
"I see... Then I'll use the ship's shower." She said, intending to leave.
"Wait, I stored the ship." Caleb said: "Let's go outside, I'll bring it out and you can use the bathroom."
"Mm." She nodded.
"Ah, ah..." Alice sighed: "Looks like our future might be pretty grim if we don't even have water."
"I'll take care of that and..." Caleb said: "For now, there's still the ship's bathroom."
"Ship, huh..." Alice murmured, falling silent.
Some things are better seen in person before judging.
As they were leaving, Caleb turned toward Elastigirl: "By the way, you have a name, right? I assume you don't want to keep hiding your secret identity and wearing that outfit."
"Do you have a problem with my outfit?" She asked.
"No, it looks really good on you." Caleb replied: "But wouldn't it be uncomfortable for you to keep wearing that all the time?"
"... You're right." She said, adding: "And, by the way, my real name is Helena. You can call me by my name." She removed the red mask from her eyes.
What changed? Practically nothing, after all, it wasn't much different from wearing glasses. In fact, even sunglasses would be a better disguise.
"Ara? Now that you've taken off that mask, I've realized something..." Alice said in her usual teasing tone: "Nothing changed at all."
"..." Helena asked: "Really? But I've never been recognized before..."
"Ara, how idioti— pardon me." Alice coughed, rephrasing, holding back laughter: "The people from your world must be very... well, special?"
"I'd rather not comment." Helena fell silent, putting some distance between herself and Alice.
'What's with this girl? She's been teasing me from the start...'
Alice simply smiled upon noticing Helena's reaction.
Then she looked at Erza, opened her mouth to say something, but quickly gave up and looked at Saeko.
She went up to her: "Hey, excuse me, Saeko-san, right?"
"Mm, feel free to just call me Saeko." She replied with a gentle smile.
Almost as if a pair of cat ears had appeared on her head, Alice asked: "You and Caleb-san... are you two dating by any chance?"
"No, we're not." Saeko denied.
"Ara, what a shame~" Alice asked: "And, does he have a girlfriend?"
"Not that I know of." Saeko replied.
Touching her lip with her index finger, Alice smiled: "I see... What a surprise, he's so handsome and... seems to possess unimaginable powers, yet he doesn't have a girlfriend... Maybe..."
Feeling her gaze drifting to a certain part of his body, Caleb turned to her and asked: "If you want to confirm something, I don't mind letting you."
"Hahaha, better not~" Alice replied with a laugh, but her face, which was as white as a sheet, took on a pinkish hue.
"By the way, after hearing about how dinosaur meat is delicious, even Sea Kings, among other exotic things in this world, I thought you'd be more excited, Alice." Caleb said while looking at her.
"Ara, who said I'm not?" Alice said: "But unfortunately, my specialty is Molecular Gastronomy. And none of my inventions are with me here."
"If that's all, I should be able to create those things as long as I know the structure of what I want to make." Caleb said, catching her by surprise.
"Really? That's exciting~" She sang: "Then let's get started right away!"
"We can do that soon." Caleb said, stopping not too far from the house: "Don't move, just wait a bit."
Taking a sword-drawing stance, Caleb exhaled steam between his teeth with his lips slightly parted. Soon, a burst of blue lightning surrounded him, and in an instant, he vanished from where he stood.
"Whoosh! Whoosh...!"
Caleb moved so fast they could only see a Z-shaped streak of blue lightning mixed with yellow.
When he returned, lightning still crackled around him as he sheathed the Tessaiga.
The sound of cut wood falling echoed.
"Thud! Thud! Thud...!"
Soon, several trees began to fall.
"Show-off..." Helena muttered.
Even though he heard her, Caleb ignored her comment, walking over to the trees and storing them in his D-Dial.
With a wide and clear area, Caleb took the ship out of the D-Dial.
"BOOOM!"
Even though it was only a few centimeters above the ground, the sound of the ship hitting the ground created a thunderous noise that echoed through the forest.
"What an interesting phone... I want one of those~" Alice sang with desire as she looked at Caleb's D-Dial.
Putting the D-Dial back in his pocket, Caleb said as he turned around: "You can go now, Saeko."
"Mm, thank you." She smiled, and with a jump, she managed to reach the ship.
'Now that I stop to think about it, I've become a bit stronger...' If it were before, she wouldn't have been able to jump so high and cover such a distance.
However, she was among 'monsters', so she hadn't even noticed how much she had changed.
Not to mention, she relied heavily on the Gantz Suit, to the point that this was the first time she had tried to make a real effort since arriving in this world.
"Alice, let's try to recreate some of the things you used to cook with." Caleb said suddenly.
"Let's." She nodded.
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