"Mom, do you think Luan will accept her request?" Catharina asked.

They were in the kitchen, but with their hearing, they managed to hear the whole conversation that had been held outside.

​​

"Maybe? It's not like he's cheating on Ingrid if he helps the girl he once liked." Maira said.

"Tsk! Mother, the way you spoke, it seemed even more suspicious to me. Now I'm starting to doubt my brother's nature." Catharina laughed and then said, "What a pity that Ingrid left to visit her mother. She missed a good show."

"Girl, don't go looking for trouble," Maira said, "For this girl to reach this point and admit that she slept with the father of the person who asked for help, it shouldn't be easy for her either. Not that I'm on her side, but I sympathize with her a little."

"Kuku! That unhappy man, he got what he deserved," Catharina said vengefully. "I hope his dick falls!"

Cristina winced at the conversation. It wasn't like she was completely innocent; she understood what Maira and Catharina were talking about, but she preferred not to participate in this type of conversation.

[Latest news. In India's State of Maarastra - Bombay City, a mysterious crack has appeared suddenly in the center of the city, and monsters that seemed to have come straight out of a horror movie emerged from the mysterious crack. This phenomenon, which was first seen ten minutes ago, is also being observed in multiple major countries of the world...]

On the living room TV, Luan heard this and was speechless because of it. His hands, which were practically together, clasped. 'Things are happening ahead of expectation...'

"Luan?" Carol Helena caught his attention.

"Okay, you don't have to worry about that anymore." Luan wanted her to leave soon. He didn't intend to help her, but he knew that Leon Becker's days were numbered. It wasn't like he had time to lose chasing a girl he had sex with and accidentally got hurt.

"Thank you, Luan!" Carol Helena was touched. She mistakenly believed that Luan was saying this because it would help her, but little did she know that he did not intend to move a single finger on this matter.

"You need to go now. I have something urgent to do," Luan got up and told her.

Despite being confused, Carol Helena already got what she wanted. She got up and wanted to kiss Luan on the cheek, but he avoided her. Although embarrassed, she forced a smile and left.

"Luan."

"Son."

"Big Brother."

Maira, Cristina, and Catharina went to him.

Catharina looked angry when she asked, "Luan! Do you intend to help her?"

"No. Did you forget the pill that I made Leon swallow? Everything bad that he tries to do to someone will come back to him," Luan said. "I said that she need not worry, because he will soon have his retribution, not because I intended to act."

"Changing the subject. Luan, this phenomenon, you know what's going on, yes?" Maira found that matter more important at that moment.

"Yes, just as I predicted, the dimensional cracks have started to connect with our planet. But I thought it would take longer. This is going too fast..." Luan said with a sigh.

"Not everything can be predicted with 100% accuracy. Anyway, it is good that we know, and we are a bit stronger to protect ourselves if necessary," Maira said.

"True," Luan agreed and said, "Although it is beginning, it will still take time. This is just a dimensional crack that was opened for living beings to get out of it. But even so, we need to be on the alert. If something strange happens, let me know immediately."

"Yes, we know." Maira smiled.

"Luan, are you going to tell Ingrid what happened today?" Catharina asked with a strange look.

"Of course; I have nothing to hide." Luan then said, "I'm going to pick up Ingrid tomorrow. She is going to spend the weekend with her mother, and then I will tell her."

"Excellent. If you didn't, I would. Humph!" Catharina snorted. She seemed to favor Ingrid a lot, which made Luan smile a little.

"Of course. I expected no less," Luan said, "I am not going to hurt someone so special to me. What happened today is nothing more than a conversation with a person I once liked but now is just a stranger to me."

"Okay, I will believe your words," Catharina said.

"I believe in Big Brother," Cristina chimed in.

"Thank you, Cristina. You are the only one who is on my side." Luan messed up her hair a little and said this with a gentle smile.

Catharina took Cristina in her arms, and showed her teeth like an angry dog. "Don't try to steal her from me!"

"Okay, stop raving," Luan said, "I am going to create some items. You can train without me."

*

While watching television, the transmission of the soap opera was interrupted. Maira, Cristina, and Catharina were confused until they saw what it was about.

[Latest news. The Indian government has already deployed the army to prevent the monsters from continuing to destroy and kill people, but there have already been over two thousand confirmed victims...]

It then showed the Indian army using firearms against monsters that looked like pigs and bulls in human form. They were large, at almost 300 cm high, and there were also some ferocious tigers among them 200 cm high.

Catharina's phone rang, and she saw that it was Ingrid, and she answered. "Sister-in-law, how are you?"

"Yes, I am well. And you?" Ingrid said, "By the way, have you seen the news?"

"We are fine," Catharina said, "Yes, we are seeing it now. Luan said that this is just the beginning, but it will not necessarily happen worldwide soon, but it is good to be prepared."

"Yes, true." Ingrid then added, "Luan isn't taking my calls. Is he busy?"

"Yes, he is creating some things." Catharina did not elaborate, since even she did not know exactly what Luan was creating.

"Okay, I'm hanging up. My mom just got back from the hospital," Ingrid said before she hung up.

Minutes later, Luan left the workshop. He had with him three armors: one red, one faint pink, and one gray.

Luan placed the armor on the table in the living room and said, "These are training armor. Each of these armors weighs more than normal and also has something unique to each in particular."

Luan took one while explaining, "This crystal in the center of the armor, close to the navel, will increase the amount of Heaven and Earth Qi the moment you start training. In the case of you Cristina, you have the crystal of fire energy. I have been using this crystal for a long time, but it is time to return it to you. When you finish taking all the fire essence out of that crystal, you will be very powerful."

"Luan, is it the same for these crystal armors?" Catharina wanted to know if she would also be more powerful because of the crystal in her armor.

"Yes, although not as much as Cristina's, since hers is of the same affinity as her Origin," Luan replied and added, "In addition, this place where the crystal is, can always be charged with energy from magic stones or any other item with Qi."

"Something like a cell phone charger?" Catharina asked.

"Similar to that," Luan said, "When the armor's crystal runs out of Qi, it can be recharged with more Qi."

"Furthermore, I created a device," Luan explained, "It is a tracker, but it will only let me know when you girls have disappeared from the radar, that is, if you enter a dimensional crack by accident. Of course, I'll understand if you don't want to carry a tracker."

"I do not mind," said Cristina.

"Okay, I'm going to keep this," Maira said, picking up one of three toothpick-sized devices.

"Grr. Okay, I guess I'll take one too." Catharina took the final one.

"That is good," Luan said, "I made training armor and the same sort of device for Ingrid, but since she is not here now, I will have to wait to hand it to her."

"Why don't you go visit her and say 'hi' to your mother-in-law?" Catharina said with a strange smile.

"... I don't think so. I'm going tomorrow. Amanda might want to spend some time alone with Ingrid," Luan said after considering it a little.

"If you say so..." Catharina just nodded to her mother and said, "I'm going to test this armor. I haven't trained my body technique today yet."

Maira and Cristina chose to do the same and went up the stairs.

'I still have some free time, so I guess I'll create a pill to cleanse bone marrow.' With that thought in mind, Luan returned to the workshop.

*

- March 21, 2010 - Sunday -

Luan woke up early and trained together with his family. After lunch, he took the Lamborghini and drove down the highway towards São José.

While Luan was driving, he noticed a strange car...

"Well, everyone has different tastes," Luan murmured.

What he saw was a car painted with panther spotted and spread all over the car. On the hood there were animal dolls; the car looked like an animal world, full of dolls stuck to the car.

After leaving the highway, Luan drove some more before arriving at the street where the house of Amanda Anjos, Ingrid's mother, was located.

To say that he didn't feel a little nervous about going to see his mother-in-law would be lying. Even with all the experience he had, it didn't stop him from feeling nervous. He even sweated a little on his hands. After all, he liked Ingrid very much and wanted to make a good impression on her mother. Although they had seen each other before, Luan had not yet been dating Ingrid.

"Luan? Wait, I'll open the gate for you pull your car inside." Ingrid, who heard the sound of Luan's car engine in the distance, waited in front of the house, and seeing that it was indeed him, she smiled and opened the gate.