The following morning, Zeel was snapped out of his concentration by keys jingling in the lock of his cell.

"Zeel Crawford! You have made bail!" The Officer yelled inside.

"I'm not interested. I'll just stay here for a couple more hours," Zeel replied lazily.

After some back and forth, the Officer managed to get Zeel to agree to leave the cell if he was allowed to bring the Teenager along.

The paperwork was handled swiftly, Zeel only saw the designation 'Croft Industries' on his documentation.

"By the way, what happened to all the other prisoners?" The Officer asked curiously. He was sure that they were at least twelve prisoners in the cell previously.

Zeel thought for a while, realizing he could not exactly lie as a God, but he had come to terms with choosing his words carefully.

"I sent them upstate, so you could say they were spiritually transferred," Zeel answered cryptically.

The Officer seemed confused, so he directed his attention to the dark-skinned teenager standing next to Zeel.

"I don't know anything, bruh," The teenager answered swiftly.

The Officer nodded "Yeah, they were probably transferred to the prison upstate early this morning,"

Exiting the police station, Zeel saw it fit to extend some gratitude to the teen for not 'snitching' on him.

"Here," Zeel said flicking his finger at the teen "Buy yourself something nice,"

Zeel did not wait a moment longer and entered the car that was waiting in front of the station.

After Zeel left, the teenager looked at the penny he caught in his hand and began to curse.

What the hell could he buy with a mere penny? Was that guy just joking around? However, soon the penny vibrated and crystallized, becoming a diamond-penny.

The Teen slowly put the penny into his pocket, bowing a couple of times in the direction Zeel left and ran home with haste.

***

Croft Industries

It took roughly thirty minutes from The Police Station to Croft Industries. Zeel could already guess that his presence here had something to do with Lara.

Obviously, she was not a good listener since he told her to let him be.

Zeel knew all the public knowledge about Lara, alongside what he could glean from her social media accounts, but he lacked private information about her.

The Laws of The World was big on privacy, and Zeel never asked The Red Queen to monitor Lara's habits.

Though to be fair, The Red Queen probably had the girl under surveillance anyway.

Zeel was guided to the elevator as security escorted him up to the appropriate floor.

The Security was surprised when he turned back only to see Zeel was dressed in a designer blue suit with a red tie.

"Like it? It's from the 'Der Gentleman' collection I saw in a store we passed by on the way. I figured I might as well look the part right?" Zeel asked smiling amusingly at the confused guard.

The Security was extremely confused about where Zeel got the outfit from, and just when did he have time to change.

But his job was to escort, not to ask questions.

The elevator came to a stop and the security escorted Zeel all the way down the hall and into the conference room.

Once there, several more securities joined the entourage and took up strategic locations across the room.

Entering the conference room on the highest floor, Zeel did not sit immediately and wandered around the room, taking in all the sights present.

Lara remained in her seat watching Zeel, she was still coming to terms with what she would have to do next.

"This is a centaur sculpture at least 2,00 years old," Zeel admired the sculpture encased in glass.

"Thank you! You are obviously a man of great tastes," Anna responded.

Zeel did another full circle around the room, then stopped and gazed at the centaur sculpture once more.

"When you stare into the abyss, the abyss stares back at you," Zeel said mysteriously and smiled in satisfaction when the feed being broadcasted from the room was turned off.

Zeel liked smart people, he did not have to terminate the recording himself.

Anna's smile cracked a bit since her superiors were monitoring the situation through the sculpture.

After all, who would desecrate a 2,000-year-old sculpture just to spy on a conversation?

Still, Zeel had yet to take his seat and instead lingered by the window admiring the view.

"Best view in the city," Lara said finally directing her attention to Zeel.

"You should see heaven. It exists in the Highest Dimension.

No matter where you are in any Universe, Heaven always remains above you," Zeel said remembering a time when Aurolana broke the rules to give him a peek of the legendary crystal city.

Finally taking his seat next to Lara, Zeel used his hands to direct Lara's eyes into his own.

The nanites were scanning her body, but Zeel could already guess the result from looking at her slightly elongated pupils.

Draconic Energy could truly turn any energy into more Draconic Energy.

Luckily, it would not kill Lara since it had already been flushed out of her system by Zeel.

Lara allowed Zeel to do whatever he wanted with her body, it felt right to submit to his whims.

*cough*

*cough*

Anna's timely interruption stopped the duo from indulging in each other's presence.

Mr. Yaffe saw that the atmosphere was becoming a bit ambiguous so he wanted to tend to business as soon as possible.

"The pages that require the signature... are marked for your convenience," Yaffe said passing over the contract.

Lara took the contract and gave it a quick once-over.

"What's that for?" Zeel asked.

"The Price of your freedom for the attempted murder of three people," Lara replied sarcastically causing the curious Zeel to peak over her shoulder.

"DECLARATION OF DEATH IN ABSENTIA - Lord Richard Croft."

"I gather I sign... and... dad is dead," Lara muttered aloud obviously reluctant to sign the papers.

Zeel offered no comfort as he was disinterested in the mundane matters of humans.

Homo-Superiors would ask for a piece of your soul energy when making contracts instead of mere paper.

"I can imagine how... how difficult this is for you. I miss him too," Anna said attempting to comfort the disgruntled Lara; however, before the message could take effect, Yaffe removed something strange from his case.

The object immediately drew the eyes of Lara.

She placed the pen onto the table and reached outwards, gesturing for Yaffe to pass the object over.

"Karakuri – it's a Japanese puzzle," Lara muttered while constantly shifting the position of the puzzle in her hands.

"It was left by your father. Intended to be given to you upon the declaration of his death," Yaffe clarified hoping that Lara would sign the papers before messing with the puzzle.

Zeel was about to sign the papers in Lara's place, but the puzzle suddenly clicked into place causing a photograph and a message to be displayed.

The photo was a younger picture of Lara and her father.

The message startled Lara much more "THE FIRST LETTER, FROM MY FINAL DESTINATION,"

Lara muttered the phrase over and over again until she suddenly came to a realization.

Zeel was about to ask for some treats or tea to satiate his cravings, but Lara pulled him along as they exited the room.

"If you don't sign the paper, we can't be rich," Zeel said disapprovingly.

Lara had just been upgraded from a stranger he had sex with, to a potential 'Fat Cow' to pay for his expenses.

"I think my father is still alive," Lara whispered into Zeel's ears as she dragged him towards the elevator.

It wasn't long until the duo exited Croft Industries and headed to the estate.

Unnoticed by anyone, Zeel managed to grab Centaur Sculpture before exiting the room.

It was pretty much useless for him, but maybe Lara could use the sculpture in a pinch.