"Hello, can you tell if I can still schedule a eting with Senator Corino this afternoon?" Vigina slowly opened, "I see only today can be scheduled for etings in the past week."
"Are you scheduling a eting with the senator’s office in Denno City?" The voice on the other end of the phone sounded a bit puzzled.
"No, it’s the senator’s office in Ains Parliant Building," Vigina quickly said, "I saw on the senator’s office website that etings could be scheduled. I’m in Ains now."
She paused for a mont and continued, "Isn’t the senator never in Denno City? I couldn’t find him in Denno City, so I thought I’d co to Ains to check."
"Do you want to et with the senator in person?" The other end of the phone began to understand.
"Yes." Vigina replied quickly.
The phone went silent for a mont, seemingly with the mic turned off, and after a while, a voice ca through,
"Here’s the situation. The senator’s office in Ains indeed has openings for appointnts today. The available ti is between four to five o’clock in the afternoon, with an appointnt slot left from four forty-five to five o’clock. However,"
The speaker added a transitional word, with a slightly apologetic tone, "If you want to et the senator in person, you won’t be able to today. The eting will be hosted by the senator’s assistant."
"Ah?" Vigina was taken aback, "We’ve co all the way to Ains, and we can’t et the senator himself?"
"Yes," the voice on the phone was slightly embarrassed, explaining, "The senator is busy with work, and may not always be able to spare ti every day. So generally, it’s the assistant who handles etings."
The voice on the phone paused slightly, "If you have any suggestions or ideas, you can directly tell the assistant. He will truthfully convey them to the senator."
"Not being able to see the senator, what’s the difference between this eting and sending an email to the senator?" Vigina couldn’t help but complain.
"Uh," the voice on the phone was clearly stumped, awkwardly responding, "The email you send to the senator is also read by the assistant."
"So when can we et the senator in person?" Vigina took a slight breath, "According to Federation law, as residents of the district, we should have the right to et the senator and present suggestions."
"We don’t really know," the voice on the phone said ambiguously, "You know the senator is busy, he might not have ti for the next few months,"
There was a pause in the tone, seemingly manipulating a computer, "So do you want to schedule today’s afternoon eting? This is the last available appointnt."
Vigina looked up at He Ao next to her.
He Ao shook his head slightly.
Vigina took a deep breath and looked at the phone again, "No, thank you, we ca to Ains specifically to et the senator in person."
"Sorry, the senator is indeed busy," the voice on the phone responded sowhat awkwardly, "Thank you for your call."
The phone was cut off.
Vigina put down the wristband, looked up at He Ao, and bitterly smiled, "Since we ca from the southwest district, I’ve been making phone calls all afternoon, and when it finally connects, it turns out that guy doesn’t et in person at all."
She slightly held her forehead, "From the description on the other side, we might not see him for months. That guy might never et voters, after all, as a senator in Denno City, he rarely even returns there except for elections."
"That’s uncertain," He Ao shrugged, "After all, most of his election resources are provided by the Kewort Group, and he rarely receives normal election donations from Denno City."
He looked up and glanced at the Parliant Building, "To him, it’s not the people of Denno City who elected him as senator, but the Kewort Group."
"What you say makes a lot of sense. This guy’s busy ’work’ in Ains might just be eating, drinking, and having fun," Vigina leaned back in her chair, slightly frowning, "but if he doesn’t show through official etings, how can we find him?"
"He neglects visitors from Denno City because they don’t really affect his decision to be ’selected’," He Ao retracts his gaze from the Parliant Building.
"So, he’ll definitely et those he truly ’cares’ about? Those who can affect his ’re-election’?" Vigina raised her eyelids slightly, "Kewort Group?"
But she soon lowered her eyelids slightly, "But where can we find channels to the Kewort Group?"
She placed her hand on the table, supporting her cheek, feeling sowhat frustrated, "The CEO of the Kewort Group is indeed in Ains, but after searching all afternoon, I couldn’t find his travel information; today’s news was all about his actions yesterday."
In her separation from He Ao, it wasn’t that she did nothing, just that there was hardly any progress.
"He must be intentionally hiding his whereabouts," He Ao glanced at the wristband, and said softly.
He had Eve search for the Kewort Group’s CEO’s information, and the news was outdated.
But it wasn’t as much as a day; generally, six hours after he completely left a place, online news about his visit would release.
His schedule is not public, all concealed, and no one knows where he will go next.
"Sounds like he’s afraid soone will know where he will be and then stake him out," Vigina laughed, "What’s he afraid of? Afraid of assassination?"
She paused, looking out the window at the street, dragging her tone slightly, "So he fears death."
She withdrew her gaze, rubbed her temple, "But in that case, we’ve got no clues at all."
"Take it slow," He Ao raised his hand, showing the newly received electronic invitation, "Our enemy is patient; we must be even more patient."
"A ’banquet’ invitation?" Vigina saw the content on He Ao’s wristband, "What kind of ’banquet’ is this?"
"A charity banquet," He Ao smiled at her, "The presidential candidate will attend."
Vigina: ???????
He Ao slowly stood up, glanced at the gradually dimming light in the gaps of the overcast sky, "But we’ve got to hurry, there’s a lot of preparation work to do, and the banquet’s about to start."
——More than half an hour later——
Ains Street Five
Beautiful light shone upon the young woman in front of the dressing mirror clad in a simple long skirt.
"Must I wear a skirt?" Vigina lifted the hem, looking at her reflection, "The last ti I wore a skirt was back in college."
Her face was slightly red, "This thing isn’t very convenient when moving around."
"Are you planning to beat up all those Federation elites at the banquet?" He Ao asked from beside, looking at her dress with a smile.
"If fighting is allowed there," Vigina laughed, "I wouldn’t mind."
"I must say, your idea sounds quite appealing," He Ao stretched out his hand, picked up a black embroidered gown nearby, "This one won’t do, try this one. There are dress code requirents for such banquets; we’re pretty much going with the flow."
"This one shows too much back, doesn’t it?" Vigina looked at the gown He Ao handed over.
But she still took the gown from He Ao’s hand and walked into the changing room.
After a while, she erged.
He Ao’s eyes paused.
This gown indeed suited Vigina, as her long training made her figure tall and her walk resemble military posture, presenting a heroic appearance.
But it didn’t an she lacked a gentle side; her figure balanced fullness and slimness perfectly. She infused the dances and acting learned in college into her deanor.
This gown blended her heroism and grace, neither overly aggressive nor too soft, making her seem confident and commanding, vibrantly beautiful.
However, the dress wasn’t as ’ideal’, failing to completely highlight her figure and presence.
She glanced at He Ao’s gaze, her face gradually reddening, reaching the dressing mirror, "I still think this dress shows too much back."
"Still needs alterations." He Ao casually remarked.
"Huh?" Vigina was puzzled.
At that mont, He Ao saw her back.
The back of this dress isn’t revealing too much, just barely exposing so shoulder blades and Vigina’s crystal-clear fair skin.
Of course, Transcendents’ skin is generally good. Usually, after promotion, the calluses they develop will fade away. He Ao’s skin, if you look closely, is actually better than Vigina’s.
However...
He Ao looked at the faint scars on Vigina’s back, "When did you get these?"
"The two obvious ones were from when I was in the military, attacked during an exotic beast siege," Vigina explained softly. "The other three less obvious ones, I got after joining the Federal Bureau of Investigation; one from an exotic beast attack, and two from cultists’ assaults."
Without power, position, or background, whether in the military or the Federal Bureau of Investigation, climbing up requires risking one’s life.
Vigina paused, then joked, "Never thought I’d have the chance to attend such a high-class banquet when these scars were left."
"In a sense, this is also a mission we’re executing," He Ao raised his hand, called over the sales assistant, "Once we et the Director, all our expenses should be reimbursed by him."
"True enough." Vigina nodded in agreent.
By this ti, He Ao had already raised his hand, calling over the sales assistant, "I’ll take this one. Do you have computerized sewing machines? I need to make so modifications to the dress."
High-end clothing stores in the Federation generally have computer-controlled automatic sewing machines for making small modifications to suit different body types.
"We do," the elegantly dressed female sales assistant quickly nodded, "I’ll take you there."
Soon, Vigina returned to the fitting room and changed back into her original clothes.
Vigina followed the sales assistant to one small room after settling the bill.
A small computerized sewing machine, asuring 2 ters by 3 ters, was placed inside.
"We have an intelligent asurent program that can asure your body and modify the size according to your figure," the sales assistant explained softly.
"No need, I’ll do it myself." He Ao placed the dress onto the sewing machine.
Then he had Vigina stand on the asurent machine, taking detailed notes of shoulder width, bust, waist, hip asurents, length of arms and legs.
He then input this data into his wristband, connecting the computerized sewing machine to the wristband.
This sewing machine usually provides various types of thread for free, expanding the range of modifications possible.
Almost instantaneously, Eve generated several modification plans based on the sewing machine’s capabilities. He Ao chose the most suitable one, added so personalized aesthetic designs, and pressed start.
...Ten minutes later...
Vigina stood silently in front of the dressing mirror in a black-and-gold intertwined evening gown.
The sales assistant also stood beside, staring intently without being able to look away. After a long ti, she turned to look at He Ao, her eyes sparkling, exclaiming, "Truly beautiful! This 599 federal coin gown has been modified by you to look like a custom one worth tens of thousands."
Vigina, dazed for a long while, finally gave her evaluation, "Wow!?"
She twirled around in front of the mirror, "Is this ?"
If the dress softened Vigina’s valiance into mild beauty before, now this ’tailored’ garnt pushes both qualities to their peak, emitting an unexpected elegance and aristocratic grace.
The original back opening of the dress was also adjusted to cover the scars on her back.
Of course, that grace lasted until she said "Wow," and even after saying it, she resembled a sowhat willful princess rather than a rough soldier.
"Alright, no more wows. Clothes make the person," He Ao patted her shoulder, "It’s ti to go."
"Hold on, wait for ." Vigina slightly lifted her skirt hem, grabbed the nearby handbag containing her clothes, and followed.
But quickly she realized, she could move freely without lifting her skirt hem.
To make her movents easier, He Ao specifically loosened the skirt hem and added anti-stumbling designs.
"How do you do this? Do you understand design? You’re so talented!" Vigina caught up to He Ao.
"Got the design from an AI online." He Ao casually replied.
"I’ve seen these stores’ smart modifications, and they’re quite ordinary. This one is way too advanced." Vigina comnted while carrying her skirt hem.
"Perhaps my AI is a bit more advanced." He Ao explained softly.
"Is it just a bit more advanced?" Vigina widened her eyes.
Soon, they entered a n’s clothing store.
...Half an hour later...
Vigina looked at He Ao, dressed in self-modified formal attire, eyes widening again, expressing her evaluation, "Wow!?"
That knife-cut resolute face accompanied by a rugged figure, and combined Lone Wolf and aristocratic temperant, albeit not the pinnacle of handso, exuded unique charm that draws people closer.
She circled around He Ao, "I an, I knew you were sowhat handso, but are you this handso?"
"Changing clothes, it’s quite normal." He Ao slowly moved forward, descended the stairs, approached the street’s edge.
"Is the effect of changing clothes really this evident?" Vigina hastily followed.
Yet she truly was unaccustod to long skirts, as her left leg stumbled over her right, sending her tumbling forward.
While considering how to recover balance with a flip without tearing the long dress, a hand extended from the side and caught her fall.
"Move slower." He Ao steadied her stance.
"Alright, alright." Vigina stood beside him, face slightly reddened.
He Ao raised his wristband, glanced at it, "The banquet is starting soon; let’s catch a ride over."
At that mont, he saw a notification pop up on his wristband.
"What’s wrong?" Vigina noticed the change in He Ao’s expression.
"Kewort Group announced their CEO will cut the trip short, returning to the Kewort Group headquarters tomorrow morning." He Ao handed the wristband to Vigina, showing the announcent Eve had just found.
This type of announcent should usually be released in advance to inform potential ’partners’ who might join later.
Yet this wasn’t posted on news outlets, but rather on a multi-level page on the Kewort Group’s website, not searchable via search engines.
If Eve wasn’t constantly monitoring the Kewort Group’s website and related information, He Ao normally wouldn’t have found this announcent.
Generally, only those classic partners of the Kewort Group might navigate these nurous webpage levels to find this information.
"Is this guy getting ready to run?" Vigina’s face darkened as she pondered, "But why not leave tonight, and instead wait until tomorrow morning?"
"He probably has arrangents that stop him from leaving tonight." He Ao mused.
This statent brightened Vigina’s eyes, "Do you think he might attend the banquet too?"
"Not necessarily," He Ao shook his head slightly, "We’ll know by checking."
They caught a ride towards the deeper parts of the city.
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