"Ace, are you alright? You've been staring at Sarsis with a stupid grin on your face for a while now. You can pet her—she won't bite," Dee3 called out, checking on Ace, who had been zoning out for a few minutes now.
Snapping out of his thoughts, Ace looked over at the shy, gigantic platinum hippopotamus batting its long eyelashes at him. Forcing a polite smile at the eager Sarsis, he refused, "Maybe so other ti."
"Your loss—she's kind of famous around here," Dee3 spoke up for her girl, while Sarsis snorted at Ace and huffed away.
"..."
Ace didn't know how to react. He was genuinely puzzled, wondering if Dee3 even realized what she sounded like—or if she just loved her cyborg animals so much that she didn't notice she was coming off like a complete weirdo.
"What? You don't believe ?" Dee3 challenged, clearly not liking Ace's awkward, weirded-out expression.
"Look, Dee3, I'm sure Sarsis is a great gal, and I'd like to get to know her—and the other cyborg animals—soday. But you're being weird right now," Ace said honestly.
He was planning to introduce Dee3 to his family and let her stay at the Lansky servant villa on his estate. So, he needed to start preparing her to reintegrate into mortal society.
"I'm being weird? How so?" Dee3 asked, unintentionally proving Ace's point—she had no clue how her decade of isolation from human society had affected her. Her IQ was off the charts, but her EQ was… concerningly debatable.
Ace didn't know how to put it delicately. Dee3 was too good with animals. Her sense of ethics and virtue was remarkable, no doubt. But certain simple, everyday social norms just seed to fly right over her head. He began to wonder if her case was sothing like Tarzan from 'Tarzan of the Apes.'
"No, you're just being yourself—which will co off as weird to regular people," Ace began carefully. "I know you love your animals, and there's nothing wrong with that. But not many people share that passion. And even if they do, they haven't seen your animals. So they won't really get it.
"Also… you co on a bit strong whenever you talk about them. Again, that's not a bad thing. But regular people might not understand your enthusiasm and could misinterpret it as strange, instead of connecting with it, like you'd hope they would, end up trying to keep a distance from you. So what I'm trying to say is—maybe avoid talking about your animals too much around regular folks."
He paused before continuing.
"I'm only bringing this up because I plan to introduce you to my family. They're just regular people, and it's important that they like you enough to let you live on our estate freely, in a proper house, among us… Instead of hiding away in your underground dungeon."
"In the end, the decision is still up to you. I don't plan to dictate how you should live. But I think it's about ti you started living your life freely, among the people whose lives you've made better. I know you want to," Ace explained carefully, wanting Dee3 to understand where he was coming from.
He didn't want her to beco self-conscious or start second-guessing her actions in front of others because of what he said. That's why it was crucial to be clear with his intentions right now.
Also, gaining his family's approval was very important. Sure, if he insisted on Dee3 staying at the estate, his family wouldn't refuse—but Ace didn't want it to co to that. Despite his newfound power and knowledge, he hadn't let it go to his head to the point where he'd start ordering his family around. He already had a toy summon family for that and hated that feeling. But if he ever beca power-drunk or developed sadistic tendencies, he could always buy a few curse slaves in the World of Curses to satisfy them, but his family, never.
Hearing Ace speak, Dee3 was stunned. And not just her—even Thunder and the other Cyborg Animals were left speechless. They all knew how special Dee3 was, and that despite their loyalty, all of them combined couldn't truly ease the loneliness she felt. Not just emotionally, but intellectually.
Even with their ability to sync their bionic brains, together they couldn't give the tipsy Dee3 even a decent intellectual warm-up, let alone a sober one.
Therefore, for Dee3 and her cyborg companions, hearing Ace say he planned to help her reintegrate into mortal society—starting with his own family—was a huge deal. Suddenly, they no longer took offense at him refusing to pet Sarsis the Cyborg Hippo. Instead, they beca far more interested in his reintegration plan and even began wondering if so of them might have a place in it.
"No. Your family is already in enough trouble as it is. I don't want to add to that. I'm fine staying underground like I have for the past decade," Dee3 said firmly, imdiately rejecting the idea.
She understood that if Ace followed through with his plan, he wouldn't just have to worry about the cursed community that was already after him, but also the governnt for harboring a wanted fugitive. While she deeply appreciated his thoughtfulness, she wasn't willing to let him walk a path of certain doom on her behalf.
"You don't need to worry about that. I care more about my family than you ever could. I wouldn't have suggested it if I didn't know what I was doing. Just focus on behaving yourself around mortals. They're quick to pass judgnt and isolate people over even the smallest things—no matter how harmless or unintentional," Ace said firmly, making it clear that rejection wasn't an option unless Dee3 gave him a better reason than being a burden or a threat to his family.
"Trumpet!" Thunder blew hard, encouraging Dee3 not to hesitate. Soon, the other cyborg animals joined in.
It didn't take long for the reluctant expression on Dee3's face to dissolve. Her eyes grew resolute as she nodded at Ace and asked, "What else about would co off as weird to a regular person?"
"First, set the course to these coordinates. We can continue talking on the way."
Ace didn't expect Dee3 to beco a social butterfly overnight, but as long as he could pass off her acute lack of social awareness as harmless awkwardness, he'd consider it a win.
As for placing Dee3's dungeon beneath his estate, it made up for his regret over missing the phantom paint core. If a threat strong enough to breach the curse array protecting the estate ever erged, Dee3's dungeon would not only serve as a shelter—it could also beco their escape route. The Cursed wood cane's Wood Palace wouldn't cut it, since enemies could easily take it hostage. In the end, it might just serve to round up and package his family for his enemies.
But Dee3's dungeon was different. Not only was it underground, but thanks to its infinite tunnel capability, she could relocate it anywhere in the world—under the ocean bed, inside a volcano, anywhere. As long as the destination existed on this planet, she could tunnel to it and move her dungeon there.
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