Kenji, Kiri, and Davin returned to Unit 14 trying not to look too eager before they had even reached the room.

Inside, Shinju and Sera were already waiting.

The moment the three of them stepped in, both women stood.

Shinju asked first.

"How did it go?"

Kenji looked at her, and for a second his face tightened as if the answer had gone the wrong way.

That was enough to pull the color out of her expression.

She caught herself immediately. If she let that feeling spread across her face, the others would feel it too.

Kenji broke first.

He lifted both hands, smiled, and said, "We almost got a deal."

For a second neither Shinju nor Sera reacted.

Then both of them spoke at once.

"What?"

"Seriously?"

Davin laughed before Kenji could say more.

"You should have seen him in there," he said, pointing at Kiri. "Smooth, Half the room was resisting him and the other half didn’t realize they’d already started listening."

Kiri waved that away.

"They did not give us an order," he said. "They gave us a seven-day evaluation window."

Shinju’s first reaction was immediate.

"But Wil said we could offer up to one month of free trial."

"Maximum limit," Kiri replied. "Not opening move. If the ceiling is one month, we begin below it. We do not hand away the full line on the first deal unless we are desperate."

No one argued with that.

Then his expression sharpened again.

"Contact Wil," he said. "Tell him the local manufacturing side needs to move. I gave them a seven-day evaluation window. On paper we look comfortable, but in real terms the stock needs to be in their hands fast. Eight days is the safe edge. Ten is the absolute outside edge, and I don’t want to go anywhere near it."

Kenji looked at Shinju.

"You have the number," she said. "Call him."

Kenji took out his phone and called.

At that same time, Adam was inside his apartment with sheets of paper spread in front of him. He had drawn one circle around Gonda’s name, another around Bruno’s, and more lines branching outward from both of them. He was trying to build a usable map. Who depended on whom. Who feared whom. Who could be pushed. Who would break first.

Then his keypad phone rang.

The moment he saw Kenji’s number, a knot formed in his chest.

Something unexpected happening at the wrong time could still force him into using Electric Spark, and that was one tool he did not want to touch unless there was no other road left.

He picked up.

Kenji’s voice came through bright and quick.

"Wil sir, we got our first real track."

Adam straightened in his chair.

"What?"

"A real one," Kenji said, and then he gave him the company name and the short version of what had happened. Seven-day evaluation window. One week, then another meeting.

"Good," he said. "Very good. I was about to give you another push anyway."

Kenji noticed the line again.

Wil had said something similar before, once when he had come in with money and chips, and now he was saying it again. Kenji did not stop there.

"If you come, we can show you the reports properly," he said. "Everything will make more sense in detail."

Adam refused at once.

"No need. Just message me what they need."

That was enough. A short time later, the message came through with the chip type, board compatibility, and required quantity.

Adam read it once, then replied.

Tell them delivery will reach between tonight and six in the morning.

By the time Kenji read the reply inside Unit 14, the whole room shifted again. That was fast, maybe too fast if they had tried to understand it logically.

But none of them pushed too hard on that question.

On Adam’s side, the problem had already changed shape.

The first batch had to move fast, yes, but the real issue was the seven-day window after that. If the trial held, FrostMire would ask again. That meant Adam had to start preparing stock immediately.

He looked at the chip box again and let out a slow breath.

Then he said, "Status."

The system window opened in front of him.

[Status]

[Name: Adam]

[Level: 0]

[Strength: 16]

[Agility: 16]

[Endurance: 20]

[Life Force: 40]

[Skill: Copy and Paste]

[Inventory: 0/32]

All the numbers that had once looked small had now become four times larger.

Adam stared at the screen for a moment and then lowered his eyes.

The increase had not come from nowhere. Exercise, repetition, and a better understanding of the power had all pushed it upward.

Copy and Paste did not move in only one degree. There were layers to it.

Copying a single item was one thing. Copying many identical items in a chain was another. Forcing the power too hard was something else entirely.

That last part had taught him the real limitation. It was not only about tiredness.

Whenever he pushed the ability too far, his endurance and life force dropped in a way his body could feel immediately. Not like some magic number alone, but through the body itself. His head started hurting. His limbs turned heavier. And when he paid attention, he had realized something else. The power stripped through his nutrients, minerals, and stored strength faster than normal recovery could replace them.

That was why he had started using electrolyte salts in water.

At first he had tried plain food and rest. Later he had tested rehydration powders and mineral salts mixed into water, and that worked much better. It did not remove the cost, but it let him continue longer.

With that, and with the endurance he had built up over the past days, he knew he could push past a hundred chip copies in one long stretch if he absolutely had to. The danger only started after a certain point, when the headache sharpened enough to warn him to stop.

That was still manageable, so he stood up.

Adam changed his disguise first, then opened the chip box and checked Kenji’s message again so he would not make even a small mistake on the required type.

Once he had the exact specification clear in his head, he started copying the chips that FrostMire needed.

After that, he gathered the box, prepared to move the product, and left the apartment.