Re:life with Karmic Gacha (Modern Family)-Chapter 351: New Home.

[Edward POV]

"Ah~, I'm going to do nothing today!"

I groaned while stretching my arms in the air, with Vader lounging on my shoulders. As I walked toward the kitchen, I yawned and poured myself a cup of coffee. It was raining hard this evening. There's a storm coming.

I wandered into the living room and sat on the couch, turning on the TV to watch the news.

{...Harmonics Smartphone brand announced an additional release of 40 million units of smartphones after a huge public demand.}

I flipped the channel even though it was covering my phone company. After the first version was released in 2010, the second version was finally unveiled in January 2012 and became available for purchase in March. So far, 120 million units of the Harmonics phone have been sold worldwide.

The company now could compete with Apple; however, the main difference between us was that Apple was a public company, while mine was private.

{... Edward Newgate finished his two-year-long world tour.}

I flipped the news again.

{... It is estimated that he earned almost 300 million dollars from his tour alone.}

"It's much more than that," I quipped before switching the channel once more.

{... The United States Government is wary of the Ohara Foundation—Senator XX said. "If the information is disseminated freely, how can we be sure it won't fall into the hands of the enemies?"}

{... Harvey Weinstein and P. Diddy are sharing the same cell block—}

{... Britney Spears finally wants to reveal her escape story.}

"Huh?" Finally, I stumbled onto something interesting. Britney has escaped her conservatorship and sued everyone involved into oblivion. Her story has become a Hollywood cautionary tale, and a documentary was released about her entire lawsuit.

But people were still curious about the five months she disappeared from the public eye, as her absence was initially labeled a kidnapping. Even during the lawsuit, the opposition claimed that she was brainwashed during her time away and even daringly suggested that she was replaced by a clone.

Suddenly, my phone rang. "Oracle. Pickup," I muttered. Oracle was the new AI managing my mansion after Robin's evolution.

Pepper's face appeared on the holographic projection floating in front of me.

"Edward~! Nice to see you taking a rest!" Pepper said gleefully, his face skinnier than before.

"You've lost a lot of weight, Pepper," I commented. Pepper smiled and said, "All thanks to you. I'll get straight to the point; I don't want to disturb you. Britney's here with an offer."

"Here? You mean like right now?" I asked, slightly surprised. Pepper turned his phone to show Britney sitting awkwardly on the guest couch in his office.

"Hello, Mr. Newgate," Britney greeted.

"Okay. Let's do it. We'll have to hide my involvement, so the script needs a bit of tweaking. Ask Paige to help," I said.

Both Britney and Pepper looked confused. Then Pepper grumbled and said, "You already knew she was coming today to pitch the movie idea to us?"

"Nah, I just saw it in the news. Connected the dots myself," I replied cockily with a playful smile.

Britney's eyes lit up as she asked, "Are you sure? I didn't tell anyone anything like you told me to. But I want to share the story with everyone."

I smirked and said, "Sure. Let's do it. Are you going to act as yourself?"

"I want to be a producer," Britney declared with determined eyes. Chuckling slightly, I responded, "Yeah, let's do that. Do you have a script yet?"

"No."

"What about the story rights? Are you financing it yourself, or do you want us to be the investors?"

"Honestly, I didn't think that far ahead, so I don't even know how to answer your question," Britney admitted with a wry smile.

I covered my mouth slightly to prevent myself from laughing.

"Pepper, let Paige handle it. She doesn't have anything else to do right now. We'll start with a draft first. I'll call Casey and get clearance from him."

Britney slammed the table as she quickly stood up from her seat, stopping halfway. "You can contact Casey? How is he? Is he doing well? Is he on a dangerous mission? Is he seeing anyone?"

Britney actually planned to make the movie as a love letter to Casey. After spending months together in the Italian countryside, feelings were bound to develop.

"Him? I'm sure he's kicking ass somewhere. I haven't heard from him in a year, but I do know how to contact him. Come up with a draft first so I can discuss it with Casey. I don't want to leak his secrets, as it could endanger his life."

"I'll be sure to come up with a script in a week!" Britney smiled slightly, then blushed and added, "If—if Casey can—um, I want to be there for the discussion to meet him? Can I?"

"I'll ask him," I responded, not rejecting her request.

Suddenly curious, Britney scrutinized the screen. "You're sitting on the couch—who's holding the phone?"

"It's a webcam," I lied. Britney nodded immediately, while Pepper snickered to the side.

Pepper took the phone again and asked me in a whisper, "You didn't go to Disneyland today? Your dad was really excited to go there with you when you came back."

"I wanted to get some rest, so I rejected him," I replied.

"Really? You're going to miss your dad proposing to Frankie?" Pepper asked, expecting me to be shocked, but I sighed instead.

"I already talked some sense into him. Who came up with the idea of proposing at Disneyland anyway? It's not like Disney is a fundamental part of their relationship. There's no connection at all."

Pepper held his chest, feeling as if a needle had stabbed his heart. "Three years as a CEO, and I've lost all my touch as a gay man. I guess it's a good thing I'm stepping down from my position after this week."

Pepper's retiring. The entire company now falls into my hands.

"Maybe go to Casablanca with Renaldo for a week? You deserve some rest," I suggested.

After ending the call, I received a text message from Enid, wanting to come over. I glanced outside; the rain wasn't letting up.

"Do you want me to pick you up?" I asked her via chat.

Enid replied, "Jacob has gotten his driver's license, so he's driving all of us."

"Alright. Come on over. I'll cook some dinner for you guys."

"No need! We're bringing pizza!"

Twenty minutes later, Enid, Jenna, Jacob, Elsa, and Alex arrived at the house.

"Edward! I MISSED YOU!" Enid rushed in and gave me a hug, just like before. She had grown to 1.72 m tall and now sported blue and red highlights at the edges of her blonde hair. She rubbed her cheek on my chest, sniffing at me with a perverted expression.

Before she could release me, Jacob pried her away, shoving her to the side before taking over.

"Bro!"

"My god, what did you eat to grow this tall?" I asked, shocked by his growth. In the past two years, I had grown to 1.95 m (6'4"), but he shot up to 2.10 m (6'9").

Jacob released me, an excited smile on his face. Before he could say anything, Jenna shoved him aside. She had to do it twice before he actually moved.

"Hi~" Jenna grinned and hugged me slightly. Wearing a low-cut top, Jenna had grown into a stunning tall beauty, but her change paled in comparison to Alex's.

"What? I'm not going to hug you," Alex said as I looked in her direction.

Instead of being short and stacked like Ariel Winter, Alex had grown to almost 1.75 m tall, matching her mother's height, and had inherited Claire's beauty as well. With luscious black hair, Alex wore a tight-fitting black sweater and thick-frame black glasses, but her figure was reminiscent of Gloria.

"You definitely won the best glow up amongst all of these guys." I said, holding a thumbs up at Alex.

Alex widened her eyes, taken aback by the sudden compliment and blushed slightly.

"What the hell are you even focusing on?" Alex grumbled, masking her shyness with annoyance.

Enid pouted, slightly depressed, "I wanted to catch your attention, but I guess I cannot fight against the double D's–"

"Enid!" Alex covered her mouth quickly. Elsa suddenly chimed in, "You're not even looking in my direction huh? Especially after what you have done to me?"

"Again, Frozen's Elsa has nothing to do with you." I shook my head, smiling apologetically at her. Elsa braided her long hair, wearing her signature jacket on top of her crop top as usual.

"Edward, this place is amazing." Jacob said, changing the subject inadvertently.

"Who wants a tour?" I asked. Everyone raised their hands up in excitement. Alex pushed her glasses up and said, "I want to see your lab."

"Legally, there's no lab inside the house. But yeah, fine. I'll show you." I agreed easily.

Enid walked to my side as we started the tour, asking with a whisper, "You're moving out from your dad's place?"

"I asked him to stay here, but he said I'm already an adult and I need my own space. So I'm living here by myself."

Alex snorted and said, "That won't be very long. I'm pretty sure some people will take advantage of you and move into one of the empty rooms."

"I want to move here!" Jenna raised her hand. Enid joined in, excitedly jumping up and down, "Oh! OH! Me too!"

I smiled and joked, "And get me arrested?" Both of them laughed.

"We'll start with the living room since you guys are all here."

"I want to see the bedroom!" Enid chimed in.

"We'll get there." I scoffed, rubbing her hair vigorously as a punishment, which made her pout.

"Don't treat me like a kid," Enid gritted her teeth in anger. But instead of being threatening, she just looked adorable.

With a floor-to-ceiling glass window on one side of the living room, the view showcased the mesmerizing flower garden cultivated outside the house.

A massive chandelier hung from the 20-foot ceiling, and a fireplace featured a sculpture of a lion. The art wall added a touch of elegance, and the highlight of the room was undoubtedly the conversation pit filled with 12-seater couches and two 85-inch OLED TVs mounted on the wall. The living room also boasted wainscoting painted in a deep shade of green.

"The dining room can seat 20 people," I said as we moved to another area. This dining space was positioned beneath a rectangular skylight that flooded the room with natural light.

Every nook and cranny of the house displayed a meticulous amount of detail, featuring artworks, sculptures, ornaments, and furniture. Although the teenagers following me couldn't fully appreciate the arrangement, they were undeniably impressed by the grandeur of the house.

"There's a bowling alley," I said as we descended to the basement area. "And an arcade!"

Everyone's eyes lit up at the mention of the entertainment options.

"A movie theater!"

Enid bounced on the sofa bed, while Jacob eagerly put on the 3D glasses. Alex and Jenna busied themselves making popcorn before we moved to another spot.

"I have a sauna and an indoor pool, but they're in a detached house. I'm too lazy to walk that far right now."

"I guess having a big mansion has its own cons too," Alex said sarcastically.

Jenna then asked, "You do have a housekeeper, right, Edward? I don't think it's a good idea to manage this entire house by yourself."

"Yeah, I have housekeepers. There are six of them that I've hired for maintenance around the house. Oh, speak of the devil, we've stumbled upon one of them."

An elegant, black-haired beauty wearing a maid's costume approached us with impeccable manners.

"Good evening, Sir Newgate," she greeted me with courtesy. I waved slightly at her with a smile. The others were surprised to see her and nodded in greeting as well.

She only smiled politely at them before walking away. "Who's she? She looks gorgeous," Enid whispered while hugging my right arm.

"That's Yuri Alpha. She's the head of the maid squad. She prefers to work in the background, so it's hard to see her around," I replied casually.

We arrived at the library on the first floor, where Alex became starstruck at the number of books I had collected.

There's a gym, a salon with an android worker, and the girls decided to have a manicure. Oh, and there's a 10-car parking garage.

"Lab! I want to see the lab!" Alex demanded, whining slightly.

"I don't want to go; can I stay here and bowl instead?" Enid asked.

"Sure. Everyone can do their own thing," I replied. Only Alex wanted to visit the lab. We exited the house and walked along the pathway leading to the lab. I entered the access code to open the door, which caused Alex to quip.

"How long is the password?"

"It's a combination of 69 letters and numbers," I replied, making Alex's jaw drop. As the heavy metal door opened, we stepped inside the lab.

Alex's eyes widened as she took in the highly futuristic laboratory. She skipped giddily to the first piece of equipment she saw.

"Is this an atomic force microscope?" she asked, admiring the equipment for a moment before her gaze shifted. "Flow cytometers? These things cost millions!"

Next-Generation Sequencers (NGS), Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) Machines, Electrophoresis Equipment, Microarrays, Capillary Electrophoresis Systems, High-Performance Liquid Chromatography (HPLC), CRISPR/Cas9 Systems, Cell Culture Equipment, Bioinformatics Software—Alex checked out the equipment one by one.

"This is a lab focused on the study of biology, more accurately, the human genome. You're not studying anything dangerous here—like a zombie virus or supersoldier stuff?" Alex asked, her eyes full of suspicion.

"Because if you are, I want in," she declared with determination.

I chuckled and replied, "I'm studying an HIV cure based on a unique human genome I found. This individual is impervious to the disease, so I'm trying to figure out how, then replicate it to use as a cure."

Alex looked at me with disbelief, then she said with annoyance, "You're not satisfied with curing diabetes, you also want to cure aids? What will be left for me to work on when I graduate?!"

She bit her thumb nail anxiously, her eyes kept darting to the lab. I smiled and patted her head softly, "There's a lot more to work on, like cancer."

Alex brushed off my hand and said, "I will graduate early too. I can't wait for 2 more years. I won't be able to be a Valedictorian, but if I can get special admission into Caltech, it won't matter anymore."

"I can write you a recommendation for Caltech. I know a lot of people there, even the Dean. You can get into college quite easily."

Her eyes widened, "Really? You think I can get in?"

"Yeah. Definitely." I said with confidence.

She suddenly said, "I will get my driver's license soon. Then, I can come by your house to be your lab assistant. Intern even. Let me play around– I mean, help you research the cure."

Even though she was excelling in school, Alex felt like she was being left behind in the scientific community. She has the capability, not the opportunity.

With 20 patents to her name, Alex could've gotten into Caltech or any Ivy Leagues universities with full scholarship if she wanted to.The problem was, there's no way Claire would let her 16 years old socially awkward go that easily.

"Come by next week. I'm not going to start this week." I told her.

Alex grumbled and argued, "Why not?"

"I just finished my world tour. Let me rest a little!" I snapped slightly.

As we got out of the lab, the rain had already stopped. Alex saw Vader jumping on the passageway wall and asked, "Are you letting Vader explore around freely? Isn't she an indoor cat?"

"The entire hill is mine. She can go wherever she wants here, there's no danger at all." I replied as I picked up the cat.

Jenna, Enid, Elsa, and Jacob continued exploring while we were gone. They headed to the indoor pool, changed into their bathing suits, and used the sauna while a maid served them snacks.

Meanwhile, Alex shared her plans with Enid about becoming my research partner/intern as she dipped her leg into the jacuzzi.

"Won't that be dangerous? You two, alone in the same room for hours..." Enid let her imagination run wild, which Alex quickly shut down. "We'll only be talking about science and nothing else."

"Really? Two single people spending a lot of time together? Do you really think nothing will happen?" Jenna teased with a knowing smile.

My ears perked up, and I asked, "Single? Who? Alex?"

"Wait, you didn't know?" Enid exclaimed, her eyes widening in surprise. "Alex broke up with Finneas a year ago!"

"Seriously?" I was genuinely shocked. "No wonder he's only sending me breakup songs to check out."

"How did it happen?" I asked, concerned.

"You really didn't know anything?" Enid was intrigued. Alex appeared uncomfortable and quickly said, "We don't have to talk about this."

"I won't push it now, but we are going to have a conversation about this later," I said, pointing my finger at Alex.

"Edward, do you have any plans tonight?" Jenna asked, changing the subject.

"I do. I'm meeting Sage here."

"Aww. I wanted to ask you to go to a party with me," Jenna whined, disappointment evident in her tone.

"Why are you meeting with Sage so late at night?" Alex narrowed her eyes with suspicion.

Jacob suddenly commented, "Ever notice how easily we transition from calling her Miss Anna to Sage just because Edward is calling her that?"

"Shush! I want to hear his answer," Elsa flapped her hand, gesturing for her boyfriend to be silent.

"There's just this thing we do together to relieve some stress," I replied ambiguously, unaware that my answer sparked wild imaginations among my friends.

Everyone left around 9:30 after we finished bowling together. They wanted to spend the night this weekend, which I gladly agreed to.

Sage arrived at the house around 11, and I greeted her at the door with a warm smile.

After leading her to the living room, I leaned forward, grabbing her hand and asked with a desperate expression, "We are going to do it today, right? I can't take it anymore."

"I'm really tired," Sage complained, her eyes showing fatigue.

I narrowed my eyes and begged with a sad look on my face, "Please! I'm going crazy without it. You're the only one I can do this with. And don't pretend you don't enjoy it too."

Sage hesitated but eventually sighed and said, "Alright. But just one time. I don't want it to be like last time when we destroyed an entire room."

Smiling happily, I pumped my fist in celebration. "Yeah!"

Sage slowly unbuttoned her oversized sweater and tossed it aside. Suddenly, she lunged forward at high speed, trying to knock me out with a punch. I bent my knees, avoiding it Matrix-style before twisting my body and kicking her with my left leg.

Sage blocked the blow with her arm, but the impact forced her to slide backward.

I laughed maniacally and said, "You really tried to end this with one punch, huh? We're not doing that today."

Sage sighed and grabbed a staff from the weapon rack in the gym. I opted for a pair of daggers and coated them with chakra. We both lunged forward, and the fight began at speeds that were almost impossible for the naked eye to see.

Only Sage could match my abilities nowadays. She used a [Copy] skill to lower herself to my level, and I had been sparring with her for almost two years now.

The newly built gym quickly turned into tatters from our intense battle. After I reached a certain level, I found myself to be incredibly bored when faced with other people.

I fought a bear in Russia, fought in an underground fighting ring, and had gotten into a lot of scuffle in the last two years, but it always ended too easily.

After an hour, I laid down on the floor, sweating heavily and gasping for breath.

"That was the best fight ever." I said with a maniacal grin on my face.

Sage squatted down beside me, her palm beneath her chin. "You have become stronger again. I don't know if that's a good or a bad thing for you."

"I'm bored!" I whined.

"Hmm..." Sage thought about it before saying, "I probably shouldn't tell you this, but if you become a level 4 afterlife agent, there's something called the 'Travel Ticket'."

"Travel where?" I sat up slightly and looked at her with intrigue.

"You'll find out where. But to get to level 4, there's still a very long road ahead." Sage stood up and brushed the dust off her legs. (A/N: No World travel, don't worry)

I stopped her before she could leave, "Sage. Can you help me with something?"

Sage figured out my intention without me even telling her, "You want me to help heal your mom's mind. It won't work. I already tried. I could hold it off for about a month, but she will have her episodes again. Without completing her obsession, her mental health won't get better."

I sighed and laid down on the floor again. "Please, help me take care of her. I'll complete it within the week and send her back to her hometown."

"Her obsession isn't about her country– Forget it. I don't think that you'll listen to me." Sage sighed and picked up her sweater.

"Transfer 100,000 dollars to my account for the sparring fee." She said.

I waved my hand, and Oracle transferred the money to her bank account. Sage kissed my forehead before she left the house.

"Goodnight Edward. Get some rest."

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"Even if I wanted to, I couldn't." I said after she left the house. But before I could do anything, I received a text message.

Barbara: Are you asleep?