It had been two weeks, and there was still no news of the Saintess' reaction. Matt was on the verge of giving up, thinking all their efforts were useless.
Julia, however, remained optimistic. "I'm sure some of her followers have already heard it. We just need to give it some time. Maybe she's busy, but she'll definitely come here. Our posts have already garnered millions of views."
Suddenly, Augustus exclaimed, "Guys, look at the news!" He showed them his Eyephone and revealed the headline, "The Saintess Arrives in the United States!"
Matt's face lit up with hope. "Really? Let's go! What do we do now?"
"The Saintess said she would be at this location, and those who need her help should come and visit her," Julia reminded them.
"I'll assign a few people to bring my father to the Saintess now," Matt said, wasting no time.
"Should we go and see?" Julia asked Augustus, who had been quiet.
"If you're up for it. But you look tired. You should rest," he replied, knowing how hard Julia had worked to promote the video and get people to spread the rumors.
"No, I think we should go. My parents want to be at Matt's father's side when he's cured," Julia said, determined.
"All right. I'll accompany you guys," Augustus agreed.
When they arrived at the event held by the Saintess, they found themselves surrounded by a sea of people. Some had come to catch a glimpse of her, while others hoped to receive her healing powers.
"The ones who need to be healed, please line up and register yourself. We'll call you once it's your turn," a voice announced.
The Saintess was nowhere to be seen, having been assigned a private room to avoid being bothered.
Matt registered his father, and they were given the number 204. Luckily, they arrived early, or they would have had to wait until the next day.
"Now, we wait," Augustus muttered.
As they were waiting, a man approached Augustus and Julia. He looked almost identical to Matt's father, and Augustus could deduce that this was Julia's father.
"Hello, are you Julia's friend?" the man asked.
Julia greeted him warmly, "Father. This is August. August, meet my father."
The man then asked Augustus, "You're the one who deduced Ethan's and the others' condition?"
Augustus nodded. "Yes, I did. It seems that you've confirmed the truth too."
"You were right, low-grade healers didn't work, and neither did the physicians who tried to cure Ethan's condition," the man admitted his mistake of not trusting Augustus.
"How did you know about it? Have you seen people with this condition before?" he continued to pry.
"I read it in books," Augustus replied nonchalantly.
"Father, you shouldn't ask inappropriate questions," Julia scolded her father.
"Okay, okay, I'm sorry. I just want to know more about your friend," Julia's father apologized to his daughter. "Anyway, it's thanks to your suggestion and ideas that my brother can recover. Thank you."
"No problem. I'm glad to hear that Matt's father is recovering too," Augustus replied with a smile.
"I'll leave you both alone. See you, honey," the man left as quickly as possible when he saw his daughter glaring at him.
"You mentioned that you and Matt are distant cousins? How come your father looks like the twin of Matt's father?" Augustus asked Julia.
"How did I know? Coincidence? They found each other by chance. They clicked with each other so well, even though they are ten years apart in age. My father is younger," Julia explained.
"Ah, I see." Augustus nodded.
"Hey, Julia! August! It's our turn now! Let's go!" Matt called out to them as it was finally his father's turn to get cured.
They followed Matt with a group of ten people guiding them. The Saintess's security was tight, and each bodyguard was strong.
As they arrived in the room, they found more people guarding the place. The Saintess sat on a chair, smiling and ready to cure the next person.
"Welcome. Let me take care of it," The Saintess greeted them and signaled to bring Matt's father closer so she could cast her healing.
As she cast her spell, the room was filled with a bright light. The divine power emitted from The Saintess was warm and soothing, and Augustus couldn't help but think that it was similar to the Auto-heal function deployed by the system.
After the healing process was completed, Matt's father was still in a coma. However, his complexion was much better than before, and he was sleeping soundly.
Matt, who saw his father's condition improving, was ecstatic. "Thank you, Saintess!" he knelt and prayed to The Saintess as if she were a goddess. It showed how grateful he was, as his father was the only family member he had left.
Julia's parents also expressed their gratitude towards The Saintess, as did Julia herself, bowing in respect. Augustus also thanked The Saintess on behalf of Matt.
The Saintess remained silent, but one of her followers stepped forward and spoke, "Praise be to the goddess, and praise be to the Saintess."
"Now, if you don't mind, we have more people to heal. If you're truly grateful to the goddess, please consider making a donation," the follower continued.
"Of course, we will," Julia's father replied as the group was led out of the room.
As soon as the room was empty, the Saintess turned to one of her close aides and asked, "How many people are left?"
"Saint Elizabeth, there are still two thousand and thirty-seven people remaining, and the number is increasing," the aide responded politely.
"Stop accepting new patients. I've already found what I came for," the Saintess commanded, having received a sign from the goddess just moments earlier.
"A man with silver hair, symbolizing purity, and golden eyes, symbolizing nobility. What a perfect successor the goddess has chosen," the Saintess smiled to herself.
"And find out his name and background. Check every detail about him. Leave no stone unturned and report back to me," she ordered her aide.
After Matt's father had been cured, everyone settled down and congratulated themselves for their hard work. Even the family who had suffered the same fate as Matt's father thanked them for their help.
A few days later, Matt's father woke up. Though he still showed signs of fear, he was now able to think clearly. The experience had left him traumatized, and he had decided to retire from his work as a renowned bounty hunter.
"I'm sorry, son. I'm thinking of retiring," Ethan apologized to Matt.
"Don't apologize, Father. Just focus on getting better. I'll do my best this time," Matt promised, determined to not let his family suffer again.
"It's okay. We can help each other. You can become a coach on Earth, your experience is valuable. There's no need for you to risk yourself out there anymore. You've done enough," Julia's Father suggested.
"Yes, I'll do just that. But before that, let me thank my benefactor," Ethan stood up, despite still being in the process of recovering.
"It's okay, sir. Your son and niece did most of the work. Even if I hadn't been here, they still would have found a way to cure you," Augustus humbly replied, lifting Ethan up and showing respect to Matt's father.
"I heard that you're going to the army, and my son is determined to join you. Matt told me as soon as he woke up. It seems he's quite desperate to follow you," Ethan revealed, secretly assessing Augustus' strength as he stood up.
"I believe you can take care of my son in the army. I'll leave him with you," Ethan said, impressed by Augustus' impeccable strength for someone his age.
"Yes, I'll take care of him, even if you didn't tell me, sir," Augustus reassured him.
"Good. Matt, you've found yourself a good friend," Ethan told his son.
"Yes! I've already told you so many times, but you asked me to stay away from him," Matt grumbled.
"T-this… my son describes you very horribly. It's my son's fault," Ethan whispered to Augustus with a smile.
Augustus just laughed, not knowing what else to say. "Yeah, I noticed that too."
"What are you guys laughing at?" Matt asked, oblivious to their discussion.
...
...
Augustus got home and sat on his bed, staring at the ceiling.
"Brother, I've prepared the spirit stones and mana stones in the warehouse, as per your request. It took a while to convert that much money to spirit stones. Sorry for being late," Ian's message said.
Augustus had been waiting for this for a long time. As money flowed in from the business, he wondered what he could do with it. Then he remembered that he could spend all of it in the system.
"Maybe I can finally meet Ziyu again with the Guest feature finally unlocked. With kitchen features unlocked, I could prepare proper meals to thank her, and I'm curious about the system's claim that food can aid in my cultivation," Augustus thought.
He quickly made his way to the warehouse, where Ian greeted him.
"Brother, what are you going to do with mountains of spirit stones and mana stones?"
"I'm going to buy something with them," Augustus said, quickly storing them into his dimensional storage with the help of the system.
"Whoa, your dimensional storage can hold all of these?" Ian was surprised, as dimensional storage was usually as big as a small bedroom.
"How's Grace and Jackson doing?"
"They're doing great, especially Grace. She's eating very well, and I listened to your request and provided her with a healing properties bath. She seems quite happy with it."
"Good, keep up the good work. I'll be leaving now."
"Oh yes, I've also received a message from my father that he wanted to meet you. I told him that it's not up to me, so he tasked me to send you this letter," Ian said, handing Augustus a letter handwritten by the head of Chen Family to show professionalism.
"Hmm, he should have just sent people to meet me. It's fine. I'll find time to meet him if I get the chance to," Augustus said, grabbing the letter and storing it in his storage without reading it.
"See you later," Ian waved goodbye to Augustus.
Finally, Augustus arrived home, ready to go into Martial Seclusion House.