Leonard's laboratory was located in the industrial center of the town. There were large buildings around that had smoke coming out of the chimneys, and Andres could smell the distinct scent of oil in machines.
Among the gigantic buildings of manufacturing companies, there was a small building that would have been overlooked by a lot of people. It was squeezed between an electronic chip manufacturing building and a traditional tobacco company. Andres was thankful for GPS.
He didn't even have to knock as Leonard seemed more than prepared to welcome him.
"Ah, you must be here to deliver the Kores. I'm Leonard."
When Andres heard that he was meeting with a researcher, he thought he would see a well-dressed man with a clean and organized aura around him. Instead, he saw a half-balding man wearing a dirtied white coat.
"I'm Andres. I'm here to deliver… the goods."
Leonard looked at Andres and was surprised to see a student the same age as Patty. He was expecting a more mature man whose only hobby was sculpting his muscles. With Patty's company and their resources, he would have thought they hired a more professional bodyguard to safely deliver the Kores.
Both of them sized each other up. They expected something more, but since Patty was the one who organized all of this, then they trusted his judgment more than theirs.
"Please, come in." Leonard walked back through the door. "Pardon the mess. I haven't had much time to clean because of my research."
"That's alright," Andres said as he sat on one of the chairs next to the door, facing Leonard's office desk. He saw all the diplomas on the wall and was impressed. He didn't know Leonard was a genius who studied Kores.
His doctorate in Chemical Kore Composition was equivalent to having a doctorate in quantum physics back in the day.
"This place is completely secure. I believe that you have the Kores?"
Andres nodded and raised his Space Ring in the air. With just one thought, a vortex of purple and space suddenly appeared on top of the ring and shot out the Kores in Andres' hands. Just like that, he was able to take out the 5 high-quality Kores that Leonard so desperately needed.
As soon as the Kores manifested in reality, Leonard immediately knew that they were genuine. These were the same Kores that Patty showed him the other day. It had the same dark glow on the crystals, showing their purity. These were the real deal.
Andres walked over to Leonard and completed the delivery. "Here are the Kores."
Leonard cupped his hands and received the Kores. He made sure to handle it with the utmost care, even if he knew that the Kores weren't all that fragile. These were treasures that could revolutionize the whole world, and they were vital in completing his research. He wasn't just going to treat them like any other Kore.
"The Kores are in my hands," Leonard uttered. "The money is transferred to Patty at this very second." His eyes never left the Kores in his hand. His brain was immediately in analysis mode, taking time to study the Kores with his bare eyes.
Andres smiled when he heard that he completed his job without any problems. He would be embarrassed if he couldn't even do such a simple task.
"I'm glad. Now that I have delivered the goods to you, then I must take my leave." Andres said.
But before he could leave, Leonard asked him one last question.
"Are you a part of Aezure company?"
Andres turned back and looked at him, confused. He hadn't even heard of that company at all. "What is it?"
"Don't you know? That is Patty's company. I thought you were his delivery man?"
Everything finally made sense for Andres. It turned out that Patty had his own company this entire time! Now that he thought about it, it only made sense. After all, how could he have that kind of power? How was he able to procure high-quality Kores out of nowhere?
"I don't know. He didn't tell me about his company. But I work exclusively for him. We even have a contract."
Leonard nodded. From what he understood, the Aezure company was still staying low-key. It wasn't the right time to show their power yet. Patty was probably still gathering more power and money until he showed himself to the world and surprised everyone with his wealth.
"If you're working for him, then you must be part of his company. It makes sense that he wouldn't tell it to you yet. The Aezure company is still keeping itself underground."
Andres was intrigued. It seemed that the Aezure company was some sort of secret organization that had big plans in store.
It made sense, though.
If people like the Ruobber company knew about the strength and resources of the Aezure company, especially Patty's magical carrots, then they would do anything to destroy him before he got too big.
Both Andres and Leonard had their thoughts as to why the Aezure company was staying low-key. However, they agreed to one thing.
"It's a revolution!" they both said at the same time.
They might have come to the same conclusion, however, they were talking about two completely different things.
Andres was talking about Patty's power of producing any Teqx he wanted and giving it to anyone he deemed worthy. Accompanied by the magical carrots, he could start a global revolution against those who were enslaved by companies to work for them without any benefit.
In Andres' eyes, Patty could gather all of the mistreated students and employees of the companies and make them turn against those same companies! This would completely turn the world upside down. It was that kind of revolution.
However, Leonard was talking about a different thing.
Leonard was thinking about the new revolutionary Kores that would destroy the Kore economy. The Kores in his hands got twice the energy as normal Kores of the same purity. If this Kore got out to the world, it would completely change the landscape of the market.
Those Kore monopolies would tumble. The unethical inflation of prices and hoarding of Kores would finally stop, giving ordinary people a chance to own high-quality Kores without having to pay astronomical prices for them. Leonard was thinking about that kind of revolution.
Even though the two of them were talking about different things, they were both in agreement. They wanted to join Patty's revolution against the big bully companies!
"This is a very sensitive topic. We shouldn't be talking about such stuff out in the open. Who knows who's listening to us," Andres said.
Leonard nodded. Even though he felt secure in his laboratory, he knew that there were a lot of ways to circumvent his security. "I agree."
"But, we're both in agreement, right? It must happen." Andres asked, gauging Leonard's reaction.
Thankfully, Leonard thought the same thing. "Yes. It must happen. I will contribute my share by continuing my research."
Andres didn't know what Kores had to do with the revolution, but he didn't question it. "I'll also do my share. If I have the opportunity, I will see if other people share our 'beliefs'."
Andres vowed to find more people who could contribute to the cause.
They both shook hands. Even though their agreement was based on a misunderstanding, historians in the future would label this as the start of the revolution that would shake the entire world.
-------------
Andres' bullies from the Ruobber company finally returned to their headquarters. Immediately, they went to their superiors to report what they found out about Andres.
"Are you sure about this?"
The two of them nodded furiously. "Yes. We even saw him with a Space Ring! We all know how poor that kid is. There's no way he could afford that by himself. He must have had help."
The head boss of the department in charge of interns of the Ruobber company rubbed his chin. There was an explicit order from the beings above him that ordered them to employ as many interns as possible.
Interns were a good source of labor. Given that most interns quit before even reaching the last quarter of their internship, it was free labor. Of course, some persisted till the end.
Unfortunately, they had to pay up and give a Teqx to those bastards. To offset their losses with that, they had to make sure that they squeezed as much labor as they could from the interns. This meant that they had to have a large number of interns at all times.
If what these two employees said was correct, then there was a company that was willing to poach interns away from them.
This was bad. To meet their quota for the month, they needed to squeeze at least a month of free labor from Andres. If not, then he could get in trouble with the bosses from above.
"Fine. Mobilize some of the interns and make them track down Andres. Make sure that they find out what company he transferred to. I don't care if they have to break every bone in his body," the boss ordered.
The two were disappointed that they didn't get to deal with Andres themselves. But at least, he would get destroyed by his fellow interns.