While Vance was thinking of ways to shift the stiff atmosphere in the room.
The President who was sitting suddenly stood up.
"Now, now. Everyone, don't stare at our savior too much. Please Mr. Vance, have a seat."
In a second, the President immediately lifted the unsettling mood that was in the room.
As expected of the President, he was able to shift the mood in the room upside down in just a moment. It was no surprise since his talent is Strategist. He must also be the reason why this place is stable even after the First Wave happened.
Strategists, people with this talent have a special way of thinking. They can generate in their head hundreds of solutions that solve a problem. Because of this trait they are perfect to lead a stronghold.
Vance took a seat into the armchair while the President also seated at the opposite armchair.
The two just stared at each other and didn't talk for a while. Perhaps they were just probing each other or perhaps they were testing each other. Only the two of them would know.
The staring contest lasted for a while. MInutes passed and one of them finally gave up.
"Hahaha! I'm impressed! I can't believe you have this much patience even after being a young child. I admit, I underestimated you." The President laughingly said.
Vance didn't say anything and just smiled.
You can't really let your guard down around him. I bet just with this interaction he already learned a lot about me. What a terrifying man.
Vance was spot on. In their staring contest just now, the President observed him very carefully.
Once Vance shifted from his eyes even a little bit then he will think of Vance as a man who was weak in negotiations. Letting him have an edge in transactions.
If Vance just continued to stare at President's eyes calmly, then he will think of Vance as a man who was very composed and not easy to deceive with.
If Vance did stare at the President's eyes but had some kind of reaction like impatience, cautiousness or agitation. Then he will think of Vance as a child that was easy to take advantage of.
There were more things that the President was able to deduce to inside his brain. This was the skill that came with his talent, Heightened Observation.
With this skill, his sense of eyesight increased and he was able to observe every detail in an object or a person. It was truly a perfect skill for his talent.
The President observed every detail on Vance's face. He deduced that he was a very calm person that was able to have rational thinking in any situation. But this wasn't why he was surprised.
Normally, a person wouldn't be able to be completely calm when they are surrounded by men that are armed with guns that may be pointed at you at any time. They will slightly panic for fear of life.
Yet, the President didn't see it at Vance. It was as if he was saying that he will be able to escape alive even if they fired the guns at point blank.
This was nothing else but complete confidence in himself or it could also be arrogance, the President didn't know but he was more inclined to the former.
"So? I wonder why the President called me here? You didn't called me here just to have this staring contest right?" Vance went straight to the point.
The atmosphere suddenly became heavy. The President's face changed from his happy going expression to a serious one.
This sudden turn of expression was all too familiar to Vance. Once he does this, no one will be able to beat him when it comes to a battle of intelligence.
"Then, I'll be straightforward. Mr. Vance, I want you to become the leader of this shelter."
Vance widen his eyes to what he heard. He didn't expect for the President to make this reckless move.
"Before I answer that, how did you know my name? The first time that I set my foot here you called me by my name. From what I can remember, I don't think we have ever met once.
Naturally that was a lie, Vance needed to keep the matter of time traveling a secret. Once someone knows that Vance holds information of the future events, he'll be hunted by no end. Although Vance wasn't afraid, it was just too troublesome to deal with them.
"There were six people that claimed to know who you are in this shelter. I'm confident that this information is not wrong or was I?"
"No, you're correct…"
Six people huh? I have a hunch on who could be the one but the other five…Wait five..? Ah right! Those five, Daniel and the others. I completely forgot about them. So they made it here huh? That's a relief. I should meet them later.
"I also want to ask you something. Are you the one who made the huge and endless hole at the entrance?"
Vance was stunned at the President's question.
Right off the bat huh? I should feign ignorance here. But this will be incredibly hard, this man has monstrous observation skills, he will notice in an instant that I lied. I should keep my expression and breathing stable.
Vance's decision was a smart and wise choice. He didn't want to expose his strength right now, especially to the man in front of him. If he exposes his strength then this current stiff relationship will just continue.
Preferably, he wanted to make the father and son relationship that they had in the past timeline.
However, Vance had a characteristic that he didn't even know himself.
He is unbelievably bad at lying.
"I-I w-wonder how you came to that c-conclusion?"
The President was too stunned to speak.
This boy is extremely bad at lying! Even without using my Heightened Observation, I can obviously see that he is lying. I bet even the other guys here can surely see it. Is this god-like person really so naive?
The President who was silent suddenly burst into laughter.
"Hahahaha! Why was I even so guarded? This is so idiotic."
"Huh?" Vance was confused.
"Huff. That was a good laugh. Boy, you suck at lying."
"Uh..Was I that obvious?" Vance was quite embarrassed. Even though he was very confident of his lying skills.
"Listen, boy, the reason why we need you to become our leader is because we require a figurehead."
"A figurehead huh? Well, you do need to give an explanation regarding that hole."
In an instant, Vance already understands the situation. Human fears the most are unknown. They can't rest easily if something that doesn't have an explanation just rests beside them which is the deep dark hole at the entrance, especially now in this time where they have to be extra cautious.
If the President doesn't give an explanation to the unknown then the uneasy citizens will start to question, in the worst case even create chaos that disrupts the peace.
This is where the 'figurehead' comes in. The figurehead will carry all the blame of this unknown, letting the citizens know that it was nothing dangerous.
"You won't even deny it anymore huh? Well, you are right, we do need some kind of explanation on what happened but that's not all. It will also let the anxious mind of the people be at ease if someone powerful leads them."
Vance nodded. "I understand most of your plans, but why choose me? If you just wanted a figurehead then can't you just choose anyone else?"
"Ahh..Well, while we were carrying you to take you to a treatment room. Many people saw you in your golden skin state."
Vance raised his eyebrows at the last word that the President said. "Golden skin..state…?"
"Yes, it must be one of your skills right?"
What is he talking about?
[When you used your Divine Power, the divine energy in your blood vessels flowed so fast that it made your body glowed golden.]
Oh, thanks System!
Seeing Vance being listless, the President became worried.
"What's wrong?"
"Ah yes. So you're already aware of your talents."
"Yes, I tried to make the people say the phrase to open your Personal Stats but only a few actually showed up."
"So you wanted to recruit people with talents. Actually, I have a suggestion regarding that."
Whisper..whisper..
"Ohh! So that was why!"
***
The two's discussion lasted for a long while. After two hours Vance finally came out of the President's office.
"Ahh..that was a long talk. That made me hungry. Should I go to the cafeteria next?"