Interstellar: Return of the Villain
Chapter 187: Kail’s Future

Chapter 187: Kail’s Future

As soon as Lyra made her exit with her crew, Mr. Frei didn’t waste a single second. Without so much as a glance back at the Shedd family elders, he grabbed Lyra and Kail and teleported them away.

On the way, Lyra used her superpower, healing Kail’s injuries. By the time they landed back at her company, Kail was laid out on the couch, conscious but still in a daze.

He stared up at the ceiling as if trying to make sense of it all. His body trembled, the pain from earlier still fresh in his mind.

"Sis," he mumbled, his voice shaking. "Did Erin steal your superpower? What happened?" The trauma of everything he’d just been through was still written all over his face.

"This wasn’t just some random attack, was it? Did Ansel know this was coming?" Kail suddenly sat up, the adrenaline spiking as anger replaced his confusion.

"He must’ve known! Where in the world did they get that kind of tech?" His frustration bubbled over as he tried to piece everything together.

Morrison, who had been quietly shuffling papers, jumped at Kail’s outburst. He was used to the chaos that seemed to follow Lyra, but this still managed to catch him off guard.

Lyra, calm as ever, took a slow sip of water before replying, "You’re asking way too many questions."

Without any warning, Kail dropped to his knees in front of her, tears streaming down his face. He started slapping himself, again and again, between sobs. "I’m sorry! I didn’t know... I didn’t know anything!"

Lyra’s gaze turned icy as she looked down at her broken brother. "It’s too late for ’sorry.’ From now on, your job is simple: run the store for me."

Even Morrison, who had seen a lot in his time with Lyra, didn’t see that coming. Before he could react, Lyra’s voice cut through the tension again, "Morrison, print the document."

Morrison’s eyebrows shot up as he glanced at his opticomputer. The file had just appeared on the screen. "Boss, this document..."

"Just print it."

Rubbing her temples, Lyra turned to Kail, who was still shaking on the floor. "Now that you’ve had a peek behind the curtain of what the Shedd family’s really like, you better start pulling your weight."

Kail, eyes wide, nodded vigorously. "I get it, sis. From now on, I’ll do whatever you say. I swear."

Moments later, Morrison came back, holding a freshly printed contract. He laid it in front of Kail.

"Sign this."

Confused, Kail picked up the document and started reading. The further he read, the more bewildered he became. He looked up at Lyra, his voice shaky. "Why... why are you doing this?"

It was a transfer contract for one of Lyra’s biggest stores. She was giving it to him.

’Is this her way of showing she still believes in me? Or maybe it’s her last-ditch attempt to make me useful?’ Kail wondered.

"Sign it," Lyra said, resting her head on her hand. "Didn’t you say you’d follow my orders? The store’s got an experienced manager who’ll show you the ropes—inventory, running day-to-day operations, all of it. You’ll be fine."

After a moment of hesitation, Kail finally signed the contract. As he did, a tiny spark of hope flickered in his eyes, like he wasn’t totally lost after all.

Once he was gone, Lyra turned to Morrison. "After I leave, don’t interfere with that store, no matter what kind of mess it gets into. We’ll deal with everything once I’m back from my internship."

Morrison, still full of questions, relaxed a bit. "Boss, what sort of problems are you expecting?"

Lyra’s expression darkened, and a strange gleam flickered in her eyes. "People who make a habit of stealing can’t resist snatching something up when it looks like easy pickings."

Later that night, Lyra regrouped with her team, ready to set out for Demetra in the morning.

Their internship had officially moved under the Legion of Rose, and Ansel had returned to his military duties. This change seemed to promise a much calmer remainder of their internship.

The only twist was the dismissal and disgraceful discharge of Instructor Anton.

When they arrived in Demetra, Mandy approached Lyra with a guilty look. "I was too wrapped up in my argument with Cohen over how to handle the queen bee. I didn’t realize what Caesara was up to. She used Instructor Anton to kill the Mendez family’s butler."

It turned out the butler had been following Mendez’s orders, drugging the queen bee and driving her powers into chaos.

Mendez had been hell-bent on wrecking Lyra’s financial future, no matter the consequences.

But in the end, the butler had met her fate, torn apart by two Space Twisters.

After the devastating loss of one of their top level-seven Peculiars, the Mendez family was desperately getting their revenge, no matter what it took.

The kicker? They had been the ones to start the whole mess in the first place.

With Cohen now firmly in control of Wyrmtrace, the Mendez family couldn’t spin the story or manipulate things in their favor like they normally would.

Since they couldn’t go after the real targets, they focused on an easier mark—Anton, the retired veteran with no major backing.

Killing their butler, a civilian, regardless of the reason, was a one-way ticket to ruin. Without any powerful connections to shield him, Anton got hit with the full weight of the consequences.

When Lyra heard about it, she raised an eyebrow. "So Caesara finally made her move, huh? Took her long enough," she remarked, clearly unimpressed.

The way she saw it, Caesara had been sitting on this for a while, just waiting for the right moment to strike.

"What’s going to happen to Anton?" Mandy asked from her spot on the bed, looking conflicted. "He was just trying to protect me."

Anton had been living a quiet, comfortable life after leaving the military due to his injuries. He had his pension and a solid salary from his job at the NMA. But now? Both were gone, and he was left with nothing.

Lyra crossed her arms, her mind on bigger things. "I’m more interested in how to handle the Mendez family," she said bluntly, before pulling out her opticomputer to call Caspian. "Has Jorathon tried to schedule treatment with Aesculapius’ Grace yet?"

Caspian, in the middle of chatting with a young man, quickly excused himself and stepped to the window. "Is something wrong?" he asked cautiously.

"The Mendez family is gunning to tank my business on Wyrmtrace. What do you think?"

Caspian didn’t need to be told twice—this was a big deal. He was counting on Lyra’s sale of her energy stone mine, after all.

Once the call ended, he turned back to Alon, but the cheerful smile he wore earlier was long gone. "Looks like your appointment just got canceled."

Alon’s face darkened with disappointment. "If you’re looking to invest in energy stone mines, I can offer some too," he said, trying to salvage the situation.

Caspian was tempted, sure, but he wasn’t dumb. He knew Lyra’s ventures promised way bigger returns than anything the Mendez family could dangle in front of him.

"It’s not really about the mine," Caspian replied, after a brief pause. "But let’s be real—you family going to get much out of Wyrmtrace at this point."

Most of the planet’s wealth had already been snatched up by Lyra’s bee colonies, and with Cohen, who held the true power on Wyrmtrace, in her corner, the Mendez family didn’t stand a chance against the military’s influence.

Honestly, Caspian couldn’t believe Jorathon had been dumb enough to move against Lyra. ’Dose he really think he could pull out of the deal just because he found some alternative to Aesculapius’ Grace?’

And to top it off, they tried to drag Caspian into their mess. It was downright insulting.

"Mr. East, is there really no room for negotiation?" Alon pressed, his words carrying a subtle threat.

"I’m a businessman," Caspian replied, waving him off, "I don’t backstab my partners."

With that, he motioned for his secretary to show Alon the door.

As soon as the door shut behind him, Caspian let out a long sigh. "Somebody gets older and think he’s untouchable."

The secretary smirked. "Yeah, they probably thought their little schemes would go unnoticed."

But in the end, they had fallen straight into Lyra’s trap.

Sitting in his lev, Alon seethed with quiet fury.

His thoughts turned to Mandy.

He had expected everything to go smoothly once Morrison left Wyrmtrace, leaving the mechanical overseer less involved. But then Mandy showed up and threw everything off track.

After multiple failed attempts, not only had he lost the butler, but his family’s relationship with Lyra was utterly shattered.

...

Back on Demetra, Lyra was satisfied with how her call had gone. She quickly reached out to Debbie. "Check on Instructor Anton. Make sure he’s got what he needs and help him out if you can."

"Got it."

Once she ended the conversation, Lyra shut her opticomputer just as Zinnia returned from training. "Let’s go shopping! We’ve been stuck on Demetra for ages and haven’t even gotten a chance to look around properly!"

Vikie, never one to miss out on fun, jumped in with excitement, "Exactly! And with Vice Admiral Leandro hinting that things are about to get hectic, this might be our last chance!"

The team agreed, deciding to hit the town and enjoy some downtime, officially kicking off the start of their year-long internship.