The following morning, Zeel sat in the same chair at the same cocktail lounge in the same hotel.

He planned to monitor Dr. Jennifer for one more day before approaching her. He was certain that the only reason she was still at the hotel was to wait for him.

Zeel knew that Jennifer and Nick tossed in the sheets last night. Due to his suspicious nature, Zeel also made sure to focus his senses on keeping an eye on Jenny.

He could finally put his heart at ease since she wasn't plotting anything.

It was a bit tiring being so paranoid, but Zeel's paranoid nature had saved his life numerous times. But even Zeel knew that he couldn't prepare for everything all the time.

Still, he could prepare for most things, and that's exactly what he did.

However, apart from spying on Jenny, Zeel had an ever more important mission today.

Last night, he took almost twenty showers and now needed Nick to verify that the scent of other women was gone from his body.

It was early in the morning and Zeel sat at the bar drinking a sweeter cocktail. He expected Nick to exit the room later in the evening, but Nick exited around 6 am.

Zeel noted that Nick seemed to be sneaking out half-naked, carrying all his clothes in his hand.

Seeing Zeel at the bar, Nick made his way over planning to drink a bit before leaving immediately after.

"Running away from responsibilities?" Zeel asked since he had learned to do the same thing ever since sleeping with Lara.

Nick grabbed the drink from Zeel's hands and gulped it down. Nick wore a smile as if he had hit the jackpot.

"I think I can finally afford to retire now," Nick stated, hurriedly trying to wear the clothing in his hands.

Zeel wanted to pretend to care about Nick's life, but Zeel knew that Nick would be able to tell, so he chose to ask directly.

"Are the smells gone?" Zeel asked anxiously.

Nick shook his head while looking at Zeel "The smell isn't the problem. It's everything… your face, your body… everything screams satisfaction,"

Zeel grew frustrated and even had the faint thought of killing Nick but quickly restrained himself.

Zeel waved his hand in a dismissive manner.

Knowing that Zeel had pardoned him, Nick mocked bowed a couple of times, and skittered through the door of the hotel.

"Hey, Zeel! I will treat you to a drink when I get rich… just call me!" Nick yelled, already gone from sight.

Zeel snorted "Call? You didn't even leave a number,"

Truthfully, Zeel was a bit depressed since Nick could be considered a friend-candidate. Zeel felt that he and Nick were the same type of people.

Nick robbed graves for wealth, and Zeel killed entire species for energy. Their actions were similar, only the scales were somewhat different.

Point was… they were both men that took things from dead people.

With Nick gone and nobody to talk to, Zeel stared at the bartender on duty. It was a girl working part-time to save money for college. Her name was Rose.

"Do I smell like different women?" Zeel asked.

Rose stared at Zeel and nodded in affirmation "Yeah, like three of them… it was intense as well,"

"I don't smell anything," Zeel replied, smashing his head into the counter.

The counter shook under the strain of his hard head, which was strangely fitting for the current situation.

Hesitating for a bit, Rose asked "Do you want to get rid of the smell?"

Zeel nodded solemnly like Rose had asked the most sacred question in the universe.

"If you help me, I guarantee benefits!" Zeel stated.

For a brief moment, Zeel even considered gifting Rose a planet but remembered he didn't own any planets anymore.

Rose giggled and ducked below the bar, standing up with a box containing a necklace in her hands.

She handed it to Zeel who held it subconsciously, she inspected him for a while and nodded in satisfaction.

"The truth is… you can't hide things from women, but you can ask for forgiveness with pretty things," Rose stated, a sweet smile blossoming on her face.

Zeel suddenly felt enlightened, the girl was right, he had messed up and required forgiveness, but he didn't know how to ask for it.

He never had to admit his faults before… he never felt guilty before… and he didn't feel the need to be forgiven about anything, but something about the girl's wisdom touched him on a fundamental level.

For the first time in a while, a new emotion emerged inside his mind – guilt.

Thus far, Zeel had experienced anger, love, urgency, desperation, loneliness, and now guilt.

At this point, Zeel had experienced almost all the basic emotions that normal humans would experience, but he still couldn't process complex emotions.

His anger emotions stemmed from revenge against the Asheborn's. His love emotion stemmed from his first meeting with Alice, and he later experienced happiness through spending time with Alice and Elizabeth.

His fear emotion stemmed from being watched by The Ghost Rider.

He had experienced urgency and desperation, but not sadness. He experienced loneliness and guilt, but never disgust.

Zeel never felt truly complex emotions except when he was with Aurolana in Purgatory.

After all, only Aurolana could somewhat relieve the pain he hidden deep in his heart. His emotions were naturally amplified while near Aurolana, but it would become dull the longer they were apart.

That was one of the detriments of having a soulmate – they felt everything you felt.

"Uhmm, you okay?" Rose asked, seeing that Zeel had gone silent.

'Maybe the necklace was too expensive?' She thought.

Zeel snapped out of his daze and hugged Rose with a pleased look gracing his face.

"You have completed your part of the bargain," Zeel stated and slapped a bracelet onto the wrist of Rose without giving her a chance to reject.

"This will help you in whatever you require in the future… you just have to want it enough and it will show a path forward," Zeel said.

Rose looked confused and asked, "What is it?"

The silver-bracelet was as plain as a bracelet could be, but Rose noticed small glyphs carved into the silver.

Zeel shrugged and tapped the bracelet as it pulsed with blue light.

"It was made using Loric Technology, Hybrid Runes, and my technological expertise… think of it as a next-generation computer in the form of a bracelet," Zeel said.

Rose wore a pleased face as she admired the gift, but she clearly didn't believe Zeel's story about the bracelet being so useful.

Seeing her doubt, Zeel felt the need to prove his credibility. It would leave a bad taste in his mouth for the girl who helped him to think he gifted her something subpar in recompense.

"Ask the bracelet a question… actually, you only need to think about something and the bracelet will show you the answer," Zeel said, waiting in anticipation to see his grand design at work for the first time.

The bracelet had not been tested since it was conceived by him and Elizabeth back in Lorien Universe. It was one of the treasures they created to test the automatic calibrator function.

Rose rolled her eyes and asked the bracelet "How do I become stronger?"

The bracelet pulsed and projected an image mid-air, much to the surprise of Rose. However, she soon noticed that the bracelet didn't show the answer to the question she asked.

The bracelet was impressive but it was also clearly somewhat faulty.

Zeel furrowed his brows at seeing this and asked "Did you ask what you meant?"

"Of course!" Rose answered a bit offended.

Who didn't want to become stronger?

Zeel stared at the information projected into the air and came to a realization.

"Humans often ask for something when they mean something else… the bracelet works with inner thoughts.

You asked 'how to become stronger,' but the reason you wanted to become strong was that your uncle abused you," Zeel said, throwing a disdainful look at the girl who called his invention faulty.

Rose look startled like a rabbit that would jump away any moment. How could Zeel see through her intentions so easily?

For years now, Rose wanted to kill her uncle because he would often whip her and her cousins.

'How could he know that?' She thought, her heart beating a million miles a minute.

She planned to poison her uncle eventually - that was why she decided to work at a bar where certain materials are easily accessible.

"You don't have to worry much though," Zeel said while staring at the projections in the air.

"See these two images?" Zeel asked and Rose nodded her head mechanically.

"These are hospital x-ray scans… your uncle is already dying from a brain tumor. I give him a week at best," Zeel stated "Just don't go home for a week and he'll be dead… easily solved,"

While Rose looked joyful at the news, Zeel was troubled.

With her uncle dying, that meant his gift was essentially useless to Rose. How could she appreciate the greatness of his gift without proof it worked?

"Here!" Zeel said, gesturing to the projections floating in the air.

"If you touch this and swipe it this way, then that will grant life insurance to your uncle and state yourself as the sole beneficiary on the will… so you will profit after he dies," Zeel said, feeling impressed by his own tech.

Rose stood frozen in shock, but Zeel took this as a sign of her disapproval.

Eager to please, Zeel decided to grant the girl a one-time unique benefit.

"If you click here, it will show you a way to strangle your uncle to death with your bare hands and not get caught," Zeel said, activating the emergency murder function of the bracelet.

Rose quickly nodded and hid the bracelet while throwing a forced smile in Zeel's direction. She had to stop the madman before he showed her a way to blow her uncle up and not get caught.

Seeing the girl's approval, Zeel felt that his gift was decent enough. He rose from his cheer and went back to his room with pride in his strides.

Maybe, he could take a break from monitoring Jenny for today.

Rose watched as the madman left the lobby, and then she fainted on the floor.