Chapter 266 Oil, That is. Black Gold, Texas Tea
A week later.
Aron was going at it with Rina in one of the mansions built for him in the universal simulation, their tenth round of the day. That had been a frequent activity over the past week, since Aron had spent most of his time with her doing many different things... including skinship. And since there was no pain in the simulation, they constantly did it as if they were trying to make up for all of the time they had lived without it.
They had become completely addicted to each other.
Everything had happened after they'd clarified their relationship the moment Rina had woken up, as Aron didn't want to delay the conversation. He had seen many movies where any kind of delay at all would result in the main character losing their chance, so he went for it. And it seemed that she'd seen the same movies, since she had wanted to have 'The Talk' as soon as she woke up as well. Thus, they had officially started dating; it was a first for both of them.
In the real world, nothing much had happened over the week. The citizens of Eden had spent most of it discussing who the candidates in the upcoming presidential election would be. They were still sure that Alexander would win, though, as everyone who was asked had claimed that they would vote for him.
But all of that was before Friday, when Alexander took to the podium and announced something that no one had ever expected to hear: they'd discovered oil in their Exclusive Economic Zone. The citizens went ballistic, but the celebration was overshadowed when they heard that with the discovery of oil in just that location alone, they had become one of the top ten countries in the world in terms of oil reserves.
Together with that announcement came another about how they planned to extract it. And furthermore, Alexander mentioned how the citizens would benefit from having such vast natural resources. He had said with conviction that they were going to open the bidding for a contract to extract the oil, with all of the rights going to a single company that would be responsible for all of the drilling. So long as they followed the agreement to the letter, they would be fine; but if they were found to be malfeasant, they would immediately lose the rights to exploit the reserves and, if appropriate, issued further punishments according to law.
As for how the citizens in general would benefit from the discovery, he said the profits would be invested into implementing a universal health care system, while reiterating that their health care would be different from the rest of the countries that had it. Theirs would be focused on guaranteeing that everyone would get the treatment they need when they need it, without delay.
The rest of the world had different reactions based on where they were. Esparians were both envious and worried that the Edenians would discover similar resources in their country, and based on the surrender accord they had signed, they knew they would be doomed to forever share the profits from any discoveries. Some of them that didn't want it to happen went so far as praying that they didn't have any of the resources in the first place. And if they did discover anything, they definitely didn't want it to be discovered by the Edenians within the next six months. The article that they had thought was put into the accord just to fill space seemed to have backfired on them.
As for America and Europe, there were different reactions. The governments congratulated Eden on their massive discovery and hinted at being open to cooperation—as long as Eden awarded the contract to one of their oil companies, with this being the result of the lobbyist hired by these companies—but the citizens were split between congratulations and condolences. Congratulations on the discovery, and condolences on the soon-to-begin exploitation of their so-far unspoiled natural environment. In America, in particular, there was a flood of memes targeted at spreading their democratic ideals "a thousand pounds at a time".
But jokes aside, there was actually a real chance of some shady American oil lobbyist causing turmoil in Eden so they could have access to the oil there.
Still, the happiness of the Edenians didn't diminish at all; they were thrilled at having made such an important discovery.
.....
Aron, who had been cuddling Rina in bed and watching Alexander's press conference, said, "It's time to wake you up so you can meet your new body."
Their lovey dovey behavior had continued throughout the week, causing Nova to roll her eyes so many times that she risked her irises getting stuck to the top of her eye sockets. The constant PDA was cringey to the extreme.
"See you on the other side," Rina said, then kissed him and chose to log out so she could wake up.
Aron logged out as well, then headed to the secure pod room so he would be the first person she saw.
PSSSSSSST
The mana was drained out of the pod as the lid opened, revealing Rina, whose evolved body had reached a divine level of beauty that had even Aron mesmerized for a moment.
The changes were enormous. And it wasn't just her breasts, as everything about her had become bigger and better than it previously was.
"Wow..." Aron said when Rina rose naked from the pod. The clothes she'd been wearing had been disintegrated to prevent any issues from arising due to ill-fitting clothing. n0vELusb.C0M
He picked up a towel and moved to cover her, while etching the appearance of the new Rina into his memory at the same time. Despite having done it in the VR moments ago, his body hadn't been involved; it was only satisfying for his brain.
As he covered her with the towel, he hugged her and kissed her forehead. Then he moved away so she could see herself in the mirror. She was shocked to find that every one of her features had been either enhanced or enlarged to fit the proportions of her new body. She had gone from 1.65 to 1.75 meters tall, reducing the height difference between her and Aron.
Her hair was more smooth and shiny, yet still thick. Her hazel eyes had lightened and gained something of a golden tint to them, and her lips had filled out, enhancing the appearance of her already naturally beautiful face.
Her breasts were bigger, along with her butt, and her hips had widened. And she had also lost all of the hair on her body below her neck, something that every woman would wish for if they found a genie's lamp.
"What inner enhancements did she receive?" Aron asked the empty room while Rina was busy marveling at her new appearance.
[Her bones and muscles have been strengthened. The increase in strength was gradually mirrored in the simulation, so she should be able to control it. Also, a few more enhancements were made to the rest of her body so it can function as it's supposed to. For instance, she's now immune to diseases and will never be allergic to anything. Her memory has been enhanced, and she has perfect eyesight. She'll never....] Nova listed all of the changes Rina had undergone while she and Aron listened to the AI's report.
Rina hugged Aron hard and murmured, "Thank you so, so much for this."
"No need for thanks. I also did it because I wanted to ensure your safety," he said.
Rina raised her head and gazed at Aron, who wasted no time and immediately moved his head down to make out with her and start the first in-person round of 'battling' of the day.
