Birthday wish?
Facing everyone's expectant eyes, Ed shrugged helplessly:
"Do you have to make a promise? Anyway, wishes usually don't come true."
"Why not? Since we don't charge money anyway, you won't suffer a loss even if it doesn't work." Bai Ya teased.
"Wish is a concrete manifestation of hope, Mr. Waikolo, we rely on hope to live - please believe it." Charlotte, who had been silent for a long time, suddenly said softly.
"Well, let me think about it..."
Since Charlotte said this, Ed was too embarrassed to refuse. He rubbed the tip of his nose with his index finger, lowered his head and said.
What exactly do you want?
money? Of course, you can never have too much money. However, he has no urgent need for money at the moment. The money he owes Bai Ya can be repaid in a while.)
The salary of an agent from the Bureau of Investigation is enough to meet his daily needs, including nutritious food, clean water, and occasionally he can go to a restaurant to have a toothpaste. What's more, besides that, he also has a huge sum of seven faceless iron coins in his hand.
status? Ed has no plans to be promoted for the time being. The title of Captain Waikoro does sound pleasant, but being a competent leader is by no means easy.
Just a mess in the East End is enough to make a smart and capable man like Mr. Eaton miserable every day. If Ed is appointed as the director of the Divine Bureau today, the Bureau may collapse and disintegrate tomorrow.
Conspiracy, communication, governance, and power play are all indispensable abilities if you want to be an outstanding leader. Ed's experience in these fields is still a blank sheet of paper for the time being, and people need to be self-aware.
Improve strength? The personality crystal of the Chosen One needed to be promoted to a third-level Extraordinary is far from being found, and this matter cannot be rushed for the time being...
What's more, strength is just a general concept. The duel between extraordinary people is not a simple dice roll, but a complex game involving competing characteristics, light and dark offense and defense, information differences, and various off-site factors.
Even a fourth-level Extraordinary like Elder Issyk, who possessed a legendary sacred object, ended up inexplicably failing in front of him and Tia.
Alas, I never thought that making a wish would be a troublesome thing...
Just as Ed took a deep breath and was about to blow out the candles, footsteps came from downstairs.
"Mr. Detective, is that you?" Bai Ya asked loudly in his drake voice.
"Hopefully I didn't miss the cake cutting."
Mr. Eaton responded as he went upstairs. His footsteps were heavy, as if he was carrying something:
"To borrow equipment from Crow's Nest, I need to fill out a form, and I was delayed a little while on the way."
Ed looked downstairs and saw Eaton carrying a large box of things wrapped in black tarpaulin in his left hand, and holding gloves and a metal folding stand in his right hand:
"Camera?" The repair technician's instinctive reaction made him recognize the thing at once.
"Are you going to take pictures?" Bai Ya covered his mouth in feigned surprise, "Oh my god, should I put on makeup quickly?"
"Don't go anywhere and be honest!" Quinn whispered viciously.
"I hope you know how to assemble it, otherwise I might have to read the instructions and study it for a while. Learning everything becomes very slow as I get older." Eaton replied.
"certainly."
Ed took the stand from Eaton and set it up. This kind of trivial matter was easy for him——
I opened the black oilcloth and placed the camera case on it. At the same time, I filled the flash with a metal magnesium wire and inserted it on the top. Finally, I connected the timer to the shutter. It only took about a minute:
"I said... wouldn't it be a bit too solemn to take special photos to commemorate it? Is it really worth it?"
It's not easy to bring a camera with you in bad weather like this.
"Of course it's worth it, you'll understand one day."
When he said this, the wrinkles on the sides of Eaton's dark gray eyes trembled slightly, and Ed realized that it was a meaningful smile.
Bai Ya's voice broke the brief look between the two:
"Okay, okay, don't just stand there, it's almost past twelve o'clock! Miss Grumpy, please hurry up and bring another chair over. Big guy, stand back. If you stand in front, you will block it. Everyone’s. And you fish head, remember to blur your hair, I don’t want to see that weird face of yours in the photo.”
After that, he used a knife to cut a little buttercream from the cake and flick it on the sea monster's diving mask.
"Come on, we've known each other for at least ten years, haven't you gotten used to it yet?" the sea monster complained helplessly.
"In ten years, Ed may show the photo to his children. Do you want to scare the children into tears?"
"All right……"
Until everything was arranged, the minute hand had reached the last five minutes.
"Can I take my hat off too?"
Ed wore a colorful striped peaked hat and sat on the only chair in the front row with a birthday cake on his lap. The thin Charlotte stood beside him, the tall anvil and the sea monster in a diving suit stood at the back, and the rest of the people stood in the middle.
Everyone took off their funny hats except him.
"No, you are the protagonist today." Quinn said with a sarcastic tone, "Not to mention the hat can cover your wet hair."
Quinn was standing just behind him, her hair smelling like mowed lawn. Ed didn't know what the reason was, maybe it was the so-called deodorant, or maybe it was just a certain brand of perfume.
"Are you sure the timer is set? Why can't I hear any sound?"
Byakuya whispered to Ed while looking at the camera intently.
"Don't worry, I just lost my memory temporarily, not my brain." Ed replied, "Should I take pictures first or blow out the candles first?"
"Whatever you want, as long as you make up your mind about your wish, you can blow out the candles."
"Then do I need to tell my wish?"
"Of course not, it won't work if you say it out loud. Close your eyes and make a wish silently, then blow out the candles - you're done."
"All right……"
Ed closed his eyes. He heard the sound of heavy rain, and then the small noises of his teammates with different rhythms: the sounds of breathing, heartbeats, and small unconscious movements. Even with his eyes closed, he can still outline the image of each person through these small noises.
I hope I can still be sitting with you this time next year.
He blew out all the candles in front of him in one breath.
The spotlight burned with a burst of dazzling white flash, and the shutter was triggered by the timer, faithfully recording this moment forever——
Click.
…
