[Chapter 266: Strange Miracles]
Back at the villa, under the influence of his power, the three women were still sleeping soundly. Even the earth-shaking thunderstorm during his trial didn't wake them.
However, the assistant living on the first floor of the villa, bodyguards Danny and Carter, and four waiters staying in the staff quarters tossed and turned, clearly frightened by the thunder and unable to catch their sleep.
With a trace of his power, the three women woke up.
Jennifer asked curiously, "Honey, why did I fall asleep so quickly tonight?"
The other two women also showed the same puzzled expression.
"After so many sleepless days, proper rest is necessary. I only just fell asleep. How about you? Are you feeling the effects too? Let's keep playing games," Linton said without explanation, laughing as he started some playful tricks.
Soon, a new game began...
Sweet, joyful singing filled the air once again...
During the exciting game, Linton put his skills to use, practicing while drawing strength from the popularity of the three women to consolidate his Celestial Presence stage.
---
In the Montana winter, the sun rose late. Dawn quietly arrived around 7:30 AM, and the sky brightened slowly.
By 10 o'clock, Linton and the three women finished their pleasant morning exercise games. After freshening up, they headed down to the dining room for breakfast.
He noticed everyone else -- the assistant, bodyguards, and waiters -- all had pronounced dark circles under their eyes and looked utterly exhausted, which made him curious. Of course, Linton was fully aware but feigned ignorance.
"Meena, what's wrong? Didn't you sleep last night?" Winona couldn't help but ask, voice full of concern.
"Oh, didn't you hear? Last night there was a thunderstorm with lightning and howling wind, like the world was ending. The storm lasted several hours. I was scared stiff. How could I sleep?"
"Really? That happened? Too bad we were all asleep and missed it," Winona answered, embarrassed.
"It can't have been that bad. Why didn't it wake us up?" Jennifer looked curious.
"Yeah, how come none of us woke up? Linton, did you know?" Catherine asked, turning to him.
"I fell asleep too, so I'm not sure, but I seemed to hear thunder. I was too drowsy to pay much attention," Linton replied, his acting flawless.
"Oh man, Boss, that must have been one intense battle. You must've been so exhausted that not even the sky falling could wake you."
The young assistant joked, holding her forehead.
Danny, Carter, and the waiters glanced at them oddly but tried not to laugh.
"Getting bolder, huh? You even dared to make fun of the Boss? Want to lose your paycheck?" Linton scolded jokingly.
"Boss, I'm sorry. Please forgive me," Meena quickly pleaded upon sensing the mood shift. "Also, David called at 8 AM to check if you were safe."
"What did you say?"
"I wanted to wake you up to confirm, but when I got to the third floor, I heard you all making so much noise that I just came down to tell him everything's fine," the assistant replied, cheeks flushed.
"Smart move. Turn on the TV. If what you said is true, there should be news coverage."
...
Meena quickly switched on the television in the dining room, tuning into the news channel.
Soon, the report appeared.
Images of lightning and thunder played on the screen, showing three successive lightning bolts. Though blurry, they looked terrifying.
Importantly, each thunder lasted several minutes and invariably ended with a loud explosion.
The last bolt was purple and shaped like a wyvern. Its explosive effect was especially frightening, as though the sky itself was collapsing.
Apparently, the footage was captured by a distant resident's home camera and sold to a TV station; the station edited the video to highlight the three most violent thunder strikes.
The anchor's voice came over the TV, "Around midnight last night, a rare winter thunder phenomenon occurred in Parker County, Montana. The lightning was exceptionally violent and lasted two hours."
The screen switched to a satellite cloud map.
The announcer continued, "Even more astonishing, meteorological satellites detected a massive dark cloud with a radius of hundreds of kilometers appearing in the region during the thunderstorm. At its peak, the cloud covered the entire state of Montana, with lightning originating at its center.
Strangely, this massive dark cloud and violent lightning did not produce any rain. After the storm passed, the dark clouds quickly dissipated and snowfall resumed.
This unusual natural event is the first of its kind in recorded history on Earth.
It has drawn the full attention of the National Weather Service, which has dispatched a team of experts to investigate on site.
We will continue to follow this developing story."
Fortunately, Linton remained on the ground during his trial. The camera footage always focused on the sky, so there was no trace of him.
Even if the lens had been switched downward, the stark contrast between sky and ground and the distance made capturing a human figure impossible.
However, the bad news was that the top of the iron tower on his farm was faintly visible in the footage. In Parker County and even Montana, his farm alone had such a tall iron tower.
This was a blatant giveaway. Even if he try to cover it up, it would probably fail. His farm was about to attract a lot of attention.
The farm's greatest value and secret was the energy surrounding the underground copper pipes, which was transforming the soil, slowly generating spiritual energy.
Thinking of this, Linton expanded his spiritual sense and located an underground copper pipe. Energy around the pipe spread and dissipated gradually, penetrating and transforming the surrounding earth little by little. At this rate, it would take about 10 to 15 days to reach the surface.
Such aura, something unprecedented in the world, wouldn't concern meteorologists much.
The real secret potentially revealed was that, once the spiritual energy penetrated the ground, it stimulated plant growth.
But it was winter now, and thick snow covered the ground, so no plants could grow, leaving him unconcerned.
As long as the researchers and investigators from different agencies didn't mechanically excavate and analyze the soil 6 meters deep on site, no discoveries would be made.
Additionally, if any soil samples were secretly taken off site, the faint energy in them would dissipate quickly, making it irrelevant.
Still, the sheer impact of last night's snow thunder would definitely attract suspicion. Since it couldn't be avoided, he needed to take some action.
...
"Meena, call David for me. I have something to discuss."
Once on the line, Linton stated directly, "David, you're aware of last night's thunderstorm, right?"
"Boss, we all saw it."
"I now suspect the lightning was discharged to our tower."
"That matches our judgment too," David replied.
*****
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