Neither Ross nor his aide paid any attention to Anger, who had been lying quietly beside Kez the entire time.
The golden retriever, however, was watching both of them closely.
Once Ross’s aide finished paying the fee, Kez wasted no time and led them toward the divination room.
“Coffee or tea?”
“Coffee.”
After showing Ross inside, Kez returned a moment later with a freshly brewed cup and placed it on the table.
He glanced briefly at the female officer standing beside the general but didn’t ask whether she wanted anything.
Instead, he simply took the seat opposite Ross.
Anger padded out from behind the counter and lay down on the floor outside.
His body remained relaxed, but his head was turned directly toward the divination room as he quietly observed the two visitors inside.
…
Ross picked up the coffee, took a sip, then set the cup down.
“Not bad.”
He settled back in his seat.
“There’s someone I want you to locate. He used to work under me, but an experiment went wrong and he disappeared.”
“I’ve spent quite some time trying to track him down, but he’s very good at staying hidden.”
“I want you to divine his current location. The more precise, the better.”
Kez wasn’t surprised.
So Ross really had come looking for Bruce Banner.
There was still more than a year before Banner was supposed to be discovered in Brazil, which meant Kez couldn’t be certain whether he was already working at the same bottling plant shown in The Incredible Hulk.
He would need to perform the divination properly.
Kez was also curious about something else.
Would Bruce Banner—or more specifically, the Hulk—interfere with his divination?
Hulk was far from weak, after all.
“General Ross, which method of divination would you prefer?”
A faint smile appeared on Ross’s face.
“There are different methods?”
“Why don’t you explain them?”
Ross was genuinely interested in seeing how Kez’s abilities worked.
Learning what kinds of divination he could perform was also a convenient way to gather more intelligence on him.
Kez had no reason to hide something so basic.
“I mainly use four methods: crystal pendulum divination, Tarot divination, astrological divination, and crystal-ball divination.”
The first three could all be performed through his abilities as a Sequence 9 Seer.
Crystal-ball divination, on the other hand, came from the magic Kez had taught himself.
Before acquiring the Seer potion, most of the reputation he had built as a diviner had come from genuine sorcery rather than Beyonder powers.
Ross considered the options.
“What’s the difference?”
“And which one do you consider the most effective?”
“For me, there isn’t much difference. They’re simply different ways of reaching the answer.”
“The choice is mostly for the client’s benefit. People tend to be more comfortable with whichever method they personally trust.”
Ross understood.
The method itself was secondary.
What mattered was whether Kez could find the person he was looking for.
“Then let’s use astrology.”
Kez placed a sheet of paper and a pen on the table.
“I’ll need the subject’s name, date of birth, and appearance. A photograph would be best.”
Ross picked up the pen and wrote down the information without hesitation.
“Bruce Banner. December 18, 1969.”
The female officer beside him produced a photograph of Banner and placed it on the table.
Kez looked over the date before picking up the photograph.
The face was unmistakably that of Bruce Banner from the Marvel Cinematic Universe rather than either of the actors who had played different versions of the Hulk in earlier films.
He set the photograph down.
“I’m going to construct the chart now. This will take a little time, so please remain quiet until I speak to you.”
Ross nodded.
“Take your time. We won’t interrupt.”
He was becoming increasingly curious about what Kez was about to do.
Kez picked up his pen and began constructing the astrological chart on the blank sheet, working from the information Ross had provided.
Signs, houses, planetary placements, and the other necessary elements gradually took shape beneath his hand.
He worked with practiced ease, never once hesitating.
Once the chart was complete, Kez could already narrow Banner’s location down to a general region.
It was nowhere near precise enough.
He wanted an exact answer.
Kez picked up the completed chart and wrote a line across it in magical script:
Bruce Banner’s current location.
Then he silently repeated the statement seven times.
Holding the chart in one hand, Kez slowly closed his eyes and allowed himself to slip into meditation.
A hazy vision soon emerged in his mind like a dream.
He saw a soft-drink bottling plant.
Bruce Banner was working there, keeping his head down and living as inconspicuously as possible.
Kez also saw him practicing breathing exercises and martial arts, learning to control his anger and keep the monster inside him from emerging.
The vision fractured.
Kez opened his eyes as the dreamlike images faded and the divination room returned around him.
Ross immediately leaned forward.
“Where is he?”
Kez answered without hesitation.
“Rocinha, Porto Verde, Brazil.”
“He’s working at the Pingo Doce Bottling Plant, a soft-drink factory in the area.”
He leaned back slightly.
“With that much information, finding him shouldn’t be difficult.”
Ross’s eyes lit up.
“Finally found you.”
He stood, reached into his coat, and placed a business card on the table.
“My contact information.”
“The offer I made earlier still stands. If you change your mind, call me.”
Ross had spent enormous amounts of manpower and resources trying to locate Banner without success.
Kez, meanwhile, had drawn a chart, written a few things on a piece of paper, closed his eyes for a short while, and pinpointed the man almost immediately.
An ability like that had enormous strategic value.
It was far beyond what Ross expected from an ordinary Beyonder.
“The military has information on quite a few Beyonders,” Ross added.
“If you join us, you’ll have access to those records as well.”
He paused at the doorway.
“I’ll give you one piece of information for free.”
“People like you—Beyonders—run the risk of losing control.”
With that, Ross turned and headed out.
Kez merely smiled.
When it came to Beyonders and Beyonder Characteristics, he understood far more than anyone else in this universe currently could.
As for joining Ross and serving in the military, that remained completely outside his plans.
Ross’s offer might have been sincere, but Kez could only decline it.
Still, one thing bothered him.
Ross knew quite a bit about Beyonders.
‘Does that mean there’s already one working for him?’
Kez activated Spirit Vision and looked toward the departing pair.
His attention immediately settled on the female officer accompanying Ross.
Kez’s eyes narrowed slightly.
‘So he really did bring a Beyonder with him.’
He studied the intensity of the aura around her.
‘Hard to tell which Pathway…
but judging by the level, she’s probably Sequence 9.
Sequence 8 at the absolute highest.’