Chapter 1242: A million

The Bennets, along with Zoren, spent the entire night discussing and putting things in order. With Penny’s memories, Slater’s, and Penny’s informant (Finn’s) recollections of the past, they pieced together a broad picture of the overall situation — what their future might look like. Although many questions remained, one thing was clear: if they slipped up, the consequences could be dire.

Having Penny and Slater recall the past and share their knowledge was a huge advantage. However, the possibility that their enemies also remembered made it feel like they weren’t ahead by much. Even so, they were grateful for the second chance—especially for the choices Penny had made, like ensuring Charles’s survival. And now, he was still very much alive... to annoy his children.

They preferred their father driving them crazy over his permanent silence.

Because the discussion had lasted so long, the Bennet brothers decided to stay the night.

*****

[PIERSON CORPORATION]

"And these... make a thousand copies!" Dean announced happily, his eyes squinting into crescent moons.

Jonathan, seated at his desk, could only stare at him blankly. Just yesterday, Zoren had personally called Dean into his office and instructed Dean’s secretary to stop wasting company resources. Jonathan had thought that would put an end to things.

But not only did Dean not stop—he had seemingly doubled down.

"A thousand... copies?" Jonathan repeated, his mouth slightly open.

"Yes, a thousand." Dean nodded. "The CEO told me not to waste resources on unnecessary things. So, since we need these to distribute to all employees, do it."

Zoren had told him not to waste resources, but he hadn’t told Dean not to ask Jonathan to do it.

Dean knocked lightly on Jonathan’s cubicle as he added, "Start now since I also have something else for you to do. Good luck!"

"..." Jonathan watched Dean walk away, his mouth still slightly open. He let out a small scoff before turning his attention to the thick stack of papers. Flipping through them briefly, he exhaled deeply, pressing his fingers to his temples.

Clicking his tongue, he grabbed a handful of papers and loaded them into the copier. At this rate, he might put a hit out on Dean before anyone else.

Despite the intrusive thought, Jonathan still did the copies. As the machine whirred, he took notes on the next task Dean had assigned him.

’This is irritating,’he thought, massaging his temple. ’I’m starting to master this stupid machine now.’

Another sigh left him. He was exhausted, but he just had to hold on for a few more days—this training phase would be over soon.

"A thousand copies..." Jonathan trailed off when a figure suddenly appeared at his side. Turning his head, he frowned deeply. "Atlas."

Atlas stood a few steps away, holding a single sheet of paper. He glanced at Jonathan briefly but said nothing, his gaze already shifting elsewhere.

"What are you doing here?" Jonathan asked, looking around but seeing no one else.

"Isn’t it obvious?" Atlas replied, still not looking at him. "I need to make a copy of this document."

Jonathan’s gaze flicked to the single page in Atlas’s hand. "Make a copy of a document..." he repeated. "Don’t you have a copier in your department?"

"It broke."

"All three of them?"

"..." Atlas slowly looked at him. "I didn’t know there were three, but well, I’m already here."

Jonathan let out a scoff and leaned an elbow on the copier. "Give it to me," he said, holding out a hand. "I’ll do it for you. Mine will take longer anyway, and you shouldn’t waste your time here."

"It’s fine." Atlas shrugged. "Do yours first. Otherwise, you won’t finish anything at all."

"I was told to make a thousand copies of these," Jonathan clarified. "So, if anyone’s going to be waiting forever, it’ll be you."

"..." Atlas tilted his head before reluctantly handing over the paper. Jonathan let out a quiet laugh, took the document without even looking at it, and pressed a few buttons to pause his own copying.

Swapping out the stack for Atlas’s single page, he asked, "How many?"

"A million copies," Atlas replied without hesitation.

Jonathan’s face twitched. "How many?"

"You heard me." Atlas shrugged. "I need a million copies of that."

"..." Jonathan stared at him, deadpan. "Are you being serious? What the hell are you going to do with a million copies?"

"Waste your time." Atlas shook his head. "Never mind. Give it back."

"..." Jonathan was momentarily speechless before pulling the page from the machine and handing it back. "There are more important things to do in this company than making my life miserable. Dean’s already doing a great job at that. I don’t think he’d appreciate you trying to take his role."

"Good for him. I’m not trying to take anything he has."

"Tch." Jonathan clicked his tongue and shook his head, loading another document into the copier. But as the machine resumed its work, he noticed Atlas hadn’t left.

Slowly, Jonathan turned back toward him. Atlas hadn’t moved an inch, still standing there with the paper in his hand.

"What do you want from me, Atlas?" Jonathan asked bluntly. Atlas wouldn’t be here for no reason. No way was he just wasting his time watching Jonathan make copies.

"Bold of you to assume I need something from you."

"Then why are you still here?"

"I’m thinking." Atlas closed his eyes and raised a hand, signaling Jonathan to let him be. After a moment, he opened them again and looked at Jonathan.

"If you were going to kill me, how would you do it?"

"What?"

"I promised Penny I’d help her plan my murder," Atlas explained flatly. "But so far, all the plans I’ve come up with are too... easy. Nothing interesting about them. You look like a violent man with no conscience, so I figured I’d ask."

Was that their bonding?

"..." Jonathan’s already lifeless expression somehow died even further. "Get out of here."

Atlas shrugged and turned on his heel. "Guess you’d rather gatekeep it."

"..." Jonathan watched him walk away, shaking his head before scoffing. "Something’s seriously wrong with that guy."

Now, the idea of transferring to Atlas’s department after this training phase didn’t seem so comforting anymore.