Several days passed without much happening, at least on the surface. That was mostly because he didn't want to reveal too much change in such a short time. Though he doubted the old man wasn't already suspicious, the man was simply that sharp.
He'd already considered telling Winston about his plans to become the world's hero. He had even cooked up a believable lie to explain it all away. He just didn't feel the time was right yet.
Beneath all the deception, he was already planning the first steps toward the future. The first priority was a main base of operations. With goals as ambitious as his, it was an absolute necessity.
After much consideration, he decided to build it beneath the estate. There was an enclosed cave just south of the property, a place he had only managed to discover while testing Ghostfreak's intangibility.
With summer underway, there was fortunately ample time for him to figure things out. The only unfortunate thing about his situation was his inability to acquire resources freely on a large scale.
The materials, resources, and key technology he needed would raise a massive red flag, practically announcing to every major government, corporation, and organization around the world that something fishy was going on.
And getting on anyone's radar was the last thing he wanted right now. Fortunately, he had access to Upgrade, Grey Matter, and XLR8. With XLR8, he could quietly source basic materials from scrapyards in the neighboring city of Coast City.
Using Upgrade, those battered parts could be restored to factory condition or even improved beyond their original specifications.
Finally, with Grey Matter's instinctive understanding of technology guiding him, what most people dismissed as worthless junk could be transformed into something invaluable.
It would be a slower process than simply buying everything he needed, but it was also far safer, allowing him to build toward his goals without attracting unwanted attention.
For now, it was the best solution he could come up with. It wasn't sustainable in the long run, but it would serve its purpose for the time being.
Once he had laid the groundwork and put his basic affairs in order, he'd surely have several solutions by then.
In the meantime, work had already begun.
Several meters beneath the ground, construction was already underway. In his Ghostfreak form, Ben phased back and forth through solid earth, carrying equipment and materials from one point to another.
He hadn't built an entrance yet. For the time being, Ghostfreak's intangibility and invisibility were more than enough to get in and out unnoticed.
The underground cavern was still largely bare. No obvious construction had begun yet. Instead, at its center stood a massive machine nearly five meters tall. Dropping the last of the required components into place, Ben slapped the dial on his chest. A flash of green later, he had transformed into Grey Matter.
He didn't waste any time and quickly got to work. The machine was practically complete, requiring only a bit of fine-tuning. Several minutes later, the last component slid into place, and the machine hummed to life.
His frown gradually gave way to a grin as he admired his creation, an autonomous fabrication unit. With this machine up and running, he no longer had to build every little thing from scratch.
All he had to do was feed it a schematic and the required components, and the machine would handle the rest.
After confirming every parameter was up and running, he returned to his room, pulled out his laptop, and tapped a few keys, connecting it to the AFU hidden beneath the cave.
He quickly uploaded the blueprint for his very first Omnibot, a robot designed to assist with the construction of his base.
With the Omnibots handling the bulk of the work, he no longer had to worry about arousing Winston's suspicions.
Aside from supplying the necessary construction materials and checking on their progress from time to time, the Omnibots would handle everything else, leaving him free to devote his time and energy to more important matters.
After a long yawn and a stretch, Ben worked the stiffness out of his body. The strain of remaining transformed for so long had left him mentally and physically exhausted.
He checked the time on his phone. It was just past seven in the evening. Around now, Winston was probably about to start preparing dinner.
Before leaving, Ben took one last look at the laptop monitoring the AFU's progress. The production line was running smoothly, with the countdown showing just over seven hours remaining until the Omnibots were complete.
Satisfied that everything was proceeding as planned, he closed the laptop. There was basically nothing left for him to do until then.
Ben made his way downstairs toward the kitchen. A few days ago, he'd asked Winston if he could watch him cook and learn the basics.
There wasn't any deeper reason behind it. Cooking was just a skill he'd always wanted to pick up but never had the opportunity to. Besides, knowing how to cook was never a bad thing. It certainly wasn't so he could casually flex that fact in the future... probably.
Ben couldn't help but let out a groan when he finally reached the kitchen. The manor was so large that walking from one end to the other practically counted as cardio.
Even before reaching the entrance, he could already hear the rhythmic chop of a knife against a cutting board, accompanied by the gentle bubbling of water boiling on the stove.
Ben paused by the doorway, taking in the familiar sight.
Winston stood behind the counter, a neatly pressed shirt hidden beneath an apron. Every movement reflected decades spent in the kitchen.
The old butler's knife rose and fell in a steady rhythm, reducing a pile of vegetables into perfectly even slices. Every movement was so precise that even a five-star Michelin chef would probably seem lackluster in comparison.
Without even looking up, Winston spoke.
"I was beginning to wonder if you'd changed your mind, Young Master."
Ben blinked.
"How did you know I was there?"
"The house has been awfully quiet these past few days. It would be rather embarrassing if I couldn't recognize the sound of your footsteps."
"...Fair enough," Ben murmured, though he wasn't entirely convinced.
Winston finally glanced over his shoulder, a faint smile tugging at the corner of his lips.
Ben washed his hands and stepped beside him, watching carefully. Up close, Winston's movements were even more impressive.
There wasn't a single wasted motion. Every cut was deliberate and precise, yet it looked completely effortless.
The knife danced across the cutting board, and before Ben realized it, the vegetables had already been transformed into neat, uniform slices.
"So, where do we start?" Ben asked, rubbing his palms together in anticipation.
"First lesson," Winston said, handing him another knife. "A sharp knife is safer than a dull one."
Ben raised an eyebrow.
"That sounds backwards."
"It does, doesn't it?" Winston replied. "A dull blade demands force. Force leads to mistakes. A sharp blade only asks that you respect it."
Ben stared at the knife for a moment before looking back at Winston.
"Um... that still makes absolutely no sense."
Winston ignored the comment and slid an onion toward him.
"Let's see what you can do."
Ben stared at the onion, then looked back at Winston.
"Couldn't we start with something easier? I don't know... boiling water?"
Winston stared at him, deadpan. Invisible veins seemed to bulge on his forehead, as though he were restraining himself from giving Ben a light knock on the head.
"Do you want to learn how to cook or not?" Winston asked, his ever-patient tone carrying the faintest hint of annoyance.
"Fine, fine. I'll learn," Ben muttered with a resigned sigh, already mourning his eyes.
"It is an onion, not a dragon."
"Easy for you to say."
Taking a steadying breath, Ben tried to imitate Winston's earlier movements.
The first slice was crooked. The second somehow managed to be worse.
By the fifth, the onion resembled the aftermath of a tiny vegetable massacre rather than neatly prepared ingredients.
By the sixth slice, Ben could no longer keep his eyes open. Tears streamed freely down his face, leaving him to cut almost blindly.
Before he could accidentally injure himself, Winston calmly plucked the knife from his hand.
Ben sniffled miserably, blinking through the relentless tears.
"I hate onions."
"They appear to feel the same way about you," Winston replied.
Ben shot him a watery glare.
"You're making fun of me."
"Young sir, I would never."
Before Ben could protest further, Winston calmly handed him a damp towel.
"Hold this over your eyes for a moment."
After a minute, the stinging eased enough for Ben to open his eyes again.
"Better?"
"...A little."
"Good. Now, try again."
Winston adjusted Ben's grip on the knife.
"Slow down. Let the knife do the work. Don't force it."
Ben nodded and picked up another onion. His first few cuts were still uneven, but they were noticeably better than before.
"There," Winston said with a faint nod. "Progress."
Ben looked down at the cutting board and grinned.
"They're still ugly."
"But still edible."
"I'll take that as a win."
Ben looked down at the uneven slices scattered across the cutting board and couldn't help but smile. They were far from perfect, but they were progress, and for today, that was enough.
Above ground, he was learning skills he'd never thought to value.
Beneath the estate, however, his machines continued working in silence, laying the foundation for a future only he could see. By sunrise, the first Omnibot would awaken, and with it, the first real step toward changing the world.