I decided to release another chapter today. So here it is! Enjoy!
Compared to a British aristocrat with a glorious t.i.tle, a 19-year-old youth who was ignorant to the ways of the world would have not been able to stand up against a n.o.ble of that sort. Though, if it was against one who had survived 10 years of ruthlessness from the apocalypse, then a pampered man who had lived his whole life with a silver spoon in his mouth, would not even be worthy as a side dish.
With just a few anonymous emails, George Donaldson personally contacted Qin Luo, politely offering up the custody of Qin Ke.
George Donaldson could not find a single sign of this boy from the Qin Clan retaining secret agents, nor was he able to find any evidence of the young man striking a deal with any intelligence groups. Yet, he found it hard to believe that a stinky brat, at only the age of 19, was able to dig up this secret on his own and even had the courage to blackmail him. However, he decided to be smart about it and chose to avoid trouble.
As long as the other party does not make any excessive demands, he does not want to confront the other. He also plans to hand over all the a.s.sets and properties that were under Walter"s name. The only thing that made his heart ache was the winery under Walter"s name but he decided to grind his teeth and bear the pain. He wanted to get rid of this pest as soon as possible.
Qin Ke followed the lawyer and arrived at the hotel in France where Qin Luo was. He burst into tears when he spotted Qin Luo and held on to Qin Luo"s neck with a death grip whilst crying continuously onto his shoulder. He didn"t stop no matter how much Qin Luo tried to pacify him.
Qin Luo could not keep the lawyer waiting, so he had no choice but to proceed to the location where the formalities would be dealt with, whilst carrying Qin Ke along. Qin Ke cried through the process of the procedures. He bawled so much that the lawyer, who had accompanied him, was convinced that the little boy must have suffered severe abuse. Otherwise, why would he have wept for so long? He had been under the payroll of George for a long time and could not condemn him with words, for him to abuse a four and a half year child? The lawyer"s eyes held some contempt.
Qin Luo gently patted the back of Qin Ke who was coughing from crying too hard, he mentally cursed George in the corner of his mind. The combinations of unknown scars were spotted on Qin Ke and Qin Ke"s intense crying has prompted even the staff to voice their disgust on George"s behaviour.
As this is a cross country custody exchange, there are many procedures that needed to be completed and time would also be needed for approval. Qin Luo estimates it would not be completed in a few days and they would only receive the deed of Qin Ya"s house along with her stocks after the lawyer has completed the procedures. Qin Luo estimates that it would not be completed within 10-15 days, as for how long it would actually take, he has no idea. Since the issue of Qin Ke"s custody is already certain, Qin Luo picked up the phone to inform Aunt Liu on the settlement of Qin Ke"s custody and that he would head back once the other relevant procedures are completed.
Aunt Liu hung up after she gave him a short lecture.
Qin Ke had fallen asleep on Qin Luo"s shoulder, waking up once or twice by the time Qin Luo finished the paperwork for the day. It was getting late, they finally finished all the procedures relating to Qin Ke"s custody and the remaining procedures for the a.s.sets and such was delegated to the lawyer. Qin Luo wasn"t worried about George trying to pull any tricks. The mind of such a person was easy to read, as long as you do no pressure the dog to jump the wall, it will not turn to bite you.
The Qin couple"s villa is situated in a good neighbourhood. The residences are mainly occupied by aristocrats or people with influential backgrounds. It was just unfortunate that it"s situated quite a distance from their current location. They would arrived nearly at midnight had Qin Luo chosen to go but he decided he would stay the night at the hotel he stayed in previously and head over the next morning. Qin Luo then hailed a cab.
Just as he hopped into the cab, the little brat tugged Qin Luo excitedly and questioned him endlessly. He did a complete 180, from the boy who was sobbing endlessly for half a day to a brat who questioned endlessly.
Although George is not someone with a good heart, but before the apocalypse Qin Luo doubted that he would ever abused and left scars on Qin Ke. He pointed to a big bruise and asked the little one how he got it.
Qin Ke immediately went on a talking spree about his heroic deeds during his roller skating escapades, but while he went on with the story he started crying again. He pouted and started to complain about the various abuse he suffered that -in his opinion- was inhumane, in Uncle Geroge"s house.
Things such as how he wasn"t allowed to play games, and how he could not play on the floor, how he was not allowed to have snacks, how he was not allowed to roll around with the dog, how he was not allowed to crawl under the chairs… this and that were all said. Qin Luo listened and rolled his eyes. He could not hold back anymore and pinched the boy"s chubby cheeks.
Qin Ke immediately hugged Qin Luo"s arms and acted spoiled, "Little Uncle, you can"t leave me in the UK, you see, I am so thin!"
Qin Luo looked at Qin Ke, he looked much more round and chubby compared to the last time he saw him. He had no idea where the term "thin" fit in here. However, thinking back to Qin Ke"s condition during the apocalypse, his heart ached terribly. The little boy that was tortured till only skin and bones were left… his cuteness has long since disappeared.
Qin Luo tightened his grip on Qin Ke, "Little Uncle will never leave you alone in the UK and I will never let them bully you again."
He said it with such determination, when Qin Ke heard it, he happily took it as a sign that Qin Luo would be his umbrella and shield him as he enjoyed his life as a little lord. Thinking of this he could not help but to hatefully blow snot bubbles.
They spent the night at the hotel. The next day, after breakfast, Qin Luo carried Qin Ke who was still half asleep and headed to the Qin couple"s villa. The Donaldson House took their reputation seriously, since they have given up custody of Qin Ke, they would not compete for the Qin couple"s legacy. Besides, before the apocalypse, the Donaldson House had quite an extensive number of a.s.sets; they would not fight over his sister and her husband"s trivial a.s.sets. Qin Luo intends to take advantage of a few connections to have them transferred to his name and sold as soon as possible. The money obtained could be used to purchase material to fill his s.p.a.ce.
Although this is Qin Ke"s home, he is not very familiar with it as he only spent a short amount of time here on the rare occasion when his parents were home. He only stays here for longer periods of time when Qin Luo comes down to spend the holidays with him. Since he could act spoiled here and his Little Uncle usually pampers him, Qin Ke while unfamiliar with this house was very fond of it.
The two of them fooled around the house for a full day before Qin Ke reluctantly took a bath and went to bed.
“Little Uncle, I want to sleep with you…” on the bed Qin Ke pulled on Qin Luo"s hand acting spoiled.
Qin Luo tapped his little nose. “Why, are you afraid of sleeping on your own, you little prince?”
Qin Ke snorted and pouted. “I just want to keep an eye on my Little Uncle, or else he would leave me and run off alone."
This novel is translated by – The Sounds of Soothing Rain – Please kindly read it on our site.
Qin Luo remembered that in the past Qin Ke would not let him leave, but his semester was about to begin so he had no choice but to quietly leave while he was asleep.
"Rest a.s.sured, Little Uncle will not sneak away this time, in the future Little Uncle with always protect you, I will chase away all the bad guys," saying this, Qin Luo laid down beside him to give the little boy a peace of mind.
Qin Ke smiled with rea.s.surance and closed his eyes.
Just as Qin Luo thought that Qin Ke had fallen asleep, he suddenly said, "Little Uncle, actually, I am also very powerful."
Qin Luo was stunned, the small boy scooted closer to him and mysteriously whispered into his ear, "I can make the items of those hateful people disappear, really make it disappear…heehee… but Little Uncle you have to help me keep it a secret! I have not told anyone but you."
s.p.a.ce! Qin Luo"s first reaction is that Qin Ke has developed his s.p.a.ce and he knows how to control his s.p.a.ce powers. But this cannot be right. Qin Ke"s s.p.a.ce should have just started developing at this time.
He pretended to not believe Qin Ke and the brat was easily fooled. The boy anxiously tried to explain that there was a small black hole that only he could see. As long as he threw the items into the hole, they would disappear.
Qin Luo understood after Qin Ke said this. In his vague memories, he remembered that it was the case when his s.p.a.ce first appeared and it also had the impression of a black hole. The vortex looks still but it would absorb energy at an alarming rate to build the s.p.a.ce. However in his memories the vortex was big but momentary and he only had a vague impression of it. Grandfather had said that his s.p.a.ce was brought out from the mother"s womb, therefore before he could properly perceive his surroundings his s.p.a.ce had formed.
Judging from the size of s.p.a.ce Qin Ke had describe, if it was not for the stimulation of the apocalypse, his s.p.a.ce formation would had needed two to three decades to fully form. Although the apocalypse had accelerated the formation of the Qin Ke"s s.p.a.ce, it had also made his it extremely fragile and unstable. In addition, people who did not fully understand the corresponding methods of s.p.a.ce cultivation, helped teach him to cultivate his s.p.a.ce power. His s.p.a.ce ended up in an embryonic s.p.a.ce. Therefore, at that point in time, the researchers had determined that his s.p.a.ce was not the mature form and dug further and had identified Qin Luo as the one with the mature s.p.a.ce.
Qin Ke tugged Qin Luo with his small hands, “You haven"t praised me or rewarded me.”
Qin Luo looked at the little boy who did not know the difference between life and death. He wanted to turn him around and give him a good spanking but he couldn"t help but to secretly rejoice! He was lucky he had gained early custody of Qin Ke. If it had been delayed, the little brat might have been endangered.
Qin Ke saw the serious look on Qin Luo"s face and his heart started racing. He struggled a little before saying, "Little Uncle, I want roller skates…"
Qin Luo glance at him, after listening to Qin Ke"s "heroic deeds", there is no chance he would be able to be conned into buying him a pair of roller skates. Let"s not mention that Qin Ke was lucky that Qin Luo hadn"t turned him over and taught him a lesson, the child was still trying to get a reward from him.
Qin Ke pouted and turned his small b.u.t.t toward Qin Luo. "Little Uncle is bad hmph! I won"t share any secret with you anymore."
Qin Luo sighed and took Qin Ke into his arms, "Xiao Ke, that black hole of yours is something very precious but it is currently very weak and fragile and will be s.n.a.t.c.hed away by bad people if they knew."
Qin Ke"s interest piqued when he heard this. “Little Uncle, how do you kn now about this? They can"t see it, how will they s.n.a.t.c.h it away?"
Qin Luo stroked Qin Ke"s small head, "Because long ago, there was a very cute child who also had a small black home. His uncle found out about it and then sold him to an inst.i.tute. That inst.i.tute was very different to the ones his father and mother worked in. It was very scary! Scarier than the hospital by many folds! There were strange uncles, scarier than the dentists and many aunties with big fat needles. They gave that child one injection a day and they would inspect his teeth…"
Qin Ke"s jaw dropped, spread wide with horror, "So scary, why did his family not save him?"
"Because the bad guys hid the child, so that his family could not find him. The child"s uncle gathered many powerful friends and tried to save him. Unfortunately, those bad people frequently changed the place they hid the child. Each new place was very far and it took the uncle many years before he manage to save the child from the inst.i.tute." Qin Luo said with eyes full of melancholy.
Qin Luo"s voice was a little choked. "So Xiao Ke you cannot continue to use your small black hole, what"s more you cannot tell anyone else about your small black hole. You cannot speak about it to anyone else except for Little Uncle. Not even Great Grandpa, Great Aunt Liu and Great Uncle Liu."
It is not that he doesn"t trust his family, but during the time of the apocalypse the situation will be very chaotic. Not informing them is not only to protect Xiao Ke but also them.
Qin Ke extended a small hand and placed it on Qin Luo"s cheek, "Little Uncle, I will be good, I will not tell anyone. This way Little Uncle won"t be like that little boy"s uncle! No need to try hard to find Xiao Ke!"
Qin Luo"s eyes were a little moist. In that year, he had spent too much time and effort to save Qin Ke. He nearly fell into the hands of the Inst.i.tute due to the lack of partners. Fortunately, a man by the name of "Ink"*, saved him in the nick of time. He extended an invitation to join the "Alliance of Saviours", which also gave him better conditions to destroy The Inst.i.tute. With a team and clear goals, along with sound strategies, they destroyed branches after branches of The Inst.i.tutes.
*T/N: Ok, so my proofreader and I had an extremely long extended discussion regarding our ML"s name. His name is 墨 p.r.o.nounced Mo which is the first character taken from the name 墨菲斯 (Murphy) for various reasons. To go along with the idea of the author and shorten the name Murphy to Mur sounded weird. Also our ML is supposed to be of western descent and naming him Mo from the Chinese p.r.o.nunciation did not fit well with that. So we decided to use the name "Ink" which had a western touch and it can also be derived from the stand alone word 墨.
On the surface, Alliance of Saviour"s goal was to destroy The Inst.i.tute and rescue the imprisoned experimental bodies. Though, Qin Luo knew that "Ink" was actually searching for something. Nevertheless, that was not important to Qin Luo, what he had hoped for was whilst rescuing the prisoners from The Inst.i.tute, he would stumble upon Xiao Qin Ke.
Lightning streaked across the sky, followed by the booming sound of thunder. In a state of being half-asleep yet half-awake, Qin Luo heard the sliding of the window in the living room. His eyes opened abruptly, alerted by the sound. His experience in the last decade allowed him to accurately judge that the sound was definitely not caused by the wind.
Translator: DC Proofreader: Naito