In the giant castle in Division2 that was as impressive as an art piece, a lady in a purple dress, who looked like she was in her thirties, sat on the single couch. She was caressing a skull with her right hand. A middle-aged man in a black tuxedo, who looked like a butler, knocked three times on her room.
"What?" The lady turned around and glared at the butler.
"Grandmistress, there"s something wrong with Lily"s android." The housekeeper bowed slightly in respect.
"That girl contacted you?" The lady in purple dress raised an eyebrow.
"No, but someone in the lab found out that her android"s signal has gone dead. The lab reported that she"s most possibly self-destructed, but there could be something wrong with the signal," the housekeeper explained.
"Where did the girl last appear?" The lady asked.
"In the White Capital in Division7."
"That could mean she failed the mission." The lady in purple dress squinted.
"Mother, do you mean that Lily might have been killed by the fellow named Lin Huang? How is that possible?" The skull in the lady"s hand shouted out of nowhere.
"The fellow was only an iron-level a year ago. Lily"s completed her training and she"s already a white flame-level. No matter how much of a genius he is, it"s impossible that he could defeat Lily!"
"Shan Er, to some geniuses, it"s possible to level up from iron to white flame-level in a year. Lily isn"t very talented. Whatever she"s managed to achieve with all her strength is nothing to the talented," the lady explained calmly.
"Of course, it could be the people who have been protecting the young boy. After all, the Leng family interrupted us a year ago. Perhaps, they have been secretly protecting this young boy called Lin Huang."
"The Lengs… One day, I"ll show them the price to pay for interrupting us Weis!" The skull"s eye sockets had a blue glow coming out of it. As it spoke, its jaw opened and closed.
"Grandmistress, should we…" the housekeeper trailed off.
"Send someone to get to the bottom of this. See if it"s really been destroyed or is it some other factors. After all, it would be trouble if the families in Division7 found out about the android. Leaking of our technology will be nothing, but if the Union Government is informed, they"ll definitely come for us," the lady instructed immediately.
"Destroy it as soon as you find it."
"Mother, then how about Lily?" The skull was concerned.
"That girl can"t even manage to handle a small matter, so why should we keep her? Two years later, when you recover, I"ll get someone to find you a better girl," the lady said in determination.
"Yes, Mother." Wei Shan decided to give up on Lily.
"Grandmistress, should we get rid of Lin Huang as well?" The housekeeper asked.
"Don"t bother about him. If he"s truly being protected by the Leng family, even an imperial-level might not be able to kill him. Moreover, the White Capital is the largest city in Division7, so the Union Government would be notified if something big happened. Our mission should be the top priority. Confirm where the android is. If it"s still alive, bring it back for recycling quietly and try not to be seen by anybody," the lady in purple dress highlighted the priority of matter.
"But, Mother, what if he killed Lily by himself without the Leng family"s protection?" Wei Shan the skull could not help but ask.
"That means he"s a powerful genius and is worth being Shan Er"s grindstone. Two years later, he shall be your first target then." The lady in purple dress grinned.
"But, Mother, what if I lose?" The skull sounded like it was hesitating.
"If Shan Er dies in his hands, that means he"s worth being part of my collection. By then, I"ll kill him myself and make him into a beautiful art piece."
Wei Shan"s heart sank when he heard what she said. Throughout the year, he had been suspecting if his birth mother did not care about his life. At most, he was just an experiment for her and was nothing more precious than Lily who was also an experiment. He read between the lines of what she said. Instead of saying that Lin Huang was his grindstone, more accurately would his bringing Lin Huang"s grindstone. There was only one reason for his existence, which was to test if Lin Huang was worthy of being in his mother"s collection. If he lost, his mother would focus on Lin Huang and not him. If he won, Lin Huang would lose his mother"s attention and made his existence more valuable.
"Don"t worry, Mother, I"ll definitely win!" The skull gave a determined answer.
"Mother believes that you will win too." The lady in purple dress caressed the skull and smiled.
"I understand. I shall do the arrangement now." The butler understood what Grandmistress meant. He did not react at all as he knew who this Grandmistress really was throughout the years. As expected, her own son was only a chess piece that she could get rid of any time she wanted.
…
Lin Huang had no idea that he had just escaped death. Since he got back from Fatty"s funeral, the first thing he did was to contact Leng Yuexin to ask for her help to retrieve Wei Shan"s real ident.i.ty. However, he was warned again and again by Leng Yuexin not to investigate into that as Wei Shan might be related to the core zone.
Lin Huang"s life was back to normal. He woke up at 6.30 a.m. every morning and headed to the library around 7 a.m. He would stay there until 6 p.m. and train his sword skills at the training room until midnight. He pretended as if nothing had happened a few days ago. In reality, Lin Huang did not give up on the investigation. He remembered Zhang Mengmeng mentioning that Wei Shan was still alive and would take revenge on Lin Huang two years later. Lin Huang was waiting for that day to come. The truth would come out as soon as he captured Wei Shan alive!
Lin Xin could sense that although Lin Huang looked the same as when Fatty visited, he had been hiding how he really felt by flooding himself with a hectic schedule. She had nothing to say as she knew Fatty was one of Lin Huang"s best friends. Words could not make him feel better; all he needed was time.
Half a month soon pa.s.sed by. Xiao Hei"s notification came when Lin Huang was in the training room in the middle of the night.
"Congratulations, you have acc.u.mulated legendary-level skill "Star Dome" card pieces x10,000. Would you like to combine the card pieces into a complete Skill Card?"
"Yes!" Lin Huang said without thinking twice."
"10,000 Star Dome card pieces have been deducted. Combination taking place."
"Congratulations, you have obtained legendary-level Skill Card - Star Dome."
"Skill Card Name: Star Dome"
"Rarity: Legendary"
"Type of Skill: Combat Skill"
"Skill Level: Transcendent Combat Skill"
"Status: Available"
"Card Remarks: Worth having!"
"Worth having…"
It was the first time Xiao Hei had given such good comment on a card. The best remark before was just "not bad".
"Now that I"ve mastered this, it"s almost time to kill the sword type monsters." Lin Huang had gathered all the information of the double-mutated sword type monsters two days ago. He did not head out to kill the monsters as he was close to 10,000 Star Dome card pieces. He could feel that he would obtain the skill as soon as he collected 10,000 card pieces. That was why he had postponed his trip.
He looked at the time. It was almost 11 p.m. Since he had gotten the Skill Card, he did not want to train anymore. He kept his sword and returned to the dorm. Lin Xin, who was in her bedroom on the second floor, was still awake. She knew it was Lin Huang when she heard the door creak open downstairs. She sat up immediately, put on her slippers and went downstairs.
"Brother, how come you"re so early today?"
"Yeah, I"m heading out tomorrow. I might take a few days." Lin Huang nodded at Lin Xin.
"What for?" Lin Xin was worried.
"To kill a couple of monsters," Lin Huang told the truth.
"I"m following you!" Lin Xin said immediately.
"Alright, then. Pack your bag. We"ll leave early in the morning tomorrow." Lin Huang thought about it and agreed. There was nothing dangerous on this trip and Lin Xin had been cooping herself up at home for many days. Moreover, he did not have to hide certain things from Lin Xin.