Chapter 1673: Plotting Against Each Other, and Loyalty and Grat.i.tude
Sometimes, the easier it was to talk to someone, the more they suffered.
The moment Luke expressed his dissatisfaction, the other party immediately changed their tune.
The truth was that in front of Chris, this Hydra branch chief, the Yas.h.i.+da family was nothing.
Hydra didn’t have to give the family face if it didn’t want to.
Whatever the case, Chris represented Hydra.
It wouldn’t be easy for him to take down the family, but it wouldn’t be hard for him to make things difficult for them.
The reason why the research inst.i.tute had asked Chris to be its intermediary was because he had government connections in j.a.pan which he could use to get information on the Yas.h.i.+da family.
Otherwise, the research inst.i.tute would’ve long abandoned Chris.
On the other hand, Chris was interested in the inst.i.tute’s research results.
Unless he wanted to squeeze the Yas.h.i.+da family dry of a billion dollars some day, it was useless to him.
In short, the family was just potential prey, and couldn’t even be considered an opponent.
Crossing his legs, Luke sipped his black tea.
The cla.s.sic j.a.panese courtyard in summer was quite elegant.
On the other side, two people with ulterior motives were plotting against each other.
One of them was the old and emaciated s.h.i.+ro Yas.h.i.+da.
The other was a middle-aged bald man with several scars on his face – he was the person in charge of the secret research inst.i.tute.
They didn’t spend a lot of time probing each other.
They had tested the waters in the last meeting, and both parties were aware that s.h.i.+ro Yas.h.i.+da wouldn’t last much longer.
Sometimes, aging was worse than cancer, because it was irreversible.
At some point, the old man would start feeling the countdown.
It was very hard for young people to understand the despair of feeling life slipping non-stop from their bodies.
Most people didn’t realize how heartless the pa.s.sing of time was until they were at least 30 or 40 years old, and watched their parents grow old and ready to pa.s.s at any time.
After getting down to business, both parties ironed out the final details of their agreement.
s.h.i.+ro Yas.h.i.+da wanted the detailed data from the treatment, and wanted his men to personally observe the treatment process.
As for the core data and tests, of course, Yas.h.i.+da’s people didn’t have any demands.
After all, the bald, scarred man wouldn’t agree to such an outrageous request.
But even if it was just the main data and tests, it was still deeply related to the bald man’s secrets, and he couldn’t agree to it.
Ten minutes later, the baldie suddenly shut up and tilted his head, as if he was listening to something.
s.h.i.+ro Yas.h.i.+da was puzzled. “Mr. Shredder?”
Shredder came back to himself and smiled. “Oh, what is it?”
s.h.i.+ro Yas.h.i.+da was suspicious. “I hope you understand that safety is a prerequisite for any treatment. If you won’t let my medical team know anything about it, I won’t accept this treatment, since it might instantly kill me.”
Shredder turned his head. There was only a young blonde woman in the room. She was wearing a white coat and was checking Yas.h.i.+da’s physical condition via the monitoring equipment.
He nodded. “Yes, I agree.”
Yas.h.i.+da was stumped. Was he giving in?
However, Shredder continued, “So, you don’t have to make a choice. Just accept it.”
At the same time, there were screams from the guards outside.
s.h.i.+ro Yas.h.i.+da’s heart jumped, and his hand twitched on the bed he was lying on. “Mr. Shredder, what is the meaning of this?”
Shredder said calmly, “I’ll make you immortal, but the price you have to pay for it is loyalty.”
As he spoke, four extremely skinny “people” opened the door and walked in.
They dragged in the bodies of the eight bodyguards that had been outside with both hands, leaving heavy trails of blood in their wake.
Yas.h.i.+da narrowed his eyes. “What do you want?”
Shredder smiled and opened a box.
Inside the box was a tiny syringe filled with a dark red liquid. “After you use my ‘true blood,’ you’ll thank me like the most loyal of servants.”
Yas.h.i.+da said coldly, “Don’t you mean a slave?”
Shredder didn’t think much of it. He picked up the syringe and walked over. “If that’s what you think, very well.”
Looking at the old man’s expression, he felt that he had everything under control, and explained casually, “Do you know vampires? This is how they create their own ‘family.’ One drop of their true blood is enough to make an ordinary person immortal.”
Yas.h.i.+da’s eyes flickered, but he sneered. “So, you’re just the minion of a vampire?”
Shredder chuckled. “Of course not. I sucked dry the vampire who gave me the true blood, and I was freed after he died.”
As he spoke, he was already standing next to Yas.h.i.+da. He inserted the syringe needle into the old man’s arm, and dark red blood flowed into it.
Yas.h.i.+da didn’t resist.
Shredder wasn’t surprised.
The old man was so old that it was hard for him to move. His condition was just a little better than being completely paralyzed.
Besides, if he wanted to live, it wasn’t impossible for him to become someone else’s dog.
As a mixed-blood who had grown up in j.a.pan, Shredder was well aware of this fact.
This was an arrogant yet self-effacing, deferential yet crazy people.
Their arrogance and deference were just for show – instead, it was in their nature to be self-effacing and crazy.
Looking at Yas.h.i.+da’s indecipherable expression, Shredder frowned and suddenly felt that something wasn’t right.
But he didn’t dwell on it.
Like special effects in a movie, Yas.h.i.+da’s old and wizened face filled out at a visible rate.
He closed his eyes and his body shuddered as he groaned every now and then.
Less than ten seconds later, he turned from an old man to a middle-aged man, and finally to a man in his twenties.
Finally, he opened his eyes, which were dark red.
Shredder said, “You can get up now.”
Instead, Yas.h.i.+da reveled in how his body brimmed with vigor. “It is indeed amazing. Thank you, Mr. Shredder.”
As soon as he said that, the bed under him suddenly enveloped him and he disappeared.
Stumped for a moment, Shredder then sneered. “I order you to come out at once and kneel in front of me.”
But… nothing happened.
Shredder frowned. He sensed nothing wrong with the power for controlling his minions.
However, Yas.h.i.+da didn’t appear.
Shredder’s face darkened. “Take apart the bed.”
The bed that Yas.h.i.+da had been sleeping on looked like a platform. Shredder suspected that there was a secret pa.s.sage underneath it.
A vampire’s control over their minions was still affected by distance, and would basically be useless beyond 50 meters.
If Yas.h.i.+da was quick to run, he would indeed be out of Shredder’s range of control.
As long as he lay low in the future, the old man might really be able to live freely.