Chapter 641: Furball is now a peanut.
Xia Fei’s brows furrowed. He had believed that Yu Hua and the people behind him only wanted his life, but they had, instead, riled up the entirety of the Law Realm to stand against him.
The Law Enforcement Board was after Xia Fei, and there was a legitimate wanted bounty. While Xia Fei might still find it hard to live if he was captured by them, he would at least have a chance to plead his case, but the underworld that Chen Dong was part of would not give Xia Fei this chance. The entire underworld had come alive for the sake of those one million grade 4 crystals, so numerous people were currently lining up to take Xia Fei’s head.
Both sides of the Law Realm were after Xia Fei, presenting probably the greatest challenge he had faced in his life.
“This is pus.h.i.+ng me to death’s precipice,” Xia Fei grimly said.
Chen Dong sighed. “One million grade 4 Origin Crystals is no small reward. It’s an enormous sum to those of the underworld and some small clans. On the way here, I ran into numerous fellows from the underworld and a few small clans who wanted to get a share of the spoils doing some illegal business. You and Avril aren’t in a good situation.”
Xia Fei waved his hand. “Let’s go back first. If I didn’t make a back-up plan, there probably wouldn’t even be bones left of me. I’ll remember all this and come back to settle accounts in the future.”
…
“This… is your back-up plan?!” Standing in Metal City, Chen Dong rubbed his eyes and stared in disbelief at the countless robots about.
“How many of them are here?” Chen Dong pointed at a squadron of s.h.i.+ps as it flew past.
“I’ve never asked about the exact number, but the estimated fighting force is probably more than ten billion,” Xia Fei said after some thought.
“Ten billion! An army of ten billion robots! Then you might as well usurp Tai’s position and become president, and the Alliance might be able to exhibit all of its potential!” Chen Dong was furious. Truly, comparison could anger a person to death. Though he came from the ill.u.s.trious Chen Family that had produced several grand admirals, he had never before seen such a large force.
Such a large region of s.p.a.ce and such an army were Xia Fei’s trump cards alone! The table he was playing at had to be huge!
Xia Fei smiled. “You still care about becoming president after seeing the power of the Law Realm?”
Chen Dong shook his head. “Of course not. Those super experts completely overturned my understanding of power. If you were to give me the president’s seat now, I wouldn’t want it. It doesn’t interest me at all.”
The two of them walked to the tallest tower in Metal City. This place served as both the headquarters of the robot army and the location of Sentinel G.o.ddess Sophie’s main body.
“What method did they use to make me become a wanted man?” Xia Fei asked.
“In the Law Realm, the legitimate method is through the Law Enforcement Board while the underworld uses the Great Cloud Society. These two maintain the order of the two sides of society. Someone hung up your wanted notice on the Great Cloud Society’s wanted board,” Chen Dong answered.
“Who did it?” Xia Fei sternly asked.
“You can hang up wanted notices in the Great Cloud Society anonymously. All you need to do is pay the fee by depositing the money into the bank indicated by the society. The Great Cloud Society will handle everything else for you. Of course, the Great Cloud Society also takes a commission, ten percent of the reward. This is a hard requirement that must be paid whether the job succeeds or fails. In fact, success means that they take an additional twenty percent.
“The people of the underworld don’t care about favors or grudges, only if enough money is being fronted to make the work worth it. Unless you can convince the elders of the Great Cloud Society to tell you the details, you will never find out who’s the one trying to stab you in the back.”
Xia Fei was startled. “Avril and I are both worth one million, and with the 30% commission, that’s 2.6 million grade 4 Origin Crystals! It seems like it’s no ordinary person who’s after me.”
Chen Dong said, “You’re right on that point. My master—no, Smiling Buddha of Murder Sullivan once accidentally told me that 2.6 million grade 4 Origin Crystals far surpa.s.ses the annual income of an ordinary clan. Thus, it can’t be any of the mid-level small clans who want your life. Only the Nine Great Clans of the White Horse Constellation or those wealthy bigshots who have the privilege to live there as well can pay that bounty.
“Moreover, this matter has caused so much turmoil that the Law Enforcement Board has to know about it, but they haven’t said a word, nor have they found the managers of the Great Cloud Society to consult with them. It’s clear that your wanted notice has been tacitly accepted by the Law Enforcement Board. If we put together all these suspicious factors, we can be certain that the one you’ve offended is somebody extremely influential in the circle,” Chen Dong sternly said.
Xia Fei said nothing, but his fists clenched tightly. The reality was clear, and Xia Fei would no longer be able to live a clear life, not in the Alliance and not in the Law Realm. There was probably no place in the universe that Xia Fei could safely reside in now!
Swift eradication had been one of Xia Fei’s frequently used methods, but now, someone else was using it on him.
“Right, I recall that the ancient human civilization was wiped out by an army of robots. Could this robot army be connected to that one?” Chen Dong asked.
“It’s not just a connection; this was that very same army,” Xia Fei bluntly replied.
Chen Dong casually shrugged. Influenced by Xia Fei, he did not feel too much hostility toward robots, and after Xia Fei explained what had happened, Chen Dong cared even less. He now looked upon the robots with kindness.
“Remember: When you see Avril, don’t mention a word of this to her. We’re both men and we have no reason to frighten our women,” Xia Fei solemnly said.
Chen Dong nodded. With this chauvinistic point in mind, they quickly entered the tower.
…
Chen Dong, Xia Fei, and Avril sat around a table laden with food. Avril and Chen Dong had known each other long ago, so she knew that he was Xia Fei’s friend. Besides that, she had not seen another human in some time, so she was particularly happy. Of course, she was the happiest that Xia Fei had safely returned.
Sophie and the other two leaders, Dimsky and Warstar, had all come out to meet him. They saw that, though Chen Dong was a little inflexible, he held no hostility toward robots, so they were in a good mood. Even though they did not eat, they still sat at the table with the three humans.
Pod was busy serving tea and pouring water. The master had come back with friends, so this robot king had to serve them personally, but there was no sign of Furball.
“Why hasn’t Furball come out to see me?” Xia Fei curiously asked.
Avril covered her mouth and smiled. “He’s probably embarra.s.sed.”
“That fellow knows how to feel embarra.s.sed now? His skin is thicker than a wall! Let me go and find him.” Xia Fei felt that Furball must still be angry over being unable to go with him on this expedition, so he wanted to teach his pet a lesson and make the latter understand what it meant to be aware of the big picture.
In truth, it would have been absurd if Furball had been the teachable sort. Just like Xia Fei, that fellow was set in his ways and cared little about the rules.
“There’s no need to go. He’s right here.” Avril smiled as she moved aside her golden hair, revealing a flas.h.i.+ng peanut-sized ball hiding behind Avril’s neck, two sesame-sized eyes peeking at Xia Fei.
“Ah!” Xia Fei jumped out of his chair and pointed at the golden peanut. “When I left, you were like a riceball; why are you now a bean?! What did you do while I was gone?!”
Furball made a face at Xia Fei, having known that the latter would scold him.
Pod was just pouring tea, and when he heard this, he asked, “Bean? My name is Pod. What does the master need me for? Is the Pu’er tea not good? Should I change it out for Mingqian? The fried paste noodles will be ready soon, and it has your favorite cuc.u.mber strips and tomatoes.”
Everyone laughed, and Xia Fei sighed. Having no intention of blaming Furball, he sat back down in disappointment.
“Furball seems to have gotten angry after you left, so he did nothing but sit on the bed and eat, eating all of those transparent stones you gave him, and the result was this…” Avril softly said, dropping her head. She seemingly blamed herself for not taking good care of Furball.
Xia Fei hastily hugged Avril. “It’s fine. Furball and I were just joking. It’s not your fault that he became so small; rather, he promoted again.”
“He promoted?” Avril seemed very excitedly hugged Furball. “I just thought that Furball was cuter when he was smaller, but he’s too small now. A gust of wind might blow him away.”
Furball bemoaned his fate. Xia Fei already did not like that he was getting smaller and smaller, so he had been hoping that Avril would speak up on his behalf, but it turned out that both of them did not like how small he was and were seemingly in sync with each other.
Chen Dong was taken aback. He curiously looked at the little peanut on the table. “What sort of exotic beast is this?”
Furball glared at him, his eyes so sharp and imposing that Chen Dong almost wanted to fight with this little ball. However, when he noted how small Furball was, he felt that there would be no accomplishment in such a battle and that he had no reason to bully around such a small fellow.
“This isn’t just any exotic beast; this is the Holy Beast Shatterstar,” Xia Fei somewhat proudly said.
“Holy Beast? Shatterstar?” Chen Dong was stunned. He had heard the tales of Holy Beasts, but he had not met one until this moment.
“So this is what a Holy Beast looks like. It thought that they would be giant and savage monsters,” Chen Dong stroked his chin and muttered.
Everyone laughed again while Furball inwardly fumed, telling himself, ‘This is just a phase, okay? How could you judge someone purely by appearance!’
…
The banquet was a very warm and enthusiastic affair. Everyone, except the unfortunate Furball, was satisfied.
Chen Dong mentioned nothing about Xia Fei and Avril’s current predicament, nor did he speak about the Law Realm. Xia Fei had made it a rule to always bear any danger alone, no matter how perilous it was. Thus, they only talked about daily life.
The Sentinel G.o.ddess very diligently listened. Robots only had the concept of work, so interacting more with the lives of ordinary people would help them better mix with other sapient lifeforms.
Once the meal was over, Xia Fei and Chen Dong headed over to the cultivation chamber. It had been two years since their last meeting, and they had a lot to talk about.
“Why don’t we first take a look at today’s spoils?” Xia Fei took out the two chests from his spatial ring and asked.
Chen Dong shook his head. “There’s no need. No matter what’s inside, it’s all yours. My ability is sealing ice, and I learned the Law of Ice, which is an offshoot of the Law of Matter. It requires warriors to create their own armor of ice to protect themselves and attack using as much of one’s own strength as possible.
“For me, as long as I have enough energy, I don’t need any equipment at all. Everyone has their own path of cultivation. You like collecting mystical weapons, while I like being self-sufficient.”
Xia Fei nodded and put the chests to the side. The Law of Matter had extremely harsh cultivation requirements, using one’s own power to create weapons and armor and adjusting to local circ.u.mstances. However, it was rare to see people like Chen Dong who persisted for this long, almost stubbornly resisting various temptations.
“There’s no going back to the Law Realm, so we can’t get any information from that side. We’re currently in a completely pa.s.sive position,” Xia Fei lit a cigarette and said. The only person he trusted in the Law Realm was Gu Dong, and he had already fallen prey to Yu Hua.
Xia Fei clenched his fists. Lady Fuping of the Withered Mu Clan had treated him rather well, but Xia Fei instinctively excluded her. After all, the Withered Mu Clan did not have a friendly att.i.tude toward Xia Fei.
“If you want to get information about the Law Realm, there actually is a person you can trust,” Chen Dong said after considering the problem.
“Who?”
“Moon Song.”