“For a long time, even I didn’t believe in the existence of the King Seed. The stories I told you were merely to give you a reason to keep living.”
“But now, the appearance of the King Seed makes everything no longer a castle in the air. Our pursuits and ideals should finally be within reach.”
Yun Hai said tentatively, “Old Ancestor, none of us blame you. You don’t need to…”
“No, this has nothing to do with you. It’s just that I’ve finally realized some things.”
“Old Ancestor, do you mean…”
“We should believe in him.”
The Old Ancestor placed both hands on Shen Ji’s shoulders, his voice low.
“Are you willing to become our King?”
Shen Ji froze and blinked.
‘What on earth is going on?’
‘I haven’t said a single word! This isn’t how I expected things to develop at all!’
“I… I…”
While Shen Ji stammered, Yun Xiaotao was already breaking into tears.
Her voice hitched with a sob as she said, “King, please accept our loyalty!”
Just then, the Old Ancestor stood in front of Yun Xiaotao, repeatedly winking at Shen Ji while the strength in his grip continued to increase.
“I am willing!”
The Old Ancestor nodded with relief and continued, “Xiaotao, you and Yun Hai leave first. We have some specific details to discuss.”
Yun Xiaotao wiped her tears and nodded heavily.
Once Yun Hai and Yun Xiaotao were far enough away, the Old Ancestor returned to his usual quiet state.
His face became expressionless as he said, “I owe that child Xiaotao a lot, so I don’t want her to be sad. Do you understand?”
Shen Ji nodded.
He could see that Xiaotao was very good to him, and he similarly didn’t want her to be troubled by these trivial matters.
“When do we act?”
Shen Ji thought for a moment and replied, “The Midnight Society should find out very soon that this batch of Blood Plasma has vanished. I want to take the initiative and strike now.”
“Fine. When the time comes, I will pin down the president of the Midnight Society. You two take the opportunity to cause chaos.”
Seeing the Old Ancestor turn as if to vanish on the spot, Shen Ji quickly spoke up, “Is it just you?”
“Did you expect me to bring the strength of the entire clan to help you?”
“But…”
The Old Ancestor turned slightly, his eyes drifting toward Shen Ji.
“You don’t look much like a King right now.”
With that, the Old Ancestor’s figure, along with the two iron boxes, instantly vanished from the spot.
Shen Ji’s hand hung in mid-air, hesitant to lower it.
Although he had long anticipated this outcome, it was undoubtedly the most difficult path.
“Alright, Xiao Jizi, even with just us, we can tear through the Midnight Society.”
“Better tell me how much you actually know about the Midnight Society.”
Ye Xi scratched her head, a rare gesture for her, and said weakly, “Actually, I don’t know that much.”
Shen Ji slapped his forehead in exasperation.
“Lady Ye Xi, didn’t you tell me before that this was your family’s organization?”
“My family has more than just this one organization. How could I possibly know every single one? Besides, they are them and I am me. I was kicked out of the family a long time ago.”
Faced with this, Shen Ji could only sigh and walk downstairs.
Ye Xi grabbed Shen Ji’s arm, her eyes looking vulnerable.
“Shen Ji, do you think I’m useless?”
“I don’t. I’m just going down to contact Liu Yao and the others to see how much they know about the Midnight Society.”
“Oh.”
As the two reached the bottom of the stairs, they happened to run into Yun Xiaotao and Yun Hai, who were heading back up.
Yun Xiaotao said urgently, “My King, the Old Ancestor didn’t do anything to you, did he? As soon as I went down, I felt something was wrong, so…”
Shen Ji smiled and shook his head.
“Don’t worry, our talk went well. He has already agreed to help keep the Midnight Society’s president busy.”
“And this is?”
Shen Ji looked toward Yun Hai.
Yun Xiaotao slapped her head and replied, “He’s my brother.”
Yun Hai nodded slightly toward Shen Ji, neither humble nor arrogant.
“I am Yun Hai. A pleasure to meet you.”
“Shen Ji.”
“Shen Ji, where are you going? Is the plan starting?”
Shen Ji paused and gave a bitter smile.
“We don’t have a lead yet. Your Old Ancestor isn’t planning to provide much more help, so I’m going to try and get some information through the Inspection Team.”
Yun Xiaotao nodded thoughtfully and then asked, “Can we come along?”
“Xiaotao, you…”
Yun Xiaotao said impatiently, “Brother, think about it. Why would the Old Ancestor only bring us here? Isn’t it because he hopes we can help?”
“But…”
“Brother, if you keep acting like this, I won’t like you anymore.”
Yun Xiaotao turned her head away and squeezed her eyes shut, refusing to look at him.
“Alright, Xiaotao. I’m already very happy that you were able to bring the Old Ancestor. You don’t need to come and take risks with me.”
Yun Xiaotao looked like a deflated balloon, her eyes listless.
“It must be because I’m too weak. That’s why the King won’t take me with him.”
“I didn’t mean it like that, Xiaotao…”
Looking at his sister, who was clearly siding with an outsider, Yun Hai felt a mixture of emotions.
He never imagined that his usually obedient sister would become like this.
Currently, Yun Xiaotao looked like the type of person who would be sold off and still happily count the money for the kidnapper.
“Stop making a scene, Xiaotao. He doesn’t need someone at the First Evolution stage like you. Don’t stay here and get in the way.”
Just as Yun Xiaotao was feeling dejected, she seemed to think of something.
She grabbed Yun Hai’s sleeve and said excitedly, “Brother, aren’t you a Fifth Evolution? If you stay, you can definitely help the King!”
Yun Hai was about to refuse, but Shen Ji held out two bottles of Blood Plasma.
“Consider this my personal fee for hiring you,” Shen Ji said.
“Name the amount of Blood Plasma you want.”
Yun Hai looked at the crimson Blood Plasma and subconsciously swallowed his saliva.
He had heard that Shen Ji had stolen the latest batch of **Specialized Blood Plasma**.
He knew exactly how much this kind of plasma could boost a member of the Blood Race’s strength.
Not only was the amount distributed by the Old Ancestor small, but even if the Old Ancestor played favorites, he would never be this generous in letting him choose the amount.
“Actually, I…”
“Four bottles?” Shen Ji asked.
“No…”
“Six bottles?”
“…”
Seeing that Yun Hai remained silent, Shen Ji began to calculate how many chips he had left.
There were five iron boxes on the truck, each containing eight bottles.
That made forty bottles in total.
Subtracting the sixteen bottles the Old Ancestor took, they had twenty-four bottles left at their disposal.
This meant they had to be very careful with every expenditure moving forward.
“This is the most we can offer you, so…”
“No… I don’t need that many. Four bottles is enough.”
Yun Xiaotao rested a hand on Yun Hai’s shoulder and grumbled slightly, “Brother, can you not take such long pauses next time? It makes my heart jump all over the place.”
Yun Hai glared at Yun Xiaotao, snatched the two bottles of Blood Plasma, and said calmly, “Please allow me to reintroduce myself. I am Yun Hai, a Fifth Evolution. My Talent is [Vacuum].”
Hearing the word “Vacuum,” Ye Xi said in surprise, “You’re that blasting madman from Beijiang who blows things up at the slightest provocation?”
Yun Hai’s mouth twitched.
Though he couldn’t understand who had given him such an abstract nickname, the truth was that the title was quite fitting for the way he used his Talent.
“The outside world misunderstands me too much. While my use of my Talent is similar to that, I am truly not a blasting madman.”
‘Vacuum? Blasting? Those two words don’t seem related at all.’
Shen Ji blinked, completely bewildered.
Sensing Shen Ji’s confusion, Ye Xi explained, “When an environment loses pressure and becomes a vacuum, its original form is affected by the pressure difference. This causes the state of the object to change. If the strength of the original structure can’t hold up, it will explode.”
Shen Ji nodded, only half-understanding.
Having lived two lives, he was essentially a poor student.
Even in this world of Talents, knowledge seemed particularly important.