“Mr Ku Wai, I see that you have arrived sooner than expected.” Mr Patsu was there to entertain him early in the morning when Ku Wai entered the shop instance.
“Is Boss Jin around?” Ku Wai asked the penguin politely, but Mr Patsu shook his head.
“I can only assure you that Boss Jin is doing his best to create the trial dungeon with his maximum effort. This is after all, an urgent request, so Boss Jin needs more time than usual to craft it out.” Mr Patsu replied.
“Really? Is it possible to look for him? I mean dungeon making always requires a subject to try out the dungeon before releasing it. I do not mind entering the partial product to familiarise myself with the dungeon. That way I may be able to perform better for the demonstration.” Ku Wai requested, but Mr Patsu bowed down and apologised.
“I am sorry, honourable Ku Wai. I am afraid I cannot do that. Boss Jin instructed me, that at all times no one is to disturb him during the process of dungeon making. He would only come out when he considers it done and when he is satisfied with the result. To him, it is like a piece of painting. When he has the inspiration to draw something, he wants to keep to himself. You know as they always say, inspiration is just one step away from insanity. I think he does not want people to see how terrible he looks when he is creating it.” Mr Patsu lied through his beak, but Ku Wai somehow understood.
“Ahh, I get it. So he is similar to princess. Whenever she has an idea to test out, she will just lock herself up in the study room and work non stop until she has found a plausible solution. Her face after she get out from her study room… Priceless. Those black bags under her eyes, messed up hair but with the expression of elation on her mouth. Although I wish she would take more care of her body.” Ku Wai answered as he sat down near the Bar Island.
Meanwhile, Bear Cub One brought out Chef Roro to serve Ku Wai as there was no one else able to tend to him at this hour. Yun was deadbeat from handling the store and so was Lynn after a day of satisfying work in the restaurant instance. Yun did bring Lynn back to Jin’s home and offered her a room, that was already created for her by the System on the first floor.
As time passed, Ku Wai began to get a little bit agitated even though he went into his cultivation stance, while waiting for Boss Jin to appear. But Ku Wai knew how geniuses worked, so he placed his trust on Boss Jin, just this once since he was helpless anyways.
——
“Dad, you sure you want to come with me?” Yang Ling asked with a slightly terrified tone in her voice as she was sitting behind the car.
“What’s wrong? You are making a deal with some military chumps that I know personally. You know, me being there could probably even help you a little.” Hu Yuan Ba, the father of Yang Ling was personally driving her to Jin’s location.
“You…never gave any attention to me at all and suddenly you do. In fact, you somehow became surprisingly friendly. I apologise for the rudeness, but I do not know what you are plotting, Father.” Yang Ling said with her head down. Back when she was younger and not handicapped by her loss of cultivation, she was more rebellious. Her promising talent surpassed her brothers, but Yuan Ba did not acknowledge her at the least bit.
“Let’s just say…I am curious what you can do with an outdated prototype. Are you able to change the minds of the military people without your use of Psionic Magic? I believe they already know of your abilities and came prepared for it too.” Yuan Ba said as he made a turn through the traffic.
“You knew?” Yang Ling started to create hypotheses on the fly. Was he the one who stole it? Impossible. He was less of a sneaky kind, and if he were to do it, he might have asked someone more proficient in taking it. Even so, where did that information leak out from? At the moment, only Ku Wai and her knew about this information…and well Jin too. But Jin would definitely have no contact with Yuan Ba. All possible theories but all she can say she was the only one to be blamed for creating these circumstances.
“Not talking? Then, let me do the talking. Yes, as you might have conjectured, I am the one who stole it. A tiger must know how to stalk and kill its prey silently. I tend not to show that side to any of you guys since it’s a trick I learnt by myself.” Yuan Ba answered her conundrum and yet she continued to keep her silence for a while before speaking.
“So you want me to fail?” Yang Ling questioned bluntly and Yuan Ba snorted.
“Let’s say it’s an added challenge. After all, you did manipulate the finances of the Triad for your own personal use. I am not saying it’s wrong or anything and I am still earning a decent sum of tribute from them. It’s just that you know, that money belongs to me. So technically, I own the item even though I ‘stole’ it from you.” Yuan Ba pointed out and Yang Ling was in no position for rebuttal.
She had indeed been taking from the coffers of the Three Eyed Tiger Triad since her father allowed Yang Ling to manage that portion of his business. As the Ruby Rat Triad handled the casinos and entertainment industry in Shenzhen, The Three Eyed Triad had their hands in the shipping and trading industry. Porting of near illegal items were their speciality and it included merchandise such as collector’s items, medicine, research data, exotic cars and so on.
Yang Ling revolutionised the Three Eyed Tiger Triad since they had the muscle and guts to prevent things from going wary and she had the connections from being one of the Twelve Royal Zodiac Family to enable such near illegal trades to happen. The money she brought in through her trades was thousands of times better than what the triad had been doing for the past decades.
Yuan Ba saw her potential and initially let her rein the Triad a while longer. However, with time having passed there was still no change to the sum of tribute he had received. After some investigation, he had found out, that the excess money was used to further his daughter’s research and development. So as a lesson for secretly taking the money he should be receiving, Yuan Ba had decided to steal from her. Not to mention, Yuan Ba also scheduled another meeting with the military top brass right after hers in the same dungeon shop she was going for.
Yuan Ba was going to make Yang Ling learn her lesson for stealing and underestimating her own father, he would let her have a taste of her own medicine. But ultimately, even a tiger wouldn’t eat its own cubs. Everything Yuan Ba was doing was for her sake, to prepare her against anything, even if she had to hate him for it. In fact, he was planning to use this as a test of her candidacy to be the successor of the Royal Zodiac Tiger. Yuan Ba’s own father used to do such tests to him and his siblings, which lead to him hating his own father. But only after he had taken over the position as Head of the Royal Zodiac Tiger did Yuan Ba realise, that each and every painful lesson was done in order to shape him into a great leader.
He initially thought to change their ways, intending to be kinder towards his own children. Unfortunately, he started to see signs of Yang Ling’s elder brothers getting spoilt through the safe and luxurious environment they were placed in. Only Yang Ling had shown guts, brains and perseverance through adversity. This mindset was exactly why Yuan Ba found her worthy to become the next head. Nevertheless, without her cultivation and being handicapped it was hard for him to appoint her. She has to prove that she was worthy, otherwise her obvious weakness would only result in internal strife. Yuan Ba could only hope that such a trial like this would toughen her up more.
“So if I can convince them in some way or another despite the obstacles you placed?” Yang Ling asked, now with burning anger in her eyes.
“I will let you do as you please. I will continue to overlook the extra you make from your operation and will be contented with the tribute I have been receiving.” Yuan Ba reached the place. In front of them, was in his opinion, a hideous looking Panda billboard. “What kind of dungeon supplier shop is this?” Yuan Ba felt like he was being insulted by the big billboard and decided to challenge it.
Only to find himself… flabbergasted.
