Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios
The structure of Alumera changed. Xiao Jin became the leader, and the other factions all congratulated him. The power to make a lot of important decisions has been moved from the Home Faction to the Xiao Faction.
At night, Xiao Jin invited Han Xiao to his mansion. All the high ranked officials of the Xiao Faction gathered around. Xiao Hai and the other children were there, too. They bowed to Han Xiao and called him stepfather when they saw him. No matter what these youngsters of the Xiao Family thought in their heart, they had no choice but to maintain respect for Han Xiao on the surface.
The butler led Han Xiao to the book room and closed the door, leaving Xiao Jin and Han Xiao alone in the room.
Xiao Jin’s wish had been granted, and he had become the leader. Although he was still expressionless, one could tell he was happy and satisfied from the feeling he gave off.
He did not forget the benefits that Han Xiao had given him, and because Han Xiao said that he was leaving the next day, Xiao Jin dropped everything else and invited Han Xiao over to express his appreciation on the first day of becoming the leader.
“I really appreciate your help,” Xiao Jin said sincerely.
Han Xiao did not sit down. He stood in front of the bookshelf, played around with the small items in the drawer, and said casually, “Get to the point.”
Xiao Jin took out a bottle of wine and poured two glasses. He then walked to Han Xiao and handed one glass over.
“Our agreement remains unchanged. If there’s anything you need me for, I’ll provide help.” Xiao Jin smiled. His tone was more confident now that he was the leader.
The wine was amber and fragrant; its taste was smooth and soft. This was Xiao Jin’s very high-quality collection that he treasured. It would only be opened for extremely important guests, and it had been stored for many years before that day.
Han Xiao took the wine glass but did not drink it. He just swirled the glass around and said coldly, “I’ve been thinking recently and have come up with a very interesting theory. You knew Su Dinghua was going to assassinate Darryl a long time ago, but you didn’t tell anyone and let it happen because there would only be a chance to become the leader after Darryl died.
“Then, when everyone was suspecting me, only you insisted to help me because you knew who the killer was, and it was a good opportunity to gain my favor. Later, when other factions had already established a bad relationship with me, you found an opportunity to throw out Su Dinghua as a clue and became the one who found the real killer, largely increasing your prestige while simultaneously starting good relations with me.
“You used that as a reason to gain my help to win the leader’s election by using my strength to overpower all the other factions. You’re not the real killer, but you’re an opportunist who acted while riding along the waves and harvesting the final fruit of victory.”
Han Xiao turned his head and looked at Xiao Jin. “What do you think about this theory?”
Xiao Jin shook his head in laughter. He sipped the wine and said, “It’s interesting, but it’s not true.”
“I think it’s true.” Han Xiao’s expression resembled a smile, yet it was not a smile.
Xiao Jin’s expression changed slightly and said, “That’s just your speculation…”
Han Xiao walked toward Xiao Jin. His body was leaning forward, and the pressure forced Xiao Jin to step back continuously until he hit the table.
They stood extremely close. Xiao Jin could only look at Han Xiao in his eyes because he had nowhere else to look. He felt a cold murderous intent in Han Xiao’s eyes, and cold sweat started dripping.
“I don’t need evidence. If I think it’s true, then it is,” Han Xiao sneered.
Xiao Jin had to tighten his facial muscles to control his expressions, and his heart began to sink.
“Remember, whatever you borrowed from me, I can take it back anytime.”
Han Xiao’s fingers pressed two times on Xiao Jin’s chest strongly. The act was provoking.
Xiao Jin had been promoted with the help of Black Phantom, and Han Xiao could do the same thing for the others anytime. Xiao Jin had no doubt that the other factions would be willing to spend a huge sum to make Black Phantom their ally. With Black Phantom’s strength, he could even duplicate the assassination. If their relationship turned bad, there was no way Xiao Jin could protect himself against a legendary killer every single day and night.
Xiao Jin understood what Han Xiao meant—threaten, intimidation, and blackmail!
Black Phantom was more fearsome than he had expected. This partnership with Black Phantom was catching a tiger by its tail.
The atmosphere became more and more intense, and when Xiao Jin was almost suffocating, Han Xiao took a few steps back to ease the atmosphere. He played around with the wine glass and said coldly, “What are you going to do with Raylen?”
Xiao Jin sighed. He knew that this was the time for him to show his stance. “I will make them pay. I’ll pursue and kill all of their intelligence agents, attack the organizations they support, and destroy their bases in the wilderness.”
Originally, it was not suitable to start a war right after he became the leader. His original plan had been to stabilize the internals in six months. However, Han Xiao’s threatening made him understand that he had no choice. He could only listen to Han Xiao and retaliate against Raylen immediately. Alumera’s damage was not in his consideration anymore; he had to listen to Han Xiao no matter how he much heartache he felt.
“Very good.” Han Xiao gave a faint laugh then left and said, “Enjoy your time as the leader.”
The wine glass was placed on the table. Han Xiao did not drink any from the start to the end.
The sounds of the youngsters yelling “Stepfather!” outside the door grew faint and distant. Xiao Jin only sat down after the sound disappeared. The happiness of becoming the leader became weaker because of Han Xiao’s threats.
“He’s got my weakness.” Xiao Jin laughed in bitterness and called Xiao Hai in.
“Father, Black Phantom left.” Xiao Hai could not hide his happiness. The position of leader finally belonged to the Xiao Faction.
“Pass my order down. The out of town divisions will be launching a full attack on Raylen’s forces in the wilderness!” Xiao Jin was back to expressionless.
Xiao Hai’s smile froze. Waves of shock filled his heart, and he said in disbelief, “Father, you’ve just become the leader, and the structure has yet to stabilize. If we start a war at this time, the power of the family will be hugely damaged, and our position will be even more volatile. The priority right now should be to stabilize the internal matters! Although Raylan set us up this time, there’s no need to seek revenge immediately. There are many more days to come, and there’s no benefit to what you’re doing!”
“Stop talking, do as I said,” Xiao Jin said coldly.
Xiao Hai was stunned.
…
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You have unlocked the Alumera Family. Current relationship: Respect (3000/6000) – [Partner of Xiao Faction].
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The starting relationship is ‘respect’. Seems like Xiao Jin gave in. Han Xiao was very satisfied.
He did not threaten Xiao Jin out of nowhere. The deduction earlier was made from his speculation through the pieces of evidence. Firstly, Xiao Jin’s actions were all very goal oriented and connected with each other, and these actions all brought him a benefit, which was very suspicious. Secondly, [The Real Killer] was a puzzle mission, but Xiao Jin found Su Dinghua straightaway. Thus, the mission had been completed too easily, which made him feel that Xiao Jin knew who the killer was all along.
If Xiao Jin knew that Su Dinghua was going to assassinate Darryl from the start and did not do anything about it, then the character that Xiao Jin played was neither the real killer nor the mastermind, but someone who waited for the opportunity to take on the position of the leader.
Han Xiao had already thought of this when Xiao Jin came to look for his help, and he had planned this back then when he agreed to help.
He acted like he did not know and let Xiao Jin use him to increase his rank, but at the same time, Xiao Jin had to rely on him to do so. Therefore, Han Xiao turned around and threatened Xiao Jin because, unless Xiao Jin wanted to give up his position as the leader, he had to listen to him and almost become his puppet.
From Xiao Jin’s actions, he was an ambitious guy who knew how to analysis his situation. The chance of him compromising was more than eighty percent. He definitely could not let go of the leader’s position that he had worked so hard to get.
Furthermore, Raylen was the mastermind who framed him, and there was no way Han Xiao was going to let them have an easy time. Therefore, he had ordered Alumera to clash with them without considering the costs for them. The people of Raylen would definitely not expect Alumera to counter-attack so strongly; it went the exact opposite way that they wanted it to go, and they had brought fire to themselves.
This way, Han Xiao could take revenge on Raylen without getting blood on his blades, and he did not even have to do anything.
It was easier to fight a large organization with a large organization.
During what happened in Alumera, Han Xiao had been watching like a bystander and only showed his teeth in the end.
The fight between a sandpiper and a clam benefitted the fisherman in the end!
Of course, there was a possibility that his guess was wrong. Xiao Jin might not actually have been someone who knew all along and acted on the opportunities that surfaced.
However, this was not important at all. It was as he had said before.
I don’t need evidence. If I think it’s true, then it is!
It must be!
Xiao Jin did not have a choice.
I should complete the mission. Han Xiao opened the interface.
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Please state the real killer’s identity.
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“Su Dinghua, Raylen…” Han Xiao described the situation. The mission requirement was to find out the mastermind who framed him, which was Raylen without a doubt.
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[The Real Killer] has been processed. Determining…
Requirements met. Mission complete.
You have received a chance to learn a random ability or talent. Please select.
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Han Xiao pondered for a moment. He felt that a talent would be better; there was a chance to get a rare talent or even a molding ability.
“Talent.”
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Randomizing… Completed. Please choose from one of the three below.
Duplicate Channeling: 2% – 8% chance of duplicating the ability during channeling. Triggering the ability depends on Luck.
Call of the Wild: Increases default affinity with beast type monsters with a chance to communicate. Charisma increases the chance of communication.
Frost Resistance: +35% resistance to ice element and makes it harder to receive debuffs from ice element such as slow or frozen.
