The Biggest Scam of the Century

Chapter 220: The Biggest Scam of the Century

On the other side of the world, Hana continued to discuss about Soul Power's advancement to make herself clear. She had done it a couple of times with her pet snake, and sometimes, with her pet tortoise and pet termite, during the past three days. It helped to broaden her horizon as she immersed herself in different perspectives regarding this unfamiliar energy and the rules involved.

She treated the information seriously and even jotted it down in her notebook like a good student.

Hana knew that understanding the information was vital to her personal growth which directly correlate with her personal strength. In turn, the improvement of her strength will increase her chance of survival and meeting her main objective.

"..so, you're saying, after each advancement, we need to fill the pond? If we don't fill it, we will be in trouble?" Hana was trying to digest the influx of cultivation-esque explanations. It was a little too much information to her liking. She didn't even pay attention to Kuro's flattery on how great she was, and what a once-in-a-thousand-year genius she was. If she did, she would've slapped the little snake out of embarrassment.

"Yes, it is a must. The fastest way in this kind of environment is to meditate, Mommy. Unless we could raid Ara's grandpa's chamber to speed it up, that is."

Before Kuro could further continue, Hana grabbed the little snake and gathered his elongated self into her embrace. To Kuro's surprise, Hana's eyes misted slightly, as he felt Mommy's turbulent emotions filled with sadness.

"Mommy, are you alright.."

With a gaze full of certainty and self-loathing, Hana whispered, "You really must've pushed yourself to take care of Mommy and the rest. You can go and rest, you know. There are so many of your brothers and sisters here who could protect the Lair...''

Hana remembered Kuro had gone through a major breakthrough a few weeks back during the 'prawn' skewer incident. She nearly died from a single bite, and she was very sure Kuro never rested since then. Now she understood why little Pii-chan bested Kuro so easily at times, while at other times, it seemed that they were on par with each other. Kuro never consolidated his realm for her sake! 

Kuro immediately cut off Hana's words filled with concern and heartache, "It's alright. I can still hold on. My heart won't be at ease until at least, Bro Shi takes his half-step to the next Realm. Who can really protect you if I'm not around? It will take years, just like last time. The old stinky fish only cares about benefits. He won't care unless Ara nearly dies. At that time, even if Mommy didn't die, you might be hurt badly. We all will be one step into your grave together with you. This is self-preservation too. I'm just being selfish." He joked and chuckled lightheartedly as he tried his best to alleviate Mommy's guilt and concern.

O_____O||| The joke didn't sound like a joke at all; it really jabbed through Hana's conscience.

Hana sighed depressedly, "I've hurt you unknowingly, little one. Mommy's really sorry."

"It's alright. Don't worry. After you consolidate your Soul Hall Domain in the Third Tier, and Brother Shi steps into a Lord, I will step back and enter hibernation for a while ya, Mommy. I expect that it won't be too long seeing how you progress. You can't leave me here. You need to bring me with you wherever you go. You hear me, Mommy?"

Kuro's greatest fear was the Mistress leaving him during hibernation. If she was still in these lands, he would definitely be able to find her through their soul connection. However, if she found a way to cross between worlds where she originally came from as what she claims to be, he would be helpless to track her down later.

After Mommy's elaborate explanation last time, it affirmed his decision to delay his hibernation. He didn't even let Mommy know of his internal injury from prematurely exiting his previous hibernation the first time he detected the existence of Mommy.

Hana sighed deeply, as she slowly nodded. She knew she had made all these little ones depend on her just to live. The majority of them were stronger than her, and they didn't need her to survive, especially Kuro. But he still stretched out a helping hand to save her in her times of need, propped her up, and idolized her like she was a gift from the heavens.

The problem was, she was so very weak.

In this world's tyrannical ecosystem, she knew she was at the very bottom.

She will definitely die without protection.

She knew it, Kuro knew it, the others... Maybe some of them understood, and some didn't.

Currently, these little ones were very kind to her as they gave her meaning to continue surviving.

She wasn't so naive until she didn't know that a weak Master jeopardizes the Family. The Serpent Lair needed a strong and dependable Master to survive the harsh world, especially when she had the ambition to expand.

She will be better, and stronger silently while biding her time, just like a protagonist in C-novels. And in turn, protects everyone like how a Mistress Goddess should be to her little ones.

Oh yes, she knew, they called her that behind her back. And, it gave her a complex emotion as she acknowledged that she was far from how they claimed her to be. It was the biggest scam of the century!

"Thank you, Ku-chan, for all the things you've done for Mommy. I promise I won't leave you. I won't let you guys down. Tell me more, about how should I refill this pond you guys talked about. Is there a way to see its progress? I need to know to really understand."

"Your pond is simply your Soul Hall Domain, Mommy. Feel it within you. Only you can see which parts are fully matured and which parts need more nurturing. Since I could merge with you, I can see it needed more 'water' inside. You can see it yourself and adjust. But you need to go into specific details, don't just observe it generally."

Hana was still unsatisfied with the answer. She simply didn't know what was 'water' and how to fill up the areas which lacked 'water'.

Kuro added helpfully, "For a Lightning Serpent, to fill the pond, just keep on cultivating as usual. It will fill up naturally. It would help if you focused and didn't stop to take breaks."

Hana sighed defeatedly. She nodded slowly but paused to ask the things that baffled her the most, "By the way, Ku-chan. Did you see anything else at the fringe of my Soul Hall Domain?"

Kuro paused for a moment to ponder.

Mommy asked the same question again.

He was beginning to think that there must be something out there, although, for the life of him, he just couldn't see.

"Mommy, some things are not clear, even to me, since only the owner of the Soul Hall Domain is truly in control of their own realm, and in turn, can detect the smallest anomaly.

My advice is, if you really see something out of the norm, investigate to determine the effect of said anomaly. Then, just follow your intuition." Kuro answered carefully.

He continued, "Nine out of ten, an anomaly is something dangerous for your Soul Hall Domain and must be eradicated. Nothing could penetrate the defense of a Soul Hall Domain except for Soul Predators. Be cautious."

Kuro felt worried, but he chose to believe in Mommy's judgment. She wasn't as clueless as she looks.

In fact, Mommy was actually a shrewd, highly intelligent being, way above Gramps Alpy. She only lacked localized information and was easily distracted by nonsensical conscience and virtues.

Hana nodded absentmindedly since her mind was preoccupied with something else. She held her smartphone tightly as she took a glance at the message sent by her beloved.

Papa: Ayang, I'm going to the same spot where we managed to connect soon. The place doesn't have connectivity. Check in every day at 12 pm until I appear, okay? Let's try to finish the bridge as soon as possible and see what happens? I would also love to discuss about this energy we're sharing and share my experimental results.

Hana smiled.

Her Arash was always dependable.

...

Varna, Bulgaria

Currently, Butler Miles was in the Vault. This location was previously the Godfrey's ancestral grounds before the relocation to the US during the early 18th Century. Now, it was a place to store important yet sensitive, highly classified documents of the Family which were not digitized purposely to protect them from outside breaches. Butler Miles had no choice but to fly back since the documents could only be viewed in-house.

Butler Miles closed the old 3-inch document he obtained from Godfrey's intelligence network's oldest archive center while massaging his temples. He had used his Stage 5 Specialist ID to extract this data since the information was under a forbidden arts category. If the data was not so old, abstract, and under the impression of being extinct, even he wouldn't be able to read it.

The compiled data was a series of general narratives of important Godfreys who died since ancient times with suspected Curse Arcana, an extinct forbidden arts that had long perished from this world. The effect of the curses that deteriorated the bodies was quite diverse but had similarities in progression and timeline. However, the last case was as old as three hundred years ago before a significant purge was initiated by the Patriarch of that time after he survived a Curse. He noted that the person was the current Family Head's great-grandfather who had passed away years ago. Hence, even that trail also went cold.

Butler Miles suspected that a much higher clearance was needed to read the detailed report on the purge operation.

"Thank you, Marco. Please return this to the Vault."

Afterward, he needed to fly to the US to get access to the Main warehouse for the ingredients list. Procuring the herbs wasn't a problem, but deciphering which herbs was more crucial. The Bateqs did not follow the classical taxonomy naming established but had a traditional naming system of their own. Hence, he needed to find his old-time drinking buddy, sort of a taxonomy expert, to help him out with the herb list before actually heading to the warehouse.

Butler Miles checked his smartwatch as it vibrated, indicating someone was currently contacting him.

"About time."

Butler Miles commented.

He answered the phone call, "Georg, where are you exactly? I'm flying in to see you for something important."

'Hey buddy, you sounded so stuck up now eh. Haven't contacted any one of us for tens of years, and now, just fishing for favors, ei?'

Butler Miles frowned slightly at the familiar rude response and sighed. His old friend had always been this way and he had tolerated it for years when they had been in the same team. "Let's catch up soon. Send me your coordinates now."

'Alright, see you in a jiffy, bud! Treat me to a meal! But the bill would be sky high, I tell you!'

"But of course, nothing less."

Butler Miles ended the call while listening to the satisfied laughter through the line. He shook his head helplessly while boarding the private heli.

...