The Young Master in the Shadows

Chapter 315: The Supreme Ruler

“Ladies and gentlemen!” Theodore’s voice sounded in the hall moments after Victor left.

“Now that the groom has departed, let us enjoy the rest of this party this evening! We have a program full of pretty singers and handsome models!” he said. “Just wanted to comment on something through… Did you notice the brides' shiny and youthful skins?” he asked.

Many nodded. Many girls wished to be as pretty, and many men wanted wives this pretty.

“Perfect, right! This is all due to our new beauty cream product! SKINPURE X!” Theodore added in a salesman tone, taking a white pearly gilded package from his pocket and displaying it to the attendees.

“You all saw the commercials on TV lately! They are all true!” Theodore said, “Just look at my wives!” he pointed to Elena and Luna who blushed a little under the eyes of the attendees. Their skin was really smooth and pretty.

“Hell! Even look at my mother and sister-in-law!” he added, pointing to Willow and her daughter whom he pretty much forgot her name. They had been using the cream that Victor gave them when he came to Golden Waterfall town a month ago, and now their skins were as smooth as a baby’s.

The attendees were a little intrigued as they carefully inspected Elena and her family. Maybe this cream was effective but wasn't Theodore a little too shameless for marketing his products at his son’s wedding.

“Now for every one of our guests who attended this wedding, I will present a gift basket that not only includes this beauty cream, but also many of our new things like the yet unreleased beauty shampoo, bath salts, and exclusive diet biscuit… Although it tastes a little bad, you will not feel hungry for 24 hours after eating one!” Theodore said as many servants poured into carrying the gift baskets for everyone.

The attendees looked at each other and then ran to grab their baskets.

“How much does this thing cost?” Yulian asked as he inspected the cream bottle that a polite maid put beside he got. Alice was interested too, she heard her father talk about this thing, but never got the chance to inspect it.

“About $20.000 per package… that’s the official price…” Luna said. She was helping Theodore with his business lately.

“Is it more on the black market?”

“Yes, due to the limited supply, its price can reach $100.000!” Luna said.

“Why are you asking? Are you intending to sell this?” Elena asked, feeling strange from the way Yulian looked at the cream bottle as if it was a treasure.

“No… Yulian is our sales manager… He is just analyzing this product!” Alice interjected as she stepped on Yulian’s toes… He was truly going to sell this thing outside.

…

“Don’t taste it… this thing tastes like sh*t!” the drunken El warned the kids at her table who were looking with interest at the energy bar. “Even my aunt Paula who ate everything would not dare to taste it!” she added as she leaned on the table, feeling a little sleepy.

“Really?” Lara frowned. The last time Victor gave her one of those it didn’t taste bad at all! So she took one from a nearby servant and gave it a bite… The next moment she was running out of the hall to the lady’s room. Her taste buds were crying for help, but as a lady, she couldn’t spit her food in front of others.

Theodore chuckled as he saw his daughter leave. This was never meant for humans but for those players among the guests. This thing would make the perfect rations for dungeon explorers, and after testing it for the last month, it was ready for the mass market with the only problem being the taste that no amount of sugar could fix.

“Now… let the dance begin!” he said, but no one listened as they examined their baskets… Well, he didn’t mind. He will get the dance stage for himself and his wives for a while at the very least!

…

“That’s how things should be done!” Harvey said as Gary and April got their baskets and began to check them out.

“Are these things real?” Gary asked, a little not believing. Many beauty products are just scams.

“Yes… According to a recent report, Theodore had just struck gold!” Harvey explained. “A few months ago Victor, that lucky bastard was messing around and happened to discover an F-ranked dungeon and clear it! It just so happened to be on a mountain that belonged entirely to Theodore… Not to the Von Weise family, but to Theodore himself!”

“Oh…He can exploit it himself!”

“Yes… he would have to silence his family with some scabs, but he got most of it!” Harvey said, feeling a little jealous. “In it, they found this strange algae… It seems to have the effect of rejuvenating skin, he made that cream out of it! He also seemed to have found some mushrooms that made people less hungry, but it didn’t pass the testing stage yet…”

“They are using dungeon plants for consumer products? Wouldn't it hurt normal people?” April asked.

“Exactly, Otherworldly products are super effective on normal people… so many tests are needed and the doses need to be adjusted but every once in a while, some things just work!” he said. He really likes April, she was both smart and considerate. A good wife for a merchant!

Especially with her class of a Doom Negotiator. She can make some very compelling arguments and find faults in others' reasoning and weaknesses in their actions.

“April… Earlier when I spoke to Victor… Did you feel anything wrong?” Harvey asked April who was checking the new cream she got. She couldn’t wait to try it.

“... No… not really… He seemed pretty sincere, other than avoiding talking a lot, I felt nothing strange… But…”

“What?” Harvey squinted his eyes.

“That maid who held the contract… She was really nervous!”

“Oh… The veiled one?” Harvey said as he looked around. That maid was not in the hall. She must have left with Victor.

“Yes…”

“Interesting…”

…

It was sunset when Mirage, who left the wedding right after the ceremony, watched as the drunk priest walked out of the hotel with the help of one girl who bowed respectfully to him after she threw him like a garbage bag into a Taxi.

“Follow him!” Mirage told her driver.

The black SUV stealthily followed the taxi as it left midtown and headed to the suburbs.

When she was reading everyone’s fate earlier during the ceremony she saw it.

His fate was not the one she was looking for but it was a clue! The only clue she found.

This guy was sure to guide her to her target!

According to her sect's conclusions, the disturbance started about three months ago in Vein City. And the target is in his or her teens!

At first, they suspected Victor as he was a major newcomer to the city around that time. But after she scanned him she was sure it was not him. He was just your old pervert. His fate as a harem king was interesting as it was rare, but that’s it.

At the wedding, she scanned the girls one by one, and none of them had a defined fate. They were just minor characters. Destined to be breeding material for that pervert Victor.

She never suspected once that their fates had just changed recently… Only the Fate Lord can change fates after all!

She scanned the attendees too… There was nothing major. Sure some had very bad fates others had nice ones, but nothing earth-shattering… No, there was a Scion sitting to the side but her fate had nothing to do with the lord's plan. And then there was a dark scion who was married against his will.

Reading his defined fate was a waste!

 She read it two times!  At first when he acted as Nova when the wedding began and then the second time when he was dressed like a guard and loitered around the stage for a while!

What did his fate mean?

Mirage also was curious how he managed to survive Caspian’s attack!

Her first question was answered after after seeing what happened on stage later she figured it out! Victor was his husband!

This was not important for now.

The taxi stopped next to the Main temple. A grand building that was built with the donations of thousands of worshipers.

The priest wobbled out of the taxi and fell down, forcing the guard at the door to quickly ask for help to send him to his room.

Mirage quickly out on her SSS ranked hiding hood, gifted to her by her boss, then silently followed the priest in until she quietly stepped into his room.

The moment the door shut, she intended to kidnap him, but what she didn’t expect was that he sat right up. He was not drunk at all and his eyes were angry.

He stood up from his bed with difficulty then sat at a nearby table, taking a red orb from his ring and placing it in front of him.

Looking at it he began to slowly manipulate his expression to appear hurt, then he took a green pill that immediately made him immediately look sick.

He coughed some blood then took a deep breath then touched the orb in front of him.

Moments later the orb flickered then a hologram of a young man appeared… Mirage knew that guy, it was Levi Von Zwei. A snake in human flesh.

“Jack! What’s wrong? Did the plan succeed?”

“MASTER….” the priest coughed up blood. “They are dead! All Dead… That bastard Theodore, he was waiting for us! It was all a trap! The men were taken to another room, and all of them were killed there… It was as if we had a spy among us…” The priest coughed up blood.

“I know, my other agent at the wedding had already told me…What happened on stage?”

“When I arrived… I didn’t even get to attack! I was subdued immediately. They drugged me then made me perform that ritual…”

“How did you escape then?”

“They gave me poison then sent me away… They didn’t want the priest to die on their hands!” the priest explained, “But they didn’t expect that I tricked them… My Corpse Warrior class made me immune to their medicine. I was always awake all the time but couldn't do anything! Victor had 4 high-level players around him all the time on the backstage and one of them was from the Von Geldstadt family! I really wanted to make a move and subdue Victor then make him kill that bride Lin, butt… butt… ”

“Butt what?”

“It was impossible, I was already poisoned and those guys were watching me like hawks.” he began to cough up blood.

“I see…”

“It was as if Victor was a honey pot set by them to catch all enemies… That pervert was never really an elite! It was all a scam!”

“We already know that…But if Von Geldstadt is on it too, this complicates things… What’s wrong with you?”

“I told you I was poisoned… Although I won’t die I am not good at all…” the priest said and coughed some blood. “I already took an antidote pill, I just need to rest and heal up now and maybe use their strange poison to strengthen my corpse power… I just wanted to make this report before that! They expect me to be dead in two days…”

“I see…” Levi said. “Rest for now, and I will contact you with instructions later tonight!”

“Understood…”

The connection went off.

Mirage watched as the priest smirked and stood up after putting the orb back in his storage ring. He was no longer looking sick as he flexed his muscles. Slowly blood returned to his face, making him look healthy again. He was clearly acting.

He quickly took out three isolation talismans and activated them, making sure that his room was secure then took out a mirror from his ring. He placed it on the table where the orb was then bowed to it.

A picture of a shadow soon appeared on it.

"Supreme RULER!" the priest saluted.

“How did it go?” the shadow that resembled a young man asked with a cold voice.

“Perfect… There were some complications as Victor made me a little drunk so he would be able to marry Alex which we didn’t expect, but other than that, it went according to plan.”

“A pervert is a pervert….” the shadowy young man said. “Did you fool the Von Zwei family?”

“Yes… When I disappear tonight, they will surely suspect the Von Weise or the Von Geldstadt family!” the priest said.

“Perfect! This would be perfect for our plan, as the chaos would get us the chance to set our piece to its place!” the man said.

“But what if Von Zwei didn’t act as planned?”

“Possible… That fox Martin might realize something was wrong. But it doesn’t matter, the families would fight it out sooner or later, so adding some fuel to the fire is never a bad thing.” the young man said, “Did the fate sect send anyone?” he asked, making Mirage squint her eyes and nearly gasp.

“I couldn’t really tell, thanks to Victor's shenanigans everyone was looking around all the time… I suspect a woman who is next to Luinana, but I am not sure… Too bad photography was not allowed, the entire hall was jammed with anti-photography tools and talismans! Only specially calibrated cameras would work!”

“Draw a photo and send it to me… Maybe we can kill her and blame Victor for it!”

Mirage squinted her eyes angrily as she bit her lip.

“I understand. Would they really be drawn away from you with all the noise we were creating around here lately?”

“I can’t tell yet… But my fate is a damn hot potato! And with such a good honey pot as Victor, it would be a shame if I were not to use it!” the man in the dark said.

“I believe in master!” the priest said with an unwavering belief.

“Did Caspian appear?”

“Yes… Thankfully Alex was able to fend him off… And he also did as I told him and accused Caspian of being a demon!”

“What a good boy… Alex is the perfect agent! Victor thinks he is manipulating him, but on the contrary, he is the one being led by the nose!”

“Is that Alex really trustworthy?”

“Of course not! But he wants to rebuild his sect and preserve his father’s legacy. And the greedy Victor would never really give him that!”

“Neither would we…” the priest chuckled.

“We can’t tell him that just yet…” the young master said in a sarcastic tone.

“I understand…” the priest said, making Mirage nod to herself. Alex was really a dark scion. Probably the darkest of them all, everyone was manipulating him!

“Now, you know what to do right?”

“Yes… I just need to disappear and stay low for a while!” the priest said.

“Exactly… Your turn in Vein City is over anyway… Just get rid of the fate sect’s agent before you contact me again!” the young master said.

“Will be done!” the priest said as the mirror went dark.

He slowly stood up and stored the mirror in his ring then turned to face Mirage who was supposedly hiding.

“Welcome lady Fate sect agent… Did you enjoy eavesdropping on me?” he asked arrogantly.