Bruno's heart jumped.
Had his disguise been discovered?
He pulled at his lips and said, "Don't think too much."
"Grandpa never calls me by my name," the girl said, her eyes full of tears. "He always calls me 'Sweetheart.'"
Bruno had no words for a moment.
Right, Bolantie had lived with his granddaughter for years. Of course she would notice something was wrong.
Agatha wiped her tears and sniffled, "Every time I hugged my grandpa, his body was soft. But just now, your body was stiff."
Bruno had nothing to say. He just stayed silent.
He tried to think of an explanation.
He was still thinking about what to say when Agatha suddenly changed the subject. "But… thank you."
Bruno's thoughts vanished instantly. He gently rubbed her head and said, "Grandpa is too sick. He's forgotten a lot. But I'm still your grandpa."
"I know," Agatha said, holding back her tears. She looked up, strong and determined.
After a long silence, Bruno finally said, "Grandpa has something to take care of right now. He couldn't come see you. Take care of yourself."
"Okay, grandpa. I'll wait for you," Agatha said, holding back her sadness. She ran off into the distance. It was the time between day and night. The sun was only half visible, and the moon was just starting to rise.
She didn't look back as she ran toward the moon.
Bruno felt a lump in his throat. A feeling welled up inside him, but it wasn't his. He was sure of it.
It was Bolantie's. His body still carried the feelings for Agatha.
Bruno sighed deeply in his heart.
In Bloom City General Hospital.
"Right now, the diagnosis is mental disorder. We've already had the alchemists check him. His mental state is strange, but we can't find the cause," the doctor said, looking at the report.
Elena nodded. She looked at the young man on the bed.
He just stared at the ceiling, his eyes empty, like he had lost his soul. He didn't react to anything happening around him.
This was the cousin of her older brother, working as a helper at the martial arts school. He had been like this since the night before, after he "saw a ghost."
Elena thought for a moment. She decided she had to go herself.
Alchemists had amazing skills, but they mostly used modern medicine. They couldn't really see into the mind or brain. Arcane Power users were better at that.
She reached out and touched the young man's forehead. Then she calmed her mind and did Meditation of the Ten Thousand Hells.
Suddenly, her brain and the young man's started to resonate.
Everything the young man saw that night, she could see too.
The red-haired girl muttered, "Let me see what you saw."
A question mark floated in her mind.
The young man had seen a skeleton, sitting cross-legged on the ground, its bones glowing faintly. Under it were hundreds of corpses kneeling in a circle. Even more, there were countless ghosts floating around it.
The Ten Thousand Hells!
Elena recognized it at once. But the next moment, the bones and ghosts around the skeleton suddenly turned toward the girl, lunging forward as if to attack. They roared and screamed, filled with the smell of death and pain.
Elena pulled herself out of the connection instantly. She turned away from the young man's mind, her face pale and her hair standing on end. She took a long time to calm down.
The doctor rushed over and asked, "What's wrong?"
Elena shook her head and said blankly, "Nothing."
Nothing? That was a joke.
Luminous Bone, a High Rank of The Ten Thousand Hells.
That meant this guy had accidentally seen a High Rank Arcane Power user of The Ten Thousand Hells. His mind had been terrified.
Who was this High Rank Arcane Power user?
This was urgent. Elena pulled out her alchemy communicator and said, "Master, come quickly. General Hospital. It's urgent."
Hornes Castle Training Room.
Bruno was practicing his punches. Each punch and kick carried full power, making a low wind sound, like a tiger growling quietly.
This was the tiger form of the Tiger-Wolf Combat Technique. The tiger form was big and open, each move powerful and heavy. It focused on facing the enemy directly, using strength to destroy them.
Suddenly, Bruno dropped his stance, and his aura changed dramatically. He looked like a hungry wolf crouching low, his breath becoming strange. His steps became more agile, like a wolf watching its prey, moving left and right, searching for its weakness.
This was the wolf form. It focused on tricky, unexpected punches.
Bruno was fighting with real energy, mastering every move of the Tiger-Wolf Combat Technique. It wasn't because he was especially talented, but because Bolantie had studied the technique so deeply that he had reached a perfect level. A little more understanding, and he could break through the limits.
The young man finished his form, muttering to himself, "Combat techniques must have levels. I wonder which level the Tiger-Wolf Combat Technique is at."
He took a big gulp of water and sat down, lost in thought.
His ideas were great, but the reality was harsh.
Even if Bolantie was alive, there were still weaknesses. Like Agatha, who had seen through his fake identity right away.
"If I could act behind the scenes, pretending to be a god and start an organization, that would be better," Bruno said, rubbing his chin. That idea felt more realistic.
Using another person's identity was never safe.
At that moment, a loud noise came from outside the courtyard. Bruno stood up and looked out the window.
A young man was arguing with Fabian.
"Kaiden?" Bruno's heart jumped. What was this kid doing here? It wasn't like he had done anything big—just eaten two pieces of Celestial Beast meat.
He thought for a second, then went downstairs to check things out.
At the front door.
Fabian looked frustrated and said, "I don't know where we upset the 'Heavenly Gang'. We never had to pay a management fee before."
The tattooed man beside Kaiden pouted and said, "Who knows? They must have forgotten about this big castle. Anyway, you're in our 'Heavenly Gang' area. You have to pay 7 silver coins a month as management fee."
Management fee was just a fancy name for protection money.
At that moment, Bruno arrived.
Kaiden looked surprised and said, "Hey, brother, what are you doing here?"
"This is my house," Bruno said.
"Your house?" Kaiden widened his eyes and pointed at the castle behind him. "You said your family was poor!"
Bruno smiled awkwardly. "It's fallen." He quickly changed the subject and asked, "What's going on here?"
Fabian explained to the young master about the management fee.
Bruno immediately understood.
Damn it!
He had completely forgotten about this.
Bloom City looked busy and lively, under the care of Lord Stanford. But everyone knew what the nobles were like.
To them, commoners were just part of their wealth. They didn't really care about managing things. So in the lower areas, most were run by local gangs. The gangs divided up the areas and collected a management fee every month.
Hornes family didn't have to pay before because they had a noble title. The gangs didn't want to deal with the authorities, so they never came around.
But now, Bruno sold the noble title of the Hornes family. The Heavenly Gang saw a rich "merchant" in their area that didn't pay the fee. Naturally, they came to collect.
Bruno rubbed his forehead, feeling a little speechless.
This was really asking for trouble.
Kaiden thought for a second, then patted the tattooed man on the shoulder and said, "Since this is Bruno's house, you don't need to pay the fee."
"What?" Bruno raised his eyebrows, surprised. "What do you mean, Kaiden?"
Kaiden smiled. "The business I told you about before—now you can take it on." Before Bruno could refuse, he said, "I'll give you 30 gold coins a month from the organization. You just need to carry the 'Hope Serum' for me."
Hope Serum was a potion made by alchemists. It was a kind of drug. It was very addictive because after taking it, people would see all sorts of beautiful dreams. That was why it was called "Hope Serum."
Smuggling drugs?
Bruno frowned. His body instinctively resisted. Definitely not. "Kaiden, I don't have any experience with this. Maybe you should find someone else. I'm willing to pay the fee."
"First time is always hard, but the second time is easy!" Kaiden laughed. "Of course, you can also pay the fee. Then you'll have to pay for a hundred years of missed fees..." He counted on his fingers. "A hundred years is 1200 months. Each month is 7 silver coins. That's... a lot."
Bruno's face turned dark.
What a damn shameless guy.