Chapter 534: Shocking Operation

Chapter 534: A Shocking Move

Madame Tangli and Old Man Delon had arrived, bearing a sumptuous late-night feast of braised delicacies and spicy hotpot.

Alfred woke Karen first, who went to wash up upon waking, while Alfred made his way down to the dining hall alone, spotting Memphis standing right outside the entrance.

"I thought you would have come along with them," Alfred said with a polite smile.

Memphis could have easily transformed into Mr. Eisen and accompanied his parents to deliver the midnight rations.

Glancing at his parents and Vick busying themselves inside, Memphis replied:

"If I did that, I would have gone from waiting to eat to being part of the kitchen staff."

"You make an excellent point."

Alfred noted that Memphis was recovering remarkably well from his condition; of course, the main catalyst was discovering that his young master was actually his nephew, which acted as a profound balm to his troubled mind.

Just then, Alfred’s gaze drifted to a rustic, ancient box resting on the counter behind Madame Tangli, prompting him to ask:

"What is that?"

"I haven't the slightest idea," Memphis said, shaking his head.

"Your family's affairs, and you don't know?"

"My understanding of my own mother is perhaps less profound than even my wife's."

"That, I believe."

"Where is the Captain?"

"Oh, I've already woken the Young Master; he will be here shortly. He has always held Madame Tangli in high regard."

"Then you should go on in first. I will wait here for the Captain so we can enter together."

"Very well, then."

Recognizing it was ultimately a family gathering, Alfred felt it best to gracefully step back from his duties for a brief moment.

Stepping into the dining hall, Alfred picked up a tray and headed to Madame Tangli's station for food, his eyes stealing several more glances at that ancient box along the way.

Were it not for fear of appearing discourteous, Alfred would have loved to probe it directly with his Succubus Eye.

Though he could not be so blatant, Alfred sensed the aura of a seal emanating from the container—one that seemed newly broken—and a faint, burning sting pricked his vision.

Judging by the length of the box, it likely contained a weapon.

A gift for his young master?

With the Sword of Alius shattered, the Young Master happened to be in search of a new armament.

Alfred was well aware of this grandmother’s extraordinary nature, and even more conscious of her deep affection for his young master, her grandson; learning that his sword had broken, sending a weapon was only natural.

Lineage, it seemed, truly carried weight.

Though Old Master Dis had not left his young master much in the way of direct inheritance, the network of connections he had forged in his time was now making itself felt, with Lord Tychon on the Fire Island being the prime example.

He would simply have to wait for the Young Master to come down and unseal it, he thought with a soft chuckle.

Tray in hand, Alfred found a seat and took a bite of a braised pig’s ear.

The flavor was superb, remarkably reminiscent of his young master’s own culinary handiwork.

"Grandpa, Grandma, hehe."

Richard strolled over, carrying his own tray.

Seeing his grandson arrive, Old Man Delon held a ladle in his right hand while pounding his own lower back with his left fist, his gaze overflowing with indulgence: "For your sake, your grandfather's old bones have truly been worked to the limit."

"That's because Grandpa dotes on me."

"And what about Grandma? Does Grandma not dote on you?"

"Grandma too, Grandma dotes on me just as much."

"Which piece do you want?"

"Duck, I want the duck."

"Here you go."

"Layer on some more cucumber slices and bean sprouts, and this ham too—let me have a bit more."

"Can you even finish all this by yourself?"

"Of course I can, my appetite is massive lately. Oh, Grandpa, scoop me another plateful, I want to savor it properly."

"Don't let it go to waste."

"I won't, I won't."

"My word, you're scooping so much rice, are you a walking rice bucket?"

"Don't worry, don't worry, I can manage, I can manage."

Richard piled two trays high with food, the staple rice heaped like twin miniature mountains, before walking toward a specific corner of the dining hall.

The two elders kept an eye on their grandson's movements while serving the others, watching him set his trays down before a young woman, then eagerly helping distribute the food with small bowls and utensils before popping back up to fetch water.

Old Man Delon felt the familiarity of the scene strike him with a violent force, as though long-buried memories had instantly awakened to form a perfect overlay.

Nothing else could explain it; his grandson's every gesture right now was the spitting image of his own youth.

When courting his own wife, he too had been this meticulous, almost to the point of humility.

Madame Tangli let out a cold snort: "A girl from the Felscher family."

"She looks quite decent," Old Man Delon remarked. "Her appearance and demeanor are both rather pleasing."

"Pleasing where? Pleasing how? Look at the groveling state of your grandson, and look how reserved that girl is—so reserved I can hardly bear to watch."

"Isn't that exactly how you were back then?"

Madame Tangli: "..."

"My point is, as long as our grandson likes her, that is what matters."

"Hah, are you blind to the Felscher family curse? Aren't you worried that if your grandson gets too close to her, she'll bring that curse straight into your Guman house as part of her dowry?"

"Richard is at an age where he should do the things proper to his age. As elders, we had best not interfere too much."

"Delon."

"Yes?"

"When you were pursuing me, were your parents not also deeply displeased?"

"No... they weren't."

"Hah."

Madame Tangli sighed, saying: "I simply have no desire to become in-laws with that Felscher woman."

"Matters between adults are best kept apart from the younger generation."

"I won't throw a fit now, for Richard's sake. It matters not if he is her teammate, and it matters not if their relationship is a bit close, but if he truly intends to progress in that direction, I will lay things out clearly to him once he returns home, so he can put that notion to rest as early as possible."

"I fear doing so might produce the opposite effect. What might have amounted to nothing could very well become a reality once you intervene like that."

"Delon, I am thinking of your Guman family, whose side are you on anyway?"

"As long as my grandson is happy, haha." The old man hardened his stance for once, "As long as he is happy."

"You really aren't afraid of the curse."

"My dear, do you remember what you said to me after my seventh failed confession to you?"

"You think I would remember that?"

"You told me that you carried a curse, and you asked if I was afraid."

Madame Tangli’s hand, which was holding the spoon, trembled slightly.

"What is there to be afraid of, right?" A smile appeared on Old Man Delon’s face, "Young people, what is there to be afraid of."

...

After washing up and preparing to go to the cafeteria, the phone in the office rang. Karen walked over and answered it, and Neo's voice came from the other end.

"Hello."

"It's me, Karen."

"Karen, I have good news for you. A small, high-spec auction is about to be held on the black market, the private club kind. I looked at the auction list, and there are several weapons in this batch."

"Aren't you auditing the illegal gains of the Dun family? Why did you run over there?"

"Don't I have to take some things to the black market to liquidate them? Isn't it normal to appear on the black market?"

"Alright, which weapons?"

"They have big reputations, but the problem is that we have to observe them up close after the auction starts. Some weapons are damaged, and some unscrupulous auctioneers will specially repair them before putting them up, so it's hard to say for sure before seeing the specific condition.

Aren't you just lacking a weapon right now? If there is a weapon suitable for you, I'll help you take a look. If it's suitable, I'll bid for it."

"Does it start today?"

"No, the day after tomorrow."

"Okay, no problem, but you'd better tell Alfred to go with you. He is in charge of all my points tickets."

"Okay, okay, I got it. I'll take a look first. If the price-performance ratio is really good, I'll bid on one. Even if you can't use it, I can use my favors to find some people in certain internal departments of the Church to add a few embedded formations for me and then resell it. My favors are very valuable right now, so I have to use them quickly, for fear that I might get demoted one day."

"What on earth are you blindly worrying about?"

"We have nothing to do lately, right? Those two plans we made before should be put on the agenda."

"Filomena's matter," Karen reminded.

"Oh, Filomena's matter, I almost forgot. But that's a family matter, it doesn't matter if it's handled well or not. Anyway, for me, the next time I see her, whether that body belongs to Filomena or her grandmother makes no difference."

"I promised her."

"Okay, okay, who told our Captain Karen to always keep his promises. Anyway, after you handle this matter, aren't we going to explore the burial place of the phantom beast Compasini? Have you forgotten?"

"I remember."

That was to find a legacy for Alfred, because the path he and Compasini took belonged to the same lineage.

"This is what I plan to do. After this matter is over, I will ask Bernie for a leave of absence, and we will go on an adventure. If we can successfully find Compasini's burial place, then there will likely be the weapon you need inside. After all, I believe you definitely wouldn't look down on ordinary weapons, and even for the weapons in the auction, how should I put it, they can only be called worth the money, but it's hard to get any surprises."

"There are weapons in Compasini's burial place?"

"How do you think it died? What do you think it went through before it died? You didn't really think it waited until its life was near its end to find a place to die quietly of old age, did you?"

"It was hunted down?"

"According to the records I searched, it was like this, but the people who hunted it down did not come back alive. Think about it, what level are the people who could hunt it down? In all probability, the burial place we find should be a battle site, or even a small-scale battlefield site.

The truly good things must be found there. I also plan to find a suitable weapon there. Always condensing the Sword of Light is still a bit too tiring.

However, ordinary weapons will leave traces after being stained with the power of light a few more times. I have always been very cautious."

"Mm, Filomena's matter should be resolved very quickly."

If it's fast, there will be a result by tomorrow night.

"Then let's leave it at that for now. After finding the burial place, we'll look for that copper coin. If you can contact that little sister of yours, you can have her pry some words out of those divine artifact spirits in the forbidden land to get some ruins we can investigate or find some sister sacred artifacts.

In this era, information is wealth."

"Director, you are thinking quite far ahead."

"Actually, we could just get it done in one step. For example, doesn't that dog of yours know the location of the God's Burial Ground?"

"I haven't undone its next layer of seal yet."

"What on earth have you been busy with? Why have you delayed for so long and haven't undone it for it?"

"Don't you know what I've been busy with, Director?"

"Oh, true, you have indeed been very busy, so busy that you haven't been home lately. Ah ha, in the future we can even go to the God's Burial Ground to scavenge for weapons, how happy that would be. That place definitely has truly good things."

"When the God of Order came out, he was also injured."

"Uh..." Neo said dissatisfiedly, "You can't interrupt my dreams. You know, my life needs these."

"Yes, yes, yes. In the future, we'll go to the God's Burial Ground and each carry seven or eight divine artifacts back on our backs."

"Hehe."

Hanging up the phone, Karen let out a long sigh of relief. He still remembered that at Miss Elisa's funeral, Neo's coldness had put a lot of pressure on him. Now, it felt somewhat like humoring a silly older brother next door to make him happy.

But thinking again about Dalis, whom he had just come into contact with, he knew how difficult it was for Neo to still maintain his passion for life up until now.

Walking out of the office and arriving at the cafeteria entrance, Karen saw Memphis standing there waiting for him.

"Hehe, come in and eat." A smile appeared on Memphis's face.

Since returning from Fire Island, his uncle had always hoped he could come home for a reunion dinner. But it was indeed because of the Dun family's matters that he had been busy until now, and he hadn't been able to look after his grandmother and the dog at home for the time being.

Karen was considered the last person to come in. Madame Tangli had already prepared food for Karen and took the initiative to bring it over, while smilingly saying, "I see there are private rooms inside, let's go eat there."

"Those are private rooms for the lords of the headquarters to dine in," Karen explained.

Madame Tangli asked back, "Are you considered one now?"

Karen froze for a moment, nodded, and said, "Alright, let's go eat there."

The private room was not luxurious. After all, the cafeteria had been out of use for a long time, but every private location inside the headquarters came with its own formation, connected to the defensive formation of the headquarters building.

After Karen sat down, Madame Tangli brought the dishes to Karen: "Eat, child."

"Thank you, Madame."

"Call me Grandmother."

"Thank you, Grandmother."

"Ah." A bright smile appeared on Madame Tangli's face. After preparing so hard for so long and coming all this way, wasn't it just for this single acknowledgment.

Memphis couldn't follow them in. Karen felt it was a bit amusing that his uncle, who had waited outside for so long just for a reunion dinner, actually couldn't enter the private room.

"How is the taste? Is it suitable?" Madame Tangli asked.

"Very good, Grandmother's culinary skills are truly beyond words."

"Hehe, it was still you who gave me the inspiration." Madame Tangli was very satisfied.

Old Master Delong intended to pull out a chair and sit down, hoping to express his gratitude to Karen for helping his dear Richard.

But Madam Tangli kicked the chair directly, commanding the old man, "Go, bring the things in."

"Ah, what?"

Madam Tangli cleared her throat and said, "Call Richard in too."

She had almost forgotten about this gift-converter.

With a smile, Madam Tangli said, "The Guman family possesses an excellent weapon that his grandfather intends to pass down to Richard. You may have a look at it."

"Is it a formation-type sacred artifact? Then I am very much looking forward to it."

Old Master Delong went out, and soon returned carrying that long box, with Richard and Filomena following him inside.

"Captain."

Filomena only called out to Karen once, then seated herself casually nearby, completely ignoring Madam Tangli and Delong.

This scene made Madam Tangli’s eyelids drop slightly.

Her impression of Madam Felscher was exceedingly poor; though they belonged to the same era and had associated in the past, their connection had long been severed. Otherwise, they would not have lived in York City for decades without ever meeting again.

This kind of perception toward an elder easily projected onto the younger generation.

Besides... probably no elder would ever like a junior like Filomena.

She still remembered how well-behaved Karen was the first time he came to her house. Even though he wasn't her biological grandson, she would still dote on this young man from the bottom of her heart.

Alas.

Madam Tangli sighed inwardly. Looking at Karen who was currently eating, the more she looked, the more she liked him; looking back at Filomena sitting there so coldly, the more she looked, the more uncomfortable she felt, to the point that even her biological grandson Richard, standing next to Filomena, seemed somewhat unpleasant to her eyes.

Old Master Delong, however, smiled quite amiably. In his memory, the first time his wife went to his house, her attitude toward his parents had been exactly the same.

Seeing his grandmother's eyes constantly lingering on Filomena, Richard immediately explained, "It's a task given to me by Karen. I have to accompany and take good care of her lately."

"Oh, so that's how it is." Madam Tangli breathed a sigh of relief.

"Oh, so that's how it is." Old Master Delong felt a bit of regret.

"Richard, your grandfather has something he wishes to pass down to you."

"Hmm? What is it?" Curiosity showed on Richard's face.

"It's this, a weapon, a blade."

The Rubik's cube appeared in Old Master Delong's hand, and the latches of the box began to open rapidly. He released the final layer of the seal and opened the box completely, revealing the Nightmare Blade lying inside.

Karen, who was eating, also raised his head to take a look inside. A fine object, it exerted a massive influence on spiritual entities.

"Cough, cough..."

Stimulated by the blade's aura, Karen burst into a fit of coughing. This forced him to pull out a cigarette from the Thunder God Cult again. Disregarding manners, he could only light it right in front of the elders; otherwise, he worried he might cough up blood again later.

Richard stepped forward and gripped the blade. The blade trembled slightly, and an expression of agony instantly appeared on Richard's face.

Old Master Delong turned his head to look at his wife, his expression conveying: See, I knew it would be like this.

Taking a deep breath and forcing himself to endure the continuous noise echoing in his mind, Richard raised the blade, swung it a few times toward the air, and then immediately squatted down, beginning to dry-heave toward the floor.

The difficulty of mastering this blade was immense. It could be said that holding it was inherently a form of consumption and burden.

"Grandfather, the blade is good, but I can't use it."

Old Master Delong sighed, "Alas, it seems it cannot be used."

A look of helplessness also appeared on Madam Tangli's face, though in her heart she thought: Then hurry up and give it away.

Richard turned his head to Filomena and said, "Why don't you give it a try?"

Madam Tangli: "!!!"