Chapter 755: Quick-Tempered Grandmother

Chapter 755: The Hot-Tempered Grandmother

The VIP carriage was in motion. Neo sat in the back, pouring himself a glass of red wine—a vintage of great value, confiscated not long ago when he led a raid against black-market smugglers. When the contraband was processed, he had asked Muri to use vouchers to purchase it back, making the price considerably cheaper.

In truth, had it been the past, there would have been no need for such formalities; what could be pocketed would simply be pocketed. But things were different now... Before, it was embezzling public property; now, it was embezzling Karen's property.

Once, it was Neo who led Karen down the path of corruption, passing on all sorts of tricks to line one's pockets. Now, ironically, Karen had utilized the wealth of experience Neo bestowed upon him to implement numerous concrete reforms after becoming the District Head, plugging many a loophole.

Take, for instance, the accommodations at the district's hospitality hotels and the perks for official business travel; severe restrictions had been placed on the reimbursement of products like tobacco and alcohol. The old practice of stocking up on requisitioned tobacco and spirits every day to resell later was now completely impossible. It could truly be said that the dragon slayer had ultimately become the dragon.

"Is someone else looking to join?"

Neo asked, sipping his wine.

Sitting in the passenger seat, Ventura replied, "Yes. Bart, Blanche, Mars, Aisley, and Richard."

"Richard?"

Neo could understand the inclusion of the others; after all, they belonged to Karen's original inner circle. Although some had stepped back into secondary roles since the formation of the believer contingent, whenever a prime opportunity arose to pad a resume or gild one's reputation, preference naturally went to them.

But Richard? He was going too?

Ventura explained, "Because Richard's parents want in as well."

"Smack!"

Neo slapped his own forehead. "I do not like this."

Muri and Ventura exchanged a look, both wearing bitter smiles.

On paper, the commander of the militia was Muri. He was Karen's confidant, currently holding Karen's former post as Head of the Law Enforcement Department, and his grandfather happened to be the captain of the High Priest's guard.

Yet in reality, the true master of the militia was Neo.

In this regard, Muri was entirely deferential. He fully recognized Neo's capabilities and felt no grievance over being deprived of actual authority.

And now, the benefits of this arrangement were showing.

Following Karen's attendance at the Whiplash of Order's "annual meeting," the York City District Militia was slated to be the vanguard of the expedition, drawing the gaze of the entire Church.

Consequently, an endless deluge of social favors and requests ensued; the number of people trying to worm their way into this expedition was simply overwhelming.

It wasn't just individuals from their own district; even those from other districts and specialized departments sought a "roundabout enlistment," everyone eager to catch this early train.

At this point, one could say that if they parted their fingers even a fraction, the one-thousand-man quota would instantly double or grow even larger.

However, the training regimen had been implemented long ago. It wasn't a matter of the more the merrier; sometimes, an excess of personnel would instead trigger a chain of negative reactions.

Some individuals Muri and Ventura could turn away themselves, but there were others they simply had no power to refuse.

Furthermore, if those people joined and some mishap occurred—if they perished in the desert—would the responsibility not fall squarely on their shoulders?

Muri and Ventura had gone to Alfred to consult on the matter. Without so much as lifting his head from his paperwork, Alfred had asked a single question:

"Does your militia not have a commander?"

This time, Muri and Ventura were bringing Neo along to report the situation to Karen. After all, only Neo possessed the audacity to kick open the bedroom door while knowing full well that Karen was resting.

As for Neo, he harbored no desire to see his legion stuffed with well-connected freeloaders. He was going out to pillage and plunder, not to act as a kindergarten principal!

As they neared the manor, Neo drained his glass in one gulp. "Stop."

Muri halted the vehicle, and Neo stepped out and departed, intent on continuing his attempts to bypass the manor's defensive arrays and sneak inside.

Ventura remarked, "The commander's perseverance is something I truly admire."

Muri nodded. "It is something we ought to learn from as well."

Ventura asked again, "Do you think the commander will succeed?"

"I hope he does, yet I hope he doesn't." Muri restarted the engine. "In any case, Mr. Alfred is quite supportive of letting the commander test the proficiency of the estate's defensive arrays."

...

"Smack!"

Having barely managed to sneak halfway in, Neo was nonetheless locked onto by the defensive array. A colossal gust of wind hoisted him into the air. Offering no resistance, he allowed himself to be swept down onto the lawn.

This gale served as a "gentle warning," meant to deter accidental intruders.

Had he resisted when the wind arose, lightning bolts would have followed.

"Pei!"

Sitting on the ground, Neo plucked a blade of grass, chewed on it for a moment, and spat it out.

Just as he was about to declare this attempt another failure and head for the main gate, a shadow materialized behind him.

Feigning ignorance, Neo continued forward. One step, two steps, three steps...

In a flash, Neo spun around, just as the shadow thrust out a leg.

"Thud!"

A dull impact rang out, but the anticipated scene of being sent flying did not occur. Neo pressed his arms downward, trapping the leg, while digging his own feet into the sod to anchor himself in place.

But in the next instant, the power within that leg suddenly erupted, amplifying beyond anything Neo could have imagined. Like a mighty tree uprooted by force, his entire body was launched into the sky.

Madame Tangli's figure manifested beside Neo once more. Releasing a restriction, she reached for his throat, intending to scoop him up like a stray chick.

The grandmother had come today specifically to see her grandson regarding the affairs of her son, daughter-in-law, and own grandson. Along the perimeter of the estate, she had spotted a stealthy figure attempting to infiltrate—and a highly proficient one at that, certainly not someone merely fooling around.

Since the defensive arrays of this manor had been laid down by her husband for their grandson, how could Madame Tangli tolerate the insolence of such a "petty thief"?

Neo was currently sporting a different face, rendering him utterly unrecognizable to Madame Tangli.

As for Madame Tangli herself, she was accustomed to donning a full black robe when traveling far from home, so Neo failed to recognize her as well.

At this moment, confronting the hand extended by the grey-robed figure, Neo's body instantly snapped taut. A mist of blood erupted around him, instantly shattering the restriction placed upon him. Concurrently, long black talons sprouted from his ten fingers, clawing directly at the stranger's hand.

"Hiss..."

Madame Tangli truly had not expected the opponent's response to be so swift and effective. Bloody tracks were violently gouged into the back of her hand, and the virus of a bloodthirsty aberration was already attempting to swiftly invade her body.

Blood had been drawn, and Madame Tangli grew incensed. Her speed and strength surged once more, and with an unyielding, brutally unreasonable force, she shattered the bloody mist surrounding Neo with a single punch.

"Damn it!"

Neo cursed. He knew he had run into a formidable foe. He had always been confident in his ability to charge forward blindly and overpower his enemies, but the person before him gave him the distinct impression of an immovable object.

As the mist of blood shattered, Neo's body convulsed, his internal blood flow thrown into chaos, yet Madame Tangli's hand still thrust forward imperiously, seizing him by the nape of his neck.

"Boom!"

Together they crashed to the ground, smashing an immense crater into the earth.

Yet this was far from enough. Keeping her grip tight on Neo's neck, Madame Tangli dragged him rapidly across the ground like a floor rag, carving a trench into the soil.

But just as Madame Tangli prepared to ease her strength, fearing she might accidentally kill this petty thief, she suddenly noticed the neck in her grasp felt unusually yielding. Subconsciously, she exerted a fraction more force.

With a squelch, it actually burst under her fingers, splashing a torrent of bloody water.

"A clone?"

The splattered blood formed a dense cluster of crimson bubbles, which then coalesced into a sanguine barrier, completely enveloping Madame Tangli.

Directly ahead, Neo's figure materialized. His left hand clenched into a fist to maintain the barrier's confinement, while his right hand spread open as a blood-red trident appeared, hurtling straight toward the grey-robed figure.

Madame Tangli struck the trident with her palm, shattering it instantly, but a gash appeared across her palm as well, and fresh blood began to flow.

With incantations rushing from Neo’s lips, the blood pooling in Madame Tangli’s palm began to churn violently, on the verge of forcing its way back into her body.

Madame Tangli clenched her fists tightly and thrust them outward to either side.

"Crack!"

The barrier shattered.

In the next instant, Madame Tangli materialized directly in front of Neo, driving a fist straight toward him.

"Pfft!"

Her fist punched a gaping hole straight through Neo's chest. Yet at that exact moment, Neo's flesh and bone sprouted with terrifying speed, actually growing completely around Madame Tangli's arm and trapping it inside his torso in a grotesque form of "flesh confinement."

"In the name of bloodlust, I summon the true judgment and punishment, to cherish my people, to forgive my kin, to protect my lineage..."

Red. Everywhere the eye could see, there was only red.

The blood within Madame Tangli’s body began to flow backward. In her field of vision, everything was enveloped in a crimson aura. She could not breathe, she could not think, her entire being plunging into chaos.

Neo lifted his head, his eyes completely hollow.

Simultaneously, high above them, a massive figure clad in a black evening tailcoat materialized. With its arms crossed over its chest, the figure descended slowly, ultimately enveloping Madame Tangli within its embrace.

"Let the crimson shadow grant you eternal slumber. As long as my blood is not dry, you shall not awaken."

The seal was activated!

Madame Tangli closed her eyes and her head drooped, stripped of all signs of life.

Even so, Neo did not relax in the slightest, let alone gloat over his victory. Against an opponent like this, he would never consider himself the victor until he had severed her body.

Beneath his feet, a burst of holy fire erupted, which Neo conjured into a serpent of flame that lunged straight toward Madame Tangli.

But just as the roaring blaze was about to consume the grey-robed figure, Neo suddenly realized he could no longer sense his opponent's presence.

His vision began to blur. The person still seemed to be standing there, yet she felt illusory—even though her arm was undeniably still rooted deep inside his own chest.

In a daze, Neo looked down and discovered that, at some unknown moment, the phantom of a blade had appeared just beneath his throat, coiled like a small viper that had long been lying in ambush.

A powerful, agonizing wrenching sensation ripped from the depths of his soul. The razor-sharp edge of that phantom blade felt as though it could sever his soul in a single stroke.

This was no longer a trivial matter of physical damage that could be mended by regeneration; this was a fatal, definitive strike.

Neo instantly released all his bindings and plunged downward, diving straight into the earth. In this round, Neo could be said to have fled in utter humiliation.

"Bang!"

A moment later, he burst out from the ground at a completely different spot, drenched from head to toe in a cold sweat.

That sensation just now felt strangely familiar. It was as if he had seen this exact style of assassination somewhere before. But the version he had seen wasn't nearly this seamless, let alone this uncanny.

Back at the original spot, Madame Tangli stood there placidly. A thin, cocoon-like medium began to crack and shatter around her, stripping away all seals as well as any negative status effects.

She looked down at the wound on her palm, sensing her own fluctuating emotions. She was angry.

Neo sensed her anger too, because her aura right now was like a vortex in the deep sea, madly devouring everything in the vicinity and creating a terrifying vacuum.

When people grew old, their limbs grew stiff. Normally, they saved their strength to cook meals and buy groceries, no longer resorting to violence easily. Occasionally, when their hands itched, they might swat their grandson a couple of times without exerting much effort—after all, the grandson wouldn't fight back anyway.

But when it was time to get serious, that dormant power had to be awakened.

Neo’s previous string of troublesome, underhanded maneuvers had genuinely infuriated Madame Tangli. Grandma was truly about to unleash her wrath.

A black blade materialized in front of her.

Madame Tangli slowly raised her head. Neo instinctively licked his dry lips, feeling his throat go completely parched.

Even before the woman's gaze truly locked onto him, Neo knew perfectly well that he was no match for her.

The presence she was radiating right now reminded Neo of a regional Guardian. Every region had its own Guardian, but they did not fall under regional jurisdiction; instead, they were appointed directly by the Pope and the Temple... primarily by the Temple.

Madame Tangli’s gaze finally fell upon Neo once more.

A smile touched her lips, because Neo actually hadn't chosen to run. To be locked down by her at such close range meant the opponent’s fate was practically sealed.

Madame Tangli’s figure vanished from where she stood. The instant she disappeared, Neo felt an overwhelming sense of suffocation press in from all directions, as if it meant to crush him into absolute oblivion.

Yet Neo did not panic, nor did he lose his composure. Not only did he refuse to run, but he actively raised both hands in surrender.

He shouted:

"Hello, Grandma!"

...

"Grandpa, you know as well as I do that marching off to war carries immense risks. In our proposal, the estimated casualty rate is projected to be as high as fifty percent. In other words, if a militia regiment goes out, half of them might end up dead or wounded."

"I know, I know."

"If it were just Richard, or just Uncle alone, I could agree to it. But this time you actually want to arrange for everyone, including Aunt and Uncle-in-law, to join the campaign. The pressure on me is truly immense."

"I know, I know."

Old Man Delon sat there rather uncomfortably, rubbing his hands together.

Though the young man sitting across from him was his own biological grandson, his grandson’s official rank was now higher than his own.

Delon had felt his own rate of promotion was already remarkably swift. Especially when he had first donned the scarlet robes of a bishop, his heart had swelled with pride for quite some time. Yet look how much time had passed since then; in front of outsiders, he, a bishop, still had to solemnly bow and salute his own grandson.

"Grandpa, stay for dinner later."

"Alright, alright."

Karen felt a slight twinge of suspicion. His grandfather was being far too agreeable today. Perhaps, just as his grandfather had claimed, he really had been coerced by Grandma to come and plead their case, and he hadn't originally wanted the entire family to go off to war either.

In reality, what Delon was thinking was that it didn't matter whether his own words carried any weight. He was merely an overt token piece in this game anyway. He simply didn't believe his wife wouldn't show up today.

Regardless, once his wife arrived, his grandson would have to expend his energy dealing with her, so he might as well lighten his grandson's burden a little here.

Karen stood up, walked over to the study window, and looked out at the green lawn below.

On a distant slope, a woman was riding a horse at a leisurely pace, with a golden retriever sitting right on the saddle with her.

The date of departure for the campaign was the day after tomorrow. Today, Karen was hosting a banquet at the Allen Estate to have a proper gathering with his subordinates who were about to march off to war.

Starting from the day after tomorrow, his team would officially be split into two factions.

One faction would be led by Alfred, assisted by Leon and Vic, to aid Karen with his regional duties, push forward reforms, and sort out and master the core territories. This would firmly grasp the York City Region within his own hands, transforming it into his own foundational base in the truest sense.

The other faction would be led by Neo, commanding a large number of subordinates who were ill-suited for purely clerical work, to go out into the desert to earn military merits and rake in a continuous supply of vouchers.

The region would provide the expeditionary militia regiment with stable logistical support and personnel rotation, while the militia regiment would perform reverse blood transfusions back into the region.

He was the first to take this gamble, and if he could play his cards well and beautifully, the boost toward paving the way for his next phase of development would be exceptionally profound.

The civil

Without offering a single word of explanation, Neo simply followed her inside. From time to time, he whistled a tune—the melody of the country ballad currently dominating the charts.

It was a pity his own deployment was so imminent. Had he known sooner, he really ought to have crashed Philomena’s lessons. High-caliber masters of that caliber were hard to come by, and they rarely ever struck; when they did, the odds were high that it would cost you your life.

How could anything compare to the luxury before his eyes, where a simple cry of "Grandmother" brought everything to a halt?

With a veritable council of voices constantly debating inside his head all day long, Neo had been force-fed a tremendous amount of theoretical knowledge, leaving him somewhat starved for actual practice. The silver lining, however, was that once he reached the desert, he would hardly lack opportunities to put things into practice; if anything, he would be able to enjoy himself even more.

It was fair to say that while Neo’s body remained in Wien, his heart had long since drifted off to the desert.

Purr rode upon a bay horse, the reins held fast in Kevin’s canine paws. To save her own strength, she rested her chin squarely upon Kevin’s dog head.

While steering the reins, Kevin also had to consciously stiffen his back to provide a comfortable support for Purr.

A few days after resting from her successful surgery, Purr had offered a prayer to Garen and transformed into a human right before Kevin’s eyes.

Kevin was exhausted, for as long as Purr remained in human form, he had to perform an act of intense, burning jealousy.

In truth, how could he possibly be jealous? Watching the little cat who loved to ride on his back finally revert to the image of the girl she once was, he felt nothing but genuine solace and joy.

It was simply that, as a veteran sycophant, Kevin knew precisely what to do to make the girl before him happy.

As for Purr, once she became human, she did not actually go out to walk the dog.

She had originally ridden on his back to run around everywhere, but now that it came down to actually holding his leash and taking him for a walk, she really could not bring herself to do it. Even when Kevin proactively took the leash in his teeth and proffered it to her hand, Purr would just wave it away with a slap.

In the end, it turned into a person and a dog riding a horse together.

On the nearby grass, a picnic blanket was spread out where little Conna sat with a pout, pen in hand, working on exercises.

Language classes were merely the foundation. Purr had arranged many other courses for her. A few months ago, little Conna’s speech had consisted of nothing but meows and barks; now, she was already reading an Introduction to Elementary Formations.

There was no helping it. Who could deny that Garen was a genius, and Purr was a genius as well? As for Kevin, being a deity who had emerged from an island fishing village in the old days, "genius" was no longer sufficient to describe him.

In such a family environment, it was very difficult for a child not to be driven into academic hyper-competition.

Whenever the little bone dragon was driven to the brink of a violent outburst by the oppressive study atmosphere, a simple sentence from Purr could make her lower her proud head toward the textbook once more. That sentence was:

"Conna White Inmoles, you wouldn’t want to be outperformed by that stupid dragon Augie, would you?"

...

"Stupid dog, why don't you come with me to the desert? I’ll still mostly appear in the form of a cat on ordinary days, and it will be inconvenient to lack a mount when the time comes. Can a knight without a mount even be called an Evil God Knight?"

"Woof!"

"Don’t worry, Garen will agree. I’ll just tell him that you know of a certain ruin in the desert, and we can go dig it up for him to bring back a massive fortune. What do you think?

The reason he’s letting the fun-seeker go to war is actually for the sake of grave-robbing too. Our Garen is very, very poor right now."

"Woof!"

"Oh? You say you really do know where a ruin is in the desert? That’s fantastic. You point the way, I’ll command, and the fun-seeker will handle the labor. Together, we’ll completely empty out the inheritance of the Desert Church.

Rest assured, don't you understand our Garen by now? If you treat him well, he will certainly reciprocate in kind. Once you’ve truly brought him enough wealth to sustain his reforms and secure his grip on the York City Prefecture, he will definitely take the initiative to unseal another layer for you when we return."

"Woof?"

"You're asking why we don't unseal a layer before setting out?"

"Woof."

"Stupid dog, you're dreaming."

Just then, Purr spotted Madame Tangli and Neo walking toward them from ahead.

Purr took the initiative to greet him:

"Hello there, fun-seeker."

Neo froze for a moment, then instantly realized who this girl was. After all, only that cat by Garen’s side liked to give people such nicknames. Neo immediately asked:

"Do you still sleep in the same bed with Garen at night looking like that?"

Purr rolled her eyes at Neo, turned her gaze to Madame Tangli, and said:

"Hello there, little Tangli."

Madame Tangli frowned, glaring furiously at Purr. She failed to recognize who this girl was at first, and moreover, she was currently harboring a wave of nameless anger in her heart, so she directly let out a cold snort:

"No respect for your elders."

Perhaps because she had gathered momentum earlier, this glare carried wrath. Though Madame Tangli did not do it intentionally, a gust of yin wind still swept toward Purr. At her level of cultivation, the surrounding environment would indeed undergo certain changes in accordance with her emotions.

However, before Madame Tangli could react and take the initiative to dispel the yin wind, Purr casually waved her hand. Fire-attributed runes rippled outward with the colt beneath her thighs as the center, easily dissolving the yin wind.

In a true clash of arms, she would be no match for Madame Tangli at present, but in an exchange of low-intensity power, her methods absolutely far surpassed Madame Tangli's.

Purr let out a yawn and teased:

"Are you trying to compare seniority with me?"

Madame Tangli looked at Purr, then at the golden retriever, and thought of the black cat that would pair up with this golden retriever every time she went to Garen’s house. She instantly realized something:

"Are you that cat from Garen's house?"

Purr smiled and said:

"I happen to remember that once, when Diss came back from traveling outside in the old days, he told me something. He said, you know, this time outside he met a short-tempered little chick who liked to wield a blade."