Volume 8, The Beginning NO.3: The Purest Criminal (1/2)
Volume 8, The Beginning NO.3: The Purest Criminal
Translated by Taffygirl13 (proofread by Trespasserby; C/E edited by lucathia)
“It seems to me that, while the young master was originally very concerned about his body having undergone a significant amount of modification, it began to worry him even more ever since he found out about the issue of his life expectancy.”
Upon hearing these words, I turned my head to glare at An Te Qi. If it weren’t for this overtalkative bastard, how would Ah Ye have found out about his life expectancy issue so early? Although Ah Ye had asked the question first, couldn’t this guy have just dodged the topic?
“Sun Emperor, if you found out that Dr. An Te Qi was acting half-heartedly toward the young master, what would you do?”
Kill him!
Kyle sighed, and I seemed to hear a mutter along the lines of “keeping company with a lord is like keeping company with a tiger.” Before I had the chance to order for the secretary to be dragged out for a beating, he spoke up once again. “But ever since you hired that butler, the young master appears to have been mentioning his own modifications less, as if he no longer minds as much.”
That was indeed the case. Why else would I be willing to put up with that damned vampire by Ah Ye’s side! Ah Ye causes enough trouble by himself. There’s no need for another one—For shame! What am I saying? Ah Ye is a lovable and sensible child, he would never cause…cause…
“Sun Emperor.” Kyle comforted, “Regardless of what thoughts regarding the young master you are having right now, dispel them! Overthinking will cause you to age prematurely.”
I narrowed my eyes dangerously and asked in suspicion, “You don’t normally try to intervene with Ah Ye’s matters. If it weren’t for my orders, you would avoid it if you could. Why are you suddenly bringing this up voluntarily today?”
Kyle honestly responded, “Because I feel like you want to do something after hearing Dr. An Te Qi’s report, Sun Emperor, and it makes me uneasy. For the sake of preventing an imminent catastrophe, I think intervening a bit is worth it.”
“What imminent catastrophe?! Anything I would want to do is for Ah Ye’s bene—what is that expression on your face right now!”
He lowered his head and quietly answered, “But Sun Emperor, the young master will be upset.”
“You don’t even know what I was planning on doing, yet you are confidently saying that he will be upset—And what is that face this time?!
“Kyle, you’re really becoming more impudent now. The fact that I placed you in an important position does not mean that you are necessary!” I stated frigidly, “Call Bai Lian Yue here. Starting from today, you are to go to another branch!”
Kyle not only remained fearless, he even seemed extremely worried as he replied, “You are transferring me, Sun Emperor? What exactly are you planning—”
I slammed my hand down on the table and roared, “I just said, get out this instant!”
Kyle sighed. “Understood.” He immediately began to collect his documents, laptop, and other items.
Before he walked out of the office, he turned around to look at me in concern to say, “Sun Emperor, before you do anything, please think about the sight of the young master crying.”
“…Scram!”
Just as I was thinking of bringing Briar back, my cell phone rang once again. Perhaps it would have been more accurate to say that I answered at least ten to thirty calls daily.
The moment I picked up the call, Ezart’s voice came from the other end. “Butler, Ah Ye just received information about a criminal that escaped from P29. He asked me and Nitewalker to watch over Luo Ye, so I couldn’t follow Ah Ye there.”
Receiving a criminal’s information was nothing out of the ordinary. In the past, the young master would often have me and Nitewalker watch Luo Ye as well while he went out searching for the criminal himself—Now that I think back, perhaps the young master was actually having Nitewalker watch over me and Luo Ye.
“The bodyguards all said that the criminal is the one that wrecked havoc in Sunset City before, and that the guy had made Ah Ye act really strangely in the past. They don’t want Ah Ye to face that person alone, so they want you to follow.”
The criminal that can control people with his words? If I recall correctly, Solitary Butterfly said that his name is Josh. If he has appeared, does that mean Lieder is also currently in Daystar City? Could he still be scheming something against the young master?
“Just go along and see. You’re the only one who can secretly follow Ah Ye anyways! The bodyguards know Ah Ye’s location. They said something like sending the coordinates to your cell phone like before.”
“Understood. I will go and shadow the young master—” Just then, I suddenly spotted Briar and hurriedly said, “I must first escort Briar back.”
“No need, Charles-gē. Ah Ye-gē isn’t exactly slow. If you bring me back first, you really won’t be able to catch up.” Briar smartly added, “Have Daddy come pick me up. I can go back to the supermarket and wait for him there.”
That was indeed a possibility. Regardless of Daystar City’s true appearances, the public security seemed quite decent. The supermarket was brightly lit, and many people flowed in and out. Even if a girl was there alone, she would likely not be in any danger.
But I thought that Bri would make a fuss about following me. After all, did she not come all the way to Daystar City to follow the young master?
I asked in slight concern, “Bri, you are not by any chance planning on secretly following me, are you?”
Briar stared at me with wide eyes and replied in disbelief, “Charles-gē, how could I possibly follow you without you knowing? I don’t even think Poseidynne could do that! For that matter, even Ah Ye-gē said that he has no way of tailing you!”
That is true. I nearly flushed at the stupidity of my own question. However, tracking the young master down was the most important task now; there was no time to feel ashamed.
Briar urged, “Charles-gē, go quickly. I hate that criminal since he made Ah Ye-gē turn very weird last time. Don’t let Ah Ye-gē chase after that person by himself.”
“Understood. I will head out immediately.”
Although I said this, I still hid in the darkness for a bit. Once I saw Briar walk over to the supermarket entrance, I finally turned and left.
Upon checking the navigation on my cell phone, I discovered that the young master was not far from me. His speed was not that fast, so he did not appear to be using any means of transportation.
I spun around to scale up the walls and began to sprint horizontally across the walls above the fourth floors. This was also something that the young master had taught me. The surveillance cameras would rarely capture the walls of the middle floors, since nobody could advance quickly in such a place… At least, not in the past. As a result, it would be much more difficult to get filmed in this area if one walked this way.
This knowledge was extremely useful for a vampire. The young master needed to use various methods to walk in places like this, such as crawling, climbing, grabbing, or leaping forwards. However, I could directly step onto the walls and sprint as I did on flat ground.
It did not take much time before I arrived at the young master’s vicinity. According to the phone’s indication, I was around fifty to a hundred meters away. After a moment’s hesitation, I decided to turn off my cell phone again before looking around for the young master’s whereabouts.
The area was an extremely empty and spacious park rather than a building. While it was not completely deserted, there were not many people flowing in and out, so it would likely not be difficult to locate the young master.
The park had many shadows cast from the trees. Now that the sky was already darkening, I could simply walk underneath the shade as the most effective method of concealment. Despite this being the case, I searched for a long while to no avail, and began to consider the possibility of turning my phone back on to confirm the exact location…
“Gēgē, could you help me pick up that ball?”
I raised my head to see several children standing next to a fountain, staring at a small ball inside the pool with sorrowful expressions. The person they had pleaded for help from was a young adult. He turned around to stretch out his arm and fished the ball up with a single sweep, passing it over to the children. They happily left without voicing a word of thanks.
The young adult did not seem to mind and returned to his seat next to the park’s fountain. He wore a hooded T-shirt. Although he pulled the hood down to cover the majority of his face, I could still glimpse the thick, black-rimmed glasses he wore. Both of his hands were stuck into his pockets, giving him a laid-back appearance.
There was no sign indicating this young adult had any relation to the young master, but I still recognized it was him with a single glance.
His straight back exuded a lonesome yet strong ambience. Even in Daystar City, he still attracted people’s attentions. The young master truly was ill-suited for concealment. All those passing by could not help but secretly shoot him a glance.
Perhaps it was not by coincidence, but by fate that the young master has taken the path of becoming a model?
I approached with slow steps. The young master had previously mentioned that I needed to move within ten meters distance for him to detect my presence.
With belief in the young master’s words, I slowly moved until I was at the boundary of approximately ten meters. Since I already knew that the young master had arrived here to search for a criminal, I had to move as close to him as possible; if I stood too far, I would not be able to help the young master in a timely manner if anything went wrong.
With absolutely silent footsteps, smooth breathing, and an unwavering mindset, I shifted over to the shade of a tree that was not far from the young master’s side. He does not seem to be moving, which should mean that I have not been discovered…perhaps?
I calmly studied the other person, now even more certain that it was the young master. He had a hood for concealment; however, his figure and the curve of his chin…were things that I would never mistake! I had even used a surgical blade to cut into DSII, who shared an external appearance identical to the young master, so my recognition of the young master’s appearance could not be any sharper.
Why is the young master sitting next to the fountain? His posture did not shift in the slightest. Despite his eyes not being visible, his head did not turn in any direction to look around. He was not searching for something, but looking at something…
I followed the direction of his gaze toward the sandbox where the children played. There was a silhouette that appeared to belong to an adult rather than a child—It’s him!
Josh.
He was crouched next to a sandcastle in the sandbox. From a normal perspective, an adult playing in that type of sandbox was an extremely peculiar and conspicuous sight. There were quite a few children playing around in the other park facilities, but Josh was alone in the sandbox. Judging by the expressions of the parents around the area, it seemed they also harbored some misgivings regarding Josh.
The young master quietly watched Josh. After a period of time, the sky finally turned pitch-dark, and all the roads lit up. The parents in the area all gradually took their children and left. When there were no people remaining, he finally moved.
The young master walked over to the sandbox, silently standing still. No matter how immersed Josh was in playing, it was impossible not to notice the young master.
Josh raised his head, his expression initially one of utter confusion. However, as he was crouching and looking up, he seemed to catch a glimpse of an angle that the hooded clothing could not conceal, and that single look caused him to leap up. With a finger pointed at the young master, he stuttered “You, you…” repeatedly, unable to complete his sentence.
The young master calmly responded, “Sit and don’t move.”
I was not certain of what Josh had seen, but his face was as white as paper as he obediently followed the command. For once, he turned his head away, not daring to look at the young master.
“Is Lieder also here?” The young master had evidently been wondering this, too.
Josh started, then hurriedly waved his hands as he responded, “I don’t know—I really have no idea!”
The young master still stood in the same spot. However, Josh panicked further and began to explain as if his life was at stake.
“Lieder wanted me to just stay here. He didn’t say where he was. He said you would come find me, b-but he also said that you were the only one who could make sure I wouldn’t get caught again. So he forbad me from running, telling me to listen to him and wait for you to arrive here.”
The young master tilted his head at this and said, “He wants me to kill you and eliminate future danger for all eternity.”
Josh was dumbstruck for a moment. He then shouted, “As if! Lieder isn’t that kind of person!”
The young master coldly chuckled.
Josh appeared to be too afraid to retort to the young master. He spoke with great grievance, “Although Lieder is very vicious, he would never deceive me. He said that if you found me, I should inform you that he wants to make a deal with you.”
“A deal?” The young master’s tone was flat, seemingly not very interested. Perhaps he had already resolved to erase the prospective troubles forever.
Since the beginning, the position that the young master had adopted was to capture Josh and bring him back to P29. After Josh utilized me to attack the young master, the young master had been furious and had been wanting to kill the other person for a long time. After that incident, Lieder had later used Josh to capture me and the young master, then went a step further to harm the master…
Truthfully, I already felt it extremely unexpected that the young master had not killed Josh the moment the latter had been located. The young master never dawdled—perhaps he simply wanted to inquire about Lieder first.
Josh nodded repeatedly as he answered, “Lieder, h-he’s had this strange power ever since he came back from exploring the ancient tomb. He wanted me to tell you that he is willing to tell you what power he got from the ancient tomb in exchange for my freedom.”
When Josh said the word “freedom,” extreme longing showed in his expression. He was terrified of the young master, yet the person he was appealing to for his freedom was also the young master.
The young master stood up straight. With his hands in his pockets, he lowered his head to ask Josh, “What kind of power did Lieder obtain?”
Josh was overjoyed at hearing this. He quickly replied, “As long as Lieder is able to see the entire process of someone using their ability to its full extent, he can replicate it to use himself, like my ability to make others listen to me. B-but it’s not as great as he imagined, since he can only retain one ability at a time. If he wants to change abilities, he needs to give up the one he previously possessed.”
As I listened to this, I suddenly realized that the young master had not actually agreed to the exchange. Perhaps…
“Copying other people’s abilities?” The young master murmured to himself. He let out a deep sigh as he said, “These special abilities really are troublesome.”
“Y-You aren’t going to catch me anymore, right?” Josh inquired apprehensively before frantically adding, “Crap. I forgot to say something. Lieder said this was really important, and that I had to say it or else you would definitely not let me go.”
The young master remained silent, but he did not make any move to kill the other either.
Josh raised a hand and earnestly stated, “I swear that unless I’m in a life-or-death crisis, I will never use my ability again!”
The young master did not respond.
“I just want to be an ordinary person! Lieder even helped me find a job as a school guard. I’ve already worked there for quite a few days already. E-Everyone really likes me!”
Seeing that the young master still did not reply, Josh began to panic even more, to the point where tears were nearly about to fall from his eyes. “Really, I won’t ever use my ability again. I-I don’t want to be locked up anymore! P29’s people are horrible, always sticking tubes into my body and making me take all kinds of drugs. Getting stabbed with tubes really hurts, and consuming the drugs always makes me feel terrible. Please don’t drag me back there, I beg of you!”
I inwardly sighed. Josh truly was as innocent as Solitary Butterfly had stated. At the moment, the young master was likely thinking of handling Josh by directly killing him, rather than bringing him back. After all, the young master currently had to watch after Luo Ye, film a movie, and continue chasing after other criminals. Unfortunately, he might not have any mental capacity to watch Josh.
The young master finally opened his mouth to ask, “They used you as an experiment?”
Josh stared at him blankly for a moment. Then, he answered with a perplexed expression, “I just remember them saying something like exploiting my ability, not experimenting on me.”
The young master let out a bitter laugh—At least, I think it’s a bitter laugh? I honestly had no way to confirm, as the young master rarely made any sound similar to a “bitter laugh.” As “Ah Ye,” he would never do so, while as “Dark Sun,” it was a possibility. However, most of the time, his face was void of expression as Dark Sun. Or, when he was threatening criminals, his expression would turn frigid and his tone would carry his wrath.
Why is the young master letting out a bitter laugh?
Josh wrung his fingers together anxiously but did not dare to continue speaking.
After a long period of time passed, the young master finally spoke, “Deal accepted. I will completely erase your files from P29. But remember, you can only use your ability in a life-or-death crisis. In addition, whether it truly is a critical situation like that is up to me to decide, so it’s best you never use it at all.”
Josh let out a breath of relief. I was somewhat astonished that the young master had unexpectedly chosen to let Josh live. Although the young master possessed two entirely different faces, he would typically act more like “Dark Sun” in situations such as these—merciless and direct.
The young master coldly stated, “Your freedom is limited. You can only move around Daystar City. You must never leave this place.”
“All right! As long as you don’t kill me, anything is fine!” Josh agreed, then after a moment’s hesitation, asked, “I can’t go out for a vacation? I was planning on eventually going out to find Little Butterfly—”
A pistol pressed against Josh’s forehead. Aside from the hand holding the gun, the young master’s stance did not change in the slightest. His other hand was still stuck into his pocket as before.
“The moment you take a single step outside of Daystar City, I’ll blast your head off! I recommend you don’t even go to the outskirts of the city. If you cross what I believe is the city’s boundaries, I will still kill you!”
Josh’s eyes welled up with tears as he frantically nodded.
The young master sharply stowed the gun away, and without any intention of fighting, immediately turned to leave.
“Are y-you really Ri Xiang Ye?”
The young master stopped in his tracks.
“Are Dark Sun and Ri Xiang Ye really the same person?” Josh asked disbelievingly, “Lieder said that Ri Xiang Ye is extremely kind-hearted and would agree to the deal, letting me live. But y-you… Are you actually Ri Xiang Ye’s twin? You just share the same face?”
The young master remained quiet for a while. His head was lowered, and with his hood, I was unable to see his expression. Before long, he began to walk away again without giving any sort of response.
Josh, the young master truly did let you live.
I only dared to pursue the young master once I adjusted my emotions so that they returned to their stable and steady state. Fortunately, the young master did not walk quickly, at a pace that made it seem as if he was merely strolling. He did not seem in a rush to return.