Chapter 323 - 11: The Person Behind the Scenes

Chapter 323: Chapter 11: The Person Behind the Scenes

In a remote, open area within the Black Salt Mine, a man in charge was answering a call on a special device aboard a hover-transporter.

"Hello? Yes, this is Richie!"

...

"Go back immediately? But no one from Vincent’s side has come to pick up the young master’s gift yet!"

...

"Yes. If it’s the young master’s order, I’ll move out at once."

Richie hung up and glanced at the beautifully dressed female Lizard-man sitting obediently in the back of the transporter. With a sigh of regret, he told the pilot to fly back to the manor.

In the past, whenever he came here, a Lizard-man would make contact before long. He had no idea what was different today; he’d been waiting for ages, and no one had shown up. If it weren’t for the young master’s direct communication with the Lizard-men, he would have thought they had all pulled out!

’Have the Lizard-men had a falling out with us? No way! Haven’t we been cooperating just fine all these years?’

As one of the liaisons with the Lizard-men, Richie found it unbelievable. The two sides had clearly been working well together. They had just sent over a batch of Spirit Crystals last month, so how could a conflict have erupted so suddenly?

On the transporter’s return journey, an armored hovercar approached from the opposite direction. To Richie’s surprise, he saw his family’s crest on it.

’Isn’t that a vehicle from the Extraordinary Combat Squad the young master just formed? How could things have gotten so bad that they needed to be deployed?’

Richie was frantic. He had watched their partnership grow and strengthen over the years, and his family had benefited greatly from it. A conflict now would surely result in mutual destruction. Unfortunately, he had no way to interfere with the young master’s decisions.

Especially since the young master had returned from the tournament with a symbiotic alien species. Ordinary people who bonded with them would be elevated to first-rank Extraordinaries. The young master had used them to form his Extraordinary Team—the very first private Extraordinary Team on Cuiwei Star, aside from the Cuiwei Corps.

With this, the young master had secured his position as the next head of the family, greatly increasing his status and influence.

’I hope it doesn’t come to the worst-case scenario!’

...

「Black Salt Mine, Underground Mining and Refining Base Office.」

"Bastard!!"

Vincent furiously vented his anger in the office. He never would have thought that the gentle, refined young man from before—his best friend, Opal Hass—would change so much after participating in the Lord’s Tournament that he was now unrecognizable.

The old Opal would never have screwed him over or spoken to him like that. He had always been good to him; otherwise, Vincent’s Artificial Spirit Crystal technology would never have remained his own for this long.

’No, something must have happened!’

’I refuse to believe my friend would change like this so suddenly. Something must have happened to him during the tournament this past year!’

’That’s right, those two lords!’

Vincent remembered the two lords in the reception hall who had also participated in this year’s tournament, and he immediately ran out of his office.

...

"You want to know if anything strange happened during the tournament? Why are you asking?"

Lin Yu gave Vincent a strange look. He couldn’t figure out why this Lizard-man was suddenly so interested in the tournament’s specifics. He had even offered to tell them the identity of the person behind all this, free of charge, if they gave him the details.

"Never mind that. I just got curious. If you want to know who he is, tell me what happened during the tournament. I’ll make my own judgment."

"But if you don’t tell us what you’re specifically interested in, what if we leave out some key information? Wouldn’t you be wasting this trade?"

Lin Yu explained that it wasn’t that he was being nosy; he was just being responsible for their deal. He wanted to give Vincent the information that mattered most to him to prevent any misjudgments on Vincent’s part.

Vincent fell silent for a moment, thinking Lin Yu had a point. "I want to know if, during this past year, you encountered anything or anyone that could affect a person’s mind or emotions."

"Ha!" Hearing this, Lin Yu’s interest was piqued.

"Actually, yes. During our defensive phase in October, we encountered a very bizarre species. They can parasitize flesh-and-blood creatures and control their bodies. They’re called ’Eye Demons,’ and apparently, they’re quite famous in their own galaxy."

"’Eye Demons’...? What exactly are these so-called ’Eye Demons’ capable of?"

"The ’Eye Demons’ themselves aren’t very strong, but their parasitic abilities are potent..."

Lin Yu launched into a detailed explanation for Vincent, laying out all the Eye Demons’ abilities. When it came to knowledge about Eye Demons on Cuiwei Star, no one knew more than him. Some Eye Demons probably didn’t even know as much as he did.

After listening, Vincent summarized, "So, the Eye Demon’s main abilities are to strengthen their host through parasitism and to control or influence the host by taking over their nervous system?"

"More or less. Some Eye Demons can mutate and develop other abilities, but most of them are still related to parasitism."

"Right, can these Eye Demons you’re talking about only parasitize a lord’s soldiers, or can they parasitize lords as well?"

"Of course they can parasitize both. Didn’t I just say? Eye Demons can parasitize any creature with flesh, blood, and a nervous system."

"..."

Vincent said no more, lost in thought.

"Vincent, stop thinking about it. We told you what you wanted to know. Now hurry up and tell us who the person who tricked you is!"

Lin Yu waited a moment, but seeing Vincent hopelessly lost in his thoughts, he had no choice but to prompt him.

Lin Yu’s voice snapped Vincent out of his reverie. He looked at Lin Yu. "Opal Hass!"

"What?"

"I said, the man’s name is Opal Hass."