Chapter 28: A Bunch Of Greedy Sharks

Chapter 28: Chapter 28: A Bunch Of Greedy Sharks

Adrian glanced toward the distant horizon.

"The family council has issued an order," he said.

Victor looked at him.

"We’re supposed to find whoever caused the phenomenon?" he asked.

Adrian nodded.

Victor considered it briefly.

"They’re right," he said.

He folded his arms.

"Our family doesn’t have the foundation of some of the older powerhouses in this region. If we find someone with this kind of potential before anyone else..." he said, leaving the thought unfinished.

He didn’t need to explain it. Adrian understood exactly what such a person could mean for the Sinclair family.

Victor’s expression shifted.

"And if that person grows alongside Jonathan, even better," he said.

Adrian’s gaze hardened slightly. Jonathan Sinclair was his only son. And the Celestial Core that had once belonged to Mira had already been transferred into Jonathan’s body.

Victor lowered his voice.

"There’s something else," he said.

Adrian looked at him.

"My contact in the Mistwood Range says our dear sister-in-law may have quietly returned to Valemont," he said.

Adrian’s expression changed.

"Mira’s mother?" he asked.

"That’s what I’ve been told," Victor said.

His eyes narrowed.

"If that’s true, then our plans need to change," he said.

He stepped closer.

"We need to increase surveillance around Mira in case she goes to see her ," he said.

Adrian remained silent.

"And if surveillance isn’t enough," Victor continued, "we force her to reveal herself so we can end her," he said, his voice becoming colder.

"Remember what we’ve done. We can’t afford to be complacent, if she takes us by surprise and comes out to reveal what we have done..." he didn’t need to finish his statement for his brother to understand how dire the situation could be for that.

Adrian stared at him for several seconds. Then he nodded.

"I’ll handle it personally," he said.

"Good," Victor said.

His expression remained grim.

Longshore Industries

Across Valemont, the chairman of Longshore Industries stood before the windows of his top floor office. Solomon Hart, Evelyn’s father had watched the phenomenon from beginning to end. Even after the sky returned to normal, he remained there.

His thoughts eventually returned to Evelyn.

"Evelyn asked me to find her a Starfire Awakening Elixir earlier today," he said.

His eyes narrowed.

"And now someone awakens the Frost Phoenix Bloodline tonight," he said.

He remained silent for a moment.

"Could they be connected?" he asked.

The possibility was difficult to ignore. But Solomon eventually shook his head. There were millions of people in the surrounding region. A coincidence was entirely possible.

Still, there was no reason not to investigate.

Solomon picked up his phone.

"Start searching," he said.

He looked toward the dark horizon.

"If this really is a once in a generation talent, investing in them now could be worth more than anything else we could acquire," he said.

Beneath the City

Far away from the lights of Valemont, inside a hidden underground chamber, a man surrounded by dark energy stood motionless. He had watched the entire phenomenon. His gaze remained fixed on the place where the frost phoenix had disappeared.

"The Frost Phoenix Bloodline..." he said, his voice low and rough.

Then his eyes shifted toward the fading traces of the black and white vortex.

"And another unknown manifestation," he said.

A sinister smile appeared.

"Shadow," he said.

The darkness behind him rippled. A small figure emerged and dropped to one knee.

"Master," the figure said.

"Find them," the man said, his voice barely above a whisper.

"I have a feeling that devouring two talents of this level..." he said, his smile widening.

"...will be enough to push me into the Star Sea Realm," he finished.

The figure bowed.

"Understood," he said.

The darkness swallowed him. Within seconds, he had disappeared.

That night, Valemont was anything but peaceful. Government agents were searching. Powerful families were mobilizing.

Private organizations were sending people into the streets. Hidden factions were watching from the shadows.

Everyone wanted to find the person who had awakened the Frost Phoenix Bloodline. And everyone wanted to discover the source of the second phenomenon.

Yet the people they were desperately searching for had no idea what was happening. Because inside a quiet apartment, Xavier and Mira had already completed their transformations.

Xavier slowly opened his eyes. For several seconds, he remained still. Something about his body felt different. Not simply stronger. Different.

He flexed his fingers. Every movement felt unnaturally precise. His muscles responded faster than before. His bones felt denser.

Even his breathing seemed to carry a strange rhythm. It was as though his entire body had been rebuilt from the inside out.

Xavier immediately summoned his system interface. A translucent panel appeared before his eyes.

[Name: Xavier Kane]

[Realm: Seventh Star Body Tempering]

[Talent: Perfect]

[Physique: Primordial Chaos Physique — Initial Awakening]

[Martial Technique: Everlasting Life Force — Mastery]

Xavier stared at the panel. He had entered the transformation at the Second Star Body Tempering Realm.

Now he had jumped directly to the seventh star. And his talent had been elevated all the way to perfection.

He slowly closed his hand into a fist. The power inside him responded immediately.

"So this is the Primordial Chaos Physique..." he said.

Even Xavier found it difficult to hide his surprise. The transformation had exceeded his expectations.

But something else caught his attention. He raised one hand.

A strange energy appeared above his palm. One side was pale and luminous.

The other was dark and profound. The two currents rotated around one another. They weren’t fighting. They weren’t completely merging either. They simply existed together in perfect balance.

Xavier studied them carefully. He had never encountered anything like this. Not in the academy’s textbooks, martial manuals he had studied. Not even in the records available to ordinary martial artists.

He slowly moved his fingers. The strange energy responded to his will.

A faint smile appeared on his face.

"This isn’t ordinary mana," he said.

He could sense something deeper hidden within it. Something ancient. Something that seemed to exist between opposing forces rather than belonging entirely to either one.

And that realization made Xavier’s expression turn thoughtful.

The system hadn’t simply made him stronger. It had given him a power this world might not even have a name for.