Chapter 556 - 554: What on Earth Is He Doing?

Chapter 556: Chapter 554: What on Earth Is He Doing?

The System’s voice rang out.

[You have one day left. Please complete the mission as soon as possible to acquire the photographic memory skill.]

As it spoke, the System floating above him disappeared, leaving only Arthur Jacobs lying on the floor, his body still twitching slightly.

’The mission.’

’He still had a mission.’

His mind wanted to get up and rush to complete the mission, but his body lay there, unable to move. Just like that, Arthur Jacobs lay on the floor until evening before he finally recovered.

His body had returned to normal, but the mere thought of the electric shock punishment made him shudder involuntarily. ’Was that the punishment? It was terrifying.’

From the moment he bonded with the System, he had treated it as his personal property. Arthur Jacobs had always believed he was the chosen one, and that the System existed to help him get everything he wanted.

’Since it’s my System, it should listen to me.’

He just never expected it—never expected that the System could unbind from him or inflict punishment. ’Looks like I’ll have to be more careful from now on.’

’Damn it, since this System chose me, shouldn’t it do whatever I say? I feel so powerless now.’ Though he thought this, he didn’t dare say it out loud.

Arthur Jacobs was only nine years old. But children in this era matured quickly, and having previously scraped by on the streets to survive, he was even more precocious. He knew exactly what he wanted.

As a child, he had been a stray, taken in by a beggar. But he later came to see his lame adoptive father as a burden. He tricked the man, pushed him into a dry well where he fell to his death. In front of others, however, he was obsessed with keeping up appearances, even tearfully burying his adoptive father.

After that, he bonded with the System and learned he was the true young master of the General’s Mansion. With the System’s help, he was acknowledged by Mrs. Dawson and brought back home.

When he learned that the fake young master had taken his identity and was enjoying everything that should have been his, he began plotting to eliminate him. Even knowing that the other boy was originally meant to die in his place, he didn’t feel a shred of sympathy. In fact, Arthur Jacobs felt that the boy owed him.

’The one who should have died from the very beginning has enjoyed my life of luxury for long enough.’ Therefore, he would not allow anyone who posed the slightest threat to him to exist. And so, the moment the fake young master was sent away from the General’s Mansion, he and his birth mother conspired to send assassins to get rid of him.

In a way, the family in the General’s Mansion truly lived up to the saying: birds of a feather flock together. When it came to being selfish, they were all cut from the same cloth.

For instance, his birth father chose to have the boy silenced to prevent the fact that he had found a substitute to die for his son from being exposed. Then there were Mrs. Dawson and her son; though their motives differed, the outcome was the same. This was why Aaron Sinclair was being hunted by several groups of assassins.

’No, I have to complete the System’s mission as soon as possible. I *must* get that photographic memory skill. It’s just crawling through some dog holes. It’ll be fine as long as no one sees me.’ As it turned out, he was being far too optimistic.

With this thought, Arthur Jacobs pushed himself up from the floor and immediately went out to look for dog holes.

The urgent priority was to find the dog holes, with no time to worry about the humiliation. He hadn’t forgotten that failure meant facing the electric shock punishment—a "punishment" he had just experienced moments ago.

After leaving his room, he walked a full circle along the base of the General’s Mansion walls but didn’t see any dog holes. He didn’t give up, and in a rather dilapidated courtyard, he actually managed to find three.

Starting with the first one, he pushed aside the grass, bent down, and began to crawl through.

Although the dog hole wasn’t large, he was still a half-grown child, so crawling through wasn’t a strain. The ground, however, was filthy, and there was moss growing near the base of the wall.

The moment he squeezed into the dog hole, his clothes were instantly soiled.

Emerging from the hole, he was reminded of his days being raised by the beggar. The stench from that time seemed to wash over him all at once. ’And it’s all the fault of that dead bastard. If it weren’t for him, I wouldn’t have suffered so much.’

’Good thing he’s dead now; no one will be an eyesore to me anymore. And that old beggar... he took me in but couldn’t even feed me properly. If he hadn’t picked me up back then, maybe a rich family would have adopted me. I wouldn’t have had to live with a beggar.’

The more he thought about it, the more he felt that life was unfair.

He set to work, crawling out of the General’s Mansion through one dog hole and back in through another, not stopping until he had used all three on the estate. Then, he prepared to find more elsewhere.

But at this moment, he hit a snag.

’Where else am I going to find dog holes?’

"System, where are the other dog holes nearby? I’ve already crawled through all the ones in the General’s Mansion."

System: [Heh heh, what happened to all that arrogance from before? Weren’t you the one who refused? You seem to be doing a fine job now. See? Pressure really is the best motivation.]

Hearing this, Arthur Jacobs’s face turned livid.

"I’m only doing this to complete your mission!"

[Not bad. Keep up the good work.]

[You still have 53 dog holes left to crawl through, so you’d better work hard. I’ve already marked the nearby ones for you with arrows. Time is of the essence. Don’t worry, only you can see the arrows. Now, get going.]

Arthur Jacobs’s hands trembled with anger.

He couldn’t help but feel the System was doing this on purpose, but when he thought of the photographic memory skill, he gritted his teeth and endured it. ’No, whether it’s for the photographic memory or because I can’t lose the System, this dog-hole-crawling mission must be completed.’

He immediately followed the arrows and ran toward the nearby dog holes. ’It’s night,’ he thought. ’I just have to be careful not to be seen.’

While Arthur Jacobs was busy toiling away at crawling through dog holes...

「Meanwhile.」

The carriage from the Warden’s Northern Manor passed unimpeded, heading directly into the Imperial Palace.

Tonight’s gathering was a private family banquet for the Crown, so the civil and military officials had not been invited.

The evening’s feast had been personally arranged by the Empress. She was delighted to hear that her younger brother-in-law and his wife had returned. For so many years, she had longed for a child but had never been so fortunate. Now, hearing that her sister-in-law’s long-lost child had been found, the Empress was truly happy for her.

’From now on, my nephew will be like my own child.’

Currently, between the two brothers of the Royal Family, there was only that one sole heir, a fact that even she found heartbreaking. As the saying goes, a rising tide lifts all boats. If the Crown had no successor, it was hard to imagine what would become of people like them in the future.

When Celeste Grant and the others arrived,

they finally met the Emperor and Empress of Kelldorn. Standing to the side were the Emperor’s concubines.

Her gaze merely swept over the Emperor and Empress. ’Not bad,’ she thought. ’Their physiognomy is excellent. The Emperor may have no great achievements to his name, but he is a steadfast ruler who works tirelessly for his country and his people.’