Chapter 434: Sowing Discord

Meanwhile, Auric was heading to the association with Maya and Stella. They had to sneak inside so that no one knew he was taking the test here.

"Welcome," the branch president said, welcoming him personally. He was a bulky, middle-aged man with a coiling mustache. "I’ve long heard about your accomplishments. To think that a genius like you is going to take the exam in this branch. Chief Lucas has briefed me about it."

Auric nodded and shook his hand firmly. "Thank you for accommodating me, President Bertram."

"No problem. I heard you want to upgrade all your qualifications to gold?"

"Yes. I’ve spent too much time outside, so it’s time for me to finally focus on my other status. I wish to take all gold-grade exams except for the dark element."

"Of course. It will take some time, since you have to take all seven tests, but this is actually perfect. Unfortunately, you have to take all the tests separately. Normally, you have to answer fifty questions on the written test, but because you want to take seven tests, you have to answer seven times that number."

"That’s not a problem. I’ve studied everything, and I won’t disappoint you."

"Perfect. I know you are good at practical exams, so we can make up the time for that."

"Understood."

"Lastly, do you need anything else? For example, if you are too tired, we can have you take the tests separately like one test a day?"

"Not at all. I came here for a holiday. I have to spoil myself a little, or else I will be dragged outside of my shop again." Auric chuckled.

The branch president nodded in understanding. "Indeed. In that case, let’s finish your test so that you can enjoy your vacation."

"Thank you."

There were no surprises on the test. Other than the fact he had to treat 21 people to get all the gold badges with three stars, it wasn’t particularly hard.

The test took a few hours because Auric had to keep reading the questions carefully, but he passed all of them with flying colors.

The evolution masters who assisted with the test couldn’t believe it, but they managed to confirm the rumor about Auric.

Chief Lucas had personally vouched for his ability, and everything they had seen on the internet was actually real.

Although they didn’t want to admit it, they couldn’t help but admire Auric’s talent while also feeling a bit jealous.

With Maya and Stella, two Rank 5 humans, the situation remained favorable. No one dared to voice their opinions, even if they were evolution masters.

In the end, Auric got all eight of his gold badges.

There wasn’t much to do other than get the badges while waiting for Axel and Katarina.

"Congratulations." Arnie came into the room.

They were celebrating in the private room of a restaurant for his achievements. Arnie had arrived to return the favor to Auric.

"Thank you."

"Are all those your badges?" Arnie looked at all eight bronze badges, silver badges, and gold badges. All of them had three stars on them.

"Isn’t it amazing? I mean, if we wear everything, won’t he look like a highly decorated officer?" Maya chuckled.

"That is... true." Arnie nodded before adding, "I’ve seen a few people brag about their badges to show their progress. Do they give you anything other than the ones with three stars? I mean, can you get them if you ask? You will triple those badges immediately."

"Pfft!" Maya laughed. "At that point, he needs to place one on his forehead."

Auric shook his head helplessly. "I don’t think so. Besides, why would I care about the badges? They’re just a means for me to get what I want."

"Fair enough."

"In any case, congratulations. I’m looking forward to seeing your diamond badge."

Auric nodded calmly.

"So..." Arnie took his seat before asking, "What do you want me to do? I want to remind you that I don’t have any intention of assisting in anything illegal. If you are going to become a criminal because of this, you will be facing me."

"Of course. Well, maybe trespassing."

"No. The ruins are supposed to be government property. They’re pulling strings to make it theirs, so in my eyes, that place is just public property." Arnie shook his head. "You’re not going to kill people or maybe destroy the facility?"

"No. I just want to take a look inside because I’m suspecting something."

"I see. If that’s the case, I don’t mind helping you. Of course, there’s a limit to how much I can help you."

"Thank you. My request is rather simple. I just want you to go there for an inspection."

Arnie looked down, trying to figure out what Auric truly wanted. "So, I’m supposed to be a distraction?"

"Yes. Is that going to be a problem?"

"No. I can do it." Arnie accepted it easily. "It will be better if they’re trying to harm people because I can deal with them directly."

"That’s good." Auric nodded, feeling relieved. "Thanks."

"Don’t thank me yet. I will still keep an eye on you."

"Of course." Auric understood Arnie’s principle, so he didn’t plan to play around with Arnie. "By the way, how is that woman?"

"She has recovered perfectly. I got my friend to take a look and after healing her, she woke up two weeks later.

"It didn’t seem like she was in a normal coma, like the one where you were awake even though your eyes remained closed. She was paralyzed, so she didn’t know what was going on.

"I just told her that her father had passed away, but because she had fallen into a coma for so long, she has to undergo therapy."

"Is she going to become an adjudicator?" Auric asked.

"No. She’s too old for that. Her strength is not enough. Probably, she’s going to become a teacher or something." Arnie shrugged.

"Fair point."

"Well, this place was the cause of her injury, so I will try to help the best I can." Arnie paused for a moment. "Have you published your research? I thought you would make a huge wave after publishing it, but I haven’t seen any news about it yet."

Auric shook his head. "I have already finished the draft. I’ll have to ask someone to proofread it and a professor to examine the content. I can show you the draft if you want."

"Sure. I am a bit curious as to how you’re able to cure the elemental turbulence."

"I will send it to your email later."

"Very well." Arnie raised one finger. "By the way, what about—"

Before he could finish speaking, Auric suddenly received a message from Axel.

[Change of plan. Tim and John, the two supervisors of the projects, sent their sons to me. These two were drunk. I happened to hear them saying that they wanted to trick me about this project, while the other guy told me that he wanted to backstab the other by using me. I wonder what I should do now.]

"..." Auric was rather speechless when he read the message. It was clear that Axel was just joking around, but this also showed what Axel was currently doing.

Auric showed the messages to the rest of the group.

Arnie crossed his arms. "This guy is very clever. The fact that these two are drunk means they’re idiots. Once they’re drunk, they won’t even realize what they’re saying or doing, so he can make things up and use them as part of his scheme."

Maya couldn’t help but agree. "This is indeed a clever trick. It will make those two families suspect each other. The capital injection the Aheron family can provide is definitely not small. At least, it can make a difference."

Arnie agreed. "Originally, these two families were rivals or even enemies. They joined hands to build this facility. However, it doesn’t mean they are currently best friends."

"Exactly. Axel now can just say whatever he wants and act surprised when things don’t go his way. He can just claim his innocence by saying he heard it while he was drunk." Maya nodded with a smile.

"But with this, the two families will suspect each other."

Auric suddenly remembered Ellia. She said she had a good plan for this, so he had to inform her first about Axel’s plan.

To his surprise, Ellia’s reply seemed to indicate she already knew this was going to happen.

[He was using my tactics.]

"..." Auric blinked a few times in disbelief.

"Hahaha! There’s a reason she’s known as the devil child." Maya laughed, finally understanding Ellia’s plan. "She is going to mobilize the media this time. This will deepen the distrust, making it look like the Delimore family is attacking the Kaufa family to get the capital injection from the Aheron family and kick the Kaufa family out of the project."

"The others will definitely retaliate without even bothering to check the facts. They might be strong, but their relationship is fragile, so they definitely can exploit this fact." Arnie nodded in amusement.

"This means Axel will be at the center of the storm, but he can always escape by saying that golden word. Drunk."

Ellia continued with her plan.

[The elders will deal with it, so ask Chief Adjudicator Arnie to do the inspection at that time, making it look like someone is mobilizing the adjudicator for their benefit. The Aheron family is wealthy, but they can always say they’re not strong or influential enough to mobilize a chief adjudicator. So, this means one of them is the culprit.]

Auric sucked in a cold breath. He understood why Ellia was known as the devil child. She actually used the relationship between the two families so that they would fight each other.

Creating this chaos would force them to focus on the families instead of the joint operation. They might even have to shut it down first because this place would be a sensitive spot for both families.

If Arnie conducted the inspection at that time, the ones he would be dealing with would be the two idiots who got tricked by Axel. It would be a landslide victory.

At that time, Auric could easily infiltrate the place.

Even if Ellia was not here, it felt like Ellia was staring at the chessboard between the two families from a third-person perspective, whispering to both of them about how to move their pieces to get them both into trouble.