Chapter 175 - Interrogation (2)

"I'll take that as a yes."

Leonel's icy voice woke Jian from his thoughts. He could only shut his mouth, keeping his mumbling to himself. He didn't know what his Young Lord had done to piss this young man off so much, but he could tell that he should refrain from asking.

"What did you come here for?"

Jian gulped. "Our Young Lord didn't tell us much. All we know is that there's a Force Crystal Mine and that the Young Lord needs it for some reason."

"How did you get in here through the beasts? Is there another entrance to the hive?"

Jian's gaze flashed with a peculiar light. But, remembering that Leonel would ask this same question to his partner, he could only throw all thoughts of lying to the back of his mind.

"... Those beasts are under the control of Young Lord."

"What?"

Leonel couldn't hide his shock. At the same time, a cold sweat permeated his back. That monocle wearing bastard actually had such an ability? That's impossible. Leonel remembered very clearly that he had already asked the dictionary to read out his ability.

From what Leonel remembered, their Young Lord's ability was of the SS-grade. He had the ability to change the genetic information of a target. Judging by the fact his subordinates were weremen, Leonel assumed that in order to change this genetic information, he needed to take it from another source.

But, none of this had anything to do with controlling beasts. Could it be that his ability evolved? Or could it be part of his original ability? Or maybe it was someone under his command who had such an ability?

Leonel's mind was spinning.

At the same time, there was a hint of fear that blossomed in Leonel. Such an ability, it was too treacherous. If Simeon could really manipulate one's genes such that they had to obey his every command... just what kind of power could he wield if he was allowed to run amock? What would happen if Aina had really landed in his hands?

'He needs to die.'

A frigid aura permeated the bathhouse. Leonel had already sentenced Simeon to death. He wouldn't allow that bastard to leave this hive alive.

"How close are you all to finding the path to the Force Eruption?"

Jian coughed, clearing his throat.

"We've only explored about 30% of the entrances, but the deepest one only goes about 50 meters below the surface. The Young Lord told us to mark down any unique caverns we found and report to him in a week..."

Leonel's sneer deepened. "What kind of protection does that bastard have?"

"The Young Lord has his elite guards with him, they've all been genetically enhanced. Not a single one is weaker than an S-grade threat. There are nine of them and they follow him around everywhere. Even when we split up, it was only us ordinary guards that left the group. The rest remained with him."

Leonel's eyes narrowed. So many S-grade threats was definitely beyond his means. And, from what Jian said, that was their floor. Who was to say there weren't a few beyond that?

For the first time, Leonel felt frustrated with his ability. He was maybe the only person on Earth with an ability that surpassed the SSS-grade, but because it was only auxiliary, the amount of strength it provided him was limited. If his ability was of the same grade but of the offensive nature instead, just how much power would he have?

Leonel really didn't want to let that bastard go, but the more he grilled Jian about the protection his Young Lord had, the more he realized that he couldn't take Simeon lightly.

The most ironic part was that this was likely his fault. A couple months ago, when he first met Simeon, he hadn't had this kind of protection around him. That bullet Leonel almost put through his skull is probably precisely the reason he was so cautious now.