In the Emperor's chamber, the father continued to practice calligraphy while the son is listening to his words.
"So, here's the story. Song Yue has abducted by some unknown person in the middle of the night. The demands are the cancelation of her marriage with Ji Mingyu and the resignation of her father.
There are only two days till her marriage. So, it's likely the other major clans are the culprits.
I need you to use your organization's spy network to find her location. Remember that no one should even know about it. Now, give me the price for the task."
The fourth prince was a little bit taken aback by his father's words, not about Song Yue's abduction but about the money. "Father… I mean, Your Majesty, what's the need for the price? You rarely ask me a favor. I will do my best to find her."
The Emperor however doesn't seem to change his mind. He said, "As I said before, you are here as the leader of WEB and I don't want to owe something to the organization that I loathe. So, if you are interested to take up this task, quote the price. If you aren't, then, I will send the investigators to find her. Whether you want to treat me as a customer or not, it is up to you."
Shang Bo was a little bit heartbroken by how his father is treating him like a stranger even though they were alone and not in the Imperial court. Forget about speaking nicely, his father wasn't even looking at him as he gave the task.
"Alright, Your Majesty. I will charge the Imperial palace after finishing the task based on the resources we have used." Shang Bo answered him.
The Emperor nodded, "okay, you can go now." He continued his work.
Shang Bo slowly got up on his feet and left the room in silence. After exiting the Emperor's chamber, he clenched his fist and released it a few times with a look of frustration on his face. "He didn't even ask me how I or my mother was doing for once. Are we no longer related in his eyes?"
Meanwhile, inside the chamber, Emperor Shang stopped his calligraphy practice and let out a deep sigh, "I'm sorry, my son, but I can never acknowledge you as long as you are tied to that vile organization, which is indirectly responsible for the death of my wife. If only I was strong enough, I would have uprooted it from this land. Perhaps, I should look for an unorthodox method to break the shackles of my potential and enter Exalt realm."
He sighed once again and continued with his hobby.
? ***
<strong>The next day morning;</strong>
The Genesis weapon store is opened at 7 o'clock as usual. While Alina was accompanying Song Yue so that she won't feel lonely and Allen was looking after the store as Lin Xue was out of the city, Mark was stuck to his seat and got busy with his creation of ammunition. He was also waiting for Chang Bo to arrive as he needs his luck on the lottery wheel for a 100% chance.
Of course, he can also do the same with Song Yue but she only has 5 points of luck. By absorbing 3 points from her, he doesn't want her to face bad luck. If her luck becomes low, then, it might even be possible that something will go wrong with Lin Xue's mission and Song Yue's location might get exposed. Why take such a chance when he can just wait for a couple of hours.
As he spent the time in creation, a couple of customers arrived. They were repeat customers who came to buy the 9mm bullets. Being in a situation where he needed to store them, Mark put a restriction on the amount, selling them only 20 each.
At around 8 o'clock, Alina sent him a message, reminding him about the breakfast. Mark generally skips breakfast and usually eats only 2 or 3 times a week but since there's a guest upstairs, he didn't miss an opportunity to eat with a fellow human who also happened to be a beautiful woman.
"So, how did the morning hours go?" asked Song Yue as soon as she saw him.
"Well, business during weekdays won't be that great," Mark replied with a sigh as he took his seat.
"Didn't you say you have pending orders from the second prince to be delivered? Once Brother Wen purchases the weapons and the firearms division is implemented in the army, the store will get busier." Song Yue tried to cheer him up. "By the way, food is ready. Please go and wash your hands. I will help Sister Alina to arrange the table."
"No, you don't need to do that." Mark hurriedly waved his hands, "You are a guest, you know."
"It's just arranging the dishes on the table. Not a big deal." Song Yue felt bad for Alina as the work increased because of her. She wants to repay her somehow but what can she do? She can't help with cooking because she has never done it in the past 22 years of her life.
The other menial tasks were done by the butler robot and also completely beneath her status to even think of helping in them. So, all she can do is help out with this small task.
"Thank you…" Mark smiled and left to his room. As he was walking away, for some reason, he felt this exchange of conversation was a bit strange but when he thought about it for a second, he didn't find anything amiss. He shook his head and continued to walk.
At that moment, neither of them had spotted Alina who just exited the kitchen room but halted her steps, watching them in silence. She felt a disturbance in her chest. "Was something wrong with my energy core?" She wondered.
After finishing the breakfast, Mark came downstairs and resumed his business. During the next hour, a few customers arrived at the store but only one of them purchased an Ak-47 along with 100 rounds (7.62x39mm) for a combined price of 150 gold coins. Of course, Allen had to give a demo to this wealthy customer at the grounds, spending 10 rounds. So, that gives him the profit of 80 gold coins. Mark was satisfied with it.
Being in a good mood, he started creating the 9mm rounds with more enthusiasm.
About ten minutes before 9, Chang Bo finally reported. Mark's smile grew wider, "welcome, Chang Bo. I was waiting for you."
The teenager already guessed it, "it's that day, already?"
Chang Bo is working at the store for more than two weeks. So, it's safe to say that he had already familiar with Mark's character. And this exact welcome was given, about a week ago too.
He doesn't know what this owner does with his luck but it doesn't matter. He decided to work until the closing hours, doing overtime.
The teenage welpire nodded, "Yes, I'm prepared."
"Absorb." Mark raised his right hand, where the gold ring on his index finger glowed for the next 30 seconds.
<strong>*Ding! 3 points of luck were absorbed.</strong>
"Open, Lottery Wheel."
The lottery wheel with five available items and 16 empty spaces appeared before him.
"Unique skill, peak potion, +2, reconnaissance satellite, and light combat aircraft, Hmm… except for the satellite and unique skill, everything would be useful. Ah, no, that's not right. Unique skills can be overpowered too.
With the support provided by the amulet of magic, my current intelligent stat is at 6.2. The thunderblast skill will let me obliterate any individual under 9-circle, well, legendary realm Spirit warriors have their own ways to protect themselves. So, I can't take it for granted. However, if I have another unique skill with the same capability, then, it will only give me more power.
But then again, as the war is going to start soon and the developments around me are making it tough for me to stay with my plans, I need to possess something that can give me an edge over others.
So, an aircraft and a peak potion are the best options. Let's hope for the best."
He clicked on the spin. 300 credits were deducted and the wheel started to spin. Previously, he would worry about whether he was able to get a reward, and now, he was worried about whether he gets the desired one.
After ten seconds of spinning, the wheel stopped, bringing a satisfactory smile to Mark's face.
*Ding!