The Young Master in the Shadows

Chapter 341: A deal with the emperor!

Chapter 341: A deal with the emperor!

Alex ran and ran non-stop for three days… 

Zoe also ran after her…

74 other men and women ran behind them…

About 50 rabbits followed. Hopping peacefully with blood-red eyes, spelling doom to any who stopped and watched.

“I had enough!” one blond man said as he turned to the side and tried to go in another direction.

The next moment, a rabbit appeared from his side and grotesquely devoured him.

It happened in a split second, but everyone saw it.

“RUN!” Alex screamed as she took an energy bar and ate it, disregarding its shitty taste. She needed the energy.

Zoe did the same with tears in her eyes. What’s wrong with her luck? She had been running for three full days and now this turned into some kind of a group hunt, and she was a part of the prey herd! She didn’t dare to try and escape the herd like that guy… He was not the first to try it, and would probably not be the last!

It is not like she didn’t consider fighting, but she saw it when a group of dark-skinned men tried to band together and attack… They died miserably! 

What a group of good guys, they gave the others some time to rest as the rabbits ate them!

Her only hope now was for either some miracle to happen or for Victor to clear this dungeon… Wait… A sudden thought struck her as she took the jade from her bag. Victor did say something about this!

“Can this be used?” she wondered.

DO YOU WANT TO USE THE JADE?

LEVEL OPTIONS :

1. TELEPORT TO A RANDOM LOCATION IN THIS LEVEL

1. STOP ALL MONSTER ATTACKS FOR SEVEN DAYS (UNLESS YOU ATTACK FIRST)

1. ESCAPE THE DUNGEON (DISABLED UNTIL 25 DAYS LATER)

“Ahh!” Zoe was shocked, why she didn’t think of this earlier.

She quickly used the second option and in a blink of an eye, she was covered with a green light… She was forced to stop by a strange force for a second as the rabbits passed her. She knew that they would not attack her. It was as if they couldn’t see her anymore.

“USE THE JADE!” she screamed to Alex who was already a mile away.

Alex, hearing her, quickly took out her Jade, and so did some of the players who followed. Only 8 of them noticed it on the first floor and had it…. they activated it one by one except for one. He didn’t understand the language Zoe used.

Alex, like the others who had it, smiled as the jade shone in her hand then broke a moment later… For the others, nothing like this happened!

WTF?

Was this fucking dungeon rigged against her?

…

“So… If I got this right, you were brought here from your swimming pool and had been running around the forest for two days naked without getting eaten by some monster?” Tulip asked the man, who sat opposite her on the picnic table and enjoying his steak. He was dressed in a bed sheet that Victor donated to him. He was wrapping it around his giant body with a rope.

Victor and Tulip had already heard his story and invited him to join their meal. The poor lad was starving for the last couple of days.

“Yes! Exactly!” he nodded.

“Why weren’t you eaten?” she asked rudely. "Aren't you appetizing enough?"

“I kept running, and they didn’t follow me!” he said, not caring about the way she talked.

“Did you meet any other groups?” Victor asked, carefully watching the young man.

“Ah… Yes, some dark-skinned men attacked me earlier!” he said, pointing to a cut on his cheek.  He tried to talk to them and promise some money, but those guys only spoke a foreign language.

"And?" Tulip asked.

“Thankfully, some of those wide rabbits seemed to have attacked them, allowing me to run!”

“The rabbits didn’t follow you?” Tulip asked. For some strange reason, she didn’t like this guy at all!

“No… When I looked back while running they disappeared, but I was attacked by a boar right after, and had to change course, so I am not sure…”

“Oh…” Victor smiled. This fat guy probably used the Jade and was planning to use this info for some exchange later.

Anyway, Victor was pretty sure by now that Rabbits didn’t attack scions or those who proved to have very pure or awakened bloodlines during the stairs test. They only attacked those weaklings with mixed and impure bloodlines to extract their blood essence.

Only poor Alex was getting played by whoever was behind this place, probably because she was a dark scion.

And yes, Liam was a scion!

“How did you escape the boar?” Tulip asked.

“It just stopped following me too…” Liam said as he chewed. “This steak is really poorly done… if one of my chefs did it like this, I would have long fired him!” he said. It was a mistake as the next moment, the foldable chair under him was kicked, and he fell on his fat butt.

“Juicy… be polite!” Victor scolded. “He is our guest!” he added.

“But…” Tulip looked away.

“This emperor knows… You are right to be angry, as this was your first dish, but next time use less sugar when preparing a steak, this is not a birthday cake… You need only to sprinkle some with salt!” he said, enjoying his steak. It was very sweet, but he didn’t mind.

“I understand…” she said, pouting, but somehow, relieved at the sight of him enjoying her handiwork.

“Your name is Juicy?” Liam asked with a smirk as he quickly stood up, fixed his chair, and sat back then shamelessly continued to eat… He didn’t get to chew when he was kicked again. This time harder.

“What does it matter to you?” she asked with a very dangerous glint in her eyes. “What is your name anyway?” She was planning to kill him and his entire family.

“Liam Ashflint!” he said proudly. His family was one of the ten great families ruling the world!

“The Ashflint family of Blue River city of the Orva Kingdom?” Victor asked.

“Yes!” Liam nodded as he puffed his chest.

“Do you know about them?” Tulip asked with a frown. She had never heard of them.

“Use the right pronoun!” Victor scolded.

“Does your highness know about them?” she asked again, making Liam finally notice the strange way Victor talked.

“Yes… One of the ten lower families!” Victor said. “You can tell as they all have the Flint word in their name!” he added, making Liam frown a little, then quickly hide it.

“Oh… I met a guy from the Agarflint family a while back… He was a little arrogant, so I had to educate him!” she nodded, then kicked Liam who had just returned to his seat for the third time. “I thought you were important… But it turned out to be just an insect!” she said with disgust.

“Juicy! Be polite… It is rude to call him an insect. Use the words ‘Lower Species’, or ‘Low Life’ instead!” Victor scolded. He really wanted to cure her arrogance, but sometimes he needed to play his role.

Tulip nodded. Yes, the stupid emperor was right, her fine language had gotten a little corrupted after traveling with Rain and Rea.

“Why are you kicking me again?” Liam shouted as he came running… That last one sent him a few yards away and made him hit a tree, but surprisingly he was fine. “What family are you from anyway acting all high and mighty?” he asked as he shamelessly took another steak that had just gotten done and began to eat it.

“Listen, I am from the sun….” she paused as she noticed Victor who was looking at him with expecting eyes. 

“The sun?” Liam asked.

“It is not something a low life like you should hear!” she interjected and looked away. Damn it, she almost spilled it.

“What about you?” he asked Victor but stopped as Victor put a sword to his throat.

“Use the fucking right pronouns!” Victor scolded. “How many times does this emperor have to repeat himself!”

“Ah… Where is your highness from? What is your highness’s name anyway?” he asked with a mouth dripping with grease.

“Listen!” Victor said as he withdrew his sword and then cleared his throat, making Tulip look at him with expecting eyes. 

“This noble one’s name is Vic Volt, the destined emperor of the world. This one has no home, as this emperor lives in the hearts of faithful followers!” he said, looking at the sky proudly.

Both Tulip and Liam looked at Victor and then at each other. Liam shut her a questioning look, and she shrugged in response. They had the same thought. This guy was definitely a maniac!

“Ahh… I have never heard of a family called Volt…” Liam said finally after some pondering. Tulip was thinking fast too.

“Now you did!” Victor said arrogantly.

"Who exactly did your highness become an emperor?" Liam asked.

"This noble one chose to be!" Victor said. "Therefore I am!" 

“Oh... Where does your noble family come from exactly?” Liam frowned and asked, making Tulip squint her eyes, that was a very good question.

“What a strange and very inappropriate question…” Victor said with a frown, he looked a little offended. “This emperor will humor you with an answer though. Although I am 100% sure of this, my imperial family naturally cums from the place all other humans cums from!” Victor replied. “We are sadly normal in that regard!” he shook his head as if it was a shame to be normal.

“Sadly? What do you mean….” Liam wanted to ask as Tulip frowned.

“We shall talk about such mundane matters no longer! Now that you have finished eating… Let’s talk about the business!” Victor interrupted. 

“Business?” Liam asked.

“How are you going to exactly pay this emperor for your meal?” Victor asked with a smile.

“Oh… well… I own nothing here, so do you accept an IOU?” Liam asked casually. He was not really surprised by Victor’s proposal. He was already planning to strike a deal.

“Use the freaking right pronouns… It is not YOU, but Your Highness!…” Victor scolded, waving his hand, he made a contract appear out of thin air.

“This is?” Liam frowned. He naturally recognized what this was, but played dump.

“A system contract… As a semi-player, you should know what it is…” Victor said, making Tulip look at Liam in surprise.

“Oh… How did you know that?“ Liam frowned as his eyes turned cold. He never told anyone he was a semi-player.

“It is obvious…. This emperor can see his subject’s classes, and you have none!” Victor said casually, making Tulip and Liam frown as they looked at him.

“Oh… Then what is the meaning of this contract?” Liam asked after some thinking.

“Since you will not be able to survive this place alone, and most likely plan to follow us, Right?” Victor asked.

Liam nodded with a troubled expression, realizing that the emperor had seen right through his plan.

“And I presume that you are not planning to be one of this seat’s followers?” Victor asked

“Yes… I am not fit for such an honor…” Liam said.

“Then this emperor had drafted a contract to govern our relationship!… “

Liam knotted his eyebrows, then looked at the contract. “So according to this, I will be your temporary follower, you will protect me, and I have to listen to you and after the dungeon pay you the price of everything you give me 100 times?”

“Yes…” Victor nodded.

“And if I can’t pay I have to work for you until this debt is paid?” he asked.

“Exactly!” Victor nodded.

“Then how do you price the value of my work?” he asked, he was not stupid.

“Simple… You have to return everything I give you a hundred times!” Victor said.

“What about things like the moon fruit?” Liam asked.

“For things that only exist inside the dungeon, like mission items, we can ignore that rule… You just have to pay me a million dollars for each!” Victor said.

“And if you saved my life?” Liam asked as Tulip watched the exchange.

“You owe me a hundred lives!” Victor said.

“How do you value a life? Are all human lives equal?” Liam asked. “Can I pay you with other people's lives?”

“Yes, you can!” Victor said.

“What if I can’t pay?”

“You will have to be my slave until you gain me an equivalent value!” Victor said.

“I don’t like this contract…” Liam said directly.

“If you want to follow me, you have to sign it! This is the only way I trust you!” Victor said. “You can always go find some other group…” he added.

Liam frowned… He was sure that most of the groups here might not be so friendly, and even if they were, they might not accept a semi-player like himself.

He knew better than anyone that he couldn't survive this place alone!

“Make it ten times and we have a deal!” Liam said.

“50.”

“5.”

“20.”

“2.”

“10!”

“Deal,” Liam said with a smile, thinking that he outsmarted Victor.

“HA…. You scammed me!” Victor gasped and said as if he had just noticed what happened.

“Will Your Highness go back on your word?” Liam asked as if offended, making Victor frown, silently curse, and then slowly change the contract.

Liam gave it one last look and then signed it, totally unaware that Victor planned to make him a slave forever.