Chapter 26.1 - Crazy
Larven forest manor was located in the southwestern part of Dragon City. This was an area that housed an industry that occupied tens of square kilometers. Just like the name of the manor stated, this place was surrounded by an enormous forest. There was a small mountain, a river that was positioned between it, a castle, as well as several scattered manors.
Unlike many of the new families’ style of doing things, the Fabregas family preserved the ancient tradition. The castle and manor both possessed ancient appeal, and many of the decorations and accessories that had been gathered from various ruins were genuine olden era goods. The manor’s food and drinks were no exception, using the olden era methods to marinate fragrant meat and brew red wine.
The little river that running through their territory was drawn into a man-made lake, and it was also led into a river that surrounded the ancient castle. In the new era, this naturally didn’t possess any defensive meaning, but was rather done so as a type of decoration.
Not much of this new era’s technology could be seen in Larven forest district, making it seem just like the rustic life of the eighteenth century. Time seemed to have stopped within the trees and rivers, and everything was peaceful and slow-moving.
Only at the upper reaches of the small river was there a trace of this era. A water purifier that represented the technology of the new era was constructed there. The milky white wave shaped dome covered the kilometer long river. Below the dome that carried a dreamy tint were orderly and massive rows of water purifying equipment. This place supplied all of the clean water Larven forest manor needed. It guaranteed that the man-made protective moat and man-made lake’s water were both clean. Of course, it was impossible to reach the point where there was no radiation, but at the very least, it reached a point where ordinary people could swim inside. The ‘normal’ people were based on the olden era’s criteria, because after more than fifty years in the new era, humanity’s resistances towards radiation had improved drastically. Of course, this might have come at the price of mutated cells or changed genes. Regardless, this water purifying factory represented the Fabregas family’s wealth and style. Once the water left Larven forest district, the water quality would gradually decline as it absorbed the radiation of the surrounding matter. However, at the sides of the stream where the water quality was still drinkable, it could be considered full of life. The density of living organisms was several times that of other regions.
There was a smooth road that connected Larven forest manor with Dragon City. In reality, the Fabregas’ military wasn’t particularly strong, and rarely were there outstanding talents within the family’s children. Ricardo was already incredibly outstanding, but compared to the Arthur family that produced both Persephone and O’Brien, as well as the William family which had the always calm and reserved Rudolph, his family’s younger generation were quite a bit inferior. The Fabregas family’s superiority lay in their age. They had preserved the minimum level of glory needed and survived all the way until now. If an average was taken from the accomplishments of the family’s children, the cohesion of the family, and the loyalty the various children had towards the family, then they definitely wouldn’t lose to the three great families.
Those with the family’s bloodline within them were the family’s greatest wealth. This was the Old Fabregas’ creed, as well as the reason why he didn’t spare any cost to defend the family’s honor. Only by showing the families’ children that they have a future, as well as the ability to protect them, would they always stay loyal to the family and further secure their bond. In fact, the Fabregas family over the last sixty years had never believed that there was a price too great to pay for loyalty.
Standing in front of a French style window was Old Fabregas, a rather slender and quiet old man. His hawk-like nose and deep eyes formed a stubborn appearance that didn’t lack intellect as well. In his hand was a glass of red wine that was produced by the manor. Through the French style window, he looked at the calm and peaceful water surface, as well as the garden that was full of vitality.
Large amounts of clouds full of radiation hung in the sky, and a radiance of all colors swept through them. As the ancient castle and garden were illuminated, they looked like the world from children’s fairy tales. This place didn’t seem to distinguish between night or day, as if it was a city of eternity. This was a deadly type of beauty, because only when the wind gathered a sufficient amount of radiation would this type of beautiful aurora emerge. Whenever this type of radiance appeared, most of the creatures in the forest would hide themselves deep within their lairs to avoid this radiation that was several times that of what there was normally. Only those mutated creatures that benefited greatly from radiation were happy. They all scuttled out from their dwellings to the open world to enjoy the scorching radiance.
The majority of people in the new era could not defend themselves against the radiation of the radiated clouds, but every construct in Larven forest manor possessed perfect defensive measures. Even if it was a newborn infant, they could receive perfect protection and care within any one of the buildings’ rooms. Larven Manor had their own atmospheric monitoring system, and it could accurately forecast and monitor destructive changes in the environment. Those that were currently active outside all had either abilities or equipment that could protect them.
This vast region that was several tens of kilometers large had experienced several tens of years of operation and continuous construction. It could be considered the symbol of the Fabregas family’s accumulated wealth. It definitely wasn’t some impressive feat created overnight by some newly rich party.
Old Fabregas looked upon everything with pride. Even though he was old, his body’s condition was nowhere near as senile as that of others his age. Inside the family’s biological laboratory, a breakthrough had already been made in anti-aging medication, so he could use the laboratory to compound a small amount of stable medication that provided guaranteed efficacy. This was naturally extremely costly, and apart from requiring large amounts of rare raw materials, the uncontrollable factors in the synthesis process were also unsolvable problems. Due to the low success rate, this medication was still far from the point where it could be mass produced; however, this was already enough for Old Fabregas to use. For him, the most important thing was whether such a thing existed. The price was never an issue.
In the twenty years since he assumed the position of clan leader, the family’s strength had continued to expand at a stable pace. No matter which period it was, Fabregas was never the family that developed the fastest, but it was definitely the most stable and steady. The family’s expansion and accumulation of wealth had never stopped. During these twenty years, Old Fabregas had seen too many changes in other families’ prosperity and decline, and at the same time, he gratefully watched as the Fabregas family steadily climbed. Under his guidance, the family’s comprehensive force had already reached a point second only to the three great families. In addition, inside of his body that wasn’t young anymore, there was still an extremely strong heart.
Old Fabregas’ ambitions were great as well, great to the point where Larven Manor’s boundaries already reached the east coast. It was to the point where Dragon City and even the Blood Parliament’s encampment was included. Right now, his greatest regret was that there still wasn’t an exceptionally outstanding talent among the numerous younger generation. However, he didn’t feel anxious, nor was he too worried. From his perspective, a single genius wasn’t even as useful as ten youngsters that could only be considered remarkable. Moreover, from the principle of probability and numbers, as long as the family’s bloodline was prosperous enough and the younger generation was great enough, a genius would be born sooner or later.
The only thing recently that gave Old Fabregas somewhat of a headache was Su, that Su that seemed impossible to kill for some reason. However, even though the family’s reputation received a stain that was impossible to remove after the training base battle and some issues seemed to have happened in the family’s unity, for example Ricardo who refused to participate in the battle, he didn’t feel that much dissatisfaction towards the current situation. Ricardo was Old Fabregas’ own son, as well as the one he cared about the most. On Ricardo’s body, Old Fabregas saw everything that he needed. As for Su, right now he seemed to be more useful alive than dead.
The expenses required to heal Su even made him shocked, and it nearly dragged down Persephone’s finances with him. Old Fabregas just made a small move and easily froze Persephone’s assets. Without the support of her family, Persephone was in desperate straits.
He had taken all possibilities into consideration, including the prediction that O’Brien might provide assistance for his sister at the most crucial point. However, without being able to touch the family’s resources, the assistance O’Brien could provide was extremely limited. The Arthur family has already declared that they would no longer support Persephone, and they had already received things of considerable interest from Old Fabregas to compensate them for doing such a thing. As such, not even O’Brien who had recently gained great authority within the family could go against the family’s promise. An ancient family’s reputation was a type of cornerstone for success, but it could also become chains that bound its hands and feet. O’Brien was still too young, and his mindset was too idealistic. He still didn’t understand a principle, and that was that when the benefits were too great, or if an enemy was too weak, any promises could be broken. Politics were politics, and one needed time to gain experience. Even if one was a genius, it wasn’t useful in this field.
Su’s body still needed at least ten H2101 injections, and this was definitely not a sum O’Brien could provide. Old Fabregas had already investigated his financial circumstances, and the amount of private funds he had would at most provide for a single injection. Even if he tried to gather money himself, O’Brien with his weak foundation wouldn’t be able to gather such a great amount of money. At that time, Persephone would truly be at the end of the line. When she faced a desperate situation, she would either abandon Su or accept the lenders’ requirements. Meanwhile, all of the lenders had the power to request for Persephone’s body had already been secretly bought out by Old Fabregas.
As soon as he thought of Persephone’s body that was tightly bound under her elegant clothes as well as the explosive force it contained, Old Fabregas couldn’t help but become excited. A change also happened to his body. A tall bulge suddenly climbed on his gown that possessed a volume and bulk completely different from what a sixty-five year old old man should possess. From his perspective, as long as he obtained Persephone, any price would be worth it. If it wasn’t for the sake of making Persephone take the bait, he definitely wouldn’t have painstakingly laid out such a complex and obscure trap. Of course, the current situation went far smoother than what he expected. Based on his original calculations, subduing a financially bankrupt female general that had also lost the support of her family would require a year’s worth of time at the very least. However, he never thought that Su would actually require such an astonishingly high treatment fee, and that Persephone actually paid it.