Apocalypse Online For All Worlds - Chapter 29

Chapter 29: The Su House

Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio

Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

Back at the island in the middle of the lake.

An old man, wearing a long robe that men used to wear in the olden days, was seated on the chair meant for the highest position of the family. He gave instructions, “You can turn off the screen.”

The president had just finished his speech. After the screen was turned off, the entire living room was silent.

Nobody spoke.

“Father…” A middle-aged man opened his mouth and wanted to speak up.

Mrs. Su sat next to this middle-aged man.

From the looks of it, they were Su Xue’er’s parents.

“Don’t say anything first.”

The old man raised a hand to stop him from talking and said, “Replay the fight scene for me.”

“Yes, Old Master. We will retrieve the footage right now,” replied one of his men.

After a short while, the screen lit up again.

Gu Qingshan had walked out of the bar, and his body, brimming with Spirit Power, attracted the old man’s attention.

“Peculiar Five Elements, Spirit Power of Wind?” The old man started to look interested.

But after Gu Qingshan had shot an arrow at the police flying shuttle and busted it, the old man was surprised and remarked, “This sort of damage looks like the Spirit Power of Metal. How strange.”

By the time Gu Qingshan had used Volley and turned the Grandmaster into a porcupine, the old man had fallen into deep thought.

One of the Su family’s hired experts quietly remarked, “It doesn’t seem like Metal, Wood, Water, Fire, or Earth, nor Wind, Thunder, Light, Darkness, or Sound. It’s neither the Positive nor the Peculiar Five Elements. Perhaps he’s not an Elemental Arts Expert but a sort of Chosen One that we’ve never seen before?”

When Martial Arts Saint, Zhang Zongyang, appeared, everyone’s expression became very grim.

“Gu Qingshan, the president wants to see you.” Once the Martial Arts Saint had said these words on the screen, that was the end of the fight.

Nobody said anything in the large living room. It was so silent that you could hear a pin drop.

After thinking about this for a while, the old man asked, “Whose idea was it to use the Bai family and Nie family to get rid of him?”

Mrs. Su’s face paled, but her husband patted her shoulders and quickly replied first, “It was our idea.”

The old man glanced at his own son, then took a communication device out.

After a while, the call went through.

“Grandpa, why did you suddenly think of calling me? You’re out?” Su Xue’er’s pleasantly surprised voice rang out from the communication device.

“That’s right. I have something to ask you.”

“What is it?”

“That boy named Gu Qingshan. Why did you think of being friends with him?”

Su Xue’er immediately calmed down and asked in a quiet voice, “Why are you asking about this?”

“Well, since he’s a friend of my granddaughter, I would like to know a little more. If you don’t want to tell me, then I’ll go and investigate him myself.”

“Oh, no, don’t do that. I’ll just tell you myself.”

Su Xue’er became anxious.

Her grandfather was the head of the Su family. Since he had asked her personally, it was best to answer him honestly.

“He’s… very hard working and very talented.”

“For example?”

“During one of our mecha research classes, we had a practical lab session, and there was a problem with the mecha’s weaponry system. It actually aimed a laser gun at us. All of us got a shock and screamed and ran, but he was the only one who ran up to it and yelled at the mecha to say that it was targeting ordinary citizens.”

“As you know, this sort of ordinary mecha meant to maintain security in the country is built to place ordinary citizens’ safety above all else. So the moment he said the two words ‘ordinary citizens’, the mecha immediately raised the laser gun and shot the laser upward into the sky.”

“I started noticing him from then on. Then, later, I found out that he had started going into several mini-research projects, and it really changed my opinion of him.”

The old man nodded after hearing this. “Very good. I hope that both of you will get along well. I’ll call you another day.”

He put down the communication device and gave instructions, “Check on Gu Qingshan’s mecha research status. I remember you mentioned before that he’s from our Changning Steel Mecha Research and Development Department.”

“He’s been terminated,” someone said in a low voice.

“What? What’s the reason for doing so?” The old man suddenly turned, and his voice had gone up in volume.

His question wasn’t angry but was clearly threatening. The person who responded shuddered as he looked toward Mrs. Su.

Mrs. Su hung her head and replied, “I terminated him. I didn’t want him to latch onto the Su family’s company and use this as an opportunity to get closer to Xue’er.

“Latch onto us?” The old man’s brows were deeply furrowed as he considered these words.

The person who had been instructed to check on Gu Qingshan made a puzzled noise and reported, “It’s very strange, but my classification level isn’t enough to read his personal profile.”

The old man replied, “He’s no longer part of our company, so of course you can’t read it. Use my classification level.”

He went up and pressed his palm against the optical computer.

“Welcome to the Federation’s Citizen Personal Profile Database, our honorable Mr. Su Xingchao.”

“I would like access to the research status of Gu Qingshan, a 17-year-old male citizen residing within my jurisdiction, Changning County.”

The screen suddenly froze, and a row of bright, red words popped up on the screen:

“This information is at the highest classified level.”

A robotic voice spoke at the same time, “I am sorry to inform you that your classification level is not sufficient to access this information. However, since you are of high standing, I suggest that you request this information directly from Gu Qingshan.”

“My classification level isn’t high enough?”

The head of the Su family, Su Xingchao, widened his eyes instantly, and there was a glint in his eyes.

“Father, something must have gone wrong. Your classification level is just below the president and the three generals of the military, so how could it be that you can’t access the file of a poor, young boy?” said Mrs. Su.

“No, the Impartiality Goddess would not make such a low-level mistake.” Su Xingchao picked up his communication device and made a call.

“Hello, Old Master Su,” a deep voice came through from the other side.

“Martial Arts Saint Zhang, there’s something I need to ask you.”

“You’re too polite. Please go ahead and ask; I will try my best to answer you.”

“Gu Qingshan…”

“I’m really sorry, Old Master Su. I can’t tell you anything about him. This would result in extremely severe consequences. I’m really sorry.”

Su Xingchao put the communication device down and went into deep thought for a while before he suddenly remarked, “This wily old fellow. He must know something.”

Su Xingchao felt the words “This information is at the highest classified level” on the screen was an eyesore.

He suddenly slammed the table and said, “Transfer 100 million credit points to the Federation’s research department immediately. Tell them to donate it to Gu Qingshan, and we’ll prepare someone to follow up with this matter.”

The person in charge replied, “Will do. Please grant your authorization.”

“Authorization granted.”

“Connecting to the research department… huh? We’ve been disconnected.”

“What’s going on?”

It was strange for connecting to be a problem, so Su Xingchao couldn’t help but walk over and stare at the screen.

There was a row of words on the screen: From this year onward, the Impartiality Goddess will provide all research funds that Gu Qingshan requires. Donation or help of any kind from anyone else is not necessary.

Su Xingchao’s pupils narrowed instantly. He said in a low voice, “Then, we’ll donate it directly to the boy and help him to further his studies.”

The person in charge wiped his sweat away and started typing away furiously.

“The system has rejected it!” he exclaimed in shock.

How could a donation be rejected? This had never happened before.

All the higher-ups present started to stretch their necks out. They all wanted to see what was going on right now on the screen.

But another row of words appeared on the screen.

“From this year onward, citizen Gu Qingshan’s personal living expenses will be entirely borne by the Impartiality Goddess and the president of the Federation. No other person is allowed to interfere.”

Su Xingchao remained silent for a long time.

Nobody dared to even breathe too loudly, and they all quietly waited for instructions from the head of the family.

“A pity, what a pity. A person whose research has reached the highest level of classification was actually fired by the Su family,” said Su Xingchao as he shook his head.

Mrs. Su didn’t know what to say, so she tried to defend herself, “You know about Xue’er’s fate.”

“You bloody fool!”

Su Xingchao suddenly roared violently like thunder and sent Mrs. Su flying with a hard slap across the face.

He couldn’t hold it in anymore and roared, “Use your brains and think! How many years has it been since someone’s research had reached the highest level of classification in the Federation? When was the last time? What level of research results were those? Have you ever checked?”

“I’ll tell you right now! That was thirty years ago, and it was Warp Drive Technology—a technology that changed the world!”

“Xue’er’s fate? Humph!” Su Xingchao was still angry and continued sarcastically, “The president has come out personally to protect him, the Martial Arts Saint doesn’t even dare to utter a single word about him, and the Impartiality Goddess? The Impartiality Goddess is using our taxes to feed the boy!”

He looked at Mrs. Su, who was visibly shaken and in shock. He continued shouting, “And you’re afraid that someone like that would get together with your daughter? You’re afraid of him latching onto us? What a joke! Open your eyes wide and see for yourself! Now even I am not able to latch onto him!”

“Father, Xiaoling was just anxious about our daughter and didn’t consider these things carefully.” Mrs. Su’s husband took a step forward and tried to explain things to his father.

Su Xingchao’s anger dissipated slightly, but there was disappointment in his eyes as he replied, “Anxious about your daughter? Oh my, so anxious that she needs to kill someone? So you’re really good at getting someone killed but terrible at capturing one’s heart! Don’t you know that killing someone will only cause more misfortune? Understanding the hearts of people is the way to keep the family going!”

He shook his head. “So your daughter is a million times stronger than both of you in this aspect, it seems.”

Su Xingchao rubbed the spot between his eyebrows tiredly and gave instructions, “From now on, nobody is to interfere in whatever Xue’er does. Don’t try to push her life in a particular direction either as that would probably have a reverse effect and make her upset.”

“Also, about the arranged marriage to the Bai family, leave it aside for now; don’t respond to them.”

“Got it.”

“Make arrangements for me. I’m going to the capital to visit my granddaughter.”

“…got it.”