Super Gene Ⅱ: Evolution

Kong Chuan finished reading the message and shook his head helplessly.

If he had known the situation would turn out like this, he would never have provoked Lin Shen. Now that his Peacock Eyes were in Lin Shen's hands, if he fled from the battlefield,

considering Lin Shen's mad temperament, it was almost certain that Lin Shen would destroy his Peacock Eyes without hesitation, dragging him down with him.

The Heavenly Consort had told him to prioritize his own safety, but as long as Lin Shen was alive in front of him, and without retrieving his Peacock Eyes, he stood no chance of survival.

He did not dare to tell her about this simply to avoid worrying her.

Kong Chuan had no other options but to take things step by step.

After all, he was a Nirvana Level powerhouse with a long-standing reputation, having weathered many storms, yet being in the company of Lin Shen, an Ascender, gave him an intense feeling of insecurity.

When the two arrived at the An Family's residence, An 117 surprisingly had been waiting for them outside the castle early on.

An 117 was already aware of the vast quantity of resources Lin Shen and his party had moved from Chi 118.

However, he could not figure out how Lin Shen had managed to make Chi 118 capitulate. Even if An 117 racked his brains, he couldn't understand why Chi 118 would compromise, which was simply inconceivable.

If he were Chi 118, he would never give Lin Shen so many resources.

An 117 wanted to contact Chi 118 for information but to no avail as Chi 118 would not respond to his communication requests. This left An 117 deeply suspicious and constantly monitoring Lin Shen's movements.

As Lin Shen and his companion were heading his way, he had already received the message. After much deliberation, he decided he needed to understand what exactly Lin Shen had done.

"Lord Chief of the Heavenly Institute, your visit honors us. Please forgive us for not greeting you from afar." Having obtained so many resources from Chi 118, An 117 did not dare to underestimate Lin Shen any longer and greeted him very politely, without any of the Nirvana Star Lord's usual arrogance.

Kong Chuan looked on with a peculiar expression, having never seen a member of the Celestial Race at the Nirvana level extend such courtesy to a lower-class member of the Other Races.

"You are too gracious, Lord An. It's just a small token, no great honor," Lin Shen said as he approached An 117 and handed him a gift box.

"You are the one who's being gracious, Lord Chief. Please come inside," An 117 replied, accepting the gift box and promptly handing it over to his steward. He was extremely cautious and dared not open the box himself, fearing he might fall prey to one of Lin Shen's schemes. Read the latest on empire

"Aren't you going to open it and have a look?" Lin Shen asked with a smile.

"Any gift from the Chief of the Heavenly Institute must be of extreme value. Let's avoid making others envious. I will enjoy it in private later," An 117 said while ushering Lin Shen inside.

Lin Shen's comment only made him more reluctant to open the gift; he even signaled to the butler with his eyes to handle the box with care and caution.

An 117 was clearly much more cautious than Chi 118. After inviting Lin Shen into the conference hall, he gave Lin Shen the seat of honor and took a position to his left and below him.

"Lord An, I am a straightforward person, so I'll just speak my mind," Lin Shen began without beating around the bush. In terms of cunning and ability, he was no match for these old foxes. Playing games with them would only lead to his own demise, so he had no choice but to cut through the chaos and throw the dirt right back at them.

"Please speak your mind, Lord Chief. I too am a straightforward person and appreciate others who are the same," An 117 replied with a smile.

"That's good," Lin Shen nodded and continued, "The resources to be surrendered will have to be doubled this time. The previous portion will follow the normal procedure, but the additional amount, I will take with me today. I can write an IOU on behalf of the Celestial Master Institute to certify that these items were taken by us. If Lord An has no objections, you may prepare them now."

Lin Shen glanced at his watch and added, "It happens to be lunchtime, so I'll have to trouble you to prepare some food, Lord An. After we eat, we'll take the items and leave, and we won't trouble you again."

Even with the best of composure, An 117's face had turned extremely ugly upon hearing this.

"Dean, I understand your feelings, but I really don't have that many resources here. If you are short on money, I do have some savings here. You can take them all, no need for an IOU," An 117 said, containing his raging anger and not lashing out.

He really couldn't understand what kind of courage or trump card Lin Shen had that enabled him to so brazenly demand money from him.

Lin Shen looked at An 117, who remained silent as if waiting for something.

Kong Chuan was also puzzled as to what Lin Shen was waiting for.

An 117 seemed to realize something, but before he could act, the butler rushed in, carrying a box, and started whispering to An 117.

An 117's face grew uglier by the second, and he snatched the box and pushed it at Lin Shen, "Dean, your gift is too much for me to accept; please take it back."

Lin Shen did not get angry, but took the box, opened it, and pulled out the Heavenly Emperor's self-portrait, torn into several pieces, and said indifferently, "Lord An, I kindly represented Lord Heavenly Emperor in presenting you with his self-portrait. It's an immense honor, and if you choose not to accept it, that's fine, but how could you tear up His Majesty's self-portrait?"

"Shameless... Truly shameless..." Kong Chuan stood by, dumbfounded, having never seen someone so shameless and so adept at distorting the truth.

"Dean, please do not make false promises. The contents of the box are intact, just as they were before," An 117 said, close to exploding with rage.

"Lord An must be joking, I gave you a complete painting. Even if you gave me the greatest courage, I wouldn't dare tear His Majesty's sacred portrait; that is a capital offense," Lin Shen calmly put the torn-up painting back in the box and continued, "I personally handed the item to you, and you took it back in front of everyone.

I even let you check it right then and there, so how did it become a ruined painting? Lord An, would you accept a ruined painting? Look, this tear is fresh, it must have been torn just now. Lord An, you really have quite the nerve, daring to tear His Majesty's personally drawn sacred portrait."

An 117 was dumbstruck, staring intently at Lin Shen, his face contorted, twitching as if he was about to devour someone.

"If Lord An wants to silence me with murder, go ahead and do it now. After all, I was not meant to live. If you feel it's not satisfying enough, you can stab a few more times, don't kill me too easily," Lin Shen drew the knife from his waist, placed it in front of An 117, closed his eyes, and waited to be struck, and said to the somewhat stupefied Kong Chuan behind him, "Kong Chuan, don't stop him.

Dying by Lord An's hand would be an honor. At least I will have a good reputation, being loyal to my lord and my race, sacrificing myself for my emperor."

"You..." An 117 was shaking with anger, his pointing finger trembling.

Now he finally understood why Chi 118 had given in and paid. This was a mad dog with rabies; before his own death, he had to take a bite out of someone else.

Chi 118 had paid to avoid a disaster, and if he didn't give the money now, Lin Shen would definitely drag him down with him—who could stand that?

An 117 could even imagine that Lin Shen probably tore the portrait in front of Chi 118, just as he had said, the tear was fresh.

An 117 thought, Chi 118's expression at that time must have been very interesting, but on second thought, getting Chi 118 to testify for him would certainly be impossible.

"Fine... I'll give..." An 117 felt as if he had forcibly swallowed something vile, an indescribably awful feeling.

"Lord An, you really are straightforward, unlike Lord Chi who hemmed and hawed and only agreed to give after I demanded double the amount," Lin Shen said with a smile.

Upon hearing this, An 117 suddenly felt much better inside, as if it wasn't so unbearable anymore.