After Feng Ling finished talking... or at least, sharing a portion of the truth... the mood turned slightly gloomy inside the room.
All three had different thoughts about such a depressing past... and yet, they shared a single thought: Wei-Lan deserved to be buried alive a hundred meters underground.
Unfortunately, it was easier to imagine it than dare attempt it. Wei-Lan possessed an immunity bestowed upon him by his Region’s Saviors... he could get out of almost any sort of trouble as long as it wasn’t linked to cahooting with the Duskbound Order.
It was the only unredeemable scenario.
"What do you have planned after this?" Levi asked while facing Feng Ling, changing the subject.
"I will take Yanhuan somewhere far away to cleanse his mind and heart from that man’s brainwashing... He can’t remain on Earth or join the Faction Wars," Feng Ling shared calmly. "If he still wants to lead his team in the Great Campaign’s final tournament held fourteen months from now."
"That’s the best option, to be honest," Dominic agreed. "Yanhuan’s current mental state is too brittle, and won’t be much of help... after this, he will come back stronger than ever, and we need Daywalkers like him desperately."
"How about his team?" Levi inquired.
"I will check if they want to accompany their captain or remain and compete in the Faction Wars," Dominic said calmly. "If they refuse to join the Faction Wars without their captain, their team will be replaced by the fourth-best one on the ranking."
Feng Ling’s eyelids twitched, not fond of the idea of babysitting six younger Daywalkers for more than a year... it was torture. But as he looked at his little brother’s face, he couldn’t help but nod in acceptance.
He knew his little brother’s current mental condition more than anyone... he was in the same headspace when it happened to him. If it wasn’t for meeting Dominic and many other friends across his long journey, he wouldn’t have survived this long.
"But... will Wei-Lan allow this to happen?" Levi frowned. "The raiding squad is under his agency’s name."
Feng Ling turned to Levi and said calmly, "Whether he likes it or not, the squad has already joined under his agency’s banner... It’s too late to remove it. He can add other squads, but there is nothing he can do about Yanhuan’s squad... only the captain has the final say."
Levi already knew this... what he was wondering about was if Wei-Lan would be fine having his son and his squad taken away by his runaway son to the Boundless Expanse.
Whether he liked Yanhuan or not at the moment, Levi doubted that Wei-Lan would genuinely give up on his son after these defeats, when he was the only heir he had left... most importantly, he had already invested a heavy amount of resources in him.
Feng Ling realized Levi’s implication from his silent response... and yet, he didn’t answer him. He also had no idea how Wei-Lan was going to react to this, and to be honest... he wished to see his expression when he found out the news.
Ring Ring...
Suddenly, Levi received a message on his Neuralens Device... he thought it would be his friends checking on him, but when he saw the name of the sender... his heart skipped a beat.
’Wei-Lan? Why is he reaching out to me?’ He frowned.
’Maybe to beat you up for defeating his son like that in front of him,’ Ash’Kral replied lazily.
’I doubt he still thinks of him as his son... something feels off.’
Levi excused himself from the room, telling them he needed to step outside to take a quick call before going to meet his friends. He then accepted Wei-Lan’s call, using the dimensional communication service, since the message he received had Wei-Lan’s dimensional ID attached at the bottom.
"Hello, Sir... what can I help you with?" Levi said calmly.
Levi had no intention of acting disrespectfully toward Wei-Lan. He understood that it would give off a strange impression of knowing Wei-Lan’s true character, or what he had done to Feng Ling and Yanhuan... It was best to keep a respectful front toward one’s seniors.
’I want to congratulate you on your victory... it was well deserved,’ Wei-Lan praised him on the surface.
’I appreciate it... Yanhuan is a good rival to have.’
’Winners don’t have to be humble... I watched the battle. I can tell that you were holding back while my foolish son went all out and still failed to wound you once,’ Wei-Lan scoffed. ’He is my son, but still... a loser is just a loser.’
Levi remained quiet for a moment, imagining himself living with such a father... just those words were enough to make him dislike Wei-Lan even if he hadn’t already heard the truth about him.
Still...
’Thank you for the kind words, Sir... I’m only trying my best to help with defending our home planet.’
Levi refused to argue with Wei-Lan... not when he had yet to reveal the real reason for the call. He wasn’t foolish enough to think that the call was merely for congratulations. Definitely not from someone like Wei-Lan.
As he expected...
’I am interested in a meeting with you... preferably somewhere private. I have a proposal that might interest you,’ Wei-Lan went straight to business.
’Proposal?’ Levi knitted his brows.
The first thing he thought about was that Wei-Lan planned on teaching him a lesson after what happened today... but he swiftly dismissed such a silly thought.
Wei-Lan might be a prick, but he would never be daring enough to touch him... Levi was considered a national treasure to the entire planet, and not even his Saviors would aid him if he were caught trying to harm him.
Still... to be cautious, Levi told him that he was interested in the meeting as long as it remained within the World Tree.
’Tomorrow I will be entering the Boundless Expanse to prepare for the Faction War, and I don’t think we are allowed to leave the World Tree,’ Levi shared, to avoid planting unnecessary thoughts in Wei-Lan’s head.
’Fine by me,’ Wei-Lan approved. ’5th Major Branch Restaurant... ten pm.’
’I will be there on time, Sir.’
After receiving his confirmation, Wei-Lan hung up the call.
’Based on what I heard, Wei-Lan isn’t a father who shows up to support his son in such fights...’ Levi frowned. ’Now it makes sense... he must have come here to meet me, but why? What does he want from me?’
Levi had many thoughts and questions roaming his mind about this situation... but he knew one thing for certain. If Wei-Lan asked for a private meeting, he was going to ask him to sign an NDA contract during their conversation.
Levi wanted to be prepared to sign it and avoid the consequences if he ever chose to void it later.
’Ash... will it still be possible to sign a fake contract using singular seeds now that each one has ownership of its own soul?’ Levi asked, voicing a question that had taken root in the back of his mind some time ago.
’Unfortunately, not anymore,’ Ash’Kral shook his head. ’Fake contracts worked because you were signing using singular seeds’ IDs, which weren’t bound individually to your soul, but combined... unless you signed a contract with the Three-Body Problem Seed, which inhabits all of them, the contract will be fake... but now, each seed has its own soul.’
’Which means, if I select a singular seed ID, I will doom its soul if I void the contract now... There is an actual direct link,’ Levi held his chin thoughtfully. ’Worse... Wei-Lan will be notified once I void it.’
’It is still better than losing your life,’ the Titan interjected. ’You have the Lost Keeper Lantern now... if you void the contract, you can sacrifice one of your souls and regrow it again... the Origin Seeds will be fine since they aren’t heavily impacted by Nocturn’s Authority.’
Levi nodded in agreement... although sacrificing a soul sounded a bit too extreme, considering the backlash he would receive from the chosen Diva, but it was necessary. He could not sign such contracts with his main soul if there was a possibility of voiding them later for his benefit.
’I need to go on a shopping spree for nightcrawlers’ souls before tomorrow... just to be safe.’