Chapter 137: The Wealth of the Shangguan Family

Sola Colony, humanity's very first colony, holds a transcendent position among the numerous human colonies. It has always been the core of humanity, and the once-every-three-years Colonial Assembly, where leaders from various colonies gather, is always held in Sola City. This fact alone is enough to demonstrate its status.

Huo Ye had never appeared in the public eye before. After all, a child picked up from the Blightlands would, no matter how one looked at it, seem peculiar and should not be exposed to the media. Yet, within just the past month, Huo Ye's reputation had finally been thoroughly established in Sola Colony.

One could easily imagine: a human capable of consuming Disasters. It was as rare as a sheep biting a starving wolf to death. Huo Ye's name would undoubtedly be recorded in the annals of history, immortalized forever.

The three of them rode their hover-motorcycles down the street, drawing the sideways glances of many passersby.

"No way, no way! The Holmes family, alive, just flashed right past!"

"Where? Where?"

"They're a family after just three people? Did you forget that Commander Eddie has a biological daughter?"

"Ah, right, there does seem to be one, but she's not very famous. Just a young socialite, and Sola City is never short of wealthy young ladies."

Alice and Shangguan Yudie, who had arrived earlier via the express train, were walking down the street at that moment. Completely ignoring the top young heiress of both the military and business worlds, they turned away to find the butler who had said he would come to pick up Shangguan Yudie.

The Shangguan family estate was quite famous among high society. In Sola City, arguably the most prosperous human city of the Ability Era, it occupied a location akin to the suburbs, yet it sat practically right on the doorstep of the Central Business District—solely because this was the site of the Shangguan family's residence. Wherever they were located meant wherever humanity's commercial core resided.

The land belonging to the Shangguan family was boundless, and the unit of measurement for this estate was not square meters, but hectares. Exactly how many hectares no one had ever cared to check; in any case, no other estate thus far came even close to being half its size.

Within this land, whose area rivaled that of a Disney resort, stood a cluster of villas where birds sang and flowers bloomed day in and day out. That's right, a cluster. Among the members of the Shangguan family, the concept of a private bedroom never truly existed at home, because their individual villas served as their bedrooms.

Ever since he was a child, Huo Ye had disliked coming to play at Shangguan Yudie's house. It wasn't for any other reason, but mainly because the Shangguan estate was simply too vast. A child wasn't very good with directions, and every time he visited, he either had to be led by the butler or pull up a navigation system; otherwise, he would get lost. To this day, Huo Ye still couldn't understand: when a place was already big enough to get lost in one's own home, could it really still be called a house?

For the sake of convenience, an estate of this magnitude naturally could not have just a single front gate—this wasn't some ancient nobility of yesteryear that fussed over ceremonial gates and side portals. The gate through which the three members of the Holmes family passed had the surname "Holmes" inscribed upon it in both Chinese and English. It was not a gate exclusively belonging to the Holmes family, but rather served as a gesture of the friendship between Shangguan Qingcai and Eddie.

Huo Ye habitually activated the Shangguan family's exclusive satellite navigation system. The Shanggans blocked all other satellite signals, and only their proprietary satellites functioned here. In this era, satellites had long since shrunk to the size of a palm. Billions of them orbited the Earth day and night, practically invisible to the human eye. To prevent the accumulation of space debris, there were even specialized return-satellites that collected abandoned ones.

Although the cost of launching a satellite remained so exorbitant that an ordinary citizen couldn't afford it even by going through life without eating or drinking, it was merely a drop in the bucket for the Shangguan family.

Whenever Huo Ye thought about how wealthy the Shangguan family truly was lately, he couldn't help but get a headache. He had to admit that if he currently had to find an acquaintance of the opposite sex toward whom he felt the greatest affection and with whom he was most willing to tie the knot, it would undoubtedly be Shangguan Yudie. Yet, given her family background... Huo Ye always felt a sense of marrying into the bride's family as a subordinate husband.

Moreover, ever since entering Sola City, Eddie had led them straight here. No matter how Huo Ye thought about it, something felt amiss. Connecting this with the questions Vivian had asked him last night, Huo Ye felt he had already guessed the truth.

Today, he would likely have to make a choice—accept or reject—and decide their relationship once and for all. So, perhaps he ought to ask himself: "Huo Ye, what on earth are you thinking?"

Familiar with the route, Shangguan Yudie led Alice straight to Shangguan Qingcai's villa. Having not been home for nearly two months at the academy, her first priority should be to visit her grandfather.

The butler led the two of them to meet Shangguan Qingcai. At that moment, Shangguan Qingcai was sitting on the living room sofa. Catching sight of his precious eldest granddaughter returning, he immediately stood up and laughed heartily, "Hahaha, Little Yu is back. Come, come, let grandfather take a look."

Shangguan Yudie walked forward and softly said, "Grandfather, I'm back."

"Hi, Grandpa Qingcai, I'm here too!" Alice greeted him brightly.

While Shangguan Qingcai found Eddie an eyesore and consequently looked down on Huo Ye as an heir, he genuinely and from the bottom of his heart adored Alice, this lively little girl. Seeing Alice return alongside Shangguan Yudie, he immediately exclaimed in pleasant surprise, "Oh, Little Ai, you're back too? Come, come, grandfather didn't know you were returning and didn't prepare anything for you—take this pocket money."

As he spoke, Shangguan Qingcai took out a thick stack of bills from his wallet, all in the largest denomination of ten thousand Sola—so-called pocket money. The Shangguan family had started from the wealth Shangguan Qingcai forged himself, becoming the preeminent business behemoth in a mere thirty years. Giving a gift upon meeting, giving a gift upon a long-awaited reunion, sending a gift when visiting someone, and giving a gift when someone called upon them—this was the rule of the Shangguan family. It was also the reason why Shangguan Jing had specially prepared a batch of Keemun black tea for Huo Ye.

Without the slightest bit of politeness, Alice accepted the cash, smiled brightly as she slid it into her pocket, and said, "Thank you, Grandpa Qingcai!"

Shangguan Qingcai smiled, then asked, "Well now, you're both back, but where are your parents and that adopted brother of yours?"

While tapping her finger gently against her pants pocket, counting bill by bill through the fabric just how much money was inside, Alice replied, "I came back with Little Yu. I saw them heading this way earlier, and sure enough, they came here. Right now, they should have arrived as well, but since I came straight to you with Little Yu first, I haven't run into them yet."

"Oh, oh, I see. Come, let's go sit over there; grandfather has something to ask you." Shangguan Qingcai directed the latter sentence at Shangguan Yudie. "Little Yu, go find your father and your aunt, and tell them to come straight over here."

Shangguan Yudie nodded and turned to leave.

Acting like an old urchin, Shangguan Qingcai glanced toward the front door to ensure Shangguan Yudie was out of earshot before asking, "Little Ai, tell grandfather honestly: do your brother and Little Yu have any romantic interests?"

Shangguan Qingcai was truly terrified. To avoid making a massive fuss with invited guests and banquets as he had years ago, he had deliberately invited only the two families today. But it was still a major event nonetheless; although Shangguan Hong had previously called to inquire about matters concerning Shangguan Yudie, it was best for him to confirm it himself.

He had heard that the boy from Eddie's household was quite the early bloomer in romance. Back then, out of sheer stubbornness, he had laid down a condition, but upon calming down and thinking it over, hadn't he essentially gambled away his precious granddaughter's entire future? He had to verify the character of that scoundrel of a kid; otherwise, how could he ever rest easy handing his granddaughter over to him?

Shangguan Qingcai was consumed with regret right now. The crucial issue was that his authority at home was far too absolute; his children and grandchildren obeyed his every word without question, never thinking to offer the old man a way to back down gracefully. His impulse to butt heads with Eddie back then had been a mistake!

Back when Eddie had come to his door pleading for a pair of bronze-arm-ghost-forged double blades for Huo Ye, the two of them had argued endlessly.

"Hmph, you damned fellow, you rejected this old man's face so thoroughly back then, and now you remember to come begging me?"

"I've told you countless times, Vivian and I were already together at the time. How could I possibly have engaged myself to Jing? Besides, what do my personal affairs have to do with my son? He needs weapons worthy of him."

"Didn't you just buy a weapon forged by the God of Artisans Qi Shenqiao not long ago? That must be for your son, so what are you asking me for now?"

"You old rascal know full well—is there any craftsman in this world stronger than you?"

"Don't think flattering this old man will get you what you want. Not a chance!"

"I'm not flattering you, I'm just grudgingly admitting an objective fact! Tell me straight, what will it take for you to be willing to give the final forging to my son?"

"You want this old man's divine weapon? Fine, unless he marries my granddaughter, and then I'll give him this weapon as a wedding gift. Anything else is out of the question!"

As soon as Shangguan Qingcai uttered those words, everyone present instantly fell into silence.