Chapter 578 Shocking The Ivies! I
City of Arcadia.
After the aircraft silently landed on a desolate street, Kiba and others stepped out.
"A new city, a new life!"
Kiba gazed at the night sky. He was now under the same sky as Ashlyn, perhaps seeing the same stars.
With a smile on his face, he enveloped everyone with teleportation force and disappeared.
Twenty kilometers away, they teleported inside a fifty-stories building. More specifically, they appeared in an apartment that spanned four stories, with a combined area of 20,000 sq. feet!
It featured ten large bedrooms, a home study, a bar, a gym, an infinity pool, a wine cellar, and a private roof deck.
Red Tiger and her cubs leaped past the furniture and stepped into the roof deck. Their eyes constricted as they sighted the city full of tall buildings.
The view was different than the one they were used to in Dream Rise House.
"This is nice, daddy!"
Madison looked at floor-to-ceiling windows. Through them, she also got an incredible view of the city.
Agatha observed the luxurious fittings and exclaimed, "Kiba! Even your worst-case preparations are filled with vanity!"
Kiba smiled at her remark while playing with Hope.
This apartment was one of his worst-case preparations. Something that was prepared long before the investigators arrived in Delta City to investigate the golden-lightning phenomenon.
Of course, this wasn't the only property he owned as part of his worst-case preparations. He had multiple properties around the globe, purchased under different fake identities in case his biggest secret was ever exposed.
This was also why they weren't sold when he contributed all his financial resources to help Delta City.
"Well, Claudia purchased it, so I had no idea!" Kiba responded.
Before today, the only place he had been outside Delta City was Desolate Blood Forest. He naturally didn't count the areas from where Red Fox brought him.
"Claudia must have purchased it under your orders!" Agatha said as she stepped on the sleek zig-zag staircases. "And only you two know how many poor souls went bankrupt to finance this!"
She had the urge to ask Claudia if some of their victims had committed suicide.
Sadly, Claudia was in a state of sleep as her core wasn't active. The aircraft was an exception due to its design, but even there, she couldn't use her intelligence fully.
Lillian and Madison realized what Agatha's words implied. This apartment was built from loot!
"Wow! Daddy, you are business savvy!" Lillian's eyes sparkled. "Stealing must be the best mode for financial success!"
"But it is wrong though!" Madison interjected. "Daddy is the epitome of good manners, so how could he steal?! Isn't that staining his pure and honest reputation?!"
"You are right! He is no longer our role model!" Lillian's lips dropped in grief.
"...."
A wry smile appeared on Kiba's face. Shaking his head, he handed Hope to the maids to get her to sleep.
"I will be back shortly."
He teleported on the street outside the building.
A few kilometers from here, there was a warehouse he had rented. He found its coordinates and rushed there.
There was a lack of both funds and time for him to purchase land and build a house similar to Dream Rise House. The same applied to underground facilities.
So he chose the best alternative under the circumstances: shifting underground facilities to the warehouse.
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In the morning, Kiba stepped out of the warehouse. It took him hours, but Claudia was now fully active.
"I need to create her body soon!"
He had completed most of the design and structural plans for her body after his return from the forest. But then White Angel Corporation and Sky Fiend Group's actions put an obstacle.
[[Sir, I have done another search, but no luck.]]
Claudia's voice brought him back from his thoughts.
"Is that so?"
Kiba asked while taking out his phone. The screen flashed with the picture of Hansen and Stina.
[[Sadly yes.]]
Kiba nodded and tapped on the screen.
Various headlines popped up, calling Ashlyn's adopted parents as the best philanthropists and human-rights activists.
"The information on them is vast but lacks any real substance! As expected, they are smart!" Kiba remarked. "And also master in deceit! They have created the perfect image!"
[[Yes, they are even better than Zed in the image department!]] Claudia observed.
"Well, yes," Kiba agreed. "Though Zed was never fake, so the comparison is a bit unfair."
Claudia silently agreed on this. Zed was another side of the coin, as real as Kiba, helping him live a certain type of life.
[[We have no real information, sir. So, what would you do?]] Claudia asked.
"Well, for now, the second-best thing I'm capable of!"
Kiba replied as rays of white light erupted under his feet and enveloped him. He teleported away.
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On the cliff overlooking the ocean, the mansion known as The Ivies proudly stood.
On one of the floors hidden under the cliff, Hansen and Stina discussed details about the container with three of their trusted subordinates:
A tall, muscular man named Lebeau. His body radiated vitality as he read the report.
A skinny-but-slender woman with wispy black hair, named Rita. She played with her bongs.
A blond woman with one eye closed, named June. She stared at the couple.
Hansen and Stina have more trusted subordinates, but they were out, carrying out essential tasks.
"We have been able to reduce the time required to break the seal from one year..." Hansen informed them. "So, it is just a matter of weeks before we get the virus."
"But Ashlyn is the troublesome part!" Stina continued.
"How? Doesn't she blindly follow you two!?" June asked.
She knew about Ashlyn's childhood and how she was systemically conditioned with the help of orphanage incharge and servants.
That made her grin from schadenfreude.
"She does," Stina agreed. "Even though she has somewhat changed after she returned from the forest... it doesn't matter. But her condition is deteriorating, and we have no idea if she would be stable enough to be the host!"
"!!!"
The announcement made June's face fell. If Ashlyn weren't stable when it mattered the most, the years of planning would fail!
"Then improve her condition!" June gritted her teeth and shouted. "We haven't toiled so hard to fail at this point!"
"She's right," Lebeau seconded June and said. "Neither of us signed up to see our efforts fail! We have sacrificed far too much!"
Rita silently nodded in agreement agreed.
"We are trying," Stina assured them. "The researchers are doing their best but---"
Lebeau missed the rest of the words as he sensed something. Surprised, he lifted his head.
His eyes glowed, and the range of his vision expanded, appearing directly above the mansion.
His vision arrived just in time to see the sky blazing up with divine might. The clouds crackled with thunder, and amidst them, a figure stood! The figure emanated blinding glow, making it impossible to see the features!
Obviously, it was Kiba!
He was the best in the art of cuckolding, and the second-best in the art of destruction!
Lifting a hand slowly, he dragged it down.
A bolt of lightning tore out of the clouds, roiling up a terrifying force in the process.
"We are under attack!" Lebeau's face turned solemn.
Who would attack them?! Not many knew about them, and for the outside world, the mansion belonged to philanthropists!
So why would someone attack some kind-hearted people?!