Chapter 443 Life is short, be good to yourself
Just as he had said before, Lu Mingfei left after looking at the family tree.
Since the Chen family hadn't prepared any underhanded tricks or schemes that could drag the entire family headed for hell, he didn't take any of the Chen family's local specialties with him when he left.
Chen Tianmu personally escorted Lu Mingfei and his party to the main gate of the house, completely unlike the reserved, arrogant, and disdainful Mr. Chen he usually was.
It was as if Lu Mingfei was not an unpleasant guest who was showing off and slapping him in the face, but a distinguished guest who would bring endless wealth and glory to the Chen family.
Nono watched coldly, still holding the bewildered Ricardo in her arms, showing no intention of returning the child to his biological father.
She had thought that the man would at least say a few more hypocritical platitudes to her, such as "Come home often" and "There will always be a place for you at home," and then she could give him a sour look and watch him put on that helpless and heartbroken expression of an incompetent middle-aged father, thus completing this disgusting performance.
However, Chen Tianmu only lingered his gaze on her for a moment, and then calmly gave her a word of advice:
"Take care of yourself, and your brother too."
She then bypassed her and spoke to Caesar, her tone much gentler, as if this were her own child:
"Caesar, Mo Tong is stubborn. I'll have to take good care of her when she's out there."
"And the key. Kids can be really fussy. If you need anything, I can send an experienced nanny over to help take care of them."
His words made it clear that he was entrusting his daughter to his future son-in-law.
"It's my duty, Uncle, please rest assured."
"Yes, come visit anytime. The Chen family welcomes you anytime."
Seeing this, Nono couldn't help but sneer inwardly. Was she trying to take a roundabout approach since her method wasn't working?
But it was no use. Once Ricardo was in her hands, there was no going back.
She's a naturally evil red-haired witch who loves to eat cute children.
Lu Mingfei had no intention of continuing to act with Chen Tianmu, so he pulled Erii into the car.
The trunk was already crammed full of things, which were the apologies that Lu Mingfei had sent last night by the butler Chen Fu and Chen Wei'en, who had tried to cosplay as an orphan from the back alley, but Lu Mingfei had not accepted.
Lu Mingfei can do without it, but the Chen family cannot refuse it.
Otherwise, if Lu Mingfei were to say something like, "I was just kidding," or "You really aren't going to see me off?" the Chen family would be in an uproar.
Nuonuo handed Ricardo to Lu Mingfei, got into the driver's seat, and waited for Caesar and Chen Tianmu to finish their conversation and get into the car. Without giving the latter a chance to wave goodbye, she stepped on the gas and drove away from the home she hated from the bottom of her heart.
The wheels rolled over the road, leaving behind the entrenched power and childhood shadows.
As he watched the Maybach disappear at the end of the tree-lined road, the smile on Chen Tianmu's face faded like the tide, and he regained his usual rock-hard demeanor.
He ignored Chen Wei'en and his daughter, who stood hesitantly to the side with concerned expressions, and also rejected the butler Chen Fu's suggestion to have a private doctor come and check his back injury. He simply instructed him to compile a record of the entire process of Lu Mingfei's visit today, down to the smallest detail, and send it to his study as soon as possible.
After saying that, he didn't look at anyone else again, turned around and walked straight into the depths of the main house.
The study door closed silently behind him, shutting out everything from the outside world.
This is an absolutely private area, with thick soundproofing materials ensuring that not a single sound will leak out.
He walked behind the large mahogany desk, and just as the computer finished booting up and entered the desktop, a strange clapper sound with a peculiar rhythm suddenly rang out, instantly filling the entire enclosed space!
The sound of the clapper pierced straight into the depths of his soul from his eardrums. Chen Tianmu's body trembled violently, veins bulged on his forehead, and his temples throbbed. It was as if some kind of intense mental shock, like an invisible iron hammer, was slamming into his consciousness with a chaotic hammering technique, bringing pain that almost made him faint.
The computer's webcam captured everything.
Gradually, the expression on Chen Tianmu's face, a mixture of majesty, domineering presence, and profoundness befitting the head of the Chen family, peeled away like melting wax, eventually being replaced by an almost mechanical indifference.
His eyes dimmed, becoming empty and devoid of emotion, as if he had been reduced from a powerful, mixed-race clan leader to a tool unworthy of feeling.
This is a necessary process for personality switching.
It transforms the stand-in from a self-righteous alter ego who believes himself to be Chen Tianmu into a puppet who clearly understands that he is merely a shadow stand-in.
The stand-in pulled up an encrypted document and rapidly typed on the keyboard, recounting the entire process of his contact with Lu Mingfei and his group that day.
Every detail, every conversation, and even one's own feelings were meticulously recorded.
When describing the time he suddenly lost control and crashed into the table, he said that it was Lu Mingfei who was suspected of launching an unknown spiritual attack or mental attack, and the process was completely unexpected.
He felt an indescribable pain erupt from inside his head, as if Platinum Star and Zawaldo had struck the Demon Orb together, instantly severing his control over his body, which caused his unexpected loss of composure.
The attack method is bizarre, impossible to defend against, and occurs without warning, instantly rendering a person powerless to resist.
This is arguably the most important information so far, filling in some gaps in the outside world's understanding of Lu Mingfei's attack methods.
Once the report was complete, he skillfully applied multiple layers of encryption before sending it out through an extremely secretive channel.
...
The real Chen Tianmu, hiding in a secret safe house in the capital, received a notification almost the second after the report was successfully sent.
He opened the document, his gaze sharp as a hawk's, scrutinizing it word by word.
After frowning as he finished reading, he opened another report, which was a record of what he had seen that day from the perspective of the housekeeper, Chen Fu.
Comparing the two, Chen Fu's record and the double's report are basically consistent in terms of the course of events, both pointing to Lu Mingfei using some unknown means to cause "Chen Tianmu" to suddenly lose control.
The difference is that Chen Fu could not describe exactly what happened, only that the head of the family suddenly looked pained and slammed his fist on the table.
Mr. Chen sank deeply into the soft leather seat, his fingers rhythmically tapping the armrests, his brows furrowed.
This stand-in was his most perfect and successful creation, nurtured with countless resources and through forbidden technology.
Not only is his appearance, physique, and voice identical to his own, but even his bloodline level has been carefully adjusted to an extremely high standard.
More importantly, his primary personality was completely brainwashed and became absolutely loyal, while his secondary personality was instilled with a large number of his own memories and thought patterns, enabling him to perfectly play the role of "head of the Chen family" in most situations.
Many occasions that were not so important but still required his presence, including going to the Chen family manor to fulfill some of his father's rewards, were handled by this stand-in.
The stand-in emphasized in his report that the lesson Lu Mingfei taught him—dancing in the minefield—seemed to be both mentally and physically torturous, causing him immense suffering.
But Mr. Chen, who is naturally suspicious and cunning, would not easily believe it.
The power of the White King: the supreme authority to control the spiritual elements!
For the possessor of the White King's power, it is incredibly easy to brainwash someone silently, or to plant some kind of latent instruction deep in their mind and leave a back door for them to come and go.
If he rashly sends the stand-in back now to personally conduct a full examination...
What if Lu Mingfei had set some kind of trigger trap deep within the Stand's consciousness?
If the real person appears in front of the clone and triggers the mechanism, their location might be immediately exposed, or they might even suffer a devastating mental shock.
Before the bloodline of the Eight Serpent Clans was exposed, the White King was always the most mysterious Dragon King, and no one knew how unpredictable his power was.
Even the remains of the holy beings left behind after being reduced to ashes by the Black King can be traded with Izanagi, allowing him to become a super hybrid and the progenitor of Japanese hybrids, and planting a seed in his soul so that the White King can see the light of day again at a crucial moment.
We cannot take risks, absolutely not.
After a moment's thought, Mr. Chen made a decision and issued new instructions to the stand-in:
Proceed to Research Institute No. 7 for a full-scale, top-level inspection. Do not leave until everything is confirmed to be in order.
He is, after all, a public figure. If his stand-in is bewitched by Lu Mingfei and says something unfounded in front of the public, it could have a significant impact on the Chen family.
Anyway, there's more than one body double.
...
Inside the study, the stand-in, having received the new instructions, expressionlessly shut down the computer, stood up, straightened his slightly wrinkled suit in front of the full-length mirror, and once again adopted the dignified and profound expression befitting the head of the Chen family.
Deep within those seemingly indifferent eyes burned two clusters of blazing flames, enough to start a prairie fire.
The primary personality is an absolutely obedient and loyal dog, while the secondary personality is a ruthless and ambitious tyrant like Chen Tianmu.
Lu Mingfei merged the two personalities into one, which directly led to the primary personality being devoured by the secondary personality.
Knowing his own situation, the stand-in was naturally unwilling to be a pathetic shadow hiding in the dark. He wanted to step out of the shadows and into the sunlight to become the rightful and true head of the Chen family!
But he knew he didn't have the ability on his own.
Mr. Chen controlled everything about him, including his life and death.
However, Lu Mingfei's appearance gave him a glimmer of hope.
Lu Mingfei showed him what true power was, leaving him with no thought of resistance or rebellion, only awe and submission stemming from the depths of his blood and soul.
That young monarch not only made him truly know who he was, but also proclaimed like a god: "From today onwards, you are the head of the Chen family."
These words were like a curse, deeply imprinted on his soul.
If the occasion hadn't been inappropriate, he would have even wanted to kneel down on the spot and shout to the young monarch who had given him new life and ambition: "If you do not abandon me, I am willing to become your godfather."
But it doesn't matter. He knows his mission. He will become a mole planted deep within the core of the Chen family, a most deadly bomb.
He intends to gradually devour and completely control this vast mixed-race clan, and then present the entire Chen family as a gift to that supreme being.
loyalty!
Lu Mingfei's words, "Life is only a few decades long, so be good to yourself," were a warning to him.
His life, his very existence, was entirely in Mr. Chen's hands and could be taken back at any moment.
If that's the case, why can't he treat himself better?
He wanted to reach the pinnacle of power within his limited lifespan, even if only as an agent of a great being!
For now, we need to be patient and wait for the opportunity to strike decisively.
Once we lure out the hidden true form, we'll kill him!
At that time, everything in the Chen family will truly be under his control!
He quickly left the Chen family's main residence and arrived at the No. 7 Research Institute located in the city center.
Mr. Chen, hiding in the shadows, remotely monitored the situation in real time. The report was generated quickly, showing that all physiological indicators were normal. Although brain activity was somewhat disordered, the cut pons remained unchanged.
The area that is currently highly active is the half of the brain belonging to the dominant personality.
Based on this single statistic, the stunt double does seem to be working without issue.
However, Mr. Chen's doubts were not completely dispelled.
Words of power are not such inconvenient things; they never only affect physical appearances, and physical data can sometimes be deceiving.
...
On the other hand, Lu Mingfei had no idea that his casual action would cause Mr. Chen to imagine so many scenarios.
However, even if he knew, he would probably just scoff.
Since you've chosen to hide in the gutter like a mouse, you have to be constantly on edge, avoiding being exposed to sunlight and thus being targeted by cats and the mouse-catching team.
This constant anxiety and the torment of awaiting an unknown judgment is itself a form of punishment.
Let that mouse scare itself in the dark corner, slowly savoring this near-death fear.
Back at the hotel, the Tang family of three continued their carefree outing, seemingly oblivious to their surroundings.
Finger was summoned by Angers with a phone call and went to the Beijing branch to work as a temporary laborer.
Last night, the branch manager communicated with Zhou Minhao, expressing a strong desire to contribute to the fight against the mixed-race criminal gang that illegally conducts dragon blood experiments.
This morning, Zhou Minhao replied that their request to participate had been approved by the higher authorities.
So, the branch staff began to mobilize.
Ostensibly, it was a search for the whereabouts of criminals, but in reality, it was a collection of clues and evidence of various crimes committed by the Chen family.
In this regard, Finger, as Kassel's top paparazzo with top-notch intelligence gathering skills, was naturally the first choice, and Angers directly recruited him.
Chu Zihang and Xia Mi were not in the room either, saying they had gone out shopping to apologize to Miss Xia Mi, whose pride had been hurt.
Lu Mingfei, harboring a dark secret, secretly sent a message to Chu Zihang, sharing some basic knowledge:
There is a type of bust enhancer in the world, also known as a breast pad. Wearing it produces immediate results, allowing Teacher Daimi to say goodbye to her inferiority complex.
Chu Zihang's reply was full of profanities, so Xia Mi probably caught him red-handed.
Brother, may you rest in peace.
Lu Mingfei made the sign of the cross on his chest and observed three seconds of silence for Chu Zihang.
Lu Mingfei and Erii couldn't stay in the hotel any longer, so they decided to go out and have some fun, hoping to run into Chu Zihang and Xia Mi and see if the two of them were secretly having an affair.
Caesar and Nono had been cooped up in the hotel for a long time last night, so they decided to take Ricardo out for a walk to relax and get some fresh air. They chose the Summer Palace as their destination.
Percy continued to follow him closely, which annoyed Caesar so much that he ordered him not to get too close or else get out.
Percy was sensible enough to simply follow from a distance, making sure Caesar remained within his sight.
Looking at the two people pushing the stroller ahead, walking side by side like newlyweds, a hint of envy flickered in Percy's icy blue eyes.
Lu Mingfei's words, "Life is short, be good to yourself," kept echoing in my mind.
For some reason, he had a feeling that these words were not just meant for Chen Tianmu.
Be kinder to yourself.
He looked down at his hands; his five fingers were white and slender, like the half-person-high rock next to him. With just a little force, he could smash it with a single punch without even breaking the skin on his fist.
But what's the cost?
Percy slightly raised his eyes, perhaps...
No, there is no "maybe".
He shook his head, clearing his mind of distracting thoughts.
Compared to Caesar, who knew very little about the dark side of the family, Percy was much more aware of the Gattuso family's unfathomable and terrifying nature.
They not only possess the Space-Based Kinetic Weapon System, but also secretly maintain a special army.
Once this force is fully exposed, it will be enough to show the world what true, overwhelming modern warfare is all about.
(End of this chapter)
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
