With his fist, Han Sen moved forward to punch the gold mask, and when his fist was about to meet with it, his hand went right through it. It was like an ethereal object.
The next second, the gold mask planted itself neatly on Han Sen's face. And the moment that occurred, Han Sen felt a weird power surge through his brain.
"Slave; adhere to my commands and I will grant thee power!" the gold mask roared with a booming voice, with a speech that tried to invade Han Sen's mind.
Han Sen's brain had been fortified by the crystallizers, however. He tried to grab the gold mask on his face, and he noticed his fingers were now able to touch it. It had become a physical object.
Han Sen ripped it off of his face and held it in his hands.
The gold mask squirmed and struggled. It was an incredibly weak thing after becoming solid.
Just as Han Sen was going to destroy it with a punch, the gold mask pleaded, "Don't hit me! Don't hit me! I'll swear allegiance to you!"
Han Sen did not expect the thing to be able to talk out loud like that. But it was audible all the same, even if the mask's facial features did not move.
"What is your geno core level? What does it do?" Han Sen wanted to grill it for information before he agreed to its plight.
"I am the gold geno core Gold Mask. I can attach myself to the face of anyone and then control them. Please don't destroy me!" Gold Mask spoke with a creepy, unsettling voice.
"That sounds useless," Han Sen said.
"It's useful!" Gold Mask remarked, in shock. It quickly went on to say, "Master, you are just too strong. That is why I might appear useless right now. I can easily control normal creatures, even of sacred-blood strength. And what's more, I can evolve to become a gemstone geno core and even a super geno core!"
"Are you kidding me? I've never heard of a geno core that was capable of evolving," Han Sen coldly rebutted.
"But I'm not kidding! I really can evolve. Take me with you, and you'll see it first-hand. If I am unable to do this, you have my full permission to destroy me." Gold Mask was scrambling to spit his words out.
"Okay." Han Sen didn't really want the mask, even still.
Gold Mask hastily gave Han Sen his mark, and then went straight into his Sea of Soul. Han Sen checked out the information it came with, and it did indeed say that it was able to evolve.
Gold Mask: Spirit-Type Geno Core (Evolvable)
Han Sen was more than surprised. Geno cores required living things to evolve, and he had no clue a geno core could evolve by itself. Han Sen had only seen Little Angel and Golden Growler evolve by themselves, but they were beast souls.
The Gold Mask would save Han Sen a lot of trouble, though. He didn't require a spirit to control the shelter, as the Gold Mask could do it for him.
"Is that it?" Ling Mei'er couldn't believe it was already over.
"Yeah, this is your shelter now." Han Sen smiled.
It was Ling Mei'er's shelter, technically, but Han Sen was its true master and controller.
"I finally have a shelter to call my own!" Ling Mei'er happily swung the gate open to invite Snake King and the rest of her creatures inside.
Han Sen found his chance now to sneak back to the Alliance and retrieve Bao'er, so she could check out the Holy Vine.
But when he returned home, Han Sen was in for a surprise.
Luo Lan had gone to visit Han Yan in the military school a few days ago, while Mister and Missus Ji had gone away to resolve a few matters of their own.
There was a problem with Ji Yanran's business, so only Bao'er had been left behind to look after Littleflower while the rest were absent.
Bao'er may have looked small, but she was capable of taking care of Littleflower for quite some time. There were a bunch of AI droids in the house, as well, which helped. They were all well-behaved.
Bao'er was staring at Littleflower while suckling a milk bottle. Littleflower was doing the same, but with a smile. Bao'er placed a gentle hand on his jaw and suddenly got up, ran to Ji Yanran's room, and unearthed a few makeup products.
"Don't move, Littleflower. Let me make you prettier." Bao'er grabbed a tube of lipstick and some eyeliner with an evil smile creeping across her face.
Littleflower was smiling happily at Bao'er with an unchanging expression, as Bao'er drew across his face, occasionally pausing in admiration of the work she had done upon her human canvas.
As she had fun doing this, she stopped. She sensed someone had entered the house.
Han Sen's house was in an old town. It wasn't a very fancy or expensive neighborhood, and neither did the house have much in the way of valuables. Every generation of the family had lived there, though, and because Luo Lan did not want to move away from there, that was where they all stayed.
A man opened the door and entered the house stealthily, closing the door as discreetly as he could.
"I thought the Alliance's first super aristocrat would have a fancier house than this. I am a master thief; this place is far too easy for the likes of me to break into." A man was speaking to himself.
The man looked around and then pulled out a gadget. He pressed a bunch of buttons and all the alarm systems were disabled. Not even the robots functioned after that.
"This really is too easy. I thought this would be challenging. A super aristocrat, the president's son-in-law, has chosen to live in this dump with hardly any security? Pah!" The man walked straight into the next room.
When he walked in there, he saw Bao'er and Littleflower.
"It must be the smaller one; but why would that guy pay so much money for him?" The man knew no one was home, and his target was Littleflower.
Chapter 1435: Good Uncle
Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
Tang Rubei's nickname was Ghost Hand. He called himself the best thief, and through the employ of state-of-the-art technology, he hadn't once botched a job in over sixty years.
Someone had paid him a high price to steal Han Sen's son Littleflower, and that was why he was on Planet Roca. He waited until everyone was gone before breaking in to complete his objective.
"People these days are way too naive. They rely on robots to do everything for them. Even a rookie thief could get this job done without breaking a sweat." Tang Rubei was speaking out loud to himself, as he stepped towards Littleflower.
"Do you want some ice cream, little girl?" Smiling warmly, Tang Rubei offered a Blue Gemstone ice cream.
The client had informed him that Bao'er was not a real human, just a pet beast soul. It didn't fight, and it loved nothing more than ice cream.
"Uncle, you're a good man," Bao'er told him, gleefully accepting the ice cream.
Tang Rubei thought to himself, "This is what you call true talent. If I admit I am the second-best thief in the universe, no one would be the first."
As Bao'er licked away at her ice cream, Tang Rubei gently moved to pick up Littleflower and said, "Little Baby, let me take you someplace fun."
But before he could lay his fingers on the baby, he felt something touch his clothes with the zap of an electrical current. He promptly turned around to see what the issue was.
His senses were excellent, and he had not detected the presence of anyone else in the house. But strangely, his clothes were still being pulled. He had not been caught once across all the years he'd been active, and if he was to fail now, his image and reputation would be forever tarnished.
After turning around, he noticed Bao'er was staring at him intently.
"Pah! I knew no one would have gotten home that soon." Tang Rubei sighed, seeing no one else there. His heart had almost leaped out of his chest.
"You continue eating your ice cream, kiddo." Tang Rubei smiled at Bao'er and went to pick up Littleflower again.
His clothing was tugged again, and when he turned to take a look, Bao'er told him, "I finished my ice cream. I want some more."
Tang Rubei felt a headache coming on. Although Han Sen would not know what the pet beast soul was up to or how she was treated, if Tang Rubei attacked her, there was a chance Han Sen might realize something was up no matter where he was.
To avoid Han Sen's wrath, Tang Rubei thought it was best not to attack Bao'er.
Bao'er was not technically his beast soul, anyway. The chances he'd find out were low, regardless.
"It is true that the rich are selfish. I'd let such a cute humanoid pet eat whatever she desired. Han Sen's family has no doubt been cheap on her," Tang Rubei thought. He then opened the mini fridge attached to his waist and gave her two more ice creams.
Tang Rubei liked being prepared, so he had brought three ice cream bars with him, just in case. He gave the remaining two to her and said, "Go eat."
In a flash, Bao'er gobbled up the ice cream bars and immediately proclaimed, "Uncle, I want more!"
"Won't you get sick, eating that much ice cream?" Tang Rubei had only brought three and had no more to give her. "I have run out of ice cream, I am sorry. If you stay here, I'll go and bring you some more later." Tang Rubei was reaching down to pick up Littleflower as he said this.
"Uncle, take me to get some now." Bao'er tugged at his clothes.
Tang Rubei wished to ignore her, but he realized his hand was incapable of reaching any further to pick up Littleflower.
He turned around and was in shock. Bao'er had latched onto him, and she was so strong, he found himself incapable of moving.
"Is she a high-class pet beast soul that's in battle mode? This was not mentioned in the mission dossier at all!" Tang Rubei was in shock. Fortunately, he was very experienced, so he smiled and told Bao'er, "I'll go buy them now, then. Let's bring your brother along for the ride. We'll all go together, okay?"
"Okay! You really are a nice man," Bao'er happily told him.
"Let's go now. If we don't hurry, the shops will close." Tang Rubei turned back around to pick up Littleflower, but again, he was stopped by Bao'er.
"Uncle, I can't go." Bao'er looked rather bitter this time.
"Why not? Do you not want ice cream?" Tang Rubei rushed his dialogue.
"I do want it, but if I don't finish my homework, my parents will yell at me." Bao'er had her finger pointed at the books in front of her.
Han Sen wanted Bao'er to learn about the Alliance. He wanted her to live there instead of the sanctuary, as civilization seemed to suit her a lot more.
"Parents these days are ridiculous! They even get their pets to do homework? Sheesh. Let me help you." What Tang Rubei said was in support of Bao'er, but inside, he thought to himself, "If I wait for you to finish, Ji Yanran will be back."
"Uncle, you are a good man." Bao'er was touched.
"Yes, I am." Tang Rubei picked up the book and pen and said, "In the farm, there are sixty-seven animals. There are twice as many ducks as there are chickens..."
Tang Rubei scrawled a bunch of non-sensical answers, planning to leave swiftly.
"Good uncle, this is wrong." Bao'er pointed down to the answers he had made up.
"I deliberately wrote it incorrectly, just so I could test you. Very good!" Tang Rubei was getting glum, realizing he might have to do the homework for real.
"What is this? I'm a master thief! I shouldn't be reduced to doing baby mathematics." Tang Rubei's facial expressions turned bitter as he resumed doing the math.