Damn it! Did she catch me sneaking in?
Shit!
Kael Voss touched his nose, a sharp sense of unease sinking in.
He shot to his feet in a panic, movements stiff with tension.
"Didn't you say you had something for me? I got bored waiting outside, so I used the spare card to get in."
"I'll never pull this shit again, I swear!"
Kael spoke solemnly, his attitude nothing short of earnest.
Elara Voss bit back the curse hovering on her lips, her cold eyes narrowing.
She huffed angrily, voice sharp with irritation.
"Come with me to the living room!"
Kael followed obediently behind her.
They sat side by side on the sofa.
Elara poured herself a glass of honey water, her expression calm as usual.
Noticing she wasn't paying attention, Kael quietly inched closer, his Adam's apple bobbing nervously.
"Here, this is for you."
A wooden bucket suddenly appeared on the coffee table, releasing a rich floral fragrance.
Kael instantly felt a pure stream of energy rush into his body through his nostrils.
"What's this?"
"Honey. I also accidentally got a spatial storage."
"It's small, with a flower field and a little courtyard where many bees are kept."
Elara explained briefly, her tone flat but clear.
"This honey has already crystallized. I tried it—it's full of energy, great for boosting Superpower levels. No element restrictions, even better than Beast Cores."
"It also stops bleeding and heals wounds."
"Take this. Use some when you practice every day."
You have spatial storage too, so keep it with you."
She added, "If there are brothers under you who are loyal and worth promoting, give them honey water or diluted honey."
"It should help improve their physical fitness too."
As Kael listened, his expression turned grimly serious.
"Don't tell a third person about the spatial storage or the honey. Got it?"
"And never risk your life for shit like this again. Lucky this honey is harmless."
If it were... gods damn it."
Elara turned to him, one eyebrow raised sharply.
Her red lips parted slightly, a hint of coldness in her gaze.
"If it were what?"
Kael swallowed hard, snapped his head away, his voice hoarse with suppressed emotion.
"Just... no more risking your life! I won't let you!"
Elara gave him a strange look.
She clasped her hands together.
A golden sword and a similarly gleaming long knife materialized in her palms.
"This knife is for you. No one's heard of Superpowers yet, so don't use your ability for now."
You don't want to get captured and dissected by some research lab."
Elara handed the knife to Kael.
He took it in surprise, fingers brushing hers briefly as he examined it carefully.
Spotting the two letters "XL" on the hilt, he grinned, the tension in his shoulders easing slightly.
"I forged this with my metal-element Superpower."
It's several times sharper and sturdier than ordinary swords and knives."
She reminded him, "It's enough to deal with low-level Mutated Beasts for now, but be careful not to let others covet it."
Elara was about to tell him to go back to his room to rest when she was suddenly pulled into a scorching embrace.
Her lips felt a warm, urgent press, then she was let go just as quickly—so fast it felt like a hallucination.
The culprit, terrified of being scolded after stealing the kiss, waved his hand to put away the honey.
He grabbed the long knife and bolted out the door like a fugitive.
It took Elara a long time to recover.
She touched her still-warm lips, a delicate blush spreading across her pretty cheeks, her cold facade cracking for a split second.
This... brigand!
That night, Elara spent her time practicing.
Thanks to the honey, her metal-element Superpower had advanced from Level 1 (1 grid) to Level 1 (4 grids), and her air-element Superpower had risen to Level 1 (3 grids).
She'd long run out of metal-element Beast Cores.
She'd given all the wood-element ones to Silas Thorne, leaving only a few earth, fire, and water-element ones.
Since the honey was attribute-less and the crystallized honey was easier to absorb than Beast Cores, Elara didn't give those few fire-element Beast Cores to Kael.
The night passed without incident.
Early the next morning, Elara stepped out of her room after washing up, only to see Kael leaning against the wall, his expression dark and stormy as he stared fixedly at her door.
"What's wrong?"
Elara froze for a moment, asking.
Kael's thick, ink-black eyebrows furrowed into a deep scowl.
His voice was low and heavy, laced with barely concealed hurt.
"Heard you formed a team with them?"
Elara nodded.
"Yeah, we discussed it. They all agreed."
Kael's expression darkened instantly, like a storm cloud rolling in.
His lips pressed into a tight, thin line, jaw clenched hard.
After a long, suffocating silence, he seemed to be struggling to hold back a surge of emotion.
His voice trembled slightly, raw and vulnerable.
"We're family! Do you... hate me that much? That you'd rather team up with outsiders than me?"
Elara froze again, then immediately realized what was wrong.
She almost laughed, a faint, helpless smile tugging at her lips.
So this guy was overthinking because she'd excluded him!
She opened her mouth to explain, but Kael's face turned pale.
He forced a weak smile.
"I-It's okay. As long as you're happy, anything's fine."
He forced the words out, his face pale as a sheet.
"Just... don't leave again... Mom and Dad will worry... and I..."
He bit his lip so hard it almost bled, as if he wanted to say more but held back.
He suddenly turned and strode away, as if fearing Elara would say something he couldn't bear to hear—something that would shatter his last hope.
Elara stood there stunned.
By the time she reacted, Kael was already gone.
The dining hall was a temporarily converted large room.
When Elara arrived, many people were already having breakfast.
Cooking, cleaning, and tidying were done by the families of Kael's men.
Except for the elderly and children, almost everyone had a job—no one ate for free.
There were five tables in the dining hall.
One was for Voss Dad, Voss Ma, Elara, Kael, Jaxon Hale, the Su siblings, Elias Voss, Reno Stark, and Jax Stark.
Another table was for ten of Kael's men.
The remaining two tables were for the families—twenty-four people in total, including four children.
Two boys and two girls.
The oldest was a ten-year-old girl, the youngest a three-year-old boy. The others were a six-year-old girl and an eight-year-old boy—all at the age where they should be in school.
But now, except for the six-year-old helping take care of the three-year-old, the other two children were quietly and obediently helping set the tableware.
Two elderly people were cleaning up garbage.
Several women were serving dishes and rice. Everything looked orderly—no one slacked off.
This surprised Elara.
In her previous life, there had been plenty of people who wanted something for nothing—even some with the audacity to eat and drink for free while acting arrogant and entitled, including herself.
She'd thought that with so many men under Kael, there would be at least a few unreasonable troublemakers among their families.
But unexpectedly, everyone was so disciplined.
She breathed a sigh of relief amid her surprise.
This would save a lot of trouble.
She'd lost a lot of patience lately, a result of her past life's hardships.
If she encountered someone arrogant, she'd probably just throw them a nail without saying a word—swift and ruthless.
Kael wasn't there yet.
He arrived late just as most people had sat down, taking the seat next to Elara with heavy, deliberate steps.
The dining hall, which had been slightly noisy, fell completely silent in an instant.
Elara was talking to Piper Thorne.
Feeling the weirdly oppressive atmosphere, she looked up at Kael.
He stared straight ahead, his face like cold stone.
His sharp features made him intimidating, and his deep-set eyes revealed no emotion—only a bottomless void of gloom.
Even in his casual posture, he exuded an overwhelming, icy aura.
It made people breathless for no reason—like standing in front of a feral beast ready to pounce.
Elara frowned, then turned back to talking to Piper.
Reno stole a glance at his boss's expression and swallowed the words he was about to say.
The boss was in a godawful mood.
Speaking now would be disastrous—he'd probably crush whoever opened their mouth.
Voss Dad and Voss Ma seemed oblivious to the tension.
Voss Ma smiled warmly and picked up a chopstick of food for Elara.
"Elara, eat more. You've lost so much weight these days."
"Okay, Mom. You eat too," Elara nodded, obeying softly.
A faint, genuine smile appeared on her face—rare and gentle, only for her mother.
"Xiao Xu, you eat more too. You're still young, growing up," Voss Ma said, smiling at Piper.
Silas smiled sweetly.
"Thank you, Auntie!"
Voss Ma nodded, then casually asked, "Heard the Su family is a lineage of traditional Chinese medicine practitioners?"
Piper nodded quickly.
"Yes! But I've been lazy since I was little and didn't learn much. But Grandpa and the older generation all say my brother is the most talented in the Su family in a hundred years!"
"He's mastered all our family's heritage!"
"Oh?" Voss Ma's eyes lit up.
"So Silas is that amazing?"
Silas quickly put down his chopsticks, his tone gentle.
"Piper is exaggerating. Learning is endless. I've only learned the basics!"
Voss Dad laughed heartily, his eyes crinkling with approval.
"Look at this kid—handsome, polite, and humble. You don't see that much in young people these days!"
Silas remained gentle.
"Uncle, you flatter me."
Voss Dad laughed even harder.
"Hahaha, Silas, don't be modest. These days, young girls are always talking about 'jade-like young masters.' They all like guys like you!"
"Cough... cough..."
Elara choked accidentally, coughing lightly.
She glanced helplessly at her father, just in time to catch his meaningful look lingering on Kael—full of amusement and deliberation—before he smiled at her.
Elara looked at her father in confusion.
What was he up to?
After Voss Dad spoke, the atmosphere in the dining hall became even more weirdly silent...
Once Voss Dad and Voss Ma finished eating, they chatted and went back to their room.
The rest of the people didn't dare to breathe.
Everyone felt a heavy weight on their hearts, as if the air itself was thick with pressure.
Many just bowed their heads and shoveled food into their mouths, not daring to look up.
More people broke out in cold sweats on their backs.
The children, even after finishing their food, didn't dare to speak. Their parents held them tightly, not letting them move an inch.
Elara didn't feel it as deeply.
After all, she was already a Level 1 metal-element Superpower user. Besides feeling Kael's oppressive aura, she didn't feel breathless like the others.
But the weird, suffocating atmosphere still annoyed her.
What the hell was Kael playing at? No one had provoked him. Why make everyone suffer with his bad mood?
She frowned, put down her half-eaten meal.
She left without a word.
Kael's chopsticks paused mid-air.
A flash of unwillingness and bitter gloom crossed his lowered eyes, followed by a surge of extreme irritability that made his arm tremble uncontrollably—rage, hurt, and helplessness all tangled together!
Slap!
The sound of chopsticks slamming on the table echoed loudly in the deathly quiet dining hall.
Everyone jumped involuntarily, their heads snapping up in terror.
"Reno Stark, tell Dorian Hale to see me later! And make it quick!"
Next Chapter Highlight:
Dorian's arrival hides evil intentions! Kael's jealousy boils over, and he confronts Elara fiercely, only to accidentally reveal his fire-element Superpower. The White Tiger Squad's first mission is suddenly disrupted by a horde of Mutated Beasts, and Silas is seriously injured to protect Elara. At the critical moment, will Kael put aside his grievances to save people? Elara's spatial honey becomes the last hope for healing, but this also exposes her secret to Dorian—what deadly trap is waiting for her?