Chapter 298: The Array (1)

When Margret, who just finished her morning shower, reached the dining room, she was shocked to see that it was packed full.

Every non-player who worked in the mansion was there. Including the chicks and their mastiffs. They were sitting around on the floor in a circle around Victor who was sitting on his chair eyeing everyone. It was as if they were taking a lesson.

“Now… Is everyone here?”

“Yes, young master… Everyone who spent last night in the mansion is here!” Hilda said.

“Good! First, take these pills!” Victor said, making Beta go around giving the hounds, Monica, Lara, and El two pills each, not forgetting the mastiffs … the chicks would feed them their pills.

“Take the pills!” Victor said as Margret watched with interest.

Everyone did as they were ordered.

“Well Let the wedding start!” he said.

Margret frowned as she watched everyone start to look around... It was obvious that they were in an illusion. What was Victor doing?

For the next half an hour nothing happened, the chicks would only clap their hands every once in a while… Lara also seemed to be enjoying her time. Monica was blushing.

Then it happened!

“Enemies!” one of the chicks screamed followed by the other then they began to fight. Monica began to scream as she jumped into Victor’s embrace. Lara did nothing as El began to kick the balls of the poor mastiffs who were also agitated around her.

“What is this?” Hilda asked as Victor activated his master Ring, making the chicks fall to the ground as they froze. The mastiffs were subdued by Hilda and the twins, Monica was held by Victor, while El, who was kicking around, was held by Lily. Lara was totally unaffected.

A moment later Victor snapped his finger, making everyone look around in shock… what just happened.

“Big brother… weren’t we at the wedding?” Lara asked in shock.

“The pill I gave you is hallucinogenic…” He lied. “Someone has… eh… used hypnosis on you! They wanted you to make trouble at the wedding... Now it should be fixed…” he said as he helped Monica on his lap stand up.

“When did that happen?” Hilda asked with a frown.

“Last night… We will talk about this later… Go prepare for the wedding…” He said then headed to the study.

…

“What was that young master?” Lily asked as Victor sat on his desk and then began to take out some herbs from his ring.

“Yes, what was that?” Margret asked as she walked inside the study. Hilda was there too.

“They call it a Dream worm… It is a kind of demon that implements ideas in people's heads. It does not affect players that easily, but for mortals, it is very dangerous!” He said, “At the moment an idea is implemented, the person’s short memories would be overwritten… In case they were asleep, this included the last things they did before…“

“Oh… Did it make them think there was an enemy attack at the wedding?” Margret asked. “Is this some kind of mind control?”

“Not exactly… It is not that strong as it can’t make you do something you would not usually do!” he said. “Think of it as a delayed idea… The moment the wedding is called, they will begin to see the people around them as enemies. It will only last for a few minutes.”

“Oh… Then what is it good for?”

“Someone wanted to make chaos, and maybe use the opportunity to try and kill someone!”

“Who?”

“Who knows… The wedding would have quite a few VIPs…”

“ Did you fix it?” Hilda asked

“Yes. One of the pills I gave them would clear their minds and even if there were any other hidden thoughts they would be purged as they would be connected to the first ones!”

"What was the other pill for?" Margret asked.

"It was made from the soul wine... It made them easy to fool... They wouldn't really believe that they were at the wedding without it!" Victor said.

“I see… Now, what are those herbs?” Hilda asked.

“Mind-calming spices,” he said as he separated them into bundles.

“Weed?” Margret asked.

“... Super-weeds… Give them to everyone and let them eat them at the wedding if they suddenly get agitated,” he told Hilda.

"Even Lara and El?" Hilda asked, they were minors.

"Lara doesn't need it... But give El half a dose..." Victor said, Lara really was not affected. He was now really curious about that other bloodline.

“I understand…”

“Now I will have to go and see things at the Hotel,“ he said, “Report if you find anything unnatural!... Anything at all!” he warned.

…

After finishing with the trouble at the mansion, Victor headed out alone after instructing Hilda and the girls to wait for Mira and then leave the mansion together with Lily after getting ready.

He headed toward the White Hotel which was on full security lock down since last week. Even the managers and employees were only allowed inside under extreme supervision.

As soon as Victor stepped out of the parking lot, his phone rang… It was a call he was expecting all morning.

“Mother-in-law! Did you find the bride?”

“... Nova has not been found…” Luliana confessed. "And you probably already know that!"

“How could I? I am just well prepared!" he lied, "Shall we proceed with plan B then?”

“You don’t seem annoyed!”

“Why would I? You saw the ads, I will be marrying all the girls I love today… I never knew Nova anyway, and I already found a replacement.”

“She is already here… You did a good job on her makeup, but she does not fully resemble Nova… Someone might notice.”

“She will be wearing a mask at the wedding…” Victor said.

“A mask?”

“Yes! Now bring her here, and act your part. According to my sister, Caspian might be here to make trouble, so we better not screw this up!” he added, giving Luliana who was hesitant a subtle push.

“Oh… I understand….” she said before hanging up.

Victor chuckled, then gave the security guards outside the hotel a nod as entered the main lobby. There, he was greeted by none other than Alpha whom he hadn’t seen for a while. She was getting prettier and somewhat younger. This was probably the effect of the eternal bead.

She was wearing a casual manager suit with a tight skirt that looked stunning on her. She had a black mask on her mouth to hide her identity.

She had two female assistants walking behind her. Victor recognized them as some of the Brothel girls.

“Alpha!” he said with a smile as he tried to hug her. She dogged him.

“Young master!” she greeted him coldly. Keeping a professional distance.

“I have an empty spot in the wedding, are you interested?” He immediately asked, making her two assistants blush as they looked at their mistress, the head of their secret organization.

“No…” She flatly rejected his offer without even blushing. “I would never marry you even if you were the last man on the planet!” she stated as a fact.

“I know, I know… We would go straight to bed!” he said, making the two assistants chuckle secretly.

“Like hell!” she cursed then glared at her poor assistants.

“You don’t have to be so decisive! Your cousin Hana said the same thing last night…. Now I am tempted to… “

He held his silence as he felt her glares burning holes in him… Apparently, she didn’t want to appear weak in front of her subordinates, and he was embarrassing her.

“Ahm..” He cleared his throat. “Did you prepare everything I asked for?” he asked her as he moved to a side table and sat down. It was really nice to have the entire hotel lobby for himself.

“Yes! Aria had to leave yesterday to get some sleep before the wedding. So I was in charge!” she said, “The entire place had been secured… Your father’s men on the outside and our agents on the inside!”

“Good…” he said as he took out four glass cubes from his ring and set them on the table. The Edict shards.

“What are those?” Alpha asked, even with her extensive knowledge, she knew nothing about those, they were too ancient and obscure for her family’s database.

“... Very special and expensive array cores… That’s all you need to know!” He said after some hesitation, “They need tuning.” he said. This would cost him most of his order points…he needed to keep some for emergencies though.

“Oh…” Alpha was intrigued as she looked at them. She wanted to inquire more from him, but she decided to leave it for later. She was sure he would use the opportunity to flirt with her and ask her again to marry him in exchange for the answer… She was right!

“Is the Yin here yet?” Victor asked.

“She has been here on the top floor since last night, doesn’t she live with you? Didn’t you notice that she was missing?” Alpha said.

“Of course, I knew!” Victor lied as he scratched his head. He did notice that she was not there last night, but he got preoccupied with curing Lara and forgot to check on her. “Did she get familiar with the scouting array?”

“Yes… She is already using it to monitor the hotel,” Alpha said, “Where did you get such a good girl from?”

“Stole her from Lily….” Victor said, “I better go and say hi….” he added just as his phone rang.

Victor smiled and then quickly answered.

“MIKE!”

It was Mike. His big brother.

“We are at the hotel’s gate… Your men are blocking us!” Mike said with a chuckle before Victor could respond.

“I will be right there!” Victor said before hanging up and then collecting the shards.

“Go get Yin some breakfast, and tell her to rest and wait for me…” he told Alpha before pausing, “Then you go find some hole and hide in it, I don’t want my brother to see you!”

“Are you afraid that he would fall in love with me and then take me away from your filthy hands?” she asked. She didn’t know why, but she really felt the need to talk back to him.

“Nah, First, my hands are not filthy! Second, I always share things with my elder brother! If he fell for you, I would just have to cut you in half as I love you a lot too!” He said, then put his hand on his chin as if he was thinking deeply, “That would leave me with a very hard question to answer though… Which part of you shall I keep!” he said as he pondered, making Alpha silently curse at him.

“Both of the halves would be the same young master… Our mistress has a perfectly symmetrical body!” One of the girls with Alpha said with a chuckle, subtly complementing her mistress' beauty. She didn’t get to be Alpha’s right hand by chance! She was using her shamelessness as a former prostitute to climb up the career ladder!

“No, they are not! Or are you saying that Alpha’s ass is equal to her face?” Victor asked with a frown as he began to inspect Alpha’s back with interest. No one said he was going to cut her vertically.

“Ahhhh..” The girl gasped as Alpha glared at her hatefully while covering her butt with her hands.

The poor girl’s attempt to suck up to her mistress had backfired and she was officially screwed!