Chapter 48: Dark Stellar Envoy

Reality World, Station 13.

The sudden reversal from Dekola left many dimensional viewers stunned.

"Wow, I thought Dekola was just a minor side character—didn’t expect him to be hiding this deep."

"Guess you can’t judge a book by its cover. Anyone with a name in a series like this is never simple. Even I got played—thought he was just arrogant for no reason."

"Stellar Envoy Association? Why is Dekola’s father so certain that exposing Tian Dao and the others’ identities would immediately trigger intervention from the Association? Could he be in league with them?"

Though it was just a brief exchange, the viewers still managed to extract a wealth of crucial information.

If their guesses were correct, the first real threat Tian Dao and the others would face was not from Dekola himself—but from the shadowy family behind him.

While the audience buzzed with speculation and heated debate, the screen plunged into darkness—then cut to a sleek office three days later.

This was Bodean’s office—the patriarch of the Shuangyin Family, and father of Dekola.

Three days later.

Luen Technology Co., Ltd., a subsidiary of Tianhai Group.

The CEO’s Office.

“Rongshan. You’re late.”

“Late?”

Facing the seated Bodean—President of Luen Technology—Rongshan, a man barely five feet tall with a thick, unkempt beard, strode casually toward a sofa. With a casual, almost theatrical flourish, he flopped down, his posture radiating arrogance.

Ignoring the cold stares from the surrounding guards and envoys, he calmly pulled out a nail clipper from his coat and began meticulously trimming his nails.

“Bodean, what’s late? From my perspective, this meeting was pointless from the start.”

He glanced around the room, name-dropping the others with ease.

“Yingzhi · Lina. Tieguan · Claude. Yi Yi · Wiser.”

His eyes lingered on Bodean, voice dripping with condescension.

“A bunch of brats from who-knows-where. You really called all of us just to talk to them?”

He lifted a hand, blowing the freshly clipped nail fragments toward Bodean with a mocking flourish.

“Let me tell you, Bodean—dealing with those little pests? I, Rongshan, can handle it alone.”

Whoosh—

The nearest guard instantly drew his sidearm and pressed it to Rongshan’s skull.

“You may be a Stellar Envoy, but you’re still just a short man in a room full of weapons. Apologize to Bodean now, or else—”

Rongshan’s pupils snapped into narrow, molten slits. His voice remained unnervingly calm.

“Or else what?”

He slowly turned his head, face blank, staring straight at the guard.

The man froze. No answer came.

Because in an instant, Rongshan had seized the guard’s wrist—just as white-hot smoke erupted from beneath his skin, revealing the grotesque, pulsating flesh beneath.

Lava poured from Rongshan’s palm, searing into the guard’s arm. Flesh melted like wax, bones exposed in seconds.

“Aaaah—!”

The guard screamed, thrashing wildly, trying to pull free. But Rongshan’s grip was iron.

In moments, the man was reduced to a blackened husk, collapsing in a blaze of fire.

Rongshan licked his cracked lips, surveying the charred corpse like a connoisseur admiring a masterpiece.

“Huh. Not impressive.”

He turned to the others.

The remaining guards, now armed and tense, pointed their weapons at the sofa, faces grim.

But Rongshan wasn’t afraid. He laughed—deep, cruel, and wild.

His small frame erupted with a wave of scorching heat.

The office’s potted plants wilted, then blackened, crumbling to ash in seconds.

At that moment, he looked like a living volcano—unleashed, furious, and terrifying.

Just as the tension reached its peak, Bodean finally spoke.

“Lower your weapons.”

“Bodean—”

“I said lower them. Did you not hear me?”

The guards hesitated, then reluctantly lowered their guns.

Meanwhile, the other three Dark Stellar Envoys remained utterly indifferent.

Yingzhi · Lina twirled her bone flute in quiet rhythm, eyes closed, lost in her own haunting melody.

Tieguan · Claude knelt beside his metal coffin, polishing its surface with infinite care—his hands gentle, his gaze tender, as if cradling a lover.

Yi Yi · Wiser crouched beside the corpse, pulling out vials of colored syringes, examining them thoughtfully, as if deciding which one would best “enhance” the dead.

So while Rongshan’s behavior was undeniably mad, the others weren’t exactly sane either—each possessed their own twisted quirks.

But at least they were restrained.

Their calm kept the room from erupting into chaos.

Bodean glanced at the corpse, then at Rongshan.

“Rongshan. I called you all here for a reason.”

“I know you claim to be untouchable below the Second Rank. But what if your opponent is also nearing the Second?”

The words struck Rongshan like lightning.

His expression shifted—eyes widening, then glowing with sudden, childlike excitement.

Bodean nodded. A gesture.

The secretary, trembling, placed a tablet on the table before Rongshan, then retreated to Bodean’s side.

Rongshan picked it up, scanned the screen—then burst into a roaring laugh.

He crushed the tablet in his hands, shards scattering like glass rain.

“Hilarious! Brilliant!”

“A twelve-year-old with over eight hundred Stellar Energy Value? A prodigy!”

“Bodean, you’ve given me the perfect toy this time!”

Bodean nodded.

“A child prodigy—nearing the Second Rank at twelve.”

“Rongshan… now that you know this, do you still doubt why I gathered you all?”

“Tian Dao isn’t some nobody. He’s not a grassroot talent.”

“I don’t know his origins—but my son’s encounters revealed something interesting. Aside from Tian Dao Siming, the other three transfer students are First-Rank Stellar Envoys too.”

“To send so many young prodigies at once… the organization behind them must be powerful.”

“Rongshan… be careful. They’re not easy.”

Bodean expected Rongshan to finally take the threat seriously.

But he underestimated the man’s arrogance—and his obsession with torment.

Rongshan tossed the broken tablet aside, then stood up with a grin.

“Fascinating. This is getting way more interesting.”

“A bunch of young geniuses? Oh, I love watching them beg. Watch them break, kneel, scream—such a beautiful sound.”

“Bodean, don’t worry. This is too delicious to share. I’ll go meet Tian Dao Siming myself.”

“Let’s see… how long can he last before I crush him?”

With that, he kicked open the office door.

But just as he stepped through, he paused—his gaze locking onto Lina, leaning against the wall, idly plucking her bone flute.

His eyes raked over her slender form, hungry.

“Lina,” he said, voice suddenly low, inviting. “Want to come with me? Hear the screams of the prodigies?”

“Nothing compares to the sound of a genius’s despair. It’s far more beautiful than your little instrument.”

“Trust me… you’ll fall in love with it.”

Lina didn’t even look up. She yawned, bored.

Then, setting down her perfectly tuned flute, she said flatly:

“Rongshan… don’t go too far. Genius blood… it burns hot.”

“Too far?” He laughed, a deep, mocking rumble. “Relax. Below Second Rank? Rongshan’s untouchable.”

And with that, he vanished down the corridor.

Only after he was gone did Lina turn her gaze toward Bodean.

“Are you sure you want to let that fool act so soon?”

“Trelan Retreat is just days away. If Dorian figures it out, he might pull his daughter out of school—hide her somewhere safe.”

Bodean’s voice was calm.

“Don’t worry. Dorian won’t do that.”

“Oh? Why not?”

“Because we both know the truth. In a game of wits, the winner isn’t the one with the most power—but the one with the best cards.”

“I don’t know what Dorian has. He doesn’t know what I have. Let Rongshan play.”

“It’s the perfect chance to see what real cards Dorian is holding.”

“And if he doesn’t show strength… well, we won’t even need Isabelle. We can remove him from power now.”

“In this world of Stellar Source… wealth is the cheapest form of power.”

Lina paused, absorbing his words.

Then, slowly, she resumed playing her bone flute—each note a whisper of something dark, knowing.

She understood.

Bodean wasn’t just letting Rongshan loose.

He was testing Dorian.

And he wanted to know—exactly what kind of Stellar Envoys the old man had in his pocket.

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(End of Chapter)

Chapter end