The Deceitful One

Bryan turned around and left for the exit of the villa. After walking a few steps, he halted and turned around awkwardly, "Mr. Johnson, uh, you see…upstairs…"

Dele burst into laughter, "Hahaha, it's not the first time that Elijah and Andrew have brought women into this house. Don't worry about it, the maids will take care of it."

"A-All right, thanks!" Bryan replied in embarrassment. He then turned around and ran out of the house.

Outside the villa, in the driveway, Andrew and Elijah were sitting inside the latter's steam car as they waited for Bryan.

A few moments later, Bryan got inside the steam car and shut the door behind him. Elijah looked at him and inquired, "What took you so long?"

Bryan smiled, "I was just having a chat with your father. It's the first time I'm meeting him, after all."

Elijah nodded his head and then instructed his chauffeur to head to Sofia Public Library. The chauffeur started the car engine and the boiler began to rumble.

A moment later, smoke spewed out from the exhaust pipe at the back as the steam car started to move toward its destination, gradually picking up speed.

This was the first time that Bryan was traveling in a steam car. Hence, he looked around at the interior with curiosity.

The insides of the steam car were very similar to normal horse-drawn carriages. There were two cushioned seating areas facing each other. A window with curtains on the right and the car's door on the left.

Bryan drew the window curtains and looked out at the scenery that was passing by quickly as he muttered, "This car sure is fast. Much faster than a horse-drawn carriage."

"Of course! Quick short-distance transportation is the main selling point of the steam car. Moreover, there will already be a new model that will be released before the end of the year." Elijah replied as he nudged his round eyeglasses.

"A new model?" Bryan's interest was piqued, "How did you come to know this?"

Elijah replied smugly, "My father has partnered up with a car manufacturing company from the Hephaestus Kingdom.

And last month, he opened up a steam car assembling factory here in Damascus. So you could say I have some insider information."

Bryan and Andrew were both surprised. They knew that Elijah was wealthy but they didn't know he was this wealthy.

Setting up a factory in Damascus plus partnering up with a car manufacturing company from a neighboring kingdom required a large amount of wealth as well as influence.

"Eli, if you're so rich, what's the reason for you to join the Silver Owls?" Bryan asked, feeling a bit puzzled.

"The reason?" Elijah smiled, "It's simple, really. I love machinery and building things. My dream is to one day join the Dicentra Research Institute in the capital of the Empire, Strinver City!"

Andrew, feeling even more puzzled, asked, "But what's joining the Silver Owls got to do with the Dicentra Research Institute?"

Elijah chuckled, "You guys may not know but the Dicentra Research Institute is jointly funded and operated by the Royal Family of the Dicentra Empire, the Church of Wisdom, and the Church of Craftsmanship."

"Really?" Andrew was surprised.

"He's right. This is what my teacher told me as well." Bryan chimed in.

Elijah then continued, "So being part of the Silver Owls makes my chances of getting accepted at the research institute very high.

Moreover, the higher-ups of the Dicentra Research Institute consist of Transcendents only. So I'm sure they wouldn't refuse a Transcendent who has been a part of the Church of Wisdom to join them."

Both Bryan and Andrew nodded in understanding.

It was only now that Bryan understood the influence and power that Transcendents wielded.

The Dicentra Research Institute was the driving factor behind the industrialization of the Western Continent. Unsurprisingly, it was run by Transcendents.

The three Churches had their own domains in the Western Continent and they could even be said to be one of the pillars upon which the continent stood.

Bryan even speculated that the royal family of the three kingdoms, as well as the Dicentra Empire, had extremely high possibilities of having Transcendents.

Grace's family was an aristocratic family and her grandfather, Robert Wilson held the title of Count in the Belize Kingdom. If a Count's family could be a Transcendent Family, who's to say that the various royal families wouldn't be?

Bryan got goosebumps just thinking about it, 'Wouldn't this mean that Transcendents secretly run the entire Western Continent from the shadows?

If the Western Continent is like this, what about the other two continents and the Eastern Islands? And there's the mysterious Northern Continent which we know nothing about. Wait! Perhaps, the entire world is secretly run by Transcendents!'

Bryan's hair stood on end when he came to this conclusion that was very likely to be true.

Noticing Bryan's unusual expression, Andrew inquired, "What's wrong? Are you all right?"

Bryan snapped out of his reverie. He then shared his speculations with Andrew and Elijah. After he finished explaining, almost a minute of silence ensued inside the car.

Elijah was the first one to break the silence as he chuckled, "Well, lucky for us, we are Transcendents."

He then looked at Bryan and added, "And you'll be a Transcendent soon. No point in thinking about all this now. When we advance to higher ranks, we can think about it then."

Bryan nodded, however, he had complicated feelings about it. On one hand, he felt lucky to be given a chance to become a Transcendent and be part of this world.

On the other hand, he felt a lingering fear of it. If his time living in the slums taught him anything, it was that the world was a cruel place to live in and that people almost always worked for their own benefit.

Even in the Book of Medici, Bryan's great ancestor had specifically stated that the only truth in this world was to use others for one's own benefit.

If the lowest rung of society—the slums—was already so cutthroat, how cruel and merciless would the Transcendent world be?

All this time he only thought about the mysteries and the wonders of the Transcendent world. But today, he came to realize the possible ruthlessness of it.

Bryan clenched his fists as the yearning to get stronger grew fiercely in his heart. He had to at least be strong enough in order to protect himself and those he cherished.