The Obligations of the Elderly - chapter 35

Chapter 34

Gong Si felt that his physical constitution really was excellent!

He had been feeling absolutely miserable before, but after sleeping it off, he was perfectly fine. He jumped out of bed in one swift motion, stretched his arms and legs, and felt no pain anywhere! He was back to his usual robust self~

Xi Liu, on the other hand, still looked rather delicate and frail.

“Honestly, you-there’s a bed but you sleep in a chair. Aren’t you just asking to feel uncomfortable?” Gong Si grabbed Xi Liu off the chair and pulled him into some simple stretching exercises. When Xie Kai came in, what he saw was two young men doing stretches together.

Xie Kai was even more concerned about this sudden Awakening than Gong Si himself.

He stood quietly by, waiting for the two to finish their exercises before inviting them to the tea room next door. When Gong Si and Xi Liu arrived, the remaining five Stewards were all waiting solemnly. There were only two main seats in the tea room, and opposite them was a small table with the Test Ball Gong Si had used yesterday for testing.

Xie Kai invited Xi Liu and Gong Si to sit. Once they were seated, he made a call and said a few words. The next second, a man’s image suddenly appeared above the Test Ball on the table!

The image was incredibly lifelike. If it weren’t just the upper body, Gong Si would have thought someone had actually appeared there!

“That’s the User’s ability,” Xi Liu leaned over and whispered to him.

Gong Si nodded, finally understanding what it was.

“This is Mr. Jomui Kram, an expert specializing in ability analysis. He personally crafted this Test Ball using his ability. Mr. Kram only makes 99 Test Balls per year, and each Test Ball can only be used once. As a special service for major clients, Mr. Kram provides a detailed ability analysis for each Test Ball purchaser,” Xie Kai introduced.

As soon as he finished speaking, the man’s image on the table nodded in response, as if he had heard him.

“First, thank you for your patronage. Please rest assured, you purchased the Test Ball through a confidential channel. I do not know your identity. Although we are face-to-face now, you can see me, but I cannot see you, so I still do not know who you are.” The man named Kram gave a brief confidentiality introduction, then continued, “Next, I will explain the situation of the Test Ball subject.”

After speaking, he placed his hand on the Test Ball-

“First, I must say that this test subject is highly unusual. After closely monitoring all the energy signals provided by these five drops of blood, and reviewing all historical records of special Vessels’ energy signals, I have decided to set this subject’s initial ability value as ‘Legendary-Class.'”

“Huh?” Gong Si frowned.

“Oh~” Xi Liu just tilted his head slightly.

Both of them reacted calmly, but the six Stewards behind them, including Xie Kai, were anything but calm.

Especially Xie Kai, who had always been composed-he nearly dropped his phone, and his chest visibly heaved with excitement.

The other five reacted even more strongly, but thanks to their high professional standards, none of them asked questions before the Master spoke, no matter how excited they were.

“The test subject’s Vessel-related aptitude value is extremely low, even lower than that of an ordinary person. Even at the moment of successfully Forming Contract with the User, his relevant aptitude value only just reaches the level of a regular person. This situation is unprecedented in history, even rarer than the appearance rate of SSS-Class Vessels. The current rating system cannot grade such a value, so I have decided to add a new ability tier specifically for him-H-Class.”

“Ah?!” Even the best professional composure couldn’t hold-Gong Si heard the Stewards behind him all exclaim in shock.

But it was understandable.

The Vessel grades descend from S-Class to A, B, C, D, E, F, and G-Class. G-Class is already considered legendary and unranked, so H-Class, which comes after G-Class…

It’s practically at the bottom of the barrel!

All the Stewards were stunned.

Xi Liu remained calm, while Gong Si just pursed his lips, feeling a sense of “as expected.”

He had always thought his ability wouldn’t be very high. Legendary-Class… he figured they must have made a mistake.

“Logically, a Vessel with such values should appear as an ordinary person, unable to react to the User’s energy at all, and would remain a regular person for life. For a successful Form Contract to occur, I speculate there are three reasons.”

“First,” he raised one finger, “the subject’s attributes are highly compatible with the User’s, with a Compatibility Rate above 99%. Only under such circumstances can they meet the second condition.”

He raised a second finger, “They used the Ancient Method for gradual energy signal contact. Under these conditions, the subject’s Recessive Gene was gradually activated by the User until fully awakened.”

“And third, the User is extremely satisfied with the subject.”

After finishing, Kram folded his three fingers, “There may be other conditions to meet, but these three are fundamental and indispensable.”

“Finally, I also analyzed the subject’s attribute values. Unfortunately, none of the subject’s attributes reached the qualitative standard, so I cannot define the subject’s type. However, you can infer this from the User who Formed Contract with him-their attributes must be highly compatible.”
“That’s all.”

After saying this, Jomui Kram once again placed his hand on the Test Ball. Immediately, the Test Ball turned into mist and seeped into his hand, and then everything vanished.

Jomui Kram disappeared, and the Test Ball on the small table disappeared as well.

Looking at the six pale, grief-stricken faces behind him, and recalling the expert’s unbelievably low evaluation of himself, Gong Si almost felt a bit of sympathy for Xi Liu.

But Xi Liu himself seemed completely unaffected, going about as usual. After hearing the test results, he dragged Gong Si off for a meal, then took him back to the White House-the place where Gong Si’s family lived.

“Wow~”

“Oh…”

“Ahhh!”

The younger brother failed to Form Contract, but the Eldest Brother did, and even became a Vessel. Facing their returning Eldest Brother, the three Gong Family brothers surrounded him, each expressing their own unique exclamations.

“Eldest Brother, what is H-Class? I’ve never heard of it before. Is it as powerful as the SSS-Class, like a Legendary-Class?” Dong Chun, the loudest, rushed to ask.

“Hmm… In a way, it really is Legendary-Class.” After all, such a low level as H-Class truly only exists in legends. According to the expert, H-Class is even more legendary than legends; there have been dozens of 3S Legendary-Class Vessels in history, but as for H-Class, he’s the only one!

Gong Si thought to himself.

“Eldest Brother, what element are you? The three of us are all water, so you should be about the same, right?” Next to ask was Qiu Xia.

This was even more awkward-Gong Si didn’t know how to answer.

In the end, Xi Liu stepped in to answer for him: “Because H-Class Vessels are extremely rare in practice, the energy touchpoints for this class are all very low, not reaching the measurable value for any element, so it’s impossible to determine for now~”

Although it sounded complicated and impressive, clever Qiu Xia still understood: the level is so low that it can’t even be measured…

Only the elementary schooler Dong Chun was successfully fooled.

“Wow! Can’t be measured? Eldest Brother, you’re so cool!” Dong Chun clenched his little fists in excitement.

“Then what about you, Brother Xi Liu?” Unable to get an answer from his own Eldest Brother, Qiu Xia turned to ask Xi Liu.

His feelings toward Xi Liu were complicated; for Ah Ji, this was probably the best outcome, but for Eldest Brother, not necessarily, and for Xi Liu, it might even be the worst. He didn’t know how to judge the situation, so he tried hard to accept it. After all, Eldest Brother and Xi Liu had been friends before, and were familiar with their family, and now the two had Formed Contract; in a way, they were now two-in-one.

“Me? My situation is similar to Gong Si’s. Because it’s extremely rare in practice, the energy touchpoints are all very high, and all elemental measurable values are exceeded, so it’s impossible to measure.” Xi Liu said with a smile.

Qiu Xia: Got it, this one’s energy is too high to be measured.

“Brother Xi Liu is cool too!” ← Dong Chun, who still didn’t understand anything.

“I think so too~” Xi Liu replied happily.

You look at me, I look at you-Xi Liu and Dong Chun laughed together.

On this side, the two were cheerful and carefree, but on Qiu Xia and Gong Si’s side, things weren’t so lighthearted.

“Are you alright?” Gong Si asked Qiu Xia.

He hadn’t returned since the Contract Ceremony. Given those people’s usual domineering ways, Gong Si didn’t know whether they’d explained his absence to Qiu Xia, and even if they had, how they’d explained it. Gong Si was worried.

“Other than worrying about you, everything’s fine. Ah Ji was sent back by them that same day. The Steward Xie Kai personally brought him, and said that you, Eldest Brother, had Formed Contract with their Master. Brother…” Qiu Xia glanced at Xi Liu: “Is that rich, powerful, almost dying ruler really Brother Xi Liu?”

Xi Liu wasn’t a stranger; he’d often come to their house to eat, drink, and borrow old books. Back then, Qiu Xia had only thought of him as a somewhat mysterious rich young master. Now, it seemed the mystery was real, the wealth was real, and as for ‘young master’…

“It’s him. I don’t want to talk about the details, but don’t blame him; it’s really not his fault. Strictly speaking, it’s my fault.” Gong Si looked up at Xi Liu, then continued to his brother: “Such a powerful person Formed Contract with a useless person like me. According to Xie Kai, as a User, his life is basically ruined, and it’s hard to say how many years he has left.”

He had “overheard” these things.

After hearing his own test results, Gong Si went to the bathroom. Xi Liu’s house was simply too big, and Xi Liu didn’t like having too many servants around, which led to one thing-Gong Si got lost and couldn’t find anyone to ask for directions.

He could only wander around, and when he reached a vaguely familiar door and was about to push it open, Gong Si suddenly heard the voices of several stewards-

“Did Master really Form Contract with Young Master Gong Si? He… he’s only H-Class, and that’s an H-Class we’ve never even heard of. If Master’s energy is an ocean, Young Master Gong Si’s bucket is only 500 milliliters!”

Gong Si roughly knew who was speaking-one of the five old men who always followed Xie Kai.

Gong Si thought: 500 milliliters… that’s not a bucket, that’s a water bottle.

“No, it’s probably not even 500 milliliters, more like 50!” said another old man, whom Gong Si vaguely remembered. “How can 50 milliliters be enough? Where is Master supposed to store all that energy? Isn’t this just a waste?”
“Whether it’s ruined or still good, I’m more worried about whether the Master’s health will be the same as before. After such a Form Contract, it’s completely useless…” This time, it was an old woman who spoke up.

Then Gong Si heard Xie Kai’s voice:

“Zhang Lun, Zuma Gu, Xiao Que, the Form Contract between Master and Gong Si is already a fact. From now on, you must treat Young Master Gong Si as you would the Master. I’ll only say this once-do you understand what I mean?”

“Signing a contract with him is the Master’s choice, and also the choice of the Master’s energy.”

“You must never doubt this. And-”

Just as Xie Kai was getting more and more serious, suddenly Gong Si heard his tone change:

“The Master said that us calling him ‘Master’ and calling Gong Si ‘Young Master’ doesn’t sound quite right. He requests that from now on, we call him ‘Young Master.'”

“Otherwise, we could start calling Young Master Gong Si ‘Master.'”

What followed was a series of discussions among the housekeepers about the issue of titles.

Beep-

That was all Gong Si “accidentally overheard” at the doorway.

This made him even more convinced that he was dragging Xi Liu down-not only dragging him down, but also making Xi Liu cover for him, saying things like “it’s all his choice,” when in fact, he had been forced into the Form Contract by Gong Si’s careless actions!

Gong Si’s guilt deepened yet again.

“Anyway, you should treat him better.” Just as Xie Kai had instructed the other housekeepers, Gong Si also gave advice to his younger brothers.

Seeing Qiu Xia nod sensibly, Gong Si looked behind him at Qiu Xia-

But this way, he could see Qiu Xia’s “wings.”

After forming a contract with Xi Liu, Gong Si began to see the unique energy flows around Users and Vessels.

The energy around Users and Vessels who have already Formed Contract is extremely stable, like a barrier enveloping them. The color of this energy varies, sometimes thick, sometimes thin, wrapping around the Master like a layer of fluorescence.

But Users who haven’t Formed Contract are much more exposed-their energy is released recklessly, with different textures and colors.

For example, Qiu Xia in front of him-his energy was unusually vast, cold and sharp. Even indoors, it made no difference; the area around him always felt like a winter wonderland. From afar, Qiu Xia seemed to be standing in a world of ice and snow.

Qiu Xia’s “wings” were white-Gong Si thought.

Ah Ji’s were water-colored, a transparent blue-he looked down at Ah Ji in Qiu Xia’s arms, then looked off into the distance: Dong Chun’s were blue, a pale blue. Finally, his gaze fell on Xi Liu beside Dong Chun.

Xi Liu’s were black, as dark as a black hole, larger than anyone else’s “wings,” like an abyss of darkness.

As if noticing his gaze, Gong Si saw Xi Liu suddenly turn toward him and smile.

With that smile, the black energy around him instantly swirled, spinning like a vortex in a black ocean.

“It’s a bit scary, isn’t it?” He heard Qiu Xia whisper behind him, “If you look closely, that black energy makes your whole body shiver.”

“Eldest Brother, you formed a contract with someone so frightening…”

Staring quietly at the patch of black ahead, Gong Si tilted his head slightly, his gaze finally passing through the black mist and landing on Xi Liu’s face.

Maybe his ability level was just too low, but facing Xi Liu like this, he didn’t feel afraid at all.

Instead, there was a faint excitement inside him-what was that about?

He gently clenched his fist, frowning.

“Eldest Brother, before you came, Dong Chun and I talked it over.” Qiu Xia spoke again.

Turning to look at him, Gong Si met Qiu Xia’s serious expression.

“This time, it’s our turn to accompany you.”

Not understanding what his brother meant, Gong Si was stunned for a moment. Then he saw Qiu Xia smile at him:

“After a Vessel and User Form Contract, they’re basically inseparable. Brother Xi Liu isn’t in good health, and you and he have just formed your contract. Next, you’ll have to attend Specialized School, and there’s so much to learn. It’s already impossible to go back to Lengshui Town, right?”

“The Specialized School there doesn’t accept Academy-level rulers.” With a hint of understanding, Qiu Xia earnestly told his elder brother, “So this time, it’s our turn to accompany you.”

“Wherever Eldest Brother lives, we’ll live there too. If we can live together, we will; if not, we’ll rent a place nearby and try to attend the same school. Until each of us finds our own contract partner, we’ll stay with you.”

After speaking, Qiu Xia looked at his elder brother and smiled again.

Staring blankly at his Second Brother, Gong Si was stunned.

To be honest, although he had always wondered what he would do if Ah Ji formed a contract, he had never thought about what would happen if he himself formed a contract-what his younger brothers would do. Listening to Qiu Xia slowly talk about their future plans, where they would rent a place, where they would go to school… Before he could finish, Gong Si suddenly gave him a bear hug.

Burying his head in Qiu Xia’s chest-which had somehow grown much sturdier-Gong Si was startled to realize that Qiu Xia was almost as tall as him now.