The Heroic Master Is Tough-Talking but Soft-Hearted: The Aloof Major General Has Fallen - Chapter 24

“Master, what are you talking about?”

Sia bit his lip hard, still struggling in his death throes, not forgetting to hint at Asher with his eyes. Cen Li’s gaze grew dark. Was he treating Asher as his universal shield? Every time Sia made a mistake, he would shamelessly push the blame onto that dull, stoic bug who had been tormented to the point of no longer defending himself.

“You still dare to make little gestures in front of me? Do you take me for a blind man?”

Sia kept winking at Asher so much that his eyelids were nearly flipping upward. Unfortunately, he received no reaction from Asher whatsoever. It was like throwing flirtatious glances at a stone.

“Ash,” Sia’s plea for help was cut off halfway by Cen Li’s disgusted interruption.

Cen Li had finally figured out Asher’s character. He would not refute or argue for himself. His sharp edges had been ground down by reality. He would only slowly retreat, allowing Sia to constantly exploit the openings. Thus, Cen Li directly voiced his command to stop Sia’s attempt to find a scapegoat.

“Asher, go and get that thing for me.”

Cen Li tilted his chin, signaling Asher to conduct a body search. Meeting Sia’s furious glare, Asher hesitated for a split second before walking toward him. A Master’s command was, after all, paramount.

Sia’s resistance was nothing more than an itch to Asher. He quickly restrained Sia’s flailing arms and pulled two small, transparent glass tubes from the inner layer of his clothing. Cen Li took them, tapping the glass with his fingernail to produce a crisp sound.

“You used this junk to drug me?”

Seeing that the matter was exposed, Sia’s face was a mixture of fear and helplessness. He glared at Asher, his accomplice. However, at this moment, Sia’s gaze combined with his expression carried no threat. Instead, it looked somewhat ridiculous. Sia clenched his fists, his fair skin already marked with vivid red lines from his own pinching.

Suddenly, something flashed in his mind, and his eyes lit up. He raised his voice and said, “Master, this is absolutely not medicine meant to harm you! It is just an ordinary nutritional supplement!”

“If you do not believe me, take it for an inspection.” Sia’s expression actually calmed down as he continued, “You must believe me. I am your most loyal female attendant. I would never have the heart to harm you! Everything I said just now was induced by Asher. It did not come from my heart. How could I say something so vicious? I think about you being able to stand up from that wheelchair every single moment.”

Cen Li’s piercing eyes narrowed. Just as Sia began to look flustered under his gaze, he spoke coldly.

“Is it because the Empire’s equipment cannot detect the ingredients of this agent that you are so bold?”

Sia was stunned. “What? How do you know that?!”

He was caught off guard by Cen Li’s words. His heart was terrified that the Master seemed to know everything. In an instant, his mouth moved faster than his brain, and he blurted it out, forgetting even his honorifics. This was no different from a self-confession. By the time he realized it, his face had turned a sickly pale blue.

“Let me guess. Renzo instigated you, right?”

Sia’s eyes widened instantly. It was clear his thoughts had been guessed correctly. How did the Master know? How does he know everything? Countless questions rushed into Sia’s brain, making it impossible for him to think straight.

“Silence means consent.”

“No, that is not it.”

“Hmm?” Cen Li lowered his voice.

Meeting Cen Li’s eyes, which seemed to perceive everything, the words in Sia’s mouth were suddenly swallowed back down. Cen Li reached out his hand toward him. “Give me the rest of the agents.”

Sia bit his lip and instinctively took a step back, his lips trembling. “There are no more.”

“Truly no more, or are you lying?” Cen Li’s patience had reached its limit. “Do not make me repeat myself.”

In the end, Asher followed Sia upstairs and searched out a total of ten agents. Cen Li confiscated all of them. He did not tell the two bugs what he intended to do with these agents. Sia felt an unrelenting unease.

When Cen Li told Asher to put all the agents into his room, Sia finally could not take it anymore. With a loud thud, he knelt on the ground. He moved forward on his knees, tightly grasping the hem of Cen Li’s trousers, pleading, “Master, I was forced. If the female attendant Renzo had not used my family to threaten me, how could I have done such a thing? I was forced by helplessness. Can you forgive me?”

Sia tilted up his clean face, his eyes brimming with tears that were about to fall. Like most sub-females, Sia possessed a sweet and lovely face. At this moment, his tearful appearance was pitiful enough to make anyone’s heart soften.

Is he using a beauty trap? If a male who adored pretty sub-females were standing before Sia, he might have been moved, pulling him into his arms for some sticky sweet talk and a night of pleasure. Unfortunately, the one standing before him was Cen Li.

Cen Li coldly pried Sia’s hand away and brushed him aside without any sentimentality. “You may leave.”

Sia’s eyes filled with dread, fearing the exact situation he least wanted to imagine. “What?”

“I dare not keep a bug who wants to harm me by my side!”

Sia’s voice was stuck in his throat, sobbing, yet unable to voice a rebuttal. “Master, please do not drive me away. They will definitely not let me go.”

Sia kept his head buried low, tears continuously hitting the floor as he repeated those words. Silence followed, heavy silence. Just as Sia’s heart was falling into a cold cellar, isolated and helpless, Cen Li’s gaze deepened.

“I can temporarily refrain from dissolving our marriage, but I need you to do something for me. Do you want this chance?”

“I do!”

Sia looked up abruptly, as if hearing hope. His eyes were full of longing. Before Cen Li could even say what it was, he eagerly agreed. Sia was desperate to grab any life-saving straw extended to him. However, he realized belatedly that the Master only said temporarily, meaning he could be kicked out at any time in the future. But for now, any delay was a win.

Cen Li snorted. “Is your sub-female younger brother currently being kept by Mihaū?”

Sia hesitated for a moment, then nodded. “Yes.”

“Very well. When the time comes, I will tell you exactly what you need to do.”

Sia felt a bit uneasy. “Master, may I ask what the specific task is?”

“You only need to follow my orders when the time comes.” Cen Li’s lips curled into a cold arc. “Otherwise, I will expose the matter, or tell Renzo that you took the initiative to surrender to me. If that happens, things will certainly become much more interesting.”

Sia stiffened, grit his teeth, and agreed. Cen Li had not given him a chance to refuse. Sia could only pray that the Master would not ask him to do something impossible when the time came.

Once the two bugs left, Cen Li returned to his room and called for the system, asking it to analyze the components of the agent to see if a batch could be manufactured.

The system replied, “It is possible. But Host, are you treating me as free labor?”

Cen Li replied coldly, “I am the labor you kidnapped for free.”

The system went silent, then whispered a defense, “Host, we have rewards.”

Cen Li gave a cold snort through his nose. “In one word: can you?”

The system’s voice was very small and plaintive. “I can.”

Cen Li felt no guilt at all in ordering the system around. “Then prepare a batch for me. I will need them soon.”

The system’s tone was subtle. “Host, you are not planning to harm people, are you? Oh, no, bugs.”

Cen Li smiled slightly. “How can you say that? It is simply returning a gift.”

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