“First, we can continue to monitor Leo and see if he leads us to any valuable resources or information. Second, we can try to recruit him into our family and make use of his talents.”
The other elders nodded in agreement, impressed by Levi’s strategic thinking.
As the meeting came to a close, Levi couldn’t help but think about the beautiful woman who had caught Leo’s attention. He wondered if she could be used as leverage in their plans for him.
But for now, they would focus on gathering more information about this mysterious newcomer and deciding how best to approach him.
“Elders, what are your thoughts on this Leo?” Levi Lynd scanned the room of elders and asked.
“A freeloading son-in-law with enough strength to kill Dragon Lynd? I believe he must have had some incredible experience,” said an elder with white hair and beard coldly.
Levi Lynd nodded his head in agreement before turning his gaze towards Flying Mouse. “Have you found out anything about that son-in-law’s experience?”
“I’m afraid not,” replied Flying Mouse shaking its head. Even with The Lynd Family’s powerful intelligence network they still couldn’t figure out where Leo got his strength from.
“Master Levi,” another elder guessed hesitantly. “What if that boy was already strong before coming here? Or maybe he was trained by some other force until recently.”
This made both Levi Lynd and the other elders fall silent.
If that boy really had a strong background then The Lynd Family might not be able to take revenge against him; it might even be possible for him to retaliate against them instead!
“I have investigated every detail since that boy was born,” added Flying Mouse quickly after seeing everyone quiet down again. “After graduating from college he returned home only joining Henley Family as a son-in-law without any special experiences or connections.”
“So it is likely that he stumbled upon something incredible by chance.”
“The report says he has many talismans which means there is a high possibility of discovering some secret place where there are abundant resources hidden away.” said another elder with white hair and beard.
Although The Lynd Family’s intelligence department was powerful enough they could not keep track of everything happening around them all day long so it wasn’t impossible for them not knowing what happened exactly during those times when no one knew anything at all.
These words made everyone present tremble slightly; if indeed Leo discovered such a secret place then it would mean an opportunity for The Lynd Family!
“Gentlemen,” said Levi while looking at everyone present slowly opening up again after being lost in thought earlier on “we have two options ahead of us: first we continue monitoring Leo until we find something valuable or secondly we try recruiting him into our family.”
“The first option is to eradicate the Seven Stars Sword Sect, capture that boy alive, interrogate him for the secrets he’s hiding, and then torture him to death as revenge for our family. If that boy really knows about a secret place, this could be a great opportunity for our Lynd family to rise up.”
“The second option is that there may be some force behind that boy which is much stronger than our Lynd family. If we continue to provoke him, we may face retaliation from his powerful backers and put our entire family at risk of destruction.”
These two options are not easy choices for the Lynd family.
In the conference room, silence fell upon everyone.
“This concerns the future and fate of our Lynd family. Please share your opinions,” Levi Lynd finally spoke after a long pause.
“I support the first option. No matter who he is or where he comes from, killing elders and members of my own bloodline cannot go unpunished. Otherwise how can we stand in this martial arts world?” The elder with white hair was the first one to speak up.
“I also support the first option. Before taking action against that boy, we can capture anyone related to him so even if there really is some force behind him they will hesitate,” another thin elder said with a sinister glint in his eyes.
“I think it’s safer to choose the second option. If there really is a top-notch martial arts force supporting that boy behind us it could lead us towards destruction which would be unbearable,” an experienced elder said cautiously.
“I think we should still choose the first option…”
“The risk is too high; let’s go with second choice…”
Each elder present expressed their own opinion; out of ten elders seven supported Option 1 while only three supported Option 2.
Levi Lynd scanned everyone present before speaking again; naturally he also supported Option 1 – how could they not seek revenge when their grandson had been killed by their son-in-law?
“Devin, why aren’t you saying anything? After all Pepper Lynd was your daughter! Do you support Option 1 or Option 2?” Levi looked across at Devin on other side of table as he asked this question.
Devin Lynd’s slightly chubby cheeks trembled, his eyelids drooping as a cold glint flashed through the depths of his eyes.
Pepper Lynd was his daughter in name only; her biological father was actually Levi Lynd.
Ten years ago, Devin had learned the truth and had been betrayed by his half-brother. Additionally, their family’s rightful leader should have been their second brother, Shangguan Heng. But ten years ago, Shangguan Heng had suddenly died under suspicious circumstances and the family power had fallen into Levi’s hands.
Devin knew deep down that Richard Lynd’s death was not unrelated to Levi!
Although Devin held the title of second-in-command in the Lynd family on paper, he still had to listen to everything Levi said. For ten years now, Devin hated no one more than Levi.
He’d even considered challenging him for control of the family but their martial abilities were too disparate: one a mid-level warrior and one an upper-level warrior.
In short: within the Lynd Family hierarchy, not only did Devin get betrayed by Levi but he also got suppressed by him at every turn.
“Big Brother,” Devin suppressed his emotions and forced a smile onto his face as he spoke up. “You make the decision; I’ll follow your lead.”
Levi wasn’t pleased with this response and raised an eyebrow arrogantly before speaking up loudly: “Little Brother can’t always just do what I say! This is our council chamber after all! For our future in The Lynd Family I want to know what you really think!”
Devin knew that despite how it sounded like democracy from what Levi said earlier- it was just for show since they were in front of other elders present there. He replied carefully: “Personally speaking… I lean towards option 1- Junyi cannot die for nothing! If we don’t take revenge then we won’t be able to stand tall within The Martial Arts World!”
Levi nodded slightly before sweeping another glance over everyone present there while saying firmly: “Since Little Brother and most elders agree with Option 1 then let us capture Leo – Pepper’s husband – alive and destroy Seven Stars Sword Sect!”
“Baimei Elder will lead our Shadow Team members within our clan to capture those who are closest associates with Leo!” And thus began task assignments from Levie himself.