"Please tell me it's not you... Please tell me you won't go this far...?" Leo looked at the dark sky before turning back to the flames.

....

Meanwhile in a grand mansion, Fiona Lionel was looking out the window, as rain fell from the sky, creating beautiful scenery.

"I hope you take this warning seriously and start behaving. You wanted to oppose the Lionel Family with a measly Alpha Corp?" Fiona mumbled, placing her hand against the glass.

"Just because you can invent a few interesting things, you thought you could succeed...?" She shook her head lightly. "Welcome to the world of business, where some deals are made with money, and others with blood... Leo Vanderlen..."

As she took her hand off the glass, cracks started forming on the glass, spreading like a spider web.

"My Lady, we are back." Suddenly, a voice came from behind Fiona.

A hooded figure materialised in the room. "What was the result? Did you manage to find anything about Leo's past after digging even deeper?"

"We did find something new..." The hooded figure answered, its voice sounding a little uncertain. "I'm not sure if it can be helpful or not, but we did get some new information..."

"You did?" Fiona glanced back, a look of interest forming on her face. "Is it just as I thought? His entire publicly known life history was carefully faked?"

"We researched every document, going decades back. We even talked to his friends, using controlling potions to ensure that they weren't lying or under the brainwashing effect."

"And...?"

"And we managed to confirm that his history wasn't a lie. He truly lived like an orphan, and wasn't worth a single penny until recently. Although it sounds strange, that's the conclusion we reached."

"Did you come here to tell me just that? Disappointing..." Fiona sighed in disappointment, turning her back on the shadow.

"That wasn't all. Although we didn't manage to find anything strange about the life that Leo Vanderlen had lived, when we started investigating his parents, and the years before his birth, we did find something interesting."

"Hoh? I'm listening..." The corner of Fiona's lips crept up.

....

"I found one person!" A voice came from the burning building.

Lightning rushed out of the building, carrying a person over his shoulders.

The invisibility feature of the suit had been disabled. It was unclear if it was because the person controlling the suit had passed out, or if the consistent damage of the suit had disabled the features.

Lightning had already taken off the mask of the person whose face was recognizable to everyone.

"Picollo? Is he... alive?" Leo asked, his eyes widening as he saw the person. "And what about others? You said you found one person? Does that mean the others...?'

"Yeah. Maybe it's for the best that you can't enter these flames. Because the sight inside is truly gruesome for a civilian like you. Not a single other person survived..."

"Fortunately, he is still breathing..." Lightning handed Picollo to Blaze, who checked his physical condition just to be sure.

"Thank God... He has just passed out because he inhaled too much toxic fumes. Fortunately his suit had a purification function that protected him until the effects ran out. If not, he would've choked to death a long time ago."

Leo watched the pale face of Picollo which looked a little lifeless. If Blaze hadn't confirmed that he was alive, he might have even thought the worst.

"Please help him..." Leo asked, his expressions growing soft. "He is... important to me..."

"Don't worry. Even if you hadn't asked, we would've saved him. As heroes, it's our duty." Blaze nodded lightly. "Yeah. Although the way Hero Tower treated you in my absence is not worth relishing, I promise you, that's not the true Hero Tower."

"I believe you." Leo weakly smiled, while his expressions were still a little lost. "Please keep an eye on him. And don't tell him that I was here... Just tell him that you saved him."

"What? Don't you think he would be glad to see you when he wakes up and hears that you came alone and faced danger for your people?" Lighting asked, tilting his head sideways.

"I don't need that. Just keep it a secret from everyone. Because I... was never here."

Leo turned around, and started walking away, leaving the Heroes confused.

"Leo... I want to ask you again before you leave. Will you be returning to the Hero Tower? You will receive an Executive Position with no conditions attached," Blaze called out, watching Leo's back growing distant.

"Sorry, but I'm not interested in a position. I just want to lose money..." Leo mumbled, waving his hand.

Soon he took a turn and disappeared from view, even as he continued, "And losing money I shall do, so that I can pay them back. Blood and Money, right? I'll give you plenty of blood and even more money. Just you wait, Lionel Family..."

....

"You're saying that the day Leo Vanderlen was born, is the day Earth became a middle tier world? Isn't this just a coincidence?" Fiona asked the shadow, hearing the updated information.

"There's a high chance that this was a coincidence. But it was still interesting enough that I thought I should report to you."

"Moreover, according to the official report, Leo's parents died in a car accident. But after digging deep, and even hacking the global incidents database of our space sector, I learned even more interesting information."

"His parents... They didn't die in a car crash. It was just a false report, that I am not sure if he even knows."

"Are you saying that they are alive? So they are the reason behind his success?" Fiona raised a brow. "Who are they?"

"No, they truly died according to the reports. They just didn't die in a car crash. Apparently they were killed by a delegation from a High Planet."

"The officials of earth, including the Hero Tower, buried the truth and made up a false report since they didn't want to cause an intergalactic political nightmare for themselves."

"Hmm? So they really died? How boring... I thought they might be the ones supporting him secretly." Fiona clicked her tongue. "Anyways, which planet's delegation was it?"

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