82: Secret Place

Xiao Sheng was surprised, but soon felt it was only natural.

“You've made a very smart decision.”

...Tang Ping followed Xiao Sheng to the Xiao Family.

As an established level four Extraordinary Family, even though they had lost their Shelter seven years ago due to an accident, their strength was still not to be underestimated.

A large part of this was due to the Head of the Xiao Family, Xiao Yunfeng, a level four B-rank Talent Holder with the Talent of 'Thunderflame'.

As long as Xiao Yunfeng was present, the Xiao Family remained a truly level four Extraordinary Family.

“This is the Xiao Family’s territory. I’ll first take you to a room to stay in. I will come and inform you of further matters later.”

“Alright.” Tang Ping nodded, then began to explore the Xiao Family mansion by himself.

It had to be said, it was indeed worthy of being a level four Extraordinary Family. Tang Ping was astonished that a mansion of this scale in the third ring demonstrated their strength.

The entire Xiao Family mansion was divided into inner and outer zones. The inner zone consisted of various buildings combining Chinese and Western styles, including villas, Western-style houses, pavilions, and towers. Those residing here were mostly important family members.

For example, the patriarch, elders, family D-rank Talent Holders, and important geniuses above that level.

As for the outer perimeter, it consisted of fifteen-story buildings, where other family members resided.

Tang Ping was currently in the inner zone of the Xiao Family mansion, and behind him was the house Xiao Sheng had arranged for him.

It was an exquisite three-story villa.

Sitting on the railing of the fish pond at the entrance, Tang Ping thought to himself, “This Xiao Sheng dared to boast that he could raise his Shelter to level four, so the family must have accumulated a lot of shelter fragments. Even if it can’t be raised to level four immediately, there are definitely enough shelter fragments to raise the Shelter to Level Three!”

Raising a Shelter to Level Three only requires 110 shelter fragments.

As for other things, Tang Ping thought of Xiao Sheng’s eager expression: “The other party should not only have shelter fragments, but also very good Shelter facilities. These facilities can only be used by a Shelter. The Xiao Family didn’t have a Shelter before, so they could only keep them hidden and stare at them. Now they are probably impatient.”

“Moreover, the Xiao Family has not had a collective awakening of Talent among its members for seven years. The oldest among them is already twenty-three, and these twenty-three-year-olds will never have the chance to awaken their Talent again due to the loss of the Shelter.”

Of course, unless they are lucky enough to become like ordinary people, where only one in several hundred people awakens a Talent.

This is the biggest difference between a Shelter family and ordinary people.

Tang Ping also knew why the Xiao Family was so anxious, because these twenty-three years were equivalent to a full twenty-three-year gap in the Xiao Family!

If the Shelter issue was not resolved, the Xiao Family would truly decline and eventually fade into obscurity.

And the solution.

The best method was naturally to find an unowned Shelter, allow the patriarch to bind the Shelter, and reactivate the Xiao Family bloodline.

But an unowned Shelter is not so easy to acquire. To acquire one, one must either go to the Wasteland or become a vassal of a stronger family.

Going to the Wasteland to search for a lost shelter item is like looking for a needle in a haystack.

Those near the Safe Zone have basically been explored repeatedly by Wasteland Hunters over decades, so there’s almost no chance of finding anything.

Being far from the Safe Zone, however, is full of unknown risks. Even a powerful figure like the Head of the Xiao Family could perish at any time in the Wasteland.

As for the second method.

It is to attach oneself to those Sixth-Level Extraordinary Families, as only families of this level would have shelter items that are constantly in an unowned state.

By simply attaching to them, one can obtain a shelter item. Of course, these families would not allow the Shelter to be permanently bound. Instead, every three years, the person who bound the Shelter would be made to unbind it, at which point the Shelter would return to an unowned state, and then be rebound. This cycle would repeat every three years, ensuring the Shelter always belonged to the Sixth-Level Extraordinary Family.

As for the person who binds the Shelter, they would certainly have to live under surveillance for the rest of their life. If they were unwilling to unbind it when the deadline approached, they would be forcibly killed, and the Shelter would automatically drop.

After all, within three years, the Shelter is in a droppable phase.

As for the third and final method.

It is to find a lucky person like Tang Ping. Because the Shelter is already fully bound, he would become a breeding machine for reproduction.

Combine with women of the Xiao Family to bear offspring with his bloodline.

Combine with women outside the Xiao Family to bear offspring with his bloodline, and then these offspring would combine with other Xiao Family offspring who are not Tang Ping’s descendants.

Finally, completely achieve a substitution, thereby inheriting Tang Ping's Shelter and solidifying the family's extraordinary status.

Of course, if Tang Ping had not fully bound it, there would likely already be open conflict.

Tang Ping looked at the fish in the pond. How fortunate these fish were to live in a pond with clean water in the apocalypse.

But pond fish are just pond fish.

“Heh heh, wanting to inherit my Shelter.”

“Dream on.”

...“Xiao Sheng, are you really sure he has a Shelter?” The Xiao Family Patriarch, Xiao Yunfeng, had an excited look on his face.

Xiao Sheng smiled, pointing to his eyes: “Father, if you don’t believe me, don’t you believe my eyes?”

Upon hearing this, the Xiao Family Patriarch laughed heartily: “Hahaha, good, good, good! Heaven has not forgotten my Xiao Family!”

How could he not know about his third son's special Talent, a pair of B-rank Spirit Eyes? Although they had no offensive power or auxiliary abilities, they could directly peer into another person's spiritual sea!

Naturally, he also saw the shelter item that was already fully bound in Tang Ping's spiritual sea.

The Xiao Family Patriarch turned his head, looking at his fourth and fifth daughters with loving eyes: “Little Four, Little Five, you’ve heard it. What do you think?”

The fourth daughter's face showed disdain: “A piece of trash with an E-rank Talent, why should I bear his children? I am a C-rank Talent!”

The fifth daughter’s face showed hesitation, but she finally made a decision: “Father, I’ll still find a Talent User with good Talent to marry into the Xiao Family. Then our children combining with his descendants will be the same.”

She also didn't want to bear children for a breeding pig.

The Xiao Family Patriarch nodded, apparently not forcing the issue: “That’s fine. In that case, let Little Nine go. Her age is similar to his.”

Little Nine, Xiao Xiaomo, a sixteen-year-old girl who had not awakened her Talent, thus had her fate casually arranged.

Xiao Sheng eagerly spoke: “Father, can that item of the family be used now? The family has collected over seven hundred shelter fragments from various sources. We only need 110 to raise his Shelter to Level Three! Then that item can be used. With that item, Father, we will have hope of advancing to a Fifth-Level Extraordinary Family!”

The Head of the Xiao Family also thought of that item, his eyes still burning with a hint of fervor, but he was clearly somewhat hesitant.

“Father, this item is too precious. The sooner it merges with the Shelter, the sooner it’s secure. And Father, you can also break through to Level Five sooner!” Xiao Sheng continued.

“Good!” The Xiao Family Patriarch, Xiao Yunfeng, said, “Xiao Sheng, first take 110 shelter fragments and go raise our Shelter to Level Three! And bring that item, let it merge into the Shelter, and completely become an item of my Xiao Family!”

“Father! Aren’t there over seven hundred shelter fragments?”

“Sheng’er, don’t put all your eggs in one basket. If something happens to this person, keeping these shelter fragments means we’ll still have some hope of becoming a vassal of a level six family. If these things are gone, then all hope is lost.”

“Sheng’er understands!” The fervor in Xiao Sheng’s eyes receded, and he became a little clearer-headed.

“Go.”

“Yes!”

Inside Tang Ping’s villa.

Looking at the model toy that resembled a training ground, his fists clenched slightly, trembling a little.

“Small Secret Ground!”