Harker gritted his teeth. "So all that crap just so you could bribe me, huh? Why didn't you just go straight to the point?"
"Oh, it's not bribing. I want to give you an apology gift, as I said. You could have died if you hear any more of Princess Jinzhu's shrieks." He said, taking Harker's hand and putting the ring on his palm. "You can keep it. As long as you have that, you have my protection."
"Protection for what?" Harker scowled.
"There are more dangerous creatures in this world. I believe Mr. Faust when he said that you're a very good lad, with a very good future. Do you want that future to be taken away? What about your family? Do you want your family to lose the one person they can rely on? Imagine how unhappy they would be when they came back to a wonderful trip in New Orleans and found their beloved Harker missing ...."
Harker felt like the vein on his forehead was going to explode. Not only was he bribing him with the half of the Shard for his silence, he was also blackmailing him by revealing he knows his family's whereabouts!
"I'm a father too, you know. Fathers are supposed to be the primary protectors of their family. They're not worthy to be called one if they could not. Which was why I was so devastated when I lost my dear Xi Hua….." He sighed. "How devastated would your father be if he loses you too?"
Harker pushed his hand away. "Cut that bullshit. I'm not going to be fooled by a snake like you."
"Fool you? Why do you believe I'm fooling you—"
"Those mermaids. I heard what the princess said. You told them you were going to protect them, only to use them to farm their pearls." Harker said. "So why should I trust a lying monster like you?"
"But I didn't lie. I took them away from the dangerous ocean and put them in a safe place where no one could harm them. I only needed their pearl tears so that the company could stay afloat, and I can continue protecting them for a long time." Mr. Xi blinked. "What's so wrong with that?"
Harker was horrified by how sincere he was in saying that. He really meant it. He wasn't lying at all.
All this…. He believes it to be his way of 'helping'. Of protecting people.
"But what about your workers electrifying merpeople so they would stay obedient? And what did you do to that princess?"
"Well, it is also a father's job to discipline his children, right? And also, I have to take care of my worker's safety too. What kind of boss would that make me if I can't even protect my own workers? As for the princess…."
The boss smiled. "She's back to sleeping safe and sound. All I did was make her sleep, and put her in a new tank. This was already her 6th one, don't worry about it."
"Fathers don't treat their children like that, Mr. Xi. And you're not their father." Harker clenched his fist. "You're being deluded because of how you were raised. Still, that's no excuse for you to harm people."
"You need to free them. All of them."
Mr. Xi sighed. "I thought you could be my godson too. I'm actually very fond of taking godson's. Well, that can't be helped."
His eyes start to gleam again, but this time, Harker knew that was bad news.
He averted his gaze quickly, and moved fast towards the door using his hair. But tendrils came to grab his foot because he wasn't looking. He dropped to the floor…..
But Harker sent out his hair to aim for Mr. Xi's eyes!
The man moved faster than Princess Jinzhu, quickly dodging and reaching Harker's position. Harker rolled on the ground with his eyes closed.
'Shit. Just one look at his eyes and it's over. The princess even managed to turn around a split second in, but whatever his ability was gets activated by just looking at it for a split-second!' Harker thought. 'But I can't fight him with my eyes closed either! He's too fast!'
"Very good. You were able to recognize my ability just after using it 2 times. Princess Jinzhu only got it after experiencing it 4 times." Mr. Xi praised him. "You really are a smart boy. However, you're not physically trained enough. You're not born a monster, aren't you?"
BAM!
Mr. Xi's hair hit the ceiling. It wasn't supposed to be strong enough to break it, but it did. Debris fell and Harker had to dodge it, but the moment he did, more strands waited to restrain his hands!
"No, I don't know of any demon of my kind living here in the US. You must have acquired my powers through my daughter somehow. Your capabilities are similar to hers." Mr. Xi easily guessed.
Harker tried to break free from the strands, but it was too strong. It lifted him about 5 feet off the floor. If he tries too hard, his arms will get torn off his body.
So he opened his teeth wide, and tried to bite the hair off!
Before he does though, the hair strands quickly release him. He fell to the ground again with a thud, his whole body still aching.
"You really shouldn't be trying to fight me in this condition. Your reflexes are way slower than Xi Hua because of your hearing and vision loss." Mr. Xi clicked his tongue. "Not good. You should give up now, son."
Harker spat out blood. "I'm not your son!"
He tried to stand up, but his head still hurt from the damage he received earlier. The old snake was right, he was not in a good condition to fight. But he will not give up, and have to set free the people being held captive by this deluded monster….
More strands of hair came to him in all directions, and yet he still almost dodged it. Almost, as it was impossible with this speed.
Yet Harker meant that to happen anyway. He looked at his leg being covered by the hair in spirals.
The hair will crush the tracker on his pant leg, which will alarm Roland…..
"Oh, are you looking for this? I found this little thing and thought I should be very careful with handling it. It's quite fragile."
Harker's heart went cold, and because of his shock he instinctively looked up to see the tracker pinched between Mr. Xi's large fingers….
And end up looking the snake in the eyes.