700 days, 16800 hours, 1008000 minutes. That was all the time Xia Lei had. Every moment spent fixated on the numbers was time wasted.
Assets over hundreds of billions, the national hero of all mainland China, owning the identity as an indispensable pillar of the country along with being wedded to four splendid wives and having four children on the way. In the eyes of many, he was undoubtedly happy. His life was what a lot of people wanted but could never attain but no one was aware of the stress he bears. He was only going to be alive for another seven hundred days. After that, he’d face an invincible opponent. It was no different from facing the grim reaper himself!
Losing assets was the least of his concern. Xia Lei had been through a lot, facing losses again was no big deal. However, the thought of losing his beloved wives and children was a pain he did not wish to go through.
“Black-robed man…” Xia Lei’s heart was heavy. “Zhu Xuanyue had fought him twice. Twice, she came back severely injured. His capabilities are evidently above Zhu Xuanyue. I can’t even defeat her, how am I supposed to win him? Looks like I’m fated to enter the realm of the ancient alloy box. If I enter it, will I make it back again? Will I still be able to see Siayo, Fan Fan, Long Bing and Ruyi ever again? Will I see my children again?”
The mere thought alone was too much to bear. Death was no question the most excruciating pain in life. Sadly, it would be inevitable for him at the end of seven hundred days.
“Boss, what’s on your mind?” Giovanna studied his expressions curiously.
Stella chimed in, “Yeah, we read this letter too. There’s only the number ‘700’ on it. What is the context? We can’t understand it at all. What does the number mean?”
It was only then that Xia Lei was brought back to reality. He knew exactly what it meant but he feigned cluelessness. “I don’t know either. Oh, that reminds me. Did you see who left this letter?”
The Grey and Russo sisters shook their heads.
“This does not seem simple.” Giovanna narrowed her eyes in thought. “Our brothers and sisters live in the residential area behind the church. They’ve created a volunteer patrol team so there’s always someone there. Plus, every corner of this church has a surveillance camera, there’s literally no blindspots. Weirdly, no one had come across the person who left this letter in the Holy Son’s palm. We ran through all recorded footage and found nothing too.”
“Yeah.” Theresa faced Xia Lei. “The sender appeared and disappeared out of thin air.”
Xia Lei stood up. “There’s no need to look into this matter. It’s getting late, you should all go to bed. It’s time for me to head home too.”
“Wait, boss.” Giovanna halted him.
Xia Lei whipped around. “Is there anything else?”
Giovanna went on, “Boss, everything we own is given by you. It was you who saved us and our faith. We are your knights and we’re willing to sacrifice everything for your sake, including our lives. Do you understand what I mean?”
Xia Lei nodded. “I do but…”
Giovanna shook her head gently. “No, you do not understand. We have followed you for some time now. All you ordered us to do is to be an assistant to the Chinese Zodiac Battle Team members. We’ve been standing on the sidelines all along. I must tell you that while our fighting abilities are not as great as the members, we have our own advantage. We have brothers and sisters all around the globe. A global network. If you seek any information, we can easily obtain it for you.”
Xia Lei’s heart thumped. That’s right. How could he forget about their background?
Rosa uttered, “What you have now is an actual hitman network. Give us a target and our brothers and sisters will get rid of that person. All you need to do is pay their family some compensation fees should they die on the job.”
Stella interjected, “Boss, do you know how many people we’ve recruited at this point?”
Xia Lei questioned, “How many?”
Stella raised a finger.
Xia Lei was a little speechless but still played along. “One hundred people?”
Stella replied, “Nope, you’re wrong. One hundred is very far off the actual number. Let me tell you straight. Since the beginning of Holy Thunder’s construction to this day, we’ve recruited 2228 worshippers.”
“2228 worshippers?” Xia Lei gaped. “That’s insane! Then what was your single finger supposed to imply?”
Stella flashed him a cheeky smile. “That finger was just to prompt your guess. You are the smartest person in this world. If you couldn’t understand what that meant, I guess that means I’m slightly smarter than you.”
The other three women began to laugh, the atmosphere in the church’s chamber dissolving into something more peaceful.
“Boss, I have a plan,” said Giovanna.
“What’s it about?” asked Xia Lei. He couldn’t help but be curious about what these women had up their sleeves. The female mind was a maze.
Giovanna replied, “We already have more than 2000 brothers and sisters scattered across the globe. America, Italy, South Africa, France, Germany… They are in almost all of the Catholic regions. Sadly, most of them don’t have their own church and are tormented by life. Could you fund us in building a church across these places? That way, you’ll receive more and more brothers and sisters. From that, we can select a few suitable worshippers to train and cultivate your very own armed force. Isn’t that our initial goal behind the establishment of this institution?”
“Sure, no problem. But I’m not doing this for myself. I can give you money but those are strictly for helping your brothers and sisters in need. There’s too many living in poverty, I can’t reach out and help all of them. But I am able to do so now.” Xia Lei paused. “How much do you need?”
“That’s great news! Boss, thank you so much!” Giovanna was filled with gratitude. “We need ten million USD for this.”
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“I’ll give you one billion USD then,” said Xia Lei.
“Huh?” The Grey and Russo sisters looked at Xia Lei, mouths agape. Was this real? Was this a dream? They couldn’t tell.
Xia Lei chuckled with mirth. “You wish to help so many people. Ten million USD would not be enough. That’s why I’m giving you one billion USD first. You’re free to come to me and ask for more if it’s insufficient.”
The sisters were stunned beyond words.
For a knight, to serve a master like this bore no regrets.
Xia Lei said, “Do you still remember me mentioning that I’ve borrowed your names to open up accounts in the American stock market? Your accounts had generated me thirty billion USD. I’m merely passing on one-thirtieth of the money. Please help keep this a secret from my wives, they just might confiscate it.”
There was no way his pregnant wives would do that. It was meant to be a joke that served as a tiny reminder for them. Hey, I’m a married man with children on the way.
But as soon as his sentence fell, Giovanna abruptly came closer and gave him a soft and warm embrace. “You are our angel. I thank you in the stead of our suffering brothers and sisters.” Then, she pecked his cheek firmly.
After Giovanna had released him, it was Stella’s turn. Then, it was Rosa and Theresa’s turn. At the end of it, Xia Lei’s cheek was littered with four lipstick marks. If the X-ray vision was used on him, you would’ve noticed four cheeky handprints on the curve of his ass.
“Boss, please name the team,” said Giovanna.
Xia Lei was taken aback. “You know them better than I do. You name them.”
Giovanna replied, “No. It was born because of you. You are our master too. We don’t own the right to do that.”
Xia Lei gave it some thought. “Then… its name shall be the Relief Society.”
“Relief Society?” The four female knights were perplexed.
Giovanna questioned, “I thought you would give it a very intimidating name, something like the Holy King’s Knight. Why this name in particular?”
“Yeah. Why?” Rosa too was confused.
Xia Lei explained, “We’re not creating some illegal armed force. We’re forming an organization that aims to help those stricken with poverty. Our weapons are not guns but love. Even if anyone is willing to sacrifice themselves to do the extreme for the sake of this society, we cannot change our mission.”
“I understand. Relief Society it is,” Giovanna gave in. As long as it was Xia Lei’s decision, she would even accept it if he decided to name it ‘Orgy Society’. There was no harm in accepting such a decent and formal name.
Stella joined in, “To show you its value, we can try to get you someone’s information within a week.”
Xia Lei was tempted. “Whose information?”
Stella suggested, “How about Hattori Mei? We know how much you wish to get rid of her. Say the word, give us a week and we’ll deliver her information to your doorstep.”
Theresa supplied, “We know you also desire to know about someone’s whereabouts.”
“Zhu Xuanyue.” Giovanna continued, “As for her, we’ll find Zhu Xuanyue’s current location within a month.”
Xia Lei was surprised. “I believe that you can obtain Hattori Mei’s information. But to find Zhu Xuanyue’s whereabouts will be extremely difficult.”
“The more difficult it is, the better we can prove ourselves. Just sit back, relax and wait for good news,” said Giovanna.
Xia Lei finally understood it. He had always wished to incorporate the four female knights into the Chinese Zodiac Battle Team but to no avail. The members were people who could kill without flinching, they barely had any bottom lines. The female knights, on the other hand, were knights with faith. How could two completely different worlds melt together? They were determined to prove their value to stop acting as assistants for the Chinese Zodiac Battle Team members, that was why the Relief Society was born. That was why they willingly took on the challenge to obtain Hattori Mei and Zhu Xuanyue’s information.
“Alright. I’ll look forward to it,” said Xia Lei.
Theresa smiled. “Let’s go get some drinks to celebrate the establishment of the Relief Society!”
Xia Lei entertained that thought and studied the odd looks thrown at him by the four female knights. He responded, “How about some other time? We can move this occasion to another date. My wives are asking me to come home earlier and rest. If I stay here any longer, I’m afraid they’ll pay this place a visit themselves. I’ll see myself out now, you should rest soon. Good night.”
He left without turning back.
The four female knights looked at each other, disappointment obvious in their eyes.
“Jeez, I can’t believe a man who chased away the Seventh Fleet is afraid of his wives!” Giovanna groaned.