Astor was a clan. They had a main clan along with side branches.
Like all orthodox clans, the main branch had a single large residency acting as a headquarter of sorts. It was the ultimate aspiration of every branch.
As he headed to the so-called headquarters, Varian smiled at the new face reflected in the car's window. It was a slightly handsome face with a touch of maturity and seemed around 20 years old.
The cab flew through the skyline of Sana City's premium district. There was surveillance everywhere—the drones were perfectly timed to never leave any section unwatched.
Surveillance was normal in every district of every city. But here it was over the top.
It had a good reason — This district was the home to the headquarters of Astor Industries Ltd.
The main residence of Astor Clan was just a few hundred miles from here.
'You are very handy, Boo. Manufacturing a disguise in no time.' Varian didn't forget to pat the small ring on his little finger.
No one would guess a super spaceship with massive space capacity turned into an inconspicuous ring.
'Hehe. I know I'm the best. But you can praise me more.' Boo said in its childish voice.
"Please observe silence for the deaths in Martin and Ganbald Clans." An announcement sounded and all the noise in the district vanished.
Horn noises were long discarded. So even the road was exceptionally quiet
It was as if everyone was mourning for the deceased of those two clans.
All the skyscrapers in the district also projected mourning holograms.
Out of all the skyscrapers, one stood out. It was massive, easily the size of a stadium, its height. It literally pierced into the clouds.
There were several floating buildings, satelliting it.
A huge hologram with a beautiful font read "M HQ" along with mourning flowers.
AHQ — Astor headquarters.
The culprits of his mom's death were mourning someone else's death.
How ironic.
'And satisfying.' Varian smiled wholeheartedly.
'If I can, I really want to thank Enigma, whatever her reasons for killing.'
Varian wanted to be like her. She wasn't the strongest, perhaps not even Level 9. Yet, she could kill anyone and go anywhere.
'But I can't... not until I find who Sia is and what role Astors played in mom's death.'
The current Varian couldn't fight any of the three clans head on. But he never planned to.
The target was Astor's butler, not the Astor Clan's head or vice head.
Even then, he almost fucked up.
'I was impulsive back then. If not for Boo, then things would've gotten way more complicated.' Varian facepalmed.
The fat man's last words were "Astor's… Butler."
Which butler?
The main branch's residence housed at least three hundred Astor Clan members. A hundred of them had personal butlers.
Which one should Varian be looking for?
Thankfully, Boo literally searched through every bit of the fat man's life before finding the target.
It seemed like Boo was more praiseworthy?
'You're the best, Boo.' Varian smiled again.
'Hehe.' the little ghost melted under the praise.
After confirming that Boo blocked potential spying from the autonomous cab, Varian opened the target butler's information.
(Micheal Astor
First Class Butler
Age: 36
Peak Level 6. Body Path: Enhanced.
Info: An extremely ambitious individual. He received a double promotion last year. From a mere Third Class Butler to First Class Butler, he seemed to be blessed.
His cultivation also increased from peak Level 5 to peak of Level 6 in just one year. There were rumors he found a magical liquid in the ruins that increased his talent.
His rivals and personal enemies disappeared overnight. The Second Class Butlers that had a feud with him died terribly. Even his family members weren't spared.
He is now responsible for cleaning up some of the dirty work of Astor Clan. He also supervises a few 'security' companies of Astor Clan. These security companies are private soldiers of Astor Clan.
He aspires to become the head butler. This servant recruitment is an opportunity for him to show his prowess.
Note: He and the head butler appear to have an extremely harmonious relationship.
Varian studied the information over and over before the cab dropped him off in a huge field.
As far as he could see, there was only green grass and vast mountain ranges with small lakes.
'Is this an estate or a park?' He wondered.
There were small discussions from the servant candidates gathered in the field.
With his peak Level 4 hearing, Varian caught the most common word.
'Security Check.'
There was no manual security check. Right when the cab entered the premises of the estate, the security drones scanned the cab, checked his iris and compared it with his ID, in his case, the forged ID.
But wait, iris print was like DNA—unique. How did he not get caught?
Boo took care of it.
So he was let into the field with a few thousand people as someone he was impersonating.
Again, thanks to Boo.
Boo produced a disguise Varian could wear. But it couldn't change his physique.
So it had to search the entire database of 10 billion living earthlings.
Thankfully, the filters helped reduce the scope of the search.
First, it had to be a male. It reduced the scope by nearly 50% to 5 Billion.
Second, the physical dimensions should match. This proved to be a harsh criterion and only 2 million were selected.
The third condition was their Divine Path. It had to be at least one of the four Varian awakened.
This was a big filter as well, and only 200,000 people fit the criteria.
Finally, they had to be dead silently, without any official confirmation, in the past few days.
It narrowed down to 10 people.
So Varian picked Nova Reeves. The strongest out of the dead ten.
His identity in the field was Nova Reeves. A 20-year-old orphan whose parents were murdered in the dungeon during the current 'Purge' mission.
Nova himself was a dual awakener in Space and Morpher Paths.
He reached level 2 in both paths and waited to surprise his parents. But their death hit him hard, and he killed himself in depression.
Before coming here, Varian cremated his body and wished him a better next life, if any.
Time passed, and the number of applicants continued to increase.
Suddenly, Varian felt something and looked up.
A few hover cars tried to descend but failed. An invisible barrier blocked them from entering in.
'Fucking Star Treasure! Is it a 6 star or 7 star?' Varian cursed at the lavishness. To cover such a huge field, it must be goddamn expensive.
Boom! Boom!
After a few tries, most of the hover cars left.
A few kept trying to enter.
Varian felt weird as he commented. 'They're late… well, I was only a few minutes early due to cremation.'
As he glanced at the hover cars in pity, his pupils suddenly constricted.
Boom!
A red light flashed and in the blink of an eye, the hover cars were burnt to ashes.
Gulp!
'Boo, let me confirm. Answer me honestly. In case anything goes wrong, we can escape, right?'
'Yes Master. Even though I'm nowhere near my peak, that bubble won't be able to stop me. Level 9s won't be able to catch me either.'
'I'm counting on you.' He adjusted his breath and stood at the end of the rectangle formation the applicants formed.
'Just give me a mental signal and we'll escape. You don't have to worry.' Boo's assurance was effective.
Whoosh!
A huge hologram popped up. There were a couple of butlers looking down at them.
Varian saw Micheal Astor, his target, along with the head butler.
The head butler, a grey-haired man, looked at the applicants and spoke in a commanding voice.
"Three Thousand Five Hundred and Sixty-Seven people are standing on this field. Out of you, only thirty would be selected."
The tension rose.