Chapter 158: His Return

In a suspicious, isolated place where no one would ever expect a person to be living, under a literal massive rock, a young man emerged, wearing tattered robes and a worn hood. He stepped out into the daylight and looked forward toward the horizon, watching the vast cityscape stretch across the valley below the mountain.

His long brown hair reached down to his shoulders, and he shoved the loose strands back over his side with a quick flick of his hand. It had been bothering his vision for a couple of months now, but he simply hadn’t prioritized trimming it.

He glanced to his side, where a glowing golden interface window hovered in mid-air, displaying his exact system progress in bold text.

[Mission Success! You have completed another Major Mission!]

[Objective: Sell 999 Tamed Beasts within the Nustra Region.]

[Reward Issued: SSS-Rank Light Dragon.]

A subtle, satisfied smile crossed Terrence’s lips as the system issued the legendary SSS-Rank Light Dragon straight into his Beast Sanctuary.

He looked forward at the sprawling landscape of Suran City once again, but deep down, his heart remained unfulfilled.

In the past few months, he felt like he hadn’t achieved his true objective. Sure, he had successfully sold 999 beasts through his Beast Shop, leaving the establishment open in Suran City as high-profile bait. Yet, despite his careful setup, the remnants of the fallen Lee Family hadn’t launched a single attack on the shop.

During all those months spent trying to track them down, he hadn’t found a single trace of their core leaders. Instead, his journey had led him to meet various people, help a few stranded wanderers along the way, and face formidable opponents who had honed his combat instincts even further.

Still, that wasn’t his primary focus. He knew he should probably cut his losses and move on, considering the Lee Family remnants had almost certainly abandoned Suran City altogether. Yet, he was still deeply bothered by the fact that Klein had escaped the Patriarch’s grasp.

Brushing the dust off his tattered robes, Terrence made his way down the mountain trail, heading back into the bustling streets of Suran City toward his business.

A short while later, Terrence arrived at the grand entrance of the Beast Shop.

He paused at the edge of the paved walkway, intending to step inside and check his current inventory. However, before he could even reach the front glass doors, two towering guards decked out in expensive, flashy leather armor stepped aggressively into his path.

"Hold it right there, vagrant!" one of the guards sneered, looking down at Terrence’s tattered robes, unkempt brown hair, and dust-covered boots with absolute disgust. "This isn’t a shelter for filthy beggars to hang around. Get lost before we throw you into the gutter!"

Terrence stopped dead in his tracks, blinking in pure disbelief. He looked at the guards, then up at the massive, gilded sign of his own shop.

"Excuse me?" Terrence asked, his voice calm, though his brow furrowed in annoyance. "I’m entering my own establishment."

The second guard burst into a loud, mocking laugh, attracting the attention of several wealthy customers walking nearby.

"Your establishment? Did you hear this crazy bastard?" The guard pointed a finger at Terrence’s chest, shoving him back an inch. "Look at yourself! You look like a mountain bandit who hasn’t bathed in a year. The master of this shop is a legendary figure who supplies high-tier beasts across the entire region! Only noble clients with packed wallets are allowed through these doors. Get out of here before we use force!"

Terrence’s eyes narrowed. He looked past the guards into the opulent lobby, seeing how these temporary staff members were bowing obsequiously to wealthy buyers while shooing away less fortunate tamers who were desperately looking for affordable contracts.

A sharp, dangerous coldness swept through Terrence’s eyes. He had created this shop to provide opportunities, not to foster a snobbish, elitist haven that mistreated ordinary people.

"Who hired you two?" Terrence asked quietly, his posture straightening as a heavy, oppressive pressure subtly bled into the surrounding air.

"What’s it to you, trash? We were hired by the manager to keep scum like you out!" the first guard barked, reaching out with an armored gauntlet to grab Terrence by his tattered hood.

CLANG!

Before the guard’s hand could even touch his fabric, an invisible wave of raw, SS-Rank spiritual pressure erupted from Terrence like a sonic boom.

The ground beneath their feet cracked instantly. Both guards gasped for air as a terrifying, suffocating weight slammed onto their shoulders, forcing them straight down onto their knees with a violent thud. The surrounding customers froze in place, gasping as the atmosphere turned ice-cold.

Terrence casually reached into his inner pocket, pulled out the glowing, master control crystal of the Beast Shop, and held it right in front of the guards’ terrified, trembling faces.

The guards’ eyes widened to the size of saucers, their faces turning completely pale as they recognized the absolute authority emblem of the shop’s true owner.

"You... you’re..." the guard stammered, his body shaking uncontrollably beneath the crushing pressure.

"I am the owner of this shop," Terrence said, his voice ringing with absolute cold authority as he looked down at them like bugs. "And I don’t run a business that treats people unequally based on what they wear or how much gold they hold."

Terrence didn’t even wait for them to beg for mercy. With a single flick of his wrist, the master control crystal flashed crimson.

"You’re both fired. Effective immediately," Terrence commanded coldly. "Strip off those uniforms, leave your pay behind, and get out of my sight before I let my beasts test its claws on you."

The magic contract bound to their uniforms shattered in an instant, forcibly revoking their security access and throwing their spatial badges onto the hard floor. The two guards scrambled backward in pure horror, bowing their heads frantically against the cracked pavement, utterly humiliated in front of the entire crowd of onlookers as Terrence stepped past them and walked straight into his shop.

’Tsk. What had the shop turned into...?’

But Terrence was unprepared for what he would discover. Just when he thought he had a shop to return to, he returned to a shop managed by a person he didn’t know.

A towering man with a bulky figure stepped directly into his path. Despite how professional he looked in his fine silk suit, he looked far more like a ruthless ruffian than a proper manager.

"Where is Stan Visor?" Terrence asked, stopping a few feet away from the bulky man.

"And... you are?" the man sneered, scanning Terrence’s dusty robes with deep disdain. "Anyway, you don’t need to answer. Who had let you inside?"

The man reached out with a sneer, casually attempting to plant his massive, heavy hand on Terrence’s shoulder to force him backward out the door.

Before his fingers could even graze the fabric, Terrence’s hand moved like lightning. He clamped his fingers firmly around the bulky manager’s wrist and violently twisted it inward.

The abrupt wrench dragged the man’s heavy frame forward, forcing his entire body into a helpless, painful roll across the polished marble floor.

"Aw! Aw! Fuck!"

The man slammed onto the ground before he even realized what hit him. He tried to scramble back to his feet, but the tighter he resisted, the more agonizing the twist on his joint became, sending hot jolts of pain shooting up his arm.

"Just who are you?" Terrence asked, his voice ringing with dangerous, icy calm as he applied just enough force to keep the man pinned.

"I am the manager the city administrator put here!" the man bellowed, his face turning red with rage and agony. "The previous manager you are looking for, that traitor, was now gone and locked in a cell somewhere not in Suran! And all your previous staff were replaced!"

Terrence’s lips twitched at how irritable he was becoming.

His grip tightened slightly on the man’s wrist, making the bone creak beneath his touch. So while he was away on the mountain, the greedy city officials had seized his business, labeled his loyal staff as criminals, and turned his store into an elite playground.

A low, terrifying aura flared from Terrence’s body, filling the entire lobby with an suffocating pressure.

"A city administrator put you here?" Terrence whispered, leaning down so his dark eyes locked straight into the manager’s terrified face. "Then tell your administrator that the real owner has returned, and he’s taking back everything you stole."