Reborn as the Genius Son of the Richest Family

Chapter 286: Brothers conversation

Bulren looked at his twin brother and wondered why he seemed to defend or even root for the Reborn company. Just a few weeks ago, both of them were in the same mindset of rebelling against their Golden Road.

”Didnʼt you hear what I said? Flarecorp will conquer the Grafted Cluster whether we like it or not. But if we help them now, then we can be assured that they will take great care of us once they arrive.”

But instead of seeing his reasoning, Barcus seemed to ridicule his brother for such a thought.

”What makes you think that the Reborn company canʼt defend against Flarecorp?” Barcus asked.

”Brother, are you listening to yourself? Flarecorp is a major subsidiary of a conglomerate. The money and manpower they possess is not something that we peasants could even dream about. No matter how strong the Reborn company looks now, they will suffer the same fate as Batchrock Town. Iʼm just making sure that we donʼt.”

The two twin brothers, as usual, could not see eye-to-eye on their problems.

One of them was awakened to the intimidating power of Flarecorp, and the other was awakened by the world-changing power of the Reborn company. Their perspectives on this predicament were even more contrasting than black and white.

”So, what do you plan to do?” Barcus asked. ”Conquer the Grafted Cluster and throw out the Reborn company? You think you can do that?”

Bulren gritted his teeth. ”With your help, yes. And thatʼs not all. We will have the Bastard Bandits on our side too.”

Barcus looked back at his brother. ”The bandits?”

”Yes. Thatʼs how powerful they are. Flarecorp bought their way into controlling the Bastard Bandits. And they are now willing to help us achieve this mission. I was promised that he will send in a major officer of the Bandits—someone called Sleazy, the infamous night killer of the Bandits.”

A raucous laughter came out of Barcus once he heard that.

”HAHAHAHA! Thatʼs the reason for your confidence? Sleazy?”

”Yes,” Bulren answered, confused as to why Barcus was acting weird. ”Wasnʼt he terrorizing our merchants and our trade routes for a long time now? He will surely do so with the Reborn company as well.”

”I have bad news for you, brother. Sleazy already tried that. And he failed. Miserably.”

Bulren froze, completely shaken from this news. ”What? How can you be sure?”

”I was there. I saw it myself. The Rebornians knew what was coming and foiled Sleazyʼs ambush.”

The man started pacing back and forth. His brother may be many things, but one thing he was not was a liar. This meant that Sleazy was truly defeated by the Rebornians.

”Then the rumors about the Dragonborns are true?...” Bulren muttered. ”It makes sense. If they can defeat a strong caliber group like the Stone-Cold 6, then Sleazy is easy pickings for them.”

Barcus couldnʼt help but laugh inwardly once he heard that. The best part about it was that the ʼinfamousʼ Dragonborns werenʼt even the ones who defeated Sleazy. It was the Red Mankeys, who the Rebornians and the Dragonborns considered as their weakest fighting members.

”It doesnʼt matter in the end. Flarecorp will come sooner or later, and they will bring their full force.” Bulren reasoned. ”We have to move now and curry for their favor. Brother, join me.”

Bulren raised his hand for his brother to take, but Barcus ignored him.

”I refuse,” he said. ”I am already affiliated with the Reborn company.”

”What? How?”

Barcus took off his long-sleeved jacket, revealing a tiny patch of embroidered symbols on the back of stitches.

There were two symbols. One was the Barcus Inc. emblem. But above that was the distinct ʼRʼ symbol of the Reborn company.

”No…,” Bulren muttered. ”You became their subsidiary company?”

Bulren treated this as a complete betrayal. He couldnʼt believe that his brother would subordinate himself to the Reborn company.

”There is a distinct difference between us, brother,” Barcus said. ”You want to subordinate yourself to Flarecorp because you fear them. I do it because I believe in the Reborn company. They—no, we, will prevail sooner or later. I wish you could see that.”

But Bulren couldnʼt see it. In his eyes, the Reborn company was a freshman, a greenhorn, and a fledgling rookie compared to the colossal Flarecorp. Companies like them almost always end up being subdued by the bigger predator in the global market.

”I guess this is where we part, brother.”

Barcus raised his hand for a handshake, but Bulren refused. He simply walked out of the room in silence, and with his head down in contemplation.

…

…

…

After the confrontation with his brother, Barcus immediately looked down at his shadow and requested a meeting with Michael.

A couple of seconds later, an Orcupine Shadow Orc emerged next to him with a respectful nod.

The Orc raised his hand and enveloped the two of them in an endless darkness.

A second later, the darkness dissipated and Barcus saw himself in the Reborn headquarters located in Angora City.

He saw the white-scaled Dragonborn that was always by Michaelʼs side. ”You can go inside and talk with Lord Michael,” she said.

He entered Michaelʼs office, and saw Michael tinkering with some cylindrical metal shape.

”Whatʼs up?” Michael greeted him.

Barcus then immediately told Michael about his confrontation with his brother, including the piece of information about Hestu and the Bastard Bandits.

”Flarecorp is trying to influence my brother into competing with you. Theyʼll probably try to stop your Golden Road expansion into the Grafted Cluster soon.”

Michael looked down at his shadow and summoned Fudge. He entrusted his good ʼole pal to take care of things like these, such as surveillance. Surely, a nosy nelly like him would know about the behind-the-scenes development of Flarecorp.

”Fudge, what do you know about this?”

A violet pudgy sphere jumped out from the ground and landed in front of Michaelʼs desk, displacing neatly stacked paperwork into a disorderly mess.

”What did the Shadow Orcs find?” he asked Fudge.

”Huh? Oh…that…yeah,” Fudge muttered awkwardly. ”I seem to remember something like that happening.”

”And?” Michael asked, expecting to hear a much more detailed explanation than that.

”Hmm…I donʼt seem to remember what exactly transpired hahaha. My juniors always forget to write things down hahaha…”

Michael eyed Fudge suspiciously, making the violet slime fidget anxiously in place.

”Donʼt worry, Master! We have this under control. We have started to infiltrate the Bastard Bandit hideout behind the scenes through our Orc ninjas. We have also sent in a few of our own ʼbanditsʼ as spies on the inside,” Fudge explained, which seemed to have allowed him to avoid Michaelʼs suspicious gaze.

”You already found their hideout?” Barcus impulsively said out loud in disbelief.

”Yes,” Fudge answered. ”They made the mistake of ambushing one of our merchants, so we sent in our shadows with them when they returned. Hehe, arenʼt I such a good ninja?”

Fudge scooted over to Barcus, with his eyes filled with an expectant gaze.

Barcus slowly and awkwardly put out his hand and patted Fudgeʼs head. ”There, there…youʼre a good ninja…?”

”Hehehe, thatʼs right!” Fudge declared.

But Michael wasnʼt getting sold on his cutesy performance. He leaned in closer and squinted. He caught a scent of Fudgeʼs shenanigans all over the story.

”Thatʼs it?” he asked Fudge.

”Hehe, of course, Master! Oops, would you look at the time? I have to go now, bye!!!”

Fudge immediately descended into the shadows before Michael could figure out his plans.