The Genius Evolution Store

Auric asked Lindwurm, ’Can you alter the shop from this far away?’

Lindwurm was confused. Auric’s life was in danger, so why would he still care about the store?

Still, Auric was in charge, so Lindwurm replied, ”Yes. I can do that right now. My power has been embedded in the store. At a certain point, you can do that, like the wind guns or the gravity rooms in the Training Hall.”

’Good. I have a plan. I need you to alter the shop right now.’

Lindwurm couldn’t think of his plan, but he said nothing more and cooperated with Auric.

Auric had three people tailing him, their goal was still unclear. Nevertheless, it was clear that the government wasn’t the one behind it.

He had asked the mayor if he could maintain his privacy. Mr. Popo had confirmed that there was no one around him too.

Combined with the hostility Lindwurm sensed, Auric knew that their plan was either to kidnap him or kill him.

Even though he didn’t know why it led to this, he had to solve the problem first before worrying about why.

Meanwhile, the person behind him took a peek at his movements before asking in a low voice. ”The target is not aware of us yet. Should we make a move now?”

”His house has many government agents, while his store has the director of the X-Guard. This is the only place we can get him.”

”Still, the employer is rather desperate. To think that he wants the three of us to eliminate a single kid.”

”Don’t say anything else. According to my source, this guy is acknowledged as a two-element evolution master. It’s best to do it cleanly.”

The man nodded with a serious expression. ”Got it. As usual, I block. You two will deliver the killing blow. Clean it up and we bolt out of here.”

”Let’s do it. On my signal. 3...2...!!!”

”Not good!”

The man behind Auric widened his eyes, startled, as Auric abruptly turned into an alley as though he were trying to disappear.

”The target is entering a small alley!”

”Did he notice us?” The man rushed into the alley, raising his guard to the maximum. Auric was supposed to be a student who knew very few things. He shouldn’t have enough experience or ability to find them.

Still, he considered the possibility Auric noticed them. He made sure to remain careful while approaching the alley.

He pulled out his dagger and entered the alley. Seeing that there was another turn to the right, he swiftly rushed to the turn, only to see a dead end.

”A dead end?” The man leaped over the wall but still couldn’t find Auric. ”The target is gone?”

The other two were following their respective paths. One of them said, ”I saw him. Continue forward and take the second left turn! He’s going through that alleyway!”

”!!!” The man hurried, not wanting to lose Auric. ”He’s quick.”

”He might have used a battle technique, most likely a wind-element technique, to improve his speed.”

”Got it!” The man acknowledged the warning, committing it to memory so that Auric wouldn’t surprise him anymore.

The man ultimately reached the turn and saw Auric running fast. However, he wasn’t fast enough to disappear from sight.

”Got him!” The man leaped toward Auric, closing the distance between them. He couldn’t let Auric slip away.

The other two men were approaching from different directions to surround him.

As if knowing he couldn’t run away anymore, Auric turned around while releasing his energy. He was planning to make his last stand there.

The man raised his dagger, planning to cut one or both of his arms to stop his movement and let his teammates deliver the killing blow.

To his surprise, Auric suddenly smiled.

”!!!” The man was on high alert, so that smile didn’t escape his eyes. Why would Auric smile? Was it a bluff? Was it a trap?

The fact that he managed to find them and run to this place meant that the possibility that this was a trap couldn’t be ruled out.

What if Auric lured them here?

The moment that thought appeared in his mind, he immediately warned his teammates. ”Watch out! Something might be com—!”

Bam!

”Gah!”

Before the man could finish his words, a ball of light fell from the sky. It hit him in the back.

Only when it stopped did the light reveal its true form.

It was Mr. Popo. He punched the man in the back and broke his spine.

Mr. Popo raised his head to check Auric’s condition, but it looked like he was unharmed. He then leaped into the air one more time to locate the bastards that dared to target Auric.

The man gritted his teeth, enduring the pain. His grip on his dagger tightened as if he were still planning to do something.

Auric didn’t lower his guard either. He was about to restrain him, but Milinda seemed to be one step faster than him.

She jumped off the top of the building.

Imagine.

Several spears were created around her. These spears fell at such speed that they pierced the concrete floor.

The man’s hands and legs were impaled by the spears. Then, two more spears fell next to his neck, restraining him completely.

”Aaahhhh!” The man finally screamed.

”!!!” His teammates were startled. They thought it was Auric, but they couldn’t help but recognize his voice.

Something went wrong.

However, it was too late for them to escape.

Mr. Popo landed not far from the second person.

”!!!” The guy panicked. Judging from how Mr. Popo could overwhelm their teammate and cause him to scream like this meant Mr. Popo was stronger than them. It was impossible to escape onto the main road.

Since that was the case, he turned around and risked everything to get Auric. As long as he caught Auric, he could turn the situation around.

Auric raised his stance, but Mr. Popo raised his hand. The light shone from his fingertip.

He used his Golden Finger to write ’Lock’ in the air.

The ’O’ became a circle that captured the guy. It shrank and bound the man like a rope. Then, the ’L’ became the stand for his capture, while the ’C’ locked his mouth, and the ’K’ spread his legs. This way, he couldn’t get away anymore.

Auric was surprised by the way Mr. Popo manifested his power, but this was not the time to be amazed.

There was another person working with them. When he turned around, Mr. Popo had already landed on the other side.

The other person, with more time to react, released his power. A tornado formed at his fingertip, but Mr. Popo simply dispersed it with a single kick.

He then grabbed the man’s wrist, broke it, and spun the man around before slamming him to the ground.

In just a few seconds, Mr. Popo managed to take down the three assailants.

”Huuu...” Auric let out a breath of relief.

Mr. Popo raised his head and asked, ”Are you all right?”

”Yes.” Auric nodded.

”Great.” Mr. Popo felt relieved. He couldn’t help but remember what happened a minute ago.

...

”Papa. Can you teach me how to get stronger?” Milinda asked.

Mr. Popo looked at his daughter’s expression. She had a firm resolve, so there was no need for him to ask another question. ”Sure. Whenever we have free time together.”

”Yep. I want to—”

Clack!

Before Milinda could say what she wanted to say, the lock on the door was opened, startling both her and Mr. Popo.

They were confused. That wasn’t supposed to happen, unless Auric was inside all this time.

However, there was no one inside, and the store only had one entrance. If Auric had climbed the wall and entered from the rooftop, Mr. Popo would have noticed.

That was why it was strange to see the lock open all of a sudden.

”Papa... Look!” Milinda covered her mouth in shock while pointing at the door.

Mr. Popo turned around and saw words on the door.

’The store owner has been kidnapped. Please come here to get him.’

It jokingly framed it as a ransom situation, but there was no notice like this before. In addition, it even showed a map.

The notice showed a small map of the alley. Since they had been working here for quite some time, they were already familiar with the area.

Besides, Mr. Popo used to be a bodyguard. Knowing the whereabouts of the person he protected was one of the small details he used to handle.

”I’m going!” Mr. Popo didn’t know if this was a prank or a serious matter. Although he was curious about how the notice suddenly appeared, he couldn’t care less about it at this time.

He had to make sure Auric was safe first before thinking about anything else.

Mr. Popo’s strength allowed him to jump straight to the rooftop, taking a shortcut.

”Me too!” Milinda panicked after seeing her father’s reaction. She leaped to a wall first and bounced up, pushing herself to the railing on the rooftop.

Using the railing as her foothold, she launched herself in her father’s direction, trying to catch up to him.

And it turned out the message wasn’t a prank. Auric was surrounded by three people. They were quite strong. At the very least, Auric wouldn’t be able to handle even one of them, let alone three.

They had to help him.

Her father made the first move, and she assisted with the finishing touches.

”...” Mr. Popo dragged the person he had just captured and came to Auric. ”What happened here?”

Auric shook his head. ”I’m confused as well.”

”Wait here!” Mr. Popo waved his hand. He had to gather all these people up first and bind them with his power.

After that, he walked to Auric while taking out his phone as though he were searching for something on the internet.

”So, do you know anything? Anyone who wants to harm you?”

”I am not sure. I may not be liked by everyone, but I think I haven’t done anything that would make people want to kill me.” Auric shook his head.

”Maybe people who are jealous of you? With your looks, you may have captured the hearts of maidens. Someone who likes them might be jealous of you and want you dead.”

”I haven’t gotten close enough to other girls to garner that level of attention, unless we’re dealing with psychopaths.”

Mr. Popo narrowed his eyes. ”Well, we should get the information from them. I’m running their faces through the database. It looks like these guys are criminals.”

Auric’s expression turned grim. Normally, a person would ask what they were going to do about this. Mr. Popo was an experienced bodyguard, so he definitely knew what to do.

However, Auric was never normal. When Axel warned Auric about Ellia having no limits, he didn’t know how similar he was to Ellia.

Even Arina was fooled to a certain extent because of his usual character.

In this kind of situation, the first thing Auric asked was actually, ”Mr. Popo, how do I kill people legally or illegally?”

”!!!” Mr. Popo was startled. Auric usually called him by his real name, but this was the first time he called him Mr. Popo.

It showed how serious he was regarding this matter. What bothered him the most was the coldness in his tone.

It was rather obvious why Auric asked this question. ”Kid. It’s better to let me handle them. I will interrogate them first and bring them to the police station. What are you doing?”

Mr. Popo tilted his head, confused why Auric actually took out his phone.

”I’m going to ask that question to my teacher.”

Mr. Popo was somewhat speechless. Milinda, who had been silent all this time, was surprised to see a different side of Auric.

Unlike his gentle demeanor, this Auric was so cold-hearted to the point where he might have no hesitation in killing someone brutally.

Mr. Popo sighed. ”If you ask me, you can kill them right now and say it’s self-defense. You have the mayor as your backer, so rather than calling the police, it’s better to call him first. Or you can use the Evolution Association to handle this matter. That’s the best advice I can give you right now.”

Mr. Popo didn’t know whether he should actually give advice or not, but this was the most merciful option he could offer.