"Welcome back, young master!" With Moke leading the way, Reyno and the others followed suit with the appropriate courtesies.
Although they didn't want to acknowledge Fang Jueyu as the young master in their hearts, everyone within the family knew that the Ladinic Family had a master. It's a family belief, so regardless of how they felt, they had to put on a show of respect outwardly.
"Alright, alright, what era is this that we're still using 'young master'?" Fang Jueyu waved his hand. Zhuang Ying and Gu Yi called him that all the time, and he was getting tired of it. A name was just a name; genuine loyalty and respect were matters of the heart.
"Young master, these are the first few rules of our Ladinic Family's code. Our family makes no distinctions between gender or age; whenever we see the young master, we must use this title, even if our father were here," Moke said.
"This Moke seems to have some sincerity." Fang Jueyu could tell from his firm response that Moke wasn't just going through the motions. He truly placed Fang Jueyu in a high position in his heart.
He nodded with satisfaction, thinking that if Ipol, the current head of the Ladinic Family, fell, Moke would be an excellent successor. Regardless of his capabilities, loyalty was the most important quality.
"I heard Ipol was hospitalized. How is he now?" Fang Jueyu asked.
"Thank you for your concern, young master. My father is getting old, and he was injured in his younger years. When the weather turned cold, he developed a lung infection, and the old injuries flared up again, so he couldn't withstand it."
Ipol was also a Hidden Elementer. He should have an excellent physical condition and live healthily to over a hundred years old without any problems.
Even if he had been injured when he was young, it shouldn't have led to a lung infection at the age of eighty or more, should it?
"Young master, there's something fishy here!" Gu Yi's voice rang in Fang Jueyu's mind, "The cells of a Hidden Elementer, guided by potential, are resistant to infections by Earth's viruses and bacteria. Even if injured, their cell's automatic defenses shouldn't decrease; they shouldn't be getting infections due to climate change."
"Are you suggesting something else is going on?" Fang Jueyu immediately grasped the underlying issue.
"It's hard to say. Let's just watch for now!"
"Young master, it's a bit cold outside. Let's head home first!" Moke made way, and the entire Ladinic Family castle was like a small city. Their residence was quite a distance from this airport.
"Hmm!" Fang Jueyu nodded and got into the front vehicle, with Zhuang Ying and Gu Yi sitting in the back.
Reyno and Evela got into the second car, while Moke and Nasha were in the third, clearly showing the family's alignments.
"Big brother, what does the Fang Family's young master mean by coming here this time?" Evela finally couldn't hold back and asked. Since the news of Fang Jueyu's impending visit to the Ladinic Family came a few days ago, she hadn't slept well for two nights.
"You still have the nerve to ask what it means?" Reyno replied irritably, "Isn't it because you took it upon yourself to detain Colt? Don't you know that all communication between the Ladinic Family and Huaxia's Fang Family goes through him? With this, how could the Zhuang Family not guess that there are issues within our family?"
"How can you blame me?" Evela retorted confidently, "The Ladinic Family has been serving the Fang Family for hundreds of years. Even if our ancestors owed them a debt, our service all these years should have repaid it by now!"
"Big brother, our father has gone senile. Are you going to be senile too?" Evela grew more agitated as she spoke. "Other than the start when the Fang Family's ancestor provided ours with funds to regain control of the family, what about after that? Our development to this scale relies entirely on our abilities, having nothing to do with the Fang Family."
After taking down Atom, they could gain assets amounting to a terrifying over two hundred billion euros. Even for the Ladinic Family, this wasn't a sum to be easily dismissed. But Colt handed it over without even asking.
He was part of the Ladinic Family, not the Fang Family. Shouldn't he first consider his own family in everything he did? Especially since the Fang Family didn't need a few thousand billion euros, why bow and scrape to hand over such a sum?
Reyno fell into silence. As the eldest in the family, there were many things he shouldn't say out loud, but didn't he feel the same way inside?
After developing for a dozen centuries, the Ladinic Family has reached an unimaginable scale, not to mention their political influence and other intangible factors. Their assets alone exceeded two trillion euros. Why should they bow and serve a young man in his twenties because of a family bond from centuries ago?
"Big brother, do you truly want the whole family to follow a master like dogs for a lifetime?" Evela expressed all her thoughts.
"But what can we do?" Reyno sighed. "It's part of the ancestral teachings left by our forefathers. Have you forgotten? The first rule is never betray Huaxia's Fang Family. Should we defy our ancestors' commandments?"
"Big brother, why are you still so old-fashioned? Do you really want our descendants to be slaves forever?"
The word "slaves" silenced Reyno completely. As a member of the Ladinic Family, they could almost do anything in Europe. But before this young man, they were indeed as humble as slaves.
"What are you planning to do?" Reyno asked.
"Big brother, I'll be honest with you. Father isn't hospitalized because of an infection but because of a biological toxin. This toxin depletes the energy in his body, making him weaker than an ordinary person!"
"You! You did this?" Reyno looked at her in disbelief. He couldn't fathom his sister would go to such lengths against their father!
No wonder. Ipol had always been healthy; how could he suddenly be hospitalized due to a lung infection?
"Big brother, don't forget! Our father stupidly adheres to the ancestral teachings. If he doesn't fall, with his influence, how can we possibly control the entire family? Not to mention the second and third brothers, they're also loyal followers! If Father remains, the one to take over the family will definitely be the second brother, not you!"
This struck a chord with Reyno. The heirs of the Ladinic Family weren't always passed to the eldest son. Reyno mainly handled the family's business operations, while Moke was responsible for liaising with the other six families and was always on call for any needs of the Fang Family members.
Given Ipol's nature, the Clan Leader position would definitely not go to Reyno; it would be Moke!
Reyno could relinquish the dignity of the Ladinic Family because he only needed to bow down before Fang Family members. But besides the need for certain resources, there were almost no interests conflicts with Fang Family members.
But when it came to the position of Clan Leader, Reyno wasn't about to give it up that easily!
"Tell me your plan!" After much deliberation, Reyno finally succumbed to his greed…