"D-Don't kill me!" Aaron Callum shouted as the kid advanced toward him. "I'm still one of the great family heads in this city! My influence is beyond anything you could fathom!"
"Influence?" Apollo smirked. "If I burned you to death, what could your influence possibly do? And even if it could, you'd be long dead by then."
Aaron gritted his teeth. The kid was right; in the face of death, his influence wouldn't bring him back to life.
"Still! You shouldn't offend me! If I shout, my warriors will come and apprehend you! I have hundreds of them!" Aaron threatened, trying to regain his composure.
"Haven't you noticed how fast I am?" Apollo stared at the Callum family head as if he were a fool. "Did you hit your head or something? I could kill you before they even arrive."
"F*ck! Tell me what you want—is it money? Cultivation techniques? We have plenty! I'll give you as much as you want!" Aaron quickly said, pride evaporating in the face of his life being threatened.
"None of that interests me," Apollo replied, shaking his head.
"Then name it! Whatever it is, I'll fulfill it for you!" Nothing mattered more to Aaron than saving his own life. "I could even give you my daughter!"
"Hmm." Apollo placed a hand under his chin, pretending to be in deep thought, though it was merely an act to heighten Aaron's nerves. "Forget about your daughter. I want information."
"Information? About… what?" Aaron asked, taking a shaky breath. The fact that the kid was asking for information instead of money or techniques made him even more uneasy. And when he heard Apollo's next words, a chill ran down his spine.
"About Mayor Klown. His hideous plan—you surely know something, right?" Apollo said coldly.
"I…" Aaron gulped, his eyes darting. "I… don't know what you're talking about. What plan?"
"Do you want to live or not?" Apollo raised his hand, lightning crackling from it.
"I… I really don't know anything about this 'hideous plan' you're talking about!" Aaron stammered through gritted teeth.
"If that's the case, then I'll torture you slowly before I kill you," Apollo said, waving his hand. Before Aaron could react, his hand fell to the ground!
"Ahhhh!" Aaron screamed in agony, clutching his severed arm and writhing on the floor.
Apollo watched him with cold eyes. He wasn't a good person in his previous life either; he did only what he felt like doing, and that was probably why he had so many haters back then.
"Every time you refuse to answer my question, I'll take another limb. Then your eyes, nose, and teeth. And if you still refuse, I'll skin you alive. Got it?" Apollo's voice was like a death sentence.
"Y-yes…" Aaron panted heavily. He reached inside his clothing with his remaining hand and pulled out a small bottle filled with blue liquid, swallowing it in one gulp. The bleeding from his severed arm stopped, and miraculously, it began healing, albeit slowly.
Seeing this, Apollo felt a flicker of curiosity about the bottle but decided to stay focused on the matter at hand.
"Tell me about his plan," he ordered, moving to sit in the chair behind the desk, watching Aaron intently.
Aaron Callum stood up with a frown. Though the bleeding had stopped, his arm was still throbbing in pain. "If I tell you… don't kill me."
"Of course, as long as I'm satisfied with the answer," Apollo lied with a smile. The kind of person in front of him? He didn't deserve to live. Giving Aaron false hope would just make the situation more interesting.
"I don't know all the details, but… he wants to get rid of all the Cultivation Schools in the city," Aaron said.
"Oh, so that's why he organized large-scale thefts targeting each of the Cultivation Schools?" Apollo asked, raising an eyebrow as he conjured a serpent made of lightning.
Aaron glanced nervously at the lightning serpent. Realizing his life was on the line, he decided to tell everything. Betraying the mayor felt like his only option now.
"That's the gist of it," Aaron explained. "I think he believes that if the Techniques from the Martial Schools are accessible to the public, people won't need the schools anymore."
"You think?" Apollo stared coldly at the Callum family head.
"Yes… Klown didn't go into detail. Maybe he has other plans, but he didn't tell us everything," Aaron quickly replied, grimacing as the pain from his severed arm made him breathe deeply.
"Us… So you and the other families sided with him?" Apollo pressed. "Did all of you side with him?"
"Not everyone," Aaron shook his head. "The Kleinford, Helflick, and Leone families opposed it."
Hearing his family's name, Apollo's heart skipped a beat, confirming one of his suspicions about the mayor.
Apollo fell silent, deep in thought, before continuing. "Tell me everything you know about Klown's plan besides what you just mentioned."
Taking a deep breath, Aaron began to speak.
Apparently, Klown had gathered the family heads to discuss his vision of removing the Cultivation Schools from the city. Legally, Klown didn't have the authority to shut them down, as the empire and the Cultivation Schools had an agreement: each major city must have a martial school to strengthen and protect it. But Klown felt his authority was being challenged, his actions limited. He wanted full control of the city with no oversight. He promised to grant more power to any families that helped him if his plan succeeded.
"But if ordinary people gain access to Cultivation Techniques, wouldn't that create chaos? And what if they decide to challenge the mayor himself?" Apollo pointed out.
By now, Aaron's injury had healed, though he would be one arm short forever. "Klown said he'd handle anyone who opposed him."
"If he was thinking clearly, he'd keep the Techniques hidden in a vault, only using them as rewards to recruit loyal followers after he successfully removed the Martial Schools. Broadcasting the Techniques to the public is a strange move," Apollo mused, feeling that there was more to Klown's plan than just removing the Martial Schools.
"That… we didn't question much," Aaron replied with a bitter smile.
"Then why is he expanding the wall?" Apollo asked, voicing a crucial question.
"He never told us the reason for that. Even we were shocked when we heard he was planning to expand the wall."