Pallez's smile suddenly froze. He suddenly understood something. The old man, who had always stood with his back straight, seemed to hunch over at that moment, and his imposing presence vanished in an instant.
At that moment, even Leonard could sense the weariness and desolation emanating from Pallez. He had truly become a lonely old man whose family had been destroyed.
"...Sorry," Pallez suddenly said in a low voice.
"You do not need to apologize. This was not your fault. Amon was the only one at fault." Luo Lin shook his head, then suddenly smiled and said with complete sincerity:
"Actually, I had heard of my ancestor's deeds long ago, and I had always wanted to meet you. I know that the reason My Lord saved me may also have been because of your existence, Ancestor. In that regard, I am grateful to you as well."
"I know you are wary of me, Ancestor, but please believe me: at the very least, when it comes to dealing with Amon, our goals are aligned. If possible, I also hope that one day in the future, I can revive the Soroast Family. You and I are by no means enemies."
Winning over Pallez was a long-term endeavor, and Luo Lin had prepared for it long ago. Shifting the blame for the anomalies onto his alter ego was the first step. The second was creating the persona of someone burdened by a blood-deep vendetta, who revered his ancestor, was devoted to reviving the Soroast Family, and had even sold his soul to an evil god for that purpose.
This was not even a lie. After all, Luo Lin had indeed been very interested in Pallez while reading the books, and "Luo Lin Soroast" truly revered Pallez, his legendary ancestor. If he could successfully raise Pallez's favorability, Luo Lin would not mind helping him revive the Soroast Family later on.
After all, he was a member of the Soroast Family too. By that logic, it counted as strengthening his own forces.
Naturally, Pallez could tell that Luo Lin's words came from absolute sincerity. It was precisely because of that that the old man fell silent instead.
Only after a long while did Pallez speak again. "What can you offer me?"
"My Lord still has angels walking the earth. If you have a plan for dealing with Amon, or if you encounter any difficulties, they can act on your behalf." Luo Lin earnestly spun his grand promises. Though the angels were fake, as long as he raised enough favorability, angel-level combat power would indeed not be a problem.
Pallez could not tell whether those words were true, but he had no need to distinguish them. After all, when the day came that they truly needed to act, the existence of angel-level beings could not be faked.
After weighing it in his heart, Pallez merely asked his final question. "Which Lord of Mysteries do you support?"
This time, Luo Lin fell silent. Several seconds later, he said, "I am sorry, Ancestor, but I cannot answer that question. I can only tell you that My Lord holds Mr. Door in very high regard."
Pallez was genuinely stunned this time.
Because Pallez knew Abraham's situation. In terms of personality, Mr. Door was indeed an outstanding candidate for Lord of Mysteries, but Abraham had suffered contamination from the Outer Gods as early as the Fourth Epoch. He was now still imprisoned in some pocket dimension on Earth. Unless the being Luo Lin worshiped had a way to bring Abraham back and remove the contamination from him, there was no hope at all.
However, considering that Luo Lin himself was not at a high enough level, Pallez did not say much more about the matter. After considering for several seconds, he said, "I can cooperate with the being you worship, but regarding actions against Amon, I hope the arrangements can be made by my side."
"I will inform My Lord of your decision and give you a reply as soon as possible." As Luo Lin said this, he suddenly smiled. Looking at Pallez, he said:
"Ancestor, now that we have finished discussing business, can we talk about personal matters? The reason I came to see you this time, apart from the cooperation between My Lord and you, was also to acknowledge my kin."
Pallez froze, a question mark slowly appearing over his head, because he discovered to his utter disbelief that the other party seemed to be telling the truth.
It had to be said that the topic had shifted a little too quickly—so quickly that even Pallez found it hard to adjust.
Luo Lin struck while the iron was hot. "So, Ancestor, are you willing to accept this descendant who has wandered outside the family and allow me to return?"
For a moment, Pallez did not know what to say. He looked at Luo Lin with mixed feelings, then said with a slightly amused helplessness, "Return to a family that now consists of only this old man?"
The Soroast Family had long since declined. Even Pallez could not say how many surviving clan members there were.
"But didn't the Soroast Family begin with just one person as well?" Luo Lin spoke earnestly, then revealed a disappointed, bitter smile as he said:
"Besides, you are my only relative, Ancestor. If even you are unwilling to accept me, then I really will become an orphan."
Pallez looked at Luo Lin. Though he still had all sorts of concerns about this descendant who had suddenly appeared, he could not help but sigh at that moment. "As long as you do not mind having this old man around."
Luo Lin's eyes immediately lit up, and he promptly pushed his luck. "Then can I call you Old Man? I read in ancient records that everyone used to call you that."
"What kind of nonsense have you been reading..." Pallez could not help but complain. He could actually tell that, aside from everything else, this descendant of his had a bit of a mischievous streak.
Of course, that was perfectly normal for someone from the Theft pathway family.
"So I cannot call you that? As expected, you only said you would accept me to deceive me..." Luo Lin revealed a devastated expression, carrying his acting through to every last detail.
"Fine, fine. Call me whatever you like. I am used to it anyway." Pallez shook his head helplessly. Though he could guess that the other party's expression was probably somewhat exaggerated, this old man truly could not handle his descendant acting like this.
"Thank you, Old Man!" Luo Lin immediately said with a beaming smile. This was not an act; Luo Lin had discovered that he could now borrow a tiny bit of Pallez's power.
It was not much, roughly only at the level of Sequence 7. To a Sequence 1, this was naturally only a tiny sliver of power. It meant that, if maximum favorability was counted as one hundred, Pallez's favorability toward him was perhaps only in the teens—from this, it was clear that Pallez at his peak had indeed been considerably stronger than Azzik. His favorability had a higher return on investment.
Yet Luo Lin was still delighted. Every beginning was difficult, especially with a big shot like Pallez, whose vigilance was maxed out. The breakthrough from zero to one was the hardest part.
Since Luo Lin had successfully broken through Pallez's guard and gained this dozen or so points of favorability, it proved that the combination punch of descendant + Amon + family bonds + reviving the family was indeed effective against Pallez. If he kept at it, maxing it out was not impossible.
Besides, the Theft pathway was quite useful, and its abilities did not overlap with Mr. A's. Luo Lin, who was only a measly Sequence 9 himself, was not about to complain.
Before you continue