Chapter 136: Malphite, good boy!

Malphite knocked over an old snack vendor, and the surrounding onlookers immediately burst into righteous indignation.

"You little brat, how can you be so ill-mannered!"

"Exactly! You snatch someone's snacks and push the old man down. Whose child is this? Completely lacking in upbringing..."

As the crowd condemned Malphite, Hider pulled Julia back step by step.

"Andy, what's wrong?" Julia asked with concern.

"Keep your voice down!" Hider crept backward out of the crowd stealthily, acting like a thief. "Let's get out of here!"

This time, Hider didn't have any magical pets with him, and the Goddess of Life's notebook was too heavy to carry along. If Malphite spotted him now, Young Master Hider would surely find himself returning to the Goddess's embrace!

"Stop staring, let's go!" Seeing Julia still dazed, Hider hastily grabbed her hand and dragged her out of the crowd.

Knowing Malphite's temper, Hider figured that after being pointed at and cursed for lacking upbringing by so many people, Malphite would fly into a rage, unleash forbidden spells and domain powers, and leave a trail of corpses before he was satisfied. When a Tier 10 beast gets angry, the whole world weeps! Hider certainly didn't want to get dragged into this!

Unfortunately, it was too late. Just as Hider was pulling Julia away to flee, Malphite reacted, though his reaction was somewhat bizarre.

"Waah... wuuu..." Suddenly, Malphite sat down on the ground, wiped his tears, and started howling. "No fun! You're all bullying me!"

Malphite was crying, but Hider was dumbfounded! A Tier 10 magical beast was actually made to cry by a few ordinary humans? No! Something must be wrong! Hider narrowed his eyes, thinking to himself, "Malphite must have some ulterior motive!"

Setting aside his true identity, Malphite actually looked like a very cute little child. With his adorable appearance, he possessed massive killing power against all races, especially the elderly. Sure enough, the old snack vendor couldn't bear to watch Malphite cry any longer. "Child, don't cry. Here, take this!" With that, a handful of snacks was shoved into Malphite's pocket.

"Haha!" Malphite broke into a smile through his tears, tightly clutching the snacks in his pocket, and said to the old man, "Thank you, you're really interesting!" With that, Malphite pulled the snacks out of his pocket and stuffed them into his mouth continuously.

The old man pinched Malphite's rosy, tender little cheek. "Hehe, eat slowly, child. If it's not enough, Grandpa has more!"

"I'm full!" Malphite patted his belly, a satisfied smile blooming on his rosy little face. "Thank you! I haven't eaten anything for days!"

"So the child was starving, no wonder he snatched the food!" sighed an elderly woman in the crowd.

"Indeed, look how pitiful he is. His parents must be so cruel to abandon such a cute little kid out on the streets!"

It was only then that Hider noticed something different about Malphite. His clothes were somewhat tattered, his face covered in dust, and his little hands were filthy—especially his eyes. Although they still possessed two distinct colors, they lacked their usual extraordinary radiance.

"Andy, aren't we leaving?" Julia noticed that Hider was acting extremely unusual today.

"Wait a moment longer!" Hider gazed at Malphite in bewilderment, completely unable to guess what this moody Tier 10 magical beast was plotting.

"Child, what's your name?" the old man asked. "Where are your parents?"

"My name is Malphite!" Malphite flashed an adorable smile that no elderly person could resist. "I don't have parents!"

"Sigh!" The old man let out a sigh. "Poor child, do you have any other relatives?"

"Waah... wuuu..." Malphite suddenly started crying again, wiping away tears with his small hand. "Wuuu... wuuu... My big brother doesn't want me anymore. Wuwu..."

Once Malphite started crying, he simply couldn't stop. No matter how the onlookers tried to comfort him, his tears flowed without a break. Right now, the sight of Malphite, a Tier 10 magical beast, was enough to make the hearer grieve and the viewer weep.

Still feeling uneasy, Hider handed Xiaobai over to Julia and slowly approached Malphite.

The last time Malphite had tracked Hider down was because he had caught the scent of Mackenzie on him. But this time, Hider deliberately walked around in front of Malphite, yet Malphite showed no reaction at all. "Ahem, ahem!" Hider coughed twice, trying to attract Malphite's attention. To his surprise, Malphite didn't even look at him.

"Praise the Goddess of Life!" Hider smiled with narrowed eyes and pinched Malphite's little cheek. "Little brother, why are you crying?"

"My big brother doesn't want me anymore! Wuwu..." Malphite abruptly stopped crying, looked at Hider in confusion, and then knitted his little brows. "Who are you? I feel like I've seen you before."

"Have you really seen me?" Hider asked with a chuckle. "I've never seen you before, though!"

"Seems like I haven't..." Malphite looked at Hider's white hair and middle-aged appearance, scratching his head. "Can't remember! No fun!"

"Hehe!" Hider smiled with narrowed eyes. "Little brother, you don't have a home right now, do you?"

"Wuuu... Nobody wants me..." Malphite started crying again.

"Why don't you come home with me? How about it?" Hider pulled the sitting Malphite to his feet. "I have lots of delicious food at my house!" At this moment, Young Master Hider looked no different from a child-abducting human trafficker.

"You're really going to take me home?" Malphite froze, then jumped up excitedly. "Yay!! I won't have to worry about starving anymore!"

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Malphite, the Tier 10 magical beast, was abducted back to the mercenary group by Hider disguised as a child.

"Holy mother of mine! Boss! You're too amazing! You went out for a trip and came back with a kid!" The moment they walked through the door, Shaq bounded up to Hider and yelled stupidly, "Everyone, look! Boss and the Boss's wife have a kid!"

Julia's face flushed red, while Hider was utterly helpless against this foolish fellow Shaq.

Hearing that Hider had a child, the mercenary group instantly erupted into chaos. Everyone swarmed out to admire the awkward expressions of Julia and Hider.

After exhausting his eloquence, Hider finally explained Malphite's origin. Of course, he only claimed that Malphite was a homeless, pitiful child whom he had taken pity on and brought back.

After letting Malphite eat his fill and giving him a bath, Hider—while the others were still exclaiming over how cute Malphite was—dragged the Tier 10 magical beast alone into his own room.

"Praise the Goddess of Life!" Hider put on a pious expression, smiled with narrowed eyes, and asked, "Have you really never seen me?"

"Never seen you!" Malphite tilted his head and thought for a long time before finally answering, "No fun, I've never seen you before!"

He had mentioned the Goddess of Life and put on his signature pious expression, yet Malphite still didn't recognize Hider. This finally set Hider's mind at ease, though a new doubt arose in his heart: Why couldn't Malphite smell his scent this time?

"Hey, what do you do?" Malphite suddenly asked Hider.

"I am the leader of a mercenary group!" Hider replied.

"Oh! A mercenary, interesting." Malphite nodded, maintaining a serious expression as he said, "I won't eat your food for free. I'll help you with missions from now on!"

Praise the Goddess of Life! Hider was practically bursting with excitement. Having a Tier 10 magical beast as a subordinate felt simply wonderful!

However, Malphite added, "But don't give me any too dangerous missions, I can't handle them!"

Hider froze. A Tier 10 magical beast afraid of danger?

"What are you staring at?! No fun!" Malphite's foul temper flared up.

Hider looked at Malphite's dim, lifeless eyes, then connected it to his tattered appearance, and seemed to understand something. "Malphite, look behind you!" Hider pointed behind Malphite.

"Behind me?" Malphite turned around.

Suddenly, moving as fast as lightning, Hider clamped a hand onto the back of Malphite's neck and hoisted him up. Aside from invisibility, Hider had picked up a few other tricks from Ying.

"What are you doing! Let me go!" Malphite yelled, but no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't break free from Hider's grip.

Malphite truly had no strength left! No wonder he couldn't detect his scent. Frowning, Hider set Malphite down. "Nothing, I was just testing your strength. Looks like you really are just an ordinary kid! How are you supposed to do mercenary missions then?" Hider shook his head, looking dissatisfied with Malphite's capabilities.

"Hmph!" Malphite straightened his clothes. "I used to be very powerful!" Seeing Hider's skeptical look, he added resentfully, "I'm not lying to you, I really was very powerful before!"

"I believe you. You must have been an peerless powerhouse before!" Hider nodded sincerely.

"You believe me? Yay! That's great, someone finally believes me!" Malphite smiled happily, clapping his rosy little hands. "Nobody ever believed me before! You're a good person, interesting!"

"What happened to your power?" Hider asked. "Why did you become an ordinary person?"

"I lost my big brother's precious treasure, so my big brother sealed my power!" Malphite lowered his head, looking entirely like a child admitting his mistake. "Big brother said that until I find his treasure back, he won't let me go home!"

"Who is your big brother?" Hider's eyes narrowed as he began to lure the child into spilling secrets.

"Second brother said we can't tell others about big brother's and his identities." Malphite shook his head. "I won't say, don't ask!"

"Then what is your big brother's treasure?" Hider asked circumspectly.

"It's a sword. I heard it was left behind by the ancient gods." Malphite tried hard to recall. "It looks pretty enough, but it's totally useless!"

"How did you manage to lose your big brother's sword?"

"Hmph! It's all that damned Vladino's fault!" Malphite said viciously. "When I recover my strength, he'll be the first one I wipe out!" Malphite glanced at Hider, shook his head, and sighed, "Forget it, I'm not talking to you anymore. I'm going to sleep, so sleepy!"

With that, Malphite put his hands behind his back like an adult, sighed, and walked out.

A Tier 10 magical beast with no power? Hehe, Hider narrowed his eyes and smiled mischievously. It seemed this was going to be a very worthwhile investment...