章 26: The Plan!
After listening to Ace's words, Gracie looked deeply into his eyes and asked meaningfully, "Do you even know what a slave mark is?"
Ace pondered for a while before answering considerately, "Yes. I heard little about it in the wastelands. I only know that being branded with a slave mark means surrendering your free will and staying loyal to the person who holds the slave contract. I also saw a mysterious red mark on the people's foreheads on the first floor. It should be the slave mark, right?"
Ace actually didn't know all this; it was all the information Eva gave him before coming here.
The slave mark was also a part of their plan, and this kind of trashy slave mark would not work on him because of his soul cultivation. That's why he said without hesitation, since it was the easiest way to win Gracie's trust.
Gracie wasn't surprised by the fact that Ace already knew about the slave mark, but what amazed her was Ace's will to live.
In her eyes, this guy was actually showing his secret skill and even wanted to be branded by the slave mark because he wanted to live. This really fascinates her and makes her look at this 'barbarian' in a new light.
"Fine, I'll allow you to be my personal servant and let you live better than any one of those in that shitty building. But you have to prove yourself first." Gracie mysteriously smiled and continued, "I'll be attending a family meeting in a month if you can steal all those participants' money pouches without anyone finding out. Then you can be my personal servant, and I will even reward you. What do you think?"
Gracie smiled sweetly at Ace as if she were looking at a sheep about to get slaughtered. She concealed the most crucial part of the information from him; this wasn't just any random meeting. It was the Meeting of the Grant Family's Younger Generation, and it was quite a big event.
Gracie doesn't tell him the whole truth to test Ace's secret skill limit and see if he can steal from all those contestants without alerting anyone.
Furthermore, if he fails, she'll kill him swiftly so that no one can investigate this matter, but if he succeeds, she will make a massive profit without even lifting a finger.
Besides, if everything goes smoothly, she'll pretend to be a victim like everyone else, and no one will ever know she was the mastermind behind the thievery. Most importantly, she'd gain a 'Master Thief' as a slave.
"I'll act according to Young Miss's arrangements. But this humble servant has a personal request." Ace requests politely. He wasn't surprised by this 'test' at all. He knew from the start that winning the trust of this arrogant Third Miss of the Grant Family would not be a walk in the park.
"Hmm?" Gracie knitted her brows tightly after hearing Ace. But she didn't rebuke and asked coldly, "Tell me if this request is reasonable. I'll think about it."
"I just need a space for training my skill because I never used it on multiple people before, and most importantly, I'm not a cultivator." Ace's tone becomes even more respectful, "I also don't want to fail Young Miss's mission. That's why I must train hard to reach my full potential in a month!"
Gracie mulled over it for a while before speaking, "It seems you don't want to go back to that shitty building. So be it. You can live here in the open and practice all you want." She smiled darkly, "However, you're not allowed in my house, and if you even take half a step outside my training ground, you're dead!"
After warning Ace, she turned around and walked back to her house, leaving him behind.
Since Gracie made a 'great deal' with Ace, she was in no mood for training anymore and decided to play outside because she was in an excellent mood.
As Ace watched Gracie leave him alone, his eyes shimmered with ecstasy, 'The second phase of the plan is complete this easily and sooner than we anticipated.' He thought joyously.
In Ace and Eva's scheme, Gracie is critical. Their plan was Ace would be a 'punching bag' for quite some time, and after showing his unnatural abilities to endure the 'beating,' he would be given to a stronger young miss or master to be their 'sparring partner'.
Eventually, Ace would meet his primary goal, and that was Gracie Grant!
Eva selected her because she was extremely willful and never listened to others except for her father; even her mother couldn't control her. Moreover, she was greedy and would take whatever she liked from others. She bullies others no matter who they are,
If Gracie encountered someone strong, she would use her status or her father's status. But even with all these powers backing her, she can't take or act wantonly in front of two persons, and they were both 1st and 2nd Young Masters of the Grant Family.
Ace and Eva decided to use her greed to manipulate her actions. Ace would show her his unnatural pick-pocket skill, and she would not be able to resist the temptation of stealing precious things from others. Especially from the second-rank young master who she hated the most but couldn't deal with.
However, this plan was supposed to take some time to set in motion, but who would've thought Ace would meet his target on the very first day? Therefore, he struck immediately and baited Gracie with the pick-pocket skill.
Ace's plan succeeded in the end, which matters the most, except for that one-month test part.
Now, he has to train the pick-pocket to a higher level to pass Gracie's test. Furthermore, Ace was going to practice it seriously after discovering that the pick-pocket could give him thief points.
Unknowingly, this skill has become his main priority because to get things from the system, he needs TP and only knows this one method to earn TP, excluding missions.
Actually, it was very easy to earn TP. He just had to steal things and earn Thief points. But he never did that before, and when he used the pick-pocket to steal Gracie's money pouch, Ace finally realized what he had to do to earn TP.
Ace used the heavenly sense and saw Gracie leaving the house but didn't go inside. Because she might've left some trap or ordered someone to monitor him; furthermore, his soul senses were not strong enough so that he couldn't scan the whole house.
Ace didn't care about Gracie anymore. He placed those weapons 10 meters away from him and started using Pick Pocket.
When his Soul Qi thread touched a weapon, it vanished and reappeared in his hand, similar to what happened to Gracie. It was as if this skill could manipulate space, but Ace didn't understand it too well yet, so he kept practicing like a madman.
---
Gracie came back at night.
She entered the house and snugly sat in a chair before saying carelessly. "How was he?"
No one was around, but suddenly, a man appeared from the training ground. He didn't open the door but passed through it as if he were incorporeal.
He got on his knee and answered respectfully, "Young lady, that brat only practiced all this afternoon and evening. Then, after some rest, he started practicing again and was still practicing just an hour ago. I think he used all his Qi."
"Hmm, not bad, not bad. He seemed serious about what he said and didn't lie to me. Go and give him beast meat and a blanket as a reward. Keep an eye on him; he'll be living in the training ground for a month, and if he succeeds in his task, you will get a new subordinate to play with Yahir." Gracie said coolly.
Yahir was Gracie's personal bodyguard, who was personally assigned by her father. He is at the 4th Gate of the Qi Gates realm. If Ace were to move around carelessly, he would have been attacked by Yahir instantly.
But Ace focused on training diligently and was seen by Yahir as a hard worker. That is why Yahir has a good impression of Ace now.
Yahir emotionlessly said, "Yes, Young Lady, I will follow your will."
Ace was lying on the ground, panting like crazy. He gave his all today and still didn't understand pick-pocket enough to raise its level. But he felt that he could do it within a month.
Nonetheless, he was feeling hungry but wasn't worried about it too much. After all, if Gracie were as greedy as Eva described her, she would not let anything happen to Ace until she found him useless.
As he was thinking about food, a fragrant smell entered his nostrils. He quickly looked around and saw a man wearing blue clothes coming towards him with a tray in his hand.
It was an old man in his fifties with long gray hair and a wrinkled face. He was Yahir—Grace's personal bodyguard.
When Yahir saw Ace was looking at him, he smiled kindly like a senior who was going to meet his junior for the first time.
Yahir placed the tray on the ground and smiled warmly, "You worked hard today for my lady, and here is your reward. If you keep working like this, she will not mistreat you. But if you betray her trust or make a mistake, I'll be the first to come after your head." When Yahir stated that, his eyes turned icy cold as he emitted thick, killing intent.
Ace shivered a little when he felt Yahir's killing intent, 'Just how many people did this old man have killed?!'
He was shocked and afraid of this old man. Still, he nodded his head stiffly, and that killing intent vanished like it never existed before, and Ace could finally breathe.
Yahir smiled again after seeing Ace nod; he left the tray there before leaving. He was only here to give Ace a warning, nothing else!
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