Lord of Prayer - Chapter 179 137: The Candidate

The White House was founded by a coalition of several dozen prominent clans, specifically to train the younger generation of Ascenders within their ranks.

Every member here was born with a silver spoon in their mouth, a child of a powerful clan. In terms of perspective, experience, and every other respect, they far surpassed Ascenders of common birth. As Ascenders themselves, as long as they developed steadily, they were guaranteed a place within their clan’s hierarchy in the future.

Unless they were being targeted within their own clan and needed outside help, there was absolutely no reason for them to join a secret Extraordinary Organization.

If they were inexplicably pulled into some mysterious gathering, they would undoubtedly report it to the Star Association the moment they got out, lest it be the work of some sinister entity like a Demon or an Evil God.

But there were always exceptions.

For example—an illegitimate child of a clan.

Colin Hurst was one such despised illegitimate child.

His father was from a side branch of the Hurst Clan, a junkie addicted to psychoactive drugs. He spent his days squandering the clan’s money on hedonistic pursuits. While high, he naturally didn’t bother with any precautions, and an employee at a strip club ended up pregnant.

The stripper knew Colin’s father came from a prominent clan, so she secretly concealed her pregnancy, hoping to use the child to marry into wealth and power and live a life of luxury.

Nine months later, when she showed up at the Hurst Clan’s doorstep with the media and the newborn Colin in tow, she received an unexpected piece of news: Colin’s father had recently died of a drug overdose.

The man was dead, and from a mere side branch at that. By the Hurst Clan’s standards, this mother and son would never be considered part of the family. It was an act of great mercy that they weren’t secretly “disposed of.” But the smartest decision Colin’s mother ever made was to inform the media.

Forced by public pressure, the Hurst Clan had no choice but to announce they would take in the mother and child. But a side branch was still just a side branch—let alone a dead one. The lives of the widow and her orphan son within the Hurst Clan were miserable; anyone and everyone felt they could walk all over them.

When Colin was ten, his mother was diagnosed with cancer. The Hurst Clan had no intention of paying for her treatment, simply letting her die.

After that, the other clan children who had always bullied Colin became even more vicious in their discrimination and abuse. Then one day, Colin snapped. Unable to endure their torment any longer, he fought back like a cornered animal, beating several of the children until they were bloody and screaming.

As the rage in his heart ignited and erupted, he awakened, becoming an Ascender.

The accusations from the other children’s parents were swiftly quashed within the clan, barely making a ripple. The value of one Ascender far outweighed that of a few ordinary children.

Overnight, Colin’s fortunes were completely reversed. He began to live the aristocratic life he had never known.

However, his life was still far from smooth. Even after passing the assessment and successfully joining the White House, many within the clan were still secretly plotting against him—from the children who had once bullied him to others with ulterior motives hoping to profit from him.

—This was all information Zhou Chen had pulled from the Star Association’s intelligence database, using Jiang Che’s clearance.

Of the ten from the White House, only Colin was trapped—both now and for the foreseeable future—in this kind of clan infighting. The others either came from harmonious families or were in a league of their own among the younger generation, too far removed to be caught up in such struggles.

Struggle creates need. If Colin didn’t want to be picked clean to the bone, he would have to fight back against them. He needed outside help, which made joining a secret Extraordinary Organization an excellent option.

Of course, this alone wasn’t enough for Zhou Chen to pull the trigger and recruit Colin. He needed to consider a few more things.

With a thought, Wish Bubbles belonging to Colin materialized in the Round Table Hall, floating around Zhou Chen.

One of them was an enormous wish: to get revenge on those who had bullied him in the past and were targeting him now.

This was Colin’s deepest obsession.

His second deepest obsession was a craving for authority, status, and Power, second only to his desire for revenge.

‘He seems quiet and introverted, but he’s harboring such immense ambition. Perhaps this exterior is just a persona he’s constructed to make himself seem less significant… When we searched Qin Xu’s home, he was supposed to be at the very back of the team…’

Zhou Chen steepled his fingers, rested his elbows on the Obsidian Round Table, and continued to examine Colin’s wishes, gradually building a profile of his character.

‘Highly resilient, harbors considerable ambition, feels no loyalty to his clan, is cunning, and a good actor. He’s disguised himself as a quiet, introverted nobody. And yet, he possesses a small sense of justice, taking pleasure in being praised for helping others…’

‘Especially those three factors: ambitious, vengeful, and with no loyalty to his clan… he’s the perfect candidate to be swayed and manipulated…’

“Let’s run an experiment.”

Zhou Chen materialized a pen and paper, placed them on the Round Table, and invoked the Power of Wishes to make a wish: “I want to know which of the ten people from the White House has the highest probability of joining a secret gathering and maintaining its secrecy.”

A speck of starlight drifted out and merged with the pen. The pen then rose on its own and began to write on the paper:

Xu Li: 0%, Gu Shian: 5%, Lin Qingyue: 3%, Fujiwara Shunsuke: 17%, Morishima Ryoko: 31%, Heidi Romanov: 9%, Delman Suleiman: 0%, Baron Brook: 0%, Shane Elizabeth: 0%, Colin Hurst: 86%.

“Eighty-six percent? That high?” Zhou Chen was taken aback.

Compared to the others, many of whom had a zero percent chance, Colin’s probability was far too high—abnormally so.

‘It’s more or less what I suspected,’ Zhou Chen thought. ‘He’s very ambitious. He wants to get stronger to deal with the infighting in his clan. If a mysterious entity were to pull him into an Extraordinary gathering right now, he definitely wouldn’t refuse, as long as it was harmless and beneficial to him.’

Zhou Chen mused for a moment, then reviewed Colin’s wishes once more, trying to get a firm grasp on his psychology to ensure he was fully prepared.

After a long while, his consciousness “spread” out through the Wish Bubble, pulling Colin Hurst, who was in the middle of Meditation in his Star Association dorm room, into the Round Table Hall.

—The Crowned King who had arrived because of the Desire Demon was already gone. Otherwise, Zhou Chen would have certainly continued to bide his time; he didn’t dare pull any stunts right under the nose of a Crowned King.

The next moment, Colin opened his eyes to find himself in an unfamiliar environment. His gaze instantly turned wary.

Before him was a massive Obsidian Round Table, surrounded by several ancient, high-backed chairs made of the same material. He found himself sitting in one of them.

A fire blazed in the hearth. The walls were adorned with age-worn swords, spears, halberds, Shields, and Battle Banners. The entire hall was enclosed, like some kind of Secret space existing outside of reality.

Directly across from him sat a mysterious figure shrouded in white mist, who seemed to be smiling leisurely at him.

“Good evening, Mr. Colin Hurst.”