Chapter 86: A Snake Raised by Snakes

Instead of answering her, Clark suddenly spat at her. However, before the spit could even reach her, Balian quickly redirected it straight back into Clark’s face.

"Fuck!" Clark cursed angrily, clearly disgusted.

Balian still had a smile on his face, but there was no warmth in his eyes anymore. He looked at Clark with a cold gaze sebelum speaking in a calm voice. "Do that again, and I’ll take your tongue instead."

Clark’s face turned red with anger as he wiped the spit from his cheek. He looked as though he wanted to say something, but the moment his eyes met Balian’s, he quickly shut his mouth.

For some reason, Clark had a feeling that the man wasn’t joking.

Summer watched the exchange with raised eyebrows. She had to admit that seeing Clark get a taste of his own medicine was quite satisfying.

[HAHAHAHA! HE JUST SPAT ON HIMSELF!]

[I’m crying! Did anyone record that?!]

[Someone please turn that into a meme!]

[Forget the meme! Balian was smiling while threatening to cut off someone’s tongue. Why is that so scary?!]

[Am I the only one who finds him even more attractive now?]

[Yes, and you seriously need help, Sister.]

Summer glanced at the comments before turning her attention back to Clark. "I’m done with him. Just leave him here or whatever."

Of course, Summer knew that the medical team wouldn’t actually leave Clark behind in a polluted zone. After all, taking care of Sentinels and Guides was part of their job.

Still, seeing this bastard panic, even for a little while, was already entertaining enough for her.

"You bitch!" Clark cursed angrily. "Do you really think you can get away with killing me too?! They’ll make sure you rot in prison for everything you’ve done!"

Summer narrowed her eyes. They?

That was an interesting choice of words.

No matter how she looked at it, there was something suspicious about the way he had said it. It almost sounded as though he knew someone was waiting to deal with her.

However, instead of questioning Clark directly, Summer turned toward Balian. "Can you access his terminal’s recordings too? I want to hear the latest one."

After all, a man like Clark would never put all his hopes into a single plan. Summer was certain that he had a few backup plans prepared just in case something went wrong.

And if he had been working with other people, there was no way he would willingly take all the blame by himself.

He would definitely make sure to drag those people down with him.

"What the fuck do you think you’re doing?!" Clark snapped when Balian started going through his terminal again.

Strangely enough, despite his angry words, he didn’t seem particularly interested in stopping Balian. He simply sat there, watching the snow leopard with an annoyed expression.

"Don’t you dare open my private pictures!"

Interesting.

Summer almost wanted to laugh because this bastard was practically begging them to find something.

It seemed that Clark really did want to drag the others down with him. He just didn’t want to be the one to expose them directly.

"Wow, Miss Beaumont. You certainly have some interesting people around you," Balian remarked with a soft chuckle as he opened Clark’s gallery.

He then turned the holographic panel toward Summer, allowing her to see several pictures displayed on the screen.

In those pictures, Clark was talking with none other than Mr. and Mrs. Beaumont.

Summer clicked her tongue. Of course. Who else could it be?

To be fair, she wasn’t particularly surprised. She had already suspected that those two might have something to do with this whole mess.

After all, there weren’t many people who hated her enough to go this far.

Even so, Summer remained perfectly calm as she reached toward the holographic panel.

Without wasting any more time, she opened the recordings and played whatever Clark had secretly recorded.

The moment Summer pressed the play button, a faint crackling sound came from the terminal.

A few seconds later, a familiar woman’s voice filled the air. "Are you sure you can handle her?"

Summer raised her eyebrows. Well, well, well. Wasn’t that her dear mother’s voice?

"Of course I can," Clark replied confidently. "Summer might have become a little stronger, but that doesn’t change the fact that she’s just a Guide. What can she possibly do against me?"

"Don’t underestimate her," Mrs. Beaumont warned. "That girl has always been as poisonous as a snake! She tried to kill my daughter back then, and now she’s even sent her into a coma! My parents were right. Adopted children are always so ungrateful! They only bring bad luck to the family!"

Summer pressed her lips into a thin line, and the veins in her neck began to stand out as she listened to those words.

How dare that woman say something so horrible about children who didn’t even have a place to call home?

Did she seriously think that adopted children were somehow worse than everyone else?

What a disgusting thing to say!

And the worst part was that Mrs. Beaumont wasn’t just insulting the original owner of this body. Her words were also an insult to Summer, Ilya, Archer, and every other adopted child out there.

Summer could put up with a lot of things, but this was something she couldn’t simply laugh off.

"What kind of messed-up family did you end up in, Miss Beaumont?" Balian asked, looking genuinely annoyed for the first time.

He stared at the recording for a moment before turning toward Summer again. "Actually, even calling you Miss Beaumont feels wrong now. I think I’ll just call you by your first name from now on."

[Smooth.]

[HAHAHAHA! DID HE JUST USE THAT AS AN EXCUSE TO CALL HER SUMMER?!]

[Brother, we’re in the middle of exposing a crime! Can you stop flirting for five minutes?!]

[But seriously, her mother is disgusting. What did adopted children ever do to her?!]

[As someone who was adopted, I honestly want to punch that woman.]

[Same here. Imagine adopting a child and then treating them like they’re some kind of curse.]

[Someone needs to remind that woman that she’s the one who chose to adopt a child in the first place!]

After listening to the entire recording from beginning to end, Summer sent a copy to her own terminal.

She then turned toward Clark, looking at him with nothing but disgust. "What exactly did they promise you? Immunity from the law?"

After regaining a little more of her strength, Summer bent down slightly until her face was closer to his. Her violet eyes were filled with coldness as she stared straight at him.

"Something like that might have worked if I were still the old Summer, but now?" A slow smile appeared on her face as she tilted her head to the side. "I’m afraid you’ve picked a fight with someone far beyond your league."

She then leaned closer and lowered her voice to a whisper, making sure that even the livestream couldn’t pick up her words. "No matter what happens, the government would never allow one of its most valuable assets to rot behind bars."

After all, Summer wasn’t just Archer and Ilya’s Guide anymore.

She was now officially an SSS-Rank Guide herself!

More importantly, she was the only person who had managed to tame two of the government’s most dangerous weapons, so there was no way the people in power would willingly throw someone like her into prison, especially over a bastard like Clark.

Of course, Summer knew how unfair that sounded, but that was simply how the world worked.

At the end of the day, how harshly the law treated someone often depended on how powerful that person was.

And unfortunately for Clark, he had picked the wrong person to mess with.

"Enjoy spending the rest of your life paying for what you’ve done," Summer said with a sweet smile before straightening her back.

"Summer, would you like me to break his arms as well?" Balian suddenly asked.

His voice was so casual that anyone who hadn’t heard his words might have thought he was simply asking whether Summer preferred vanilla or strawberry ice cream.

Summer had to admit that the offer was rather tempting. After everything Clark had done, watching him suffer a little more would certainly make her feel better.

However, she wasn’t stupid enough to let her anger get the better of her.

There were already countless people watching her every move through the livestream. If she went too far, even those who supported her might start questioning her actions.

And honestly, Clark wasn’t worth ruining her reputation over.

"No, let him crawl," Summer replied with a dismissive wave of her hand.

She glanced at Clark one last time before adding with a cold smile, "After all, a dog should be crawling on all fours instead of walking like a human."

[HAHAHAHA! SHE JUST CALLED HIM A DOG!]

[As a dog beastman, I would like to formally request that she stop comparing us to that trash.]

[Seconded! We dogs are loyal creatures!]

[Don’t compared us with that wolf!]