The Heiress Spoiled by Four Brothers and One Devilish CEO-Chapter 184 You’re Professor XAL?

At ten thousand meters above ground, two refined men sat across from each other, each holding a glass of red wine.

Karl had a faint, wry smile on his lips. "Never thought I’d be sitting here drinking with you instead of exchanging death glares."

Tristan lounged back in his seat, legs casually crossed. "I used to think I hated you to the bone. But when you told me to pick up Megan, I realized... all that hate just disappeared. Even though you did poison me with that damn worm and made life hell."

Karl gently placed his wine glass on the table, turning to gaze out the window at the endless clouds. "As long as you treat her well, that’s enough."

"My woman’s always the center of my world." Tristan’s gaze followed, the sky a pure blue, clouds soft and undisturbed—like they were far from all the grime, the evil, the filth of this world.

For a while, neither of them spoke.

Then Karl said evenly, "If things go south on this mission, I’ll get you out of there."

Tristan looked over at him.

Karl downed the rest of his wine. "Not for you. For her. If something happens to you, she and the baby won’t make it."

Tristan pressed his lips together, long, clean fingers slowly running along the rim of his glass. "She told me to tell you to be careful."

A flicker of light crossed Karl’s narrow eyes, the corners of his mouth lifting almost unconsciously. "Tell her thanks."

Tristan let out a low chuckle. "No need. You’ve still got to undo the Lover’s Link sorcery worm."

Karl froze, then gave a dry laugh. "She told you that?"

Tristan gave a knowing look, his tone unhurried. "Why don’t you guess?"

Just then, Zeta Prime rolled over. "Boss, let me clean up the glasses."

Tristan frowned. "No, you—"

Before he could finish, Zeta Prime had already crushed a wine glass with its giant metal hand.

Watching Tristan’s face darken, Zeta clutched its ’head’ and bolted away. "Any flight attendants here? Hot ones? Even a cute guy would do! Somebody, come clean this up!"

"A robot with independent thought?" Karl asked.

Tristan gave a short nod. "Yeah. Total pain."

"Is this XAL professor’s tech?"

"Yep."

Karl’s praise for Professor XAL was genuine. He even said it was because of the professor that he’d gotten the inspiration to build his time machine.

Tristan cracked a smile. "That much of a fan, huh?"

"He’s the only person I’ve ever looked up to."

Tristan’s lips curled into a vague smile. After a moment, he said simply, "Thanks."

Karl stared at him for a few beats, looking kind of stunned. "Wait... don’t tell me it’s you?"

Tristan straightened his collar. "Took you long enough. All your parts came from my labs, remember? And that time machine blueprint? Yeah. It got stolen right around the time I was busy with my engagement party."

Karl sucked in a breath. Right. He’d swiped the damn blueprint himself while Tristan was tied up with that engagement in S Country.

Of all people, the man he looked up to was actually this guy? Seriously, life was messing with him.

When they hit the ground in a small northern town in B Country, they stepped off the plane and were greeted by armored vehicles parked along the airstrip.

Hundreds of mercenaries stood in sharp formation, weapons in hand.

"Who the hell are you, really?" Karl narrowed his eyes, staring the man down.

Tristan gave a relaxed grin. "Snatching another man’s girl without knowing who he is first? Kinda reckless, don’t you think?"

Karl fired back, not about to back down. "And when I kidnapped Megan, it’s not like *you* managed to find her either."

Some revenge streak this guy had.Tristan raised an eyebrow. "Didn’t manage to protect her, huh? Still ended up sending her back to me."

Karl:[Seriously, what a jerk.]

Keith nudged Cameron with his elbow. "Your boss... what’s his story?"

Cameron shot him a cold glare. "Take a guess."

Keith:[Damn, you’re really something.]

A blonde foreign man stepped forward, bowed respectfully to Tristan, and started reporting in English.

Tristan gave a slight nod and responded perfectly, his tone smooth and fluent.

Karl’s face tightened during the conversation, clearly tense.

When it wrapped up and the foreigner left, Tristan turned to Karl, smirking. "What, can’t understand English?"

Karl’s brows furrowed. "You’re... King?"

"Well, that part you clearly understood."

Karl:[Is the universe messing with him? He really had to fall for a woman who married someone this terrifying? Talk about bad luck. Megan marrying a guy like this... they actually make sense. And him? Dad’s a convict, mom worked the streets—talk about rock-bottom origins. You don’t pick where you’re born, but it sure feels like a lifelong disadvantage.]

Tristan caught the shift in his expression. He gave Karl a casual pat on the shoulder. "Hey, no one beats you at using sorcery worm, alright?"

Karl let out a bitter chuckle. "Did you just throw shade? Like that’s a brag?"

The two hopped into a modified, bulletproof Land Rover and headed to the location.

The region was a war zone—ambushes waiting everywhere. Streets were deserted except for soldiers with heavy weapons.

After a bumpy ride that lasted nearly an hour, they reached their destination.

Zeta Prime jumped out of the car, arms shifting into full-on weapon mode. It let out a gleeful, creepy laugh. "Zeta Prime is nice, Zeta Prime is wild, Zeta Prime loves to kill in style!"

Leaning forward, its rollers buzzed against the ground, zooming it toward an underground entrance.

"Ratatatatatatata—!"

Spent shell casings clinked all over the pavement.

"Area scanned, no bombs found! Move it!"

Several mercenaries trailed in behind.

Gunfire echoed not long after, relentless and sharp.

Tristan stayed put in the vehicle, calmly puffing on a cigarette. Smoke curled around his face, blurring his expression in the haze.

After a while, he spoke flatly, "It’s a trap. Go ahead and take off Jacob Scott’s second arm."

Karl let out a short laugh. "Didn’t know you played this rough."

Tristan smiled faintly. "Never claimed to be a good guy. Never said these hands are clean. But everything I do is to stop more wars from happening."

Karl had heard of King. The name alone sent chills down the spine—a nightmare for every criminal organization.

He ran the arms trade. The biggest weapons manufacturer in the world.

A ghost in the system. So many monsters had tried to take him out—putting massive bounties on his head—but they all ended up as dust in his wake.

Karl made a quick call. "Take Scott’s second arm. If he dares lie again, we move to the legs."

It wasn’t long before a bloody photo arrived on his phone.

Karl handed it over for Tristan to see. But Tristan just muttered, "You’re not one of my guys. No need to report to me."

Karl sucked in a sharp breath. Since when did he start answering to this guy?

He gave a dry cough and turned to look out the window—just as a rocket-propelled grenade came screaming toward them.