Animal-eared Girl Era: Start by Forming a Contract with an SSS-Class School Belle

Hong family territory, the villa where the Young Master of the Hong family lived.

Hong Tao received a mission progress report from the gray-clad leader of the mission team.

[Step one succeeded, step two succeeded, step three succeeded, already moving on to phase four, the kill phase, phase four is about to succeed!]

"Heh heh heh!" Hong Tao snickered with excitement, "Xiao Ye, oh Xiao Ye, this time, you're definitely dead."

"After so much scheming, from the Maid Tavern, to campus bullying, all the way to the underground crystal ore ordeal, you're finally about to fall into my hands!"

The 300-pound fat lady saw how happy he looked and couldn't help but start laughing too. Sitting on his lap like a skin drum, she said, "That little thief's dead?"

Hong Tao's legs were nearly snapped in half. He braced both hands against the Contractor, the 300-pound fat lady, and tried to get her off.

"Not dead yet, but he's doomed, the assassination plan's already at the final step. If nothing unexpected happens—no, there's no way anything's gonna go wrong—he's dead!"

"Wait, how are you getting fatter again? You must be three hundred fifty pounds by now!" He looked at her like he couldn't believe it.

The 350-pound fat lady shot him a vicious glare and complained, "Wouldn't be like this if I hadn't failed to get the Life and Destruction materials in the last Sacred Spirit Secret Realm. Without that, my sudden weight gain wouldn't have gotten out of control."

Hong Tao tried to comfort her, "Don't worry, I'll go find the Kunpeng Venerable in a few days and buy those two materials."

The 300-pound fat lady said, "You think the Kunpeng Venerable will sell them to you when that little thief dies on our turf?"

Hong Tao's face turned dark. *Damn, I didn't even think of that problem.*

The 300-pound fat lady's expression twisted, rage flooding her face as she flopped onto him, nearly crushing him flat. "I don't care! You have to get those two materials, no matter how high the price!"

"Fine, fine, fine!" Hong Tao hurriedly agreed, "I'll have Yang Junming go—he's the Son of the Titan Venerable. The Kunpeng Venerable probably won't turn him down."

The 300-pound fat lady's anger dissipated and her mood visibly improved.

The two of them were in high spirits, ready to celebrate the successful plan. They ordered people to bring out the best food and wine, wanting to have a good drink.

Once everything was set, Hong Tao and the 300-pound fat lady each raised their small wine cups, clinked them together, and cheered,

"This drink, let's celebrate..."

But before they could even finish the sentence, a bedraggled, battered figure burst through the doors and appeared in front of them with a flash.

"Smack! Smack!"

Their wine cups were slapped away, smashing onto the floor, wine spilling everywhere.

Hong Tao was furious, "Who the hell are you! Acting arrogant on Hong family grounds."

The 350-pound fat lady snapped, "Filthy beggar, you're dead!"

Before they even saw who it was, they just caught a glimpse of torn clothes and a pissed-off aura, so they started cursing.

Hong Dingtian snorted coldly, "Hmph! So what if I make a scene on Hong family land?" Forasmootherreadingexperience,visitMV&LEMPYR.

At long last, Hong Tao finally recognized who it was—and realized from the voice. It was his father!

Hong Tao was dumbstruck, "Father, it's you!"

"Where the hell were you, dressed like that? We actually thought you were a beggar."

Faced with the Venerable, the 350-pound fat lady wilted, mumbling, "Father, I didn't see clearly just now—I didn't know it was you."

Hong Tao got up from the seat, pulled Hong Dingtian to the main chair and smiled,

"Father, perfect timing. Let's celebrate together!"

The 350-pound fat lady put on her best fake smile, "Yeah, something this good definitely calls for a celebration!"

Something good? Hong Dingtian sat down, skeptical, his face still dark as he grumbled,

"Xiao Tao, do you have any idea what kind of loss your little plan cost us? The entire Elf Territory got completely rounded up by the Kunpeng Venerable!"

"The Elf Territory was one of our hidden assets. Without it, at least forty or fifty percent of the Hong family's income is gone!"

The two of them were stunned speechless.

They both knew the Elf Territory was under Hong family control. Both had been there themselves and met the Elf King in person.

Hong Tao frowned, "Father, what does my plan have to do with the Elf Territory?"

"The Kunpeng Venerable is a Venerable. For her to strike at another Venerable's property so recklessly—doesn't she worry about retaliation from the Venerable Alliance?"

Hong Dingtian snorted coldly, "Your kill plan got leaked..., the Hong family attacked Kunpeng Venerable's people and she retaliated. This is a personal grudge between the families. Even if we report it to the Venerable Alliance, we'd still be screwed."

Hong Dingtian briefly described the situation.

Hong Tao stood there like he'd been struck by lightning. *The plan got leaked?!*

"Wait! The assassination plan's in the very last stage—by now Xiao Ye should have been eliminated! We're in the middle of celebrating a job well done!"

Hong Dingtian was shocked by that, his face changing, "Xiao Ye's already dead?"

His tone turned panicked and his face was scarily grim.

"Hong Tao, do you know what killing Xiao Ye really means?"

"It means the Kunpeng Venerable will become our sworn enemy—the Hong family and her will be at total war until one of us is wiped out!"

"Hong Tao, what the hell were you thinking? You're trying to drag the Hong family into the abyss!"

Both Hong Tao and the fat lady looked terrified at his outburst.

The Kunpeng side had two Venerables: a top-rank Venerable and a high-rank Venerable. Among the Top Ten Venerable Ones of Devil City, they ranked right at the top, known as the Twin Kings, Kunpeng Queens.

Especially the top Venerable, Yunxi, number one in Devil City's top ten, number one in combat power, the spatial attribute Venerable, said to be invincible at her tier.

Hong Dingtian and his wife, the Earth Bear King and top Venerable, only ranked third.

The City Lord of the City Lord's Mansion took second place.

Nervous, Hong Tao said, "Xiao Ye is just a student at Kunpeng Academy, and only has a simple teacher-student relationship with the Dean of Kunpeng Venerable Institute. If he dies, is Kunpeng Venerable really gonna get that mad—enough to go to war with the Hong family?"

Thinking of what Yunxi had said to him, Hong Dingtian scowled with rage,

"Bullshit teacher-student relationship—I suspect Xiao Ye is either Kunpeng Venerable's bastard kid or her kept pretty boy."

"Are you sure that kid Xiao Ye is actually dead?"

"Not one hundred percent. I'll check." Hong Tao pulled out his communicator and dialed the gray-clad man. Only a busy signal came back.

The call didn't go through. Hong Tao tried several backup numbers for mission personnel, all he got was busy signals—no one picked up.

That could mean only one thing: they were all dead.

"Hahaha!" Instead of being upset, Hong Tao suddenly brightened,

"The plan failed! Xiao Ye's still alive!"

Hong Dingtian breathed a huge sigh of relief, "As long as that kid's alive, it's fine. We lost the Elf Territory, but we still have the underground crystal ore. As long as we raise the elves in the mines, we can cultivate another Elf Territory."

The two nodded their understanding.

He warned Hong Tao, "Remember, from now on, the Hong family gives up hunting Xiao Ye. No open or secret attacks, no hiring others to do it—total, literal surrender. Absolutely hands off."

Hong Tao understood the danger and agreed instantly.

The 350-pound fat lady was frustrated, super frustrated, but had to nod in agreement.

"Report!" Someone shouted outside as an intelligence officer raced in, flustered.

"The underground crystal ore has completely collapsed. The land sank almost a hundred meters. We sent scouts down and found the entire mine turned to ash—the ore caves have vanished, buried under regular stone."

The three of them looked like they'd been struck by lightning.