My Brother, Luo Hua

"Mom, what happened to Luo Hua? What exactly is going on?" Luo Feng was more distraught and panicked at this moment than when he had killed Li Wei.

"Xiao Feng, you, don't panic either." His mother, Gong Xinlan's voice, slightly choked with tears, continued, "Your brother almost drowned earlier, but he's been rescued and is fine now."

"Drowned? Mom, what exactly happened?"

Luo Feng couldn't understand. How could his brother get into trouble inside a Base City? Wasn't the nanny always with him?

"Xiao Feng, it's like this. This afternoon, the nanny took your brother, Xiao Hua, to the nearby park to play. You know your brother often goes to the park... This time, while there, he ran into the parents of his girlfriend, 'Xiao Nan'. Xiao Nan's parents asked your brother to talk with them privately."

Luo Feng frowned...

Luo Hua had never told his girlfriend's parents about their relationship. And this time, it was clear Xiao Nan's parents had come to find Luo Hua for a reason.

"At the time, your brother asked the nanny to step aside. He spoke alone with Xiao Nan's parents for about a full hour. After that, Xiao Nan's parents left." His mother's voice on the phone was a little hoarse, as if from crying, "Later, your brother said he wanted to stroll around the park alone and told the nanny to wait for him at the park entrance."

"Nanny Qin also thought there was no danger in the park, just some scenery, so she didn't think much of it. She waited for your brother at the park entrance."

"But, no one could have imagined it. Your brother actually wheeled himself to the scenic lake. The lake had long since frozen over. Only in a few spots had playing children broken through the ice. Your brother actually flipped himself directly into the lake, falling into an ice hole."

Luo Feng's face turned a little pale as he listened. Although he knew his brother was ultimately fine, falling into an ice hole on a frozen lake, especially for his brother who was disabled and had a death wish...

It was almost certain death.

"Fortunately, a young Warrior from our Residential District named 'Qiu Yi' was there. He immediately jumped into the lake, broke through the ice, and swam under the ice to search for your brother. He finally found your brother and pulled him out! Your brother had already stopped breathing then, but luckily, Qiu Yi also knew some first aid and saved your brother's life. Later, the doctor in our Residential District said that if it had been even a little bit later, or if he had been underwater for a bit longer, he would definitely have died."

"I don't know what cruel words Xiao Nan's parents said, to force my son to seek death. Don't they have children of their own?"

His mother's voice on the phone had broken into sobs, completely unable to hold back.

Luo Feng also clenched his fists.

Ever since he was a child, because of his disability, his brother had mostly been alone at home, even attending school through online distance learning! Long periods of solitude had made his brother quite introverted and self-conscious, only appearing cheerful in front of family. In terms of mental resilience, his brother was actually very fragile.

"Xiao Nan's parents probably only care about their daughter, so they would say harsh and cruel things to make my brother leave their daughter. How could they care if my brother could handle it?"

In truth, people were all the same.

In Luo Feng's heart, his parents and brother were the most important. And in Xiao Nan's parents' hearts, their daughter was, of course, also the most important!

"Mom, how is my brother now?" Luo Feng pressed.

"The doctor in the Residential District said he's fine now. However, your brother's emotions are unstable, so your father and I are taking turns watching him. We're just afraid he might do something foolish." His mother, Gong Xinlan, shook her head, "Xiao Feng, come back soon. Xiao Hua talks to you easily; there are many things he won't tell us."

After all, Luo Feng and Luo Hua were close in age, so Luo Hua naturally preferred to talk to Luo Feng about many things.

"Yes, I'll be home tomorrow morning," Luo Feng nodded.

After selling the dragon egg, combat armor, and other items, he would take the train back overnight.

...

After hanging up the phone, Luo Feng sat on the sofa, his mood heavy. For so many years, his brother had actually been doing quite well, especially after moving into Mingyue Residential District and meeting Xiao Nan. His brother had been very happy and content. But he never expected... this first love could make his brother incredibly happy, but also so miserable he would contemplate suicide.

"A failed first love is a much greater blow to my brother than to an ordinary person."

"Xiao Nan's parents probably stopped their daughter from dating my brother because of his disability." Luo Feng took a deep breath. "Soon. If my luck holds this time, the 30 billion Huaxia coins needed for the 'Water of Life' might just be earned from this one deal!"

"30 billion!"

The dragon egg, of course, wasn't worth that much. The most important items were the combat armor and the treasured sword.

"I hope it's SS-tier. If it is, I'll be rich." Luo Feng himself had no way to identify it; it required specialized instruments, which he didn't possess. Nor did he want people from the HR Alliance or Extreme Martial Arts Dojo to inspect these items.

Time passed, minute by minute.

"Bang! Bang! Bang!"

A knock came at the door. Luo Feng walked over and opened it.

Standing outside the door was a middle-aged man with a walrus mustache, dressed in leather and carrying a large backpack. The moment he saw Luo Feng, he sensed the sharp edge common to Warriors in Luo Feng's eyes. He immediately smiled, "You must be Mr. Wei?"

"Wang Hou?" Luo Feng raised an eyebrow. The advertisement on the Warrior forum had included a photo.

"That's right," Wang Hou smiled.

"Please come in." Luo Feng let him in, then closed the door.

The two sat down on the sofa.

"I heard you, Mr. Wei, have some good stuff?" Wang Hou's smile was bright, but his gaze was excited, like a hunter spotting prey.

Luo Feng smiled faintly and opened his oversized backpack. The largest item inside was the huge, greenish dragon egg. Luo Feng held the dragon egg and placed it directly on the sofa, smiling as he looked at Wang Hou: "Wang Hou, this is a dragon egg. I'm sure you can identify what kind of dragon egg it is."

"A dragon egg? A dragon egg worth over ten billion? Could it be the East Sea Azure Dragon's egg?" Wang Hou jumped in surprise.

Luo Feng was startled.

The East Sea Azure Dragon? That was a King-tier monster, far more powerful than a Lord-tier. And over all these years, only one East Sea Azure Dragon egg had ever appeared, rumored on the Warrior network to have sold for an astronomical price of over 50 billion.

"What kind of eyesight does this guy have? He's been in business for so long, and I thought he'd recognize it at a glance." Luo Feng shook his head, remaining silent.

Luo Feng didn't know how many dragon eggs had been discovered worldwide to date.

Wang Hou himself had only seen two with his own eyes. How could he possibly identify what kind of dragon egg this was with his limited experience?

"No, the Azure Dragon's egg is bigger than this," Wang Hou added.

"I never said it was an Azure Dragon's egg. You should just test it," Luo Feng couldn't help but say.

He had said his items were worth over ten billion, but he hadn't said this single item alone was.

"This is the first dragon egg I've ever acquired, tsk tsk," Wang Hou's eyes gleamed.

"A dragon egg, indeed." Wang Hou quickly opened his backpack, which contained three combination locks. He took out one of the cases, opened it, and retrieved a set of instruments. He pressed the spider-like instrument's tentacles onto the dragon egg's surface, and immediately, a large amount of data appeared on the instrument's screen.

Wang Hou looked at the data and chuckled, "Mr. Wei, you're truly impressive, to get your hands on a dragon egg! In today's world, none of the monsters called 'dragons' are easy to deal with."

"Is the test done?" Luo Feng looked at the screen.

"Almost," Wang Hou said with a smile, in no hurry.

"Oh."

Wang Hou's eyes lit up. Staring at the screen, he smiled at Luo Feng, "According to the database comparison, this is an Iron Armored Dragon egg! The Iron Armored Dragon is considered upper-middle tier among all 'dragon' type monsters worldwide. The price for such a dragon egg, let's go by market price. I'll be straightforward, and you be straightforward too: 5 billion Huaxia coins!"

Luo Feng had, of course, checked the market before coming. 5 billion was indeed a very fair price; even selling it to the HR Alliance would fetch roughly the same amount.

"Fair enough," Luo Feng smiled. "That price works."

"My business dealings are well-known for their integrity," Wang Hou chuckled. "Business is about the long game. If I fleece you too hard, you'll definitely talk about me on the forum... and then my reputation will suffer, and I won't be able to do business anymore. So—anyone who does business with me knows my character, Wang Hou."

Seeing this, Luo Feng smiled faintly.

"Mr. Wei," Wang Hou couldn't help but say, "You must have other items, right?"

"I do."

Luo Feng nodded and directly pulled out the treasured sword, still in its scabbard, from his backpack.

"Oh?" Wang Hou's eyes lit up at the sight of the scabbard. He glanced at Luo Feng in surprise. "This is a truly fine sword! Just the scabbard alone is astonishingly valuable. May I see it?"

"Please," Luo Feng said, a hint of anticipation in his voice.

He wondered what tier this treasured sword was. At least S-tier (9 series), right?

"Shing." Drawing the sword, Wang Hou examined it carefully, nodding involuntarily. "A fine sword, a fine sword, truly a magnificent sword. Nine times out of ten, it's a treasured sword used by a War God. If my judgment is correct, it should be an SS-tier sword. This sword is indeed very valuable."

Luo Feng was pleasantly surprised. He hadn't expected this treasured sword to be SS-tier.

"The price of a treasured sword weapon also depends on its integrity," Wang Hou chuckled. "A successfully crafted treasured sword has 100% integrity. However, as Warriors use it in battle against monsters again and again, the sword itself will suffer subtle, invisible damage. The longer it's used, the more astonishing the damage, until one day, the weapon breaks directly during combat."

Luo Feng nodded... For example, the description for S-tier weapons stated that they could be used to fight head-on against almost all S-tier monsters without damage.

This implied that weapons could still break.

"The higher the integrity, the higher the price. The lower the integrity, the lower the price, naturally."

"Let me test it." Wang Hou immediately opened another case, took out another set of instruments for inspection. A dreamy light shot out from the instrument, enveloping the treasured sword. The instrument's screen immediately collected a large amount of data and information, and then, based on its internal software database, quickly produced a result.

"100% integrity?" Wang Hou exclaimed.