Chapter: 1006

"The reason behind the resentment between us Harmons and the Dark Lord is simple. It’s all because of riches.

"Back in the days, the Harmon ancestors used to be royalty, and we had our period of glory. Back then, our ancestors amassed a huge amount of treasure, and to put things simply, we were immensely wealthy. But as time passed, things happened, and there was a change of monarchies. In order to safeguard the treasure, our ancestors buried them in a safe place and drew out a map pointing to the exact location where the treasure was buried. As a precaution, the treasure map was split into three parts. They were to be kept by the three sons of the Harmon family.

"The original plan had been to use the treasure to aid the Harmon family in regaining their former glory when the time came. But beyond everyone’s expectation, the three sons eventually turned on each other and disappeared with their part of the map. From then on, the Harmon family split into three branches and made their way in the world independent of one another.

"After centuries of ups and downs, the three lineages of the Harmon family eventually reached different outcomes. Some grew stronger, while others declined. And the maps were passed on from one generation to the next. It wasn’t until a decade ago, when Stonia went through some changes which brought about the great earthquake in Dragonmarsh, that something happened. The strongest branch of the Harmon family mysteriously just disappeared overnight! And the two remaining branches were implicated in varying degrees too. We were one of them.

"Fortunately for us, we pulled through it and made it out stronger than before. The other branch, however, did not fare so well and eventually perished." At the mention of that, Hector stopped abruptly and sighed lightly.

"Dad, I’ve seen the history on the genealogical register, but what has the Dark Lord got to do with this?" Natasha asked.

"All these years, the Dark Lord has had many chances to kill me, but he has always held back. Do you know why?" Hector countered.

"Was it because of the treasure map?" Natasha quickly understood.

"That’s right." Hector nodded.

"Who wouldn’t want to get their hands on immeasurable riches? The Dark Lord is no different. The only reason he hasn’t killed me is because he hasn’t got the map. All this time, he’d been pressuring me in every way imaginable in order to make me give up the map.

"Hang on…" Dustin suddenly asked curiously, "Mr. Harmon, surely this matter about the treasure map is a secret known by only Harmons?"

"Of course." Hector nodded yet again.

"Well, if this is a Harmon family secret, how would the Dark Lord know about it?" Dustin could not contain his concern.

"Seems like you’ve noticed." Hector sighed before continuing, "Out of the three lineages of Harmons, one has mysteriously disappeared, one has perished, and we are the last one standing. As for the Dark Lord, he is the sole survivor of the lineage that had perished!"

"The sole survivor?" Dustin and Natasha exchanged a look of surprise. It was truly astonishing to them that the Dark Lord was also a Harmon! And not only that, but one from the same ancestry! No wonder he knew so many of their secrets.

"The three branches stemmed from the same ancestry, but due to the Dark Lord’s selfishness, he went so far as to harm his kinsmen. How inhumane!" Natasha slammed her hand on the table out of frustration. She was even more irked after learning about the truth. She could have been more understanding if their current predicament had been caused by some deep grudge between both parties, but to think it was all because of a treasure map? The Dark Lord actually assassinated members of the Harmon family for so many years, all for a mere map? He was extremely deranged! "Men’s greed is endless. The temptation of the treasure is immense, and the Dark Lord will never back off till he gets his hands on them," Hector said.

"One of the three branches has already disappeared, which means that a part of the map is missing. Even if the Dark Lord manages to obtain our part of the map through all his vile schemes, what use has he of it? Isn’t it pointless?" Natasha asked coldly. The Dark Lord would not be able to find the treasure with an incomplete map. From how Natasha saw it, he was only caught up in his wishful thinking.

"The Dark Lord has been blinded by greed. He has long since lost all sense of rationality. When you become the next leader of the family, I’ll personally hand our part of the map to you. When the time comes, you must protect it to the best of your ability," Hector said solemnly.

"No, you hold on to your position as the patriach. I’m not interested in it." Natasha waved her hands dismissively. The treasure map was no doubt troublesome. If she were to take over, she could only begin to imagine the problem she’d have to deal with.

"Alright, we’ll discuss this in the future. I don’t want to force you into anything, either. The most pressing matter at hand is to defeat the Dark Lord Hector continued after a pause, "For the next three days, just stay put in the Harmon estate. Don’t go running around lest we get singled out. I’ll hire some skilled martial artists to back us up. If the Dark Lord shows up, he’ll be walking straight into our trap."

"No matter the price, we must get ahold of the Dark Lord this time round to put an end to things!" Natasha narrowed her eyes, a cold glint flashing in them.

The Dark Lord had placed huge pressure on the Harmon family and needed to be dealt with as soon as possible. However, the problem was that he hid himself too well and never revealed his identity. Now that the chance finally presented itself, the Harmons were definitely not going to let it pass without taking action.