"What!" Anya yelled into the phone, annoyed. "Why do you want me to come back?"

The Cadillac Escalade drove smoothly down the road. Li Wei was driving and eavesdropping on Anya’s chat with her father, Sergey.

It wasn’t that he was consciously trying to eavesdrop. It was just that with his current hearing, he had to actively concentrate on driving to tune everything out.

Otherwise, given his proximity to Anya, it felt less like Sergey and Anya were having a phone call and more like Li Wei was sitting on Sergey’s lap, listening to the man speak right into his ear.

’No, that’s way too weird.’ Li Wei quickly shook his head, banishing the image from his mind.

"Didn’t you say you wanted to increase your trust holdings?" Sergey’s voice came through to Anya. "I’ve had my people arrange it. You need to come back to sign the papers and go through the compliance review. Besides, you’re 18 now, an adult. There are some documents you need to sign."

"But I’m on my graduation trip," Anya said, looking at the scenery outside the window. "Can it wait a couple of days?"

"Delay it by one day, and your trust will be short 100 million USD," Sergey snorted. "I’m not joking. Get back here, now!"

"How could you do this?!" Anya was upset. "Dad, you don’t love me anymore!"

"I don’t love you?" Sergey’s voice went up an octave. "You have no idea—"

"Mr. Sergey, allow me, allow me—"

A series of murmurs came from Anya’s phone. After a moment, an elderly male voice Li Wei had never heard before took over. "Miss Anna, this is Ivanovic. Mr. Sergey does not wish to forcibly interfere with your personal wishes, it’s just that he has truly expended a great deal of effort on this matter."

"Uncle Ivan," Anya said cheerfully. "I haven’t heard your voice in so long."

"Ahem, Miss Anna, it is a pleasure to hear your voice as well," said Ivanovic. "It’s just that, now that you’ve come of age, increasing your trust holdings is tied to your appointment as a successor and your entry onto the board of the family office. All of this requires you to return to Moscow to draft and sign a series of complex legal documents anew."

"But my graduation trip is only halfway over..."

Anya glanced at Li Wei, who was driving. She climbed from the back seat to the front and whispered in his ear:

"Do you want to come to Russia with me? You’ve never been to Moscow, have you?"

Li Wei shook his head. "Honey, I have to be back in New York next week. The Giants’ training camp is about to start, and I have to play in the preseason two weeks before school starts."

"Then wait, let me ask," Anya said, not giving up. "How long do I need to be back to sign papers... What?! A month and a half?!!"

"Yes. Because aside from the family office’s board of directors," Ivanovic’s voice also sounded helpless, "the trusts you are increasing are located in Monaco and Switzerland, respectively. In total, the trusts under your name will reach 1.4 billion USD. This is no small sum. They have a fiduciary duty to explain the terms, rights, tax risks, and asset allocation to you."

"But Uncle Ivan," Anya tried one last time, "aren’t you our family’s legal advisor? Can’t you just act as my legal representative—"

"No," Sergey’s voice cut in. From the sound of his exhale, it seemed he’d taken a puff of a cigar to calm down. "You’re a Russian. High-risk clients must undergo an in-person, physical identity verification to ensure that neither you nor I have been coerced by Ivanovic, and that we are of sound mind."

"Not only that, Miss Anna," Ivanovic said with a light chuckle. "Because you are about to attend Yale University, you could very well be subjected to a 40% tax on your newly increased trust by those bloodsuckers in the United States of America under FATCA (Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act). To avoid this risk, I have been building a non-U.S. tax resident trust structure for you. This also requires your cooperation in signing a large number of tax-separation declarations. From asset valuation, tax planning, to structural implementation, it will take at least a month."

"Fine..." Anya drooped like a wilted flower. "I’ll head back tonight."

After hanging up, Anya clicked her tongue with a hint of regret.

"That’s strange," she said suddenly, looking at Li Wei’s eyes in the rearview mirror. "Is it my imagination, or did you get even more handsome?"

"Hm?" Li Wei glanced at his constantly active Knight’s Aura. "It’s not your imagination. I secretly got plastic surgery yesterday."

"Oh, stop," Anya said, climbing into the passenger seat and curling up. She frowned as she studied Li Wei’s chiseled profile and jawline. "It’s so weird... Nothing’s changed, but suddenly your whole aura feels different."

"Is that a good thing or a bad thing?" Li Wei said without turning his head. "Could it be because you didn’t sleep well last night?" 𝚏𝗿𝗲𝐞𝚠𝕖𝐛𝗻𝗼𝐯𝕖𝚕.𝚌𝗼𝗺

"It’s a bad thing for me. Once I’m gone, I’m sure a lot of little bitches will be throwing themselves at you," Anya said, grinding her little canines. "But if you’re talking about sleep... last night was the best sleep I’ve had in days."

"When I woke up, my back, legs, and butt weren’t sore at all," she said, pinching some dead skin on her arm to reveal new, jade-like skin underneath. "The sunburnt spots are also starting to peel really fast. That shouldn’t be happening so quickly..."

"Maybe it’s because you’re in a good mood from the change of scenery?" Li Wei spouted some nonsense. "Or maybe you’re just getting used to the weather here."

"Well, I’ve had about enough anyway," Anya said, looking at the scenery outside. "Once you’ve seen one high-altitude desert, you’ve seen them all."

"You did a ton of research before we came out," Li Wei said. "Then you got sick of it on the second day. Sigh, women—"

Before he could finish, Anya clamped a hand over his mouth.

...

Li Wei took a black Uber by himself from Kennedy Airport back to Battery City Park.

They had driven all the way to Saint George City in southern Utah. Before they even arrived, Anya, the little rich girl, had waved her hand and chartered two private jets and a cargo plane, complete with filed flight plans, to wait for them at St. George Regional Airport.

One was flying directly to Moscow. Of the remaining two, one would take Li Wei back, and the other would transport the car.

On the way back, Li Wei stared at the mission guide related to the [Royal Knight Academy Ticket] and fell into deep thought.

’The third stage of the Knight’s Path mission requires me to join this Royal Knight Academy to unlock it?’

’But where is this place? And what’s so special about August 28th?’

Suddenly, his memories began to unfold like a virtual reality movie, rapidly retrieving past information.

After his Spirit broke through to 4.0, he found that his memory had been enhanced again. Before, it was a short-term photographic memory, but now he discovered he could review his past memories like a VR movie, complete with smells and tactile sensations.

He quickly searched his brain for any relevant information and suddenly remembered.

"Yale’s opening ceremony," he muttered to himself. "Isn’t that on August 28th?"

’Looks like I have to go to college after all.’

When he got home, Don Quixote had taken Lily and Susan out and wasn’t back yet.

Li Wei simply turned on his computer and started planning his next move.

Although it seemed like he had a lot of money now, he still felt stretched thin when it came to actually spending it.

First was the issue of strength training and testing.

After leveling up once, his previous benchmarks felt completely meaningless. But this feeling of having his strength increase without knowing by how much left him feeling uncertain.

For example, if he had to do something that required immense strength, like tearing open a bank vault door with his bare hands or resisting the force of hydraulic cutters.

He didn’t know why he’d ever need to tear open a bank vault door, but what if?

It would be too late to regret it if he thought he could do it, only to find out in the middle of it that he couldn’t.

Then there was his constitution. He used to be able to take a 9mm bullet, but now, faced with a 7.62mm rifle round, he had no idea if he could withstand it.

A private gym and a shooting range for various power tests were essential. He couldn’t exactly test these things at the Giants’ gym, could he?

The more he calculated, the more it felt like the two million-plus USD he had wouldn’t last long at all.

Just as he was frowning at the budget spreadsheets on his computer screen, the apartment’s fingerprint lock clicked open.

Don Quixote and Lily walked in. Lily seemed to be in a good mood, jumping into Li Wei’s arms with a smile and asking if he had brought her a gift from Utah. Li Wei silently pointed to a bag on the sofa.

Lily let out a cheer and happily ran over to open the bag.

Don Quixote, however, looked at Li Wei and, for some unknown reason, also felt that he seemed a little more handsome.

"By the way," Li Wei asked suddenly, "do you know a Mark?"

"Mark?" Don Quixote frowned, sitting down next to Lily and sinking into his memories. "Mark Davis? A rookie I mentored once... After I left the job, I lost contact with him."

He looked up at Li Wei. "Why? Do you know him?"

"I met him in Utah," Li Wei said, briefly explaining how they’d met. "Then I found out he actually knew you. He’s been trying to find you."

"He was a good, hardworking kid, just a little green," Don Quixote said with emotion. "I can’t believe he’s already a partner at Merrill Lynch. That’s incredible."

"I think he’ll probably contact you in a couple of days," Li Wei said casually. "What do you think? Want to ask him out for a meal?"

"Let’s wait until after his wife gives birth," Don Quixote said, having heard from Li Wei about Mark’s pregnant wife. "There’s no rush. I’ve been a bit busy myself lately, negotiating endorsement deals with major luxury brands."

"Right," Li Wei said. "I’m planning to set up a gym and a shooting range. Could you help me make some initial inquiries and see what the process involves?"

He was now intensely curious about the extent of his own strength and constitution.

He needed to know. Urgently.