Digitize: Rebirth of the Silver Death God

Chapter 180: Passing the Test

Sweat ran down Nero's forehead as he could hear the sounds of a ticking clock that rested in front of him. The clock handles seeming no different from a devil's horns as they curved at an angle with a reddish tint, ticking away towards a red triangular marker with each passing second.

Looking at the clock hours, one could tell that the time limit for his abrupt test was no more than ten minutes, as Marlo and those around him observed with cold looks on their faces.

'This little brat, he sure is persistent, but I want to see what you'll do when you reach that question,' Marlo thought with a sneer on his face.

Nero wrote as if his life depended on it, but soon he reached the last page. At this time, his eyes widened as his mouth opened in shock as he saw a complex math problem with unknown symbols. 

'This dirty man, how can he put such a question here? It's definitely at the level of an advanced college!' Nero inwardly cursed as he could tell from a glance that the problem shown was something of the elite college standard.

The butlers and guards had smirks on their faces as if they were expecting such a scene. Marlo couldn't help but speak with a tease, "What's wrong little punk? Weren't you so bold you can talk big to my daughter? Feeling troubled over such a small problem, hmph! You better make sure you answer everything correctly, otherwise...."

Marlo didn't say anything more, but the iciness in his voice caused Nero to feel a slight chill in his bones.

Nero gritted his teeth at this as he stared over the problem more intently, but sadly, no matter how hard he racked his brains, he could find the answer.

'Damn... am I going to be bullied by this bastard here?' Nero cursed again. It seemed that he really made a bad choice coming today.

While at this moment of despair, a flurried set of footsteps soon came at the door, drawing everyone's attention as a soft and hurried voice sounded.

"Nero! Nero, where are you?!"

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Nero's eyes lit up at those words, he was about to open his mouth and shout, but in an instant, a devastating oppression came over his body, forcing him to keep silent as Marlo glared at him.

'Tsk! I swear... I'll get back at this old man soon enough.' Nero thought with a firm set of eyes.

Marlo smirked then gestured towards a few guards who nodded before vanishing and appearing outside. In a flash, they had arrived before a hurried-looking Elly, who glared at them as she shouted.

"Hey, where's Nero? Hurry and let me through!" 

"We're sorry young miss, but the leader is busy with that child. Right now, he cannot attend to any other matters." One of the guards said.

"That's right; please wait with us here for a little while; he will finish the test soon." Another said with a smile.

"A test? What do you mean by test? Nero's here to teach me, so how dare you force him to take a test?! Let him out right this instant!" Elly cursed as she pointed her finger commandingly, but it was a pity; Marlo's words had more weight to their ears.

Nero, hearing Elly's concern, felt a little better at heart; he unconsciously made a gentler smile on his face as he thought to himself.

'Heh, so she does have a conscience, I guess I'll reward her...'

Adult Nero chuckled at this, saying nothing. Still, unlike the two Nero's, only one person remained silent in the room; Marlo had icy eyes as he heard his daughter's heartfelt concern for Nero, the look he gave him grew even more violent as if he made up his mind.

Luckily for Nero, he wasn't paying attention to him; his attention was now on the last problem of the test; he soon heard Marlo coldly speaking, "1 minute remaining! Kid... you better try harder, for god knows what I'll do to you if you fail even one question."

For a reason, Nero felt an even stronger amount of hatred from Marlo, even more so as he lifted his head and peeked at this face, noticing his ruthless-looking eyes.

'Blast, this bastard's really going to kill me, but this question is too hard; what do I do?'

Nero thought a bit concerned; he was now at a loss; Adult Nero shook his head as he spoke, "Fine, I'll help this time."

"Huh?" Nero said in a confused manner, but before he could even understand anything, his mind went blank as Nero's outward facial expression changed to that of an icy and emotionless one.

The sudden change in mannerism surprised even Marlo, who felt the mildly sinister aura that lingered off Nero's body; through his eyes, he could feel a menacing intent, as if the person before him wasn't an innocent youth but a monster that had slaughtered countless lives.

'What? What is going on? Where did he get such an aura?' 

Marlo thought was a tinge of shock in his eyes; he now stared at Nero more deeply, but at this time, all of the previous violent intent had vanished as if it didn't exist. 

Nero was now writing confidently, his arms moving at an incredible speed as if the problem before wasn't anything worth mention.

'Was that just an illusion? Must have been, tsk, he's writing so confidently, that problem was hand-selected by experts, does he really understand it, or is he only pretending?'

Marlo thought as he eyed Nero deeply, but no matter how hard he stared, he couldn't seem to find an accurate conclusion. Soon, the clock handle had reached its marker, and the clock alarm sounded with a ding.

Nero's hand also finished moving at the exact time, placing the pen down on top of his paper, as his icy and indifferent face returned to normal in a flash.

Nero now looked at the paper before with surprise, before he frowned and snorted, not saying anything; it seemed he knew what had transpired.

Though a bit confused, Marlo still waved his hand; one of the guards walked by Nero and took up the stack of papers, bringing it to Marlo.

Marlo then made a quick glance at the papers and found that every answer he saw on a whim was correct, his eyes flickered with surprise, but as he glanced over a few more details, he soon happened to notice the name written on the sheet.

'Nero Valstine... Valstine? Is this...?' Marlo was a bit alarmed when he saw that name, he glanced at Nero more keenly, but as he saw that Nero looked at him with an angry look, he shook his head.

"Kid, you can go now; I won't interfere with you and that child's lessons," Marlo said as he turned around and waved his hand dismissively.

Nero made a puzzled look while thinking, 'Hmm, why is he acting like this all of a sudden?'

He pondered for a bit but found no answers; as such, he shrugged before getting up and leaving the room. As the door closed, Marlo, who had a deep look on his face, glanced at one of his subordinates and spoke.

"Rafter, go and find out everything you can about this kid's background, especially his parents."

"Understood." A shady-looking man said from a corner, his features shrouded by the room's darkness as he vanished like a ninja.

Marlo then turned his eyes to the sky, gazing at the starry sky as he spoke as if speaking to himself, "Valstine... he couldn't be..."

The air in the room shifting from tension to one of mystery as the night continued onwards.

***

When Nero left the room, he had encountered an anxious-looking Elly, she stood blocked off by a few guards and stared in the direction of the door with a worried appearance, but as she saw him come out, her eyes lit up as she spoke joyfully.

"Nero, are you okay?" Elly said as she ran past the guards, who turned back with shocked faces; they didn't think he'd be able to leave in one piece.

"It's okay, I'm fine; your father only wanted to test my knowledge," Nero said with a reassuring expression on his face.,

"Really? That's not like father, wouldn't he" Elly was about to say something, but before she could finish her words, Nero grabbed her slender hand and spoke.

"It's fine; it was only just a small test, no big deal, let's go study; I have to get home soon," Nero said as he glanced at her.

Though a bit suspicious, Elly stared at him a bit before not saying anything; her face turned a bit red as she felt his arm holding hers. Feeling a bit flustered, she slapped his hand and spoke, "Hey, don't touch me like that; you'll create misunderstandings!"

"Haha, of course, of course..." Nero said as he poked her cheek; Elly made a red face at this but didn't hit him this time; she angrily glared at him before running towards a different direction as she spoke, "Dummy, what are you waiting for? The study is over here!"

Nero smiled at this as he ran in her direction; the guards and butlers looked at this with shock; they would have never imagined that he would be so bold to flirt with her in the open.

Nero swept his eyes past them and snort; very much like a child, a teenager was one who firmly held his grudges; he wouldn't act today, but he was certain to pay them back in the future.

As Nero vanished, a snort sounded as the floor rumbled like an earthquake, starling those guards on the outside. 

Back within the room, Marlo gripped his fists tightly with veins pulsing on his face; he could clearly see the interactions just now. He could even notice that as Nero ran away, he glanced at the room with a sneering expression on his face. 

Knowing that Nero's actions were a form of payback, Marlo bit his lips in anger as he spoke in an icy voice, "That little wretch..."