Chapter 524

No private flight back. Arthur had been tempted to look into one, but the cost was just a little too much for him to stomach, especially when someone like Rick or casey weren’t paying for the luxury. The Malaysian Airlines flight in was reasonable enough, especially since they were forced to take the First Class cabins anyway as Climbers. The need to bring along enchanted gear meant a lot of accommodations were required, and so that came with a few perks.

Going home after nearly a year away was bittersweet. Arthur had grown significantly in the time away, pushing his Cultivation to the maximum while in the Towers. In the time between, the Clan had grown as well. As he had told Jigo, many of the newest Climbers who had joined after he had established the base on the first floor were now exiting, having taken their time to climb upwards.

Most were in their second transformation quite comfortably, some veering even higher. Their degree and variety of techniques were lower, of course, their battle experience less varied than Arthur’s – but it was part and parcel of the push and pull of the way Tower cultivation was – that they were in some ways as strong, if not stronger, than Arthur.

When you could just sit around, cultivate and reinforce yourself without limits, you could grow very strong. If not for the waste energy, the balancing draw from a too refined body counteracting this affect, Arthur would have considered it entirely unfair.

As it stood, he might not even be the strongest or best trained in his own Clan, not anymore. The Title benefit of clearing multiple Beginner Towers were modest in the beginning. At three, at ten and then twenty. He knew there were more after that number, but he cared little. Once he realised the jump between one Title to the next was double that at twenty, Arthur had lost interest.

Ten made sense, and might even be vaguely viable – though he had only cleared seven right now – but twenty just meant too much time. There were few enough that allowed you to rush through them like the first Bhutanese Tower in Thimpu.

Truthfully, the advantage of clearing so many Towers were minimal. The biggest advantage was the contribution points, the way they accumulated across different Towers and could, when one entered an Intermediate Tower, be utilized to purchase new techniques.

It was why other Climbers – mostly – went through a few. While you could acquire contribution points in a single location, there was a small multiplicative effect when one did it from multiple Towers. Of course, there was also a bit of an averaging effect too, so it was not all sunshine and roses, but it made sense to get more contribution points when possible.

Still, with so much of his time bouncing between Towers, dealing with the Clan business and the like, Arthur was not as strong as he could have been. If he had any one advantage, it was that his cultivation technique was still the strongest in the Sect as far as he knew.

However, he’d need to improve on that slim lead soon. That was the reasoning that drove him to come back to Malaysia, after all.

“What kind of food are you going to eat first?” Yao Jing asked, curiously. “I’m thinking curry fish head.”

“Hokkien Mee!” Jan said, immediately.

“Nasi lemak,” Uswah replied.

“Roti canai with mutton curry,” chimed in another of the Climbers from the Clan. Arthur couldn’t even remember his name, the kid only having chosen to clear two of the Towers before coming home. Lazy, lah.

“How about you, boss?”

“Don’t know,” Arthur said. “Maybe some char kuey teow.”

“Maybe?” Mel said, eyebrow rising. “What kind of Malaysian are you, don’t know?’

“I know what I like, but I’m going home first,” Arthur said. “So whatever they want.”

“Your new home, right?” Uswah said, with a little more concern and comprehension in her voice.

“Yeah.” Arthur sighed. “My new place.” He sighed, wondering if the choice to move his family to a gated community – one owned by the Chin’s – was the right call. The fact that the Clan was in the process of buying over the entire community, piece-by-piece as funds became available helped a little, since they would eventually have control over it.

Provide the upper levels – and their family – a place to stay. Increase safety for them all, by having proper guards and the like, so that those who might think of using their extended family as leverage would be unable to do so. Maybe even look at specialized schools and the like for those with younger members.

The kind of changes and activity that Arthur had scoffed at for the Richie-rich. Except, of course, one realised that some of those actions were just sensible, now that he was on the other side. When your enemies included triads and tongs, you couldn’t afford to risk your family. The triads might have a code, but the code was honored more often in the breach than in the following.

Wouldn’t help at all, if they put the enforcer or killers head on a pike, if his own family was dead. Never mind the TG group, whose own people were businessmen. In some ways, such people had even less scruples than the triads. As though their lack of direct contact with the consequences and the blood shed from their actions made them better, and more callous.

“So nice. I saw the pics” Yao Jing said, enthusatically. “Six rooms!”

“Three more than we need,” Arthur grumbled.

“You have an office in there, no?” Yao Jing said. “Training room? Weight room?”

“Yeah, it’s the biggest room. My sister’s been buying equipment for it and training inside.” Also training with others, which Arthur was unhappy about in a way. She seemed to be trending towards joining and becoming a Climber, something he was not enthusiastically supporting. Then again, he could make sure she had more chances of survival.

Maybe even send her to the Bhutanese first Tower…

“Don’t worry, we’ll make sure she’s safe,” Uswah said, understanding of his concern clear.

“I’d prefer if she didn’t have to go in at all,” Arthur muttered.

“You’d protect her from being a Climber and all its advantages?” Mel said.

“Is it all advantages?” Arthur tracked his gaze over the group. “We just came back from risking our lives, because we had to in the Tower. It’s near impossible to survive, without going in eventually. Sure, we get celebrity status and have ways of making money others don’t in this world – but she’ll have the second if she works for us.”

“Only so long as you’re alive,” Mel said, flatly.

“Unless I save enough for her.” Arthur’s gaze slid over to Rick who lounged not far, the rich kid able to do whatever he wanted because his family was that rich. Of course, he’d still gone into the Tower because that was the dream of everyone, the adventure that drew the mind and dreams, that was showcased in TV and movies and more.

“That won’t happen anytime soon. Not if you’re investing in us,” Mel replied.

Something in her voice, the way tension crept into the group told Arthur to be careful about what he said. He didn’t care, his reply wasn’t going to change anyway. “I know. Sucks to be responsible, though.”

“Yeah, boss. Better you than me, ah.” Yao Jing grinned and Arthur snorted.

Better him than his Clan, for sure.