Level 1 to Infinity: My Bloodline Is the Ultimate Cheat - Chapter 105

Chapter 105: A Small Test
Ethan instantly shut up when he saw Celeste in tears. He knew he’d been tricked, but there was nothing he could do about it.

He slouched in the last row of the Predator Beast X, still fuming but also realizing he might have gone too far.

Even if Celeste had provoked him, she was still a girl.

Good thing Lyla had cut him off earlier, otherwise, he wouldn’t have known how to back out of that mess.

Up front, Victor shot Williams a look. Williams got the message, heading to the front to take the driver’s seat.

Lyla helped Celeste into the second row, gently patting her back as she sobbed.

“Ethan, you were a little harsh back there,” Leo murmured from beside him.

“Harsh? Did you not hear what she said about you guys?”

“Yeah, but did you have to hit her like that? Look at that face, what a waste…” Leo sighed dramatically.

Ethan side-eyed him. “Oh? You developed some feelings for her?”

“I—What? Hell no!” Leo nearly jumped up, his face stiffening as he straightened his back.

Victor and Ethan tilted their heads, looking up at him.

Ethan smirked. “Relax, man, I was just messing with you. No need to get all worked up.”

Victor chuckled, then leaned in to whisper something in Ethan’s ear. Ethan turned to him, then back at Leo, who looked suspiciously uncomfortable in his seat.

No way… Ethan thought.

Victor gave him a firm nod. “Oh yeah. No doubt about it. The guy’s got it bad for Celeste.”

Ethan was stunned. “That’s a hell of a situation. Celeste doesn’t even like men, Leo’s got zero chance.”

“By the way, Vic, where’s your sister?”

Ethan had heard plenty about Victor’s sister, but she was nowhere to be seen at the wedding.

Considering how late Victor was getting married, wouldn’t his sister have been the first to show up?

Victor glanced at Leo, who had conveniently moved to the row behind Celeste, then pulled out his phone. He opened a picture. In it, a younger Victor stood amid a wreckage, his arm around a girl who looked about twenty.

The girl had a round face, a stocky build, and at a rough guess, twice Leo’s size.

Ethan frowned. “Wait… You got married, and she didn’t show up?”

Victor chuckled. “This is Celia. I took this photo when she was sixteen, right after I pulled her out of the rubble.”

Ethan was stunned. “Wait… this is—”

He’d met Celia before. She was drop-dead gorgeous, second only to Lyla and Celeste.

But at sixteen? She’d been massive. And somehow, she looked way older than she was.

Victor put his phone away, grinning.

“Back when we were in the military, Leo saw this picture and asked me who she was. I casually said she was my sister.”

“After that, Williams kept using it to mess with him. To this day, Leo still doesn’t know the truth.”

Ethan facepalmed. ‘Leo’s brain, man…’

Sometimes, the guy was way too sharp. Other times? Clueless.

Still, Ethan couldn’t help but feel a bit envious. Victor had two solid friends watching his back. Then again, wasn’t Leo the same for him?

In his last life, Leo had looked after him for four years.

This time around, it was Ethan’s turn to return the favor.

And as for the Ninth Division… He’d see for himself what kind of place it really was.

___

The highway stretched endlessly ahead. Victor and Leo had already dozed off. Even Celeste seemed asleep.

Ethan sat alone in the back row, watching the world blur past the window.

Lyla quietly slipped into the seat beside him.

Without a word, she reached for his arm and pulled it close, hugging it to her chest.

Lyla leaned against Ethan’s shoulder. “Ethie, find some time to apologize to Celeste, okay?”

“I’m not—Ow!” Ethan yelped as a sharp pain shot through his waist.

Williams glanced back from the driver’s seat, smirking before turning forward again.

Victor simply pulled his jacket over his head, pretending to be asleep.

“What the hell…” Ethan grumbled. Celeste had thrown a few punches at him earlier, and he’d barely felt them. But Lyla? Just two fingers, and it hurt like hell.

As soon as the pressure on his waist disappeared, Ethan muttered, “Fine. I’ll do it if she stops plotting against me.”

“Don’t worry, I’ve got it handled!” Lyla declared proudly.

“You? Handled it?” Ethan turned his head and found her face right in front of his.

“Mhm—”

Before she could finish, Ethan leaned in.

Their lips met.

Lyla froze completely, her body stiff as a board before melting like water. It was just a light kiss, nothing more. Ethan pulled away, meeting her wide, stunned eyes.

Lyla’s cheeks turned bright pink as she ducked her head, too embarrassed to look at him. But instead of letting go of his arm, she held onto it even tighter.

“So? How’d you handle it? You haven’t said.” Ethan grinned, teasing her.

“Hmph! Not telling. Just know that it’s done.”

They stayed close, quietly wrapped up in their own little world, until Victor suddenly stood up.

“Don’t mind me, carry on,” he said before heading to the front seat.

Lyla buried her face in Ethan’s arm in embarrassment, while he just laughed, unbothered.

___

Ethan wasn’t sure how much time had passed, but when he opened his eyes, sunlight was streaming into the car.

He’d actually fallen asleep.

It had been years since he slept like this. In his last life, ever since Ethereal launched, he had spent every night in the game.

Real sleep? He had almost forgotten what that felt like.

Lyla was still curled up against him, breathing softly. Glancing outside, he noticed they had left the highway and were now parked by the roadside.

Carefully, he laid Lyla down in the backseat so she could rest properly, then climbed to the front.

Williams was still in the driver’s seat, but instead of driving, he had his VR headset on, fully immersed in the game.

Victor and Leo were the same.

Ethan checked the time—just past six.

Since Ethereal’s servers were still online, they had probably stopped in Ember City while he was asleep and logged in to grind levels.

Celeste sat in the second row, wearing sunglasses and a black mask. Ethan wasn’t sure if she was asleep or just ignoring him.

Stepping out of the Predator Beast X, he stretched, letting out a sigh.

As he turned around, Celeste followed him out.

Guess she was awake after all.

“Um… I’m sorry. I was wrong last night. I shouldn’t have—”

Celeste ignored him. She pulled out a cigarette, lowered her mask, and lit up.

Ethan noticed the bruise at the corner of her mouth. His attempt at an apology was met with cold indifference. Awkward.

“You weren’t wrong,” Celeste finally spoke, exhaling a thin stream of smoke. “I was. If someone set me up like that, I’d have reacted the same way.”

“If you hadn’t fought back, I’d actually look down on you.”

Her voice was flat, unreadable.

“I need people like you. People who’d do anything for their friends, for the ones they love.”

“This was just a small test.”

She took another drag of her cigarette.

“I used to have friends like that. Teammates.”

“They’re gone now.”

Ethan’s expression shifted. “Gone?”

Celeste nodded. “Dead.”

A heavy silence hung between them. Ethan hesitated before asking, “Killed in action?”

Celeste was quiet for a moment.

“If that were the case, it wouldn’t be so bad.”

She exhaled slowly.

“But no. They were betrayed.”