Chapter 189: "Apology", Malfoy's Shock, and Improved Varieties!

Looking at Malfoy's shocked face, Ciel shrugged his shoulders, half-jokingly and half-seriously saying, "What can I do? I'm just a harmless little badger who only likes planting trees. You don't think I'm going to do something to the Flint family, do you? I don't have that ability. It's just a feeling that the Flint family has done too much evil and won't last long." After saying this, he smiled and turned to leave the corridor. Draco Malfoy watched his retreating figure in shock. Regarding what he had just said... only liking to plant trees, he believed that. But harmless? Like hell I believe that! If someone disturbed his tree planting, he'd probably scatter their ashes! After a long while, Malfoy's turbulent emotions were still difficult to calm down. He'd thought killing Umbridge was strange enough. But now it seemed his abilities went far beyond that. Inexplicably, his father's evaluation of him surfaced in his mind. "This little badger... Has the potential to become comparable to the Dark Lord or Dumbledore!" Malfoy smiled bitterly. His long-cultivated pride was completely shattered. People really couldn't be compared to each other! "He's a monster." Then Draco Malfoy hurriedly wrote a letter. Watching the owl carry the letter toward the Malfoy family estate, his violent heartbeat was still difficult to calm. Tonight, he probably wouldn't be able to sleep. And this was also the thought of Lucius Malfoy after receiving the letter. The Flint family was going to have bad luck? Even preparing to acquire Flint family assets? If any other eleven-year-old wizard had said this, Lucius Malfoy would only scoff. Thinking it was just a child's crazy talk. But it was him who said this. He narrowed his eyes, his mind conjuring the miserable appearance of Bogey Lockman that day in the greenhouse. At that time, this little badger had deliberately set a trap, letting Bogey Lockman foolishly jump in. That was manageable. In Lucius's view, this little badger was indeed clever and had great potential. However, realising that potential would still take considerable time. But not long after, Lucius heard about Umbridge from Draco. He was stunned then. He never expected that the widely discussed death of a Ministry official was connected to him. More terrifyingly, he had easily cleared himself of suspicion afterward. This was something even Lucius couldn't do. An eleven-year-old wizard achieving this was simply incredible. This was enough for Lucius to treat him as an equal, not looking down on him because of his age. "Ciel Sprout..." Lucius murmured this name. Then he opened another piece of intelligence obtained by the Malfoy family. Deep shock flashed in his eyes. "Bogey Lockman, that guy mysteriously disappeared too. Even the Lockman house was completely ransacked." This had happened some time ago. But the Lockman family wasn't any prestigious noble house. Bogey Lockman lived alone, gaining attention only through his venomous comments in botanical journals. After Bogey Lockman's incident, no one paid attention to the Lockman house. Only recently, when an editor went to commission articles, did they discover the Lockman house's changes. This was another unsolved case. But at this moment, Lucius suddenly felt things seemed quite coincidental. Bogey Lockman had also seemed to oppose this little badger, right? And then he disappeared too. "Could he have done this too?" This thought surfaced in his mind, making Lucius shudder involuntarily. If so, this little badger was indeed quite unfathomable. Snape's initial evaluation, saying his Herbology talent was comparable to Grindelwald and the Dark Lord, now seemed somewhat conservative. Moments later, Lucius gritted his teeth and made a decisive decision. He prepared to follow his words, mobilising funds and various resources to devour Flint family industries after their downfall! Don't look at the Flint family as the shame of the Sacred Twenty-Eight. Their methods had always been despised by aristocratic circles. But those dirty jobs they did made them quite a lot of money. Over the years, they'd really used various unsavoury dark methods to acquire many quality properties. If the Malfoy family could devour these, it would be a massive profit! Lucius's eyes showed intense heat. "Just some Chizpurfle grass seeds in exchange for such information. It seems this little badger truly values cultivation and Herbology immensely. In that case, we should pay more attention to various seed information. And this batch of Chizpurfle grass seeds must be the best quality sent over. Maintaining this relationship is greatly useful for our Malfoy family. In the future world, the era of Dark Lords and White Lords will eventually pass. By then, this relationship will be precious wealth I leave for Draco." Thinking this, Lucius immediately began arrangements. At the same time, his attention focused on the Flint family. Bacon Flint and the dark wizards he recruited had quite harsh methods. Even the Malfoy family had no way to deal with the Flint family. Lucius really didn't know what methods he had to deal with the Flint family. At this time, the Flint family had the same thoughts. What could he do to them? Never mind him... even if Professor Sprout didn't give the Flint family face, what could she do? Surely Dumbledore wouldn't get involved. Besides apologising through his sea invitation, what else could he do? "Even if he wants to play some tricks. A little wizard, and a Hufflepuff at that... what waves could he make?" Bacon Flint looked at the group of fierce wizards beside him, showing a confident smile. The wizards he recruited, though not technically dark wizards, were in some ways more fearsome than dark wizards. Forcibly demolishing houses and burying entire families alive... they'd done no less than dark wizards. He could already imagine what fearful expression he would show when encountering the magical world's other side. This time, not only would he vent for his child, but he'd also force him to hand over Sprout Island's land. The policies that place enjoyed were quite superior. Not giving it to the Flint family for development but leaving it for this little badger to farm... wasn't that incredibly foolish? Marcus Flint lay on a stretcher, his face also full of malice, as if already thinking about how to torment him at sea. At this time, Bacon Flint checked the time. "Alright, everyone's about here. No matter what tricks this little badger wants to pull, even if Professor Sprout behind him interferes, we can make them suffer. Let's set sail." Over ten people plus Marcus Flint, who couldn't move freely. They naturally couldn't use flying carpets or broomsticks. However, the Flint family had prepared a magical vessel. It looked like a small fishing boat, but the cabin space was extremely large, comfortably accommodating over ten people without any problem. After everyone boarded, the vessel automatically began rowing, quickly breaking through the sea surface toward the distance. The speed was so fast it rivalled motorboats from the Muggle world. Within a few hours, the Flint family reached the North Sea, stopping at the coordinates he had arranged with them. Bacon Flint looked at the empty sea surface but couldn't see him anywhere. He frowned deeply, extremely dissatisfied. "Begging us for help yet daring to be late? It seems necessary to teach this Sprout family heir a lesson and let him know how bad it is to be late for business." Marcus Flint called out, "Hand him over to me!" Bacon smiled indulgently. "Good, good, of course. I'll personally hand him over to you. But all of you need to return to the cabin first. Otherwise, if that little badger sees so many people and gets scared, what if he doesn't dare come?" The wizards recruited by the Flint family all showed knowing smiles. Luring people out apparently wasn't their first time doing this. "Boss, we know what to do. We'll eat and drink in the cabin, conserving energy. You chat with people outside, Boss. When that fool thinks things are settled, you smash a cup, and we rush out to give him an unforgettable memory..." While everyone was laughing, the dining table full of delicious food in the cabin suddenly began shaking. A crystal cup fell to the ground, shattering with a crash. Bacon Flint frowned. "Did I ask you for a demonstration? That cup was expensive." The wizards looked at each other. "Boss, wasn't that your demonstration? Without your order, how would we dare smash cups?" While they were stunned, suddenly, more intensive crashing sounds arose. Violent shaking struck the ship. The cups and plates in the cabin fell like rain, instantly shattering into fragments all over the floor. Bacon Flint and the others swayed unsteadily, almost unable to stand. "What? What's happening?! Doesn't this ship have balance-maintaining magic that keeps it steady even in storms? Why is it shaking so violently?!" At the same time, everyone felt that the previously sunny North Sea had suddenly lost its sunlight. It was getting dark?! At this moment, Marcus Flint, lying on the stretcher, suddenly stared blankly at the sky, as if seeing something incredible. "That... What is that?!" Hearing this, Bacon Flint and the others instinctively looked up. Then they saw tentacles silently emerging from the sea surface around their vessel, forming a "cage" that locked them inside. Even sunlight was blocked by the tentacles. The ship's shaking was because one tentacle had silently coiled around the vessel. Seeing this scene, their minds went blank. The next moment, they realised what was before them. "North Sea Kraken?! How could this monster appear here! It's daytime, and we just entered the North Sea... how could we encounter the North Sea Kraken?!" But before they could figure out why this was happening, the North Sea Kraken's tentacles exerted slight force. The ship twisted like a pretzel. Everyone on board was swept into the surging seawater along with the vessel. Then thick tentacles coiled through the waves. A spray of blood immediately spread through the seawater. "The Flint family. Really went silent? They disappeared... after going to sea, they all disappeared!" When Lucius received this news, he couldn't help but stand up. Even though he'd guessed this outcome, when the guess was confirmed, he couldn't hide his shock. Until now, he still didn't know how he had done it. But this no longer mattered. The urgent task was to quickly take over Flint family assets. And more importantly, he must maintain good relations with this little badger! When knocking on the greenhouse door, Draco Malfoy's hands were trembling constantly. Especially after he opened the door, Malfoy instinctively lowered his head, not daring to look at him. His gaze was filled with awe. The Flint family had really had bad luck. Terrible luck! A rather powerful pureblood family among the Sacred Twenty-Eight. Just like that, they might never recover. And who could have imagined this was inseparably related to this first-year little badger before him? "Ciel. The Flint family matter..." Malfoy's voice trembled. He shrugged, showing a strange expression. "I don't know. I'm just a little badger who was going to submit and apologise to the Flint family. I was just late because of some progress in Herbology. What does whatever happened to the Flint family have to do with me?" Malfoy nodded repeatedly, his heart churning. Nothing to do with it? Like hell! Then he quickly took out a box and handed it to him. "This contains the highest quality Chizpurfle grass seeds our Malfoy family found. I wonder if they meet your requirements." His eyes brightened, showing anticipation. Then he opened the box. What he saw made his face show uncontainable joy. "This is?!" A bronze lustre, accompanied by system prompts, appeared before his eyes. [You have obtained improved Chizpurfle grass variety seeds selected after countless generations of cultivation.] [After cultivating them to maturity, you can obtain rewards: Mental Enhancement (Bronze Tier), Chizpurfle Grass Purification Ability (Black Iron Tier)]