The succession ceremony of Master Peregrine proceeded as planned.

All the prestigious families of Chicago had practically fought each other for a place at the ceremony.

It was a flamboyant affair. After all, a starving camel was still bigger than a horse.

At the sight of such an awe-inspiring scene, the four families of Chicago put off the idea of fighting against the Taylor family for now. 'It seems like it isn't time yet. We don't have a high chance of winning the war.'

Under the old lady's watchful gaze, Finn Taylor took his seat as Master Peregrine under the identity of Donovan Taylor.

Then, each family went forward to pledge their allegiance to Finn Taylor and Peregrine Hall. Naturally, Finn Taylor took their words with a huge pinch of salt.

At the end of the ceremony, Frida Cameron, Wendy Jensen, and Finn Taylor had a 'family' meal.

The old lady let out a kind smile, expressing her satisfaction with her grandson's performance today. She even said that she would definitely treat him well in the future as long as he kept up his performance.

Finn Taylor couldn't help but sneer inwardly. 'The old lady is obviously insincere with her words. Since when has she ever thought of me as her grandson ever since I was born? Her acting is terrible.'

But Finn Taylor felt drowsiness overwhelm him just then, and he collapsed onto the table. Before he blacked out, his gaze was exceptionally vicious.

This family meal was the last chance he was giving the Taylor family, yet they had still let him down.

The old lady placed her finger under Finn Taylor's nose. Realizing that he was still breathing, she exploded. "What's going on? Didn't I tell you to put poison in it? Why did you swap it out for a drug instead?"

This was an important move to the old lady, but it was one Wendy Jensen hated to see.

The former wanted Finn Taylor dead. Since Finn Taylor had already accepted the title of Master Peregrine in Donovan Taylor's name, he had to die to keep this a secret. Only then would Donovan Taylor be able to live under Finn Taylor's identity once he returned.

Although she felt terrible getting Donovan Taylor to live under an assumed identity, he would still be able to live without any enemies. Besides, he would have the title of Master Peregrine in Peregrine Hall's history—if even just for a single day.

Yet, all her plans had been ruined by Wendy Jensen.

The latter fell onto the ground. "Mom, he's my son. I can't bear to do that. Besides, I think it'll be more beneficial to keep him alive. Think about it, Mom. Donovan has just been crowned Master Peregrine. It'll definitely spark suspicion if he suddenly dies. Why don't we just lock Finn Taylor up in the dark pool for now? He must be useful to us in the future."

The dark pool she spoke of was a private prison. Many who offended prominent figures in the business world would suddenly disappear.

It was possible that they were still alive, locked up in the dark pool.

There, they lived a life worse than death. They were neither fed nor clothed well.

One had to defeat those around them to survive—it was survival of the fittest.

Wendy Jensen's heart ached to send Finn Taylor there too, but that was the only method she could think of to save her son.

The old lady was deep in thought and finally nodded in agreement after a long time.

…

When Finn Taylor awoke, he found himself in a small room.

There were dozens of people there, and every single one of them had a revolting stench from not showering for a long period of time.

Seeing that Finn Taylor was finally awake, someone kicked him and pointed at a basin on the ground. "Drink it."

Finn Taylor looked in the direction that man was pointing in and saw a basin of urine.

This was a rule of the dark pool: Newcomers had to drink urine in front of everyone else. This was because everyone here had been humiliated.

Nobody was sure when anyone would ever leave this place or whether the person who left would talk about what the others had been subjected to while there. However, they were sure that nobody would ever talk about drinking urine.

If anyone dared to say that they'd ever been to the dark pool, it would be no different from admitting to drinking urine.

These few dozen people had their eyes glued to Finn Taylor, with ridicule in their gazes. All of them here had drunk urine before. If Finn Taylor refused to do so, they'd simply swarm up, beat him up, and pour the entire basin of urine into his mouth.

"Scram!"

Nobody was surprised by Finn Taylor's refusal. In fact, they grew even more exhilarated.

"Ah…"

"Oh…"

"Hahaha…"

They let out piercing screams as they rushed up to surround Finn Taylor. Of course, the latter wasn't going to let them have their way. With just his fists, he beat the entire gang up into a pulp.

Within a minute, groans were all that could be heard in the room. The entire group was now lying on the ground.

Finn Taylor roared, "Hurry up and drink this basin of urine."

As he said that, he smashed his fist against the door.

It was a solid metal door, but Finn Taylor had left a deep dent in it.

Everyone was shivering in fear. If Finn Taylor had punched them with even a fraction of that strength earlier, their organs probably would've ruptured.

They crawled up and formed a line, obediently taking a sip of urine one by one.

With just his fists, Finn Taylor had established his position in the dark pool.

The next day, the old lady came to visit her grandson.

Bulletproof glass separated the pair. The old lady didn't spot any injuries on Finn Taylor, much less a sense of despair in him.

That confused the old lady. "Did you not drink any urine?"

Finn Taylor glared at her. "I'm sorry to disappoint."

"Are you so used to being a matrilocal son-in-law that you kneeled down to them the moment you went in?"

"Why don't you come in and ask them yourself?"

The moment Finn Taylor said that, the old lady took a few steps back. 'There is no way I'm heading in. The dark pool is filled with the most ruthless of criminals; these people lost all humanity a long time ago. They feel that they are free to do whatever they want since there is no chance of them getting out. Nobody cares about their statuses outside. Once they entered the dark pool, all of that meant nothing.'

"You'd better not die in there. Otherwise, your mom would've begged me for nothing."

Finn Taylor didn't reply. He felt conflicted when it came to Wendy Jensen. Ever since he was young, he had been ill-treated. Yet, his mother had never once come to his rescue.

But it was also true that she had protected and stood up for him on several important occasions.

Finn Taylor wasn't sure if she was indeed biased.

As the old lady left the dark pool and returned to the Taylor family's residence, she spotted someone at the door.

Her whole body was frozen, her hand trembled, and her heart thumped. She was overwhelmed with emotions.

The person in front of her was none other than Donovan Taylor!