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Chapter 298 - 295: "My Dear Father

Chapter 298: Chapter 295: "My Dear Father

In the dimly-lit room, the young boy in pajamas clung to the hem of his clothing, his eyes filled with an extraordinary dependence.

...Like gazing at a trustworthy elder, the boy looked at him, his hand refusing to let go as if grasping onto a lifeline.

Su Ming’an had long conjectured about his own identity... it was impossible for him to be just an ordinary, downtrodden noble.

Whether it was the Yate Stone worth a fortune hidden in the room or judging from his own previous experiences... his identity could not be so simple.

And now.

This Grand Duke of the Yate Empire, the highest-ranking noble on the Yate Vessel, was holding onto him, saying "everything was his command"?

He sat down, next to the bed, watching the boy.

The boy’s look was very naive, like a child who had not yet grown up. Considering his age, this seemed more like a noble child beguiled by Su Rin.

...So, by what means had Su Rin bewitched the other?

"Puler is dead," Su Ming’an spoke first, wanting to see the other’s reaction.

Unexpectedly to him, the other seemed quite pleased.

"Really?" the boy said with a smile, "Then that means there is one less obstacle for us. Congratulations to you."

Obstacle?

Su Ming’an understood.

Puler, who was responsible for guarding the Duke, was not considered an ally in the Duke’s eyes.

That could only mean... Puler was not loyal to the Duke. Puler’s loyalty might lie with the Empire itself.

Then he hadn’t made a blunder by killing one of his own.

"My lord," the boy suddenly said, "everything is proceeding very smoothly. Once those hunters are driven off the ship, I will offer all the Yate Stones you want to you..."

Su Ming’an thought for a moment.

"Do you still have Yate Stones in your possession?" he asked.

"Do you need them now? Please wait." The boy jumped off the bed and ran towards the adjacent room, appearing very respectful of his orders.

Su Ming’an followed the Duke to another room, watching him input a series of numbers, and with a "click," the door opened.

The Duke pushed the door open.

Su Ming’an was surprised.

The situation with the Yate Stones inside the room... was completely different from the few he had owned before.

The most striking difference was their size.

The Yate Stones he had owned were small, like transparent gemstones, which could be tucked into clothing or packed in a suitcase.

But the Yate Stone before him was being supported by a giant boulder.

The boulder nearly occupied the whole room, elevating the small Yate Stone to a height near the ceiling; the entire boulder was like a massive tray.

Next to it was a ladder with a soft rug on it. The Duke climbed up, put on gloves, and carefully took down the small Yate Stone that the boulder was supporting.

"This is one that I currently own personally," the Duke climbed down the ladder and handed the Yate Stone to him, his eyes full of expectation, like a child yearning for praise, "The rest are in the cargo hold, and permission from the Soul Hunters is required to move them. Please be careful, once removed from the Qatar Boulders, the energy in the Yate Stones will dissipate within a day...ah, right, but if it’s you, this energy should be fine."

Su Ming’an saw that from the moment the Yate Stone was removed, it started emitting a white vapor, like ice melting.

And in the instant he took the Yate Stone, the vapor ceased, and the Yate Stone lay quietly in his palm, like an eternally unmelting iceberg.

The system interface prompt appeared before his eyes.

[*You have acquired a special item (Yate Stone)]

[Yate Stone:...]

[Uses: 2/2]

...

Just like before, the same prompt suggested that the Yate Stones he obtained one after another were identical—there was no difference; they were all the same thing.

However, this Yate Stone required such exaggerated storage conditions. It had to be placed on such a large boulder tray, and once removed, its energy would dissipate.

After pondering for a moment, Su Ming’an understood.

The Yate Stones probably always needed to be stored in such a way, requiring the massive volume of the Qatar Boulder to maintain their energy, a large storage area, and the vast "Yate Vessel" to transport them.

It was not something that could simply be placed in a suitcase.

Yet, the Yate Stone, which would normally lose energy once separated from the Qatar Boulder, stabilized when touched by his hand. It became something that could easily be put in a suitcase.

Even if he placed the Yate Stone aside, its energy would no longer dissipate.

...So that was it.

A special ability he was hiding, perhaps? Similar to a special ability that preserves the energy of gemstones?

This ability was very strange and probably related to his identity.

Pieces of the puzzle that had seemed odd before clicked into place, and Su Ming’an instantly understood the entirety of the plan.

Should the nobles need to abandon the Yate Vessel to save their lives, the Yate Stones would inevitably be discarded as well.

Because such a vast object could not be taken aboard the lifeboats.

The energy of the Yate Stone would rapidly dissipate, and once the energy was gone, it would be no different from an ordinary broken stone.

With the Duke’s call to action, abandoning the Yate Stone wasn’t impossible.

And the down-and-out noble Su Rin, who failed to grab a lifeboat and was compelled to stay on board—and after the only obstacle, the three Soul Hunters loyal to the Empire, had all departed—could entirely control the Yate Vessel with his "certain power."

The plan was quite idealistic. The biggest obstacle had been the unruly Soul Hunters, but now, by a fluke, he had killed one of them.

With this, the plan seemed feasible...

"My lord, my lord?"

The Duke’s call interrupted his thoughts.

Su Ming’an suddenly realized that the Duke must know his real identity, otherwise, he wouldn’t show such respect.

"My lord, do you have any further instructions?" The young boy tilted his head and looked at him.

"What do you think we should do?" Su Ming’an asked in return.

"...Hmm." The young boy seemed a bit troubled, "As per the plan, my lord, you take control of the Yate Vessel... and I’ll wait for you in the Maritime City... that’s it?"

Su Ming’an was thinking.

After all, his only doubt now was what exactly his identity was that would make a Duke of a whole nation respect him so much...

As he considered this, he suddenly saw the other party leaning in close.

"My lord, I’m hungry..." the young boy suddenly said.

"Hungry?" Su Ming’an did not understand what the other was talking about.

"My lord, my lord, you said after the plan is successful, you would give me a soul to eat, but now that I see you, I suddenly feel so hungry, unbearably hungry, I might not survive until you safely reach the Maritime City, can I, may I..." The young boy looked at him with eyes full of longing, "have a little taste, just... just a little bit..."

At the same moment the young boy moved closer, Su Ming’an saw the Yate Stone in his hand suddenly light up with a red glow.

That red light was particularly glaring, like a sudden flare of fire that was blinding.

Su Ming’an knew what the light signified.

...It meant the Yate Stone had successfully detected something.

The other party.

Belonged to the Soul Clan.

A Duke of the Yate State, was from the Soul Clan.

...Absurd.

Su Ming’an watched as the number of uses on the Yate Stone in his hand decreased by one and immediately pushed the other person away.

The young boy staggered back a few steps, but when Su Ming’an was pushing him, he clearly felt a resistance.

... It was as if the other’s strength had suddenly surged. He felt like he was pushing against a boulder.

At the same moment, a fierce red light suddenly colored the other’s eyes, turning their original pure and beautiful sea-like color into a scarlet hue.

Like suddenly losing his rationality, the previously respectful young boy’s eyes turned blood red, and he lunged like a wild beast.

Su Ming’an knew that the Soul Clan would lose their sanity when starved to the extreme, otherwise this Duke wouldn’t have attacked him.

... So what exactly is my identity!?

The Yate Stone did not detect me, so I am not from the Soul Clan. But I happen to have a subject who is a Duke from the Soul Clan...

"Clang—!"

The blade deflected, and he fiercely chopped at the other’s arm, feeling like he was striking a giant rock.

The sword hitting the other’s arm actually made a sound as if metal were striking stone.

The Soul Clan is indeed strong.

However, Su Ming’an’s strength was clearly superior to the other’s, and after the deflected strike, he flung the other to the side.

"Bang!"

The young boy’s small frame was fiercely thrown against the wall, making a loud noise.

Su Ming’an stood up, his sword pointing downwards.

"Remember your identity," he suddenly spoke, "Answer me—who am I?"

The young boy lay in the corner, gasping for air.

He seemed to be awakened by the strike, and the red in his eyes began to fade slowly...

"You are," he said softly, "my dear father..."

Hearing this response, Su Ming’an almost threw his own sword down.

The young boy gasped for air, the last hint of blood red in his eyes slowly disappearing like the sinking sun, and then he actually fainted.

Su Ming’an sheathed his sword.

The floor beneath his feet was shaking slightly, and he heard the sound of rain getting louder outside.

He put away the Yate Stone in his hand, arranged the scene a bit, strode through the room, and left the door.

... He knew that the "father" mentioned by the Duke definitely didn’t mean a normal father. The body of Su Rin was very young, no more than twenty-five years old, and couldn’t possibly have such a large son.

The "father" mentioned by the Duke could mean godfather, a mentor regarded as a father, or some other respectful sense of the term...

No, there was another possibility.

Suddenly, he had a new conjecture.

But this possibility was too absurd that he still found it hard to believe.

He suddenly looked up at the comment screen.

At this moment, having gone through such a major event, even the comments were in turmoil:

[? Did I hear wrong?? What is this kid calling him?]

[He’s calling Su Ming’an father... Damn! I don’t have such a cheap son, I haven’t even had kids yet!]

[? Who’s taking the piss, wake up the one in front.]

[Reasonable guess, might Su Rin’s identity be connected to the Soul Clan?]

[... You need to make a reasonable guess? Anyone with eyes can see that.]

[This bout of identity is probably another plot hole, I don’t believe someone who can command a Duke is a normal human being.]

[? Why can’t he just be a normal human? Isn’t being the strongest Soul Hunter enough? Soul Hunt is so powerful, why bother having anything to do with strange species. Look, the Yate Stone isn’t even reacting...]

[...]

There were all sorts of speculations in the barrage of comments, in varying proportions, with some people proposing viewpoints similar to his.

Su Ming’an entered the corridor.

Puler’s body was still lying in the hallway, with blood splattered extensively, making the scene look terrifying.

Su Ming’an crouched down, took out a green syringe and a diamond-shaped scalpel, and processed the body in the same way he had before, making it look like it was attacked by a soul creature.

He looked over his work, felt it wasn’t quite right, switched to Shadow State, reached out his hand, and completely melted away the neck area of the corpse to prevent others from realizing the damage was caused by a blade.

After doing all this, he simply tidied up the scene, when suddenly he heard footsteps from downstairs.

He peered down through the cracks in the stairs and saw a piece of black clothing and the bright silver firearm that accompanied it.

...The second Soul Hunter, it should be the old gentleman who’s usually by Saya’s side, patrolling this area.

The timing was just right.

He did not go downstairs, as that would only lead to a head-on collision.

He directly used Spatial Displacement to pass by without meeting.

By the time he reached his room and was opening the door, he heard the alarm sound on the ship, along with an extremely furious exclamation from the old gentleman.

The situation was fermenting.

Good.

He opened the door to his room and closed it deftly.

Outside the window, the rain poured down, and the night was murky.

...

[Replica Activation Day Two · Daytime]

[Maritime Floating City · Pulaya]

The Maritime Floating City, called Pulaya, is a city built upon miracles.

It boasts the most beautiful harbor, the freshest air, and a unique architectural layout.

In front of the residential houses, the waterways are filled with boats of various colors, mostly white.

The numerous white boats floating on the current, seen from above, look like white doves kissing a clear mirror.

In the open and uninhibited Pulaya, with its hot climate, people dress in clothes of minimal fabric, walking in the streets and alleys. The beautiful, dark-skinned girls also constitute a colorful landscape.

The winding water alleys, the flowing ripples, the boats slowly gliding over the river...

This is a city built upon water; water is the soul of Pulaya.

Any traveler who comes to visit is attracted by its developed network of inland waterways, then stunned by the clarity of its rivers and the blueness of its sky. If they look up, they can even see a city floating in the sky...

That is the city of treasures that beckons countless sailors, the legendary city of gold in the clouds, and... the abode of deities mentioned in prophecies.

Travelers coming here often entertain the idea of settling down for good.

...This idea, however, is limited to daytime.

Because, come night, the pure and beautiful Pulaya... becomes an altogether different kind of carnival city.

The terrifying race of murderers, the Soul Clan, is rampant in the city. Bloody incidents can happen in any corner of the city...

"...This Maritime City, serving the deity of the city in the clouds, emphasizes the survival of the fittest. The islet at night turns into a hotbed of evil, where all sins can emerge en masse; the Princess with Siren blood will soon hold the Maritime Banquet, to which all people are welcome to participate. The victor will have dinner with the Princess and obtain a pass to the city in the clouds..."

Next to the waterway, a red-haired, scantily dressed grocer was energetically introducing to a tall, thin, fair-skinned young man in front of her.

Listening to her introduction, Lv Shu looked up.