Chapter 767: Reclaiming His Honor

Father is Ultimate too?

Lu Xin pondered this question.

On its face, it seemed like an astonishing fact.

Yet emotionally, he felt little turmoil—as if it were a truth he had long accepted.

After all, Father’s power had always been terrifying…

……

……

“How can we help Father regain his honor?”

Only after Doctor An left Lu Xin’s room with a defeated swagger, accompanied by Mom’s proud smile, did Lu Xin turn to her and ask that crucial question—a curiosity that stirred deep within him.

“Once his Mind Palace is recovered, his honor will be restored.”

Mom, in high spirits, explained with a smile, “The Ultimate’s power never vanishes—it’s merely divided or diluted among people.”

“Think of it like a kingdom’s king.”

“A king isn’t a person’s name; it’s just a title for whoever sits on that throne.”

“Even if that person dies, someone else will become king. Even if the kingdom decides not to have a king, that power still exists—it’s just wielded by different numbers or names. His current state is much the same.”

“His authority has been stripped away—as if the king, though alive, lost his power and ended up as nothing more than a sneaky, petty shadow…”

“……”

“Hmph…”

Outside the tent, upon hearing Mom’s words, Father clearly bristled and snorted in displeasure.

But he quickly remembered that this wasn’t the time to show off and managed a few fawning chuckles.

“Of course, you can also understand his state by looking at the fate of the Sword Bearer.”

Ignoring the commotion outside, Mom continued with a smile as she explained to Lu Xin, “It’s like the Sword Bearer’s consciousness has died, yet his Mind Palace remains intact. Out there, his awareness is barely clinging to life, but his palace has already been taken over.”

“So only by helping him reclaim his palace can he truly be the Night Prisoner.”

“And when that time comes…”

Her voice tapered off, and a sinister expression slowly crept across her face: “No matter who they are…”

“Everyone will tremble before him…”

“……”

Lu Xin’s eyes widened slightly as he noted that, at this moment, Mom seemed uncannily like a villain…

“Ha ha…”

Outside the tent, Father suddenly lost control and burst into loud, crazed laughter—his chuckles laced with excitement and madness.

There was even a hint of greed and brazen mischief in his mirth…

Lu Xin’s gaze turned oddly as he thought, these two are almost like villains…

Feeling the shuddering air triggered by Father’s uncontrollable laughter and an underlying, inexplicable sense of menace, Lu Xin heaved a quiet sigh, wondering what horrors would unfold if Father truly reclaimed his power…

Perhaps, just maybe, it would indeed be terrifying.

After all, deep down he knew that, within the family, Father was the most formidable of them all…

He was the only one who knew his past and had, for a long time, either wanted to escape from or even devour him.

But what needed to be recovered had to be recovered.

First, Mom had said that when facing a chaotic future, she’d choose to trust herself.

Naturally, he should trust her—and the family.

Secondly, no matter how poorly Father had behaved before, what was his was still his…

After all, how can family treasures be left out in the open?

……

……

“Alright, let’s go together.”

After a brief pause, Lu Xin looked up and smiled, “But before we set out, there’s one important thing to do.”

“Hmm?”

Mom replied with genuine curiosity.

Outside the tent, Father edged his head closer, visibly nervous.

“We need to request leave…”

Lu Xin chided them, “Since we all have official jobs now, isn’t it proper to ask for leave before we leave?”

“……”

Mom paused for a moment and couldn’t help but pinch her nose bridge.

“Request leave? From those mortals?”

Outside, Father grew irate and snapped, “You…”

Before he could finish, Lu Xin had already turned to look in his direction.

Father choked for a moment, then burst into laughter, “Of course, after all, he’s getting paid…”

Lu Xin’s face broke into a relieved smile.

At last, Father had shown some maturity…

……

……

When Lu Xin stepped out of the tent and walked toward the temporary dormitory of his direct superior, Chen Jing, he saw that everyone in the base had already rushed out. They glared around in terror as dazzling searchlights swept the area.

Every mental detector across various positions flashed with blinding red light, and armored soldiers in protective suits scurried about nervously.

“What’s going on here?”

Lu Xin was taken aback initially, then quickly realized the situation, feeling a twinge of guilt.

Father’s earlier outburst had unwittingly sent shockwaves through the entire base, instilling an unfounded terror in everyone.

Those unaware might have thought some terrible contamination had suddenly appeared.

“You’re here to work security, not to cause trouble…”

He couldn’t help but glance toward the dark depths of the night, where he spotted Father, sheepishly hiding behind a searchlight.

At that moment, Father was being exceptionally cautious and well-behaved.

“Team Leader…”

Just as Lu Xin neared Chen Jing’s temporary dormitory, he saw her hurrying out with a group.

As Lu Xin greeted her, she anxiously asked, “What on earth just happened?”

“Well…”

Lu Xin, feeling embarrassed, quickly interjected, “It’s a misunderstanding, really—no need to worry…”

“……”

Chen Jing gave Lu Xin a long, searching look, noting from his guilty expression that the sudden panic and that inexplicable, eerie laughter had indeed been a misunderstanding. His face clearly said he’d caused trouble but didn’t want to admit it, his eyes silently pleading that she not press further.

“It’s fine. No alarms need to be raised. All departments, resume normal operations.”

Speaking into the walkie-talkie, she then led Lu Xin back to her room and asked, “What’s the matter?”

“Requesting leave.”

Lu Xin, impressed by Chen Jing’s trusting demeanor, promptly stated his purpose.

“Request leave?”

Chen Jing, a bit surprised, asked almost instinctively, “For whom?”

“Three people,” Lu Xin replied.

He explained, “One is the base’s consultant; one is the translator of the Theoretical Research Department; and one is a security guard for the base…”

Chen Jing’s reaction slowly fell into place as she processed his words.

Then, lowering her voice slightly, she asked, “May I ask what you and…”

“…what are you planning to do with the consultant and the guard?”

“……”

Though Chen Jing’s tone clearly invited Lu Xin not to answer, as she was merely probing, he thought for a moment and smiled, “It’s a bit complicated…”

“Simply put, you can think of it as trying to reclaim a property that originally belonged to my family but was snatched away.”

“So, we have to go get it back…”

“……”

“……”

Although Chen Jing’s eyes showed increasing confusion,

she didn’t hesitate to approve the leave without further consultation.

Moreover, following proper procedures, she had Mizang retrieve three temporary outing permits—essentially leave slips—and watching Lu Xin diligently fill them out, Chen Jing found herself wondering:

“What exactly am I doing?”

“What am I even approving leave for?”

“Why does he give me the impression that I could say no?”

“……”

Once the forms were completed, Lu Xin followed protocol and called Mom and Father over to sign.

When Mom arrived, Chen Jing maintained a reserved demeanor, addressing her as “Ms. Lu.”

However, as Lu Xin’s imagined abilities foretold, when the tall, imposing Father forcefully pushed open the door and strode in, even Chen Jing’s face paled and she almost toppled backwards along with her chair.

“Swish, swish, swish…”

Beside her, Mizang—dressed in a pink suit—was visibly startled, clutching a pile of files and trembling.

Yet in the midst of their fearful eyes, the towering figure draped in a transparent raincoat, resembling a writhing mass of black shadow, silently stepped forward, took the pen from Lu Xin, and scribbled a few strokes on the leave slip.

Then, he set the pen down, looked up at Chen Jing, and grinned:

“Hello…”

“……”

Chen Jing’s heart pounded furiously as she met that gaze. Despite her body instinctively curling up in fear, her strong will kept her composed; she stiffly nodded at Father and managed to say in a trembling voice, “Hello…”

“Uncle…”

“……”

Father’s performance was commendable.

Not only did he dutifully sign the document according to base protocol, but he also remembered to greet his superior.

Of course, the superior was a bit overly nervous…

Lu Xin mused that Father hardly seemed as frightening as everyone thought; he even handled the security job quite well…

With the leave slip complete, it was finally time to set off.

Then Lu Xin suddenly remembered, “Where’s Sister?”

……

……

“Little Gecko, don’t be scared. Let’s go play together…”

“I’ll be the guest; you cook. Let’s play house…”

“……”

At the same time, Sister—so often overlooked by the busy family—happily roamed through Qinggang City. She carried a tiny grey backpack, climbing up and down on walls, while beside her, Gecko—nearly driven mad by a haunting, intermittent song—clutched his prized sniper rifle and bore numerous wounds.

“Sister…”

“No, elder sister…”

“Seventeen Sister…”

“……”

As an unseen force tugged at her, pulling her in another direction, Gecko cried out in despair to the air, “There are Dolls here; these Mental Monsters don’t dare come in, so we don’t have to search every day.”

“You might not know, but for cleaning up pollution in Qinggang, we charge fees…”

“……”

No one answered from the surrounding air, but on the concrete wall, the scratching of fingernails slowly became audible.

A few hasty characters appeared: “So you want to become a Toy, huh?”

Gecko despaired, “How can it be this miserable?”

He had merely boasted a little about his importance as the Vice-Captain to the research team from outside High-wall City and, carelessly, let slip that his contribution in this mission was roughly fifty-fifty with the Captain. That very night, the little devil showed up, and soon he found himself battling Mental Monsters in that eerie, elusive song for several days.

Now he’d have to report the Captain for fratricide…

Not to mention, he’d also have to report Doll.

As Qinggang’s Mental Overlord, she must have known all along that this little devil was practically running back and forth every day. There was even one time when she appeared before both herself and that little devil. However, when he pleaded for help, she only…

“Only gave a slight indication of awareness,” she replied with a faint smile in his direction, then silently vanished.

“Vanished!”

With that kind of work ethic, can one not report him?

Oh my God, why must my fate, Gecko, be so tragic??