“I did this for the sake of all the half-orcs on the entire planet,” Ryo insisted. “If the half-orcs can have the beast soul of the orcs, it means that the planet’s military strength has been enhanced.”
“But have you ever thought about how much power a powerful orc can exert after being deprived of its beast soul?” Ade sighed. “Let me tell you, only sixty percent. Moreover, prolonged battles will leave them weak, and even their senses will degrade.”
“This… this is impossible.” Ryo was shocked. “Clearly, Derek…”
“Clearly, does my brother look fine?” Ade smiled bitterly. “Do you think my brother’s weakness is only due to the deprivation of his beast soul? You’re wrong. After going through a month of weakness, he began to notice some changes in his body. He felt stiffness, sometimes his heart would accelerate, and even in beast form, he would experience brief moments of fainting. Sensing that something was wrong, he immediately submitted his resignation to the Empire, giving up the position of marshal and all his military achievements, leaving alone.”
His brother was the pride of the entire family, but he fell in love with someone he shouldn’t have. For the sake of this person, he gave up power and status. Ade had hated Ryo in the past, even contemplating killing him when his brother brought Ryo here.
However, what would killing him achieve? His brother had lost his beast soul and lost everything he once had.
“How is that possible?” Ryo seemed to lose all his strength, muttering to himself. He kept saying it was impossible; Derek couldn’t have resigned as marshal because of him.
He was the true pride of the family, how could he resign as marshal because of a beast soul…
Beast soul…
Ryo covered his face with both hands. What had he done back then? Why didn’t his brother tell him the truth about these things? And now, why did he tell him?
“My brother once told me not to tell you the truth about these things,” Ade calmly said. “Even now, he doesn’t want you to know. But my time may be running out. I’m telling you not to make you feel guilty towards my brother. It’s to tell you not to hurt others recklessly for the sake of your own ideals. You can ignore other people’s love, not care about it, or even disdain it. But please don’t trample on and harm it recklessly.”
“No, I didn’t.” Ryo lowered his head, gripping his hair tightly. He loved Derek deeply, but he also felt inferior. He was just a half-orc, not worthy to stand beside Derek, who was so superior. So, he desperately researched, wanting to find a way to make himself more suitable to stand beside Derek.
Therefore, when he obtained that information, he was ecstatic. After experiments, he found that the method of transferring beast souls could be implemented, and it even had a high success rate…
Exactly because of this, he deceived Derek, taking advantage of his unconsciousness to seize his beast soul. But he never thought that this method would harm Derek’s body. Clearly, the other beasts who had their beast souls transferred didn’t experience such conditions, right?
“Ryo, if you persist in your own ways, I won’t stand idly by.” Black Street was established by Derek for his younger brother, Ade. Although Ryo had a significant influence here, the hidden power was still controlled by Ade. This was one of the reasons why Ryo came to see Ade today.
Ryo remained silent, sitting there dumbfounded, staring at the letter on the table that Ade had placed.
“Rest here today, don’t go back.” Ade got up tremblingly, then covered his mouth and coughed a few times before walking into the inner room. “Ryo, these years, you should be able to see some things clearly.”
Ryo still didn’t react, sitting there dazed. He sat like this all night. The next morning, when Ade woke up and saw Ryo still sitting in the same posture, he seemed to have lost his soul. However, there was a slight stoop in his back, making him look much older.
“You didn’t rest?” Ade frowned, looking at Rio. “Even if you have the beast soul, you can’t treat your body like this.”
“I’m fine.” Ryo stood up, supporting himself against the wall. Perhaps sitting for too long, he felt a bit dizzy when he stood up. He waited for the dizziness to pass, then smiled at Ade. “When you finish washing, I’ll take you to meet them.”
Ade was surprised to look at Ryo: “You…”
Ryo forced a smile. “Over the years, I actually resented Derek, even felt that he was unworthy of being a marshal because he never thought of the half-orcs. But what you said yesterday woke me up. All along, it’s been my selfishness. In the end, I destroyed the trust we had built between us.”
“If you can figure it out, that’s for the best.” Ade patted Ryo’s shoulder and said with a smile, “If my brother could hear these words from you, he would be very happy for sure.”
“Yeah.” Ryo forced a smile and remained silent. He used to think that Derek owed him, and he never wanted to hear about him or see anyone related to him. However, Ade’s words last night had completely changed his perspective.
After a night of contemplation, he finally reacted now. His past self had probably been manipulated by someone with ulterior motives. The fact that the information appeared so coincidentally in a place he frequented might have been premeditated. And he fell for it, causing the deaths of many orcs and, more importantly, hurting Derek, who had always loved him.
Ade allowed Ryo to freshen up quickly, and then the two went to the innermost house where Adolf and Shao Qian were waiting.
Shao Qian and the wolf cub had already freshened up and were standing at the door. Seeing Ryo coming with an older half-orc, they looked a bit surprised.
“Is your name Diudiu?” Ade looked at Shao Qian with a loving gaze. “My brother mentioned you in the letter.”
“Brother?” Shao Qian was a bit puzzled. “Are you talking about Grandpa Derek?”
“Grandpa?” Ade was taken aback, then smiled with some emotion. “Grandpa Derek? In the blink of an eye, we’re all called grandpa now.”
“Do you still think you’re very young? Ade.” Ryo, who had undergone quite a transformation, felt a sense of relief, as if a stone that had been pressing on him had been lifted. He jokingly said to Ade, “Normal people at our age might already have several descendants.”
Ade, turning to look at Ryo in surprise, had never seen him make jokes before. It was unexpected that he could change so much overnight.
Standing behind Shao Qian, the wolf cub’s strong arms possessively wrapped around Shao Qian’s shoulders. “Who are you?”
Ade raised an eyebrow, glanced at the wolf cub, and then sighed before speaking. “I’ve only ever seen orcs who despise and detest half-orcs, but it’s the first time I’ve seen a orc voluntarily undergoing a half-orc transformation.”
“Grandpa Ade, Grandpa Ryo.” Shao Qian nudged the wolf cub’s elbow and smiled at the two. “Adolf doesn’t mean any harm.”
“Adolf?” Ade’s gaze at the wolf cub changed suddenly. He pulled Shao Qian and, along with Ryo, entered the room directly.
The small room was crowded with four people. Apart from a place to stand, there was no extra space to move around.
Ryo helped Ade sit down, while Shao Qian and the wolf cub stood opposite them.
Ade, after sizing up the wolf cub, exclaimed, “Is his prototype a wolf? A silver wolf?”
“Yes.” Shao Qian wasn’t too surprised that Ade knew about this. After all, Grandpa Derek probably had regular contact with Grandpa Ade and Ryo.
“Adolf’s meaning is the noble wolf.” Ade looked at the wolf cub with unblinking eyes. “The silver wolf, referred to by our family as the divine messenger of protection and destruction.”
Ryo looked at Ade with some surprise. Apparently, he didn’t know about this interpretation. “I don’t know about this. Why haven’t I heard of it?”
“The silver wolf is only recorded in the secret histories of each family. Naturally, you wouldn’t know,” Ade explained excitedly to the wolf cub. “According to rumors, the appearance of the silver wolf will bring either renewal or destruction to the planet. The silver wolf bringing renewal is called the favored child of the beast god, and the silver wolf bringing destruction is called the condemnation from the descending beast god.”
For Shao Qian, this information wasn’t too surprising since the original work had introduced these concepts. However, he hadn’t expected these things to be passed down among various families. But at that time, wasn’t Derek afraid that Adolf might be the one bringing destruction? Why didn’t he just kill him to prevent future troubles?
Shao Qian directly asked this question, and the wolf cub, standing beside him, bit his earlobe with some grievances. How could he say such things about him? Even if he was the one bringing destruction, even if he destroyed the entire planet, it could only be for the sake of giving his honey a safe living environment.
To Shao Qian’s question, Ade was momentarily stunned, then smiled. “I think my brother probably had thoughts of killing the silver wolf back then, as anyone couldn’t guarantee whether it was a harbinger of destruction or a messenger of the beast god. But since my brother didn’t take action, he must have had his reasons.”
There was one point that Ade didn’t say out loud. His brother had lived with these two for so long, and besides teaching the silver wolf, he must have wanted to observe his temperament as well. If the silver wolf was truly evil, he would never have appeared in front of him. His brother would have killed him at the first sign.
Moreover…
Ade looked at Shao Qian, who was standing beside Adolf. Derek was taking a gamble, but he wasn’t completely without chips. With Diudiu by the silver wolf’s side, and it seemed that the silver wolf cared about Diudiu, even if he was a harbinger of destruction, he couldn’t tread the path of destruction for the sake of Diudiu.
“You’re right.” Shao Qian thought about the introduction of Derek in the original work, which was ‘a merciful butcher.’
Ryo heard about the family’s secret history, and for a moment, he felt a bit lost. Even though his relationship with Derek was good, he couldn’t completely let go of his guard, right? But then again, Derek probably couldn’t reveal everything due to the limitations of the family’s secret history.
