Proof

Upon hearing that Nixiyasi's Odossan had arrived, Kang De paused for a moment, then frowned.

He hesitated for a moment and said, "This..."

Before Horus could offer his opinion, he continued, "The man spoke again—he said he wanted to see you immediately because Nixiyasi is in danger."

Kang De raised an eyebrow slightly, but Malegith, who was leaning against the edge of the control panel, straightened her back.

"Oh my!" she exclaimed, "A hero saving a damsel in distress, and incidentally winning over his father-in-law to gain his approval—that was a brilliant assist! Fast forward to the scene of him working like a slave."

Kang De glanced at Malegith.

The previous Phoenix King was exceptionally beautiful, wise, and powerful, almost flawless, but she wasn't omniscient. After all, she was an elf and had been imprisoned for ten thousand years... well, maybe not that long. In any case, she was somewhat clueless about human nature.

Or perhaps she simply didn't want to understand... She remained detached and indifferent as she observed this unfamiliar world, neither approaching nor distancing herself, showing no concern for most things and too lazy to even think about them.

Therefore, they were unaware of some things.

"No rush," he replied. "There's something fishy about this."

Before the Parrot could speak, Kang De asked Horus, "Was her father in a great hurry? Was he hiding his whereabouts? What was his mental state when he revealed his identity?"

Iron Son replied, "It was less eagerness and more fear and exasperation. Instead of concealing his tracks, he impatiently shouted out his identity. Most of the captured soldiers on the same ship looked extremely surprised, and it was clear that at least six skilled warriors were protecting him."

After a moment's thought, Kang De asked, "So, did his personal guards experience any significant emotional fluctuation when he mentioned that Nixiyasi was in danger?"

"It's hard to tell."

Kang De pondered for a moment, then suddenly chuckled.

The Parrot glared and asked, "What?"

"Interesting."

The Fire Thief's eyes flickered. "Nixiyasi's father wants to see me, so why is he hiding on a ship belonging to a bunch of cannon fodder suicide squad? He says Nixiyasi is in danger; is he here to ask for help?"

"If she's calling for help, it means Nixiyasi's situation is extremely dire. Although I don't know why her father is also in the Azure Fleet, it's already absurd that he managed to infiltrate the suicide squad and run to the Broken Sea to ask for help when Nixiyasi was in danger, not to mention that he brought so many guards with him, and..."

Kang De muttered to himself, then suddenly took two steps back, stroked his chin, and chuckled.

"Nixiyasi never mentioned that her father was also in the fleet. She once told me that her father was just an ordinary mid-level mage. The activists in the prisoner-of-war camp also didn't mention any information about her father serving in the navy. Under these circumstances, especially when the Azure Fleet is carrying out an important mission, the presence of the supreme commander's family member in the military is a huge taboo..."

"Unless someone sent him..."

"So, what's the purpose of sending him here?"

Kang De paced back and forth a few times, his speech becoming increasingly rapid.

Let's talk about her father, Anthony.

He snapped his fingers, "The prisoners know very little about Nixiyasi's family affairs, and she has never mentioned her father directly, but I can still sketch out the outline of her father's personality and his influence on this beautiful admiral from Nixiyasi's several words and actions..."

He reached out and grabbed a portable blackboard that was placed against the wall, and wrote a few words with a marker.

Strong-willed and strict.

Harsh and indifferent.

He circled the four words in a large circle and then drew an arrow.

At the end of the arrow, another word was written.

Utilitarian.

After finishing writing, he spread his hands towards the Parrot: "Because Nixiyasi is very envious. She was envious when A Fu mentioned my story, envious when she saw that family of five, and envious when I talked about my father. Envy is often for things that cannot be obtained. In other words, the opposite of the beautiful things she envies is the Shadow and pain that her father has given her since childhood..."

The Parrot was already showing signs of a headache.

"Stop, stop, stop..." she waved her hand and said, "This is so troublesome, just get to the conclusion."

"The conclusion is that her dad is 99% a complete idiot, coming here to spout nonsense and try to fool me; he has ulterior motives."

Kang De sneered, "I know who sent him. It must have been the Council. Based on past experience, those old fogies' plans are very clear. They..."

"Wait, wait, wait."

The Parrot rubbed its head and said, "I feel like... um, something's not right."

"That's impossible," Kang De said decisively. "Her father must be that kind of person. Do you think there's anything wrong with my reasoning? Did I overlook something? Of course, it's not impossible that her father has been exploiting his daughter but had a change of heart at a crucial moment and risked his life to help her send a message, but I think the probability is low. If you pay close attention, you'll notice that I asked Horus before..."

Malegith patted the control panel: "... Autobots, what do you think?"

"I think this is very Kang De."

Horus replied, "If you ask me, I would say that given Commander Nixiyasi's character and style, she would never have allowed her father to risk his life to deliver a message when she herself was in danger. Furthermore, considering her dignity and honor as a soldier, she would never seek help from the enemy."

"And if all of this was done on her own initiative, then it's impossible to explain how he infiltrated the suicide squad, let alone how those well-trained bodyguards came to be."

"The conclusion is that Miss Nixiyasi lost control of the fleet, and her father did not stand by her side, but succumbed to some higher will, arriving at the Broken Isles with a different purpose."

He scoffed as he finished speaking, his disdain quite evident.

"But my dear father, through Miss Nixiyasi's few words, sketched out with great interest the mean, utilitarian, cold, and greedy nature of a middle-aged snobbish man, and combined this with the character profiles of several male political animals in Council to judge the impending conspiracy, yet he couldn't be bothered to pay even one percent of his attention to the poor admiral's daughter... Father, you are so powerful."

Upon hearing this, the Parrot could no longer contain itself and burst into wild laughter.

Kang De's face had turned completely black.

"Bullshit!" he roared. "My reasoning is perfect; yours is full of loopholes!"

Horus exclaimed in surprise, "Your Malegith, did you hear that? This man clearly knows nothing about women, yet he has the audacity to say that his reasoning based on women's character is full of flaws!"

The Parrot couldn't stop laughing, "Don't say that! He's read a lot of novels and watched a lot of movies, and he's played a lot of games. He definitely knows a lot of positions!"

Horus chimed in, "Indeed, from what I've observed, Your Malegith, Father's favorite position is probably lying on his side, covering his body and left arm with the blanket, holding his phone in his right hand, looking at it while..."

The Parrot exclaimed happily, "Yes, yes! I counted the number of times he did that pose..."

"That's enough, you guys!"

Kang De's roar interrupted the conversation between the elf and the machine spirit. The Parrot stuck out its tongue and patted the control panel: "We'll talk later, we'll talk later, your dad's getting impatient."

Kang De made a gesture as if to strike, but the Parrot ducked to the side. "So, Nixiyasi is alright?"

The Fire Thief said irritably, "Who knows? Anyway, judging from the looks of it, he's definitely been mistreated."

Malegith sat back down in her chair, crossed her legs, and said nonchalantly, "Since he's a bastard, what are you planning to do with him? Treat him to wonton noodles or slicing noodles?"

--Why kill him? He's clearly Jiang Gan sent by the Council. Since he's already here, of course we should trick him into a spiral ascension strategy to deceive Star Wars and turn the tables on him. This guy must have been promised all sorts of generous benefits to dare to try and fool me. Such a scoundrel is certainly acceptable...

Just as Kang De was about to say that, he suddenly noticed Malegith's ambiguous smile.

So they forcibly changed their tune.

"How could I kill him?" He sighed, speaking slowly. "This is Nixiyasi's father. If I just kill him like this, she'll probably never forgive me... Maybe he has his problems and flaws, maybe Nixiyasi is exhausted and lost because of him, but even so, deep down, Nixiyasi probably longs to experience the warmth of a father's love like an ordinary girl. So, I must find a way to educate, reprimand, and influence her father, to make him see the error of his ways. After all..."

His expression was so sincere, and his tone so earnest.

"After all, a girl as independent, strong, beautiful, and outstanding as Miss Nixiyasi deserves to be treated gently by the world, and I hope I can do something for her..."

Okay, is that alright?

After Kang De finished speaking, his expression was arrogant and his gaze disdainful.

Snort!

I don't understand women? I'm just too lazy to understand! It's just shameless cheesy talk, right? I could make that up too! Let me tell you, I know a thing or two about women! All you do is make fun of me!

He stared at the Parrot, trying to read a look of shock on its face—a look of disbelief like "This is impossible," or "Who are you if not Kang De?"... Well, it was indeed impossible.

But at least let me see that kind of disappointment, like "Pfft, I didn't guess right, isn't this guy a total straight man?" on your damn good-looking face, which is full of stereotypes, preconceived notions, and persecution of straight men!

However...

The Parrot turned to Horus and asked, "Did you take pictures of everything just now?"

A camera, seemingly appearing out of nowhere, flashed an eerie red light.

"Yes, ma'am, it has been completely recorded."

Horus's voice was polite. "May I ask your advice—should I occasionally reveal this recording to Miss Nixiyasi, or perhaps accidentally deliver it to Princess Tina?"

"Neither is good," the Parrot chuckled. "You should play it when they're both there."

"Oh, this is really..."

"Get out of here!"

When Kang De and Malegith left the command room and stood on the cliff gazing at the rising frost waves in the distance, the Parrot's smile remained unstoppable.

The Fire Thief rolled his eyes and said, "Is it that funny?"

Malegith pursed her lips and said, "I just find it interesting."

Kang De, without turning his head, raised his middle finger and said, "Funny as hell."

While on the Holy Seal Archipelago, the sixteenth Earth word this bird learned was "virgin."

Originally, Kang De would never have taught the Parrot at the time to say this word; it was purely by accident—the parrot, with extremely keen insight, noticed the unnaturalness in Kang De's expression when he uttered the word, and then very cleverly understood the essence of the word.

And its destructive power over Kang De.

And there's the meaning behind it.

Then it started excitedly squawking and chattering.

Not only did he shout it himself, but he also told all the magical creatures about it. Good heavens, overnight, the entire Holy Seal Archipelago heard about it. You could even hear whales laughing wildly from the sea in the middle of the night. Every single one of the creatures on the island with a penis came to see him in droves.

Eighty percent of them came to mock him, and twenty percent came to offer comfort but then laughed themselves silly.

So annoying.

"No, that's not it." The Parrot shook its head and chuckled, "--Your eldest son is deliberately trying to curry favor with me."

"I see, and he's doing it by making fun of his father." Kang De curled his lip. "He's competing with A Fu... clearly trying to win you over, or at least prevent you from completely siding with A Fu."

The previous Phoenix King was surprised. "You actually figured it out?"

"It would be strange if you didn't realize it. Even ordinary children have feelings of vying for attention and being anxious about losing each other. Horus and A Fu, though powerful alchemical life forms, are still children after all."

Kang De, having said this, turned to the speaker and said, "On the contrary, you actually managed to recognize the goodwill Horus was deliberately showing you... I thought you were indifferent to most things, or even actively distancing yourself from them."

The Parrot sighed.

"I was just praising you, and now you're showing your true colors again."

She moved closer, looking at Kang De with a gentle smile on her beautiful face, "Of course I can realize it, because it concerns you."

Kang De's pupils contracted, and his heart pounded faster.

Suddenly, a strange, surging emotion welled up within him. He wanted to say something, but no words came out. Gazing at her beautiful face so close to his, he murmured hoarsely, "You..."

The next moment, a sharp pain shot through his chin as the Parrot pinched him hard. Her gentle, watery face revealed a triumphant grin, Malegith laughed wildly, "Hahahaha, you've been charmed by me again! You virgin, you're so pathetic! Hahahahahahahaha!"

"..."

Even amidst the wild, maniacal laughter, the deep, calm words were presented.

"Because it's truly impossible to resist."

The Parrot's laughter stopped abruptly.

Kang De looked at her, shook his head and chuckled softly, "A beautiful girl like you, with such an expression, saying such words, no man in the world could resist, let alone me, especially since we..."

"--We my foot!" the Parrot yelled, giving me the middle fingers with both hands. "Trying to beat me with my tricks? Dream on! I'm not falling for your schemes!"

After saying that, she turned and ran. Lifted by the air currents and the sound of the wind, she flew away and disappeared.

"Pooh!"

A voice, like that of an ancient old woman, drifted on the wind. "A virgin trying to flirt with girls!"

"..."

Kang De instinctively reached out his hand, his arm hovering in mid-air, his fingers making a grasping motion, before gently closing it.

"Sigh." He scratched his head. "No, it's really not."

I'm telling the truth, I just wanted to pinch your cheek after I finished.

About twenty minutes later,

In the command post of the Broken Isles Defense Force, Kang De met the Admiral's father.

He was quite handsome, tall, with a neatly trimmed mustache and bright, intelligent brown eyes. Clearly, the admiral's daughter's beauty was partly due to the gentleman's genes.

He appeared visibly frightened, but had recovered from the initial shock and disbelief, or rather, had forcibly suppressed his fear, resentment, and discontent, and was ready to meet with Kang De.

For example, the wolf quickly tidies up its appearance, displays a polite and respectful smile, and has bright, gleaming teeth. Its warm smile makes people feel good. This is a hypocritical wolf, greedy and cowardly. It judges the right time and always acts wisely. It knows when to bark fiercely, when to tuck its tail between its legs, and when to tear flesh and blood without mercy.

What he had previously glimpsed—the tip of the iceberg of Kang De's military upgrade plan—had already prompted this respectable gentleman to adjust his strategy accordingly: to be the most respectful, the most eager, and the most docile.

But his ambition did not diminish; though well hidden, it burned ever brighter.

The more powerful Kang De became, the more calculating he was. After all, the buyer was worth more, and as a shrewd businessman, he was extremely pleased and eager.

Upon meeting Kang De, he eagerly took two steps forward, about to utter the long string of honorifics he had just reviewed three times with the utmost respect, when he heard the question from the Cathayan.

"So, you're one of Commander Ni's people?"

Anthony looked puzzled. "Huh?"

"I mean—you're Nixiyasi's father?"

The man bowed and said, "Yes, I am Nixiyasi's father, Anthony Syracuse. I salute you, great Dragon of Cathay, Forbidden Spell spellcaster, of Distant Harbor..."

"It doesn't seem like it."

--Damn it, can't you just let me finish? These rude Cathayan!

Even with this thought in mind, Anthony still asked in confusion, "What?"

"You don't look like Nixiyasi at all."

Kang De stroked his chin, scrutinizing her. "How can you prove you're her father?"

... I fucking...

In preparation for the current dialogue and negotiations, the Council's think tank devised numerous plans and responses, which were then relayed to the Azure Fleet and relayed by the special envoy. Anthony discussed these plans with Anthony all night, making him memorize them thoroughly. The think tank's plans meticulously listed and analyzed Kang De's reactions, challenges, questions, and bargaining, but they did not expect that Kang De's first question would be this.

"In other words," Kang De questioned, "How do you prove that you are you?"

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PS1: Ugh, I spent several hours spacing out again tonight... I just can't seem to get motivated...