Bloodline

In a corner of the War God Palace.

Dongguan checked off a few items on the menu and handed it to the waiter.

The food here was clearly virtual, offering nothing but a taste, yet it was extremely expensive. Ordering even a little extra could cost tens of millions.

Still, everyone who could come here was a War God. The materials from any lord-level monster sold for at least five hundred million, a sum an ordinary fighter would spend most of a lifetime saving.

For Dongguan, who had already slaughtered more than one high-level lord, this bit of money was nothing.

Having recovered his memories as a transmigrator, he knew that in a few years, once Earth connected with the wider universe, even Earth currency itself would be worth very little.

"As generous as ever, Captain." Yang Bei gave him a thumbs-up, then sipped his drink.

Such a huge body holding such a tiny glass made Dongguan struggle not to laugh.

"How did your body get so big?"

Only Dongguan and Yang Bei were sitting here now. After his fight, Lu Gang had said he had gained some insights and logged off to enter seclusion.

Once Dongguan had adjusted to his condition, he had finally comprehended the ninth stage of the Ninefold Thunder Blade. He had intended to spend a few days in seclusion himself, but Yang Bei had said he had something to tell him.

Before getting down to business, Dongguan could not resist asking about the state of his body.

When the Dragon Shadow Squad disbanded in 2035, Yang Bei had still been an Intermediate War General Level. His build had been normal then, too: 1.9 meters tall, a little taller than Dongguan.

Now, after breaking through to the War God level, he had become a towering giant of 2.5 meters. If his face had not retained familiar traces, Dongguan would barely have recognized him.

"My body probably turned out like this because of that flower." Even as Yang Bei spoke, he refused to put down his drink.

In Dongguan's memories, he had always been like this. Despite his masculine face and build, he had an intense fondness for fruit sugar and loved sweet drinks.

Back in Northern Frontier Base City, whenever the squad returned from the wilderness to the supply base, Yang Bei would order himself a glass of grape juice first.

Yang Bei also began recounting his experiences.

After Dongguan reached the War God level and could independently kill low-level lords, he had continued taking the squad along for about a year.

But the gap between the members was too great. Even Yang Bei, the strongest of the others, was only an Intermediate War General Level, so the squad eventually disbanded.

Northern Frontier Base City had been founded after the Great Nirvana ended in 2021. To join a fighter squad back then, Dongguan had listed his age as eighteen, and Yang Bei had been about the same age.

By 2035, both of them were considered to be in their thirties.

Since Dongguan was already a War God, his lifespan was longer than an ordinary person's, and he had maintained his youthful appearance.

Yang Bei had looked somewhat more mature by then. As an Intermediate War General Level, he would have been doing well to reach Advanced General later on.

And that was already a respectable achievement among fighters.

During the year Dongguan had taken them out hunting monsters, Yang Bei had saved up enough wealth that, if he chose to live an ordinary life, he would not merely have been set for life—he would have been extremely well-off.

But he refused to settle for that, so he ventured deep into the wilderness alone to hone himself.

During that time, he had encountered an opportunity: that blood-red flower.

He had been in grave danger and eventually slipped into a sand snake lair, where he discovered the flower in the snake king's nest.

The moment he saw it, he felt an incomparable allure.

Unable to resist, Yang Bei ate it.

He had not recognized it then, but now he knew it was a spirit of plants and trees, an extremely precious treasure.

Afterward, he felt a violent power surge out from within his body. Half-conscious, he fought his way out of the sand snake lair.

Once he recovered, his strength was not as great as it had been during that burst, but it grew rapidly afterward, rising from an average intermediate-level war general's strength all the way to the threshold of a low-level War God.

At that point, though his physical capabilities had reached the required level, everything else-experience, power exertion techniques, mastery, and so on-was lacking. His equipment was poor as well.

It was not until 2053, when his physical capabilities approached those of an intermediate-level War God and he had accumulated enough in other areas, that he formally went out to hunt lord-level monsters and earned his War God certification.

"As for now, my punching strength has already reached the intermediate War God level."

"A refill." Yang Bei handed his glass to the waiter.

The refill arrived quickly, along with the other dishes they had ordered.

In truth, all of this could have been done instantly in virtual space. Whether their research into the ancient civilization's equipment was insufficient or they insisted on this formality for the sake of "realism," there always had to be a process.

"Right, you said you had something to tell me. What was it?" As they ate and drank, Dongguan asked about the "business" Yang Bei had mentioned earlier.

"Captain, I need to tell you something, but you mustn't get upset."

Yang Bei looked very serious as he said this. He even put down his drink.

"What is it?" Dongguan frowned.

He had left Northern Frontier Base City more than twenty years ago, while Yang Bei had never left its surrounding area during all that time. What could it possibly be?

"I'll tell you, but don't get too worked up." Yang Bei still did not say it.

"Out with it. What is it? Why all the hesitation?" Dongguan was growing irritated.

Looks like the captain's personality really has changed, Yang Bei thought.

"Captain," he cleared his throat, "you have a child."

"And here I thought it was something serious. So I have a child."

"Wait, what? Me? A child? What's going on?" Confusion covered Dongguan's face.

He had been alone all his life. Or rather, with his soul previously incomplete, a romantic relationship had been impossible.

He had never had a girlfriend or a wife, so naturally, he could not have had a child.

"With whom? What's the child's name? Where are they? How did you find out?" After the initial shock, he calmed down and began asking for specifics.

"The captain really is still the captain. Even faced with something like this, you calm down so quickly," Yang Bei said admiringly.

In truth, Dongguan was extremely tense, but more than anything, he was bewildered.

He had already searched his memories with all his might. Over all these years, he had no memory whatsoever of having sex with a woman.

"Captain Zhang's daughter, Zhang Yu."

"Zhang Yu?" Dongguan was even more puzzled.

He and Zhang Yu had never dated.

To be honest, in that monster tide back then, Captain Zhang and three other members had died, leaving only him and Yang Bei.

Under those circumstances, the two of them had naturally taken extra care of the four men's families.

If he remembered correctly, Zhang Yu had only been an eleven- or twelve-year-old girl when Captain Zhang died.

He had always regarded Zhang Yu as a niece.

But how could he have done that with Zhang Yu... and even had a child?

Dongguan was not the only one bewildered. Yang Bei had been just as stunned when he first learned the news.

"Do you remember the War God banquet when you received your certification, after you avenged Captain Zhang and the others?"

"I do." Dongguan nodded. "You all arranged it, actually. I hadn't intended to hold one."

"Then do you remember how everyone toasted you, and you drank every glass without a word?"

"Back then..." Dongguan's pupils contracted. "I got drunk."

His incomplete personality had left him one hell of a trap.

He had already imagined what happened next.

Zhang Yu had admired him, her uncle figure, for a long time. Seeing him drunk, she had thrown herself into his arms and made her move.

Then he had completely forgotten the incident. Especially as a man, he would not have noticed any particular physical signs, and feeling a little tired would have seemed like a normal reaction after getting drunk.

Still, getting her pregnant on the first try was quite something.

Dongguan was a little worried. Would that child also have three eyes?

But the situation was more complicated than he imagined.

"No." Yang Bei shook his head. "Do you remember what Zhang Yu does for a living?"

"What does she do?" In Dongguan's memories, he had never paid attention to such matters.

When he was captain, he had left all the minor affairs to Yang Bei, including looking after their former teammates' families.

He had only been responsible for killing monsters.

As for Zhang Yu, he remembered that her physical capabilities had reached a fighter's level, but she had not registered as one. She seemed to have gone into some other line of work.

That was actually quite normal. Behind the fighters' exalted status lay an extremely high mortality rate.

And Zhang Yu's father had died precisely because of that.

"She works at a biological research institute."

Dongguan had a bad feeling.

"That night, she took a sample of your genetic material. Five years later, in 2040, you had a child."

"How many?" Dongguan snapped the chopsticks in his hand.

"Just one." Yang Bei shook his head. "After you left, I still visited her from time to time. That was when I discovered she was pregnant, with no husband. I thought some scumbag had taken advantage of Zhang Yu. In the end, when I looked into it, this turned out to be the truth."

"If they had my genetic sample, why didn't they produce a few more? And she got pregnant herself? Is that something a researcher should be doing?" Dongguan's voice was full of sarcasm and suspicion.

"The project was later shut down because it cost too much and had no practical value. Without funding, Zhang Yu experimented on herself and actually became pregnant. It really was an extremely ironic turn of events."

"Besides, your genes are somewhat unusual." A strange look appeared on Yang Bei's face. "Because the project was terminated, I managed to obtain some of the records. The research on your genetic sample showed that, although you were only a War God, even the councilors' genes weren't as unusual as yours."

"Producing offspring from their genes was nowhere near as difficult as it was with yours. It seems another reason the project was finally terminated was that the councilors discovered their genetic samples had been stolen and exerted pressure."

"So that's how it was?" Dongguan felt helpless, frustration weighing on him, yet he did not know whom to vent it on.

The research institute? It had already been disbanded under pressure from councilor-level figures. The powers behind it would surely have tied up all the loose ends. As for the ordinary researchers, they had no say in the decisions; they were merely employees.

Zhang Yu? Perhaps he should. She had stolen his genetic sample.

But Captain Zhang had once saved his life. Though he had more or less repaid that debt over the years, Dongguan could not bring himself to lay a hand on Captain Zhang's only surviving daughter.

Then the child? He was not that unreasonable. The child had no control over his own birth. He was innocent.

Besides, all Dong Guan had actually lost was some genetic material. If it came down to it, other people would hardly consider that a loss at all. If he made a scene, the abnormalities in his genes might even become common knowledge.

"What's the child's name? Where is he? How is he doing now?" Dongguan fell silent for a few seconds, then continued, "And Zhang Yu? How is she now?"

Recalling Zhang Yu as she had looked at that banquet, he thought her cool, striking air had been rather appealing.

"The child's name is Zhang Gui. He goes to school in Northern Frontier Base City and has a year and a half until the college entrance exam. His last physical assessment already put him at the prospective fighter level, though. His mother just won't let him take the prospective fighter test."

"Will you come back and see him?" Yang Bei looked earnestly at Dongguan. "You have a home here in Northern Frontier Base City."

His answer was silence.

Just as Yang Bei was about to leave in disappointment, Dongguan's voice rang out behind him.

"I'll go back."

Hearing those words, Yang Bei smiled, then logged off.

"It's time to face it." Dongguan touched his smooth forehead, then logged off as well.