Chapter 44: The Ikaruosi Bandits…
The red-haired youth asked his questions over and over with a piteous, aggrieved air, seeking the answer he desired.
The cub was so busy trying to answer him that he completely forgot his original intention was simply to help treat the boy’s Bloodline Frenzy.
It had to be said that the cub was still too green; he was no match for a King who controlled an entire empire.
A faint smile tugged at the corner of the young King’s mouth.
Cradled in his arms, which were warmer than the average person’s, the cub eventually grew tired from the questioning and began to snore softly.
His little face was flushed pink with sleep, one cheek pressed against Lì Héng’s chest, the flesh of his jowls squeezed into a soft roll.
Lì Héng sat in the corner of the room holding the cub, staring for a long while before he finally couldn’t resist reaching out to poke the cub’s small dimple.
As he grew older, perhaps because he loved to smile so much, two small dimples had appeared on Shěn Lín’s cheeks.
They were especially prominent whenever he laughed, making him look incredibly adorable.
Anyone who saw those dimples would be tempted to poke them, as if they could squeeze out some sweet nectar.
Perhaps because Lì Héng had spent too long poking his chubby face, the cub’s round mouth twitched, and drool began to flow uncontrollably.
It landed on Lì Héng’s crimson court robe, leaving a dark, damp stain.
The robe had been meticulously crafted by the Imperial Palace’s Department of Garments.
From the fabric to the fine threads, every element had undergone layers of selection and quality control.
The value of the silk thread on such a magnificent robe alone was equivalent to several years’ wages for an ordinary person.
Lì Héng had a germaphobic streak.
In the past, he would never touch anything that someone else had handled.
For instance, after a meeting with his ministers, he would immediately have palace servants clean the area until not a speck of dust remained.
But when facing the cub, he seemed to forget his germaphobia entirely. Without even a twitch of his brow, he pulled out an exquisite handkerchief to wipe away the cub’s drool.
Once finished, he stuffed the handkerchief into his pocket and continued to lie in the nest, holding the cub.
He looked up at the Ghost Vines slowly slithering across the ceiling.
In a short amount of time, the Ghost Vines had reproduced rapidly, their roots following the drainage channels deep into the earth.
The Ratmen patrolling the sewers were already accustomed to this, passing the roots by without a second thought.
Had it been before, they would have been terrified enough to report it overnight.
After all, these were the stranglers of the plant world.
With a terrifying reproductive capacity, they could kill every living thing on a planet just to expand their territory.
The existence of a single Ghost Vine usually signaled the end of life for a planet.
But later, they were told that these Ghost Vines were raised by the Young Master and wouldn’t attack randomly, so they could rest easy.
The Ratmen hadn’t been at ease at first, but after the Ghost Vines helped them catch several Pangolin Beastmen, their worries slowly faded.
Now, they lived in peaceful coexistence.
Lì Héng could spend all day simply watching the cub sleep.
Listening to the rhythmic little snores, his emotions reached a long-awaited period of calm.
The blood that usually surged through his body like boiling lava actually showed signs of slowing down.
Lì Héng thought that since he had witnessed the cub’s special abilities firsthand, he would be able to accept any further oddities calmly.
However, he never expected that the healing process came with a “post-care service.”
The cub’s ability was more than just unique.
If those Beastmen outside, who were driven to despair by Bloodline Frenzy, knew about this, they would stop at nothing to get their hands on the cub.
Lì Héng gently patted the cub’s back.
After a moment of thought, beast markings appeared on his arm. Crimson blood, like a blazing fire, surged to his fingertips, and a few tiny embers carefully hid themselves within the cub’s hair.
A few strands of deep red were now mixed into the pink hair at the nape of his neck, looking completely natural, as if they had grown there.
The energy within Lì Héng surged wildly, and a Fire Spirit Mark appeared on his forehead for a split second before vanishing.
He had manually forged his bloodline power into the thickness of a hair strand—a feat that required extreme precision in energy control.
Lì Héng had discovered that his bloodline power was different from others in that he could hand-craft “bombs” and attach them to people. There was no limit to the incubation period; he could detonate them whenever he wished.
He called this ability “Marking.”
The bomb he had crafted for the cub wasn’t incredibly powerful; at most, it would leave a person paralyzed.
Provided the other party didn’t try to harm the cub, the “Marking” mechanism would never be triggered.
This was something he had discovered by accident as a bored child—that his energy could “Mark” someone without being detected.
Of course, “Marking” was one of the least significant skills in his bloodline arsenal, and he rarely used it.
Compared to assassination, he preferred to kill his targets on the spot rather than leaving them for later.
Once the “Marking” was complete, Lì Héng dispersed the excess energy.
Ding!
The star-computer on his wrist flashed, and a light-screen popped up.
Lì Héng frowned in displeasure, instinctively glancing at the cub. Confirming that he hadn’t been woken up, Lì Héng pulled the coat covering the cub up a little higher.
He clicked the message, and a large amount of information filled the air.
Videos, pictures, and dense blocks of text scrolled rapidly across the screen.
Lì Héng’s fingers slid through the air as he quickly browsed the contents…
“Do you think something will happen if we leave His Majesty alone on that starship?”
Sāng Hǔ stood by the window with his arms crossed, staring anxiously at the starship flying ahead of them.
Chén Chán was busy contacting the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to arrange for ministers to come to the Federation for negotiations regarding the aftermath of Hǎiwān Island’s sinking. She was indifferent to Sāng Hǔ’s concern.
“What could possibly happen to His Majesty?”
Sāng Hǔ shook his head. “No, I mean, will His Majesty being on that ship pose a danger to the others? For example, that frail cub. If there’s a conflict today, I don’t know if that little cub can withstand His Majesty’s rage.”
Anyone with eyes could see how much their Majesty cared about the cub.
He had pushed through all opposition to open the nearest space tunnel to the Federation just so he could see the cub as quickly as possible.
He had traded a medium-grade energy stone mine to the Star Bear race for a low-grade asteroid that only produced Golden Bamboo.
And now, upon hearing the cub had made a new friend, he had rushed here in a panic to confirm it. He had even lost control of his bloodline energy and sunk an island after seeing the cub acting affectionately with someone else.
Although Ikaruosi could afford to pay for the damage, Sāng Hǔ wasn’t worried about the money; he was worried that his Majesty was showing signs of anxiety.
If the object of his Majesty’s affection wasn’t a cub, Sāng Hǔ would have thought he was dealing with some kingdom-toppling temptress.
Since birth, His Majesty had held the title of Crown Prince—noble, wealthy, and powerful.
Above all others.
Even when the former King died and his three brothers tried to seize the throne, His Majesty had held his ground.
Even after being drugged with an inducer that triggered an early Bloodline Frenzy, he had managed to fight his way through the rebel army despite his deteriorating state, leaving them behind with arrogant ease.
The rebels had hunted him through the galaxy but couldn’t even touch a hair on his head.
In the end, he had been the one to contact Sāng Hǔ, allowing the Royal Guard to find him.
His Majesty’s strength was beyond question.
And yet, this King who remained so composed against his enemies would lose his mind over a single cub.
Sāng Hǔ found it both amazing and a bit unsettling.
Although most of the Royal Family members who opposed His Majesty had already been killed off, who knew if they had left behind any other bloodlines in hiding?
If those people found out about the cub’s existence, wouldn’t the cub be in grave danger?
Sāng Hǔ decided he needed to conduct a more thorough investigation to ensure no one had slipped through the cracks. He also needed to remind His Majesty to pay attention to the cub’s safety.
Sāng Hǔ had no idea that his Majesty had already considered all these concerns.
That was exactly why he had hunted down the members of the Royal Family, earning himself the reputation of a tyrant.
News of the young King of Ikaruosi appearing at Hǎiwān Island on the Federation’s main star spread like wildfire across the StarNet.
Coincidentally, someone had uploaded a video of Hǎiwān Island sinking, which immediately drew a massive audience.
[Is this the power of an SSS bloodline? That’s incredible!]
[Wait, Ikaruosi is bold enough to come to the Federation and cause trouble?! @FederationCouncil, are you just going to stand there and watch while they walk all over us? Has the Federation become a subsidiary of Ikaruosi?]
[Don’t be so dramatic, friend. They already said it was an accident and they’ll pay for it. Are you just bored and looking for drama?]
[I heard this was just a leak of His Majesty’s pressure. It wasn’t even an actual display of power.]
[Holy cow, that’s insane. If he didn’t even use his bloodline power and he still sank the island… no wonder he’s the only 3S. If I were the one who awakened a 3S Fierce Beast bloodline, I can’t imagine how happy I’d be.]
Beastmen admired the strong.
In a world where martial prowess was supreme, only the top-tier Fierce Beasts deserved universal respect.
In Ikaruosi, where every citizen was a soldier, the people were very direct in their worship of the strong.
As long as a strong person took the throne, they didn’t care who the King was.
They only followed the capable.
Lì Héng was the universally recognized future King of Ikaruosi, as his SSS-grade Fierce Beast bloodline had been a foregone conclusion since birth.
One could say the people of Ikaruosi had watched Lì Héng grow up to be King; his position was more stable than his father’s had been and was unshakeable by the other three princes.
Lì Héng naturally had the advantage of the people’s support. If the others wanted the throne, they had to fight for it!
Their only chance was to launch a coup using the military.
Things had gone even smoother than they had planned—Lì Héng’s Bloodline Frenzy had triggered early.
But before they could celebrate, they discovered that Lì Héng’s SSS bloodline was so powerful that even in a state of frenzy, he could escape from an army of millions.
He had emerged unscathed, with his bloodline power actually slightly stronger than before.
Upon his return, the red-haired youth had slaughtered his way through the Royal bloodlines, turning the Ikaruosi palace into a river of blood.
They had intended to use the name “Tyrant” on the StarNet to force him to stop, but the online sentiment did a total 180.
The people of Ikaruosi fully supported their young King’s actions, which even triggered a surge in military enlistments.
The people of Ikaruosi weren’t afraid of a tyrant; they were only afraid of a stupid King they couldn’t follow.
The saying that every Ikaruosi citizen was a soldier wasn’t just talk.
The King from three generations ago had been incompetent, and power had been seized by corrupt ministers.
The nobles followed suit, treating the people of Ikaruosi as tools for their own pleasure.
The entire Ikaruosi Empire had been in a foul state until the people launched a coup and dragged the incompetent King from his throne.
Under the collective witness of the people, they placed a Royal heir who had been stranded on a waste star onto the throne.
That King was Lì Héng’s grandfather.
Aside from warring across the stars, that old man’s favorite hobby was walking among the low-level Beastmen disguised as a repairman.
Supposedly, it was because he had been wearing a repairman’s uniform on the day he was brought back.
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