Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios
Void Territory.
The large conference room was full of people. Not only were Anne, Marlene, Lize, Lapis, and Orchid Heart here, but Canary, Mini Bubble Gum, and Icy Snow were also present. It was quite lively having this bunch of young ladies getting together in a huddle. It wasn’t surprising since they were always like a family.
Since the invasion of Chaos, they had been sent to various fronts. Apart from feeling tremendous pressure, they also felt rather lonely with most of the people they knew dead. It was especially so the real Canary and Mini Bubble Gum. After all, unlike their projection, they never experienced a war of such scale. The days of fighting Chaos were a huge test for them and a day dragged on like a year.
Thankfully, Rhode had the foresight to let Erin and Lydia watch over the two of them. Erin and Lydia were thoughtful and comforting. Under their care, Canary and Mini Bubble Gum didn’t suffer from any war-related trauma… Or perhaps not yet.
The entire hall was bustling. Everyone hadn’t seen each other for a long time, so they checked on one another and whined about feeling exhausted, though they weren’t really complaining. However, Chaos was indeed tough to deal with. Even Rhode had a headache over it, not to mention these young ladies.
But what puzzled everyone was why they were called back to the front lines of the Void Territory by Rhode despite them being the backbone of the other fronts. Besides, Cassidy and Marybelle of the deity wardens also turned up, so it was apparent that there was something important to announce. However, when they asked the two of them curiously, Marybelle shook her head, while Cassidy knew nothing about it. It was apparent that they also weren’t aware of what was going on this time either.
“Is there something wrong with the front line? Is it about the previous…”
Lize blinked and asked uneasily. Everyone was stunned after the investigation report of Eloise’s crimes was made known. Moreover, they also didn’t know how to stop her. The only solution they had was to let Alice keep an eye on her actions all day, but this also wasn’t a permanent method. Thereafter, Rhode announced to them that there was no need to worry about the situation. He informed them that the suspect had left and it wasn’t necessary for them to raise their guard any longer. Otherwise, he was concerned that some of the young ladies might overthink the situation.
Women always had a lot on their mind. None of them was basically a fool to be able to survive with Rhode for this long. He was concerned that they would overthink the situation, so a decisive action by him was the right move in this complex situation.
“Anne doesn’t think that Leader would be so idle to investigate it thoroughly. Besides, didn’t Leader also say that the criminal has escaped? Everyone’s so busy right now, so how is it possible for us to come here for someone whom we don’t even know the appearance of? What about the other areas? Chaos is still hitting them pretty hard.”
Upon hearing Lize’s question, Anne was rather unconcerned. Although she wasn’t great at treating people with respect, when it came to her fighting instincts, she was a thousand times better than Lize. After hearing Anne’s answer, Lize couldn’t comment.
Even though she had grown after experiencing so many events, there was still a gap between her and a purely military person like Anne. Moreover, what Anne said was reasonable. This group of young ladies gathered here were the elites of all battlefronts. With them taking the lead in resisting Chaos, the rest by the rear could rotate to take breaks.
Hence, withdrawing them from the battlefronts would cause huge troubles. But despite that, they were still called back by Rhode, leaving only Erin and Lydia behind to bear the brunt. Fortunately, Erin and Lydia were very reliable. On the other hand, the Country of Law didn’t send any manpower over as they were already lacking. Not only that, but Rhode had also sent over several elite squads to assist them. Moreover, there was no one there that he needed, so since he couldn’t use the holy sword spirits, he could only mobilize the others.
This was a personal notice from Rhode. Everyone was familiar with him and knew that he wouldn’t do this kind of thing out of boredom. But as for the exact reason why called for them, no one was aware because he notified them through Alice. With her ability of historical record, everyone got the news and gathered almost immediately. Inside the notice, Rhode mentioned briefly that they needed to assemble instantly for an important matter. As soon as they heard it, they put on a serious attitude and rushed back.
But after they arrived, they found that Rhode wasn’t around. So what in the world was going on?
As the crowd was confused, suddenly, a figure flashed by. At the next moment, Alice appeared in front of everyone without warning. And along with her emergence, the tumultuous crowd settled down quickly.
It wasn’t that Alice’s reputation was that high. As a matter of fact, she was still inferior to Christie. After all, ‘Christie’ looked exactly the same as the little Christie and Rhode. She was also the head of the seven deity wardens, and highly revered by everyone. Compared with her, Alice was more like a homebody who spent all day in the library without moving a muscle. The crowd seldom met with her, so it went without saying they didn’t feel much of a connection with her. But now… The problem wasn’t with Alice, but the child in her arms instead.
That’s right, a child.
The child was about five or six years old, wearing a plain jacket and looking plump and adorable. But that wasn’t the point; the point was that the child in Alice’s arms looked very similar to Rhode. Or rather, very similar to Rhode, his younger sister, and Christie. At that moment, the child snuggled up in Alice’s embrace as if he had fallen into a deep sleep.
After meeting the child, everyone was bewildered. At the next moment, the entire hall broke out into an uproar like a volcano eruption.
“Who is that? Who is that?! What a cute little child!”
Upon seeing the adorable child, Anne skipped to Alice’s side instantly, sizing up the sleeping child curiously. On the other hand, Lize and Marlene looked at each other, not knowing what to say at all. The genetic inheritance of Rhode’s family was simply too insane. It was as if they weren’t born but cloned instead, so much so that it was impossible for them to misidentify the child.
Of course, it wasn’t like everyone was unprepared for the fact that Rhode would have a child. After all, many people here had an intimate relationship with him, and it was normal to conceive a child in this era without contraception. But the question was… Whose child was that?
“Tell me! Whose child is that?”
Mini Bubble Gum was the first to dash out of the crowd and stare at the others with her two widened, round eyes. Meanwhile, Canary, who stood at the side, put up a complicated expression. Honestly, she had some mixed feelings when she saw the child. If nothing terrible happened to her baby, perhaps her baby would have grown up to look like this child. But it was a pity that fate loved playing tricks on people…
“Not mine! Not mine!”
“Not mine either!!”
“Don’t look at me, Madam Bubble. I’m a vampire…”
Upon sensing Bubble’s murderous gaze, the young ladies disassociated themselves from the child. As a matter of fact, the child wasn’t theirs. And on the other hand, Angelina was really unfortunate. She only came here to report on her work, and it was precisely Bubble who dragged her into Rhode’s bed in the past. If vampires could give birth to children, she wouldn’t still be in such a mess now. Despite that, she was still bullied by Bubble…
Come to think of it, what’s with you always picking on me!
“Not any of you, huh? In that case, did Leader find himself a new woman?”
Upon hearing their responses, Bubble curled her lips and spoke. And when the young ladies heard her response, they were shook. Honestly, the likelihood of Rhode having a woman outside of his harem wasn’t only low, but very high instead. But most of them here were all over him and didn’t care about that. They knew him well enough to think that he wouldn’t be messing around with another woman at a time like this. Moreover…
“Okay, Bubble, be quiet. That child is around five to six years old, so the child wasn’t just born by any means.”
On the contrary, the projected Canary was relatively calm. Perhaps due to the fact that she was the perfect image of Canary in Rhode’s consciousness, she appeared to be calm about this shocking event. And upon hearing her words, the crowd also returned to their senses.
Indeed, it had been less than three years since Rhode came to the Dragon Soul Continent. Even if he were to have a child, the child wouldn’t be at this age. As for Canary’s side, although she used to be pregnant with his child, the child would be three years old at most and not five or six years old. Rhode and his younger sister did have a child, but Christie was still well and alive.
Thus, the child’s presence was very suspicious.
But compared to the others, Cassidy and Marybelle seemed indifferent. But it wasn’t that surprising. After all, they didn’t have that kind of relationship with Rhode. And as deity wardens, they weren’t in a position to question the Void Dragon’s moral principle. The same went for Alice as well. She didn’t say much, but whispered in the child’s ear instead.
“Your Majesty, we’re here. Wake up.”
“Ugh…”
Upon hearing Alice’s voice, the child raised his head and stretched out his hand to rub his sleepy eyes. Then, he opened his big, vivid eyes and looked at his small, fair hand. After a moment, the child let out a long sigh and spoke.
“Put me down.”
“Yes, Your Majesty.”
Upon hearing the child speak, Alice remained calm and gently placed the child in her arms on the ground. The crowd in front of her was silent. They stared at the endearing child and was totally speechless. They also clearly heard the conversation between Alice and the child. In the entire Dragon Soul Continent, there were only two people whom the deity wardens addressed as ‘His Majesty’ and ‘Her Majesty’: Rhode and his younger sister. They knew that his younger sister was in charge of the opening of the plane channel. In that case…
“Leader?”
Anne crouched down and looked at the little child in front of her curiously. And upon sensing her gaze, the child went silent for a moment, before nodding helplessly. In fact, there was only one thought in his mind right now.
I don’t think you should mess with your big brother like that, my dearest younger sister.
The reason why he became a child was due to the exchange in power. According to his younger sister, she could give her power to him, but it required a certain sacrifice from him. Of course, he also kept his wits about her and specifically asked if his gender would change.
In response, his younger sister shook her head firmly and looked at him with the clearest, simplest, and most sincere eyes, vowing that he would always be her big brother and she would never let him become her big sister. Since his younger sister had said so, Rhode was willing to risk his life and soon after, they exchanged power. In the end, Rhode discovered that… even though he didn’t become a big sister, he turned into a younger brother instead…
According to his younger sister, his body was unable to withstand the double dragon soul powers. In fact, this little Rhode was a split body formed by his younger sister using the fusion of his will and her power. This way, he could manipulate two parts of the dragon soul power by himself. In this way, it was also convenient. If anything were to go wrong, he could immediately return to his original body by just dissolving the split body.
As for why he showed up as a child, according to his younger sister, the bigger the body, the easier it was to waste dragon soul power. After all, concentration was the essence, which was why she gave him this split body. Anyway, if he were to engage in a fight, he would definitely return to his original body of the Void Dragon, so it was best to save the dragon soul power as much as possible since it wasn’t infinite.
But… He didn’t know whether that was the real reason.
“… In short, that’s how it is.”
Rhode explained to everyone helplessly. He couldn’t help but shiver as he looked at the ferocious gazes of the young ladies in front of him like a pack of hungry wolves.
Are you kidding me? I’m just the size of a child and not a real child. No matter how much you girls like me, don’t show such straightforward expressions of wanting to do something to me please.
At that moment, Rhode was regretful. According to his younger sister, he was no different from a five or six years old in order to ensure that the dragon soul power wasn’t wasted. Otherwise, he wouldn’t have let Alice carry him over. And what was more humiliating was that he also fell asleep halfway. He knew that all the authority he built up over such a long time was gone with the wind…
My dearest younger sister, you really shouldn’t do this to your big brother…
“Okay, let’s get down to business…”
“Leader, you’re so adorable!”
Right after Rhode explained the situation, Anne screamed, pounced on him, and hugged him tightly. At that moment, the rest of the young ladies also gathered around quickly, touching his head and rubbing his face. It was especially so with Canary, where the motherly look of her caressing his head made his hair stand. It would be just fine if he were really a five or six year old. But the problem was that he wasn’t really a five or six year old!
What a joke. I really don’t understand the mentality of those novel protagonists who chose to be reborn back as children. I absolutely can’t stand this!
“Stop! Stop! Stop!”
Although Rhode tried his best to show his authority by stretching his arms and legs, it was a pity that he really didn’t have any authority to speak of in his current state, where even Mini Bubble Gum dared to come up and ravage his chubby little face. As for Lize and Marlene, they were even worse…
After a few moments, it was Alice and Marybelle who rescued him from everyone’s ’embrace’. After all, this was a critical time and not a period for them to play with him. The younger ladies who satisfied their addiction of violating him stood to the side obediently.
At that moment, Rhode felt like he had gotten back a little bit of his dignity. Shortly after, he told everyone the whole process he discussed with his younger sister. And after listening to his speech, everyone, including Anne, frowned. It was apparent that launching a frontal attack on Chaos was much more important to them than Rhode becoming a cute little boy.
“… Leader, do you really intend to do that?”
“We have no other option now. And while that side is still holding on strongly, if we don’t manage to diffuse the pressure of Chaos, the formation of the plane channel will be delayed. When that happens, the situation will be even more problematic. The reason why I chose this side was also because it’s relatively safe.”
What Rhode said was the truth. Compared to the front lines with Erin and Lydia and the twin dragons, the Void Territory was indeed as stable as a mountain. Credit had to be given to Orchid Heart’s command and the mighty power of the magical warships.
Unlike the Munn Kingdom’s floating fleet, the magical warships were more destructive, to the extent of being able to annihilate the Chaos Lords. And even if a troublesome Chaos Lord appeared, Orchid Heart only needed to unleash all the spells she collected at once. Even if the Chaos Lord wasn’t dead, it would still be crippled at the very least.
Moreover, with the Holy Maiden Statue and teams of elite players, the Void Territory had the strongest defenses, which was why Rhode chose his own front as the breakthrough point. After all, even if he couldn’t beat Chaos, he could still retreat and defend, unlike in other places where he wasn’t certain of his chances.
“All right, that settles it then! Get ready to launch the attack in three hours!”
This was the last thing Rhode said in the hall, standing on a chair and waving his little fist.
