Published: February 12, 2025
“Grandpa!” A girl who looked to be around twenty turned to look at the man who had just entered, smiled slightly, and then focused her gaze back on a terrain map, continuing her conversation with the two people beside her.
The man walked over and sat down beside her. He glanced at the terrain map but didn’t linger on it for too long; instead, he focused more on the girl, his emotions complex—affection, pity, reluctance, anger, and cherish...
Half an hour later, the three finished their discussion, established a concrete plan, and then the two imposing-looking men nodded to the man who had entered later before turning and leaving the tent.
Through the flaps of the tent, one could see a sprawling military camp outside, with many evolvers and mutated beings doing what they were supposed to do in the world.
The tent flap closed, once again creating a relatively isolated space inside.
“Grandpa…” The girl sat next to the man, wrapping her arm around his, her tone slightly somber as she said, “You’ve already made a decision, so why still be entangled in it?”
The girl’s big eyes were filled with confusion; she had an adult-like body and was quite intelligent, but for other matters, she saw them relatively simply.
Yet it was precisely this simplicity that, at certain times, could reach the core of a problem directly.
Since a decision was made, why linger?
This question kept replaying in the man's mind, leaving him momentarily at a loss for words.
“Alas, I just… perhaps I’ve tasted the flavor of power and am unwilling to let it go.”
After a moment, the man sighed with such thoughts.
The girl chuckled lightly, “What is power? How can one grasp power? Is it like before when you controlled Ten Thousand Beast Manor? But aren’t you still doing the same now? To me, it just feels like a name change.”
The man shook his head, indicating that he didn’t see things that way.
“The people of Ten Thousand Beast Manor still answer to your commands, and so do the battle beasts. In terms of both quantity and quality, they are much stronger than before in Ten Thousand Beast Manor. I think the only change is that you’ve gone from being the master of Ten Thousand Beast Manor to the leader of the Cloud Summit Battle Beast Legion.”
This man was Li Daqian, and the little girl was his granddaughter.
Li Daqian looked at his still innocent granddaughter and found himself unsure of how to respond.
After joining Cloud Summit, he had always felt a bit out of sorts.
Apart from a few old friends from other families, the rest of the people in Ten Thousand Beast Manor had no opposition to joining Cloud Summit, especially his son, daughter-in-law, and granddaughter—his closest relatives—not only did they not oppose it, but they even seemed a bit pleased. Even though they made great efforts to hide it in front of Li Daqian, how could he not see through it?
From the inside, Ten Thousand Beast Manor has almost completely tilted towards Cloud Summit since the moment Li Daqian was forced to make the decision.
This made Li Daqian feel a great sense of loss.
Did he really not want to join Cloud Summit?
Li Daqian had asked himself this question many times afterward, and it seemed… he wasn’t that resolute.
This mindset partly stemmed from their long-standing good relationship with Cloud Summit, which gave him a high sense of recognition towards them. This high recognition was also shared by others in Ten Thousand Beast Manor.
On the other hand, the powerful strength displayed by Cloud Summit left Li Daqian, who was still at the eight-star level, with little will to resist.
Having lived this long and become a leader, what he lacked the least was a heart that could read the situation; he knew that circumstances were stronger than individuals.
Cloud Summit's strength instilled a sense of helplessness from deep within.
Since it was like this, what was there to be confused about?
Li Daqian asked himself this again, but in his heart, he still felt uncomfortable.