Chapter 974

"I..."

Facing the right hand Leon extended, Prince Andrei, who looked like a seven or eight-year-old boy, could not help but show a timid expression on his face. He retreated half a step subconsciously, then shook his head desperately:

"I'm not going! They definitely won't forgive me!"

"Of course, isn't that obvious!"

Leon, upon hearing this, maintained his reaching posture and retorted speechlessly:

"You should take a good look at what kind of b-things you've done all these years. Who could possibly forgive you?

Honestly, if I were your father, the regret that would keep me in the 【City of Regret】 wouldn't be the misunderstanding between us, but why I didn't just... um... why I brought you into the world in the first place. They would have to be crazy to forgive you, okay?"

"..."

No... do you even want to persuade me to surrender?

Originally expecting to receive comfort from Leon's mouth, hearing something like "parents will never blame their children," the result was a violent, double-strength stinging retort. Prince Andrei's already cracked mentality was instantly shattered by a flying kick, and he shook his head frantically with fear in his eyes:

"No! I don't want to go to the Dead World! And I don't want to go to any City of Regret. They won't forgive me, then I..."

"Smack!"

After swinging his hand horizontally and giving the young prince a heavy slap, Leon wiped the oil paint off his hand and said to the stunned Prince Andrei with irritation:

"Can you stop making a scene? No one had the responsibility to forgive you in the first place. I suggested you apologize not to make your parents feel better, but to make yourself feel better!"

"I..."

"You, just like the image you painted, are just a giant overgrown baby!"

Looking at the young prince covering his face in front of him, Leon curled his lip:

"The sign of a person's adulthood is not height or a beard, but leaving the protection of parents and beginning to take responsibility on one's own, facing and accepting the mistakes one has made.

Although you are older than me, you have been protected too well. You have basically never experienced any storms, and your psychological state is completely that of an underage child."

"I... I am not..."

"Smack!"

"Don't be stubborn."

After backhanding him with another slap, Leon, finally feeling relieved, looked down at the bewildered young prince, extended his right hand again, and said word by word:

"If you really think you aren't, then grab my hand and prove it to me!"

"I... I don't dare to go..."

After being heavily slapped twice in a row, Prince Andrei's psychological age seemed to have returned to the eight years old of his "body." He turned his head away, not daring to look directly at Leon, and whispered with tears in his eyes:

"I still want to see them one more time, but... but they must be very, very angry. If they see me..."

"Smack!"

"Why are you still hitting me?"

"Sorry, it was a reflex."

After wiping the oil paint on his clothes, Leon stared at Prince Andrei and asked back:

"So even if they don't forgive you, how much worse could the situation be than it is now?

Anyway, you are already dead. Even if they are angry, they can't kill you again. At most, they'll hit you a few times and scold you a few times, but you can see them with your own eyes again after more than ten years, talk to them, and even be held in their arms once more.

In order to see the fake parents you painted, you were willing to risk being pulverized by the Cleaning Bureau and went through so much trouble. Now that you only need to be hit and scolded a couple of times to see your real parents, what else do you have to hesitate about?"

"..."

That's right... compared to being able to see them again, what else do I have to hesitate about?

After listening to Leon's inquiry, Prince Andrei bit his lower lip tightly, raised his eight-year-old child's hand tremblingly, and tentatively reached toward Leon's palm.

However, even though he had made the decision, that small arm still felt as heavy as if it were hanging from a huge mountain. He tried to lift it several times in a row but couldn't reach the height of Leon's palm, only waving it in the air underneath again and again.

"You... you put your hand lower..."

After trying hard several times and failing to lift his hand, the eight-year-old Prince Andrei couldn't help but mourn:

"You are too tall, put your hand down a little, I can't grab it..."

"You can grab it."

After looking at the young prince's trembling arm, Leon, whose eyes had always been full of disdain and whose voice had always been cold, softened his tone for the first time and reminded him gently:

"Andrei, no one can help you on the path you are about to take. It's not my hand you need to grab, but your own conviction.

Only if your conviction to see your family again is firm enough will you be able to pass through the 【Road of No Return】, walk all the way to the 【City of Regret】, apologize to your parents, and make up for the mistakes you once made... Finally, Andrei, if you can grab my hand, then you are no longer a child."

Am I no longer a child...

Upon hearing Leon's words, the eight-year-old Prince Andrei raised his head, looked at the steady palm above his head, and then through his fingers, looked at the calm face that was no longer full of contempt. He couldn't help but pout his lips, and with tears in his eyes, he asked softly:

"So... are you trying to save not just Fei Liya and the others, but even me?"

"I am not saving you."

Leon shook his head:

"I am just telling you that besides this dead end, there is actually another path to take. As for whether to take it or not, that is for you to decide;

Also, you haven't been saved by anyone. You just stopped choosing to escape blindly and learned to summon the courage to face your mistakes like an adult."

Escape... face...

After listening to Leon's words, Prince Andrei's uncontrollably shaking palm finally stabilized. He reached upward silently, rested it on that warm and firm palm, and was then held tightly by it.

"Very good."

After grabbing the small palm of the eight-year-old child painted with oil paint, a look of approval appeared on Leon's face for the first time, and then he fiercely kowtowed in his heart to the 【Trustworthy Older Brother】.

After Prince Andrei "regressed" to his eight-year-old state, this Bronze-level "Good Brother" badge of his exerted an unimaginably super-god effect. If it weren't for this thing holding the line, something really might have gone wrong this time.

There are no trash badges, only treasures whose uses haven't been found yet!

After warning himself again never to ignore the effectiveness of any badge, Leon, who had been running the Gold-level 【Master of Performance】 the whole time, held Andrei's now much steadier palm and asked gently:

"I'll ask one last time, are you ready?"

"Mm..."

Looking at Leon, who had clearly let go of his defense against his soul but still hadn't taken the opportunity to subdue him, and instead gently asked if he was ready, Prince Andrei nodded gratefully, his eyes firm:

"I am ready! No matter what is waiting for me, I want to see them one more time!"

"Good."

After receiving an affirmative answer, Leon used the power of the Three-Headed Dog God to connect to the 【Gate of the Dead】 leading to the Dead World, then grabbed Prince Andrei's soul and pulled it out with force.

"Let's go!"

After pulling Prince Andrei's soul out of "Koroque Under the Sunset" in one go, Leon opened the passage to the 【Gate of the Dead】 while kindly instructing:

"Once you get over there, remember not to mention that you know me. If someone discovers something is wrong and asks why you have my aura on you, just say that I killed you and that you and I are irreconcilable enemies."

"Okay... huh?"

What the hell? Didn't you say you had connections over there and knew quite a few people?