Chapter 1234: with translation of chapter title

NO．138：Ailisuzhi: Is there a recorded broadcast?

Settlement is a kind of ritual; although it does not mean a new beginning, it absolutely represents an ending.

Morrison Linpton once thought he was truly far from this term, because he had never owed money, nor taken what others loved; even while doing the violent work of a security company, he rarely encountered troubles like seeking revenge.

After the incident in Heaven's Gate City occurred, and his existence became that of an electronic ghost, he became even more like the picture 'karmic ties are over, only the online battlefield remains'; each day he either roams the game world, watching through the screen the wondrous adventures of his adopted son, life is also rather relaxed and pleasant.

Although he is sometimes returned to a dizzy expression pack by the rebellious child's operation, it is actually also a daily scene of father and son getting along.

Although this way of getting along often seems out of the ordinary to outsiders, those who truly know this father‑son pair feel that it is actually a sign of good father‑son relations.

Nobody really takes it seriously, nor does anyone truly get angry; over time, it can even make Morrison forget his original appearance, as if the father and son had always been this close from the start, right up to now.

——He saw the indignation in Miss Hanna's eyes.

He couldn't spit out a single nasty remark; the social skills he had been forced to learn decades ago couldn't be dragged out either. He was like suddenly having a bucket of cold water splashed on him, and he woke from that relaxed, warm dream.

But he could only remain silent.

To be frank, he and the other party are not acquainted.

As for the result of digging into the memory, it was nothing more than that on the day he adopted Aomo, he came over and exchanged a couple of polite greetings with the other party.

This was their first meeting, and also the only meeting they had had up to today.

He hadn't even seen that weird vampire named Yaxin next door very often; this guy, at least, had bothered him many times in the first few years, each time with that annoying face.

So calculated, this female demon hasn't even come to visit him over these many years; he could simply regard her as a stranger saying 'Who the hell are you screwing?' Especially this time, she was the one who first invited him to attach to the equipment, yet she turned around and showed this expression.

Bizarre——he might as well judge that, treating her as a female demon who suddenly barged into his life bringing misfortune.

But he couldn't do that.

Rather, from the moment he faced the scorn and mockery of his own kind and opposing races and had nothing to say, let alone 'ignore', all options disappeared at that moment, leaving only the path of being settled.

Is this a trap?

In front of the child's friends and girlfriend, humiliating himself, what are they trying to gain by doing this?

He once thought that while standing stiff.

The vampire working at the security company often suffered harassment from employers in his early years; at such times he only needed to stand silently, which was the teaching of his seniors, and also the education he later passed on to juniors, and likewise a habit ingrained in his spirit, allowing him, though speechless, to also resist the guilt that was indeed aroused by his dissatisfaction with these people.

But in the very end, he again saw Miss Hanna's gaze.

That was a gaze familiar to him.

He last saw such a gaze in Heaven's Gate City, in the eyes of that child looking at the mechanical Godzilla.

That was not ferocious, but an exceptionally cold will.

It is an expression of hatred; at first it was not yet obvious, but she ultimately could not endure to the end.

Is it because of his own silence?

Or is it simply that she could not bear the difficulty of communicating with him, and ultimately could not endure it?

He never imagined that he would one day face such a gaze, and that this gaze would be so sudden, coming from a female demon whom he had clearly seen only once, and whom he would not even recall if not for this invitation.

But however, there is no hatred without cause.

He has no dependents, nor does he have any particularly close relationship with his progenitors; even if he has had occasional physical relations with others, he cannot be called a love‑or‑hate centenarian vampire, and in interpersonal feelings he truly has a blankness not inferior to that of his former adopted son.

But a hundred‑year life has indeed given him some experiences he never had before, yet which are commonplace.

From this perspective, he and Aomo are indeed like a father and son.

Both are living vicariously through others' lives to enrich themselves; the difference is that Aomo consciously, actively, and eagerly collects others' stories, whereas Morrison does not care about that.

He has simply lived nine times Aomo's age; even without deliberately seeking, he has heard bits and pieces and occasionally glimpsed quite a few.

This is also exactly the advantage that long‑lived species are stereotypically known for.

Leveraging this advantage, Morrison, whose thoughts are not slow, has already deduced the opposite of that hatred.

So he remains silent.

Not only because she loves Aomo, but also because a question suddenly flashed through his mind:

Do I love that adopted son as she does?

Even stepping back further, do I count as loving him?

Looking back, recalling the countless scenes of interaction between foster father and foster son, many were warm, resembling a real father‑son relationship; but to embody the element 'love', it seems only the revenge in Heaven's Gate City, or the foster son's one‑sided emotional outpouring.

Sometime ago, that little brat began to regard himself as very important, while looking back at myself… I am immersed in games, or else I am struggling on my own, and because the foster son's power has grown I have also neglected myself, not mentioning it again; then the foster son signed me up for a cram class, and I went along with that arrangement, occasionally getting tired and skipping school……

Some people live their lives and end up living as a son, but let's not discuss how son‑like this daily life is; the vampire who never pondered such things in life and cannot, after death, ask himself with a bundle of data, is bound to fall into hesitation at this moment.

Moreover, in this hesitation, he was easily outdone by the other party.

Having come to this point, there is nothing to do but go along with it.

Moreover, he indeed needs to make sure the foster son does not discover that he skipped class to keep an eye on the situation, and he also does not want to be subjected to such arbitrary insults in front of the foster son's acquaintances——but……

Just running away like that, is it right?

What's wrong with that? Everyone around Aomo has seen my interactions with him; any face to lose has already been lost.

He should have withdrawn, but then the sentence came to mind: 'Watch your words; you are also insulting little Aomo this way.'

Why did that woman suddenly let her companions shut up? The reason has actually been clear from the start, hasn't it?

No matter what, I am Aomo's father, certified by the Boundary Gate District database, and even these people before me likewise acknowledge it.

Standing before them, I am not only Morrison Linpton, but also that little brat's father.

«I really can't stand you baffling fellows…» he raised his hand and pressed the back of his head, in a finally impatient tone.

Also under the astonished gazes of everyone present.

«…You still dare to say that?! »

That vampire first had veins bulge on his forehead, truly making it hard to tell whether he or the werewolf beside him had the fierier temper.

«Exactly, now we should make a move, huh! Hanna! »

«No, let him finish, » the nun said, then turned her head to look, her brow twitching, «What do you want to say? »

She really found it torture to even look at herself for one more second…… Morrison, who had taken in every subtle nuance of her expression, merely sighed in his heart at that moment, and added an extra sentence to the words he was about to blurt out.

"What I want to say is, as Aomo's foster father, I can feel everyone's concern for him, and for this I want to thank everyone."

"Hmph." The wolf woman crossed her arms again.

"Putting on a cowardly act now is useless." The vampire shouted even louder.

"……" The silent nun merely felt greater disgust, as if she felt insulted.

"But after saying thanks, I have to say, in fostering Aomo these past years, I have had shortcomings and guilt, things I should express to him, but it's none of your damn business!!"

He raised his middle finger at the three people, in this momentarily silent air, and also at the girl named Mei Pu Bopang under his son's command, her phone half-raised.

The girl's hand was steady, without the slightest tremor, his motion was also steady, the gestures of both hands together displayed the most direct will:

"I'm the one who fostered him, not you!"

"I've been looking after him for so many years, what have you guys done?"

"You come here to throw a tantrum, bullying souls for fun! Or do you want to show me your unwillingness? Anger? How ridiculous, I'm Aomo's foster father, not yours, I damn well won't indulge you!!"

……

Silence.

In this prolonged silence, there was a suddenly turbulent airflow, swirling and stacking around the vampire and the wolf woman.

"Stop!"

The nun was the first to raise her hand to signal stop, but just as she had yet to see any effect, Bopang raised the Gold Ancient Bridge's card, Qie Lie Ni Na clenched the sword hilt with both hands interlocked, Qian had already reached into her satchel, and only Ursula hesitated at the edge for two seconds, her hand also gripping a pocket watch.

"What's this formation?"

Also at this moment, someone openly pushed the door open, gazing at the two opposing sides.

Then he swayed the big and small bags he was carrying.

"After I put them down, can I join too?"