Chapter 3298: Filial Piety and Paternal Love

Late at night, the streets of the Central District were completely deserted.

"This way."

A deliberately hushed voice came through. Captain Berna, who had been forced to defect, walked in front. In truth, he didn't want to, but his boss's wife had actively seduced him. He knew his boss wouldn't believe that, and if this were exposed, he would be castrated before being killed.

Thinking of this, Captain Berna shivered. After a hurried journey, they finally returned to the small courtyard where Su Xiao was staying. Looking at Captain Berna now, he was drenched in cold sweat.

"You're not holding up well. Just this little scare and you're covered in cold sweat."

Caesar wore a smile that only men would understand. Captain Berna remained silent.

"Since we're all on the same side now, I'll highly recommend this 'Rejuvenating Power Pill.' As long as..."

Caesar pulled a paper ball from his bosom. It was wrapped in calendar paper, and inside was a pill the size of a lychee. Through the calendar paper, it looked pitch black.

Captain Berna didn't think much of it. When he heard he could try it for free, he was tempted. He tore open the calendar paper and chewed it like a candy pill. The moment the pill was crushed in his mouth, his entire face contorted, looking as if he might pass away on the spot at any moment.

A moment later, Captain Berna sniffled, his head still buzzing slightly.

"Is it potent?"

Caesar gave a thumbs up. Captain Berna nodded; the pill had rushed straight to his brain.

A few minutes later, Caesar walked into the second floor of the mansion with his chin slightly raised. His secret "Rejuvenating Power Pills" had sold out.

"Caesar, selling fake medicine is likely to get you struck by lightning."

Bahar spoke up. Hearing this, Caesar scoffed, "That wasn't fake medicine."

"If it wasn't fake, why was it so head-rushing?"

"Concentrated wasabi, of course it's head-rushing."

"You really are a talent."

Bahar was speechless. Caesar counted his money on the side. Although the "treatment" for the Donkey Brother was complete, the client had yet to arrive.

According to Caesar, the client for this task was the Great God-Son, Os Conrad—the Sea God's eldest son, the very "filial" son who desperately wanted to kill the Sea God.

Os Conrad was one of the power-holders in the Main City and the Sea God's eldest son, as well as the person most likely to threaten the Sea God's authority.

Why such a person would be involved with the Donkey Brother and hire someone to treat him was baffling.

Everything was highly suspicious. Su Xiao accepted this commission more as a test. To deal with the Sea God, the Great God-Son Os Conrad was the best collaborator, surpassing even Zayas and Wood.

If they could successfully destroy the Sea God, Zayas and Wood would become Su Xiao's enemies once again. Don't forget, this was a Painting Scroll Contention; whichever side submitted the most Painting Scroll Fragments to the Young Lady would be the winner. Su Xiao checked the Painting Scroll Fragment leaderboard.

【Painting Scroll Fragment ranking refreshed. Current rankings are as follows.】

First Place: Bai Ye (Reincarnation Paradise), Painting Scroll Fragments submitted: 20.

Second Place: Wood (Devil Race), Painting Scroll Fragments submitted: 4.

Second Place: Zayas (Meteorite Star), Painting Scroll Fragments submitted: 4.

Second Place: Lilim (Demon Race), Painting Scroll Fragments submitted: 4.

Second Place: Morey, Moon Apostle, Painting Scroll Fragments submitted: 4.

Aside from Su Xiao, everyone else was in second place because one had to submit 4 Painting Scroll Fragments to the Young Lady to ascend to the second floor of the ancient castle.

In truth, Su Xiao didn't want to be in first place at this stage. He had submitted 20 fragments to the Young Lady primarily to raise her friendliness to 100 points to see what would happen.

That was how he obtained the "Secret Pattern Code" and the "Password." The former had already come in handy; the function of the latter remained unknown.

Su Xiao certainly had more than 20 fragments; he had 18 more in his storage, totaling 38. Wood and Zayas also held quite a few fragments in their hands.

Su Xiao checked the 18 fragments in his storage. Upon entering the third inner painting world, "Bottom of the Sea," two rules of the contention had changed.

First, after someone was eliminated, a new participant would be teleported in within 1 hour.

Second, one could now submit Painting Scroll Fragments to the Young Lady while inside the inner painting world. The process involved submitting the fragments to the Void Tree first, which would then pass them to the Young Lady, naturally increasing the submitted count on the leaderboard.

There were four paintings in the reception hall of the main painting world, representing four inner painting worlds. From the current situation, Su Xiao had a feeling that the winner of the contention would be decided within the Sea World, and they might not even reach the fourth inner painting world.

This wasn't just Su Xiao's wild speculation. Water Brother's clearing of the field had significantly accelerated the pace of the contention, removing all potential unstable factors.

By now, Water Brother had stopped clearing people, which meant there was a 90% chance that Crow Woman had already entered this world.

Calculating this way, the participants in this world were: Su Xiao, Crow Woman, Wood, Zayas, Lilim, Water Brother, and the Apocalypse Sisters.

First, ignore the Apocalypse Sisters. Judging by their "salted fish" expressions before entering the Sea World, they had clearly completed their mission. The remaining time was just for happy coasting, with the core philosophy of "don't die."

As for Water Brother, he looked like a formidable enemy, but his series of actions indicated he had given up on competing for fragments. He had arrived too late, so he was profiting through other channels—namely, clearing people to help Crow Woman enter.

Lilim, that female succubus, clearly had the strength to fight Su Xiao after awakening, even if she wasn't very durable. But given the battles she could unleash, her coasting was also too extreme. It was obvious that her goal this time wasn't victory; she had other plans.

Excluding them, the true contenders were only Su Xiao, Crow Woman, Zayas, and Wood.

Did the others have no interest in the rankings? It wasn't that; it was because the four currently contending were engaged in a "god-level" battle. Getting involved now was too easy to get killed.

Lilim had also had dreams before, but after fighting the Blood Qi Monster, she hesitated, starting to consider whether continuing to participate in this contention was worth it. After the battle with the Light Flame Beast-Walk and the Light Flame Lord, Lilim realized this was a battle between gods.

Until the Sun Bird, Taihakak, appeared in the "Holy Dan City" of the Sand World, Lilim decided: Goodbye! The subsequent contention had nothing to do with her; she had other things to do.

Calculating this way, the remaining opponents were actually only three—two were "teammates," and the other was Crow Woman.

The most ideal way would be to let the two teammates deal with Crow Woman, but the biggest obstacle was that the two teammates were too intelligent to ever do such a thing.

Just as Su Xiao was pondering this, there was a knock on the door downstairs. Bubu Wang went to open it.

A man wearing a black coat with gold patterns, a top hat, and holding a cane walked upstairs. He looked to be in his early thirties. His originally handsome face was ruined by black-red patterns on the left side.

These patterns, resembling lightning strikes, clung to his entire left face and even reached behind his ear. His left eye was a dead white, with cracks in the center of the eyeball.

"Are you surprised by the ugliness on my face? It was bestowed upon me by my father." The man paused, then smiled and said,

"Actually, it wasn't bestowed by my father; I did it myself. Nice to meet you. I am Os Conrad, the Sea God's eldest son, and the person he most wants to eliminate. I am very pleased to meet you, Kukuline Bai Ye of the Sun Church."

The Great God-Son Os Conrad's tone was gentle, yet he seemed to have everything under control.

"I know you have ties to the Sun Church; that's not worth being surprised about. A few days ago, a Trace King found me and informed me of many things. That Trace King calls himself Lushan, coming from the only remaining ancient castle in the main painting. Trace Kings always know many things.

People say Trace Kings have their status because they can see the future, but in my view, their ability to pry into the past is even more terrifying. The future has infinite possibilities, but the past, which has already occurred, has only one."

Os Conrad picked up the teacup on the table, raised it in a gesture, and began to sip slowly.

Hearing this, Su Xiao thought of the Trace King in Room 5. He knew Trace Kings could foresee the future, but he hadn't known they could pry into the past. Prying into the past was indeed an incredible ability; used well, it could create an intelligence crush.

Just like now, Os Conrad had gained a huge intelligence advantage through that Trace King, controlling the initiative of tonight's meeting.

"Your methods... are very high-level. Without the information from the Trace King, I wouldn't have noticed you. Kukuline Bai Ye, you came here to kill my father, didn't you? Aside from that, I can't think of any other possibility."

Os Conrad raised his left hand, palm up, and smiled: "Even though I brought guards, the sense of crisis still makes my hair stand on end. You should know, I have three wives and five children. This isn't showing off, but sincerity. A man with a full family like me coming to face-to-face talk with you, who could take my life at any moment—is this sincerity enough?"

Os Conrad was no ordinary person, but given his strength, at such close range, Su Xiao could take his life in an instant. The guards behind him would definitely be too slow to react.

"It's alright."

Su Xiao withdrew his aura. Os Conrad, sitting opposite him, relaxed. The two guards behind him let out a sigh of relief.

"I don't know your background, but I know your purpose for coming here very clearly. That is enough. As partners, you should naturally have enough understanding of me."

Os Conrad glanced at Caesar with his peripheral vision, meaning that if there were any doubts, they could be verified with Caesar. He began to briefly narrate his situation.

Os Conrad's conflict with the Sea God originated from one of the Sea God's young wives. The content was explosive. At the time, 15-year-old Conrad and that young woman had an affair. This was not only a moral issue but also involved ethical problems.

The result was predictable. The face Conrad had now was due to the punishment he received from the Sea God at that time. Many said Conrad survived only by luck.

After Conrad turned 20, his face was ruined, and his personality became cold and cruel. After 25, he secretly developed his own power. At 27, he broke with the Sea God. To this day, he was the only thorn in the Sea God's side in the Main City.

The rumors circulating outside about the grudge between the Sea God and Conrad were just that—rumors. The reality was far more magical and many times more intense. The truth was:

When Conrad was very young, he was smarter than his other brothers and sisters. He discovered one thing: his brothers generally didn't live long. The title of the Sea God's eldest son was held in rotation, which made young Conrad decide he couldn't be too smart.

Until one day, Conrad heard that his nearly 60-year-old brother had died in the 8th Shelter City. This was a huge blow to young Conrad. He knew his brother was stupid enough to be laughable, yet even so, he hadn't lived past 100 before being hacked to death by thugs. Too short-lived.

Conrad summarized two points: if one became the Sea God's eldest son, being too old wouldn't work, and being too smart wouldn't work. Neither would lead to a long life.

Conrad didn't panic; he still had two other brothers, so he couldn't become the Sea God's eldest son, which made him live in peace every day.

As the saying goes, people have unpredictable misfortunes. When Conrad was 12, he received bad news: his two brothers had kicked the bucket, dying miserably.

That night, Conrad, who had become the Sea God's eldest son, hid under his quilt and cried secretly. He didn't want to leave this beautiful world; he was only 12; he was still just a child.

As Conrad grew up day by day, he gradually understood how those brothers had died. The source of all disaster was his father—that terrifying existence high above, the Sea God, who intended to become a Holy God.

Conrad's journey of self-rescue began. At 15, he "accidentally" knocked over a resentment box, ruining most of his face. This was just the beginning of his plan. He wanted rumors to spread outside—rumors that the Sea God had begun to persecute him.

Just this kind of rumor wasn't stimulating enough. If he added desire, ethics, and other aspects, it would spread widely. People were like that; the more stimulating the news, the more they remembered it, even if someone later claimed it was fake.

Things went exactly as Conrad had predicted. That rumor spread. Even though people from the Sea God's palace used bloody means to torture and kill those who spread it the most, the more they did so, the more it made people feel that the Sea God's palace was covering up a scandal. The circle was truly chaotic.

Conrad grew up day by day. He didn't pretend to be stupid; instead, he looked cold and ruthless. In the few meetings he had with the Sea God, he implicitly showed near-fanatical worship and yearning.

This situation continued until Conrad was 27. He knew that to consolidate his position and continue to sit on the endless power of faith in the Main City, his father would batch-clear excellent offspring. But the Great God-Son had to exist; this was the final comfort for his subordinates, preventing them from feeling that the Sea God was already heartless and had forgotten all past sentiments.

The Sea God was maintaining a terrifying balance for the goal of becoming a Holy God. Conrad knew this was his only chance—the chance to survive.

Conrad proposed to his father, the Sea God, that divine power would lead to many drawbacks. Rebel forces in the Main City were popping up like mushrooms after rain.

Conrad suggested that simply suppressing these rebel forces would have the opposite effect. They needed a controllable rebel force that was convincing enough to act as a leader.

The benefits of doing this were twofold: first, it would attract those who harbored rebellious intentions, letting them defect so they could be secretly dealt with; second, it would diversify the power system in the Main City, giving hope to those who had despaired of divine power. With hope, they wouldn't easily rebel, but would instead wait for that unreachable hope to arrive.

This controllable rebel force was founded by Conrad. All the high-level personnel were confidants secretly cultivated by the Sea God.

The leader of the rebel force was Conrad. As the Sea God's son, in the rumors, he had almost been executed by the Sea God in his youth. People felt it was normal that he would stand against the Sea God, even if he was now the Sea God's eldest son.

The mission of this force was to stand against the Sea God on the surface, attracting those who truly wanted to rebel.

Once the force was established, the effect was excellent. With the personal charm Conrad displayed, those who intended to rebel joined in batches, sending their heads in bulk.

This fit the Sea God's wishes perfectly. There were indeed too many rebel forces in the Main City, and they could never be cleared out. Now, with Conrad, those rebel forces showed signs of being completely extinguished.

This balance lasted for 2 years and 10 months. According to the Sea God's original plan, the term was 3 years, after which Conrad would be eliminated. He didn't need excellent offspring.

The accident happened at this moment. Conrad had been biding his time since he was 12, stumbling along until he was almost 30. He finally stood up and could say to the Sea God: "Come, try and see if you can still crush me like an ant."

"This is my life. I have always wondered about one thing: for a long time, I just wanted to live. Is that wrong?"

Conrad touched the gullies and ridges on his left face with his finger. Clearly, this was a guy as steady as an old dog. He was willing to take such a huge risk to stand out, which meant his situation was already very dire.

"Is your father not far from becoming a Holy God?"

Su Xiao lit a cigarette, exhaling smoke.

"That's right. After he becomes a Holy God, I will definitely be the lucky one to be sacrificed first. Oh, right, and my wives and children too."

Conrad wasn't exaggerating. If his description of the Sea God was true, the Sea God could indeed do such a thing.

"Then let's join forces."

Su Xiao's words left Conrad stunned. It was clear he hadn't expected Su Xiao to believe his words so easily. To make Su Xiao believe him, he had pre-prepared several ways to guarantee it. He was at a dead end; he wouldn't miss any hope of turning the tables.

"You agreed just like that? I don't need to provide any collateral? Like mortgaging important items to you, or having one of my wives as a hostage?"

Conrad felt a bit uneasy in his heart. Su Xiao's attitude toward cooperation was too straightforward.

"This is your sincerity."

Su Xiao pointed to the empty teacup in front of Conrad. Conrad suddenly realized, then smiled and said:

"So you poisoned this tea."

Conrad picked up the teacup and sniffed it, smelling nothing suspicious. He turned to look at his subordinates and pointed at the teacup, meaning: "See, this is professional."

"I didn't poison the tea. What you drank is a 17C-type chronic poison. After drinking it, one would mistake it for light tea. You can understand it as a tea-flavored chronic poison that doesn't actually contain tea."

The inspiration for Su Xiao's chronic poison came from a tea-flavored drink. The drink was indeed tea-flavored, but it didn't contain tea.

"Uh... this..."

Conrad was speechless for a moment. After a dry laugh, he picked up the teacup and said, "The taste is not bad. Another cup."