The beast tide retreated.
After the beastified people appeared and launched a crazy counterattack, all of the magic beasts were killed.
The blue dog fox wolves commanded at all costs, displaying their exquisite tactics. If Zhen Jin wasn’t around, perhaps their efforts would have succeeded.
After seeing the beastified people’s explosive counterattack, Zhen Jin barely resisted the shock and suspicions in his heart as he continued hunting the blue dog fox wolves.
Most of the magic beast corps’ strength was on the front lines, around the ship.
They tactically ignored Zhen Jin for the time being, but because of the beastified people’s sudden appearance, Zhen Jin held the initiative.
After killing three blue dog fox wolves, the last blue dog fox wolf fled far away with a ruined army.
It was too late for Zhen Jin to pursue.
In fact, his stamina was nearly gone.
Beheading the commanders was very troublesome, especially in an open battlefield.
Losing ninety percent of their military strength, the remaining magic beasts were no longer a threat. The blue dog fox wolf also fled in terror; it would not cause trouble in the short term.
Not long after the magic beast corps retreated, all of the beastified people fell to the ground, each and every one was dead.
“We survived!” Many people sat frozen on the ship.
“I actually survived.” Soon after, many people cried tears of joy.
“What in the hells just happened?!” Hei Juan was on the ship, he looked at the dead beasts and beastified people around the ship.
Fear still remained on his face.
Everything had happened too abruptly; he was still deeply shocked.
Zhen Jin hurried back.
He still had the golden scorpion armor.
Because of the beastified people, he did not completely transform during this battle.
Finding Cang Xu, Zi Di, and the others alive with minor injuries, Zhen Jin couldn’t help but breathe a sigh of relief.
Although they were the victors, the survivors had disastrous casualties.
Originally there were two hundred people, but after the earthquake and battle, there were only fifty remaining. There were many minor injuries and a few seriously injured people, because of the intensity of the battle and the lack of reserve teams, anyone who was seriously injured, died soon after.
The others could wallow in their emotions, but as their leader, Zhen Jin could not.
Under his orders, the people quickly cleaned up the battlefield and treated the wounded.
“The boat craftsman is still breathing, and the giant is still alive, but their situation is anything but reassuring.” Someone reported not long after.
This outcome was somewhat unimaginable, because many people died on the ship. But the father and son outside the boat were still on their last breaths.
As a matter of fact, this was all thanks to the blue dog fox wolves, their orders caused the magic beasts to temporarily let off the father and son.
Zhen Jin walked over at once.
The giant had fallen to the ground, but his arms were still around the boat craftsman, his heavy injuries might cause others to think he was dead. His stumped legs were badly mangled, however because of his giant bloodline, his blood vessels automatically stopped the bleeding.
The boat craftsman had received a mortal wound and was lying motionless on the ground. Because he lost too much blood, his entire face was an ashen color. When he saw Zhen Jin, his dull eyes suddenly flashed, it was clear he wanted to say something.
“Zi Di, can you do anything?” In his grief, Zhen Jin appealed to his fiancé.
Zi Di did not want to disappoint him, and quickly fished out a small potion bottle from her handbag.
Zhen Jin took it and poured it into the old boat craftsman’s mouth.
The old boat craftsman’s face immediately turned red.
“Lord……Lord Zhen Jin……I have a request for you. Please, you must agree, take my son, take him……” The boat craftsman weakly appealed.
“He is still alive; I will take him. He is a true warrior!” Zhen Jin immediately responded.
“No father. I want to be with you!” The giant wailed, with his chin on the ground, he impatiently gazed at the old boat craftsman. His injuries were too heavy, he did not have the strength to get up.
His giant bloodline still kept him alive.
However, signs of death were on his face, if the old boat craftsman died, he no longer wanted to live.
The old boat craftsman could not stand, he couldn’t even turn his head. He couldn’t see the giant, but he knew the giant was behind him.
The old boat craftsman bitterly smiled, and with a voice filled with regret, sadness, reluctance, and hope, he said: “Sorry son, your father is leaving.”
“But you must keep on living.”
“You are still so young.”
“Father, I don’t want to leave, I want to accompany you. If you die, then we will die together.” But the giant was still determined, realizing the old boat craftsman’s death was inevitable, tears streamed down his cheeks.
“You……idiot.” The old boat craftsman wanted to scold the giant, however his weak tone seemed like he was comforting and doting on the latter.
Regardless of what the boat craftsman advised; the giant was not willing to change his attitude.
Zhen Jin was also worried.
Even if he knocked the giant out, he could not force him to keep living. He understood he could not prevent the giant from attempting suicide.
After the boat craftsman said those words, he lost energy and sensed his life was quickly slipping away.
This couldn’t drag on!
In that moment of desperation, a spark suddenly flashed in his mind.
He barely managed to raise his voice a little:” Foolish youngster, I am not your father.”
“No father, you cannot drive me away. I will die with you. You are my only relative.”
But the boat craftsman looked at Zhen Jin: “You idiot, Lord Zhen Jin……he is your father! Your birth fathers.”
“?!” The giant glared, “What did you say father?”
Hearing this, everyone was also startled.
The boat craftsman looked at Zhen Jin, his entire face pleaded.
Zhen Jin silently nodded to the boat craftsman.
The boat craftsman was extremely grateful, he then violently coughed up blood and continued speaking to the giant: “You actually knew about these circumstances earlier, you foolish youngster. I am only your foster father, nothing more. Sigh……at this stage, I no longer want to hide this secret.”
“I also have a human bloodline.”
“You idiot, I am only an ordinary boat craftsman, how can I have a ridiculous relationship with a female giant?”
“For a time, didn't you ask me? Don’t you want to know who your birth parents are? I will tell you now. Your father is before you, it's him, Lord Zhen Jin!”
The giant’s jaw dropped, he foolishly looked at the boat craftsman and Zhen Jin.
The others kept silent, they knew that in order for the giant to keep living, the boat craftsmen had deliberately deceived him.
Zhen Jin sighed and looked at the giant: “It is just as he said. Giant, you……are actually my son.”
“No, no!” The giant shook his head, he took it to be true, however this information attacked his spirit too much, and for a moment, he could not accept it.
“Why not?” On his deathbed, the boat craftsman was very anxious, “Your father is stronger than you, while this old man is simply an ordinary person. Your father also understands you and loves you. He has knocked you out so many times, yet never injured you. Do you think anyone else can accomplish this? He also cares about you and has never shown any discrimination. You don’t think it’s strange? You wanted to get close to him, correct? That was very natural, because your bloodline relationship created an unconscious attraction between the both of you. This is the bloodline between father and son!”
The old boat craftsman’s nonsense caused the others around to grin, forcing them to strongly restrain themselves.
But as for the giant, the boat craftsman’s words were so loud that even the deaf could hear it, every sentence was like an ironclad fact.
“I continued to hide this secret, because if it was exposed, it would harm your birth father. He is a noble and a knight, it would be disgraceful if he had a bastard like you. However, idiot, because you wholeheartedly wanted to join me to death, I had no choice but to reveal it. Forgive me, foolish youngster, I am only your foster father. You must keep on living with your birth father, quickly call your father!” The boat craftsman urged.
His words were indeed factual.
A human noble having this kind of half giant son, would be a lifelong stain and destroy their reputation. What’s more, Zhen Jin was also a templar knight.
As the old boat craftsman was dying, he had a chance to implore Zhen Jin for a favor.
If this was a regular noble, they would have berated and even flogged the boat craftsman for talking rubbish.
But Zhen Jin was different!
During this time, the boat craftsman realized many times, Zhen Jin was a unique noble!
He truly had a heart filled with sympathy, benevolence, and extensive vision, despite these things being inharmonious with his young age.
The boat craftsman exploited Zhen Jin’s sympathetic heart; however he was also worried Zhen Jin would back out. As a result, in one breath, he wanted to confirm the “relationship” between the giant and Zhen Jin.
If that happened, Zhen Jin had no leeway to back out.
Of course, the boat craftsman did not believe Zhen Jin would back out, but as a father, especially a dying father in his last moments, he wanted to grab every chance that raised the likelihood of everything.
The giant was speechless.
He believed the boat craftsman, in fact, for a long time now, he believed anything the boat craftsman said.
But he did not say anything.
He did not know why, but in front of the boat craftsman, he could not shout “father” to two people!
After not hearing the giant respond for a long time, the boat craftsman’s eyes darkened.
“I am already content with handing you over to your birth father.”
“Foolish youngster, I want you to keep living……”
“You must keep on living. Obey and listen to your father’s words, small child.”
The boat craftsman hadn’t said the nickname small child for a long time, and the giant trembled upon hearing it.
Death approached.
The boat craftsman clearly sensed its approach.
“So, this is how death feels……”
“I still want to call him my son……”
But he couldn’t.
He needed to deceive the giant.
A past memory began to flash before him.
The Hog’s Kiss’ hold.
“Wawawa……” A baby wailed, prompting a hired sailor’s investigation.
“My goodness, everyone, look at what I found, what is this thing?” The old boat craftsman came out of a corner with a baby.
“My god, it really is a child!”
“Someone gave birth on the Hog’s Kiss and left it behind for us.”
“Who would be so wicked?”
“I fear it’s a bastard, ah only a truly heartless mother would immediately abandon a child.”
After a burst of discussion, everyone turned around and walked away.
The boat craftsman foolishly held the child: “Hey, what should we do with this brat?”
None of the sailors took responsibility as they shrugged their shoulders, there were even some who burst into laughter: “Old fourth, you picked up that child, you are responsible.”
“Nonsense!” The boat craftsman was indignant, the baby in his hands resembled a scalding sweet potato he really wanted to throw away.
The sailors dispersed, none of them wanted that inconvenience.
With no alternatives, the old boat craftsman could only find the captain.
“Pitiful brat, being born into this world really was your misfortune.”
“Perhaps you should euthanize him, how can a ship raise a child?” The Hog’s Kiss’ captain replied.
The boat craftsman shook his head, he did not want to do that!
The captain then said: “Then in port, go find a suitable person and entrust this child to them.”
The old boat craftsman nodded.
However, how could he find a suitable person?
The Hog’s Kiss docked many times, but only for brief periods of time. In that short time, it was difficult for the boat craftsman, a stranger in a strange land, to find someone suitable and trustworthy.
“I can only survey the next harbor.” Holding this notion, the boat craftsman looked after the infant on the Hog’s Kiss.
“Damm it, he defecated again! He eats too much and shits too much.” The miserable boat craftsman changed the infant’s dirty underpants.
“A fever. What can I do? What should I do?” The boat craftsman paced in a circle.
“Why are you crying incessantly? Is your belly hungry? You definitely ate your fill.” The old boat craftsman couldn’t find the reason, he could only learn how to sing cradle songs, “Small darling, don’t cry, small darling, don’t be noisy, let me dote on you……”
The surrounding sailors laughed: “Hey boat craftsman, that was splendid, where is that lullaby from?”
Time passed, and after a year, the infant began to display its abnormalities.
He ate too much.
The amount he ate was beyond the boat craftsman’s means.
In the messy cabin, the baby giant also continued to overturn trunks and boxes.
“What are you doing? You tiny scoundrel!”
“Eh, you ate all my tobacco? You idiot, idiot!” The old boat craftsman spanked his buttocks.
Plop.
The old boat craftsman collapsed on the deck.
“What a day!”
“Your insane boat craftsman. You gave that infant all your rations and still worked yourself so hard that you fainted from hunger.”
“You should rejoice that today isn’t very windy.”
“Why are you doing so much? I really don’t understand you.”
“Like I said before, you should get rid of him!”
The sailors shook their heads, displaying their confusion.
“I should get rid of him, but who will take him?”
……
Late at night.
The old boat craftsman was woken up by pain.
“Are you biting me? You moron, I am not a woman, there is no milk here!”
The wounded boat craftsman flew into a rage and slapped the still small giant’s buttocks again.
Giant: “Wa wa wa……”
Landfall.
The old boat craftsman arrived at a bar.
Seeing his friend, the bartender smiled and said: “Old boat craftsman, do you want rum or beer?”
“Do you have cow’s milk?”
The bartender stared blankly.
“Human milk will also do.”
The bartender was dumbfounded, then he sized up the boat craftsman again: “Old codger, your tastes have changed a lot, what irritates you?”
The sailors around him ridiculed him.
He’s lost his mind!”
“It's not for him, it’s for his son.”
“That absolute monster, I’ve never seen a baby eat so much! By the heavens, his appetite is bigger than mine.”
……
“What are you doing? My god!” After half a day, the boat craftsman saw cracks everywhere, there was even a hole in the deck. Upon seeing this, he tore his hair out and nearly lost his mind.
The giant squatted at his side, he was very puzzled: “Father, you told me to ‘work hard’.”
The Hogs Kiss’ captain had a gloomy complexion: “Throw him out. If he stays, one day my deck and sails will cease to exist. Maybe when I wake up from a nap, the entire ship will be gone!”
The old boat craftsman implored him, however the captain’ attitude was firm.
Plop.
The old boat craftsman bent both knees and kneeled on the ground: “No matter the price, I will compensate for it! I am a ship builder, and when you recruited me onto this ship, didn’t you fancy my abilities?
The captain narrowed his eyes and looked down at the boat craftsman: “Am I misremembering, isn’t there a debt you still owe me? It will be a long time before you can pay back your debts and regain your freedom.”
“Then I will prolong my debtor’s term!”
The captain coldly snorted: “You are so old, so according to your pay and calculating in the damages, if you want to pay back your debt, you need to work for three years. But in those three years, will the giant make mistakes?”
“Don’t be foolish!”
“He is an imbecile; he can’t learn anything and messes everything up.”
“Looking at this trend, your lifetime debt is still unclear.”
The boat craftsman lifted his head and straightened his body: “Then it shall be a lifetime!”
The captain was at a loss for words.
……
A ship battle had just finished, and blood flowed across the ship deck.
The boat craftsman wrapped up the giant’s wounds: “I said don’t charge ahead you blockhead!”
“But they hit you father! They are villains!” The giant retorted.
“You even learned how to talk back!” The boat craftsman angrily glared at the giant, “Damm it, not enough medicine. The blood won’t stop! Damm it, how wretched.”
“Father don’t worry, I am not in pain.” The giant comforted.
“Shut up for me!” The boat craftsman subconsciously slapped the giant’s face, but just as he did that, he realized how it was inappropriate and withdrew more than half his strength at once.
Late at night.
The giant was snoring on the deck.
The boat craftsman sat in front of him, looked at his bandaged body, sighed, and quietly spoke to himself: “Foolish youngster, your father isn’t heartless.”
“It isn’t easy staying on this ship.”
“No one likes a useless person, you must contribute.”
“I am your father, and my body is getting worse every day. I hope one day, without me around, you can survive on your own.”
……
After some affection.
The madam advised the boat craftsman: “I have been widowed for many years, and I have a small manor on the outskirts of Garden City. Leave with me, the manor doesn’t have wind or waves, and with my support, you can personally build a ship. I know shipbuilding is your dream.”
“But I have to abandon him, right?” The boat craftsman sat on the bedside, bent his waist, and looked outside the door.
He knew, the giant must be squatting on the ground and impatiently gazing at the door.
“Naturally.” The madam had no hesitation, “He is a bastard with a giant bloodline and an idiot. If he returns with me to the manor, everyone will ridicule me.”
“Then I refuse!” This boat craftsman shook his head, he was still determined.
“This is the third time I have brought this up.” The madam pursed her brows and looked annoyed, “Are you certain? You are not related to him by blood.”
“I am certain, honorable madam.” The boat craftsman sighed, “I can exist without him, but he cannot exist without me, in this world, he only has me.”
“I appreciate your favor madam; it was the most fortunate thing in my life. I am very grateful for it, thank you.”
The madam’s voice went cold: “Do you know what you have given up?”
The boat craftsman looked at the cabin door and smiled: “Do you know what I have gained?”
……
As the potion dispersed, the boat craftsman felt his eyelids grow increasingly heavy, he did his best, but he could barely crack his eyes open.
His energy was gone, and unparalleled exhaustion enveloped his body and mind.
“So tired, this time, I can finally rest.”
“But……”
“I am not at ease.”
“Could I have done more?”
“Lord Zhen Jin is an extraordinary character. As long as a little leaks from his hands from now on, that foolish youngster will be provided for. After all, that foolish youngster is also very competent.”
“He acknowledged my lie, and I believe in his morals.”
“It is just some regret.”
“At the end of my life, I want to hear it again.”
“I want to hear it again.”
“Even a voice is fine……”
The boat craftsman's breathing grew weaker and weaker.
The giant lifted his body and used his hands to crawl towards the boat craftsman.
Seeing his dead father, his movements halted. The immense sadness he felt was like a tsunami that submerged his body and mind.
Besides sadness, he also felt endless loss and terror.
He no longer had the one person he relied on to survive in this cruel world.
He no longer had tenderness supporting him as he confronted this cruel world.
He seemed to suddenly fall from a high altitude and was like a frail leaf fluttering in the abyss.
His body was enormous, but his spirit was weak.
At that moment.
Zhen Jin walked over, kneeled to the ground, faced the giant, stretched out his arms, and hugged him.
The giant stared blankly, in that split second, his floating heart seemed to fall to the ground.
The youngster sighed and quietly said: “If you want to cry, then cry.”
The giant’s mouth bent, his closed lips constantly shivered.
He resisted; he didn’t want to cry.
Because when he was small, the boat craftsman taught him his loud crying was very annoying and troublesome.
The giant tenaciously bit his lips; however, tears were already flowing.
A moment of silence.
Finally, he could no longer persevere against the anguish and sadness in his heart.
“Father!!!”
He suddenly bellowed.
He was extremely sad and grieved.
Soon after.
“Wa——!” He cried into Zhen Jin’s chest.
He exhausted his strength crying, the sound wave created vibrated the broken ship and echoed through the rainforest.
The emergency bonfire lit during the battle was still burning.
The flames shined on the breathless boat craftsman.
But the corner of his mouth seemed to rise somewhat, as if……
He was smiling.
Notes
Congrats to Zhen Jin for having a bastard son so early on in life. At least the giant doesn’t need to worry about magic beasts eating him. This is by far one of the most emotional chapters in the book, the story of loyalty and love between the giant and boat craftsman is something all families should aspire for. The boat craftsman’s last wish is to see his son live out his life as a person, not a spiteful beast, and hopefully Zhen Jin can continue to provide and teach the giant in his stead. But wait all fathers in IB...