Chapter 424: Section 212: Just Because of You, No Regrets in Life
Purple Vine Secret Treasure!
Zi Di couldn’t help but fall into silence.
This was a piece of important information that had greatly surprised her.
Before this, she had no knowledge of it whatsoever.
“When I took over as chairman, I sorted through my father’s belongings and didn’t find anything.”
“Perhaps it was because my father died too suddenly and didn’t have the time to leave behind any clues regarding the secret treasure.”
“His belongings and the family house must have been searched many times, perhaps that’s when the clues were destroyed.”
“Father…”
Murmuring in her heart, Zi Di recalled her father’s voice and face, her brows furrowed deeply, feeling emotionally and mentally exhausted.
Too many things had happened in the past few days.
First, there was the battle of wits and strength at the auction.
Then there was the sudden melee, with various forces such as Hun Tong, Fishman, pirates, mercenary groups, and guilds entangled with each other. Even the Dragon Lion Mercenary Corps, which wanted to stay out of it, couldn’t; they were inevitably pulled into the chaos.
After Zi Di left the auction arena, she took command of the Deep Sea Monster Fish. Everything had been under control, but by the end of the melee, she had been affected by the contract and nearly made a grave mistake. Even now, she was unaware of the existence of the Devil’s Coin, still on edge.
And just moments ago, she had heard the information about the Purple Vine Secret Treasure from Qing Xin.
Amidst her jumbled thoughts, a notion suddenly emerged in Zi Di’s mind.
“Does Fat Tongue know about the Purple Vine Secret Treasure?”
Fat Tongue was one of her father’s most trusted aides, an elder who participated in the initial founding of the Purple Vine Chamber of Commerce. He had supported her father through thick and thin, witnessing the rise, growth, and subsequent division of the Purple Vine Chamber of Commerce, and had also watched Zi Di grow up.
With that thought in mind, Zi Di couldn’t wait to adjust the alchemy communication device to contact Fat Tongue.
Each survivor had one such communication device in their possession.
Being an ordinary person, Fat Tongue was given considerable care. After escaping the auction arena, he had hidden in a corner, not participating in the melee.
He had the effect of the Deception and Disguise Skills and had other means of self-defense, which allowed him to safely get through the chaos.
The communication device quickly connected.
Zi Di’s voice carried through as she directly asked, “Elder Fat Tongue, do you know about the Purple Vine Secret Treasure?”
There was a moment of silence from Fat Tongue’s side before he replied, “Did Qing Xin tell you?”
Fat Tongue, an observer, was aware of many things happening on the battlefield.
Zi Di replied, “The nobles have been searching for the Purple Vine Secret Treasure. Sister Qing Xin has been living incognito under that pressure, disguised as a slave. Elder, please tell me everything you know.”
Fat Tongue heaved a deep sigh, “Chairman, my answer will likely disappoint you.”
“I know about the Purple Vine Secret Treasure, but I don’t know the real ins and outs of it.”
“The old chairman was secretly siphoning off and had accumulated a batch of extremely valuable resources. They were meant for a comeback.”
“At one point, the Purple Vine Secret Treasure was our last hope during our dire straits. Because it was so crucial, for a long time, it has been directly under the old chairman’s personal control.”
“In fact, this was intentional. Because I wasn’t involved, I was able to survive the purge.”
Zi Di pursed her lips tightly.
What Elder Fat Tongue said was actually within her expectations.
Assuming Fat Tongue elder knew about this secret stash, he would have told me long ago, wouldn’t he?
Even if he wanted to keep it to himself, he wouldn’t still be traveling to the Wilderness Continent with me, facing life and death together along the way.
Zi Di fell silent for a moment before finally asking, with difficulty, the question she most wanted to ask deep down in her heart.
“Fat Tongue elder… I have a question, please you must answer me. If I had agreed to the marriage alliance back then…”
Fat Tongue immediately interrupted her, “Chairwoman Zi Di!”
On Twin Eyes Island, Fat Tongue held the alchemy communication device, looking out at the bright red sunset through the window, with a solemn expression on his face, “There is one, one thing I must tell you—”
“Your father, father has always been proud of you!”
“What?” Zi Di was puzzled.
Fat Tongue let out a breath of murky air and continued, “To be precise, he, he was happy that you rejected the marriage alliance. That you decided to break away from your, your family’s shadow and stand on your own fills him with pride, pride.”
“During the time you lived on your own, completely without, without foreign funding, your father always worried, worried about you.”
“He more than once, once praised you in front of me, saying you have truly, truly grown up and are truly his, his daughter.”
Upon hearing these words, Zi Di’s pupils dilated, and she sat stupefied in her seat.
Fat Tongue went on, “At the same time, he feels very guilty, and blames himself.”
“He says his own talent, talent is too low. If he were a strong, strong Transcendent, he would have been able to fulfill the duty of protecting, protecting you and would not have let you, you suffer such grievances.”
“But sadly, he, he is not.”
“He specifically asked, asked me to tell you the following, the following words.”
“Chairwoman Zi Di, if you think that because, because you rejected the marriage alliance, it led to the Purple Vine Chamber of Commerce being divided up, even to your father’s, father’s death, then you are greatly mistaken.”
“Don’t be naive!”
“The Purple Vine Chamber of Commerce could not, not continue to exist because it was not any noble’s, noble’s property. And its benefits were too startling, not even a single great noble, noble could swallow it all up.”
“Think about it, among the Empire’s six major guilds, which one does not have a startling background?”
“But Purple Vine Chamber of Commerce doesn’t. It started insignificantly and rose from the ordinary. It’s like the beef cattle on a farm, that to the surprise of the farm owners, grew too large, large. It was bound to be divided up!”
“If you had agreed, agreed to the marriage, at most it would have only given one, one of the farm owners, a better reason, reason and excuse to swallow up even more, more beef.”
“The fact, fact is, your father is very grateful, Chairwoman Zi Di.”
“It was because of your resistance, that it inspired his own courage. Who would willingly want to see, see the wealth they have painstakingly earned being divided up by others? Your father and all of us were extremely, extremely unwilling!”
“To end up today, at this point, we were both psychologically prepared, prepared. But from the beginning to end, we have, have no regrets.”
“Your father is the one who regretted it the, the least!”
“There’s something I, I have always wanted to say to you—Chairwoman Zi Di, don’t underestimate your father, father.”
Zi Di fell silent.
Tears gradually flickered in her eyes.
A flood of memories swept over her.
In this moment, she felt her father’s love once again.
Father’s love is so deep, so magnificent.
The old Chairman of the Purple Vine was not strong, but he still stood firm with his own shoulders, stubbornly supporting a piece of the sky.
During those hard years, he shouldered the pressure alone, matching wits against the Empire’s haughty and ruthless nobles, exhausting all his efforts and strategies.
For his daughter, he cared in silence, deliberately keeping a distance.
He couldn’t express his love, his true feelings directly because he didn’t want outsiders to know that his daughter was his weakness, he didn’t want to drag his daughter into this massive vortex.
Perhaps, for this reason, those nobles eventually let Zi Di go.
After all, she was just a minor at the Black Iron Level. During her time at the academy, her potential and talent were well known.
“No, there’s an even greater possibility. Did those nobles spare my life intentionally, to use me to find the Purple Vine Chamber of Commerce’s secret treasure?” Zi Di’s eyes flashed coldly.
She suddenly realized: just like with Qing Xin, she must have been under surveillance as well.
At that moment, she thought about the assassination attempt she had experienced.
Just shortly after taking office as Chairman, she had been attacked.
Was it really just because someone was dissatisfied with her appointment as Chairman?
Or was it a probe?
“Was it to suss out the hidden strengths around me, or to force me to use the secret treasure of the Purple Vine? If I had controlled that treasure then.”
However, fate is wondrous and unpredictable.
The assassination attempt failed, and it led to the exposure of sharp operatives and involvement with the War Merchants.
A series of accidents happened on Mysterious Monster Island, truly indescribable.
Eventually, now, at the outer seas of Twin Eyes Island, Zi Di encountered Qing Xin, and only then did she come to understand the inside story.
A part of the inside story.
Zi Di gained more understanding of her father, and felt even more of his paternal love.
And it was this love that gave rise to another strong emotion in her heart.
The feeling of hatred!
The more she understood her father, the more she felt his love, the more she hated!
“Who are they, all those people who annexed the Guild? Who are they?” she asked both Fat Tongue and Qing Xin simultaneously.
Fat Tongue let out a long sigh, “Too many.”
Not one of the six major Guilds could escape, their backers, the Great Nobles, were executioners.
Qing Xin then said, “There’s also a leader. Rumor has it he’s a member of the Royal Family, but his exact identity has never been revealed.”
“What? A descendant of the Holy Emperor’s Bloodline?” Zi Di felt a shock in her heart.
It was like a bucket of cold water, dousing her body and mind with a chilling sensation.
Not all descendants of the Holy Emperor were elites.
But since this Bloodline descendant could serve as a leader, coordinating the Great Nobles, and successfully partitioned the Purple Vine Chamber of Commerce… such strength and influence, he must be an important member of the Royal Family!
Zi Di’s desire for revenge, wouldn’t that mean opposing the Royal Family, opposing the entire Holy Bright Empire?
The enemy was too powerful.
Vengeance… hopeless.
However, just as Zi Di’s heart sunk, the Dragon-man youth reached out with a Dragon Claw, pressed the communication device, and turned it off.
He spoke with a gentle and comforting voice, “Don’t worry, Zi Di, I am here with you.”
Zi Di paused, slightly tilting her head back, looking behind at the Dragon-man youth.
The Dragon-man youth had secretly returned to the Deep Sea Monster Fish to prevent the power of the contract from emerging again.
Zi Di’s conversation with Qing Xin and Fat Tongue, he had listened to it all.
The Dragon-man youth, hiding the pity in his heart, smiled at Zi Di, “Zi Di, I will help you.”
He extended his Dragon Claw toward Zi Di’s face.
Zi Di instinctively reached out, placing her hand in the palm of the Dragon Claw, feeling the Dragon-man youth’s broad, strong, and steady presence.
The Dragon-man youth spoke with determination, “Even if it’s a high-ranking noble, to plunder the wealth of others to satisfy their own greed, they discard their own honor and nobility, they all are evildoers, criminals, and not true knights of justice!”
“They deserve to be punished by justice!”
“I firmly believe that taking revenge on them is the path of justice.”
The Dragon-man youth leading the survivors in atoning to the Empire was not an act of bowing down to the power, but just a strategy for survival.
And as a Believer of the God of Justice, the Dragon-man youth never feared power.
In this respect, he was very similar to Chi Lai. The latter, too, pursued justice, offended the powerful, and was framed into slavery.
“No, this is my personal vendetta…” Zi Di shook her head.
The enemy was too strong. She didn’t want to drag the person she cared about into it.
But the youth’s next words struck deeply at the softest part of her heart.
“Fool.”
“Have you forgotten? I am your Knight.”
The Dragon-man youth slowly bent down, carefully embracing Zi Di into his arms.
Zi Di’s heart wonderfully calmed down; at that moment, she was immersed in a sea of bliss.
That damned question about whether to enter a political marriage, she now had a brand new answer.
No regrets!
Had she agreed back then, how could she have met the Dragon-man youth she knew now?
Even if fate had given her more torment and suffering, just having him meant there were no more regrets.
The Dragon-man youth spoke again, “Don’t worry.”
“Even if it is a member of the Royal Family, we are not without hope.”
“Really?”
Zi Di’s heart jolted, she immediately understood the meaning of the youth’s words.
“Yes.”
“We have the Blood Core!”
“We have limitless potential for growth!”
“The enemy is indeed strong, but that’s just for now.”
“In the future…”
“As long as we are given enough time to grow, the hope for revenge will grow ever stronger!”