Colonial Suit

The slap was loud. Five clear finger marks immediately appeared on Heck's face.

But to Blood Eye's surprise, not only did he not dodge, he didn't show any anger. On the contrary, at this moment, Heck's eyes were dull, and his expression was calm. His whole body seemed to be shrouded in a layer of death.

Was this still the high-spirited, unrestrained, and suave Heck?

Blood Eye simply couldn't believe his eyes. But the fact was just like that. Listening to the old geezer's suppressed, low roar like an old beast, Blood Eye seemed to understand something, yet seemed to understand nothing at all.

Just then, Heck spoke.

He kept his head lowered and, without any reaction to the finger marks on his face, said in a low voice, "I know you're very angry right now. But, I have a reason I have to be here. If… if this is unacceptable, then I am willing to bear your anger."

"Humph!" The old geezer snorted coldly but turned his head away. "My anger? Can you bear it? I heard you've recently comprehended some things and have touched the edge of the Stellar level. Do you think that qualifies you to talk to me?"

The old geezer said this lightly, but to Blood Eye, it was like a thunderclap.

Touched the edge of the Stellar level? Could it be that Heck… has reached this level? Then, according to the convention of universe warriors, he is now a Quasi-Stellar level, and at certain times, he can even exert the combat power of a Stellar level! With Heck being so powerful, why would he be so humble? Also, in Heck's words just now, his address to the old geezer was 'You'?

Blood Eye couldn't have misheard, but he racked his brains and couldn't remember when Heck had ever been so polite to anyone. Heck's unruliness and vindictiveness were well-known. Even the big shots at the mercenary headquarters probably couldn't bear him using that term.

Just who… is this old geezer? What could make him act this way?

For a time, Blood Eye's mind was filled with doubts, but he remained silent.

At this moment, he didn't need to express any information, only to listen and think.

Sure enough, the next moment, Heck shook his head and said in a low voice, "I have never tried to challenge your authority, Lord. I am only carrying out her will."

"You still dare to speak for her?" It would have been better if Heck hadn't said anything, but as soon as he said this, the old geezer's anger suddenly rose a lot. Although he didn't turn his head, his gaze was already like substance, burning with raging flames.

In the almost solidified atmosphere, he said to Heck word by word, "Do you remember what you promised me back then?"

"I have never forgotten," Heck gritted his teeth, and a trace of blood could be seen at the corner of his mouth.

"No, you have forgotten!" The old geezer roared, like an old beast at the end of its road.

"Back then, you said you would protect her and never let anyone bully her!"

"Back then, you said you would persuade her for me not to choose that dead end!"

"Back then, you said she was everything to you. You were willing to give your life to stand in front of her, to shield her from the universe's storms and the world's ridicule! You would be her blade, the extension of her will! That's why I agreed to you, supported you, and let you become her only support, the man who could accompany her for life!"

"But! Did you do it?" By the last sentence, the old geezer was completely furious. A terrifying aura erupted, shaking Blood Eye like a small boat in a stormy sea. He couldn't even calm his mind. By the time he stabilized himself, the old geezer had returned to his previous state, as if he had aged countless years in an instant.

"You didn't do it."

"Heck, you have let me down, let down her expectations."

"Now, you are standing in front of me again. What else do you have to say?"

At this point, the atmosphere was so oppressive that it was suffocating. In fact, the location of the three people at this moment had formed a unique space, completely shielding the perception of outsiders. But even so, Blood Eye still felt a trace of unease.

In just a few words, he had noticed many things and felt extremely shocked.

But now was obviously not the time to think. Because Heck had already spoken.

In the old geezer's roar and questioning, he seemed to be lifeless. But then, he knelt down on one knee. His face was almost buried in his chest.

"I… have nothing to say!"

"You!?" The old geezer was almost angered to death by Heck's answer. In fact, he had long known Heck's stubbornness and greatly appreciated his stubbornness. But when this stubbornness fell on his own head, the old geezer couldn't wait to throw him into the universe immediately and repeatedly crush him with a billion tons of force fields ten thousand times.

Was this even an apologetic attitude? This was clearly a form of resistance!!

Anger roiled in his heart, and the old geezer's breathing became much heavier. After a while, he suddenly let out a long sigh and closed his eyes.

"Get up. I know it wasn't necessarily your fault back then. It's just that I can't control myself."

"Lord," Heck still kept his head lowered, but his voice faintly trembled.

Was this guilt? Or pain?

Blood Eye didn't know. In fact, probably no one in the entire universe would know.

But without a doubt, Heck was now overwhelmed with pain. Although his body was still upright, every muscle and every nerve was trembling almost imperceptibly. It was only through his desperate suppression that it had not erupted. Through his faint perception, Blood Eye even knew that his blood was boiling and churning. That kind of pain went straight to the heart.

What exactly was causing Heck so much pain?

Blood Eye silently pondered, waiting for the conversation between the two.

"Yarna, she was indeed too stubborn. I told her long ago that that path had no future."

In the almost solidified atmosphere, the old geezer seemed to be talking to himself in a dreamlike state. A look of reminiscence also appeared in his eyes.

"But, she was so infatuated with that person that she insisted on choosing the most difficult and incredible path in the universe. The Path of Will, the Path of Purity, how could a girl like her consider it?"

"She treated my persuasion as lies. That's why I found you, hoping that you, who were closest to her, could help her out of this dead end."

"You promised me, but… in the end, the result still didn't change."

"My Yarna, still vanished into the wind like that…"

The old geezer's voice became lower and lower, lighter and lighter. Finally, it disappeared silently. At this moment, he was no longer a powerful figure who dominated the world, nor was he a 'King' who looked down on everything. He was just an old man, a father who had lost his daughter. Painfully vulnerable and heartbreaking.

Staring at the vast starry sky outside the window, he murmured softly.

"I promised her mother that I would make her happy forever, protect her, and take care of her. Never let anyone bully her again."

"But… I didn't do it."

"You promised me that you would protect her, that you would shield her from the wind and rain, that you would support everything."

"You didn't do it either."

"Actually, neither of us is qualified to criticize the other."

"Lord," Heck lowered his head even further. Faintly, Blood Eye could even see the glint in the corner of his eye. Were those tears? Or something else?

But the old geezer didn't notice these things. At this moment, he was already immersed in the pain of his memories. His old body trembled slightly, and the veins on his thin arms twitched. "I knew it was too late when she chose that path. So I gave up my own direction of evolution, wanting to use my own ability to find a solution. You also promised me that you would try your best to stop her and protect her during this time."

"But what was the result?"

The old geezer groaned in pain, lowered his head, and looked at his withered and trembling palms.

"When I succeeded and returned with that power, all I saw was her final brilliance. That flash of light that pierced the starry sky still seems to be before my eyes today."

"She disappeared! Taking with her her dreams, her will!! She was so resolute that she didn't even leave me a word! Not even a smile… did she let me see! Heck!!"

"Do you know how much I hate you?"

"I don't blame you for failing to fulfill your promise, but why didn't you stop her! Even for a day, an hour, a minute!! You said you were willing to use your life to uphold her will, but did you do it!? You didn't!! You were just blindly like a pig, only knowing how to obey her, to submit to her!! Watching her walk down that dead end!! You coward!!"

The old geezer's questions were like sharp swords stabbing into Heck's heart. Unconsciously, Heck's figure became even more hunched, and his whole person was about to curl into a ball. If it weren't for the pride of a warrior still supporting him, he would probably have completely collapsed.

But even so, he still stubbornly repeated.

"I have never violated my promise. Everything I did was her will!"

"You're still quibbling!"

The old geezer suddenly turned his head and grabbed Heck's neck, lifting him up alive. A withered hand was like an eagle's claw, and the fingernails sank into Heck's skin.

"If you hadn't violated your promise, how could she have died? How could she have been unable to wait for my return!? It's you, it's all you!! It's all your fault for not fulfilling your duty!! I was really blind. If I had known your cowardice earlier, I shouldn't have agreed to her adopting you! You should have been swept into the melting furnace of garbage like those wastes! At that time, would you still insist on that ridiculous obsession?"

At this point, the old geezer's voice was as cold as ice, completely different from his usual self. Blood Eye had no doubt that as long as Heck made a slight mistake in his answer, the old geezer would snap his neck, even if he was a Planetary level.

But…

Heck still spoke, using a tone different from before, firmly, word by word.

"Lord, you are wrong!!"

What!?

Blood Eye's heart skipped a beat. Just as he was about to speak and stop the old geezer, he saw that one of Heck's hands had somehow appeared on the old geezer's hand that was grabbing his neck, and little by little, he pried open the old geezer's fingers.

His movements were slow, but very firm. It was as if he would rather break all of the old geezer's fingers than stop. At the same time, his body became straighter and straighter, eventually like a javelin.

"…You are wrong!!"

"Because, you have never understood your daughter! My Sovereign!!"

"And my love for her has never been less than half!"