Chapter 38: Journey to the Empire, Section 10

Black Hair wasn’t unaware; he just couldn’t speak.
Sometimes, it’s enough to understand things as they are. Talking too much brings only greater danger, with no other benefits. Black Hair had many powerful allies. In a sense, he even had the strength to compete for control over the universe’s forces. But one thing he would never forget: he was still an outsider.
It was funny, yet realistic. In Black Hair’s mind, no matter how great his power, he remained who he was. A boring fate had placed him here, a being who didn’t belong, and put the strongest enemies in his path, watching him struggle. Until one day, he would die in that struggle or leave this trash-like place.
But Black Hair no longer held much hope for leaving. Having grown accustomed to observation, he had long realized this place wasn’t the original universe at all.
The original universe, though also vast with stars, certainly didn’t have such a high concentration of life. In just dozens or hundreds of star systems, hundreds of species could exist—something unimaginable in the past. Otherwise, why would Earth’s humans once claim to be the only intelligent species?
Unfortunately, here, intelligent beings were worthless—so common that even if you stepped aside for a mouse on the street, it might look up and thank you.
In such an environment, what hope could Black Hair have of returning home? So he could only face reality. Fighting for the survival of the humans here, for their dignity—these things seemed too distant, almost unreal. All he wanted was to live, to keep himself and those around him alive. For that, he had to give it his all.
The Moor Empire was the boulder blocking his path. It was huge and heavy. From the moment he saw it, Black Hair never expected to move it alone. No, even with his allies, they couldn’t lift such a massive stone. His only hope was that a crack would appear within it.
Thankfully, fate hadn’t yet had enough of this lab rat of his. Finally, the long-awaited crack appeared before him.

Miss Veli’s words just now were quite ambiguous. But Kurokami understood her underlying message—it was a reminder to her not to forget her own family. Perhaps in this lady’s mind, Kurokami and Beck were still considered her trusted subordinates whom she had personally promoted? Although their time together had been short, Veli believed she had already shown this down-and-out merchant enough favor. And such favor was enough to make even the humblest dog offer its loyalty.

But what she didn’t know was that Kurokami had never intended to be a dog. In the past, anyone who tried to make him one ended up in a coffin. He was a wolf—a wolf that couldn’t be tamed. Behind him were a pack of wolf cubs. Wolves are vicious creatures; to many, they seem worthless. But it’s undeniable that anyone who dares to threaten their cubs will pay a far heavier price than ever before.

So Kurokami would not miss this opportunity. No matter how much of Miss Veli’s hints came from the Archduke of Tarot, he was determined to attend this competition.

A competition—by definition, a place for struggle. The Moor Empire used such events to select talent. Kurokami found it amusing just thinking about it. Weren’t they right? If a fleet could achieve victory solely through individual combat strength, then what use was wisdom? On the stage of the universe, even the strongest individual power is insignificant. Kurokami also admired strength, but he absolutely didn’t believe it meant anything. It might change the outcome of a single battle, but could it determine the fate of an entire race or even a star system?

The answer was simple. But Kurokami hadn’t noticed. Sometimes, there isn’t just one answer.

In fact, he himself never expected that the Moor Empire’s competitions were completely different from what they seemed on the surface. He only learned this after arriving at the Castle of the King of Benevolence.

The King of Benevolence’s castle was large, but compared to the Sighing Castle of the Archduke of Tarot, which could rival a planet in size, it appeared tiny—probably only one-third as big. At most, it could accommodate less than ten giant ships.

Yet without a doubt, the King of Benevolence’s castle was far more bustling than that of the Archduke of Tarot. Countless ships drifted around it, coming in and going out frequently. Among them, Moor giant ships were everywhere—just the visible strength alone was a hundred times greater than that of the Archduke of Tarot.

This was the strength of the Empire’s First Expeditionary Force. As a veteran hero of the empire, Marshal Ziyuan’s forces operated in a semi-private, semi-public capacity. The fleets surrounding his castle were his private army.

Yet even these private armies are enough to rank among the most powerful forces in the universe in Black Hair’s eyes. Look—hundreds of warships, and that’s just an estimate. What else can compare to such military strength? After all, even the Moorish invasion fleet that was destroyed by Black Hair’s black hole cannon consisted of only a hundred ships.

Hundreds of Moorish giant ships alone serve as a terrifying deterrent just by being present. Black Hair had never realized how insignificant human strength could be. And that castle, guarded by so many giant ships, though far from the grandeur of the Grand Duke of Tarot, was extremely special.

Because it possessed power—a power so extreme that it forced any creature to submit!!

Renwang Ziyuan was the master of this castle.

What kind of person was this individual, who held one of the most powerful positions in the Moorish Empire? That was a question Black Hair had been pondering throughout his journey. When he stepped off the warship, he found the answer to be surprisingly simple.

An old man.

An old man who was on the verge of death, ready to collapse at any moment.

The Grand Duke of Tarot was also old, but he was healthy and in high spirits. Compared to this old man before him, he was undoubtedly younger. After all, this old man needed two maids to support him even while standing, and he coughed constantly while breathing—severely so. Black Hair wondered if he might cough himself to death in the next moment.

“This is Grand Duke Ziyuan. Don’t be fooled by his poor condition; it’s just old age. He’s been like this since I was young, yet he still hasn’t died.” Seeming to notice Black Hair’s confusion, Miss Wei Li whispered an explanation in his ear.

As honored guests of Grand Duke Ziyuan, they returned here with Xiget. Black Hair had prepared himself to meet this powerful ruler, but he never expected it to be such an old man who might die at any moment.

But Black Hair wouldn’t focus only on his appearance like ordinary people. What he paid more attention to was the gaze of this grand duke. Although the duke was extremely weak, Black Hair could sense that his eyes were full of strength!!

An incredibly strong gaze!!

Full of strength and ambition—possessing all the conditions for success. At that moment, Black Hair suddenly understood why he was the leader of one of the empire’s most powerful armies.

“Hehe… cough. Welcome to my castle. Little Wei Li, you’re becoming more and more beautiful. How time flies—so quickly you’ve grown up. I still remember holding you when you were little.” The old man coughed as he stepped forward with the help of two maids, speaking while coughing.

Seeing this grand duke, Xigait, who had been laughing all the way, seemed to become reserved. This bold man now behaved like a little cat, standing quietly aside. Yet from his expression, Hei Fa could tell that Xigait held great respect—no, admiration—for the Grand Duke Ziyuan before him. This admiration could even turn into faith.

Is he trying to portray himself as a god? Hei Fa thought to himself, only to see Miss Wei Li step forward first and take the Grand Duke Ziyuan’s hand instead of the maids, her thin face bearing a pure smile like a flower.

“Uncle Ziyuan, I’m so grateful you still remember Wei Li. I’m truly thankful that you took the time to welcome us despite your busy schedule. Oh, by the way, let me introduce you—this is Beck. I’m sure you already know about his relationship with Xigait.”

“Oh?” The Grand Duke Ziyuan became excited and started coughing again. As he coughed, he looked over at Beck through Miss Wei Li’s hand. Hei Fa quickly stepped forward and gave a proper Moorish military salute.

“Lord Beck, at the service of the Grand Duke of Tarot. Thank you for your hospitality.”

“Cough, cough, Beck… Good! Very good!! I’ve heard your name quite often lately. Indeed impressive… Few of my subordinates can match Xigait. That kid is quite strong. Work hard under Wei Li. I believe she won’t treat you poorly.” The Grand Duke Ziyuan smiled broadly, his eyes narrowing as he sized Hei Fa up from head to toe. Yet, unlike what everyone expected, he didn’t engage in friendly chatter with Hei Fa. After just a few brief words, he turned his attention back to Miss Wei Li. From start to finish, his treatment of Hei Fa was merely polite.

This reaction caught everyone by surprise. Even Xigait hadn’t expected the Grand Duke Ziyuan, who had shown great interest in Beck, to react in such a cool manner upon seeing him in person. Wasn’t that too indifferent? Wouldn’t that go against the other dukes who wanted to recruit Beck?

For a moment, many present showed expressions of surprise. But seeing that the Grand Duke Ziyuan and Miss Wei Li were heading toward the castle, they had no choice but to suppress their curiosity and follow obediently behind them.

Only Black Hair remained calm in the face of such treatment. Without the slightest sign of surprise, it seemed entirely expected. He quietly followed at the end of the group, saying nothing and not looking around. Yet, a faint smile appeared on the corners of his lips.
What was meant to happen would happen sooner or later. Right now, it was just the beginning…