Kingdom Bloodline

Chapter 601 The Greatest Knight (Part 2)
Golov snorted angrily.

“At least you can stop others from killing,” the zombie stared intently ahead.

"That's life-saving."

Cohen gave a wry smile and did not answer.

“No,” Thales spoke, which dampened Golov’s desire to argue: “Trust me, zombie.”

"that is not."

Thales shook his head:

"Stopping killing and saving lives look very similar."

Thales said quietly:

"Many people also say that as long as you kill the murderer before he kills the person he is about to kill, it is the same as saving the person he is about to kill and solving the problem."

"But believe me, Jia Lun."

"Those are two different things."

"There is still a long way to go between the two."

Glov did not answer, but simply pondered to himself.

Just then, Leyok's cold laugh rang out.

"Don't bother, young masters,"

"No one in this world deserves or expects your salvation."

The Brotherhood assassin raised his hand, reaching towards the surrounding dilapidated houses:

“Look: this is our life, it has always been this way, it has never needed to be changed—let alone saved.”

"Arrogant people like you can't save anyone."

Cohen's brow furrowed even more.

“You know, I have a friend, a very good friend, who grew up in a similar environment. When I asked her, she coldly told me, ‘Give up,’” Cohen said somberly to Leyok.
"That's how the world is. It's self-contained and has its own rules. I'm already doing well if I can just stay out of trouble."

"Acknowledge the rules, accept the rules, adapt to the rules, utilize the rules, and master the rules. Only in this way can we revise the rules in the future."

Thales clenched his fist. At that moment, he thought of two people who, despite their vastly different views, had said the same thing:

Hold on tight to your sword, don't lose it.

What you need to do is not to make amends, but to take control. Not to stand on this high wall and sigh, but to lean against it and ride the waves.

Cohen sighed.

"She always said that, then picked up a knife and used it on those scumbags I'd arrested and then released..."

Cohen realized his mistake and shook his head.
"Feel sorry."

“Your friend,” Leyok said nonchalantly, as if that were his manpower principle:
"She's right."

"At least."

The assassin glanced at the guard:

"It's much more effective than your mother-in-law's nagging."

Cohen shook his head.

“But the same thing,” he said bitterly, “is that she can kill.”

"But it can't save people."

"She and I, we often argue about this."

Thales chuckled softly.

“Believe me, Cohen, arguing isn’t your fault,” the boy said, looking up with a sigh.
"Even thousands of years from now, people will still be arguing about it."

Cohen shrugged.

"Maybe."

He gave a rather self-deprecating laugh:
So I don't know... I don't know what to do.

“I have talked about these troubles with my colleagues, my bosses, and even my bosses’ bosses.”

“But each time, they would pat me on the shoulder with tolerance and sympathy, telling me that they understood, because they had once been just like me, just as young, just as passionate, just as hardworking, just as… confused.”

Cohen's tone darkened:
"Then, after a long time, one day when they looked back, they just... they just..."

“They gave up,” Golov said hoarsely. “They gave up.”

Cohen nodded unconsciously.

"They either become numb and indifferent to it, or they profit from it and go along with it, or they remain aloof and indifferent, or they consider themselves morally superior... Even if there are a few newcomers, they are slowly assimilated by the daily routine of rules and regulations, hard work, fruitless efforts, and thankless tasks, losing their original selves..."

Leyok snorted coldly.

"Unbelievable, these words actually came from a young master of noble birth who never worries about food, clothing, or shelter..."

He glanced at Cohen.

“I promise you, Green Skin,” the Silent Assassin said casually.
"If I need to kill you in the future, I'll be more swift with my blade."

Cohen chuckled dismissively.

“If I were to kill you, I would at least leave you a whole corpse,” Golov coldly retorted on behalf of the guard.
"For your tour guide this time."

Leyok responded coldly.

"I think nothing else matters anymore..."

Cohen sighed deeply:
“West Ring District, Lower District, West Gate, these should be my jurisdiction, I should be the guardian of these places.”

He raised his head wearily, looking at the filthy road before him:
"But the truth is, they're like my nemesis."

"Swallow all my fantasies."

Golov remained silent, while Lyok looked smug.

Thales looked at Cohen with a hint of sadness in his eyes.

“I want to bring about some change,” Cohen said, gritting his teeth and clenching his fist.
"but……"

His fist suddenly loosened, and he looked completely lost.

“That fat man Maurice, and you, Your Highness, have made me realize that I am fighting against more than just crime.”

Cohen stared blankly and said:

"I don't know, I don't know if what I'm doing is useful... Sometimes I even doubt myself, whether I'm really just a stupid idiot doing useless work, a—a stupid guard officer, as they say."

Thales looked at him with pity, but didn't know how to comfort him.

“Even changing the placement of a flowerpot in the guardhouse,” Cohen laughed, a somewhat melancholic laugh:

"There's nothing I can do."

Glov couldn't help but speak up:

"You are the eldest son of the Kalabyan family. If you can't even do this..."

“You’re right,” Cohen looked at him, shaking his head with a wry smile:

"Because I am the heir of the Karabyan family."

"but……"

Cohen slowly lowered his head.

"I only have one sword, and I am all alone."

The guard looked at his family heirloom sword and sighed:
"But we have to face the wounds it has inflicted itself."

"too difficult."

Thales also sighed.

"Do you remember the girl at the apothecary?" the prince asked softly.

“Jenny.”

The three of them turned their heads away.

“She only has two hands,” Thales said, head bowed, staring intently at the increasingly uneven pavement beneath his feet, counting the potholes.

"Just as you only have one sword."

"Who do you think has it harder?"

Cohen was stunned.

But Thales didn't say anything more; he just stared intently at the road beneath his feet.

The material, the feel, the direction...

Getting closer and closer.

A sense of familiarity and panic washed over him at the same time, making him unwilling to look up.

But the journey will eventually come to an end.

"Here we are."

It seemed like only a second had passed when Leyok's cold, lonely voice rang in my ears:

"This is an abandoned house."

"Beggars are usually..."

Abandoned house.

Thales forcefully stopped trembling and raised his head.

The familiar facade, the familiar moat, the familiar rows of dilapidated houses...

Ok?
Almost simultaneously, Cohen and Leyok's expressions changed.

"strangeness."

Cohen looked at the rusty iron gate of the abandoned house.

"What's wrong?" Golov asked, puzzled.

Cohen stepped through the iron gate and looked at what lay before him: rows of old, dilapidated houses, inside and out, and many ragged and filthy people looked up at them numbly.

The guard frowned and said:

"There are people inside."

Golov scoffed:
"nonsense."

“No, no, no, you don’t understand,” Cohen explained. “In previous years, I came with the police department’s teams to sweep through these places, and the abandoned houses were always empty—the scum always managed to move in advance, including the countless homeless children under their control—we couldn’t catch anything.”

Cohen walked forward, puzzled.
"I just have never seen it look like anyone lives there."

Thales followed in his footsteps, his brow furrowed.

They walked along the muddy path, past rows of dilapidated stone houses.

"They are all elderly, weak, sick, and disabled."

Golov walked past a room and glanced inside:
“There are also homeless people—and beggars too.”

But Thales still had a furrowed brow.

They turned a corner and walked down a path the boy knew all too well: the eighth house, the fourteenth house, the second house...

Thales tried to regulate his breathing.

On the road, by the door, under the eaves, everywhere were poor people, emaciated and barely clothed. They were sitting or lying down, and some were hoarsely reaching out their hands to beg for alms.

“No, that’s not right.” Leyok kicked away a homeless man who reached out to touch his boots, finally unable to hold back any longer.

"An abandoned house is not right."

Golov turned his head away disdainfully:
"What's wrong with you?"

Leyok shook his head:

"I haven't been here much these past few years, but..."

He looked around warily:

"The management of the abandoned building shouldn't be so lax, and also..."

"According to convention, there should only be beggars and thugs here."

"And there shouldn't be so many homeless people—some of them aren't even members of the Brotherhood."

Grover still couldn't understand, but Cohen narrowed his eyes.

Only Thales remained silent as he looked at the dilapidated house crammed full of poor people.

Just then, a lazy voice came from a tattered recliner next to them:
"Hey, if you're looking to rob us, you've come to the wrong place."

The four men turned their heads: a man, equally emaciated and looking pitiful, straightened up from the recliner and yawned.

"The abandoned house belongs to the Black Street Brotherhood..."

Leyok's eyes flickered:
"Mertesa?"

Upon hearing this name, the pale-faced man trembled.

He struggled to sit up from the recliner, stared intently at the silent killer, and finally, in a daze, called out the other's name:
"You are...Leyok?"

“Yes,” Leyok said, recovering from his surprise.

"Why are you here?"

The man named Mertesa's expression changed several times.

The next second, he stood up, turned around, and left!
"Hey, wait a minute!"

Leyok gave chase, leaving Thales and the others completely bewildered.

"Who is he?"

“The guy who joined the fraternity the same year as me, with another leader,” Leyok gritted his teeth and chased after him:

"But I haven't heard from him in a long time—Mertesa, stop!"

Mertesacker's steps were limping and unsteady.

"Get out! Stay away from me!" The man retorted angrily without turning his head.

Leyok's eyes turned cold, and he suddenly accelerated!
Boom!
With a muffled thud, Mertessa felt his foot trip and immediately lost his balance, falling to the ground in pain.

“You forced me to this,” Leyok said coldly, walking up to him and watching Mertesacker scramble over. “Now, tell me, how did you get here—”

Leyok paused for a moment.

He saw Mertesacker grit his teeth and prop himself up with only his left hand.

The other sleeve, where the right arm should be, was empty.

"See?"

Mertesacker turned to the side, hiding his severed arm, and said angrily:
"Of course I'm here, where else could I go!"

Thales and the others then arrived at their side. "What happened?"

Leyok glanced at the other man's sleeve, then at Mertessa's haggard and disheveled appearance, his expression complex:
"your hands?"

"What happened?" Mertesa seemed insulted, but surprisingly, he showed no fear of the Silent Assassin, instead roaring loudly:
"You did this on purpose, didn't you?"

Grover and Cohen looked at each other, bewildered.

"What? What do you mean by 'deliberately'?" Leyok asked, puzzled.

Mertesacker's breathing quickened, his eyes turned bloodshot, and he stared intently at Leyok.

Six years ago!

The man with the missing arm sat on the ground, saying in pain:

"Red Street, the night of war, do you remember?"

The familiar terminology stirred something in both Thales and Cohen's minds.

Leyok pondered for a moment:

"Of course, we won."

“Yes, the Brotherhood certainly won,” Mertesacker said, trembling as he clutched his empty sleeve.
"But I lost."

Words filled with hatred flowed from between the teeth of the one-armed man. He took a deep breath and turned his head away from them.

Leyok remained silent.

"They say you're missing."

Mertesacker snorted coldly:
"Yes, I am missing."

“Damn the Red Headscarves, and that damn explosion—I was trapped under the rubble for three whole days, and it was the steel-clad patrolmen who dug me out. When I woke up, I was in prison. I was missing.”

big Bang.

Thales looked at Mertesa's severed right arm, his feelings a mix of emotions.

"They all say it's a miracle I survived, but look at this..."

Mertesacker sneered and flicked his empty sleeve:
"What's the difference between a gangster's state and death?"

Leyok looked up, exhaled through his nose, and seemed lost in thought.

Mertessa gasped angrily, while the others remained silent for a long time.

“Mertesa, what’s wrong here?” Leyok asked again.

His tone became much calmer.

"What's wrong?" But Mertessa's words were very impolite.

Leyok looked up and saw that the people around him were either clinging to the walls or hiding in the cracks of doors, all looking at them timidly.

"An abandoned building. Why are there suddenly so many homeless people here? Where are the Brotherhood members? And beggars too..."

Mertesacker interrupted him impatiently:

"Don't you know? Aren't you one of Maurice's people? How could you not know?"

“I only kill,” Lyok said, bowing his head.
"Regardless of beggars."

Mertesacker scoffed dismissively, his tone becoming sarcastic:

"That's right, you're Maurice's favorite after all, look at your little round bottom..."

Leyok sighed.

The next second, the silent assassin's expression turned cold, and he moved his arm!
Boom!
Amid Mertesacker's screams, Leyok violently twisted his left arm behind his back, slamming his face to the ground.

“Listen up, Mertessa, I’m being polite to you not because of your round butt.”

The silent assassin drew his other hand from the blade at his waist and said coldly:
"I'm not interested in your missing arm or any of your ridiculous nonsense."

"Now, answer my question, or I'll make you more symmetrical on both sides."

Cohen frowned, but Golov held him firmly and shook his head.

"Hahahaha," Mertesa seemed to be a tough nut to crack; despite the excruciating pain, he glared back at Leyok, spitting out two words through gritted teeth:

"Fuck you."

Leyok's expression turned cold, and he pressed Mertesacker's face into the ground.

Just now.

"Moody?"

An old, gentle female voice came from the dilapidated house next door.

Mertesacker shuddered!
"Mordy? Where are you?"

Everyone saw an old woman with a hunched back, leaning on a tree branch, walking shakily out of the door.

She stretched her hand out into the void, her gaze unfocused, her eyes filled with an unnatural paleness.

"Moody, I can't find our big pot, the one with less rust and only two chips... I'm afraid it was stolen by the Sixth House again..."

The sixth room.

Thales was momentarily dazed.

The sound of the old woman's branch tapping the ground brought him back to reality.

"Mom, let's go back!"

Mertesacker struggled to get his mouth out of the mud and cried out anxiously:
"Now!"

Leyok looked at Mertesa beneath him in surprise, then looked up at the old woman.

When Thales saw the old woman's appearance, his expression changed as well.

"But we still need to fetch water for cooking, and we don't have any containers..." The old woman, whose eyes were completely white, reached out in confusion, turned her head this way, and listened carefully:

"Mordy? What are you doing? Who's with you—"

The old woman paused in her speech.

"Damn it."

She turned her pale eyes toward Leyok, her face hardening.

“Whoever you are,” the old woman said calmly and composedly in that instant.
"We have no money."

Mertessa struggled even more, but with one arm missing, he was no match for Leyok.

Leyok just looked at the old woman in front of him with a puzzled expression.

“Look at Murdy, he’s not only lost his right hand, but the right side of his body is also not very functional,” the old woman sighed.

"How else can we make money?"

"You won't get anything."

Leyok remained silent.

But the old woman's words seemed to anger her son.

"Damn it, Mom!"

Mertesacker's face was filled with humiliation:
"Shut up, and go back inside!"

But the old woman ignored Mertessa's words and calmly said in the direction of Leyok:

"If this still doesn't make you stop."

“This old woman of mine has some connections with the Brotherhood, and Moody is one of them. If blood gets out, it won’t look good.”

A few seconds later, Leyok silently put away his weapon and released Mertesa.

He looked at the old woman, his tone softening considerably:

"Mother Beth, your...your eyes, are they blind?"

"Blind? Ha!" The old woman opened her hazy eyes, as if she had heard some great joke:

“My ears are good enough to tell that there are four of you—three of whom are armed.”

The old woman paused in her speech.

"Wait, you know my name... So, you're one of the little brats in the guild?"

Leyok sighed.

“Don’t worry, I was just passing by,” Leyok said, staring at the blind old woman Beth, then looking down dejectedly.

"I'll also visit some old friends."

But the old woman named Beth ignored him and instead asked her son:

"Moody?"

"I'm alright, Mom!" Mertessa, now free, sat on the ground, panting angrily.

"I told you, you fucking get back here right now!"

The old woman gave a cold laugh.

"Maybe I'm not your biological mother, Murdy. Maybe I still need you to remind me so I don't trip over the steps."

The next second, Beth's branch slammed hard on the ground, and her voice suddenly rose:
"But at least when you were just a little kid who could only cry, I didn't let you freeze to death on the street or suffocate in the sewer, so you son of a bitch, you better—show some respect!"

The old woman's fierce roar sent shivers down one's spine.

Mertesacker rubbed his forehead in pain, feeling helpless and distressed.

"Ah ah ah..."

Mertessa gave up her desire to argue with her mother and sighed:

"Alright, I'll talk to the guy in the sixth room about that broken pot! Now, please, go back inside!"

Thales and the others looked at each other in bewilderment.

“Alright, alright,” Beth regained her usual frailty as an old woman. She hunched over and turned around, murmuring, “Brotherhood, Brotherhood, ha.”

"How much more do we still owe them? That damned black sword..."

“Mom!” Mertessa roared again.

Beth gave a soft hum and stretched out a branch to probe the way:

"Then you two should catch up properly, after all, this might be the last time you see each other."

"The last time we saw each other? What?"

Leyok glanced at Mertesacker's injured body:
"He has a terminal illness?"

Beth shakily touched the earthen wall: "No, I mean you."

"If you join the Brotherhood, you won't live long."

Leyok stared intently at Beth.

"Mom!" This was Mertesacker's angry shout for what felt like the umpteenth time.

But at the same time, another voice also rang out:
"Old woman!"

Beth paused.

The old woman slowly turned around, her expression amused: "Ah, a young voice, clear and strong, still going through puberty."

"At most fifteen years old."

Thales stepped forward and stared intently at the old woman:
"You said your name is Beth?"

The blind old woman turned her head and sniffed a few times in Thales' direction:

"It has an air of luxury, yet it feels somewhat familiar, with a hint of femininity. What, did you just come back from Red Town Street?"

But Thales ignored her.

“You said you’re a member of the Brotherhood,” Thales stared intently at Beth’s face.
Why have I never heard of you?

Beth opened her mouth and laughed silently.

"Maybe it's because you haven't grown pubic hair yet?"

Grover and Cohen looked at each other strangely.

The old woman's expression immediately turned stern, and she raised her voice towards Thales:

"And your little chick is still as limp as a caterpillar, unable to get hard on its own?"

"You rude brat?"

Mertessa said painfully:
"Mom! That's enough!"

Beth snorted coldly; her pale, lifeless eyes sent chills down one's spine.

“Hey kid, go find Maurice in this neighborhood and ask him: Have you ever heard of ‘Black Widow’ Beth?”

"Ask the other ungrateful bastards in the Brotherhood how many of them haven't had their butts spanked by me!"

Thales fell silent.

"I see."

He gazed silently at Beth's face, searching for a fleeting memory from his childhood, and grinned.

"Thank you, I'll remember that."

"Mother Beth."

Thales repeated Lyok's name.

"It's best not to," the old woman said coldly, showing no appreciation.
"I'd rather have some peace and quiet."

She slowly but skillfully stepped over the ditch in the ground, disappearing behind the wall, leaving only her fierce voice:
"Moody, don't forget that pot!"

Thales watched the old woman leave quietly, as if returning to the past.

The moment he first remembered the things of this world.

[Look at you, little brat, crying, damn it, why don't you cry... Don't tell me you're stupid... No, it would be better if you were stupid, then I'd have less to worry about...]

Back then, the other person's voice wasn't so aged, but it was just as rude and harsh as it is now.

You have to call me Aunt Beth, Aunt Beth, understand? Even if you become incredibly successful in the future, I'll still be the one who raised you! You damned brat, may the god of the underworld take you away soon and stop you from causing so much trouble...

At that time, Mother Beth's face was full of disgust, yet also carried a hint of awe.

"Alright, Thales, this is your name... Don't mind it, I know it doesn't sound good, but I didn't choose it... It's okay, once I raise you to a certain age, I'll be free, and I won't have to suffer from nightmares all the time..."

Back then, the fraternity nurseries were dark, cramped, damp, and rudimentary.

Alright, alright, just take him away already. I never want to see him again in my life... Why? Haha, you wouldn't believe me even if I told you, but he's destined to cause a huge mess...

A monster's offspring, a monster's calf...

At that moment, Thales opened his eyes and buried all the clear or blurry fragments deep in his heart.

There's one more chapter; I should be able to finish it around 12:30.

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(End of this chapter)