Chapter 755: Family can be blood or chosen
[Hah! I told you that she’d call the maestro out over the boat!]
[The princess has been on a bit of a warpath to determine what exactly our lord has done up until now,] Nepherage admitted. [I think she might be slowing down on that now though.]
[Do you honestly believe that?]
[Not really, no.]
[Hang on a minute!,] Razorstella interjected. [Are we seriously just moving on from the fact that Logos and Pathos just explained that there are actually cases of people in this world having kaijin blood?! That should be a bigger deal than whatever relationship stuff the director is going through right now!]
[I…mean…what’s…the…issue…it’s…just…a….fact…to…deal…with…]
[The issue is that this means that are definitely more people out there in the world who has the ability to actually damage us besides those with dragon blood! I already got injured for real once and I do not look forward to that happening again.]
[Huh…I figured your issue with this fact is that there is a very real possibility that you may actually catch feels for that snake cousin of the manager and it wouldn’t be a fruitless endeavor for him to pursue his feelings of lust and love towards you,] Screamira suddenly dropped like a cherry bomb in the toilet.
Needless to say, practically all the kaijin at this moment were stunned absolutely silent.
[What? We were all thinking it. Also, don’t threaten to throw me overboard, we don’t need to breathe in the first place.]
All of the kaijin were actually thinking about the fact that there have been multiple cases of Kaijin and human relations throughout history and there was a very real possibility that some of their “ancestors” may or may not have populated entire regions with their spawn…but nobody wanted to admit it because it had several unsettling implications about their futures that they didn’t want to think about…for now.
[Damn, normally I’m the blunt one of the group,] Spring Brawler commented. [Should I take this as a sign that I need to finally mature and pick a desire to form a core around?]
[What was that?]
[Nothing, just thinking about the possibility that kaijin babies are real.]
[GAH! NO! WE DON’T EVEN HAVE THOSE PARTS!]
[Are…are you sure?]
While some of the kaijin were more overt about this thought and coming to the realization that they’ll actually have to go and nip some potential relationships in the bud before they could become an issue, some were more…subtle with their doubts.
And hopes.
…
So…there are actually cases of Kaijin and humans being able to consummate their love. Hell, there were cases where they just fell in love in the first place. I mean, it wasn’t an issue in the first place…but maybe…if I can find him…I can…
…
How many centuries has it been since that day? Did I manage to save any of them? Did any of them survive? Would…would any of them care that I somehow came back?
…
Although…despite doing their absolute best to keep their hearts and minds quiet, emotionally charged thoughts like these had a tendency to leak…just a little bit.
________________________________________
“I refuse to admit that I had anything to do with the Nimona or it’s many, many amenities,” Zhen Liu said as bluntly and quickly as possible while sipping Valresta’s version of a Cuba libre. He knew damn well that talking like this didn’t make him look anymore innocent, but it was all he could think about in the moment.
“Hmmm. You do realize Jin Fang already told me about what happened at Pearl Tusk and the sheer amount of collateral damage that you and the kaijin did to that warehouse district, right?,” Jinju Ren asked with a knowing smirk.
“In that case, you understand why I had to do what I needed to do after all of the collateral damage.”
“You’re surprisingly kind and generous.”
“I prefer to think of it as covering my ass.”
“Right…”
Like any good intercontinental ferry/cruise, the S.S. Nimona had multiple dedicated bars and lounge areas for those who’d prefer the sun at certain angles and to view the ocean at those angles.
At this moment in time, Zhen Liu and Jinju Ren were on a bar that was located on the top near the front of the ship while his cousins were either at the bar in the aft or playing shuffleboard on the starboard side.
Zhen Liu even decided to let the kaijin loose upon the ship under the guise of spying on everyone, when in reality, he just decided to let them have fun on what was essentially Valresta’s first ever cruise ship…maybe.
On a side note, he had asked Jin Fang and Rianna if they wanted to get drink as well, but they refused as they had what they called “girl plans”.
Zhen Liu didn’t know why those “girls plans” involved more bow and arrows, with an added rope this time, but when he asked Jinju Ren if she knew what they meant, she simply replied, “don’t worry about it”.
Needless to say, Zhen Liu did indeed worry about it for a spell.
Which is why he was drinking a Cuba Libre at three in the afternoon.
“But back to the present,” Jinju Ren said to get back Zhen Liu’s attention. “I can’t help but notice the amount of…accessories you’re wearing at the moment is a bit sparser than usual. Pray tell, do you usually allow your offspring to run amuck wherever you go?”
“Not al-wait a minute, offspring? The fuck you mean by offspring?”
As soon as Zhen Liu asked this question, Jinju Ren shot him a look that suggested she wasn’t joking in the slightest and that he was the one who made a funny joke. Thankfully for Zhen Liu’s dense ass, Jinju Ren was willing to explain her reaction.
“I’ve only known about you and your ‘puppets’ for a few days now, but it’s safe to say that you do not treat them as weapons or as slaves who’s sole purpose is to serve you and only you. If anything, including the fact that you quite literally give them life, you’re more or less like their parent and they’re more or less like your offspring. Of course, that’s just my perspective, darling.”
“That…”
“Oh don’t worry about it too much. It honestly just gives me hope that you’ll be a doting father in the future.”
“…”
As much as Zhen Liu wanted to argue against the fact that he treated his kaijin more like rambunctious children than the dangerous, possibly feral, monstrous warriors they actually were…he honestly couldn’t.
He wasn’t entirely sure why himself, but he always found himself treating them and their various hijinks less as life threatening/exposing accieents that could lead to cascading consequences and more like tiny events that most people would attribute to children being children.
Then again, it probably didn’t help that the kaijin would sometimes contact him over strange issues such as…well, moments like this.
[Ringmaster, we might have gotten into a bit of a situation,] Spring Brawler suddenly called.
Judging from the feelings being associated with this particular message, something told Zhen Liu that this was either a really bad situation or a really embarrassing one.
He mildly hoped for the former since those types of situations can normally be resolved with violence.
‘Alright, what kind of situation?’
[We just got informed that kaijin and humans have had romantic relationships in the past, including some involving kaijin lords and their creations, and now Razorstella is freaking out over the fact that this meant that any romantic feelings that your snake cousin may have developed for her might be real and she has no idea how to handle it.]
‘That…okay, and…’
[And now she’s trying to make contact with your aforementioned cousin while in human form in an attempt to prevent any possible relationship from forming in the first place, but she has exactly zero social skills and has no idea on how to reject someone without breaking their feelings.]
[So there’s a very real possibility of her accidently going on a date with your cousin, Zhen Tai,] Screamira added in. [Or enflaming whatever passing fancy he had in Razorstella’s human form into a full blown romance because he might misconstrue her as being a…tsundere? Was that the term?]
[Yeah, that’s right.]
‘O…kay, that’s actually pretty ba-wait…why do I get the feeling y’all are holding back an important detail in regards to this incident report?’
[Uh…oh! Hurricroak is actively encouraging her and giving her advice, right now.]
‘GODSDAMMIT!’
Evidently, this particular incident report had been so shocking to Zhen Liu that he ended up physical expressing emotions for all to see. Luckily for his ass though, it was only Jinju Ren who noticed and gave a damn.
“Xiao Liu, what’s wrong? Did the kaijin report something amiss?”
“How did-aish, forget it. Got more pressing matters to deal with,” Zhen Liu replied while getting up from his seat. Not wanting to be left out, Jinju Ren followed along.
“What kind of pressing matter?”
“One of my aforementioned offspring is trying to deal with the issue of love!”
“…oh I am definitely tagging along for this!”
