The thunderous roars and violent tremors came to an abrupt halt.
The dazed, chaotic island of Xiangzhou plunged once more into silence. Dark clouds choked the heavens, and amidst the gloom, gale-force winds howled. Residents looked at one another in utter bewilderment, having no idea what had just occurred.
Their only worry was whether storms and downpours would soon follow to disrupt their livelihoods.
The entire Chopra estate, along with the mountain peak it occupied, remained shrouded in light mist—looming faintly yet obscured from sight, shielding everything from prying eyes.
Even the informants stationed inside Xiangzhou City had no clue what had happened.
Across the slums and large residential districts, countless people suddenly noticed the silence falling over their surroundings. The loud, broken chanting that had drifted from neighboring buildings had ceased without warning.
It was as if someone had pulled the plug.
Inside hospital ICUs, several patients undergoing resuscitation opened their eyes, feeling as though they had just awakened from a bizarre nightmare—a surreal vision in which a god was devoured by a demon.
Under the martial law enforced by local authorities, no large-scale unrest broke out, but rumors spread like wildfire across short-video platforms and various websites.
Some swore they had seen a colossal face manifest in the sky. Others claimed that the idol enshrined in their home had suddenly begun to glow.
In the areas around the foot of the mountain, scavengers sifting through trash stumbled upon gold nuggets and agates that had plummeted from the heavens. Someone even claimed to have witnessed with their own eyes a vessel resembling a freighter suddenly lifting off from the Chopra estate and soaring away into the distance...
Meanwhile, the Celestial Chosen throughout the city held their breath, wiping cold sweat from their brows as they stared toward the Chopra estate, their lingering terror still fresh.
The earth-shattering waves and tremors had not completely faded.
Yet the dust had settled.
*Thump! Thump! Thump! Thump!*
As the House Fire surged once more, dull thuds echoed unceasingly. Inside the ancestral temple, the candidates—who had been standing frozen like wooden chickens—suddenly seemed drained of every ounce of strength. One after another, they collapsed limp to the floor, their eyes hollow, stripped of all luster.
Nothing remained but empty husks.
Amidst the suffocating tension, everyone's eyes widened, turning toward the emaciated figure at the very front, who had finally stood up.
Boggio!
He opened his eyes. In the dead silence, he slowly pushed himself up, turned around, and looked back at the crowd behind him.
Countless people erupted in wild joy, cheering and shouting.
Others could only stare in dismay and regret, looking as if they had lost their own parents.
"We won!"
Practically dancing with ecstasy, Matik shoved aside anyone in his path and rushed forward to seize Boggio's shoulders, laughing hysterically. "I knew it! I knew it, Boggio! You definitely—you—"
Boggio did not speak. It was as though he couldn't make a sound.
He stared at Matik blankly, looking as if he were trying with all his might to part his lips. Then, thick, dark blood began to seep from his seven facial orifices, trickling down silently in a gruesome display.
*Thump!*
Right before everyone's eyes, he crashed to the floor, breathing no more.
Amidst the dead silence, the dim flicker of the House Fire illuminated the figure still seated in a chair behind Boggio—the sole survivor of this selection by the House God.
"Looks like the selection is over?"
With a soft click, the spark of a windproof lighter danced, lighting the cigarette dangling from the corner of his mouth.
Minkler took a deep drag and grinned wordlessly.
Looking down haughtily upon the stunned witnesses in the ancestral temple, he parted his lips in a smile and told them, "Now, you may kowtow to your Patriarch."
On his hand, the ring flared with light, blazing into a pure white identical to that of the House Fire.
A choice made by the House God itself.
The new Patriarch.
Commander of the Seven Cities Joint Defense Fleet, Major General Minkler!
Matik lowered his head stiffly, tugging repeatedly at Boggio's lifeless body in an attempt to pull him back to his feet, unable to believe what was happening.
"Impossible!"
From a chair behind the front row, a sinister-looking old woman pushed herself up. Glaring with venomous hatred, she screamed hysterically, "It has to be you! You used some vile, underhanded trick! How could the House God ever choose a lowborn mongrel like you to be Patriarch?! I... I will—"
Amidst the clamor, everyone exchanged glances. The vast majority kept quiet, instinctively choosing to observe the situation. But a few had staked too much, having bet their entire fortunes on the outcome, and refusing to accept defeat, they were already preparing to flip the table.
"Kill him! Kill this bastard!"
Boggio's birth mother—the old woman who had governed the inner quarters for decades—issued a resolute command. The vermilion gem on her ring flared with a chilling gleam. Instantly, a pool of blood spread across thin air, and a hideous silhouette clambered out from the gore, lunging straight toward Minkler!
In the very next instant, a bizarre limb descended from above, crushing it to powder.
*Crash!*
Gore splattered and burst outward, outlining the brutal silhouette coiled around Minkler—the House God, its countless arms writhing like those of a centipede.
It didn't even require Minkler's command.
The famished House God erupted forward, pouncing on the old woman to feast ravenously. In a greedy, gluttonous frenzy, it tore the shrieking woman to shreds and devoured her alive on the spot.
"Whoa!"
Emerging from the dispersing mist, Ji Jue stepped back into the ancestral temple and couldn't help but marvel, "Lively in here, isn't it? Is this some sort of Chopra family tradition?"
Silence reigned; no one dared utter a word. Only Minkler let out an emotional sigh.
"Ah, you could say that."
Glancing at the woman being consumed by the House God on the floor, he asked nonchalantly, "Taken care of?"
"And I even added a new tourist attraction to your estate in the process. I'll tell you about it later."
Ji Jue clasped his hands behind his back and looked around at the sea of faces in the ancestral temple. "Ladies and gentlemen, what are you all waiting for?"
The clamor outside the doors grew increasingly piercing. Sensing the shift in the wind, some were already attempting to flee, while others frantically began transmitting messages...
Yet inside the temple, the silence was so profound that even breathing could barely be heard.
Drenched in cold sweat as he watched the old woman being completely swallowed whole by the House God, Matik shuddered. Instinctively tossing aside the corpse in his hands, he was the first to react.
With a loud *thud*, he dropped to his knees, reverently raising both hands toward Minkler.
Summoning every shred of strength he possessed, he roared at the top of his lungs, "Greetings, Patriarch!"
Immediately after, like a fierce wind sweeping through a field of wheat, the dazed figures collapsed to the ground one after another, scrambling over each other to kowtow and pledge allegiance to the newly instated Patriarch.
Only a handful remained standing stiffly where they were, their faces deathly pale.
They had long since tied their fates to Boggio or other contenders; even if they knelt and knocked their heads against the floor now, there would be no surviving.
Yet the new sovereign seemed entirely uninterested in them. Ignoring the crowd prostrating on the ground, he turned to Ji Jue and pointed at the House God, which had yet to dissipate. "You didn't take this thing with you?"
"What would I take it for?" Ji Jue chuckled. "A thing like this is only valuable when left in Xiangzhou. Have you ever heard of someone carrying an entire server room with them when they skip town?"
Thanks to centuries of cultivation by the Chopra family, the current House God had rooted itself deeply into Xiangzhou. Even though it had been thoroughly converted into an incubator and server for the Lord of the Flies, there was no need to rip it out by the roots. In fact, its greatest value lay precisely here.
Through secret rituals expanded continuously by successive Patriarchs, it fully blanketed all of Xiangzhou, siphoning spiritus from the entire island to sustain the House God's consumption.
There was no longer any need for living sacrifices to sate the hunger and greed of countless ferocious wraiths. As long as it collected the stray, dissipated spiritus of living beings in a steady stream, it could operate stably.
The Federation levied a spiritus tax of one-twelfth, whereas Ji Jue only took one-twentieth. By comparison, this was practically a regime of benevolent governance and light taxation, giving the people room to breathe!
As for the vast majority of incompatible impurities and dregs—the ferocious spirits and malevolent souls accumulated inside the House God over centuries—Ji Jue had stripped them all away, rolled them into a ball, and reconstructed them according to their original structure to continue serving as the House God, utilizing it as the guardian for the server room.
Though its volume had shrunk considerably, its former immense bulk hadn't contributed much actual combat growth to the House God anyway. Compared to the centipede form it had assumed when operating outside earlier, it was merely one size smaller, while its controllability and agility had increased a thousandfold.
From this day forward, the House God was Minkler's loyal hound and guardian.
Ji Jue had retained the Chopra bloodline binding without imposing any restrictions. In fact, with a single thought, Minkler could easily command the House God to turn on Ji Jue.
Yet beneath Ji Jue's meaningful gaze, Minkler looked down at the ring on his finger and merely smiled indifferently, showing neither hesitation nor confusion. Suddenly, he asked, "Got a smoke?"
Ji Jue chuckled and shook his head. "Sorry, don't smoke."
"I really envy people like you who can laugh without needing an anesthetic.
"A few smuggled high-end cigars, an occasional bottle of decent booze confiscated from duty, embezzling a bit of military funds to keep the old brothers who risked life and limb with me fed, and giving everyone a proper arrangement and a future... That was all I ever wanted to accomplish in the first half of my life."
Minkler lit another cigarette, took a deep drag, and exhaled a wisp of blue smoke. "If I could meet a woman who truly loved me... that would be even better.
"I had it all planned out. If I had kids, I'd send them to the Federation or the Empire and leave them enough money to live comfortably, never getting involved with the Chopra family. Down the line, even being able to see them once in a blue moon would count as happiness."
"Should I offer my congratulations, then?"
Ji Jue smiled. "No need to go to the Empire or the Federation. From now on, you can live openly and legitimately with your wife and kids.
"Though you won't need my help to find a wife and have kids, right? Money can't solve that for you."
Minkler burst into roaring laughter.
He threw his head back, laughing until his sides ached.
From this day forward, he would never have to worry about where the family's hand would steer his destiny. He *was* the family; he was Chopra.
Ascending to the heavens in a single bound.
As for the price, he didn't care.
Three days ago, when he had clung to Ji Jue's leg like a beggar, crying and pleading, all he had wanted was to survive.
Now, the shackles around his neck had finally been cast off, restoring his freedom, while the chains around everyone else's necks were gathered in his own hand.
"Oh, right. Lou Feng just told me he optimized the House God's framework and management for you," Ji Jue remarked, glancing at the loyalists trembling on their knees around them as he delivered the grim news with a pleasant smile. "He also added those features you've always wanted. Including, but not limited to, the most crucial one—One-Click Delete."
From now on, no more headaches; managing the family registry would be effortless!
Not only did it make setting targets, performance metrics, and KPIs for family members a breeze, it also allowed him to monitor everyone's progress and project milestones, optimized inter-departmental collaboration, and introduced meeting minutes and smart surveillance functions. All of this ensured that Minkler's family members, under the wise guidance of the Patriarch, would work with far greater motivation and efficiency!
At the same time, it ensured that anyone unwilling to follow the great Patriarch's directives would no longer be considered Minkler's 'family.'
What was that muttering and grumbling?
I'll just optimize you out with one click!
There was no need to laboriously mobilize the House God, nor was it limited strictly to the Chopra bloodline. Anyone who had ever sworn an oath of allegiance before the House Fire would fall under the House God's dominion.
The fully hatched spirits of the Lord of the Flies would conduct surveillance and recording day and night, ensuring the family members perpetually bathed in the sun-like radiance of their Patriarch.
With merely a single thought from Minkler—
*Thud!*
Inside the ancestral temple, those still standing stubbornly upright suddenly felt a deathly chill blow against the backs of their necks.
Shivering, they collapsed to the floor as if plunging into an icy abyss.
It was as if they felt a cold, detached gaze staring down from the high vault of heaven.
A look of contemptuous scrutiny.
Immersed in the surging torrent, Minkler's eyes rolled white, beams of brilliant light bursting from his pupils.
It was as though he had abruptly broken free from his frail physical body, fusing entirely with the House God. Hundreds and thousands of eyes encompassed all of Xiangzhou, beholding every single soul entangled in scarlet light.
With just a flick of his mind, a roster materialized before his eyes, thoughtfully arranged for him in alphabetical order from A to Z, displaying their loyalty or hatred in different colors, along with whether they were presently excited or terrified...
Minkler fell silent.
It wasn't until the cigarette butt burned down to his fingers that he snapped out of his trance.
He chuckled self-deprecatingly. "You actually remembered?"
"Wasn't that the agreed-upon condition?" Ji Jue countered.
Back on the deck of the *Prosperity*, that was the demand Minkler had voiced with his own lips, the vow he had sworn.
He would do anything asked of him, so long as every single one of those Chopra bastards died!
And now—Ji Jue's promise had been fulfilled.
Without the slightest compromise.
Even if slaughtering too many might prove disadvantageous for Xiangzhou's subsequent governance and plans, it could still be considered ridding the people of a menace. Worst-case scenario, Ji Jue could always recruit another batch of workers to fill the vacancies; their efficiency might well surpass that of these good-for-nothings anyway!
"I'll leave the rest to you."
Ji Jue gave Minkler's shoulder a final pat, leaving this precious coronation moment for him to savor alone.
And so, just like the customary routine following the succession of every past Patriarch...
The grand housecleaning had begun!
Outside the ancestral temple, amidst the chaotic Chopra estate that had yet to settle down, Ji Jue spotted a figure who had been waiting by the entrance for quite some time.
Ling Shuo, who had mysteriously vanished the moment the fighting started, had miraculously respawned. He had even prepared a gift for the new ruler of Xiangzhou.
A burlap sack.
Inside the sack was a person whose mouth was gagged and whose limbs were bound.
Pale-faced, with disheveled hair, the captive whimpered in terror.
"Who's this?" Ji Jue looked down.
"Boggio's trusted assistant."
Ling Shuo waved a hand, and a subordinate immediately brought forward a suitcase. Ling Shuo popped it open in his hands to reveal the top layer: tightly packed, neatly partitioned containers of holy oil, amounting to at least two or three liters.
The second layer held two hard drives, while at the very bottom lay a thick stack of handwritten account books.
There was no pretense of haggling or holding out for a better price.
He presented it respectfully with both hands.
"This kid was acting suspicious and trying to run. Our people intercepted him at the smuggling dock. Fortunately, we didn't let him ruin your plans, sir."
"Thoughtful of you."
Ji Jue glanced inside and accepted the suitcase. "Give Old Mr. Ling my thanks. I'll be sure to pay a visit in person another day."
"I'll definitely pass the message along." Ling Shuo nodded vigorously, breaking into a smile. "In that case, I won't disturb you any longer."
"Leaving already?"
Ji Jue looked puzzled. "The people of the Wild Gathering traveled all this way—surely it wasn't just to attend an inauguration ceremony for a Patriarch?"
"Only the Dragon Head can represent the Wild Gathering," Ling Shuo corrected with a shake of his head, answering candidly. "I'm with the Godfather; I can't even represent Grey Port, let alone the rest. At best, I'm just a pair of eyes sent out to see which way the wind blows.
"Stumbling into all this was purely by chance. Thankfully, Mr. Ji, you managed to stabilize the situation; otherwise, who knows what a mess this would have become."
Catching the hidden meaning in his words, Ji Jue pressed, "Does the Wild Gathering think something is off with the Seven Cities?"
"Indeed. But then again, is it only the Seven Cities that are off?"
Ling Shuo sighed. "These days, things are abnormal everywhere across the Endless Sea; it's a complete mess wherever you look. Minor pawns like us can only run around until we drop from exhaustion.
"Regardless, whenever a disaster wind approaches, trouble starts cropping up everywhere, and countless people crawl out of the woodwork to stir up storms.
"Out of all those incidents, half are natural disasters and half are man-made—and man-made ones probably account for even more. The Thousand Islands aren't like the Federation; dragons and snakes mingle here, good and bad alike. Please take extra care, Mr. Ji."
"I understand." Ji Jue nodded, extending the invitation once more. "Since you're already here, why not stay a couple more days?"
"No, no. The situation is complicated; I need to report back to the Godfather as soon as possible. I won't delay any further."
Ling Shuo's expression twitched slightly. He hurriedly fished a business card from his pocket and offered it with both hands. "Our local workforce is limited, but handling miscellaneous chores won't be an issue. If you need anything at all, Mr. Ji, just give them your orders directly."
"Then I won't stand on ceremony."
Ji Jue took the card and watched Ling Shuo depart, noticing that the man's pace grew faster and faster the further he went...
He looked as though he was practically ready to carry a boat on his shoulders and swim all the way back to Grey Port overnight.
"Wait, is Xiangzhou some sort of dragon's lair or tiger's den?"
Rubbing his chin, Ji Jue felt momentarily baffled. "Is it really that unpopular?"
Amidst the barking of dogs in the distance, Lou Feng, who had just finished catching his breath, couldn't resist rolling his eyes.
Is Xiangzhou the thing that's bloody unpopular?!
Chapter 716