Above Destiny

Chapter 691 Am I not human?
Thirty seconds.

Perhaps even shorter.

In the sudden howling wind, the mist churned and seemed to boil, while the darkness within the gray and white danced like a wild beast, ready to devour its prey.

Realizing he had just been on the brink of death, Minkler dared not delay any longer and promptly opened his collar, revealing a ring hanging around his neck.

It looks simple and unpretentious, without any complicated or exaggerated design, but no one in the entire Xiangzhou dares to imitate it. It is the symbol of the Minkler family's status.

As an alchemical creation, it also seems to possess some kind of verification function, distinguishing between genuine and fake and providing authentication.

Ji Jue had seen it before, in Minkler's hands, but now Minkler had hidden it away, not daring to show it to anyone—because the shimmering crimson light in the gem on the ring face was like a flame, rising and flowing silently.

Ji Jue was stunned.

Because of this glimmer of light, Ji Jue had seen it before—at the welcoming banquet in Xiangzhou before their departure for the Central Plains, when the head of the family raised a toast to welcome them.

Throughout the entire Minkler family, only the patriarch's ring possesses this faint glow!
But now, this glimmer of light has appeared out of nowhere in Minkler's hands.

That is to say...

"I...I am the next head of the family."

Minkler's expression twitched, a mixture of crying and laughing: "This is my father's last wish, and also the certification of the household gods."

Household Gods

These days, if you want to make a name for yourself, you need to have work. The greater your achievements and the wider your empire, the tougher the work you need to do. To establish yourself as a powerful force in the chaotic world of a thousand islands, and even to create a wealthy city-state like Xiangzhou, serving as the economic hub of the western Endless Sea, you clearly need to have work to do.

The family shrine is undoubtedly the Minkler family's trump card.

Whether you call it the Ancestor, the Guardian Deity, or the Ancestors, it is a secret ritual born from the fusion of Ascension and Heavenly Origin. It is centered on the surname, based on bloodline, and with the family as the main body. After the ancestors of each generation die, their remaining spirits gather in the family fire and gradually transform into ferocious and strange man-made spirits that can protect the family when their descendants are in trouble.

It can be said that ever since the first person with the surname Chopra, their family's household gods have been born from the fire of sacrifice.

The longer the family has been around, the more powerful the family gods must be.

This is exactly like a domesticated vengeful ghost and guardian spirit.

Although it cannot match the Chosen One in terms of agility, as a fusion of the broken consciousness and power of the ancestors, it is like a fusion bomb, a stabilizing force for the entire family.

As for Ji Jue...

What? Minkler's ancestors are still alive?

This is just too... too good!
I'll take a look at this later!

The reason why the ancestral spirits would approve of Minkler is only one: the arrangements made by the previous patriarch in his last moments before his death.

Unfortunately……

"Your dad is really ruthless."

Ji Jue was filled with emotion.

Sending one's own son to be cannon fodder and sacrifice, even if it's just one of dozens of sons.

In the brief moments before his death, he made this arrangement without a second thought. His ruthlessness and viciousness were truly astonishing to Ji Jue.

Minkler was already in tears, sobbing uncontrollably: "That old man has despised me my whole life, and in the end he still wants to use me as cannon fodder!"

Designated by the head of the household, certified by the household deity?
is that useful?
What a load of rubbish!

If it were truly useful, would Minkler have rushed to Xinquan like a stray dog, desperately seeking a way to survive?

Choosing him as the head of the family? That would have to be a useful choice. Besides, if we really wanted to choose him, would we wait until this critical moment, on our deathbed, to do so?

What are you thinking!

If he were truly a candidate for head of the family, he should have been sent into politics long ago!
But the result?

He's always been left to his own devices, treated like a pig, living off his meager monthly allowance with more than enough to indulge in debauchery, far from achieving anything significant.

This was the only time in his life he was truly determined to make a name for himself, so he chose to join the army. After serving as the commander of the cannon fodder unit, he returned with a "gilded" resume and was relegated to a menial job in the Seven Cities Joint Defense.

He met Lu Feng during the battle, and later, through a series of coincidences, he got involved with Ji Jue. Otherwise, wanting to rise to prominence? Dream on!

Today, Minkler has barely managed to squeeze into the core of the family from the margins.

Commander-in-Chief of the Seven Cities Joint Defense Fleet? Look at those ships that are even older than Ji Jue. The Empire and the Federation have been discarding their weapons for so many years, and their dispatch and organization capabilities are terrible. It's just that seven families have put together a group to live together, put together some junk, and created an empty shell.

On ordinary days, they can patrol and catch smugglers, but when it comes to taking action, each family has to send in their own elite private soldiers to fill in the gaps, and after it's over, they immediately disband and go home.

Minkler was still a lone commander.

Not good enough for the top, but not bad enough for the bottom; middle-level managers who are purely used as scapegoats, even if they try their best to climb up, only qualify as sacrifices in this round of struggle.

So what if the household gods recognized him as a candidate for the new head of the household?

If there is only recognition, without ancestral worship rituals, and without adding holy oil and blood to the family fire, the household gods cannot be mobilized, and will not even pay attention to him.

The sacred oil that truly makes the household gods bow down is all in the hands of his fourth brother!
With this kind of certification, once Minkler dies, the next one can be replaced immediately.

Goodbye, bye, the next one will be better.

The only purpose his father could achieve by doing this was to put his son in a precarious position, draw everyone's attention, and force the troublemaker to die first, thus buying time for the chaotic family to rebuild...

In other words, his family would absolutely not save him.

They won't even let him go!

Having figured this out, two hours after his father's death, Minkler used the excuse of needing to use the restroom to drive off overnight from the port of the Seven Cities Joint Defense in a large confiscated aircraft. He swallowed his tears and didn't dare look back.

I dare not tell the truth.

This isn't some landlord suffering a disaster; it's practically cannon fodder waiting to die, the kind of people everyone wants to kill...

"You've got to lend your brother a hand, Lao Ji."

He grabbed Ji Jue's hand, gripped it tightly, and refused to let go, tears streaming down his face: "At this critical juncture, you certainly won't believe my empty promises. But once it's done, I won't stop you from having anything you want. As long as you can save my life, anything is negotiable!"

"You trust me that much?"

Ji Jue was amused and didn't care about the fact that he had suddenly lowered his seniority.

Minkler retorted sharply: "Of all the people I know, who can I trust? Who has two Medals of Honor?! Who can throw billions into the Church of Honor when they have nothing?"

Since we met, I've been branded a traitor at home, fighting for so many things for you. I don't want anything from you, I just want to get to know you so that if anything happens to me in the future, you can lend me a hand..."

He pleaded in a low voice, "I don't ask for much, really not much, just to save my life. Whoever wants to be the head of the family can have it!"

"If it had been this open and transparent from the beginning, there wouldn't have been so much trouble."

Ji Jue coldly withdrew his hand to prevent tears and snot from falling onto his sleeve. "At least, it was more sincere than when you were pretending to call me godfather while hugging my leg."

"You agreed?" Minkler was overjoyed, almost laughing out loud with snot bubbles in his nose.

"We're friends after all. Whether I should help you or not, we'll talk about it after we've dealt with the current problem."

Ji Jue walked forward with his hands behind his back, step by step to the bow of the ship. He glanced at the strange shadows moving in the mist and suddenly asked curiously, "Why is it neither advancing nor retreating, neither running nor fighting?"

In that instant, it seemed as if a sound of falling could be heard from within the mist.

Immediately afterwards, a terrifying roar, like a tsunami, suddenly erupted!
.
"Ji Jue!!!"

On a rock that emerged from the sea, the chosen one holding the water goggles suddenly twitched, his face turned deathly pale, and he almost fell into the sea, screaming incoherently:

"Oh no, it really is Ji Jue!"

In the water mirror, the vague figure suddenly became clear, grinning at everyone.

Despite being full of enthusiasm and magnanimity, it sends chills down one's spine.

It felt like falling into an ice cave.

She hesitated for a moment, then looked at the hunched, grim, withered old woman beside her. "Mom, should we leave...?"

The old woman's expression twitched, then twitched again. She never expected that what was supposed to be an easy task to take advantage of would actually backfire so badly.

No, why!

Why would a craftsman from the Federation get involved in the affairs of the Seven Cities?
Sensing the sinister gaze emanating from the depths of the mist behind her, the old woman's expression twitched, and she forced out a voice through clenched teeth: "So what if it's Ji Jue!"

No matter how infamous a craftsman is, unarmed and not in a workshop, and a dilapidated ship, how could he possibly cause any trouble?

Do you think I'm afraid of you?!

A sinister glint flashed in the old woman's eyes.

"Ignore him!"

She said, "Hurry up and kill us, then leave. Let's be safe and leave no trace. At worst, we can hide in the Empire for two years..."

Having enjoyed so many years of wealth and luxury, now bound by the blood pact, there's no turning back. If they don't run, they'll only face Ji Jue; if they do run, they'll be hunted down by the wrathful household gods for the rest of their lives, their souls tormented within their wombs…

"Done!"

She made up her mind, took out a dark green bone flute from her bosom, and suddenly played a silent melody. In the midst of the sharp whistling sound, strange outlines appeared in the void, like souls that had died of thirst crawling out of the sea.

A stench suddenly appeared on the deck of the Prosperity, and footprints and handprints covered with broken algae emerged from the hull, climbing upwards at incredible speed, extending towards Minkler.

The rotting corpse, entangled in seaweed and barnacles, its swollen face covered in pus and barnacles, crawled toward Minkler on all fours, calling out his name and howling in agony.

Minkler screamed in terror, his face turning deathly pale, and he practically clung to Ji Jue.

But Ji Jue didn't see anything at all.

I just feel like he's in my way!

It can only be said that no matter how virtuous one is, if one goes to a place like the Thousand Islands, which is supposedly vast and boundless but is full of narrow, cramped corners and cultural differences, one will inevitably pick up some bad karma or messy things.

Perhaps the authentic essence is hard to reach, but the messy stitching, the additions, and the secret weapons can only be described as amazing.

Ascension and abyss are intertwined, transcendence and depravity coexist, and there is even a touch of mirror and rainbow. Even the curse has taken on such a bizarre form.

They completely ignored Ji Jue and headed straight for Minkler.

As a result, Minkler screamed in terror, louder than a wailing chicken, while Ji Jue couldn't see a single ghost.

This guy's birth date and personal belongings were clearly already in the hands of the chosen one who cast the curse. If he hadn't run to the Federation, he probably would have been drained of his life force by the vengeful spirits and evil ghosts that were attracted to him.

Outsiders have no way to get involved...

But then again.

Outsiders may be outsiders, but it's a pity...

Ji Jue is not human.

(End of this chapter)