Above Destiny

Chapter 693 Bandit Showdown
Come back home.

What's so great about your run-down house?
Ji Jue was genuinely confused—was your home some kind of legendary paradise where everyone kowtows and praises you, and every room is crammed with eighty-one wives and concubines, where you can have beautiful women if you want, and male concubines if you want, and the basement is piled high with mountains of gold and silver that you can never spend all of?
It's one thing to have unrealistic or overly high expectations, but at least have someone waiting for you to come home and cook you a bowl of noodles or a pig's feet soup?

Besides, at this critical juncture, isn't it you who most wants you to come home?

Ultimately, it's still too conventional.

Ji Jue couldn't help but shake his head.

He glanced at the distraught Minkler and sighed softly, "You still haven't caught on, have you?"

Even if there was some premonition and reaction, unfortunately, self-awareness was completely out of sync with the situation.

It's as if an invisible mental imprint is stamped on your forehead.

No, I should say...

They were deliberately cultivated to be this way.

It's not that it's difficult to achieve great things, but rather that the possibility of achieving great things is not allowed.

As a family member, having this much ability is enough; anything more would only be a disaster.

For the first half of my life, I was a member of the family, a tool of the family. Even if I had selfish desires and ulterior motives, that was all. At most, I was greedy for money, power, fame, and status, but in the end, I was dependent on the family.

So much so that when she was suddenly kicked into the fire by her own father, she struggled desperately and didn't have time to realize that things were different now than before.

He was no longer a servant of the family, but the one in control of it.

Even if it's just in name.

“Minkler—”

Ji Jue slowly said, "If you still have the stupid idea of ​​surviving and getting away unscathed at this point, you might as well find a rope and hang yourself as soon as possible."

The situation is self-evident, so I won't elaborate. I'll just ask you one question... Do you have any way out?

Minkler looked down at the mutilated head at his feet.

The empty eye sockets of the skull were also looking at him.

In silence, they looked at each other without saying a word.

He gave a bleak smile.

If he were merely the commander of the Seven Cities Joint Defense Fleet, he might have been able to retire gracefully, return home in glory, and live a peaceful life, or even be relied upon and trusted by the new head of the family, becoming a pillar of the family.

But when the household gods' approval came to him, everything changed completely.

He went from being a manipulated tool to a real threat to everyone. Everyone—within the family, outside the family, the future patriarch and his confidants, the current six cities and their lackeys—would not allow someone who could legally threaten them but was so easily controlled to live.

This is a dead end with no way to retreat and nowhere to escape.

Even if he escapes to the ends of the earth, his bloodline still belongs to Chopra, and his soul still belongs to the patriarch. As long as the new patriarch gives the order, the patriarch will descend from the sky and take away his soul and life.

So, choose, Minkler.

Should she follow her father's expectations and last wishes and become a sacrifice in the family's transition at this critical juncture, or should she truly walk down this dead end, never turning back, even if it means being shattered to pieces, to take control of her own destiny?

Minkler remained silent and did not answer.

He took off his coat and spread it on the dirty deck. Then, he bent down and knelt down, carefully picking up the ashes left behind by the vengeful spirit that had just claimed his life. He solemnly and meticulously gathered them back together, grain by grain.

Disheveled yet persistent.

Ji Jue remained silent.

Seeing his expression, it was as if I understood something.

He reached out and gathered all the ashes from the crevices and grooves, then sighed after taking one last look at Minkler's dirty, smelly coat.

After taking out a box, I enhanced its properties and casually crafted it into an alchemical artifact to hold materials.

"Give it to you."

He said, "Just make do with it, don't be too picky."

"No, it's already quite good."

Minkler picked up the exquisite box and suddenly laughed: "This is probably the most glamorous moment of her life..."

It's astonishing that a gold-sashed craftsman commissioned such expensive jewelry for her.

What a blessing.

Mingming had nothing in his life.

"I want them dead."

He turned to his collaborator and pleaded earnestly, "I'll do anything for you."

"very good."

Ji Jue nodded, full of joy.

It's like a craftsman seeing a glimpse of good material revealed after scrap has been cut open.

They are still capable of being developed.

"Let's go."

He snapped his fingers, and the Prosperity's whistle sounded again as it sped across the vast ocean, accelerating, a fierce wind whipping around it: "Next Chief!"

The distinguished fleet commander will grace his loyal Seven Cities Joint Defense Fleet base with his presence.

"Although we realized it a little too late, it's still possible to salvage the situation."

Ji Jue pondered for a moment, then looked at Minkler: "Don't tell me that after all this time, you're so stupid that you can't cultivate a few trusted confidants and loyalists in your own fleet... Logistics, armaments, communications, electromechanical systems, command—you need to be able to rely on at least one of them, right?"

"some!"

Minkler nodded decisively, without hesitation.

In the Seven Cities, if you say you have lofty aspirations and are united but not partisan, it's a bit of a dream and nonsense. But if you say you form cliques for personal gain and fight for power and profit, that's everyone's specialty, as easy as breathing!
The smaller the temple, the greater the evil spirits; the smaller the temple, the more storms it is.

Even though he had only been in power for a few months, Minkler had done plenty of things like installing cronies, cultivating his own faction, and building up his own power base. He kept a tight grip on key departments.

Although he didn't care about anything when he fled, even if all that was left was his title, he was still the commander of the joint defense fleet.

The trouble he caused when he rose to power is now the biggest headache for him to step down.

Even the smallest mosquito is still a piece of meat; to replace it, each party will need to negotiate for at least a few more rounds.

A makeshift team naturally has a strong ability to control precise micromanagement. Even if someone wants to purge his staff, it's not something that can be done in a day or two; they'll just suffer a bit of a crushing defeat.

"very good."

Ji Jue nodded, glanced at the speed and route, and said, "We'll be there in four hours at the latest. Now you can make the call."

After washing his face, Minkler sat down, picked up the phone that Ji Jue had placed on the table, took out a notebook from the inner pocket, and flipped through the pages one by one.

Then, I started making phone calls.

The moment the call connected, his expression changed. Without saying a word, he launched into a tirade of abuse at the other end, then questioned the other person's stance and allegiance, asking if they had found a new master and sold their ass.

One call was made, then another.

The teacup was refilled when it was empty, and emptied again when it was refilled. They didn't stop for the entire journey, talking until their voices became hoarse, and then they couldn't get through to any other phone numbers.

"The contact has been almost completed."

Minkler rubbed his face and sighed wearily, "By now, my family probably already knows I'm coming back. If it's any later, the other families will have already heard the news."

"Every second counts; speed is of the essence in war." Ji Jue asked, "How many people can you truly rely on?"

"Less than a third."

"The rest are all fence-sitters," Minkler said.

"enough."

Ji Jue nodded, "I don't understand the details and situation, so I won't micromanage. Just be prepared."

He looked at the gradually emerging island outline in the distance and gave a final reminder: "When the time comes, leave everything else to me. You just need to go into the base, beat the drums to gather the troops, and prepare to suppress the bandits!"

“Where did this come from…” Minkler was slightly taken aback, then suddenly realized.

She looked down at the necklace and ring around her neck and couldn't help but laugh.

Yes, where did these bandits come from?
As long as you have soldiers, whoever you call a bandit is a bandit!

As long as the ring is on my hand, whatever I do is whatever the Chopra family does!
Who made him the commander-in-chief of the seven-city joint defense? Who made him the successor to the head of the Chopra family, recognized by the family gods?

Minkler grinned, took off the necklace, and put the ring he had once feared on his index finger. He examined it carefully, then raised his sleeve to wipe away non-existent dust.

A glimmer of light illuminated his pupils.

Suddenly, I realized that life in that hellhole wasn't so bad after all.

Especially when you think about how many more people will come down to keep you company...

Xiangzhou.

On a sweltering afternoon, in the heart of a bustling city, stands a sprawling complex of buildings, resembling a palace, built against the mountainside—the Chopra residence.

"Minkler is back?"

In the luxurious reception room, Bogio raised his eyelids, turned to look at his subordinate, and could not hide his surprise, "He actually came back?"

What the hell is that bitch Lao Liu good for? Can't she even fight back?

As the fourth son of Chopra who now holds the most real power in the family, after his eldest brother died young, his second brother died early, and his third brother disappeared, he is now the true number one, and he is already over fifty years old.

There's no way around it, Minkler's dad was really fertile... He fathered children from the age of nineteen to ninety-one. If he hadn't suffered a stroke so early, he could have given the family another little one hundred and seven!

For more than seventy years, he has simply relied on his own reproductive ability to brutally suppress the other branches of the main lineage and maintain his power.

Unfortunately, the same applies to its drawbacks.

After his death, the once-powerful main branch will begin to split and fight amongst itself, a life-or-death struggle, until a new main branch is reborn. No one knows how many of his 106 sons and daughters will survive in this process…

The good news is that more than half of them have been eliminated, and the vast majority of those remaining are either kindergarten children or simply useless.

The bad news is that, apart from those, the remaining ones are the toughest nuts to crack.

In this story, Minkler, the nominal heir to the family headship, is at best a piece of chicken cartilage, a reward left for the final winner.

Thanks to Ji Jue's instigation, Bogio also received the news that Minkler had escaped from the Federation back to Seven Cities empty-handed, and he was the first to receive it. He even instructed his subordinates to pass the message to that slut, the sixth brother, through that idiot nineteenth brother!

They were just waiting for that idiot to kill Minkler so they could gather evidence, then join forces with the elders to throw her into the fire and burn her to death.

In the ensuing brawl among the bandits, Lao Liu was killed suddenly.

How pleasant it sounds!
Why don't you just die, Minkler?

Bogio frowned: "Is the information reliable?"

“Minkler was unaware that his personal assistant was arranged by you; he confirmed it himself.”

The secretary replied, "The one who was killed was a double. He took a ship to Gray Harbor a day early for transit, then disguised himself and returned, instructing his secretary to contact the elders to report the eleventh brother for betraying his country..."

Boggio's expression shifted slightly, eventually settling into indifference.

Whatever Minkler wants to do, at this critical juncture, he cannot be allowed to cause any more trouble; it's best to avoid any new variables.

"What nonsense."

He sighed and tapped the jewelry lighter he was twirling in his hand. "He's still too young. Ask Butler Xu to go and take the young master home first."

"It's not good to always be wandering around."

"clear."

The secretary nodded and asked, "What are the arrangements?"

"Wasn't he missing?"

Bogio waved his hand. "Let him remain missing until everything settles down..."

Ten minutes later, the white-haired housekeeper Xu nodded and smiled warmly.

"Family matters should be resolved at home. The young master is just young and made a mistake by accident. He is probably sensible and knows the rules."

The old steward, who held the lives of countless servants in his hands, slowly rose and said, "Prepare the carriage. I will personally bring men to fetch the young master back."

In less than half an hour, the hidden dock on the edge of Elephant Island was completely cleared out and replaced with Chopra's own people.

Butler Xu sat in the cleaned lounge, picked up a cup of hot tea with the water at just the right temperature, and looked towards the sea.

Smiling, she waited for the young master to come home.

Ten minutes passed, twenty minutes passed, thirty minutes passed...

An hour has passed.

Another hour has passed...

His smile grew increasingly stiff.

With a cold gaze, he looked at the stunned man beside him. Minkler's personal assistant was already drenched in sweat, his eyes unfocused.

In my hand, on the lit-up phone screen, messages from Minkler were still coming in.

[Coming Soon]

[Already on its way]

[Ten minutes]

I went to the restroom.

Almost there

[Really, really...]

When another perfunctory message arrived, the personal assistant collapsed to the ground, muttering incoherently, unable to speak, almost wailing.

"Hey, it really is true, I got completely fooled."

Butler Xu gave a mocking smile, his laughter growing colder and more sinister: "Useless trash, you don't even know you've been played."

Without his orders, the people beside him dragged the screaming assistant away, and soon, after a series of wails and pleas for mercy, gunshots rang out.

puff.

It's quiet now.

"Alright, pack up and let's go."

Butler Xu glanced at the simple lounge, tossed his teacup to the ground, and turned to leave, but then heard a sound coming from the direction of the dock.

A tiny black dot appeared at the horizon.

The screen lit up again amidst the assistant's blood.

【I have arrived】.

"..."

Butler Xu was stunned for a moment, incredulous: "You really are late?"

At the very edge of the sea, the belated visitors, as if waving to their greeters, raised the muzzle of their 381mm main gun.

At that moment, Butler Xu's expression froze on his face.

It was as if I had finally understood something.

In a situation that is utterly speechless, I can't help but want to laugh.

"I'll fuck you up..."

On the deck, Minkler yawned and waved behind him.

He said, "Fire."

boom! ! ! !

(End of this chapter)