Douluo Continent: On Becoming a God Through Science

Inside the Marquis de Casas' mansion, in a long, secluded corridor, two figures walked side by side, one tall and thin, the other stout, conversing in hushed tones, seemingly harboring many doubts.

"Brother, why does Father favor that outsider Monaldo so much? My cultivation resources this month have even been cut, probably all allocated to him. What is the purpose of summoning us here? Is it to cut our resources again?" The plump young man in a gorgeous red suit spoke with dissatisfaction and complaints.

"Geta, be careful what you say. Father has his reasons for his actions, and we shouldn't speculate. Besides, Monardo is now a member of the family, so we should show him more respect in our words." The tall, thin young man, with a slightly gloomy face and a tone that was both steady and admonishing, was none other than the eldest son, Gaine Casas.

These two men were the only two male heirs of the Marquis of Casas.

The eldest son was Gain Casas, and the second son was Getter Casas.

"Tsk, I think Father only favors him and looks down on us. Since he arrived, we've barely seen Father once a month," Geta complained, his tone filled with helplessness and resentment.

Faced with this undeniable fact, Guyen could only remain silent, his heart filled with mixed emotions.

Just then, a steady footstep sound came from afar, interrupting the two men's conversation. The Marquis of Casas appeared at the end of the corridor, his face dignified, his eyes deep and penetrating, as if he could see into people's hearts. Behind him followed a young man who was not particularly tall, but had an extraordinary temperament and was incredibly handsome, with short platinum blond hair. This was Monaldo, the one who had caused the two brothers so much dissatisfaction.

"Father." Gain and Getter quickly bowed. Although they had many grievances in their hearts, they still maintained the proper etiquette in front of their father.

Marquis Casas nodded slightly, his gaze not lingering on the two men, and walked straight to the council chamber at the end of the corridor.

This indifferent attitude left both Guy and his companion feeling somewhat stifled as they recalled their earlier conversation.

In fact, the Marquis of Casas had treated them in the same way before Monardo arrived.

However, with Casas' attitude towards Monaldo as a contrast, especially since Monaldo was an illegitimate child of unknown origin, both legitimate children naturally felt very awkward. Geta, in particular, who was used to being carefree and undisciplined, expressed his dissatisfaction with Monaldo very bluntly.

Monaldo... who was disguised as a man, Amona, walked by quickly, glanced at the two of them, smiled slightly, but did not say anything.

With Amona's cheerful and lively personality, unless the Beast Soul Alliance's mission has explicit requirements, or she judges that it is not advisable to cause any unexpected complications during the mission, she tends to do the mission happily and will actively communicate and get along with the people and things she encounters during the mission.

However, after being recalled as an illegitimate child a little over a month ago and having a brief encounter with the two men, she gave up any thought of giving them a friendly look.

Gaine was one thing, but Getter was a typical spoiled aristocrat, incompetent, pleasure-seeking, arrogant, and domineering. He looked down on Amona's disguise as Monaldo.

Gain's attitude can only be described as ordinary, but according to Amona's observation, he was very cold to everyone, probably due to his personality.

In short, neither of the two male members of the Marquis of Carthus were easy to approach, and Amona was too lazy to try and win them over, so she chose to befriend Carthus's daughters instead.

However, as a suicide soldier, Amona is essentially warm on the outside but cold on the inside. These women are just a bit of fun in her life. If the Beast Soul Alliance needs her, she would probably kill these people who have been smiling at her during this time without any mercy.

"Hmph, what kind of attitude is that kid!"

Getter, seeing the fleeting sneer on Amona's face, couldn't help but mutter a complaint to everyone. In the Carthus household, everyone except his father indulged his whims; he was used to being domineering and flattered, so he naturally felt displeased with Amona's seemingly disdainful attitude.

Gain frowned and gently stopped him, saying, "Getter, have you forgotten what I just told you?"

Although he had some reservations about Amona, since the Marquis of Casas had accepted her, he felt it was none of their business to interfere.

"understood."

Getter pouted in resentment, but didn't say anything more, though his eyes still held a hint of anger.

The two brothers then quickened their pace.

Then, led by the servants at the door, the two entered the council hall and found seats.

The chosen position was naturally not next to Amona, who had gone ahead, but rather in a position opposite her.

Marquis Casas, seated at the head of the table, silently observed Gaine and his companion. His face, backlit, appeared somber and indistinct, thus obscuring the changes in his gaze.

The council chamber was dimly lit, and the firelight in the fireplace flickered in the stillness, as if silently observing the subtle dynamics within the family.

After the attendants had all left the council chamber, the Marquis of Casas finally spoke.

"I have summoned you here today to announce something important."

The Marquis of Casas's words carried a hint of solemnity, causing the three people present to involuntarily straighten their backs.

Marquis Casas's voice echoed in the council chamber, carrying an unquestionable authority: "Recently, a major event has occurred in the Empire. Our Prince Davis has unfortunately perished during a training expedition—well, at least that's what the Emperor will probably declare afterward."

Upon hearing this, both Gain and Getter looked surprised, especially Getter, who almost cried out in alarm. However, remembering that they were in the council chamber and that Marquis Casas was in front of them, they managed to stop themselves from doing so.

"You may not understand what this means, so I'll be frank."

Marquis Casas paused for a moment, then said in a deep voice, "The Star Luo Empire has decided to launch a new round of elections for the crown prince. All eligible noble sons may participate."

Marquis Casas's gaze swept over the three children, finally settling on Amona's face: "Our Casas family, of course, cannot lag behind. Monardo has already decided to participate in this competition."

Upon hearing this, Getter could no longer contain himself. He abruptly stood up, his voice filled with agitation and dissatisfaction: "Father, how could you allow an unidentified illegitimate child to represent our family? An illegitimate child to run for crown prince? Our Carthus family is going to become a laughingstock in the Star Luo!"

Although Gain had his doubts, he knew the cruelty of the competition for the crown prince. For impoverished nobles like them, not participating was the norm. But even if they chose to participate, how could they let an illegitimate child go?

But he knew better than to confront the Marquis of Casas directly at this moment, so he quickly reached out and grabbed Getter, whispering, "Getter, calm down. Father has his reasons."

Marquis Casas looked at the excited Geta, his face showing no emotion, and simply said, "I have investigated Monardo's identity and he is indeed my bloodline."

"But..." Getter wanted to argue, but was interrupted by Marquis Casas.

"No buts, this is the family's decision." The Marquis of Carthus's voice carried an undeniable authority. "Gain, Geta, as the direct descendants of the family, you should set an example and support the family's decision. Monaldo's participation in the election is not only for his personal glory, but also for the future of our entire Carthus family. Most importantly... he has the ability."

Under his father's stern gaze, Geta could only sit down reluctantly.

Gain remained silent.

ability……

Gain knew that the most important thing to win the crown prince position was to possess the White Tiger Martial Soul.

He and his brother did indeed successfully awaken the White Tiger Martial Soul.

However, just as the innate soul power of those who awaken the Blue Lightning Tyrannosaurus Rex martial soul varies, the Evil Eye White Tiger is indeed a top-tier martial soul, but not everyone's martial soul quality reaches the top tier when they awaken it.

Both brothers were only at the fifth level of innate soul power. Their martial souls were more like ordinary white tigers than the Evil-Eyed White Tiger, only containing the bloodline of the Evil-Eyed White Tiger.

Gain is 25 years old this year and his soul power level is only 38 Soul Master. Getter is 19 years old and is a 29-level Great Soul Master.

Just as the Marquis of Casas said, with such talent and ability, there is absolutely no hope of winning the crown prince position.

Getter stopped making noise, and Marquis Carsas continued, "There are only two conditions for participating in the competition. The first, as you can all guess, is that you must at least have awakened the White Tiger Martial Soul. There's not much to say about this; to inherit the Dai surname, even if you don't have the Evil Eye White Tiger Martial Soul, you must at least have the White Swan Martial Soul. The second is age; you cannot be older than 22."

Upon hearing this, Gain immediately realized that this matter had nothing to do with him, since he was already 25 years old, and turned his attention to his younger brother.

"Gain no longer meets the requirements, Getter, what do you think?" Marquis Casas's gaze also turned to Getter, awaiting his answer.

Before Getter could answer, Gain realized that Getter's hostility towards Amona was likely driven by this antagonism, and immediately interjected, "The path to the crown prince is extremely perilous; a single misstep could lead to utter ruin. Moreover, Getter, with your strength and talent, there is absolutely no chance of you winning. Don't pay an irreparable price for a moment of impulsiveness."

Faced with his respected older brother's advice, Geta's enthusiasm cooled down a bit.

He glanced at Amona, who remained calm throughout, and suddenly realized that the Marquis of Carthus had not objected to Gaine's words. He then connected this to the Marquis of Carthus's earlier remarks...

So, this guy is really strong?

His heart skipped a beat, and he turned to look at the Marquis of Casas, replying, "Father, I will not participate."

Marquis Casas nodded slightly: "Then it's settled."

With a snap, the Gaine brothers closed the door and left.

Silence, a silence that lasted for quite a while.

"Pfft, hahaha!!!"

Amona pointed at Marquis Casas and burst into laughter: "Queen, you're quite the father! Those two idiots haven't even noticed something's wrong yet!"

Marquis Casas… or rather, the leader, frowned and snapped, “Amona, while on a mission, be serious. Be careful not to let your words slip and spoil the Lord’s plans!”

"I waited until they were far away before I laughed out loud, didn't I?" Amona pouted unhappily, but seeing Kui's serious expression, she finally shut up.

It had actually been about two months since the Beast Soul Alliance took control of the Carthus family.

The Marquisate of Carthus is adjacent to the Scourge Mountain Range. Shortly after the establishment of the Beast Soul Merchant Guild, it contacted the guild and began a certain degree of cooperation.

The cooperation mainly focused on the transportation of goods across two great empires.

Meanwhile, the Beast Soul Alliance continued to investigate Marquis Carsas's interpersonal relationships, lifestyle, and behavior.

When the time was right, the substitution was easily accomplished.

So easily.

Firstly, the Marquis of Casas himself was weak.

In this world where the strong are respected, to the point of being inferior even to some earl families, their strength is naturally not that great.

It should be noted that even in a normal earl family in the Star Luo Empire, one can possess Soul Saint-level combat power.

Of course, this doesn't mean that those of higher ranks like marquis or duke necessarily have higher Soul Master combat power. After all, merit, kinship, and other factors are also important considerations for determining a title.

After all, in the Star Luo Empire, Soul Douluo was the highest level of military force on the surface, and only marquis and duke families at their peak could afford to support them.

The problem is that Marquis Carthus himself is merely a Soul King.

The Soul King is already a powerful figure, but he is completely inferior to the Marquis's title and status.

To the Beast Soul Alliance, the Soul King is no different from an insect.

There's no need to send out elite forces; mid-level forces alone are enough to take it down.

The difficulty of substituting one thing for another lies not in strength, but in how to deceive those familiar to the Marquis of Carthus.

But this is not difficult.

As the Marquisate fell into decline, the Marquis of Casas was already not close to any of the nobles.

The people most worried about being exposed are the Marquis of Casas' children and wife.

Otherwise, the Beast Soul Alliance wouldn't have needed to prepare for so long before taking action.

The Marquis de Casas had three wives and seven children.

In fact, his three wives were later replaced by members of the Beast Soul Alliance.

With the disguise techniques You Chen obtained from the system, coupled with the preparations he made months in advance, the Beast Soul Alliance can now say that it has completely taken control of this fallen noble family.

In this way, the transactions and circulation between the Marquis of Carthus and the Beast Soul Merchant Guild can be more direct.

After all, it's just a simple job of transferring money from one hand to the other.

With Kui replacing Marquis Carthus and the Beast Soul Alliance as his backing, many things that Marquis Carthus wouldn't have dared to do or couldn't do before are now no longer a concern.

For example, the neighboring nobles' private armies, who had previously taken advantage of the Marquis of Casas's weakness and plundered the border of the Marquis's territory by disguising themselves as thieves, were completely crushed in the past two months, and were even directly retaliated against and invaded into the other party's territory.

This caused quite a stir on the northwestern border of the Star Luo Empire.

If it weren't for the massive earthquake that struck the capital today, drawing everyone's attention, the changes in the Marquisate of Casas would have been a hot topic of discussion among the Star Luo nobles. (End of Chapter)