Chapter 51 Another Father

Chapter 51 Another Father

"You never told me you were Iddis's son." Bainasen was still astonished by this fact on the way back.

"There's no father-son bond. I'm just a survivor from his ninth batch of descendants."

During his time at the institute, Bainasen had vaguely known about Iddis's insane heir cultivation project.

He just hadn't expected it to have already reached the ninth batch, and for him to have encountered one of them.

Jiang Yi calmly retorted, "You never mentioned you were Iddis's disciple's disciple either."

Upon hearing this, Bainasen gave a light cough, strode forward, and said, "We're even."

Ke Lin watched Bainasen's sprightly, elderly figure and suddenly turned to Jiang Yi. "Master is Iddis's son, Professor Bai is Iddis's disciple's disciple, and Master is like a disciple to Professor Bai. The relationship seems a bit complicated."

Little Wolf's simple brain short-circuited.

Jiang Yi said with a laugh, "Don't worry about it." He looked at Ke Lin's thoughtful expression. "My little wolf is so cute."

When you like someone, you find everything about them endearing—every word, every little gesture or expression makes your heart swell with affection.

Ke Lin bit his lip shyly, averting his gaze, not daring to look at Jiang Yi any longer.

Looking too much always made him want to kiss him.

Logically, after awakening his ability, he should have full control over his heat cycle.

But often, just seeing his master made his heart race and his body grow warm, as if he were about to go into heat.

"Master, I want to talk to Father about the excessive control and surveillance of human Espers. Would you like to come along?"

"Let's go together. I'll see what I can do to help," Jiang Yi said.

He was still holding the broken collar. Now that its power-suppressing function was disabled, it was no different from an ordinary collar.

"By the way, do you have a place to destroy or store these collars?" Jiang Yi asked.

Since the Wild Wolf Corps took power, all collars worn by Non-Human Races had been removed. They contained genetic suppression mechanisms set by the institute, couldn't be reused, and were to be uniformly destroyed after removal.

"Yes, we do."

Ke Lin first took Jiang Yi to the disposal facility. This collar, which had suppressed his master's ability, served no purpose now. Better destroyed sooner than later.

Ke Lin handed the collar to the attending clerk. After registering it, the clerk passed it to an operator in the back wearing a hazmat suit.

The operator took the collar and quickly left, not heading toward the disposal facility but instead walking all the way outside the compound wall.

After going down a narrow path, he reappeared, the protective suit gone.

The once cautious operator had transformed into a stylish guy wearing sunglasses, with slicked-back hair and fashionable clothes.

Qiu Xing strode along the sidewalk, Jiang Yi's collar plainly visible in his pocket.

After being defeated by Ke Lin, he could have escaped but deliberately allowed himself to be anesthetized and knocked out, all for this moment.

That old man Iddis, no matter how highly he thought of Jiang Yi, what did it get him? In the end, I'm the only one left by his side.

A dense wisp of spiritual energy peeked out from within the collar.

Qiu Xing patted his pocket, grinning wickedly. "Don't worry, Director, sir. I'll find you a new body right away. Hmm... how about a mutant?"

The psychic energy couldn't speak, only winding around the collar in circles before settling down.

When Jiang Yi and Ke Lin arrived at Tian Rui's office, a familiar figure emerged from the inner room of the office suite.

"Boss Wei? Long time no see." After a brief moment of surprise, Jiang Yi greeted him with a smile.

Wei Yi appeared awkward seeing the younger man he once knew.

Fortunately, they probably didn't know about his past relationship with Tian Rui or what Tian Rui had done to him these past few days.

Wei Yi cleared his throat, keeping his expression neutral as he nodded to Jiang Yi and Ke Lin. "You two must be here on business. I'll take my leave first."

"Who said you could leave?" Tian Rui's cold, stern voice came from behind the desk.

Wei Yi stopped dead in his tracks. Tian Rui's dominance over him was still a vivid memory, and he almost instinctively dared not defy him.

He had no desire to endure days of backaches and soreness again anytime soon.

"Is there something else, Leader, sir?" Wei Yi gritted his teeth, looking at Tian Rui, who sat in his chair yet projected an imposing aura.

"Perfect timing—the whole family is here," Tian Rui said, which baffled everyone.

Then, with an expressionless face, he dropped an even more shocking bombshell. "Ke Lin, come and meet your other father."

Ke Lin stared at Wei Yi in shock. He had crossed paths with Boss Wei a few times before, remembering him only as a witty, humorous, yet somewhat cunning and eccentric owner of the fighting arena.

He never expected him to be his other father!

It took Ke Lin only a second to accept Tian Rui's words, his mind racing.

So, back then, his father had escaped from this very fighting arena.

What story had unfolded between them?

The two fathers didn't seem to be on good terms—how did they ever manage to conceive him?

And it appeared that the seemingly weaker Boss Wei was the one on top.

Ke Lin looked at Wei Yi not far away. The word "father" reached the tip of his tongue, but he found it difficult to say it aloud.

Unlike how quickly Ke Lin accepted it, Wei Yi had no idea what Tian Rui was talking about.

What did he mean by "other father"?

Ke Lin was Tian Rui's child, the Deputy Leader of the Wild Wolf Corps.

This was widely known, easily confirmed by their similar fur.

Although it wasn't clear which she-wolf was Ke Lin's mother, what did any of this have to do with him!

Wei Yi's reaction was within Tian Rui's expectations—after all, he had never told Wei Yi that after his bloodline awakened, a gestational sac had developed inside him.

In fact, even Tian Rui himself had only a vague understanding of it at the time.

"Do you need a paternity test?" Tian Rui said.

Wei Yi took a step back, staring at Tian Rui as if he were a madman.

"Is this really about a paternity test? Tian Rui, are you out of your mind? We're both men, through and through—how could we possibly have a child? Are you saying you gave birth to Ke Lin yourself?"

They'd done it so many times that Wei Yi even knew Tian Rui had a mole on his lower abdomen—how could he not know Tian Rui was a man?

Moreover, Tian Rui simply didn't have female reproductive organs; Wei Yi was absolutely certain of that.

Tian Rui could have explained, but he couldn't be bothered. In a cold, detached tone, he said, "Right, Boss Wei has countless lovers—one more child like Ke Lin wouldn't make a difference."

Jiang Yi only started to get surprised at this comment. Earlier, he had vaguely suspected the relationship between Wei Yi and Tian Rui.

Today confirmed it, so he wasn't particularly shocked.

But Tian Rui's sour, jealous words truly shattered the image Jiang Yi had of him in his mind.

Perhaps Wei Yi's reaction had stirred up the grievances and resentment Tian Rui felt from his pregnancy and childbirth back then.

"Let's go sit over there for a bit," Jiang Yi whispered, pulling Ke Lin to the seating area in the corner.

The two fathers were temporarily too preoccupied to pay them any mind.

Wei Yi looked at Tian Rui in confusion. "What do you mean by that? What 'many children'?"

"Oh? Miss Huang didn't give you one?"

Miss Huang?

Wei Yi racked his brain for a while before remembering that Tian Rui was probably referring to his former fiancée.

Back when Tian Rui confessed his feelings to him in the dungeon, Wei Yi had just been informed of his arranged marriage with Miss Huang and was in a terrible mood.

Hearing Tian Rui's confession, he knew deep down that he couldn't be with a wild wolf who had to hide in the shadows.

So he said some hurtful things—the specifics of which he'd already forgotten.

But he could still vaguely recall the look in Tian Rui's eyes at that moment—so full of disappointment and helplessness.

"It was just an arranged marriage. She wasn't interested in men, and we divorced not long after. How could there be a child?" Wei Yi said.

Shortly after the wedding, Wei Yi gradually took control of his family's affairs and no longer needed a marriage to maintain relationships. He and Miss Huang parted ways amicably.

Hearing this, Tian Rui's expression remained unchanged, but Jiang Yi could clearly sense that his mood had improved considerably.

But given the situation, would Tian Rui even have time to deal with them now?

"Mm, you don't need to explain so much to me. Ke Lin is right here—you can go for a paternity test with him anytime," Tian Rui said, then turned to face the large screens in front of him, assuming a posture of serious work.

Furious, Wei Yi walked over and planted his hands on Tian Rui's desk.

Since Tian Rui was so certain, he and Ke Lin must indeed share a biological relationship. But Wei Yi still couldn't understand it.

"Tell me, how exactly did Ke Lin come to be!"

Had wild wolf technology advanced to the point where two men's cells could be combined into a fertilized egg?

Surely Tian Rui couldn't have given birth himself!

Tian Rui ignored him, clearly unwilling to explain the process in too much detail.

Jiang Yi spoke up timidly from the sofa, "Um, if you two have things to discuss, we can come back later."

Tian Rui finally paid them a little attention.

"Ke Lin, I told you to come back earlier, but you wouldn't listen. You insisted on staying in that rundown rental. You're my heir—go ahead and do what you want; you don't need my permission for everything."

With that, he went back to ignoring them.

Ke Lin and Jiang Yi walked out the door, with Ke Lin seeming rather low-spirited.

Jiang Yi thought he was struggling to accept his newly discovered father.

"Actually, back at the fighting arena, Boss Wei was already very interested in you. I thought he simply wanted you to stay and fight, but now it seems it might have been a family connection."

"I would have found out who my other father was sooner or later anyway. If it's Boss Wei, that's okay—at least he's alive and well, and not some heinous criminal."

After saying this, Ke Lin still frowned. "I hope Father doesn't try to pass his work on to me just because he's reunited with his partner."

There seemed to be a hint of that in Tian Rui's earlier words.

The Federation's Leader is way too busy; just look at how many hours Tian Rui spends holed up in his office every day.

He really doesn't want to become that busy himself. He still wants to have some quality time with his Master.

Sensing Ke Lin's thoughts, Jiang Yi smiled and said earnestly, "The Chief is in the prime of his life. In my opinion, he can easily put in another twenty years of hard work."

Ke Lin nodded. If it really came to it, after dealing with the matter of the human Espers, he and his Master could always return to Snow City.