Chapter 144
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: Ace
Chapter: 143
Chapter Title: Proof of Heavenly Thunder
-----------------------------------------------------------------
As someone once said, Jin's mana circuit was no different from a whale's tendon.
But those who had watched him up close knew that what was even tougher than that was Jin's inherent temperament.
Ironclad shamelessness and a my-way-or-the-highway attitude that made you wonder if it was even the same person.
It hadn't always been that way.
He'd just naturally turned out like that after struggling to survive.
So this unfamiliar world couldn't swallow him whole.
Even if he shook, he wouldn't get swept away.
It was the result of engraving his own values deeply into this strange land, like putting down roots.
That was why the way Jin saw this world fundamentally differed from everyone else.
Even the great Seven Families were no exception.
Purist pinnacle or whatever praises they heaped on it—just meh.
Thousands of years of history? The Kim clan of Gimhae has that too, doesn't it?
Ever heard of King Suro, the founder of Garak Kingdom?
The guy was literally born from an egg.
—He diluted the gravity of the situation itself with a thoroughly detached outsider's perspective (+pure bullshit).
It was the same right now.
In the grand hall.
Even as countless gazes poured solely toward him, Jin's expression remained utterly calm.
Ten seconds earlier.
The family head had introduced him before the elders as the one who would become Katrina's partner.
Amid the sudden announcement that flipped the hall's atmosphere on its head.
Was this what it felt like to be undercover?
Amid the barrage of stinging glares, Jin glanced sideways.
Katrina, standing shoulder-to-shoulder beside him, stared straight ahead with a face cold as ice.
In the ensuing silence, someone finally spoke up.
"This is quite perplexing, Family Head."
The speaker was a woman with her hair neatly braided and arranged like a laurel crown.
Aside from the faint wrinkles around her eyes, her beautiful face looked no older than her early forties at most, but having realized through the family head that this was the Marjie family driven mad during his coma, Jin guessed she was a seasoned elder.
"Wasn't Katrina in the middle of marriage discussions with us? And now you suddenly put an outsider forward as her partner. I don't know how to take this."
Marriage discussions?
Jin quickly racked his brain.
The faction Katrina had been discussing marriage with...
......Belgant!
The hardcore conservatives closest to the pureblood direct lineages, right?!
His homework hadn't been for nothing—he managed to recall the answer.
Yeah, this had to be it.
A satisfied smile spread across Jin's face as he puffed out his chest.
That auntie's from the Belgant elders, huh?
He was just about to hurl a gaze full of conviction straight at her.
"In marriage discussions, the opinions of the parties involved are paramount. Even if she's a lacking daughter, she commendably found her own match, so how could I, as her father, pretend not to know her wishes?"
Jin was inwardly startled by the family head's words.
The low, steady voice was utterly unlike the one he knew.
If he'd first met the family head in an official setting like this, he might have mistaken him for a dignified figure. Or maybe it wasn't a mistake at all.
That was when it happened.
"But Family Head, we are the Marjie family. We know how to distinguish what must be gladly sacrificed for survival from what must be upheld. So wouldn't it be wiser to pursue harmony between factions rather than getting lost in personal sentiments?"
Jin raised an eyebrow at the elder's follow-up.
That auntie sure didn't hold back.
Wasn't she talking like she was trying to school the family head?
But regardless of Jin's annoyance, this was natural given the factional traits.
Belgant.
They were the ones who staked their lives on legitimacy, being closest to the pureblood direct line.
This marriage talk had probably been the same.
We're graciously offering to pair Katrina with one of ours, and you kick it away? For some random outsider, all of a sudden?
It was a statement loaded with such implications.
Unlike Jin's souring face, the family head opened his mouth as if it were no big deal.
"Your words are entirely correct. For survival, we must know when to sacrifice. And so we shall—for a value even greater than factional harmony."
"Family Head."
"Ability can replace bloodline."
The elder, about to retort to that curt phrase, shut her mouth.
At the same time, the family head's gaze turned to Jin.
"Heavenly Thunder."
Calling him not by name, but by his epithet.
In response, Jin gladly answered.
"Yes."
"Prove it."
A succinct demand.
But that was enough.
Crackle, crackle-crackle—!
Sparks flew.
Suddenly, the air grew scorching hot, and a fierce current of power swirled from the center of the grand hall.
It was like the birth of a storm.
That was the surging atmosphere.
"What."
As someone's voice scattered into the air, a thrilling, undulating zigzag of electricity rampaged wildly across the entire hall.
Crack!
One elder's face stiffened as the power brushed past her eyes.
She instantly grasped the depth contained within.
Already at perfect enlightenment.
The celestial realm of the heart, with the third world within reach.
But this sheer volume—what was it?
At some point, the grand hall had darkened.
The unfiltered discharge of electricity enveloped the entire space with savage momentum.
Rumble-rumble-rumble.
The mana steadily increasing in density.
That suffocating pressure.
Daring to assert his presence with raw power before the Marjie leadership.
It was the perfect way to get yourself killed.
None of the great figures seated here welcomed challenges to their authority.
"......?!"
Katrina looked at Jin with wide, shocked eyes.
For a brief moment, she marveled at how he'd advanced an entire stage in just a few months.
But then worry crept in—wouldn't that reckless aura provoke the elders?—as she glanced toward the family elders.
But contrary to her fears, no one expressed anger.
At that moment, the elders were all staring at Jin with varied expressions.
Some in admiration, some with furrowed brows, others letting out faint sighs.
Katrina couldn't know it, but right now, they were overlapping someone else's image onto Jin, who stood at the eye of the storm.
Heavenly Thunder.
The silhouette of the giant who had lived in their era and was now gone.
That was when it happened.
"That's enough."
No sooner had the family head's low voice punctuated the scene than the surrounding flow of power subsided as if by magic.
Whoosh...!
A breeze lifting his bangs accompanied the dispersing vortex of power, and beyond it...
Jin still stood tall.
His gray eyes pregnant with storm clouds.
"He is the heir who inherited the name Heavenly Thunder. The world acknowledged him first, and we have witnessed it with our own eyes. Is more needed?"
No one dared refute the family head's follow-up words.
Even the Belgant elder who had invoked survival merely bit her lower lip lightly, maintaining her silence all the same.
"Then I take it we're all in agreement."
With the debate concluded, the family head shifted his gaze to Jin and Katrina.
"You two, withdraw for now."
Grab.
As Jin exited the building, Katrina seized his wrist from behind.
"What?"
"Follow me."
She led him, avoiding other gazes, into the entrance of a nearby annex.
After checking that no one was around, she finally looked up at Jin.
"You... you didn't seriously enter late Second Hierarchy, did you...?"
"Oh. You've got an eye for it. Not bad for a scrub."
"......Impossible."
Her shocked face went slack, strength draining from her grip.
Late Second Hierarchy.
What Jin had dubbed—
The communication gathering of the seven heirs.
A realm that not even Ryu Kad had reached among them.
In truth, Kendrick—who had gained enlightenment from his deathmatch with Jin and the disappearance (murder) of Thea—belonged here too, but...
Katrina didn't know that far.
Her face fell into realization: I'm no genius like him.
She mumbled listlessly, head hung low.
"...What have I even been doing all this time."
"No need to mope, little sis. It's just that I'm too exceptional. Still, you pull your weight, so keep grinding hard."
"......What's with the tone? You're teasing me, right? Right?"
"Tsk. A superior's giving advice, and you can't even etch it into your soul. Where's this attitude coming from."
"You are teasing me!"
"Scrub trait. Massive inferiority complex."
"Youuu! Seriously."
Jin chuckled at Katrina's glaring eyes.
He lightly weaved past the iron fist flying at his shoulder and added,
"Still, we got through it okay, didn't we?"
"That... yeah."
"But it blew up bigger than I expected. Weren't all those people gathered top brass?"
Jin naturally recalled the elders.
To be honest, he'd pushed harder than necessary just to avoid being overwhelmed by their presence.
He'd overexerted to the point of momentary dizziness, so if the family head hadn't intervened at the right time, things might've gotten embarrassing.
"I didn't expect Father to go this far either."
Katrina said that as she slowly let her aimless hand drop to her side.
"But don't worry. Once Father recovers his health... and can solidly hold that position, we'll tell him the truth then. I'll handle it. I won't let it cause you trouble."
"......"
Jin didn't ask what she'd do if the family head never recovered.
He wasn't the type to borrow trouble anyway, and above all, he trusted his friends' skills.
"So, the blueprints?"
"I'll deliver a copy by tomorrow at the latest. Too many eyes around, so I'm being cautious, but if it's too late, it'll be trouble for both of us."
"Cautious, huh?"
Did she pick up on the implication in Jin's question?
Katrina let out a faint sigh.
"Ever since the attempt to build the Eternal East 40 years ago fell through with outside help, there's been this extreme aversion to outsiders. Some of the elders even lived through the war. So yeah."
"It's a political hot potato, right?"
"Exactly."
Katrina nodded.
"Nivrax is the biggest issue. If it were up to the corps, they'd flip out. That's why it's all about scouring for the lost Eternal East instead of manufacturing new ones..."
"Stop there."
Jin cut her off.
He'd just spotted someone approaching them from a short distance away.
"Hm. I hope I'm not interrupting your conversation."
The man who had smoothly come to a stop beside them was a middle-aged fellow with a long chin beard.
"Elder."
"Yes, Katrina. It's been a while."
He gave a light bow and a faint smile in greeting, then turned to Jin.
"Name's Mateus."
"Ah, yep. Jin here. Jin Evernight."
"Right, that was the name. The epithet Heavenly Thunder sounded so familiar I forgot for a second."
The middle-aged man, Mateus, nodded.
"You startled me back there. That level of skill at your age."
"Aw, what. This is nothing."
"Too humble. They just didn't voice it, but they were probably thinking the same as me. Honestly, someone did come to mind."
"Who?"
Mateus shrugged lightly at Jin's question.
"Rocan Zahard. The friend who was called Heavenly Thunder before you."
"Hm."
As expected.
Jin inwardly pictured the lion-headed beggar.
Rocan.
A name that kept linking to him despite no intention on his part.
At this point, he was starting to wonder where the guy was and if he was okay.
He was just thinking of headlines like "The Beggar I Met in the Kidnapped Factory Turns Out to Be a Family-Head-Level Superpower"
when...
"I'm thrilled that someone like you is joining the family. Well then, looking forward to working with you."
"Ah. Same here."
Mateus smiled at Jin's awkward reply.
Then he lightly patted Katrina's shoulder before turning and walking away.
"What was that? Midlife cool guy vibes?"
"That's Elder Mateus. One of the few from Nivrax you can actually talk to. Rare among them to be... moderate toward Father."
"Hmm."
As he watched the shrinking silhouette, Jin suddenly pressed a hand to his lower belly.
Gurgle-groooowl—
Overdid it with the power, huh.
The hunger roar was no joke.
"...Hey, I'm."
"Got it. Yeah. Let's go eat."
Katrina gave a wry chuckle and crooked a finger.
The way they naturally headed to the dining hall felt surprisingly familiar to Jin by now.
The second night at the Marjie family estate.
Lying in bed, Jin tapped away at his terminal.
He was summarizing the situation so far and messaging trustworthy contacts.
Ding.
The first reply came from none other than Drandre.
[Eternal East? Maximo would lose his shit if he heard. Oh, remember Maximo? The peddler. The guy who investigated the underpass with you. Anyway, I just re-contracted with him recently. He's been teaming up with Natasha on commissions now, completion rate over 90%. Kinda our office's star attractions? Of course, the undisputed top tier is still you, naturally. Anyway, when you get back...]
Jin smirked at the black linker's rambling mega-text when...
Knock knock.
The knock broke the silence, and Jin eyed the door with narrowed eyes.
Not again?
Anxiety surged as he cautiously flung open the door.
There stood a middle-aged gentleman.
He bowed politely and said,
"I've come with a message from the Family Head."
"Pardon?"
"He has business with Heavenly Thunder, so if it's alright, please follow me. Will you come along?"
"Ah."
No way. Again? Calling someone in the dead of night.
He sighed inwardly, but Jin was a pro.
With a smiling face, he said sure and stepped out of his room.
Following the leading gentleman across the avenue into a building, then rocketing up in a super-high-speed elevator at 360m per minute to the top floor in seconds.
Ding. Beyond the opening doors appeared a massive room.
At the same time, the family head—who had been standing with hands behind his back, gazing at the night sky through floor-to-ceiling windows—slowly turned.
"Ah. You're here."
The dignity from the grand hall was gone; Jin addressed the now beaming family head.
"You wanted to see me."
"Indeed."
"May I ask why...?"
As Jin tilted his head, the family head, now fully facing him, exuded a faint chill from his body.
An overwhelming cold that froze the lungs even from afar.
The family head nodded in satisfaction at Jin instinctively bracing himself, then added,
"Shall we have a go?"