MTLNOVEL Chapter 205: Chapter 205: Change
Chapter 205: Change
"Ru Yi, are you sure this is Keke?"
Qi Han stared at the muscular young man, now a full 1.9 meters tall, lying in bed, deep in thought.
Indeed, his facial features still resembled Keke's.
But yesterday, he was just a small, frail boy—how did he suddenly turn into such a big guy overnight?
Boosting spirit power by just one level shouldn't cause such a drastic change, right?
Qi Han had been woken up early by Ru Yi and came over to wake Keke as well.
One glance, and he was dumbfounded.
Was this still the boy who looked so much like Kaneki Ken from yesterday?
Now, he resembled Li Zeyan!
Does this even make sense?
Ru Yi spoke softly, "This is indeed Keke, without a doubt."
Qi Han slapped his forehead, forcing himself to stay calm.
Fine.
"Keke, wake up! Uh..."
Apart from making you fall asleep instantly, Ru Yi's tech bed had a magical feature: it could wake you up the moment someone called your name.
As Qi Han called, Keke slowly opened his... black...
Black, my foot! What's up with these heterochromatic red and blue eyes?
Facing Keke, who had just woken up, Qi Han was again at a loss for words.
...
"So, your spirit awakening just happened last night?"
Qi Han and Keke sat across from each other at a table on the first floor, each with a glass of iced Qinan juice in front of them.
After listening to Keke recount his experience from the previous night, as well as the story of how he was expelled from his childhood spirit awakening ceremony, Qi Han took a long sip from his straw.
The coolness spread, helping him calm down...
Nope, not calming down at all!
"Ru Yi, what's Keke's spirit power level now?"
Qi Han silently called out to Ru Yi in his mind.
"Ninth level. His innate spirit power should be at the eighth level, and after the boost from Boiled Cabbage in Clear Broth, it reached the ninth level."
"And what impact will his current situation have?"
Ru Yi paused for a moment before responding, "His situation resembles a delayed awakening. He awakened his spirit at six years old, but it was incomplete until last night, when the Boiled Cabbage in Clear Broth triggered his full spirit awakening. Although his current power is only at the ninth level, his progress in spirit power should accelerate from now on."
Qi Han nodded, starting to grasp Keke's situation.
He turned seriously toward him. "It's quite clear now. You're most likely of royal blood from the Star Luo Empire. Your identity isn't simple. So, what's your plan from here?"
A conflicted expression appeared on Keke's face, handsome enough to rival Qi Han's but just slightly behind.
After a long moment of hesitation, Keke gritted his teeth and seemed to come to a decision. "Boss, can I still stay at Small Shop?"
"Huh?" Keke's choice took Qi Han by surprise.
He had already prepared to start recruiting a new employee, yet Keke wanted to stay?
"You need to understand, if you find your birth parents, you might live like a noble. Are you really sure?"
Keke's face grew more bitter. "Boss, would a royal child be left to live on the streets for over a decade without anyone looking for them? Even if I am of royal blood, my parents are probably long gone. As for me, my life might also be in danger."
This...
Qi Han was stunned, not quite grasping what Keke meant.
To him, Keke was a lost royal descendant.
If the royal family found him, wouldn't they treat him well, offering food and drink with no worries?
Why was the royal family, in Keke's words, like a den of danger?
Aren't they supposed to be family?
Qi Han's confusion stemmed from his lack of knowledge about the Star Luo royal family.
Though Keke had been a beggar for most of his life, he knew far more about the current state of the royal family than Qi Han, having lived in Star Luo City.
Keke's martial spirit might not bring him wealth and status—instead, it could bring disaster.
The former emperor of Star Luo had seven children.
According to royal tradition, only the strongest and most outstanding prince could inherit the throne, while the others met tragic ends, often without even the chance to survive.
This harsh rule was what kept the Star Luo royal family powerful, though it was rendered meaningless during the last emperor's reign due to his favoritism.
The eldest prince, Dai Yuansheng, had defeated his five brothers, condemning them to doom, even depriving them of the right to live in hiding.
However, he then faced his most formidable opponent: the second prince, Dai Youyuan, who was considered the most talented royal of the past hundred years.
With five brothers' blood on his hands, Dai Youyuan sought to kill Dai Yuansheng in rage.
Yet, the emperor intervened, favoring his eldest son and declaring, "It is against divine order for brothers to kill each other. You two shall co-rule Star Luo."
Dai Youyuan was then sent to the frontier as the commander of the Eastern Army, while Dai Yuansheng became the emperor of Star Luo.
Although the public secretly scorned the emperor's decision, calling him a "paper tiger," they could do nothing as all three parties remained silent.
The Star Luo royal family was the tiger, and Dai Yuansheng, who took the throne unjustly, was the cat—a sentiment that reflected the people's disdain.
Once in power, Dai Yuansheng ruled with an iron fist, executing many ministers and even commoners who had opposed him.
And this was with Prime Minister Xu Changling holding him back—without the prime minister, things would have been far worse.
Keke was certain he couldn't be Dai Yuansheng's child.
If he were, someone would have come looking for him long before now.
Given his age, if he did have royal blood, it could only come from one of the other fallen royal lines.
Prince Dai Youyuan had never married and remained childless, so the only possibility was that Keke was the offspring of one of the five other princes who had perished.
And walking up to Dai Yuansheng now would be like a sheep entering a tiger's den—certain death.
Keke, always intelligent, quickly analyzed his situation and dismissed any hopes of a happy reunion.
...
"So that's how it is?" After listening to Keke's analysis, Qi Han finally understood, and a sense of sympathy for Keke's background grew within him.
In that case, Qi Han thought Keke was better off staying at the shop.
"Then you can stay here."
"But my eyes..." Keke hesitated. His heterochromatic eyes were exactly like those of the Star Luo royal family—how could he hide them?
"That's easy." Qi Han pulled out a pair of black contact lenses from his pocket and handed them to Keke. "Just wear these."
Special thanks to Ru Yi for sending over this tech-powered pair of lenses!
(They're not free!)
Oh, never mind that then.
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