Chapter 5: Conqueror's Haki Awakens! [2]
Her gaze fixed straight on Chen Yu's face.
Her voice was as light as a sigh, yet it traveled clearly to everyone's ears: "Yu'er, Mom was wrong."
Seeing this, Chen Guodong wanted to help Zhang Li up.
But Zhang Li shuffled forward half a step on her knees and actually kowtowed in Chen Yu's direction.
Dong!
This knock was fast and heavy; her forehead slammed against the polished floor.
"Wife, what is this?" Chen Guodong exclaimed, stepping forward again to lift her up.
Zhang Li shook off his support, maintaining her prostrate posture, her shoulders trembling slightly.
"I know, you lost your mother when you were young, so you resent me, resent your dad, and resent Chen'er for taking everything from you."
"It is us who have failed you. We neglected you all these years and let you suffer grievances."
"But Chen Chen is your younger brother..."
She slowly raised her head. Her forehead was already red, and tears finally rolled down, smashing onto the floor along her cheeks. "If you want to blame someone, blame me, this mother. It was I who didn't teach him well."
"Blame me for not taking good care of you... You can hit me, scold me, do whatever you want, just please... don't lay such a heavy hand on Chen'er anymore."
"I know I was wrong..."
Speaking to this point, she suddenly turned to the crowd of onlookers, her voice rising steeply, carrying a shrillness bordering on collapse:
"Everyone, look! Look at what a failure of a Matriarch I am!"
"Woo woo woo... Since marrying into the Chen family, I have never dared to be lazy for a moment.
I supported my husband and raised the children, tried to be a virtuous wife and a good mother..."
Zhang Li wept and recounted her grievances over the years.
The tone of the crowd began to change.
"Mrs. Chen is also a pitiful person..."
"Sigh... who can truly understand us mothers..."
"This Chen Yu really isn't a decent thing!"
"I know I am not worthy of being your elder," Zhang Li stared dead at Chen Yu, tears mixed with humiliation flowing down.
"I am kneeling right here today! If you still recognize the Chen family door, if you still recognize me as your... nominal mother, then don't destroy this family anymore!"
The word "Mom" was bitten very lightly, but like a needle, it precisely pierced the nerves of everyone present.
The Matriarch of the house, kneeling to her son.
Instantly.
The discussions that had been marveling at Chen Yu's physical skills changed flavor.
"No matter what, they are family; his strikes were too ruthless..."
"Exactly, the elder is kneeling down, yet he's still standing there unmoved. That's too cold-blooded."
"Did his personality change after the failed awakening? Is he crazy with jealousy?"
Accusations surged like a tide, crashing against Chen Yu's face.
Chen Guodong stood to the side, his face alternating between green and white.
Looking at his wife kneeling on the ground, lips trembling, he roared at Chen Yu, "Chen Yu! Why are you still standing there in a daze? Hurry up and help your mother up!"
Chen Yu, however, did not move.
He watched coldly as Zhang Li knelt on the ground, watched her perfectly timed tears, and listened to her accusations that wept blood with every word.
Chen Yu could even clearly see her hand hanging by her side, fingernails digging deeply into her palm—
That wasn't grievance; that was suppressed triumph.
What a move of retreating to advance; what a move of moral kidnapping.
Using the posture of a "Matriarch kneeling," she splashed all the dirty water onto him.
Nailing him to the pillar of shame as "unfilial" and "jealous by nature."
"Tsk tsk tsk." Chen Yu revealed a mocking smile.
"Ah, the entire Lanjiang City, who doesn't say that Mrs. Chen of the Chen family is virtuous and kind?"
He slowly squatted down to look Zhang Li in the eye.
The surrounding accusations continued.
But his voice was unusually calm, calm like a frozen lake surface. "This kneel of yours... are you afraid?"
"Afraid that piece of trash's status is unstable?"
"Want to use this method to make me spurned by everyone in Lanjiang City?"
Zhang Li's crying paused abruptly. A trace of panic flashed in her eyes, immediately covered by even deeper grievance. "I didn't..."
"Tch, you didn't?" Chen Yu chuckled lightly, his gaze sweeping over the red mark on her forehead that she had deliberately banged out.
"If you have the strength to kneel and kowtow, why don't you go check if your precious son is still breathing?"
"You've been exposed, great actress."
Slap!!
A loud slap echoed throughout the entire hall.
Zhang Li only felt a burning sensation on her face.
"I knew you wouldn't dare to dodge," Chen Yu sneered.
"You... what are you doing?!" Chen Guodong's eyes nearly split with rage; the hand pointing at Chen Yu was trembling.
"You lawless, rebellious son!"
"You forced your mother to kneel in public, and even now you show no repentance!!"
"Aren't you going to ask me why I said she framed me, tried to kill me, and stole my quota?" Chen Yu's gaze turned cold.
Chen Guodong paused for a moment, veins bulging on his forehead.
He hadn't expected that his usually weak son would now defy him repeatedly.
"Rebellious son! Stop making trouble out of nothing! Apologize to your mother immediately!"
"Hehehe..." Chen Yu laughed.
Memory fragments in his mind flashed back constantly, until finally, a monstrous aura exploded outward.
It shattered all the memory fragments.
The original owner's lingering attachment to this world dissipated completely; it would no longer affect Chen Yu.
"What are you laughing at!" Chen Guodong said darkly.
Chen Yu's eyes went cold. "From today on, I am no longer a member of the Chen family!"
"I have nothing to do with the Chen family!"
[Detected King's Aptitude!]
[Conqueror's Haki Unlocked!]
________
"I have nothing to do with the Chen family anymore!"
Before his voice even faded, the Conqueror's Haki in Chen Yu's body couldn't stop spilling out, spreading in all directions.
The surrounding atmosphere trembled.
[Conqueror's Haki: Lv1/5, Proficiency (0/100)]
(Unlock condition: Born King!)
(Current Effect: Causes mental intimidation and stagnation to creatures with weak wills. Range: 100 meters. Next Level: Intimidation increases, range covers 300 meters.)
As a mid-tier Awakener, Chen Guodong was not affected by the Conqueror's Haki.
"What did you say?!" It was as if he was recognizing the son before him for the first time; his pupils suddenly contracted to pinpoints.
The air in the Awakening Hall seemed to solidify as everyone's eyes focused on the father and son.
His face turned beet red, veins bulged on his forehead, and the muscles on his face twitched.
He suddenly took a step forward, his body erupting with the aura belonging to a mid-tier Awakener.
"Chen Yu! I dare you to say that again!".
Chen Yu curled his lip, looking at this father in name only.
The last bit of warmth in his eyes belonging to the original Chen Yu finally disappeared completely.
He raised his voice again.
"I said, from today on, I, Chen Yu, and the Chen family have no further connection."
"Revolt! This is a revolt against the heavens!"
Chen Guodong trembled with rage.
"How could I, Chen Guodong, have a white-eyed wolf like you! Your mother deserved to die on the battlefield!"
"I went against all opinions to bring you back to the Chen family, provided you with food, clothing, and education, and this is how you repay me?!"
Chen Yu raised an eyebrow. "Old fart, do you really think I don't understand?!"
"When I was begging for food with my mom, why didn't you take us back to the Chen family then?! My mom sacrificed herself gloriously, and suddenly you got energetic!"
"Just to get the title of a martyr's family, you really have no shame!"
"And the 'Chen family'? If it weren't for my mom, your Chen family would have been gone long ago!"
"Ptooey!" Chen Yu spat a mouthful of thick phlegm right next to Chen Guodong's shoe.
The fig leaf that had been in place for years was completely torn away. Chen Guodong's face was flushed, his eyes bloodshot.
"I'll beat you to death, you ungrateful wretch!"
Chen Guodong took a step forward, raising his palm to slap Chen Yu.
With the speed of a mid-tier Awakener, Chen Yu couldn't see the movement clearly at all.
(To be Continued)