Book 17, Indigo Prefecture – Chapter 43, Wade
Linley and his group of three hadn’t departed, causing the intelligence agents of the eight great clans to have wasted their efforts, and causing those eight Elders, who had been preparing for so long, to have become excited for nothing.
Meer City. The residence of Tarosse and the others.
“Tarosse, I’m afraid we’ll have to disturb you for a while longer.” Linley’s face was covered in smiles. He couldn’t help but glance at Delia. He had been planning to return to the clan, but the previous night, Delia had actually told him…
That she…was pregnant!
“We were in the Skyrite Mountains for so long without her becoming pregnant. Who would have expected that now, she would?” Once Linley knew this news, he was unbelievably happy. Since Delia had become pregnant, Linley was no longer in a hurry to return to the Skyrite Mountains. After all, in terms of living environment, Meer City was much habitable than the Skyrite Mountains.
The plan was to first let Delia rest here. After giving birth to their child, they could go back.
“Haha, you can stay here as long as you like.” Tarosse was puzzled. “But Linley, just yesterday, didn’t you say that today was the day for you to head out? Why did you suddenly change your decision?” Cesar, by Tarosse’s side, looked towards Linley as well, puzzled.
“Delia’s pregnant.” Linley said happily. Delia, by his side, couldn’t help but blush.
Tarosse and Cesar immediately stared, and then began to laugh loudly.
“Haha, this is wonderful news. We have to celebrate!” Tarosse said hurriedly.
The news that Delia was pregnant caused everyone in the residence to be overjoyed. When Phusro came over, he discovered to his surprise that Linley actually hadn’t left yet. When he asked, he learned about Delia being pregnant. He, too, was happy for Linley, and so the entire residence was filled with joyous sounds.
With Delia pregnant, Linley spent every single day by her side, watching as her belly grew bigger by the day. He grew more and more excited, and every so often, he would press his ear against Delia’s belly, listening to the sounds.
When he drew near to Delia, Linley could even sense the blood pulsing through the veins of the unborn child, which seemed to reverberate slightly with his own lineage.
“Milord, our people have discovered Linley’s friend, ‘Bebe’, within Meer City. We’ve quietly tailed him and finally discovered Bebe’s residence. Our brothers plotted and schemed…and finally discovered the estate where Linley and Delia are living in!”
Meer City was a large city with a circumference of a thousand kilometers.
But to Deities, especially to the intelligence agents of the eight great clans, who stayed in Meer City for a long time, it wasn’t hard for them to find Bebe, given how often Bebe went out. Upon finding Bebe…given the abilities of the eight great clans, finding Linley and Delia wasn’t too hard.
“Excellent! Now that we’ve found their residence, everything else will be simple. Now, always have someone watching that place. Remember, you can’t let Linley’s group discover us. Whenever Linley heads out, immediately report it to us.”
“Yes, milord!” “But, milord, what if Linley’s group just remains in Meer City without leaving? What should we do?”
“Then…”
Fighting within the cities was forbidden. Even the eight great clans wouldn’t dare to violate this rule.
“We’ll just watch for now. I refuse to believe Linley will remain forever in Meer City. As for if Linley will really stay there without coming out…the Elders will decide what to do.”
The eight great clans’ intelligence agents continuously watched that residence. However, despite their careful attention, Linley just spent his time happily accompanying his wife, seemingly not intending to leave at all.
……………
Linley was seated outside, holding a cup of wine. He was rather rattled, occasionally turning to look back into the room. This was because Delia was in the room, and Delia was already close to the point of birth.
“Whew…” Linley couldn’t help but take a deep breath.
He hadn’t been as nervous as this, even when he was fighting against Seven Star Fiends.
“I wonder if it’s a boy or a girl. I wonder if the child has been born yet or not. I wonder if Delia is…” Countless thoughts flitted through Linley’s mind in a jumbled fashion. The hand holding the wine cup was trembling slightly.
“Boss, it isn’t as though you haven’t had any experience. Still so nervous?” Bebe, by his side, was snickering.
Linley couldn’t help but glance at him, then forced out a smile. “Bebe, when one day you are about to become a father, you’ll know. Each time you wait…the tension isn’t any less than when battling against ultimate experts.”
While waiting outside, Linley felt as though his heart was tight against his chest.
Next to him was O’Brien, Dylin, Tarosse, and the others. Even Phusro had come over today, and was chatting with the others while teasing Linley. Linley didn’t spend any time chatting with them.
His attention was focused on the room.
“Waaaaaaaaaa!”
An ear-piercing infant’s cry broke the silence of the entire estate. It was like a ray of sunlight flashing within Linley’s mind, causing all the countless doubts and worries to vanish. At this moment, he had only a single thought…
The child had been born!
“Whoosh!” Linley charged towards the door, and at this moment, the door was opened. Dylin’s wife, ‘Kamina’, laughed as she walked out. “Linley, congratulations. Delia’s given birth to a son!”
Linley, not caring whether it was a boy or a girl, immediately entered the room.
Within the room, a faint sheen of perspiration could be seen on Delia’s forehead. She was seated on the bed, cradling an infant. Seeing Linley enter, she immediately stood up then walked over. “Linley, look. He’s very quiet. Just now, he was crying, but now he’s calmer.”
Linley took a careful look at the infant in Delia’s arms. That pouting face, that tiny body and head…he looked so similar to how Taylor and Sasha had been.
“Let me hold him.” Linley’s heart was beating rapidly.
No matter how powerful an expert was, upon becoming a father and holding his son for the first time, he would feel excited, nervous, and agitated.
Holding the infant in his arms, he could feel the slight weight of his son against him. Although infants were very light, especially to a powerful expert like Linley, to whom this sort of weight was nothing, Linley felt as though this light weight was pressing down against his heart.
“Son. My son!” Linley couldn’t help but shout in his heart, “This is my son!!!”
Holding his son, Linley had that sensation of his blood being passed down, of life continuing.
“Linley, what’s the child’s name? Have you come to a decision?” Delia said.
“We’ll call him Wade.” Linley looked dotingly at the child in his arms.
“Wade…Wade…say ‘Father’?” Linley said, gently stroking his son’s little nose. The skin was so soft. But perhaps Linley hurt him as he touched him, as Wade, who had just stopped crying moments ago, began to bawl loudly again.
Delia immediately stretched her arms out to take him back. “He’s just a newborn, and yet you want him to call you ‘Father’. The child’s crying already. Quick, let me hold him.”
“It’s fine. The son of Linley doesn’t need to be pampered that much.” Linley said. “Let me hold him for a while longer.”
Holding his son ‘Wade’ in his arms, Linley felt utter joy in his heart. The feeling of holding his son in his arms was even more exciting and happy for him than the feeling of holding a Sovereign artifact.
Seeing how reluctant Linley was to part from Wade, Delia couldn’t help but laugh.
Linley lowered his head to look at his son. He felt as though he could never get tired of looking at him.
“Waaaaaaa….” Wade cried for a while, then stopped crying. His big guileless, pure eyes, containing no artifice at all, stared at Linley. This was the first man he had seen after his birth!
He didn’t know yet that this was his father!
He was the son of Linley! It was guaranteed that his life would not be an ordinary one!
“Linley, why haven’t you come out yet?” Cesar’s voice rang out.
“Boss, hurry up and carry your son out. We uncles want to hold him too!” Bebe called loudly. At this moment, Linley and Delia, within the room, came to their senses. They couldn’t help but grin at each other, then walked out while holding the child.
As soon as they walked outside, Bebe, Clervaux, and the others all rushed forward.
“Lemme hold him!” Bebe said jubilantly.
Their son was born. Linley and Delia felt utter bliss as they played with their son. They were in no rush to return to the Skyrite Mountains at all. But although they weren’t in a rush, the intelligence agents of the eight great clans, especially those eight Elders, were frantic.
None of them had any idea how long Linley would stay here before returning.
However, they obviously couldn’t go and tell him to hurry up. They just had to watch as Linley spent every day enjoying his time with his son.
“Milord, our men are always in wait and always watching. But it’s been a year already. When will this come to an end?” The intelligence agents of the eight great clans were watching day and night, not daring to slack off at all.
“Linley is currently holding that infant right now. Are we supposed to just watch and wait until the infant grows up to become an adult?”
Just watching every day was indeed tiring, especially since they didn’t even know how long they would have to keep doing it.
“Don’t be impatient. I’ve already reported this to the Patriarchs, and the eight Patriarchs sent back a single word in response; ‘Wait’! No matter what, we are not to arouse Linley’s notice. He can’t always stay in Meer City. There will be a day when he comes out!”
“Yes, milord.”
The intelligence agents had no choice but to grit their teeth and keep watching.
On the streets of Meer City. Linley and Delia were walking shoulder to shoulder, with their son ‘Wade’ being taken care of by Kamina. The reason they had come out today was to buy some nutritious foodstuffs. Wade was still young. When he started to grow, he would need to eat many things.
“When we return later to the Skyrite Mountains, there won’t be so much food available for sale.” Linley laughed. “We should have bought enough this time.”
“Of course we bought enough. These things we bought cost us tens of millions of inkstones. It’s more than enough for Wade to eat for over ten years.” Delia laughed. “Compared to Sasha and Taylor, the food which Wade will eat while growing up will be much better.”
“Wade doesn’t know that he has an older brother and sister right now. When he grows up and knows more, we’ll tell him.” Knowing that he had his son by his side, he felt full of energy in everything he did, be it training or eating!
Just as Linley and Delia were chatting mentally on the way back, they suddenly saw someone…
“Eh?” Linley stared, astonished, at a distant figure. It was a member of the Azure Dragon clan. All of the clansmen had emblems of the clan, and they could all sense each other’s presence. This was why Linley sensed this person in front of him.
In Meer City, Linley had already run into quite a few members of the Azure Dragon clan. But this was the first time Linley had run into someone he knew.
“Elder Linley.” The other person had discovered Linley as well, and hurriedly reached out with divine sense.
“Elder Tewila.” Linley immediately responded with divine sense.
Linley and Tewila had both changed their appearances, but they looked exactly the same as they had when they last left. Naturally, the two could easily recognize each other.
Tewila smiled while walking over and saying through divine sense, “Elder Linley, you didn’t return with us last time. Did something happen?”
“I’m truly sorry. I really didn’t expect that in the month I had been at Meer City, my wife would become pregnant.” Linley laughed while sending back. “At that time, I came to the decision that I would return after my child was born.”
“Ah! Congratulations, congratulations.” Elder Tewila hurriedly sent back.
Linley was all smiles as well.
“Right. Elder Tewila, are you escorting the metallic lifeform this time?” Linley asked. “The clan sends a batch every half year. It’s only been a year and a half, but it’s your turn again?”
“Nothing for it. In the past four, five hundred years, we’ve lost too many Elders. The clan has too few Elders now, and most have entered Bloodbath Gorge.” Tewila said helplessly. “Thus, there’re only a few Elders on rotation for escorting the metallic lifeform.”
Linley now understood.
Linley knew that the clan had suffered tremendous losses over the past five centuries. As for exactly how many Elders had been lost, however, Linley had never asked in detail. However…in the first two hundred years, they had lost five Elders. Most likely, over five hundred years, more than ten Elders had been lost.
“Tewila, when will you head back? We were just preparing to head back ourselves. Let’s go together.” Linley laughed.
“Oh. We’re heading out in two days.” Tewila was very happy as well. “Elder Linley, if you head out with us, then it will be much safer with us having joined forces.”
“Very well. We’ll meet in two days at dawn.” Linley said.
“Definitely. However, when the time comes, make sure you show up this time.” Tewila laughed.
“That won’t happen again.” Linley laughed.
Two days later. Dawn. The gates of the estate. Delia was holding little Wade, bidding farewell to Tarosse and the others, Linley and Bebe by her side.
“Tarosse, no need to send us off.” Linley laughed.
“In the future, you must often come visit. I love this little Wade.” Tarosse laughed.
Bebe laughed as well. “By the time you come again, Wade will be all grown up.”
After bidding farewell to their friends, Linley, Delia, and Bebe took little Wade to head directly towards the gates of the city. This scene, in turn, was noticed by a figure located within a distant, tall building who was watching through a window. “Linley’s group…seems to be preparing to head out.”