Chapter 599: The Furious Youngster – Da Dou Kidnapped My Son!
Believers could be categorized into roughly five levels based on their faith.
Casual believers, ordinary believers, pious believers, fanatical believers, and sainthood.
What defined a fanatical believer?
Fanatical believers pursued their object of worship with extreme zeal, reaching the height of fervor. They believed that only by worshipping their deity could they attain salvation or blessing.
They disregarded all rational thought, dedicating themselves wholly. Even if their deity commanded them to sacrifice themselves, they would obey without hesitation.
Moreover, they could not tolerate any criticism of their deity.
Typically, they would respond with persuasion, curses, or outright aggression.
For particularly egregious offenses, they would transform into violent mobs, launching brutal attacks on their perceived enemies.
When the dragonman youngster first discovered the big guy was his fanatic, he felt puzzled and bewildered.
But as he pondered deeper, he gradually understood.
By the standards of fanatics, if the big guy wasn't his fanatic, then what else could he be?
After the old shipwright's death, the big guy became utterly convinced: this dragonman youngster was the kindest person in the world to him, and his only family!
Whenever the youngster faced danger, the big guy would instantly plunge into a frenzied rage, throwing himself recklessly into protecting him, fighting to the death for him!
“Why did he become my fanatic?”
Reflecting on the big guy's life story, the fishman youngster gradually gained some insight.
The big guy had been abandoned as an infant, but luckily, he found care under the old shipwright.
As he grew, he proved to be mentally impaired, occasionally losing his mind.
Naturally, those around him treated him with contempt, disgust, and exclusion.
The old shipwright was the sole light in the big guy's life. He raised him through thick and thin, tirelessly caring for him, fighting for his right to exist, and even teaching him to swim.
The dragonman youngster understood the full extent of the giant's intellectual limitations. He admired the old shipwright's achievement in teaching him to swim, finding it almost unimaginable.
It was precisely because of the old shipwright that the giant, living in such a harsh environment, retained a core of kindness.
The old shipwright's relentless efforts to protect the confined, unique living space aboard the sea vessel, combined with the big guy's own mortality—unable to match those of the extraordinary... These factors collectively shaped the big guy into a timid and fearful character. Yet simultaneously, the violent elements in his bloodline lay dormant. When provoked, the big guy would erupt into fury, fighting with all his might to kill enemies or defend what mattered most to him.
This trait was vividly displayed on Mystifying Monster Island. To protect his father, the big guy pushed the ship forward himself, charging into the beast tide and willingly sacrificing himself.
He was closest to the old shipwright, while his relationships with others remained distant. This near-total isolation meant the big guy's personal world was incredibly narrow. The old shipwright was his entire world, the sole meaning of his existence.
But on Mystifying Monster Island, the old shipwright died.
Before his final breath, he entrusted the big guy to the young knight.
The old shipwright knew his significance to the big guy. He feared the big guy might lose hope and desperately wanted someone to care for him.
This act proved profoundly successful!
The young knight became his new father, taking the old shipwright's place. The old shipwright had judged correctly. The youngster possessed the spirit of a knight, honest, forgiving, kind, and held compassion for the big guy. He never abandoned him because of his dullness or moments of madness.
He never even felt disgust.
Not once!
Not even for a single second!
The young knight always kept the big guy by his side, protecting and caring for him. Perhaps his care wasn't always perfect or thorough.
But the youngster's intentions were genuine and his efforts sincere.
He had clashed with Bing Xiao to secure the giant-type intelligence potion for the big guy. He spared no effort to help the big guy master the Mindless Sleeping Posture Technique.
Though intellectually impaired, the big guy could feel the youngster's affection!
Precisely because of this, the big guy accepted the youngster from the bottom of his heart. He clung fiercely to the old shipwright's words: the youngster was his father, the sole meaning of his existence, the sky sheltering him, the sea embracing him, the earth bearing him.
The youngster was his sky, his earth, his sea, his entire world!
To him, the wider world was alien, even hostile, only his father was worthy of trust.
Given this mindset, it was only natural that the big guy became a fanatical believer.
With the youngster's arrival, the big guy's nightmares transformed into sweet dreams.
Massive mists coalesced into the form of the dragonman youngster, towering like mountains and peaks. The youngster's finger alone was thicker than the big guy's entire arm.
The big guy had already plopped down onto the deck, wrapping both arms around the dragonman youngster's finger and pressing his face tightly against it, weeping uncontrollably.
He sobbed uncontrollably, snot running freely.
It was as if he were a child lost outside, terrified for so long, desperately waiting for his parents to find him.
Now, the long-awaited father he'd called out for so many times had finally appeared. The poor child found immense comfort.
“Father, save me, save me.”
“Xiao Guai, danger!”
“Bad guy.”
“Bad guy!”
“Xiao Guai wants to go home.”
“But… can't go back!”
Amidst the big guy's wails, the fishman youngster's expression gradually shifted.
This was his first attempt at advanced divine magic. As a novice, he hadn't grasped how to gauge distance or direction between himself and his believer.
Thus, at first, he'd assumed the big guy was still in Snow Bird Harbor.
But now, he slowly began to detect something amiss.
The dragonman youngster had been away from the group for some time and was unaware of the events that had unfolded.
He had assumed that after his departure, the business plan had progressed smoothly, everything running orderly, even peaceful.
But now, from the big guy's broken, sobbing words, he sensed something was terribly wrong.
“Enemies threatening Xiao Guai?”
“What's going on?”
“Isn't Xiao Guai with everyone?”
“Perhaps he's referring to the nightmare encounter?”
The fishman youngster felt perplexed and grew tense.
He had to confirm.
The next moment, his focus shifted to the third layer.
Based on his previous experience with divine spells, he summarized the following:
With the first layer of attention, he could perceive light points. Each light point represented a believer.
The second layer allowed him to observe believers' mental activities or emotions.
The third layer enabled him to dig deeper for information.
The fishman youngster did this solely to gather more intelligence, aiding his ability to make the right judgment.
Soon, he sensed the various deep-seated information contained within the big guy.
“The big guy's strength has reached silver level? How did he progress so fast?”
“He's still cultivating the Mindless Sleeping Posture battle qi technique. Good lad.”
“His battle qi is exceptionally abundant now.”
“Not a single injury on his body.”
"This recovery ability... surpasses even my dragonman form. Truly worthy of the giant bloodline."
“How come he's got a huge amount of food in his stomach?”
The fishman youngster felt both delighted and relieved by the big guy's progress, yet more questions arose.
The information he received indicated that the big guy had eaten to his fill, and the food was exceptionally high level.
The silver level magic meals he consumed were downgraded from gold level, the most suitable sustenance for the big guy's cultivation!
From this perspective, the big guy lived even better than he did!
“I haven't obtained the big guy's bloodline, lifespan, or other details.”
“Wait, it seems I can delve deeper into the information?”
After deeply sensing the information, the fishman youngster discovered he still had reserves. Unlike when he'd sensed other Charming Blue believers before, where he'd hit a ceiling, now, with the big guy, he felt he could uncover more.
“Let's try!”
The fishman youngster attempted to focus his attention even more intensely.
Success!
The fourth layer of concentration allowed him to access the big guy's memories.
His memories unfolded like magic images, scene after scene.
Only they played in reverse, always from the big guy's first-person perspective.
Thus, the fishman youngster first witnessed the big guy opening his eyes. Through blurred vision, he saw Da Dou. Hearing Da Dou speak, the big guy unleashed a furious strike. Then, the big guy and Da Dou engaged in a fierce battle. Before long, he was knocked unconscious by Da Dou.
The memory continued to rewind.
The fishman youngster witnessed Da Dou leading the big guy to flee to an unnamed deserted island.
The big guy leaped into the sea to swim, Da Dou pursued him, and then the Honey Snow Tower suddenly appeared.
“Speed it up,” the fishman youngster thought, and sure enough, the rewind of memories accelerated.
He saw the big guy discover that “Zong Ge” (the alchemy puppet) had been ambushed and killed. Enraged, the big guy plunged into a berserk state, chasing the enemy all the way out.
Then came the big guy's bewildered arrival at Snow Bird Harbor's duel arena, where he participated in the eating contest between Da Dou and Ci Hai Shen, playing a crucial role in the proceedings.
The memory rewound once more.
The big guy conversed with Tripleblade. His training had yielded results, leaving him increasingly ravenous.
The big guy's memories came in fragmented segments.
Many truths remained hidden, even though the big guy was the direct point of view.
This was because during the battle between Da Dou and Shuang Lian, Da Dou had sealed the big guy inside a packing bag early on. The big guy was also frequently knocked unconscious. In a state of unconsciousness, he couldn't perceive the outside world, hence the fragmented memories.
Similarly, when Tripleblade struck the big guy three times, aiming to disrupt his physical memory of cultivating battle qi, the big guy held no awareness of this either. Thus, the fishman youngster witnessed none of it.
Even so, the youngster gleaned much from these fragments!
“The Zong Ge he saw was killed by an enemy ambush. He was actually impersonating me, so the one impersonating him was merely an alchemy puppet."
“The reason Xiao Guai was abducted by Da Dou was likely because Da Dou recognized his innate talent.”
The fishman youngster now knew Da Dou's name.
Memories of the eating contest were filled with spectators' discussions about Ci Hai Shen and Da Dou.
"Da Dou, you dared to kidnap my son!!" At that moment, the fishman youngster was extremely angry.