Chapter 117: The Resolution—The Ultimate Insult (Part Two)

On the northern shore of the Mediterranean, in southern Europe—a place missing from satellite imagery, a mysterious location undetectable by any monitoring system—the Gattuso family, which stands at the absolute pinnacle of hybrid society, was holding a secret meeting.

It was a two-man conference. Only the current head of the family, Pompé Gattuso, and the acting head, Frost Gattuso, were present, seated across from each other at a desk.

Pompé Gattuso was an exceptionally handsome man with long golden hair, sea-blue eyes, a high-bridged nose, and a masculine, light stubble. He wore rimless glasses, his skin a healthy, sun-kissed wheat color, and his unbuttoned collar revealed perfectly sculpted pectoral muscles. At this moment, he had his legs propped up on the desk, balancing on a chair that had been reduced from four legs to just one.

He was a family head who loathed the trivialities of household management; to him, women were far more entertaining than the family legacy. It was precisely for this reason that, in reality, the vast majority of the family’s affairs were managed by his younger brother, Frost Gattuso.

Unless there was a matter of extreme importance, or perhaps a rare whim, Pompé almost never returned to the family estate, spending his days abroad in a perpetual state of debauchery—unless, of course, something truly critical demanded his attention.

"My dear brother, what kind of situation could possibly compel you to summon me here?" Pompé asked languidly. "If you don't give me a good reason, don't expect me to be at your beck and call like this in the future. You know how busy I am."

"Busy sleeping with supermodels? Or stamping approvals for actresses? You are the family head," Frost replied coldly. Unlike his brother, who appeared as youthful as ever, the immense mental labor had made Frost look far older than his actual age, his hair already graying. Yet, he did not mind; if one wished to seize power, one naturally had to pay the price.

Frost believed this slight price was worth it, even necessary.

"No, no, no. I just invested in a beauty pageant, a spectacular beauty pageant, you know?" Pompé said with a laugh. "We're trying to find the most beautiful, most elegant woman in all of North America. The preliminary selection phase is underway—this is the busiest time."

"You're actually wasting your time with some beauty pageant?" Frost roared. He firmly believed that those in power should never let their emotions show, but every time he spoke with Pompé, he could not suppress his temper, and this meeting was no exception. "As the head of this generation of the Gattuso family, if you aren't willing to spend time on routine affairs, you should at least pay attention to the major events that could change the world!"

"That major event has been spreading like wildfire. How is it that looking at your expression, you seem completely unaware of it?"

"What major event?" Pompé rubbed his waist and said lazily, "I spent a bit too much time exploring art yesterday and accidentally overslept. When I woke up, I found myself air-lifted here, bed and all. How would I know about any major event?"

"The Chen family has been wiped out, along with the one hundred and thirty-two medium-sized hybrid families under their command," Frost said, pressing a button that caused a pile of documents to rise from the desk. "The entire East has completely fallen out of our control."

"What? The Chen family? Oh, you mean the family of the wife you chose for my son?" Pompé raised an eyebrow, finally straightening his expression. He withdrew his legs and picked up the top sheet of paper from the desk. It contained only a few short lines describing the outcome: the hybrid forces affiliated with the Eastern Secret Party had been annihilated, and 'The Kingdom' had officially seized control of all their territories.

Underneath the paper were several satellite images: meteors falling, massive mushroom clouds rising, followed by nothing but ruins.

"Wow, this level of destruction is terrifying. It’s no different from a nuclear strike. Which Dragon King did they provoke?" Pompé said. "Is 'The Kingdom' that group of legendary descendants of the White King? To be able to do this, could it be that the legendary White King is not dead?"

"That is impossible," Frost said. "You and I both know the White King died long ago, with only a few traces of bone and blood remaining. Furthermore, even the descendants of the White King—who rebelled against the Black King—could never possess reptilian vertical pupils. We both know this, we both know it!"

"Yes, yes, yes, of course we both know. The Gattuso family, which masters everything and knows every secret, naturally knows everything," Pompé said, still wearing a mocking smile. "But if it's not the White King, then who could it be? Could it be another Dragon race independent of the Black King? That would be truly terrifying, truly insane."

"This world is changing so fast, so fast that I can't even react. I think I'll stick to enjoying the moment."

"This is what Angers sent us via NOMA," Frost said, slamming several freshly printed comic books titled *Sea Tiger* onto the desk. "He told me this is the source of The Kingdom's power, the essence of their leader's strength."

"What kind of nonsense is this?" Pompé's golden eyes flared as he picked up a comic and flipped through it frantically. "Since when does Angers have an interest in manga? Let me see."

...

Less than half an hour later, Pompé had roughly finished reading volumes one through three of *Sea Tiger*. He tossed the comic into the trash can. "Not bad, quite a free-spirited comic—a lot of thought went into making it eye-catching. This can't be shown to Caesar; it’s likely to corrupt a child. Better to leave it in the trash."

"So? The source of The Kingdom's power is just a comic book?" Pompé tilted his head and asked. "Don't tell me the leader of The Kingdom gained massive power after reading this, becoming a source of bloodline power independent of the Black King?"

"Don't joke around. If it were that easy, the Gattuso family wouldn't have been so persistent and diligent for all these years."

"Magnetic Field Rotation. The essence of The Kingdom's power is Magnetic Field Rotation," Frost said coldly.

"You—you're joking, right?" Although it was a question, he used a declarative tone. Pompé's expression was more serious than ever, his unextinguished golden eyes staring straight into his brother's. "This must be a joke."

"Over the past four years, animal-like superpowers have been discovered all over the world," Frost said. "But that is not absolute proof. The absolute evidence lies in two points: Hilbert von Angers has already awakened 'Current Propulsion'! And Caesar—Caesar has also manifested animal-like powers."

"Caesar can now change the color of his skin at will, blending into his environment, and can even walk on walls barefoot like a spider."

"You know this should be impossible," Frost said. "It should be absolutely impossible."

"We are collecting more evidence, but according to existing data, the accuracy of Angers' intelligence has reached ninety-six percent."

"What!" Pompé stood up abruptly. "Quick, quick, prepare a private jet for me. I need to get to the East immediately—the leader of The Kingdom is invincible; I admire him immensely."

"From today on, I am no longer the head of the Gattuso family. Whoever wants the job can have it—I think you'd be quite good at it, brother."

"We haven't reached that point yet," Frost said. "According to intelligence analysis, the leader of The Kingdom hasn't even reached the level of 250,000 horsepower in Magnetic Field Rotation—we still have a chance to fight."

"If you have a chance, then you go ahead and fight," Pompé said. "I'm not a combatant, and I don't handle decision-making. You two can decide."

"No, there is one matter that requires your decision," Frost said. "It concerns Caesar's growth plan—the original plan is no longer valid. It must be revised."

"What are you planning to do?" Pompé asked.

"The Ultimate Humiliation!" Frost looked up and said.

"Don't you dare!"