Ronron stared blankly at Alex, who focused on the items he had gotten from the people just before.
They sat on the boat that flew north with the snow blasting past them because of the snowstorm that seemed to have come out of nowhere.
"Tsk! Nothing good," Alex thought. Not even the Starforged Tungsten weapons were any good as it was usually mixed with some other metal to make an alloy instead because of just how expensive the Tungsten was by itself.
"Father," Ronron called.
"Hmm?" Alex turned around toward her and was surprised to see her expressionless face. "Are you alright? Were you hurt?"
"No, I'm not hurt," Ronron quickly answered. "Father, have you killed people before?"
"Of course," Alex said. "Did your papa not tell you about our adventures while he was controlling my body? He killed people back then too."
"I see," Ronron said, her eyes wandering about the boat, unable to focus on anything at all. "No wonder you were so casual when you were going to kill them all. You probably didn't even blink when you beat them or had them cut off their own arms."
Tears were pooling up in her eyes, ready to drop at a moment's notice. She was trying her best to stop them, but the reality of things was that her father and by extension her papa were murderers, ones that wouldn't blink an eye if they had to take someone else's life.
Alex realized what was happening and walked up to her. He sat down beside her and pat her on her head a few times.
"It's alright, that's just how this world is," Alex said. "I wasn't like this when I started. I remember my first kill was actually a corpse that was being controlled by someone else. When I killed that person back then, I couldn't believe what I had done."
"I cursed at myself for killing someone. It wasn't just that time either. Even after my first kill, I was hesitant when it came to killing or hurting people."
"However, the longer you live, the more you realize, if you don't deal with your enemies when you have the chance, you will be the one that will regret it in the future. So, if I ever believe a person is dangerous and can harm me, I don't feel an ounce of emotion at their death."
"To be honest, I wish I wasn't like this, but I can't change myself at all. Time has done it for me," Alex said. "I hope you don't have to go through the same things, but I worry you will. So, I will tell you right now. If you have an enemy and you ever worry they will cause you pain and suffering, kill them. That is the only way to survive in a cultivation world."
Ronron didn't know what to say, so she only nodded and looked down as tears fell onto the deck of the boat they were flying on.
It took her a while to calm her emotions down and she finally came to terms with the fact that the world she lived in and the world she was going to live in were completely different and she couldn't judge someone from another world based on her beliefs from her world.
"I'm sorry, father. I judged you even though I didn't have the right to," she spoke.
"Don't worry about it," Alex said. "Besides, your father isn't as bloodthirsty as he might seem. If it weren't because they threatened you, I would have let them off after a little beating."
Ronron gave a small smile and nodded.
"Look, we're coming up on the Endless Tunnels," Alex pointed below him.
"Endless Tunnels?" Ronron looked below her at the massive mountain range they were approaching. "Why is it called that?"
"There is a vein of Starforged Tungsten below these mountains that is going to take forever for the people of this continent to get through. The original intention was to create a tunnel through this mountain range, but because it would take forever, it's called the Endless Tunnel."
"Oh," Ronron spoke as she looked down.
"That city right there is where I learned how to make a sword," Alex said. "I wonder if the senior that taught me it is still there."
"Do you want to go meet him?" Ronron asked.
"Not really," Alex said. "It was over 30 years ago, so I don't really feel like I need to. But I do want to go into the tunnel and get some of those metals for myself. They will make for some amazing artifacts."
They flew over the mountain, going from one state to the other. They were now in the state that was owned by the Heaven's Frost sect, the state where the domain of the ruler was located.
"It's just a little further ahead if I remember correctly," Alex said.
"Senior Luhei comes from around here?" Ronron asked.
"Yes," Alex said. "But before him, I want you to meet someone else."
Ronron was curious about who this other person was and waited patiently for them to show up. The snowstorm was fading this far up north, so it was getting easier for her to see through everything now.
As Alex flew, he noticed a group of people flying in his direction on a giant ship. He looked at the people on the boat and realized that he recognized quite a few of them.
"Oh, what a coincidence," Alex said softly. "They are already on their way. It seems they heard about the news too."
Alex steered his ship in the direction of the incoming ship, forcing both of them to slow down quite a bit.
One of the people in the group stood up and bowed toward Alex. "Greetings, senior. Can we help you with anything?" he asked.
"Brother Fan, it's me," Alex said. "Don't you recognize me?"
The middle-aged man narrowed his eyes to look at Alex more clearly, but there was no way he could recognize him at all.
"Ah, my bad," Alex said and brought out his white mask which he wore for a few seconds, before taking it off. "Do you remember me now?"
"You're…" the man's eyes widened in surprise.
"Yu Ming," someone else said. Most people from that group remembered them.
"It's nice to see you all again," Alex said. "Are you on your way to the Teleportation formation?"
The man's eyes widened slightly in surprise. "How did you know?" he asked.
"Where else would a group of players be heading to," Alex said with a slight chuckle and looked around. "Where is sister Li? I don't see her."
Fan Yanshi's face suddenly changed a bit when Alex said that. "Fan Li… she… she passed away over a decade ago," he said with a sorrowful voice.
"What?" Alex's face turned blank for a second. "What do you mean? How did she pass away?"
Fan Yanshi shook his head. "Complications during childbirth," he said. "Her body grew frail during her pregnancy and she died during delivery."
"I see," Alex said with a solemn face. "My condolences to you, brother Fan. What about the child?"
"Lilin, say hello to uncle here," Fan Yanshi spoke and a young girl, barely 10 years old slowly moved next to him.
"Hello, uncle," the little girl spoke. She had the looks of her mother, which even Ronron felt was familiar.
"Hello," Alex said with a wide smile. "Oh right, this is my daughter, Maron. Ronron, you should greet them too."
"Hello," Ronron said while bowing a little in the other people's direction.
"Your daughter?" Fan Yanshi was surprised. "She's already so grown up."
"Isn't she?" Alex chuckled a little. "Anyway, I shouldn't stop you guys. I will find you guys before we teleport away."
"Bye, Llin."
The little girl waved goodbye and the two boats moved away from each other.
"What was that, father?" Ronron asked with an unreadable expression.
"Those were the first group of humans I met when I got here. They let me stay in their village for quite some time, so I got familiar with them back then," Alex said.
"No, that's not what I meant," Ronron said. "That girl… she…"
"You noticed it too?" Alex asked.
Ronron nodded.
"Her mother, the woman they said died during childbirth, is your mother's other clone," Alex said. "After her original body died, your mother rejoined the game, and in doing so put another clone of herself into this world."
"I was hoping to let you meet her so you could see how your mother was while young, but it seems fate is not with us this time around," Alex said while shaking his head. "What a shame."
"That girl… is she… my half-sister?" Ronron asked.
"Half-sister, cousin, who knows what you should call her, but all I know is that she can be considered your blood relative as well," Alex said. "Unfortunately, it seems she was born without a spiritual root as well, just like her parents. It will be better for her to lead a normal life in the Central continent than to live here."
Ronron was too stunned to say anything else. She knew she had a father out there somewhere and had prepared for it. However, a sister that came out of nowhere wasn't something she could prepare for.
"What should I do?" Ronron asked.
"Let's decide that later," Alex said. "We will meet them again. For now, we are close to Senior Luhei's place. Let's go there first and meet him. After we do that, we can return with Scarlet and prepare for our return to the Central Continent."
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