Chapter 491 - 488: Extermination Operation

Chapter 491: Chapter 488: Extermination Operation

His voice suddenly shot up, filled with uncontrollable anger and lingering fear.

"It was wave after wave of assassination attempts! If her Beast Husband didn’t have a Red Rank Talent, she would have died, even after returning to our side."

His furious gaze swept over Coral, whom Lan Yi was subconsciously shielding in her arms.

Coral was terrified by a coldness in her Father Beast’s eyes she had never seen before. She felt wronged and afraid. "Father Beast..."

This time, however, Jiao Yuan didn’t offer his usual loving smile. He didn’t even spare her a second glance.

His gaze quickly shifted away, his voice as hard and cold as ice. "I am not your Father Beast. Don’t call me that ever again."

Lan Yi shot to her feet like a cat whose tail had been stepped on, pulling Coral tighter into her arms and shrieking, "Jiao Yuan, how can you be so cruel? You raised Coral with your own hands! For over a decade, she’s called you Father Beast, and you were happy about it, weren’t you? Are you trying to erase all that with just a few words? Have you ever thought about how heartbroken she’ll be?"

"Heartbroken?" Jiao Yuan looked as if he had heard the greatest joke in the world. He whipped his head around, his crimson eyes boring into Lan Yi.

Each word was forced through gritted teeth. "You only care that *she’s* heartbroken? What about your own daughter? Isn’t Wanwan heartbroken? I just told you she’s facing constant assassination attempts from outside clans, her life hanging by a thread! You’re her birth Mother, yet you haven’t asked a single question. Instead, you’re worried that this other girl, who is perfectly safe, might be sad?"

Jiao Yuan closed his eyes. He used to think of Lan Yi as his mate, and he could tolerate her petty tantrums.

But now, she showed absolutely no concern for her own biological daughter. Instead, her every thought was for this other girl, one who shared no blood with her at all.

"She... She has all those powerful Beast Husbands to protect her, doesn’t she? Wasn’t... Wasn’t she rescued?" Lan Yi averted her gaze, her voice growing fainter, offering a weak excuse that she herself seemed to find unconvincing.

It wasn’t that she wasn’t worried. It was just that any concern she felt was choked out by overwhelming guilt and a desperate need for denial.

The way Bai Wanwan looked at her—coldly, as if she were a complete stranger—made Lan Yi deeply uneasy.

Every time she saw the girl, it was like being forced to confront the cruel memory of abandoning her own dying child all those years ago.

Those memories were a nightmare that tormented her day and night, making her want to do nothing but run and hide.

Watching her try to evade and shift the blame, the last glimmer of hope in Jiao Yuan’s heart died out, leaving only an endless, icy exhaustion.

He had no desire to say another word. He rose wearily to his feet, his tall frame seeming to stoop. "Nothing you do now can ever make it up to Wanwan. So... just let it be..."

With that, he turned and walked away, the sight of his back one of utter finality.

"Jiao Yuan!"

Lan Yi let go of Coral’s hand and stumbled after him to the doorway, her voice laced with panic as she pleaded, "You... you’re not coming home?"

Jiao Yuan’s steps faltered for a moment, but he didn’t turn around. He only turned his head slightly to the side, his voice flat and devoid of emotion. "I’m not. You... take care of yourself."

With that, he didn’t linger, striding away without another look back.

He couldn’t cross the bottomless chasm in his heart.

His only biological daughter, the one he had lost and just found, had been personally abandoned by the mate he once trusted and loved above all others, left to endure more than a decade of hardship.

Whenever he saw Lan Yi, he couldn’t stop himself from imagining all the hardships Wanwan must have faced over the years.

And she was the one who should have had the best of everything under his care, free from all suffering and hardship...

At some point, his hands had clenched into tight fists.

He knew... no matter what the future held, an irreparable chasm now lay between him and Lan Yi, one that could never be crossed.

＊＊＊＊＊

Bai Wanwan had no intention of staying long in the Flood Dragon Tribe.

She had received the results of a more in-depth investigation from Zhu Xiu. It seemed Lan Yi had been used by the Chameleon Clan, while the female named Coral had been so pampered by Lan Yi that she appeared to be completely clueless.

If Lan Yi had simply been a fool who was used, Bai Wanwan could spare her life, for the sake of the body’s original owner.

The Chameleon Clan, however, was a different story. Bai Wanwan had no intention of letting them off the hook.

She took the initiative to find Jiao Yuan.

When Jiao Yuan heard from one of his Beastman subordinates that Bai Wanwan had come looking for him, he was so excited he nearly burst out of his room.

He looked utterly haggard, with bluish stubble dotting his chin and dark circles clearly visible under his eyes.

Seeing Bai Wanwan standing in the courtyard, an expression of immense, cautious joy lit up his eyes. His voice held a barely perceptible tremor. "Wanwan! You... you came to see your Father Beast about something?"

The moment the words left his mouth, he realized his mistake and hastily corrected himself, adopting an extremely deferential tone. "No, I mean... you can ask for anything! Just say the word, and your Father Beast will... will definitely agree! I’ll even risk my life to get it done for you!"

Bai Wanwan looked at the male before her—once so majestic, now so humble and worn.

She spoke calmly, her voice cold and distant. "Jiao Yuan Clan Leader, I’ve come to discuss a matter with you."

Her use of "Jiao Yuan Clan Leader" was like a bucket of ice water dousing the hopeful flame that had just ignited in his eyes.

The light in his eyes dimmed, but he forced a pained smile and nodded repeatedly. "Of course, of course! Wanwan, please, go ahead."

"The masterminds who switched me at birth and have been trying to assassinate me ever since—it’s now clear that it’s the Chameleon Clan."

Bai Wanwan’s voice was even, but it was laced with a cold killing intent. "Their goal wasn’t just to target me. They want to destroy the Life Tree to cut off the Flood Dragon Tribe’s future, causing this Super Tribe to decline and even perish. All to clear the obstacle for their so-called ’path to dragonhood.’"

Jiao Yuan had also uncovered some clues recently through interrogations and investigations, but his understanding wasn’t as clear or complete as Bai Wanwan’s.

A raging fury ignited in his eyes. "Those treacherous, cunning reptiles! How dare they scheme against my Flood Dragon Tribe!"

"So," Bai Wanwan’s gaze was like ice as she looked straight at Jiao Yuan, "my plan is an eye for an eye, blood for blood. I will annihilate the Chameleon Clan and eliminate this threat for good."

Her tone was placid, yet it carried an unquestionable resolve and a destructive power.

Without a moment’s hesitation, Jiao Yuan nodded emphatically, his voice firm and decisive. "Alright! Wanwan, if you want them annihilated, then your Father Beast will help you annihilate them! The entire Flood Dragon Tribe will be your support!"

He was not an inherently bloodthirsty or ambitious male, but right now, the rage to avenge his own daughter overrode everything else.

Bai Wanwan wasn’t surprised by his reaction and calmly laid out her plan. "Then it’s settled. I hope that you, Jiao Yuan Clan Leader, can personally select one hundred of your strongest, most loyal, and most experienced male warriors within one day. They will coordinate with my Beast Husbands to carry out this annihilation."