Chapter 119 The Woman Claiming to Be Mother

To be honest, Blaze was worried about whether the Foreigners would actually take the bait.

The Foreigners suffered from an extremely severe mental illness known as the "Growth Period." There were many triggers for this condition, but the most central one was "boredom."

Having the Foreigners constantly enter the Nemean Forest to defeat Monsters, gather materials for Enhancement, and then go back in to defeat more Monsters and gather more materials for Enhancement—repeating this cycle endlessly was undoubtedly a rather boring task.

What if it triggered the Foreigners’ mental illness?

Increasing the success rate of weapon Enhancements was the compensation Blaze came up with for the Foreigners, ensuring that those who gave up halfway would at least get something out of it.

And as for the method to increase the probability of equipment Enhancement...

He had to make a trip to Balkan City and invite out the Fire Rabbit Forger, Hade.

Blaze was escorted to the exit of the Giant Defense Line. The other vice Leaders had to go prepare the announcement for the Foreigners to see. Since Marika wasn’t good at that sort of thing, she was the one who saw him out.

At the entrance, Marika prepared to bid him farewell.

Red Dragon Marika was the Giant Defense Line’s strongest trump card, so leaving required her to take a leave of absence. During this time, several powerful Knights would be drafted from other Knight Orders to fill her vacancy.

Unfortunately, Marika’s vacation days had been completely used up while searching for Blaze. Fortunately, Blaze hadn’t actually gotten lost; he had just gone for a walk.

Blaze stopped in his tracks. He grabbed his helmet with both hands and tugged hard. Unsurprisingly, the helmet remained unappreciative and wouldn’t budge an inch.

"We can do this the easy way, or the hard way!"

Blaze transformed into a Silver Werewolf on the spot, and the helmet was blasted off.

Marika didn’t speak. Instead, she tilted her head and looked up at him, as if asking why he had taken on the form of a Werewolf.

"I figured I should use my own face when saying goodbye."

Blaze scratched the back of his head sheepishly, then slowly lowered his hand.

After a long silence, he finally spoke.

"You haven’t asked a single thing."

Why had he become a Black Beast Knight? Why could he turn into a Werewolf? Why did he know about the Beast Kings? Why had he encountered the Nemean Giant?

And what about the Soul Body beside him, who had been smiling and watching the show the whole time, striking ungraceful poses because she thought no one else could see her?

There were so many things Marika could ask, so many things she had the right to ask—so many that Blaze probably wouldn’t be able to explain them all clearly even if he talked for an entire day.

But Marika hadn’t asked a single thing, because she knew that some things would require Blaze to lie to explain them. Not wanting him to suffer the torment of deceit, she didn’t ask anything at all.

Marika reached her hands out toward Blaze. It was a gesture asking for a hug from someone taller. For Marika, who stood two meters tall, there was practically no one who could fulfill this request.

But with his Silver Werewolf Transformation, Blaze stood at 2.5 meters tall and could easily pick Marika up.

Marika wrapped her arms around Blaze’s neck, her dangling feet swaying gently.

Blaze recalled their childhood. When Marika, who hadn’t grown tall yet, hung around his neck like a swing, it was the only time she didn’t feel insecure about her height.

"Remember to come home. Don’t get lost."

"Mhm."

Right before leaving, Blaze asked a question.

"By the way, where did that apple come from?"

"Ah, a male Foreigner with a woman’s voice who claimed to be your mom asked me to pass it to you. I went looking for you that very day, but you were already gone."

"Mom?"

Blaze moved swiftly through the forest, recalling Marika’s words.

According to Marika, on the day he woke up as a Black Beast Knight, a Foreigner had given her this fruit containing Dwarf Wisdom to pass on to him.

It wasn’t strange that Marika came looking for him immediately. What was strange was the Foreigner who claimed to be his mother.

He was an orphan who had grown up relying solely on Marika. The only family in his Memory was her; he didn’t have parents. Let alone a Foreigner mother.

"How strange."

"What’s so strange about it?" Chicken, on the other hand, wasn’t surprised at all. "Foreigners often call the people they like ’baby’ or whatever."

"I see. That Foreigner has a heart full of Kindness."

The confusion about this "mother" was simply brushed aside. In fact, it was completely normal for a Foreigner to give someone an item to pass on to someone else.

This fruit containing Dwarf Wisdom definitely wasn’t meant for Marika. How could someone give Marika an item that would put her in danger! This must have been a hint from some Foreigner, telling him to deal with the Curse on the apple—or the God who had cast the Curse—before giving it to Marika.

"The One-Eyed Deity... huh?"

In the past, Blaze would probably have been terrified and uneasy. After all, that was a God—such a massive, imposing existence. But now, he was somewhat eager to try.

How strong was a God? How much HP did they have? What Skills did they possess? What powerful weapons would they drop? What impact would defeating a God have on this world?

Just thinking about it filled his chest with a burning passion.

Perhaps Foreigners shared this exact mindset, which was why they never grew tired of launching challenges time and time again.

"The One-Eyed guy possesses a terrifying ’Instant Death’ ability, just like you. But unlike the Lion, combat isn’t the only option with him."

"I say..." Blaze stopped in his tracks and looked at Chicken speechlessly. "Just how many things are you hiding from me?"

"You didn’t ask, did you?"

"So if I ask you now, can you tell me?"

Chicken remained silent for a long time, pinching her brow and groaning as she struggled for quite a while.

"I can’t tell you about the One-Eyed guy. If you don’t discover it for yourself, you’ll think that combat is the only option. And if that happens, you won’t be able to squeeze every last benefit out of the One-Eyed guy and take it for yourself."

Hearing the first half of the sentence, it sounded as if Chicken and this One-Eyed guy shared some profound connection. But hearing the second half, it sounded like the One-Eyed guy had thoroughly offended Chicken.

"Besides, if combat were the only option, you’d immediately invite the Foreigners without hesitation, right?"

That was a given. More importantly, when it came to a guy like the One-Eyed who posed a threat to Marika, he absolutely had to bring the Foreigners along to ensure the One-Eyed was dead for good.

Secondly, the Foreigners would occasionally suffer from their Growth Period, so he needed to constantly keep dangerous events on standby for emergency treatment.

Taking the Titan Giant as an example, its death had kept the Foreigners from suffering a Growth Period for four whole months—a truly great sacrifice.

"You really need to think about yourself a bit more," Chicken sighed, shaking her head.

Blaze didn’t even have to speak for Chicken to know what he was thinking, so she also knew that no matter what else she said, he wouldn’t change his mind.

Ultimately, this was because Blaze wasn’t some arrogant Savior who thought he could solve everything on his own, nor was he a greedy person who wanted to hoard all the treasures for himself.

He was just a kind-hearted boy passing by on a walk.

"However, I can give you some intel regarding the Beast Kings."

"Do you have to squeeze it out little by little like you’re constipated? You’re a bird, you know."

Blaze lowered his head helplessly. But he knew that if Chicken wasn’t telling him everything, it was definitely because his level wasn’t high enough, or his Night Watcher authority was insufficient.