Chapter 369: Perfect Response Doesn't—
Ja Sun walks out of his cabin and instantly notices something.
"An intent suppression array?" He muses in a low tone and looks down at his feet, "And this is a trap array with a link outside... hmm, will have to break the previous array to see where this is going."
But Ja Sun doesn't do that. The arrays are not meant to harm him. In fact, these basic arrays not only fail against him but anyone stronger than the creator of the array. That's why top-notch materials are required in the creation of an array as they can supplant the creator's deficiency.
Revealing his might in the array, Ja Sun's divine intent mingles with the array around him without breaking any of the rules and raises an eyebrow, "Why would Violet draw these arrays outside of my room... she's too obedient for that. Must be someone else. Ja Yin? Nah... I think she was pretty tame after we did it... but I barely remember all that."
Yawning loudly and stretching his arms, Ja Sun begins walking down the route he remembers and soon steps on the deck of the ship.
There, his eyes widen for a moment. Since his friends and family wants him to suppress his divine intent. He does so without raising a ruckus. After all, he misses them a lot and even if they might not share his sentiment, Ja Sun was never the kind to complicate his emotions unless sharing things is involved.
So, one can imagine his surprise when he comes face to face with a youth as young as 15 with a dashing face, sharp gaze, frivolous grin, and swept-back black hair. Ja Sun considers the youth dashing because he looks way too similar to him. However, his eyes don't own a viridian shade but are stark blue like sapphire crystals.
He even has HER lips.
Ja Sun watched the boy with a look of sheer... awkwardness.
"Uh... did Lana think that'll get me?" He calls out.
The boy tilts his head slightly and rubs the back of his head, "Uh... Dad? Are you alright? Mother said you are an eccentric one so I didn't want to meet you alone. I believe that a person can be crazy strong but a crazy man shouldn't be strong."
Ja Sun chuckles quietly, "Now I get that after me, Lana is the only one who can pull pranks of the most devious nature and I am not using my divine intent so you're in the clear, Xie Xan. But... let me tell you something. While only a few months passed here, I spent... thousands of years in another world. I am mentally tired. I am horny. And if I also get irritated, I will use the Golden Wardrobe ring to peg you once more."
The 'Boy' purses his lips and groans, "That's fucking unfair."
As if a layer is peeled and absorbed by the youth, another face emerges from within. A face that is more familiar to Ja Sun.
"How'd you know it was me if you didn't use your divine intent?" Xie Xan questions with a suspicious stare while Ja Sun grins, "I can always count on you to volunteer and give me reasons to have nightmares."
Both of them share a good bout of laughter at this as Ja Sun walks up and bear hugs Xie Xan who lets out a muffled 'Oof.'
"Hey? Are you alright?" Xie Xan questions hurriedly, fearful that his good looks finally attracted the wrong attention, "Remember! Oscar is the most handsome out of us three. Fuck him instead!"
"Hah," Ja Sun pulls back and smirks, "I just missed you all."
"Why not gift me another spirit bone then?" Xie Xan chuckles.
"No duration of parting will make me miss you guys THAT much," The Beast God scoffs in return.
"But I'm not the only one in on this," Xie Xan reveals while using the Golden Wardrobe to cover himself to look like a youth similar to Ja Sun once again, "Bibi Dong made us fully experience the texture of the skin, eyeballs, and other stuff to form such copies. Na'er's first plan was to make you think that years passed before you got out of that room and your kid grew up already."
"That's good," Ja Sun nods. It's a ruthless prank. The kind he loves.
"But it wouldn't have worked if I don't suppress my Divine Intent," He adds.
"We all thought the same but your wife... wives, felt that you'd play along nonetheless. I guess, even with your claim that you spent thousands of years in another world... you didn't change much."
"What's the point of telling me all this?" Ja Sun questions curiously.
Xie Xan points behind Ja Sun and he suddenly senses many others appearing behind him. While his divine intent is suppressed, his other physical senses aren't so weak that he cannot sense others approaching.
It means they fully hid from his senses.
'Ah Yin's domain,' Ja Sun smirks and turns around only to find...
Four Ah Yins standing behind him. Not only them, but Oscar was also leaning against the railing beside them. Hu Lana and Jun'er, well into their Third trimesters, stand in front of an equally 'large' group of Ah Yins.
Snow, Ja Yin, Bi Ji, Zi Ji, and others stand behind as grinning spectators while Xiao Wu holds up Xie Yue in her arms and watch with an eager expression.
"Hey guys," Ja Sun smiles and looks at Violet, "You got better at arrays but not as much as you could have been under my teachings. We'll train more than before once we hit land... wait..."
Ja Sun looks around and questions, "Why did we move in from the Sea Spatial Artifact to Ah Yin's Blue Silver Forest?"
"Oh, that's because—" Ja Yin is about to answer when Hu Lana scoffs and speaks up, "We'll have time to share stories. Now listen here!"
"I am," Ja Sun shrugs, "You're getting harder to ignore like the time you got pregnant with Xie Yue."
Rolling her eyes and much more resilient to taunts during her pregnancy now that she's up to her second one, Hu Lana points at the four Ah Yin behind her, "You can get out of this test if you just tell us what you have planned for the rest of the voyage!"
"I'm sorry, as I said, my memory is a bit... blurred. What do you mean?" Ja Sun questions.
"You said that there is a great prank on the ship waiting for us! Tell us what is it and you'll be free from this test. And honestly, this isn't even my work," with a prideful smirk, the pregnant femme fatale reveals, "My prank would have continued off of Oscar becoming your second kid from Bibi Dong but we'll forget about that for now. Ja Yin came up with this test. Can you find the real Ah Yin?"
Continuing, she adds, "Of course, tell us your plan and we stop this right now!"
"Hey, I just wanted to show Ah Yin's overrated," Ja Yin shrugs and smirks from behind.
"Yin's gonna whoop your ass when I identify the real her," Ja Sun rolls his eyes. He remembered incorrectly. Ja Yin was and never will be tame. There is too much of him in her...
Ja Yin scoffs and crosses her arms while Ja Sun, too, remembers what he had in plan for the group. Honestly, it should have been the focus of the trip but many things cropped up and he is infinitely glad that Hu Lana is still obsessed over it.
So, with a grin, Ja Sun waves Hu Lana away, "Step aside. My plan is too damn great to let go of now. You all are in a world of... hehe, I won't speak of it. But I can say only Xie Yue will be exempted! Don't look at me like that, Wu, even you're gonna regret stepping on this ship!"
With a manic bout of laughter that colors him more villainous than Qian Xunji could ever hope to be for this group, Ja Sun enjoys the shift of everyone's expression.
Just what has he planned?
As expected, only Xie Yue brushed past this topic and blinks, "Can we go out to play in Ocean again? This place is boring... Mom doesn't let me leave!"
"Because it's dangerous, darling," Hu Lana sighs and Xie Xan nods, "Listen to your mother."
"It's because your parents aren't like me. Just wait, your favorite uncle will bring you out," Ja Sun shrugs.
"Grandpa Daoliu is my favorite!" Yue sticks his tongue out.
"You know what... that's acceptable," Ja Sun nods smugly. His current master, unlike his previous one, deserves every bit of recognition from young ones.
"Wait... even Grandmaster falls under your plan?" Jun'er questions.
"Damn right," He nods.
"Even me? I'm new here," Feng Liu gulps. Ja Sun's absence did not mean others stopped talking about him and the more they talked about their 'happy' memories together... the more she came to realize that Ja Sun is a menace to man and beast alike. Just Bi Ji's story of how hard Ja Sun scammed her could make everyone else's blood run cold!
As expected, Ja Sun gives Feng Liu a contemptuous glare, "New? Bitch, you're old as hell!"
"Ehm," Oscar clears his throat, "Before you begin, Bibi Dong wanted me to relay to you the rules of this game. The prizes and punishments, too—"
"The rules are I have to not only find Ah Yin but identify also others acting as her. I cannot use my Divine Intent and to make it even harder, most likely, they cannot speak anything nor can I ask them any questions."
Looking at Oscar, Ja Sun waggles his brows, "Was I off the mark?"
"You just added one rule yourself," he shrugs and chuckles, "But we'll include all the rules. Now about the prize—"
"I'm the prize," Ja Sun replies, "And I'm the punishment."
"Way off the mark," Oscar snorts another chuckle but Ja Sun shrugs and looks at the four of them, "Yeah? Well, they know how it goes. I'm back, after all."
But of course, those with him behind closed doors know how much Ja Sun loves to get ganged on. Yet, none of them show any reaction and keep a stoic look, giving away nothing.
"You can still just tell us," Hu Lana suggests like the gentle hand she loves to act.
"I had many other plans for the moment I got back," Ja Sun chuckles, "But... this is way better than I ever imagined. Thousands of years would dull anyone. Let's see," he narrows his gaze and towers atop the left most pregnant 'Ah Yin.'
"One thing about Ah Yin is that she never enjoys getting pushed down as much as you, she loves pushing others down," Ja Sun quietly whispers into her ear and then pecks her cheek, "Isn't that right, Erlong?"
The woman still says nothing but Ja Sun doesn't stop and walks to the next person to the right, "And she's far from being the most ambitious like you," he kisses her forehead, "But I love Ah Yin the way she is. And I love you for more than your ambitions, Bibi."
But not the one to remain sincere for more than a second, he whispers, "And I'd recognize your ass in any shape and form."
Walking to the next Ah Yin, Ja Sun doesn't stop and continues to the right-most Ah Yin, "And Ah Yin can never be as gentle as you but damn it, she can't be as kinky as you, too."
Hugging this one, Ja Sun whispers, "Isn't that right, Yuehua? The stuff you get the hots for is damning."
This Ah Yin breaks character for a moment by blushing in embarrassment. But it's fine now. The moment Ja Sun skipped one Ah Yin, the group knew that Ja Sun was either aware of who's who or he had just gotten a lot more overconfident.
After all, only the group of four Ah Yins knew who the real one is since even the rest weren't told the truth.
Pulling back, Ja Sun walks back to the left one and reveals a proud grin.
"So? Did I get that right, too?"
This Ah Yin stares at him silently for a couple of seconds until she reveals a smile, "I never doubted you for a second but you being able to identify others does surprise me. Almost makes me jealous."
The other trio smiles as their 'skin' peel away. Their pregnant bellies, too, are nothing but a construct of Golden Wardrobe ring to feel like a pregnant belly.
Yuehua, Bibi Dong, and Erlong. Each of them had a short smile while Erlong questions, "How did you know?"
"Because only Ah Yin is carrying my child," Ja Sun leans forward and holds the real Ah Yin before hugging her gently yet firmly.
He did have many things planned but just this moment... just this interaction satisfied him quite a bit.
"And only Ah Yin makes the shittiest jokes."
Realizing what he means, Ah Yin scoffs, "You'll never let me live that down, right?"
"That's one thing even death will never make me forget so... no," Ja Sun laughs and questions, "Where is Master? Is he still sleeping?"
"Yep," She mumbles and hugs him closer, "But... focus. This ain't about him."
Meanwhile, farthest from that, Violet suddenly feels something off.
She created three arrays.
A trap array that would inform them that Ja Sun has woken up and reveals to them that they need to start their act.
A suppression array that suppresses Ja Sun's intent.
And an alert array that would notify them if Ja Sun broke the second array.
Yet... she suddenly senses something else.
'And array... that overrides it all?' Violet's eyes widen and she suddenly hears Ja Sun's divine intent.
"I did say you would have gotten better if I was here."
She looks at Ja Sun and sees him winking at her.
"You can tell them... but you can also choose to be quiet and earn a well-deserved training session."
Of course, Violet is more accepting of the incentive and lowers her head with a giddy yet embarrassed smirk.
Now, Ja Sun does love all his lovers but...
He did spend thousands of years away.
This, however, does not stop him from giving each of them a satisfactory response because deep down Ja Sun understands that they will not understand what he went through and he hopes they never do.
It's like a simple man coming home from a job and instead of offering him a cold or hot beverage, his wife decides to throw a— Do you really love me or football?
Now, an average man only has two options usually.
Lie and ruin his game.
Be honest and still ruin his game.
But Ja Sun is not an average man.
And even if his wives are pretty chill, they can pull stunts like this. Nobody is perfect, after all.
Yet... one can still cheat and produce a response close to perfection without getting caught, right?
That's why Ja Sun humored others before getting down to the main task.
He was setting an array to override Violet's work... through his feet and divine intent alone.
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Alternate Title: The Prize and the Punishment!; Daddy's Home!
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A/N: I admit... I don't watch football but anime...