Chapter 1185 "The One Hidden in the Horse's Belly"
"—and you sponsored him."
Aiwass affirmed.
He looked into Grandet's eyes, as if he could see into his heart: "Because you are, 'the one hidden in the horse's belly'... right."
In fact, Aiwass did not remember Grandet's past specifically.
He only vaguely remembered that he seemed to have had a serious illness and had crawled into a horse's belly when he was a child... and then the illness was cured. The result was that he became so ugly.
"Yes, just like me."
But Grandet spoke frankly, without the slightest reservation about the matter: "Judging from the prospective priestess named Nia, Hassan had every chance of becoming truly handsome. However, due to a twist of fate, he became dark, ugly, thin, and short. You should have heard my story, right?"
"Well, he was forced to hide in a horse's belly, which resulted in his appearance being deformed... something like that."
Aiwass replied vaguely.
"That's right," Grandet nodded slowly. "My parents have incurred the wrath of their enemies—the goblins of the 'Golden Teeth' clan. They belong to the Glittering Gold faction and tend to purchase and monopolize various mining industries within the Chamber of Commerce. The Dead Eyes, on the other hand, are descended from the Trickster clan... Our business primarily involves investment and fraud."
He gave Aiwass a frank smile as he said this: "For the big clients worth maintaining, we are the best investors. Other goblins will not always give us such favorable prices. Because we understand what the future holds—"
"And if there's no future, then just turn to fraud and squeeze every last penny out of them, right?"
Aiwass chuckled.
He also knew about this - even if there was no relevant knowledge in the game, the factions of the Goblin Chamber of Commerce were not secret and could be found out with just a simple search.
Grandet didn't argue. He just smiled at Aiwass and went straight on: "We goblins have a festival called March Festival - similar to your human custom of celebrating a first birthday. The reason is that in the past, troll wizards liked to eat goblins under three months old. Therefore, surviving for three months was considered lucky... It meant that you were unlikely to be eaten in the short term, so it was a festival worth celebrating.
"During the March Festival for my sister and me, our family was cursed and poisoned. We all died—my parents, my fourteen brothers, and my twelve sisters. My sister and I were also poisoned after drinking our mother's milk.
"But my mother knew a little bit of witchcraft. She killed a horse and sewed me inside its belly."
"The horse's belly..."
Aiwass mused, "In rituals, the white horse symbolizes the midday sun, bright and warm, full of yang energy. The white horse's heart blood is said to bring the dead back to life... But didn't the killer notice that one person was missing?"
"That's the coincidence. My parents didn't announce that the babies were twins. After counting the number of people, the killer found that they matched, so he left."
Grandet narrowed his eyes. "The reason my mother chose me over my sister... was because I was quieter than she was. She was crying because she was in pain, but I didn't say a word. And I didn't make a sound until I was found, so I survived.
"Later, I asked someone... My mother's simple ritual only had a 20% chance of successfully detoxifying the poison. I was lucky, but the price I paid was a distorted face. From then on, I vowed to remain forever calm and composed. Never reveal a single flaw... and never let an enemy go."
"And before that, you discovered that you and Flame Fist were quite similar, right?"
Aiwass said.
He did not ask what became of the "Gold Teeth Family."
Grandet now stands here safely and has become the head of a branch of the Goblin Chamber of Commerce. He is almost a strong man of the fifth energy level... and has already given the answer.
"yes."
Grandet chuckled, but not much laughter could be heard: "They all survived by chance because of luck, they were the last members of their families, they all had the opportunity to become beautiful but became ugly... So after hearing his story, I decided to give him a chance.
"The resistance he joined was originally part of my faction. I offered him a chance for revenge, but the price was an 80% chance of instant death—he accepted it without hesitation and survived.
"—That's the 'Flame Fist'."
"What exactly is the Flame Fist?"
Aiwass pressed on, "This isn't Star Antimony Alchemy."
"This is blasphemous dwarven craftsmanship."
Grandet answered without reservation, "The dwarven magicians already possess the ability to create extraordinary equipment. But they have developed a completely new technology... They compress and seal the entire phantom into a piece of equipment, which then becomes a prosthetic body. Through the concept of 'connecting the prosthetic body to the body', the human soul is connected to the phantom. In this way, mortals can obtain the phantom's memories and power. The price is that they will experience illusions that only they can see... and they must communicate and interact with the phantom through these illusions."
—Sounds a bit like Johnny Silverhand.
This thought crossed Aiwas's mind.
He said slowly, "Because you survived with a 20% chance, do you intend to let him endure this trial as well?"
Grandet spread his hands. "I'm not trying to be difficult with him, but this operation involves a soul fusion, and the probability of success is inherently low. Or rather, it's because I just learned about this technique and the coincidental success rate... that I had the sudden inspiration to contact a disabled mortal across the ocean."
"This is fate. Don't you think so, sir?"
Aiwass didn't answer him, but continued to ask: "So, he became Hassan the Flame Fist?"
"He is one of the very few rebel leaders who has ever launched a successful rebellion."
Grandet nodded and said, "With my sponsorship and support, he successfully assassinated the good man and burned down the entire oasis that was destined to fail.
"Amidst that blazing fire, the story of Hassan the Flaming Fist was destined to remain unseen. He proved that good leaders could be killed, and provided an example for rebels elsewhere.
"Because of this, this level of rebellion could not be tolerated by the benevolent leaders. Many benevolent leaders in the surrounding areas sent people to round up Hassan, but Hassan evaded the roundup eight times. On the ninth time, he was finally caught.
"—and I gave him another chance."
Grandet smiled faintly. "Consider it an investment—I sent someone to intercept him and tell him that Parthia is no longer a place for him. He can kill a good leader and burn down an oasis, but he can't destroy a civilization like this. Ultimately, it's because he has no culture."
"Because he has no knowledge, he cannot understand why this is happening; because he has no culture, he cannot let others know the anger in his heart.
"So I sent him to the Narcissus Principality and used my connections to find him a mage tower master as a mentor.
"I told him to gather strength, to learn, to reflect... The remaining rebels were like firewood, burning a fire that would guide him home in the darkness. He only had one chance... If he failed next time, I would never save him.
“And now, he’s back.
"I guess he's already prepared to take this once-in-a-lifetime exam."
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(End of this chapter)
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