Chapter 145: The Ultimate Destruction

The afternoon when "ocelotl" lost all contact.

After school that day, as Navali walked out of the gates of the elementary school near the Couderville neighborhood, a man grabbed him by the shoulder.

"Get in the car."

The man had deep-set eye sockets and a lean figure. He looked at Navali with his thin lips pressed tightly together, appraising him as if he were an object.

Right behind him, parked by the side of the road, was a Cadillac.

Navali drew a breath and his body tensed momentarily, but he quickly calmed down.

For he saw the man pull out a handgun. Though the muzzle was pointed downward, it radiated a chillingly terrifying deterrent force. Navali obediently turned around, doing his best to control the terror in his heart, and followed the man into the car.

It was the back seat.

Aside from Navali, there was another man sitting in the back.

The man's facial features bore a distinctly strong Mexican cast, looking somewhat familiar to Navali. And the moment he realized the origin of that familiarity, Navali suddenly understood why he had appeared in this car today.

That familiar cast of features was precisely the characteristic he felt in his own facial structure every time he looked in the mirror.

It was a connection rooted in blood.

The car had already started, the windows rolled up, and the interior was dead silent.

The current head of the Firmend family looked at Navali, murmuring thoughtfully to himself:

"You are my brother's child."

Navali cautiously tilted his head, unsure whether he was nodding or shaking it. He had no idea how he ought to respond.

"—Yet, you actually took the name 'Evans'."

The man frowned.

Navali was even less certain of how he should reply.

So he lowered his brow, sat beside the man, and remained silent.

The man's gaze swept down.

"Let me introduce myself. My name is Gerardo Firmend. The name means 'one who rules with a spear.' My brother—your father, Patricio—and I were very close. But when we were very young, our family split into two branches: one stayed in Mexico, enjoying a portion of the ancestral estate and a peaceful life; while the other believed that Mexico would eventually become a paradise for drug lords, that medium-sized family gangs like ours would simply be swallowed up, and that our living environment would only deteriorate further. That branch decided to head to America, forging our family's future within this diverse melting pot.

"The outcome of events is abundantly clear; it goes without saying which side failed and which succeeded. When my brother and his subordinates were skinned, had their hearts carved out, and were hacked into dozens of pieces in Acapulco, the 'Firmends' of America had already carved out their own sphere of influence, making waves in this small city. Although it provoked the vigilance and hostility of the original masters of this place, the 'Evans family,' we never believed we would fall."

Gerardo stared at Navali with indifferent eyes, radiating an astonishing aura—a commanding ambition and heroism no less inferior to that of Bailubik.

"...I heard about my brother's fate in Mexico. After we stabilized ourselves in America, I sent men to handle the matter specifically. Although we were unable to completely eradicate the faction that killed him, we successfully struck down its leadership and returned the perpetrators of that slaughter with an even more cruel method—I also heard that my brother left behind a widow and an unborn child. I wanted to bring that child back, raise him properly, and make him a part of Firmend's future. But regrettably, I could not find him.

"Now, more than ten years later, I have finally heard news of that child—yet an even more regrettable thing has occurred. That child was not drifting on some street corner; he entered the 'Evans family,' bore that disgusting surname, and Bailubik has even been secretly and extensively publicizing the matter, hoping to use it to undermine Firmend's core status. Navali, what are your thoughts on all of this?"

Meeting Gerardo's gaze, Navali felt somewhat at a loss.

The words spoken by this man echoed in his mind, and many things were coming to light for the first time—such as Bailubik secretly and extensively publicizing the matter.

Yet this man's attitude left no room for hesitation; Gerardo continued to press him with his gaze:

"Navali, your current status has already caused no small impact on the Firmend family. Many factions gathered outside the Firmend family harbor misgivings because of this, wondering if Firmend might use you to make peace with the Evans family and betray them. Our centripetal force as Mexicans has been compromised—however, there is still one way: to have you return to the Firmend family, to change your surname back to Firmend. That way, our cause can continue forward, and you can also fulfill your father's dying wish, once again becoming a part of the family... What do you think, Navali? What do you think of this proposal?"

Navali met the man's gaze.

The words his mother and Bailubik had once spoken surfaced in his mind.

All he had to do was say a single word: "Yes."

However, Navali felt a profound sense of exhaustion.

Countless faces flashed through his mind—Gerardo before him, the father he had never met, his mother and Bailubik... and finally resting upon his grandmother's aged visage. Navali murmured:

"...Actually, it's all the same."

"Hmm?"

A look of astonishment appeared on Gerardo's face.

"What is all the same?"

Navali lowered his head and said with immense fatigue:

"Whether it's Evans or Firmend... whichever surname it is, it's all the same. I only feel that I am 'Navali,' yet I don't know why I have been dragged into such a vortex. Gerardo... I suppose I should call you Uncle. Uncle Gerardo, for me, all I want is a quiet room, a computer, and to live my life like that—that would be the best thing possible. If I could also bring my grandmother over, or return to her side, that would be the greatest life of all.

"I don't know why there are so many things, why there are so many complicated relationships... Is this the direction the great 'Tezcatlipoca' is revealing to me? But why do I feel increasingly lost?"

Navali sighed, and haltingly, he finally managed to voice all the thoughts in his heart.

Yet upon hearing his words, Gerardo fell silent.

"I understand what you mean."

After a long silence, Gerardo shifted his gaze toward the window. He took Navali's hand, his heavy hands gripping Navali's with exceptional warmth.

"...I understand what you mean."

Gerardo repeated.

"However, come and take a look with me, go and see the Firmend family. At least, this is a matter intimately tied to your father and your bloodline."

Was this meant to signify giving up on dragging him into the vortex at the center of these events?

Navali felt a wave of relief, his heart filled with gratitude toward Gerardo.

He nodded.

The Cadillac drove smoothly, arriving before a newly constructed building in this manner.

Gerardo took Navali's hand and stepped down from the car. As they walked, the people nearby cast sidelong glances, throwing curious or startled looks at Navali.

Navali felt quite unaccustomed to such gazes, so he simply kept his eyes fixed tightly on the path right in front of his feet, following Gerardo all the way inward.

Passing through the corridor.

Walking down the passage.

Until a great hall appeared before them.

In the very center of the hall stood a massive round table. Seven of the seats were already occupied, but one seat remained empty.

Gerardo led Navali to that single vacant seat, sat down, and guided Navali to a small chair beside it, signaling him to sit.

And the latter, full of nervous dread, sat down right beside Gerardo.

"How could this happen..."

Navali never expected that he would suddenly find himself thrust into such a scene, and seated in a place that clearly held immense importance.

What on earth did Gerardo want to do?

Navali shifted uneasily in his seat, yet ultimately did not dare to run away, because the hall was filled with hostile people, each with bulging waists, looking as though they would shoot him on the spot the moment he made any suspicious movement.

He dared not speak nor make a move, able only to sit blankly beside Gerardo.

Yet the others had no such reservations. Farther down the round table, a middle-aged woman with prominent cheekbones raised her chin toward Navali.

"Gerardo, is this the little brat? The fellow who has brought shame upon our Firmend family?"

The few others also revealed cold expressions, casting malicious gazes upon Navali that caused his body to grow increasingly rigid.

"Gerardo? Bringing him to the location of the family gathering, are you truly intending to make peace with Bailubik Evans? Do you wish to become a dog cowering beneath his feet?"

Another middle-aged man with a gloomy expression also said coldly.

"I recall proposing earlier that we simply kill this brat, but you didn't agree at the time... Could it be that you still intended to bring him back?"

Another older, dark-skinned man stared directly at Navali with murder in his eyes, narrowing them as he spoke.

Navali's entire body had completely tensed up. He felt like a mouse surrounded by a pack of cats, able only to tremble in fear with no escape route whatsoever.

And at that moment, Gerardo finally spoke.

"Claudia, Isaiah, Javier..."

He ticked off the names of the people before him one by one, a smile gradually blooming on his face.

"This is my brother's son, Navali. This is his sole bloodline, representing the continuation of our family's direct lineage."

Navali clenched his teeth, stealing a glance at Gerardo, his eyes filled with respect and reliance—Uncle Gerardo truly was a good man after all, entirely worthy of trust, protecting him even when faced with a siege from all sides.

Navali's heart was filled with gratitude, and he even felt a trace of regret—if he had listened to Uncle Gerardo and stayed in the Firmend family, would things be better? But upon a second thought, recalling the computer in his bedroom and the boundless network world that felt like the domain of gods, Navali extinguished that notion.

And the words Gerardo was speaking continued.

"...Patricio is my most respected brother. Although his later choices were wrong, that does not detract from the brilliance of the first half of his life—"

"Enough—"

The woman named Claudia interrupted Gerardo with an expression of annoyance.

"I no longer wish to hear your words of brotherly affection—Gerardo, I only want to know why you brought this child to the gathering site. Could it be that you want him to return to the family? The existence of this fellow has already caused no small impact on Firmend's status as the core. If you intend to bring him back, you had better prepare yourself for turbulence—and it may even cause you to lose your position as patriarch."

Gerardo allowed Claudia to interrupt his speech, waiting until she had finished entirely before continuing:

"Have Navali return to the family? Oh, as for that, I have already asked him—I was prepared, should Navali return to the family, to command him to wash away the reputational damage he previously brought to the family with his own hands—for instance, secretly concealing a handgun, waiting for the right moment to gun down Bailubik Evans; or carrying a bomb into the residential district at the end of camphor tree road to wipe out the 'Evans family' cadres in one fell swoop—

"—If he could accomplish such things, it would prove that the Firmend bloodline flowing within him was still shining. In that case, welcoming him back into the family would not be entirely impossible—unfortunately, this child refused."

Gerardo cast a glance at Navali, who had frozen in dazed shock, and abruptly, his gaze turned intensely stern, resembling the chill of late autumn.

Then, he turned back, speaking with solemn severity to the senior cadres of the Firmend family:

"—Since this child is cowardly on this point—it signifies that he no longer possesses the possibility of turning over a new leaf; he has defiled the Firmend family bloodline left to him by his brother. Since that is the case, let his blood wash away the malicious impact he has caused—this is why I brought him here."

Gerardo's words entered his ears.

The world that had moments ago offered a warm refuge transformed in the blink of an eye into a black hell.

His eardrums vibrated heavily.

In a fraction of a second, Navali felt his lungs contract in panic.

Trembling all over, he leaped down from his chair. But the very moment he jumped down and attempted to flee, a pair of hands wrapped around him from behind and clamped over his mouth.

The next second, Navali's vision went black, and he passed out cold.

...

That very night, stripped of the skin on most of his face, his chest dissected, and his heart exposed to the air, a dying Navali was placed at the front gate of the "Evans family" residential district.

Upon learning of this, Bailubik Evans and the entire "Evans family" from top to bottom felt themselves subjected to a heavy and intolerable provocation.

Consequently, the "Evans family" and the Mexicans erupted into a fierce conflict within the city of Westia—two criminal syndicates, using Navali as the ignition point, engaged in an unprecedented direct confrontation. The intensity of the event surpassed the expectations of both leaderships, spiraling in an increasingly uncontrollable direction.

This incident lasted for over a year and several months, ultimately resulting in the deaths of hundreds, injuries to hundreds more, and over a thousand people thrown into prison. It directly led to the decline of both criminal syndicates, and the city of Westia was fractured into dozens of organizations large and small. Because the events in Westia were excessively vicious, triggering panic across America, Bailubik Evans was thoroughly exposed, flagged by the FBI, severed from all connections, and vanished without a trace thereafter.

As for the Firmend family led by Gerardo and other Mexican criminal syndicates, the majority of their core members were arrested and sentenced to prison terms ranging from decades to centuries.

As for the initial instigator, that child—Navali—was forgotten at the edge of the world after this series of successive earthquake-like events, with no one caring anymore whether he lived or died.