MIGHT AS WELL BE OP

Chapter 716: Shoes

Vega sighed softly, her chest rising and falling as she contemplated everything she had just learned. She understood her parents’ plight well enough, yet her imagination could not help but run wild.

She pictured the ordeals Klaus and Amara must have endured, searching across worlds, delving into perilous ruins, facing unimaginable trials, all in pursuit of something, anything, that might give her an advantage. Deep down, she was certain their quest had not been gentle.

They must have fought battles that toppled empires, perhaps even reduced entire planets to ash in their relentless determination to secure her future. But she didn’t ask. She knew there were truths that were better left unspoken, burdens too heavy to weigh down the present moment.

Her parents had gone to extraordinary lengths for her, two decades of sacrifice.

For twenty years, she had lived a life of relative ease. She had smiled without a care, laughed freely, taken vacations to beautiful planets alongside her best friend Veronica, and squandered countless hours in idle leisure. She had indulged in youth while they carried a responsibility she had never even glimpsed.

Meanwhile, her parents had done none of these things. For them, there had been no rest, no reprieve. Every moment of their lives since her birth had been devoted to one thing alone: her happiness and her future.

As these thoughts rippled through her, she noticed a subtle change in the air around them. It grew heavier, tinged with disappointment as Klaus and Amara admitted their failure, that despite all their efforts, she might still be limited to awakening only the Supreme Human Bloodline.

Then, just as quickly, Vega banished the somber mood with the curve of her lips. She refused to let the atmosphere remain so heavy. “Well,” she said lightly, her eyes gleaming with mischief, “it doesn’t really matter. Even if I awaken only the Supreme Human Bloodline, at least I’ll finally be more talented than Anthony.”

Her smile curled into a playful smirk as she turned her gaze toward the white-haired young man seated beside her. Anthony sat there as he always did, handsome, composed, and maddeningly handsome, as if he did not exist within the same tense chamber as the rest of them.

Vega had long known the truth, though she rarely admitted it aloud: Anthony was more talented than her. In fact, throughout her entire life, she had never met anyone who even came close to matching her natural talent and abilities, anyone but him. Not only had he matched her; he had surpassed her in nearly every regard. To make matters worse, he commanded a group of ten subordinates whose talents rivaled even hers, a fact that had baffled her at first until she eventually dismissed it as one of those unfathomable oddities that surrounded him.

Now, she let her smirk linger on him, challenging him without words. Anthony merely returned her look with a calm, gentle smile, offering no retort. His silence only emphasized his standing.

Klaus’s voice broke the moment. He exhaled before saying, “Sigh… I don’t think that will be possible.”

Both Amara and Vega turned toward him in unison, their eyes narrowing, silently demanding an explanation.

“Well,” Klaus continued, his voice measured, “Anthony possesses the Perfect-rank Human Bloodline.”

The words landed like a thunderclap. Silence descended instantly, thick and suffocating. Amara and Vega both froze in disbelief.

Vega’s expression twisted into incredulity. “You have to be kidding me. This isn’t the time for jokes, Dad,” she said flatly, almost demanding denial.

But Klaus did not answer with words. He simply shook his head slowly, gravely, confirming what he had said.

Amara’s face changed slightly. She had never once suspected such a thing. The Perfect Bloodline, so rare it bordered on the mythical, and Anthony, of all people, possessed it. She struggled to comprehend it, her mind spinning with questions. ‘Where did he obtain it? How? From whom?’ But even as her thoughts spiraled, she stopped herself, unwilling to tumble further into speculation.

Vega’s sharp gaze turned on Anthony, her voice cutting through the silence. “Do your parents also possess the Perfect or even the Primordial Human Bloodline?”

Anthony sighed softly at her question before shaking his head. “No,” he answered, his voice calm, “but just like Klaus and Amara, I wouldn’t want to bore you with the details.”

Klaus interjected again, his tone firm, his words almost cruel in their bluntness. “One of the reasons I said you wouldn’t be able to surpass Anthony, even with a Supreme-rank bloodline, is this: back in his days at the Omni Peak Academy, Anthony didn’t yet possess the Perfect Bloodline. Even then, he was already more talented than you. So don’t set your hopes too high.”

His words were like salt poured into an open wound. Vega turned her eyes on Anthony once more, but now there was no playful smirk, only the dawning realization that he was, perhaps, a monster wrapped in human skin. She did not even want to imagine the leap in talent he had gained after awakening the Perfect Bloodline.

Yet what none of them knew, neither Klaus, nor Amara, nor Vega herself, was that Anthony’s so-called “boost” had never been a boost at all. His talent had always been Limitless, a concept beyond augmentation or improvement. The Perfect Bloodline had changed nothing fundamental within his talent. His talent had already surpassed what could be measured.

But Anthony said none of this. To reveal such a truth would sound arrogant, unbelievable. They would assume he was boasting, exaggerating his own worth. Better, then, to remain silent.

And so he did, smiling faintly, calm as a still pond.

“Tsk,” Vega clicked her tongue in mock annoyance. “At this rate, I might actually start believing the rumors about you. Heaven’s illegitimate child. Heaven’s favorite child.” Her voice was laced with irony, but the titles she spoke of were very real, names people had whispered of Anthony since he was only fifteen years old.

“Whatever,” she added with a pout that was half-serious and half-playful. “I’ll just awaken the Primordial Human Bloodline myself and surpass you.”

Her declaration, childishly defiant yet full of spirit, lightened the atmosphere. The corner of Klaus’s lips twitched, and even Amara’s expression softened. Anthony himself chuckled softly, the tension in the room easing.

“I’d advise you to give up chasing unrealistic goals,” Anthony replied in a calm, jesting tone. “I’d hate to see you heartbroken when you realize you can’t catch up.”

“Hmph. Talk to me again when you’ve upgraded your bloodline to Primordial rank,” Vega shot back, her confidence unshaken. Her certainty was so absolute it bordered on arrogance, but it was that same confidence that defined her.

Anthony only shook his head, saying nothing more.

“When exactly will the bloodline awakening begin?” Vega asked after a pause, her tone thoughtful once more.

“We don’t know,” Amara answered honestly. “It could happen anytime, from the very start of tomorrow until its end.”

Vega nodded slowly. Her gaze drifted back to Anthony, her eyes narrowing ever so slightly. “You don’t seem surprised by any of this,” she observed.

Anthony’s lips curved into a knowing smile. “That’s because Klaus already told me everything,” he admitted casually. “During the… bonding moment we shared.”

Vega blinked, staring at him for a long second. She didn’t press, didn’t scold, didn’t even feel betrayed. Instead, she understood. Anthony had been placed in an impossible position, sworn to secrecy about a truth that wasn’t his to tell. And honestly, if she had been in his shoes, she couldn’t guarantee she would have acted any differently.

So she said nothing more, simply accepting the silence that followed.