Road to Mastery: A LitRPG Apocalypse

Chapter 443: Reunion

“BIG BRO!” a brorilla shouted, shooting into space.

“Brock!” Jack exclaimed. Part of his suppressed feelings erupted. Warmth appeared in his heart. With his brother by his side, the world was not as dark anymore.

The two men met in the vacuum and hugged tightly. Jack could feel Brock’s disbelief, his shock, his excitement. He’d thought Jack dead—how could he not be relieved?

“Brock!” Jack exclaimed again, with pleasant surprise. “You’ve grown!”

A year ago, Brock had been almost at Jack’s height. He’d now grown to seven feet tall, with bulging muscles and dark fur. He’d resembled a gymonkey in childhood, but he’d now become an almost fully grown brorilla.

“How!?” Brock asked in a deep, emotional voice. “How are you alive? They said they killed you. I felt the connection severed!”

“I’ll tell you all about it, bro. In short, they forced me into the Animal Abyss, which turned out to be another world entirely. That’s why the connection was severed. But I meditated, repaired my Dao, and now I’m back.”

Brock looked up with bright eyes. “You are alive!” he repeated, unable to believe this. “Wait. What do you mean you repaired your Dao?”

Jack’s eyes suddenly darkened. Of course. Using his son as a hostage was a shameful act—nobody would publicize it, and Brock hadn’t been there to watch it happen.

Brock sensed the darkness in Jack’s heart. He was confused. This was the same darkness he also contained, but his came from the desire to get revenge over his fallen big brother. What reason could Jack have to feel the same?

He did not speak anymore. He led Jack into the Trampling Ram, filled with familiar faces, both old and new.

“You guys…” Jack said, his voice dripping with emotion. “You are all here. Salin, Nauja, Bomn, Vashter… What is this, a reunion?”

“Hehe.” Salin chuckled. “We couldn’t sit still after they said you were dead. We had to give them a piece of our mind!”

“The Trampling Ram answered the call,” Bomn said, bringing a fist in front of his heart. “You are part of this crew. Avenging you was our duty.”

“You didn’t have to worry us so much…” Nauja added, her eyes smiling with relief.

Jack smiled back. Even after everyone thought he was dead, they still remembered him. They genuinely cared. What a unique feeling.

“Thank you,” he said. “It’s good to be back.”

“We missed you,” Brock said. His voice was careful. “We are safe here. We are together. Tell us what happened.”

Jack shook his head. “How about you go first?”

Brock nodded, then took a deep breath. “After you were gone, I… I was lost for a while. My heart was cracked. You are important to me. I lost my way, but I found it again after meditating on brohood. For us warriors, death is a natural event—the best we can do is keep moving forward, carrying the torch of our fallen brothers.”

Jack listened quietly. He noticed that Brock’s speech had reached fluency—even better than most humans he knew. At the same time, he was sad. “I put you through a lot, brother… I’m sorry.”

“Don’t worry. It’s enough that you returned,” Brock replied. “After I recovered from the shock, I decided to take on your mantle. I vowed to destroy the Animal Kingdom and protect Earth. Fate led us to the Trampling Ram, and the five of us embarked on revenge. In the past year, we have decimated the Animal Kingdom operations and outposts, even killing two C-Grade Enforcers. I know it’s not much, but the Hand of God is also after us so we’re forced to move carefully. I’m growing stronger. Soon, I will be able to face their B-Grades.”

Jack blinked. He took another look at Brock. He hadn’t noticed it at first, but the aura rising from his body had evolved. In the span of a single year, Brock had developed two additional Dao Fruits, reaching the seven-fruit boundary. He was now a late C-Grade—given his power, dealing with any peak C-Grade of the Animal Kingdom should be a piece of cake.

“You’ve surpassed me!” Jack exclaimed with pride. “I’m only at five fruits myself!”

“Cultivation is only the foundation.” Brock chuckled. “You are stronger than me still.”

Jack smiled. “So you guys turned into terrorists?”

“Guerilla warfare,” Nauja said. “Like the time you were in Hell. We strike quickly and decisively, then teleport away. The losses we’ve caused to the Kingdom are steeper than Brock implied—and we couldn’t have done it without the crew of the Trampling Ram.”

This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.

“I’m proud of you guys,” Jack said, looking around. This had been a year of progress for everyone. Brock had reached the late C-Grade, Salin and Nauja were at the very peak of the D-Grade, and Bomn had also reached the middle D-Grade. Even Vashter, the weakest member of the team, had broken into the D-Grade.

This was a manifestation of the principle that one’s environment affected the person. When Jack first met Vashter, that mace-wielding feshkur, he’d been a middle E-Grade with little hope for the future. However, in later years, Vashter had been dragged through one disaster after the other, adventuring with people whose vision reached beyond the Milky Way galaxy.

Now, that once-mediocre feshkur had become an immortal—the same Grade as Captain Dordok.

Vashter caught Jack’s gaze and grinned. “This is all because of you,” he said. “Back in the day, I used to despise you after you lied to us and caused Achilles’s death and Captain Dordok’s capture. Now, I have to admit…my vision was too narrow. You are such a great man that your passage naturally leaves waves for the rest of us to weather. If we can, we emerge greater than before. If we can’t, we perish…but I understand now that it is not your fault.”

Jack blinked. Vashter had turned into a bit of a fanboy, excusing some of Jack’s past failures, but that was okay. Everyone could use a role model.

“I guess I have to tell you my side of the story as well,” he said, sighing. His mood dropped like a stone in a well. “Ah, but before we start, check this out, Brock. I got you a gift.”

He reached into his space ring and grabbed a simple-looking staff. It looked to be made of wood, yet it shimmered slightly as if inlaid with gold. The moment Brock’s eyes fell on the staff, he couldn’t pull them off.

“This is the Goldenwood Staff,” Jack explained, raising the staff so everyone could take a good look. “It used to be the weapon of an ancient A-Grade. Now, it’s yours. You’ve needed one since Baron Longform broke the Staff of Stone, right?”

Only now did Brock manage to speak. “Good staff,” he said. His hand wrapped around the body of the staff as if by itself, twirling the weapon around and getting a feel for it. He nodded again. “Good staff,” he repeated. “Thanks, bro. This means a lot. But where did you find it?”

Jack smiled sadly. “You’ll see. Let’s take a seat first. This will not be pleasant.”

The others exchanged worried glances but did as he said. Only Brock, who had sensed Jack’s darkness, suspected the nature of what was to come.

Jack told them everything. From the moment they separated near Hell, he spoke about his chase through space until he reached the Animal Abyss. He told them how he broke through again and again, using all sorts of methods to eventually hide inside, hoping for a miracle.

This next part wasn’t easy for him, so he narrated it quickly. How Artus Emberheart had revealed Jack’s son, forcing him to surrender, then killed Eric regardless. How Jack had gone mad and overdrawn himself to escape. How his Dao had cracked.

By this point, the starship had gone deathly silent. Everyone listened with disbelief. Even Brock was surprised—he knew something bad had happened, but he never expected it to be this tragic.

Nauja had covered her mouth with her hands, shivering. The moment Jack’s words stopped ringing, she jumped up and rushed to hug him. “Oh my God, Jack, I’m so sorry! I have no words. I’m so, so sorry…”

Jack wanted to protest. Yet, the moment another person’s warmth reached him, he almost cracked. He hadn’t realized how badly he needed a hug for the past year. Silently, he hugged back, and Nauja stayed there until he relaxed his embrace. Only then did she slowly back away.

“How are you?” Brock asked.

Jack sighed. “As you can imagine. Terribly…but I have recovered a bit. I can think again. As soon as I have my revenge, I will be fine.”

A complex look emerged on Brock’s face, but he didn’t reply.

“I’m sorry, man,” Salin said, placing a hand on Jack’s shoulder. “Nobody should have to experience that. Stay strong. Don’t lose yourself.”

Jack chuckled with surprise. “That’s pretty sane for you to say.”

“Of course. I’m insane, not an asshole.”

“The death of a child is something I have experienced as well,” Bomn added with his sonorous voice. “It was the worst period of my life. I was deeply scarred, and even now, I have not fully recovered… I cannot imagine what you’re going through. I just hope you eventually find your way out of the darkness. Don’t be hard on yourself.”

Jack smiled. “Thank you for your kind words. I’m fine.”

Nobody responded further, so Jack continued. He spoke about how he entered the black hole as a last resort, partially expecting—and maybe hoping—to die, then unexpectedly emerged in a new world. He described the Black Hole World and its people, their plight and unique perspective on life.

He skimmed over the year he spent there, focusing more on the world than his personal journey of recovery. Finally, he repaired his Dao, furthered his understandings in all his Daos, left the Black Hole World and pocketed it, then killed the middle B-Grade Ancestor before coming over to meet them.

“You killed a middle B-Grade?!” Salin exclaimed. “Man, can you be any more awesome? You’re like a fairy tale hero at this point!”

“I’m just a man trying his best,” Jack replied. “Well, that was everything that happened to me. I know it was a lot to take in, but… It happened. Let’s try to move on.”

“I don’t even know where to start,” Nauja said, shaking her head. “The Black Hole World, your power…you… It’s all so unexpected. It’s just… Jack… I know you have a grip on things, but I just hope… Don’t fall into the darkness. Please.”

“I’m fine,” Jack repeated, a little more solidly this time. Talking about this issue made him uncomfortable. Even thinking about it was difficult, let alone discussing it. “I did not mention all those so we had something to talk about, but so we can be on the same page. I will handle myself. I got this. The way I need you to support me is by helping me get revenge. Are you with me?”

Brock’s stare remained steady, not betraying his inner thoughts. The other four exchanged glances. “Of course we are,” Salin replied. “Till death do us part. We’re all bros here, right?”

“Even me?” Nauja asked, raising a brow.

“Especially you.”

“We have been pursuing revenge already,” Bomn said. “Be it for us, for you, or for the world, the tyranny of the Animal Kingdom must come to an end. We will not stop until we succeed or die.”

“I will never abandon you,” Brock said. He had a unique way of speaking candidly without seeming vulnerable. “You are in good hands, big bro. I am here for you. We all are. Let’s win this battle.”

“That’s what I like to hear!” Jack exclaimed. His lips were smiling, but his eyes were dark. “Let’s go. We have a Kingdom to destroy.”