My cousin is becoming a legend.

Chapter 36 Respect and Awe

one day ago.

Inside Narell Castle.

Brown Narell sat on the throne, swirling a wine glass in his hand.

The scarlet wine churned and swelled repeatedly in the glass.

Brown Narrell took a small sip of the wine, closed his eyes, and quietly enjoyed its aroma.

Below the throne, old Turner stood in the hall, somewhat uneasy.

"Sir, why did you send men to arrest his sister? Shouldn't Lynn be rewarded?"

At this point, old Turner was filled with regret.

He hadn't expected Brown to react this way.

He shouldn't have told him that Lynn had successfully created a mid-to-three-star potion.

Brown Narell did not answer, still lost in the aroma of the wine.

It wasn't until much later that he spoke softly.

"Turner, you've been with me for decades, don't you understand why I'm doing this?"

Old Turner wiped the cold sweat from his forehead.

"Please forgive my ignorance, for I cannot comprehend your wisdom."

Brown stared at the swirling liquid in his glass and shook his head regretfully.

"Turner, do you know what the essence of rule is?"

Old Turner shook his head blankly, wondering why the topic had suddenly come up.

"My lord, I beg you for guidance."

Brown laughed at Turner's expression.

"Hahaha, my old Turner, ruling is actually very simple, it's just two words."

Respect and awe.

This applies to a nation, and it also applies to an individual. If you want to win someone over, you must earn their genuine respect. But if they cannot respect you, then you must instill in them a profound and deep-seated fear.

Turner, I think you saw those corpses on the walls, didn't you? Do you know why I killed them?

Old Turner hesitated, then asked, "Because they were all members of the Restoration Society, and they opposed you, so you want to kill them?"

Brown chuckled softly and shook his head smugly.

"You're mistaken, Turner. I didn't kill them because they opposed me. Those who oppose me are as numerous as grains of sand. If that were all, would I have slaughtered the entire city?"

Brown rose from his throne and strolled smugly through the hall, wine glass in hand.

"I killed them not because they opposed me, but because these idiots crossed my line. They must not let the idiots in this city realize that there is another person in this world who can command their respect."

Objectively speaking, I'm actually quite grateful to those Restoration Society scum; they did a great job suppressing the interference from the Nansha Church. But these shady characters were incredibly foolish to choose to attack me on the battlefield, trying to disrupt the balance and prestige I'd painstakingly built over the years… so I had no choice but to kill them.”

Old Turner swallowed hard.

He suddenly realized that after following Brown for so many years, he still couldn't understand him at all.

At this moment, Baron Nareel was like a bloodthirsty demon, and human lives seemed to be nothing more than pawns that he could manipulate at will.

"But...but sir, Lynn is different. He didn't disrespect you, so why are you punishing him?"

Brown shook his head in disappointment.

"Turner, didn't you see it? In Lynn's eyes, there was so much anger and hatred for me. He's a genius, but also a fool! I've been so good to him, and he's still thinking about running away!"

Take this Zhongsanxing potion incident, for example. Why did you inform me of this news instead of him telling me personally? He chose to conceal it, which shows that he not only isn't afraid of me, but also secretly opposes me! Turner! Should I reward someone like that?! No! I want him to genuinely fear me!

The more someone cares about something, the more they fear losing it! Since he's willing to make such a sacrifice for his sister's marriage, let him rekindle his fear of me.

Brown chuckled softly.

Old Turner felt a heavy weight in his heart. He struggled to retort, "No, this isn't right, it can't be like this! Sir, Lynn is a genius! He's a genius beyond my comprehension, a once-in-a-century talent! Geniuses are always proud, aren't you afraid that being too rigid will lead to failure!?"

Brown showed no reaction to old Turner's words, and simply said:

"Listen, Turner, there are only two kinds of people in this world: mediocre people and talented people. Mediocre people are easy to come by but hard to lose, while geniuses are easy to lose but hard to find."

People are often overjoyed when they encounter geniuses and shower them with affection, unaware that their own foolishness is accelerating their departure from them.

To me, people I can't control are worthless. If I can't completely possess them, I might as well end them myself!

Turner was speechless.

"My lord, aren't you...aren't you afraid...?"

Brown Narell interrupted old Turner impatiently.

"Turner, you're even more foolish than I thought. Let me tell you, I have nothing to fear, everything is under my control! What do I have to be afraid of? As long as I'm stronger than everyone else, I fear no possibility!"

I have restricted all dark alchemical materials. Lynn is just a pawn in my hand. Whether he is a soldier or a chariot is entirely up to me!

"Alright, Turner, you did a great job this time. You can go now!"

Old Turner nodded with difficulty and turned to leave.

But then Brown Narell seemed to remember something and suddenly called out to him.

"Wait, Turner, I have another task for you."

Turner slowly turned around, somewhat puzzled.

"Sir, please tell me, and I will do everything within my power to resolve this for you."

"It's about that cave outside the city. Monsters are constantly emerging from underground. You told me before that it was caused by underground magma activity, so I sent a small team into the cave to see if there was any danger of a subterranean eruption. But..."

Brown frowned.

A rare look of worry appeared on his face.

This made old Turner feel uneasy.

"Sir, what happened to that squad?"

Brown frowned. "They're all dead. Only one person managed to get up here. There wasn't a single patch of intact skin on his body; it looked like he'd been burned by fire."

Before he died, he told me that there was no red magma underground, but a silvery-white monster with a metallic sheen...

"monster?"

Old Turner was stunned.

"Yes, a monster, a monster that doesn't seem to be alive. The man described it as... a lump of living mercury."

Turner, I expect you to produce plenty of fire retardant in the meantime, and find out exactly what that damn thing is. I can't allow such an unknown threat to appear right under my nose!

"Yes, I will get back to you as soon as possible!"

Old Turner left in a hurry.

Brown swirled his wine glass and sat back down on his throne.

He closed his eyes and downed the glass of red wine in one gulp.

Brown felt a little dizzy and muttered to himself in the empty hall.

"Lynn, become mine completely... My family has come to an end..."