CHAPTER 53: THE PRODIGY IN DISGUISE

"Granpa!" John repeated, trying out the word for the first time. It felt strange on his tongue, unfamiliar. He gave a small nod to himself, accepting it nonetheless. "Alright, Granpa. I'll call you that."

The word held a different kind of warmth, and as soon as it left his lips, Albert's expression shifted. The old man's posture eased, the guarded edge in his stance softening. A comfortable smile settled on his weathered face, the kind of smile born from trust and simple human connection.

John noticed it immediately—the transformation was subtle, but significant. He had passed another unspoken test.

"By the way, Granpa, tell me something," John continued, seizing the moment. His curiosity had been steadily growing ever since he encountered Albert and his grandchildren. "Are the tribes also divided by ranking? I mean... even in this jungle?"

Albert's eyes narrowed slightly, not out of suspicion, but from a sudden interest in the boy before him. His head tilted thoughtfully as he regarded John with a gaze both puzzled and probing.

"Yes," Albert replied, drawing the word out a little. "Maybe you're new here."

He took a step closer, his sharp gaze scanning John as if trying to decipher an unsolved mystery.

"So... which tribe are you from," he asked slowly, "where they didn't teach you these things?"

John remained silent.

"Or is your training still ongoing?" Albert added, more to himself than to John. Then he gave a slight nod, as if answering his own question. "Yeah, must be, because you're still a kid. How old are you? Sixteen, seventeen?"

John hesitated for a moment, then gave a nonchalant shrug. "Yeah... I'm somewhere around that," he said, keeping his tone deliberately vague.

The truth was something else entirely.

John was still just fourteen—fifteen in another month. But everything about him, from the way he carried himself to the mysterious power surging inside him, made him seem older. More experienced. More dangerous. And above all, there was the one fact he dared not speak aloud: he had already generated a neuro core.

That alone, at his age, would send shockwaves through any person. A fourteen-year-old with a neuro core? It was unheard of. Unthinkable. If the truth ever came out, he'd either be revered as a prodigy or hunted as a threat.

Before Albert could press further, a sudden tug at John's hands pulled him from his thoughts.

"Hey John, will that dinosaur still be alive?"

The voice was soft, trembling with emotion.

John looked down to find Lucy and Lacey—the twin granddaughters—clutching his hands tightly. Their small fingers wrapped around his, their eyes wide with concern. The innocence on their faces was stark under the silver moonlight, and in their glassy eyes, tears shimmered quietly.

"You were the last to see him, right?" Lacey asked, her lower lip trembling.

"Was he alive?" Lucy added, her voice barely more than a whisper.

John's heart ached at the sight of their worry. He knelt slightly so that he was eye-level with them, a gentle smile softening his face.

"Yes," he said with quiet certainty, giving each of their hands a light squeeze. "He was alive."

The moment the words left his mouth, both girls gasped. They looked at each other, then up at John again, their faces lighting up with sudden hope.

Without another word, they let go of his hands and bolted back to their grandfather, skirts fluttering behind them.

"Granpa!" they cried out in unison as they reached Albert.

The old man turned toward them, startled by the urgency in their voices.

"Let's go back!" Lucy said, her voice high with emotion.

"Let's bring him with us!" Lacey added, nodding fervently. "He was alive. John said so!"

"You can tame him later, Granpa," Lucy added quickly, tugging at the old man's sleeve.

"But it doesn't feel right to let him die!" Lacey finished, her voice choked with tears.

Their plea hung in the air, raw and honest. There was no strategy in their words, no agenda. Just emotion—pure and pleading.

Albert looked at his granddaughters, the lines on his face deepening. His expression was unreadable for a moment, as if he were weighing something far more complex than their young minds could understand.

John stood silently nearby, watching the interaction unfold. For all his strength, all his power, it was this moment—two young girls standing up for a beast—that truly moved him.