— — — — — — —
"Joey~~!"
Joey, who was still chatting with his younger siblings, suddenly heard his mother's voice calling out to him.
"Huh?"
Before he could even react—
Smack!
He was already caught in a tight embrace.
"..."
Feeling his head being rubbed affectionately, Joey sighed helplessly. "Mom, can you calm down?"
But his mother, Linlin, pouted unhappily. "No way! My Joey was gone for so long!"
Joey couldn't help but retort, "Mom! What were you thinking when you disappeared for two or three years?"
Linlin tilted her head and grinned. "I can do what I want because I am Your Mother!"
"...?"
Joey opened his mouth, but no words came out. He had nothing to say—was this what they called authority suppression?
---
"Hehehe—"
"Pfft—"
Perospero and Amande were secretly chuckling.
Of course, only their mother could make their big brother look like this.
Joey, still trapped in his mother's embrace, squinted his eyes at the two.
In an instant—Both of their faces stiffened, and without hesitation, they turned around and walked away.
"Mom! Let go of me first. We can talk later, okay?" Joey sighed.
"No way!" Linlin huffed. "Mama's Joey never listens to Mama! That makes Mama very unhappy."
"Ugh..." Joey sighed again, completely helpless.
But—It was his mom, after all. He had no choice but to lean into her embrace.
Considering his height was only around two meters, compared to Linlin's towering nine meters, he really did look like a child in her arms.
Then, suddenly—
"Mom! You're pregnant again?!" Joey exclaimed in shock.
Linlin replied nonchalantly, "I was bored, so I extracted someone's soul and decided to give birth to a couple more children."
"...What!"
Joey was utterly speechless.
WTF appeared in his mind, he had no idea whether to say it or not.
His mom's situation was beyond bizarre!
Most people find entertainment in different ways. His mother, however, treated having children as a form of amusement?
Seriously?!
Joey just shook his head in silence. He had nothing more to say.
— — —
"Big bro! Big bro!"
The moment Joey stepped into the family house, eight energetic little figures rushed toward him, leaving him momentarily stunned.
"Mom... Did you give birth to Beastmen?" Joey asked in surprise.
Linlin nodded proudly. "That's right! Mama thinks the Beastmen's bloodline is excellent, so I extracted the purest souls and gave birth to Beastmen children."
Joey patted his mother's hand and finally freed himself from her grip. He wanted to check on his brothers.
Beastmen or not, as long as they were his siblings, that was all that mattered.
Joey leaped down—
And that's when he noticed something peculiar.
By rough estimation, these kids were, at most, four months old.
Yet—Each one of them had grayish-brown skin and was already about 1.2 meters tall with a burly, muscular frame.
At that moment, Joey fell into deep thought.
'Was the difference between species really this extreme?'
'No wonder—People often said Beastmen were born warriors.'
And looking at these kids, it was hard to argue otherwise.
Only four months old— Yet they already had bodies like this. If they kept growing, wouldn't they become monsters?
Joey looked at his eight brothers and smiled. "What are your names?"
One by one, they introduced themselves:
"Charlotte Grommash!"
"Charlotte Gurmash!"
"Charlotte Garrosh!"
"Charlotte Galad!"
"Charlotte Janar!"
"Charlotte Fenris!"
"Charlotte Durotan!"
"Charlotte Thrall!"
Joey stared blankly at them.
As a die-hard WoW gamer in his past life, he knew what these names represented.
"Uh..."
His mouth twitched as he turned to his mother. "Mom... how exactly did you name them?"
"Huh?"
Linlin tilted her head, beaming. "I just picked names at random! Aren't they great, Joey? Mama's naming sense is amazing, right?"
Joey silently nodded with a serious face. "Yes, Mom. Your naming skills are... incredible."
Forget great—Each of these names carried legendary weight.
In the Beastmen race, these were names of legendary warriors.
Taking a deep breath, Joey thought to himself, "I will make sure my brothers grow to live up to their names. Since they already have them, so what? We'll make legends of our own!"
Shaking his head, he cleared his thoughts.
"Big bro!"
At that moment, two girls, Custard and Angel, happily ran over.
Joey smiled. "How have you two been?"
Angel grinned. "We've been studying with our teacher! Big bro, I've learned a lot! I can definitely help you now!"
Joey chuckled warmly. "Of course! I always believe in you two."
"Oh!" Custard clapped excitedly. "Big bro, did you know? All eight of them are born Stand Users!"
Joey froze on the spot.
Looking at his eight brothers, who were staring at him eagerly, waiting for praise—
He truly fell silent.
How should he put this?
Maybe... it was time for him to consider changing his own name?
Something like Saitama? Or Goku? Maybe even Zeno?
No, seriously—What was going on?
Was it just because of their names?
How could they be this powerful?!
"Sigh..."
Letting out a deep breath, Joey calmly said, "Summon your Stands. Let me see them."
"Okay!" The eight brothers eagerly nodded.
As strange energy rippled around them, Joey suddenly frowned.
"Custard, Angel, how did you two know they awakened their Stands?"
"Big bro!" Custard explained, "Their Stands are all weapon-type! According to Master, these types of Stands function as weapons with special abilities, and everyone can see them!"
Joey nodded. "I see."
In an instant, the eight brothers extended their hands and gripped massive war hammers, each around five meters long.
The sheer power they radiated was overwhelming.
The eldest, Grommash, declared, "Big bro! My Stand is called the Hammer of Destruction!"
The second, Gurmash, followed, "Big bro! Mine is the Hammer of War!"
The third, Garrosh, announced, "Big bro! Mine is the Hammer of Death!"
The fourth, Galad, added, "Big bro! Mine is the Hammer of Eternity!"
The fifth, Janar, said, "Big bro! Mine is the Hammer of Frost!"
The sixth, Fenris, chimed in, "Big bro! Mine is the Hammer of Magma!"
The seventh, Durotan, declared, "Big bro! Mine is the Hammer of Shattering!"
The eighth, Thrall, finished, "Big bro! Mine is the Hammer of Leadership!"
Of course—Even though their names were different…In reality, the abilities of the eight brothers' Stands weren't too different from one another.
They all had immense attack power, along with similar additional effects.
"Hmm…"
Joey observed his eight younger brothers, each gripping a massive hammer. Even though they were only four months old, they already looked like true warriors.
Rubbing his chin, he commented, "Honestly, you little brats are born warriors. But we still need to test your potential—"
Clearly—Joey took these eight Stand-wielding brothers very seriously.
Clap!
At that moment, Katakuri, Cracker, and the others returned.
Everyone stared in shock at the scene before them.
After understanding the situation—One by one, they were all left stunned.
They had struggled so hard to awaken their own Stands…
And yet, these guys just awakened theirs like that?
That wasn't how this was supposed to work!
Joey calmly said, "Alright! Everyone, settle down. Awakened Stands are something each of you will inevitably achieve in the future. No matter how it happens, Stand awakening is something that will come in due time."
Cracker scratched his head. "I'm not really worried about it. Lately, I've been researching ways to push myself further. Master told me that if I undergo three months of isolated training, I'll definitely break through—assuming I survive."
Perospero asked curiously, "Cracker, did you agree to it?"
Everyone turned their attention to him, intrigued.
It was common knowledge—Master's solo training was brutal. She was Scáthach after all.
This was a woman who had slain gods with pure skill alone.
Honestly—She was an unbelievably fearsome existence.
Cracker nodded. "Of course I agreed! Sure, failure means death, but I'm absolutely confident! Three months—I'll succeed. I will break through. I will awaken my Stand."
He clenched his fists firmly.
In that moment—Everyone understood.
This was why Joey had chosen Cracker as one of the Sweet Commanders after Katakuri.
Just like the Five Generals—The Opera Five were all powerhouse warriors. They were a perfect fit for the role.
But! For the longest time, people didn't understand why Cracker had been chosen.
After all, in terms of raw strength, Compote wasn't any weaker than Cracker.
Now they understood!
His unshakable resolve was the same as Katakuri's. And that kind of determination was the most important thing.
Joey smiled. "Well then, Cracker, you better give it your all! If you fail after talking this big, it's gonna be embarrassing."
Cracker grinned confidently. "Big bro! What are you talking about? How could I possibly fail? That's just not gonna happen!"
"Hahahaha—"
Joey laughed and shook his head, while the others couldn't help but chuckle as well.
Then, turning to his eight younger brothers, he said, "Alright, you little punks! From today onward, I'm giving you a title—The Eight Wolf Knights! You are war battle riders! Show me your strength and potential. Don't disappoint me!"
"ROAR!" The eight brothers let out deafening, beastly roars.
Among their race—
Nothing was more beloved than war.
And now, under their big brother's leadership, they had found recognition.
Even though they were still young—They had been acknowledged.
And in the future—They would gain even more glory. They would earn it.
That was more than enough.
"Heh…"
With faint chuckles, everyone's lips curled into smiles.
Between brothers and sisters—There was no jealousy. Their smiles were warm and sincere as they watched everything unfold before them.
They were a family.
.
.
.