Demon Lord's Reincarnation

And the moment we "shook" hands, I already felt his firm callused hands—despite his commanding position—before it turned to a deathly grip that would\'ve crushed a small watermelon.

\'All these motherfuckers\' bullshit test of strength for some reason—\'

But despite the Admiral\'s attempt to make me make out a face, I kept a straight look as I gradually built pressure until both our arms were shaking, but our little excursion was interrupted by the goose, Ella:

"DAD! Stop messing around! Have you tried the soup, yet? It\'s really good— Hey! I\'m talking to you! Dad!"

And as soon as Ella\'s voice entered the Admiral\'s(?) ears, his grip crashed down before I matched it until we were actually having a normal handshake, but I sure as hell wouldn\'t pass up what the brat fucking called him.

"Wait, a sec— I thought you— She\'s the daughter of a senator, right? Not an Admiral— Wait… So, your wife\'s the senator?"

Admiral Burke was looking at Ella with a gentle smile as he said, "I\'ve tried it all, dear. It is good. Glad you enjoyed it too! Let me just finish my conversation with this young man, alright?"

"O-Okay! Be nice to him, alright?! He\'s my friend!"

I wanted to cut in, "I—"

But the Admiral turned back to me again, "To answer your question, yes and no."

"Then—"

"Let me finish. Michaella is my daughter too but she\'s also my ex-wife\'s. I hope that clears any misunderstanding. Don\'t worry as much about throwing her in the water though, I haven\'t had the chance to teach her how to swim and I guess I\'ll leave that to ya. My ex-wife should\'ve been taking her to classes but she\'s pretty busy as well…"

"..."

"..."

From that brief moment of silence, it was then that I realized the reason why the old man and Major Harper were that worried for my well-being, because from the list of high-profile individuals that had just arrived, "Ella" was at least at the top 3 out of all of them.

However, I\'d still throw her in the water the second time but I also realized that the senator in question or their mother/ex-wife—depending on who was asked—wasn\'t present.

\'Still, would\'ve been clearer if the Major started calling her the Admiral\'s daughter instead of the senator\'s which wasn\'t here at all… There might\'ve been a .001% chance I could\'ve changed my mind because I am trying to score brownie points off them…\'

I poured myself a shot before I looked at him with a solemn expression, "Right. To avoid any more misunderstandings, is she… your ex-wife—"

"Alive?"

"Yep."

"I would\'ve said late ex-wife, no?"

"Eh. Depends on the person. It could mean a lot of things."

"Huh. That is true…"

"So, your daughter…"

"Yeah? What do you wanna know?"

"Is she… Is she staying here too?"

"..." he just gave me a look before beckoning me to take another shot.

"She\'s staying, huh? Fuck… The next time you\'re here though, depending on her behavior, she just might beat Michael Phelps or develop a more… normal fashion sense—not that it\'s bad or anything but people just might throw her some bread if they thought she\'s a goose—"

"HAH!" the Admiral cackled as he finally downed his drink, "Don\'t say that as loud! She took fashion, footwear, accessories, and jewelry design all at the same time so… you know… she\'s the authority in… in that department… whatever the hell that is…"

"Huh."

"Pour me another one—"

"She took— You mean she was in college?"

"Pretty obvious, no?"

"She accelerated or moved up or something?"

"Huh? Why? She\'d probably be a doctor or in one of those sciences if she was."

"Ah…"

"You— Ohhh, that\'s right… She doesn\'t look one, huh?"

"Doesn\'t act like one too—"

"Like you\'re any mature—"

"Fuck you. Can you swear on your life you wouldn\'t throw her in the water if you had the chance?"

"..."

"Hmm?!"

"You fucking— Asshole! That\'s my kid! Why would I—"

"Just answer the damn question, you fuck!"

"..."

"Ooh~ Silent treatment. You learned that from your wife— I mean, ex-wife?"

He just stared at me for a bit before he tapped his fingers on the table, "Just pour me a damn drink, you kid."

"That\'s a yes, huh?"

In any case, I didn\'t even realize that the two of us were the only ones in the bar as everyone else decided to move on and do their own thing. It IS still morning and we still had a lot of fucking shit to do before they leave again, but after we downed his sixth shot and my fourth, the Admiral beckoned me to close up shop and meet everyone else in the Eisenhower instead of the Hangar.

"I think everyone\'s already in the Main Hangar—"

"Then call them over. I have something to show all of you."

"Okay?"

"I\'ll meet you there in five…" he trailed as he let out a long sigh.

With that said, it wasn\'t that difficult to convince all the high-ranking officers in the makeshift HQ to come to the supercarrier because the Admiral himself said so, but instead of meeting up in their "war room" to discuss specifics of our current situation, we were led by one of his officers towards one of their larger storage areas.

It\'s just that the Admiral was standing in front of this huge-ass translucent aquarium where a figure was supposedly "sleeping" inside.

"Gentlemen, I would like you all to meet my ex-wife."