Chapter 93 Past and Present

Chapter 93 Past and Present

Chapter 93 Past and Present

250
Edward kicked the corpse lying in front of him and looked down at his student. The tall young man was huddled under the tree, one hand covering the huge wound on his abdomen, frowning, and his lips were bloodless. His fingers were frozen blue and white, and looked stiff, but he still didn't loosen his fingers, pressing them against his abdomen to prevent his internal organs from leaking out. In the cold winter, Richard had neither frost nor snow on his body, and a wisp of white mist leaked from his mouth. He was the only living thing with warmth.

The corpses lying all around had frozen solid, and the snow fell into their torn limbs or their eyes that were wide open with unwillingness, and it took a long time for it to melt.

“……” Can’t even the puppet status be maintained?

After watching quietly for a few seconds, Edward set up a spiritual wall around him, used his cane to prop up Richard Ernst's shoulder, and turned the body over. He saw the wounds on the young man's body constantly healing and tearing, and blood gushing out from his abdomen. His eyes were lifeless, and his dilated pupils were staring at a certain point in the void. His breathing was disordered, and his face was covered with cold sweat and blood stains. He seemed to be immersed in a dream from which he could not wake up.

It's Rune, the demon thought.

He squatted down, half-knelt on the ground, lifted Richard's head, and straightened his face: "Look at me."

"Wake up." Edward looked into the other's eyes. "What a shame, Richard Ernst. You are trapped in a nightmare?"

The name read out in this tone made Richard, who was in a state of nightmare, react somewhat. His lifeless pupils gathered again with difficulty, and he mobilized the last bit of his extraordinary ability to break through the magic barrier, but because his condition was too bad, he showed signs of losing control. His pupils stood up, fangs grew, the knee joints of his legs twisted backwards strangely, clumps of gray hair grew on his cheeks, and at the same time, his body became partially empty - he trembled violently, and after a long while, the curses gradually faded from him.

He choked and finally regained his human form. The disaster on his body continued to tear his wounds. Richard, who had suffered great damage to his body and mind and had not yet recovered, closed his eyes, then looked at his teacher and defended himself with a weak voice:
"No," he said, "I didn't... embarrass you. I seriously injured a demigod of the Church of Evernight and killed his followers."

"What did you dream about?"

"I...dreamed..." His voice was hoarse and intermittent, "I dreamed that the Highland Kingdom was destroyed...people were reduced to slaves...it was exactly the same dream as the world now...it was too real. Now the Highland Kingdom can no longer hold on, so I didn't realize that I was dreaming."

"That is indeed what will happen." Edward showed no emotion. "You saw it in advance, so you are mentally prepared."

...Richard closed his eyes and collapsed into Edward's arms. A few minutes later, he regained some of his spirit and continued to speak in a dream-like voice: "...Teacher, I feel confused. S'a is leading the apostates who have split off to launch a terrorist attack on the colonial officers and soldiers, while the Church of the Bound God led by the princess is indifferent. Teacher, is my struggle really meaningful?"

"No. Well, if you cannot resist for independence in the next hundred years, you will be recorded in history books as the remnants of ignorant indigenous peoples who go against the historical trend." Edward answered the question.

"You don't have to be so direct..."

"You don't have to help the Church of the God of Death clean up the Seven Gods who have sneaked in, because just now, the Balam Royal Family was destroyed."

Richard's breath paused. He opened his eyes.

"Emperor Balam is dead. His crown was taken by Loen as a trophy. Only the eldest princess of the royal family of Aigus, Shia Palenque Aigus, managed to escape with the help of her personal guards. Now the throne of Balam has become a plaything of the generals of the Northern Continent. They are scrambling to plunder it, even scraping off the gold foil in the palace and taking it away. The fire in the capital has been burning for three days. So you don't have to rush over. The journey will take at least three more days. When you get there, you will probably only be able to help them clean up the burnt bones."

“…The Balam Empire was destroyed…”

The half-blooded colonist from the southern continent murmured to himself, his face showing an unconcealed sadness: "Will the Highlands become a puppet regime?"

Edward was silent, then he spoke, the cruelty in his words made Richard unable to breathe: "Why do you want to support the Highland Kingdom?"

"In terms of land area, the Balam Empire's territory is more than twice yours. In terms of historical heritage, the Highland Kingdom has only been established for more than a hundred years. It cannot be compared with the Church of the God of Death, and its overall strength is far inferior. The Highland royal family cannot control such a large territory and so many people. It would be easy to do the opposite. They should destroy the Highlands, let Balam annex you, and then support the puppet regime of the Balam Empire. The Eggers royal family is dead, but there are many spineless and weak nobles."

“……” The wounded Richard pursed his lips tightly, said nothing, and finally closed his eyes tiredly again.

Edward Vaughn obviously didn't care about these things. There was nothing in this world that he really cared about. He narrowed his eyes and stared at his student. This time, he saw the overlapping threads of fate again. If it was a spider web thirty years ago, it could be considered a sparse cocoon now. However, the threads were decreasing one by one, because the people at the end of them, who were connected to the southern continent, were dying one by one.

The Abyss Angel looked at these intermittent lines for a long time, and then the expression on his face froze into a smile without any smile.

But His voice remained calm, making it impossible to tell His true thoughts and feelings: "This time I am not coming for the Highland Kingdom. My destination is the third largest city in Balam. I am going to complete my ritual."

"Your ritual..."

Richard, who was extremely sleepy and had a splitting headache, first recited the poem in a half-awake state without thinking, then suddenly struggled in horror, broke free from the teacher's arms, and regardless of the wound on his abdomen, he used his broken arm to support his upper body:
"You're going to Mudron!"

"There... the permanent population there is 600,000!"

"Yes. I will spread filth, spread fear, and bring the majesty and judgment of the Archon of the Northern Continent." Edward stood up, lowered his lofty and cold eyes, and spoke slowly, his voice cold and calm, "You can let them escape before tomorrow morning comes."

Richard subconsciously looked up at the sky, only to see that he had been unconscious for a long time, and the sun had already set over the sea in the west. He choked and gritted his teeth to force his body to stand up, but failed three times in a row. He needed to rest and recover his spirit. Now he might not even be able to defeat a mid-sequence Beyonder. The tearing pain attacked his whole body, and every cell was wailing. The blood flowed into his eyes and scabbed. The organs in his abdomen fell heavily, and his intestines fell from his fingers. Richard had to arch his back and kneel on the ground in pain again.

"…I can't…I can't let them…"

"The filth of human nature... greed, fear, selfishness, cowardice. You let good people fall into evil or die, let evil people be killed by greater evil or their own conscience, let people's beliefs be shattered and hope be extinguished... until the last person dies because of his own sin..."

Seeing that his voice was getting weaker and weaker and he was about to faint from the pain, Edward added calmly: "Then, sin will flow forever in these cities, establishing hell and abyss on earth."

Killing is a boring thing. It lacks art for high-level demons, just like cooking a piece of meat without seasoning.

The right thing to do is to induce the depravity of human nature, provide a sufficiently closed space, some sufficiently tempting conditions, spread terror, maliciously raise prices, spread rumors, sow discord, and allow people to do evil freely in an extremely terrifying environment to the greatest extent possible. Build an isolated city that denies all kindness and virtue, where only desire and sin are rampant. If you want to give food to help others, then people will rush into your home to rob food, and finally your whole family will be dead on the street, and you will also be accused of stinginess. If you are a general defending the city, then no matter how tenacious you are, after rumors spread, your soldiers will make wrong judgments in panic and despair, and finally you will be killed by the rioting people and soldiers, and you will not even be able to die bravely in battle. Then they kill each other, and the filth that flows across the ground seeps into the ground and spreads to the distance, and the dead will never rest in peace.

"Three massacres... In fact, you didn't kill anyone yourself... But they all died..."

Richard spat out blood every time he said a word, and he felt his head and feet were as heavy as stones, and the sound and light were getting farther and farther away from him. But he managed to stand up and staggered away, his footprints were deep and shallow, and each one was filled with blood.

"Thank you for your kindness, even if only one of us can escape..."

Edward watched him, neither stopping nor helping.

251
When it was getting dark, Garland De came back from outside. He arranged for Charles's residence and identity card.

However, as soon as he pushed open the door of the poorhouse which was converted from his old church, he heard faint sounds of conversation coming from the basement.

He was greatly surprised. The underground warehouse was usually only used to store some supplies, equipment and medicines, and most people who went to get things went in and out in a hurry. Why was it so lively today? It seemed that there were many people talking?
He walked around the hall and headed for the basement stairs with ease, and happened to bump into a caregiver who was carrying a bag of bread and vegetables upstairs. Garland reached out and pulled the caregiver: "What happened down there?"

Seeing him coming back, the nurse was like seeing a savior. He smiled bitterly and sighed: "It's still the young man you brought with you, sir."

Garland De frowned: "What trouble has he gotten himself into?" Is this little fat nobleman still bullying others in my territory?
"Well... well, you'll know when you go down and take a look. It's not a bad thing." The nurse had a helpless expression on his face, but he was busy distributing food to everyone, so he didn't talk much with Garland De.

Garland De walked downstairs half-believing and half-doubting. Just as he reached the door of the underground warehouse and before he went in, he heard a person's somewhat annoyed voice.

"Wrong again! This is the fifth time. Why did you make five mistakes in such a simple assembly? You can't be a technician like this."

Garland was confused. This voice... seemed to be that of the craftsman? What was he doing here?
He pushed open the door and saw the fat Charles Maxwell walking back and forth in the warehouse like a rolling ball. He kept instructing other workers to repair old and broken equipment, holding a stack of documents in his hand. He rolled up his sleeves, and his clothes were covered with a lot of oil and mud. The cloak used for disguise was now dirty. He looked like an ordinary technician, and he was completely different from the overly curious, fearless and slightly willful aristocratic fat boy when he first came in the afternoon.

It seems a bit wrong to say "instruction". Under Garland De's gaze, after watching a young worker working for five minutes, Sharf suddenly slapped the apprentice on the shoulder and said in a sarcastic and unbelievable tone: "You are wrong too! My God, is it possible that none of you can adjust this simple problem? Do you think this precision adjustment shaft is installed like this? Look here, here, and here..." He pointed back and forth at several wrong places, making the parts of the semi-finished product fly everywhere, "The places that should be tightened are so loose, and the adjustment shaft is so tight! Do you have a grudge against the user? Do you want him to be crushed to death by a beam while working?"

The technician apprentice, who was about the same age as Charles, rubbed his forehead in grievance, took a deep breath, and tightened the screw again and again.

It was indeed a bit of a bully for a mid-sequence craftsman to do this. After all, there was no Beyonder among this group of people... Garland De was about to speak but stopped talking, but he was not angry. And Sharf saw that the apprentice knew his mistake and could correct it, so he reluctantly let him go, picked up the document in his hand and read it quickly... After a few seconds, he said again: "One fifth of the drugs currently in use have expired? You dare to give expired drugs to patients?"

Several nurses and teachers looked at each other, and one of them stepped forward and said, "The expired drugs we use are all within a month of expiration, and the efficacy has been identified..."

“But it’s expired?”

"There's nothing we can do about it." Another nurse with medical experience couldn't help but speak up. "The equipment we use are all old items discarded by churches and factories, and the medicines we use are also overstocked goods that are close to expiration or have already expired and are being sold at a discount in stores. We..."

Sharf frowned and tutted twice, not knowing what to say for a moment. The nurses wiped their tears quietly, and the atmosphere dropped to freezing point. Fortunately, Garland De, who was standing at the door, coughed at the right time to save him. Sharf saw him and stuffed the documents into someone else's hands. He smiled in a familiar tone and said, "Have you arranged my affairs?"

"It's all arranged. You... that gentleman has paid a sum of money for you and bought a house. I'm just responsible for your ID. You can stay here tonight." Garland De handed over a few documents. Looking at the other party's dirty clothes and hands, he felt that his prejudice was slightly reduced. He couldn't help but smile a little more. "Thank you for your help. Bayam has a lot of special foods that can't be eaten in the Northern Continent. Let's consider it as a welcome party for you tonight."

"Okay!" Sharf smiled. "I just came here to kill time because I was bored. My great-great-uncle said that I should learn to be self-reliant when I get out there... I want to eat barbecue and drink fruit drinks."

"By the way, what kind of house did my great-great-uncle buy me?"

Garland glanced at the document and answered from memory, "It's near Bayam Commercial Street, in a private villa that imitates the architectural style of Intis. It has three floors and 20 rooms. It is equipped with a gardener, a coachman, and a team of servants. It cost more than gold Louis."

The currency of Intis is similar to that of Loen, and it is worth more than 9,000 pounds. The gatekeeper thought about his own poorhouse, the damp food and the children who had to eat twice a day, and sighed softly.

"My great-great uncle didn't arrange a cook for me? That's great."

Sharf didn't feel the fleeting heaviness on Garland De's body at all. He was as excited as all the young people who were going on a long journey for the first time. "I see you are in a tight financial situation. Do you have a cook who can cook? I can hire her temporarily for a short period of time. The salary is negotiable. If you are tired of Intis food, she can cook foreign food or maritime food. It would be even better if she is a pretty girl. I will give her a higher salary."

Facing the gatekeeper's eyes that seemed to send him to see the Eternal Sun, Sharf shrank his neck and said, "...It doesn't matter if she's not a pretty girl."

TBC
--------

*This is a detailed supplement to Lao Ai's "Filthy King" promotion ceremony.

*And I must complain to you about our stupid squad leader.

This person was just stupid and pretentious at first, and now he has become a stupid and useless fence-sitter. The college's diploma came down too late, so our dormitory decided to go on a graduation trip, so we finished everything and sold all the old books and clothes (so I'm so busy these days). We are leaving this afternoon, and we packed our luggage yesterday. In the evening, I suddenly learned that those who leave school early have to apply for "entrusting someone to help handle graduation affairs", otherwise there is no guarantee that the diploma can be sent back smoothly.

We were all confused. We asked the monitor what was going on and whether she was the trustee of the whole class. Only then did FW tell us about it, and she refused to accept the trust (this person really didn’t move until she was prodded. She didn’t issue the student IDs and group IDs that were collected for registration. She didn’t issue them even after some people had left. She also lost the internship certificates of the whole class before, forcing everyone to rewrite them). We had an emergency discussion in the dormitory for a while, and finally concluded that the one who lived the farthest away would go back, and I and the local people would return to school after returning from the graduation trip to help five people, including classmates and roommates who had a good relationship with us and left early without knowing about this. In other words, we, who could have gone home on the 26th to catch the big fish, had to stay in school for another half a month.

We have already discussed how to find an opportunity to punch the squad leader twice.

(End of this chapter)