Author: 年终 / Nian Zhong

Translator: Kinky || https://kinkytranslations.com/

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Chapter 154: Meeting the Neighbors Again

Eugene reluctantly sat in his room.

Even though he didn’t resist throughout the entire process, the examination of memories wasn’t a pleasant thing. The archbishop would personally open his chest, exposing his internal organs, to facilitate the observation of the subtle disturbances in the magic circuits.

During this process, he had to remain fully conscious. The pain wouldn’t be blocked, as pain is the best confession agent.

His limbs would be fixed, and his thoughts completely opened. Under strict magical monitoring, any disloyal thought would manifest as a sign of rebellion in his exposed heart.

After about two days of investigation, a senior priest would come to heal him. Whether it was the long, incision-like wounds or the bruises on his wrists and ankles, all would disappear without a trace, as if they had never existed.

The pain was a reward for the zealots and torture for the heretics.

Eugene spread his fingers, looking at the fine lines on his palm. The thick smell of blood was gone, replaced by a faint scent of soap and ointment.

Although the pain had disappeared, the weakness brought by the ritual remained.

It seemed he wouldn’t be able to go out for the next few days. Eugene sighed and began to read the mountain of paper reports on his desk.

The first report was about Players’ stage decisions on the [Expedition to Slay the Undead Dragon]—

Saint Hot Ash’s team had exhausted a lot at the Brick Mountains, and this time the Returning Saints unanimously decided to abandon the quest. The expedition would be fully led by Amazon.

Eugene read it expressionlessly and wrote down his opinion.

[The consumption of the Saints Council shouldn’t be that significant. They might be intentionally avoiding the Temple’s intervention in this mission. Continue to follow up, but do not be too aggressive. At this stage, we need to maintain a good relationship with the Saints Council.]

The second report was about the investigation of Golden Sword Embilly Alva—

Mr. Alva appeared dazed at a border town of Old Gemino with only the memory of reaching the altar. After exchanging information with the Temple personnel, it seemed Mr. Golden Sword got scared. He hurried home, claiming he needed to rest for a while.

If they could thoroughly examine Mr. Golden Sword’s memory, they would surely gain more. To survive that event, Golden Sword must have relied on the strength of two powerful beings from Paradise. His gems alone couldn’t stop an angry dragon.

Unfortunately, Embilly Alva had no loyalty to the Goddess and certainly couldn’t endure the pain and fear of being dissected.

Eugene sighed and dipped his pen in ink. [Observe the movements of the Alva family. Mr. Golden Sword is cautious by nature and wouldn’t leave an unsolved mystery in himself. He either has remembered or will investigate on his own. Contact me immediately once there’s any new discovery.]

He smoothed the corners of the stack of files and continued reading. His hand trembled when he saw the next report. A drop of dark green ink fell from his pen tip, slowly spreading on the paper.

It was a report that “The Oracle array of Dream Isle had been activated”.

It was Godfrey Painter again. Was this guy never tired of causing trouble? Was he seeking death or madness to provoke on the sacred grounds of the Temple?

And seeing the “Number of Transports: 3” record, his gaze halted.

This number was definitely not the action of the Drifting Mercenary Group. Painter would never involve his members in past troubles, and given his previous actions, he wouldn’t have helped Paradise without reason…

So, he was likely cooperating with someone from Paradise to investigate the oracle room of the Temple of Life.

People from Paradise had just investigated the Eternal Church’s territory and then moved to the Temple of Life. It’s well known that monsters cannot obtain oracles. Why would a monster organization like Paradise care so much about oracles?

Moreover, Painter’s nature wasn’t evil, which meant that Paradise’s actions, at least on the surface, had no ill intent.

Eugene had a strange intuition that he was standing on the edge of a much larger, deeper dark vortex. One more step, and he might never recover.

…Yet, he still wanted to move forward.

Unfortunately, with the Eternal Pope murdered and the Pope of Life aged, it was impossible for anyone to accompany him in this investigation at this moment. Eugene stared at the green ink stain on the paper as if looking into a green pupil.

[The main force of the five teams will turn to Dream Isle for guarding, just in case. The focus of everyone else’s work should be on the battle against the undead dragon, which is the “new main line” according to the Players, so every piece of intelligence is precious. Thank you for your hard work.]

He eventually wrote down the more appropriate opinion.

As for himself…

Having undergone memory investigation, he had a few days of private leave, just in time for some personal investigation.

Lady Tilia, please guide my path.

Eugene caressed the gradually drying characters, the divine emblem ring on his thumb flashing a pale green light.

After reading these shocking reports, he suddenly felt tired.

Knight Eugene staggered to his feet and walked to the indoor chaise lounge. He wrapped himself in his cloak like a blanket and soon fell into a deep sleep.

Below the report about “The Oracle array of Dream Isle had been activated”, another report’s corner was exposed.

“Search for the Missing Descendant of the Alva Family” roughly recorded the old duke’s hard search for a granddaughter. Duke Alva hoped the Temple of Life could cooperate to help him find this young lady.

The characteristics given were very vague; the Alva descendant was about seventeen or eighteen years old, tall, with black hair and blue eyes, and a gentle and beautiful appearance.

If Eugene had read this report, he would understand the Alva Merchant Group’s implicit message—we will be investigating similar women soon, whether she is a commoner or from the Temple, and we ask for the Temple’s cooperation in this matter.

The priority of this report was very low. So much so that it was separated from the previous ones with a leather bookmark.

By lunchtime, one of Eugene’s subordinate knights entered the room and found his superior sleeping soundly on the chaise lounge. The knight sighed and took away the few instructions Eugene had approved.

Their captain had worked too hard, handling all urgent documents right after returning from memory investigation. It would be better for the deputy team to handle the less important ones, he thought.

Behind Eugene’s sleeping figure, that knight picked up the stack of “non-urgent documents” and quietly left the room.

The office desk was empty, and the breeze made the curtains sway gently. Perhaps by chance, the quill in the ink bottle was blown out by the wind, leaving a trail of green ink marks on the smooth desk surface.

Like the splattered blood of a monster.

……

“This Villain is stuck,” Painter said.

A group of people were busy climbing out of the Oracle Cave. Nol, with his slender and well-proportioned figure, was fine, and Teest, sturdy but agile, wasn’t hindered either. It was just Painter’s snail backpack that got stuck in the cave, and likewise for Lynn’s suitcase.

“It’s because someone was too worried about leaving the reward from the last mission in the Lost Tower.” Teest slipped through the cave entrance as smoothly as a cat, not forgetting to sneer.

“How could This Villain not feel worried!” Painter said with a bitter face. “You heard This Villain’s oracle. Being with you two, I could die at any time—if I died, would you conveniently dispose of my corpse and the reward to my team members?”

“And dying in a pile of treasures has been my dream since I was young—”

“What a positive way of thinking,” Witch Lynn couldn’t help but interject. Her suitcase was also getting stuck at the entrance. The once sleek surface was now full of scratches and dents.

Nol felt a bit of a headache. When they entered the cave, his mood was solemn and serious. But even the most serious mood was ruined by the “boom, boom, crack, ahh, ahh, ahh” Carmen symphony that followed.

Maybe he should persuade Teest to pack up their luggage, Nol thought. But turning around in such a narrow place would be troublesome…

“Keep it up, you two.” At the same time, Teest behind him cheerfully encouraged, making a spectacle of the situation.

“Forget it.” Lynn lay down in the tunnel. Her delicate doll face was covered in mud. “I originally wanted to keep this achievement a bit longer…” Amidst three pairs of curious eyes, she reluctantly opened one of her suitcases and took out a wooden hamster doll. Lynn tapped the hamster’s head with her fingertips, and the wooden hamster came to life, its two black bean eyes sparkling. It sniffed around, opened its mouth, and swallowed Lynn’s two suitcases in an extremely unreasonable manner, then stopped in front of Painter to sniff around.

After swallowing two large suitcases, its cheeks were only slightly bulged.

Nol: “Wait, this is…”

What kind of bizarre trick is this?

“There’s an ‘Echo Shadow’ and a ‘Bloody Cobbler’ in the neighborhood,” Lynn said with the confidence of a professional. “I used the domination skill of the Supreme Domination Witch on the wooden carving, and the rest you surely understand.”

Nol: “……” He indeed understood.

Echo Shadow, a type of shadow monster that copies the attacker’s skills and releases them.

Bloody Cobbler, a cunning item-based monster that can fix analyzed skills on inanimate objects, creating one-time-use items.

Echo Shadow completely copies other people’s skills, gives them to the Bloody Cobbler to fix on the wooden carving… and in the process of domination with the Supreme Domination Witch’s skill, the wooden carving is considered a “semi-living body”, not entirely inanimate. Thus, the system judges the skills of the wooden carving as “inherent to a living being”, allowing repeated use.

Why has everyone around him started to exploit bugs? Nol didn’t know whether to feel relieved or sad.

Speaking of which, the relationship between Echo Shadow, Bloody Cobbler, and the Supreme Domination Witch is roughly equivalent to polar bears, penguins, and equatorial chimpanzees, which under natural conditions shouldn’t meet… Ultimately, it was still the situation caused by him, the “Master of Paradise”.

“Is this the ‘Folding Devouring’ of the giant-cheeked mouse?” Painter happily handed over his backpack. “Thank you, Miss Lynn.”

The little hamster carving swallowed Painter’s bag in one bite, causing its cheek pouch to bulge a little more. It climbed onto Lynn’s head, firmly grasping Lynn’s braid. Seeing no more fun, Teest snorted disappointedly and started to crawl forward again.

The tunnel sloped upwards and was extremely rugged, connecting to numerous branch paths and dead ends. Even though Nol could use his nose to find the scent of the Dragon Tomb Garden, in this dark and cramped place, they still crawled for a long time… A day? Two days? Nol almost lost the concept of time.

Painter and Teest took turns supporting and replenishing fresh air with “Light Breeze Mass”. Later on, the two of them didn’t even have the energy to bicker. It seems that no matter how strong one is, nobody likes such oppressive spaces.

Just when Nol felt this place was darker than his future, he finally smelled a stronger scent.

A pale blue light appeared overhead. Nol stretched his hand through the crack, touching the moist dragon bones. Then he exerted all his strength, pushed the heavy bones aside, and reached straight up towards the sky.

Then he heard a suppressed scream, and the ready-to-strike… water and poison magic?

He sensed the presence of three beings, one strong and two weak… a dragon and two slime monsters…

“Wait!” Nol urgently switched back to his mother tongue. “It’s me, Xu Yue!”

“…Teacher Xu?”

Something cold sniffed his hand, feeling like a dragon’s nose.

“I know you are Ye Meng, the other two are Grandma Li and Grandpa Chen.” Nol quickly responded to the message. “The cooperation of water and poison magic was taught by me.”

“Oh.” The dragon’s nose sniffed again. “Then, the secret code we agreed on…”

“We didn’t agree on a secret code.”

Nol finally felt pure relief. The little dragon that had been clueless half a year ago had learned a lot.

“Teacher Xu!” The voice of the black dragon suddenly became tearful, and with a few digs of its claws, Nol immediately had a spacious exit.

There were bones everywhere, and dark blue plants stretched endlessly. Bright green will-o’-wisps floated nearby—Nol had eaten them all when he left, and now they had recovered even more than before.

Nol climbed out of the entrance with some emotion, stretching his limbs that had been bound for too long. When he looked up, he saw Ye Meng—although he had an idea of the growth rate of a dragon, he was still startled.

When he left, the little black dragon was not as big as an adult human. Now Ye Meng was bigger than a normal elephant, with the strong body characteristic of a black dragon, clear muscle lines, and scales flickering with a dim light.

Her chest was adorned with a “necklace” made from monster skulls, two of which had slime monsters poking their heads out, one after the other. Judging by their physical characteristics, their evolution was quite successful.

“Oh, Xiao Xu!” Grandma Li was overjoyed. “You’re back. We were just talking about you yesterday, wondering when you would come to visit—”

“We all received the invitation to Paradise.”

Ye Meng looked down embarrassedly. “But I’m still young. The dragons won’t let me fly too far, so I couldn’t go… Grandpa and Grandma stayed to accompany me. It’s my fault.”

“Your fault? It has nothing to do with you. This old lady and I just didn’t want to join the crowd.” Grandpa Chen snorted.

“I know your situation. I should have contacted you earlier.”

Everyone was still the same. Nol couldn’t help but smile. He waved his hand, and the will-o’-wisps gathered around, lighting up the vicinity as if it were daytime.

“Wow, Teacher Xu is so cool, even cooler than the idol my deskmate likes.” Under the light of the fire, the black dragon’s eyes sparkled. “Is this what you look like? I’ve never seen you before!”

“How can you be single!” Grandma Li beat her chest and stomped her feet.

Nol paused, his gaze instinctively turning to Teest—the moment Teest crawled out of the entrance, he hid in the shadows, almost like a natural instinct.

“I’m not single anymore,” Nol said seriously.

“Ah? I just thought of a few suitable girls.” Grandma Li continued to beat her chest and stomp her feet. “That’s good too. Once this is over, we can all go back together and continue to develop.”

Sure enough, she guessed he had met someone in Paradise. Nol was about to correct her, then thought better of it. “Let’s not talk about this.” Nol smiled and changed the subject. “This time—”

Sure enough, something warm pressed against his back. Teest, like a mist, flashed to his back with one arm wrapping around Nol’s waist. His action was too explicit, so even Ye Meng, a junior high student, could instantly understand.

“‘We‘ have more important things to do.” Teest smiled.

Nol nodded, naturally placing his hand on Teest’s hand at his waist—once he knew the correct way to interpret it, his knight was quite easy to understand.

Seeing Teest’s face clearly, the little black dragon let out a soft, “Wow.” Her eyes continued to shine, not looking like a dragon at all.

At the same time, another “wow” also came from the darkness.

“Are you that ‘Graveyard Ghost’, the Corpse Poison Dragon Imnarka?” Painter exclaimed.

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