Alien world

Chapter 1820, Section 453. Albek: Becoming Human

"What about the residents of Greenfield Town? They were innocent, yet the entire town was massacred by the Chaos Cult simply because of my arrival!"

"innocent?"

The informed deputy judge and a few others exchanged glances.

“Annan, do you know how much trouble it took us to get all these bad guys together in one small town?”

The empire is at most barbarians, not the Kingdom of Rikaner. How can they send their own people to the fire?

Facing the gazes of those around him, Annan felt like a complete clown, manipulated by the schemes of the shady adults. He should be the one playing the role in "The Truman Show," and even Faro Burrows would have to step aside in front of Annan.

"What do you want from me?" Annan's expression turned cold.

If it weren't for Oulin pushing the old man, he would have already raised the wheelchair and smashed it at the crowd.

The deputy judge said, "I'm just telling you the truth."

“Oh, I know now.” Annan looked at the guilty Albek. “After turning Albek back into a human, I should go back.”

There was a few seconds of silence in the dungeon, then the deputy judge said, "We can't do it."

"Can't do it?"

“Let me tell you,” Albek continued. “To gain the High Priest’s trust, I accepted the blood of the Great Horned Rat, and my body was permanently transformed into a rat-man. Now, I am less a human and more a rat-man with a human soul.”

"Can't we just let the shapeshifting demon turn back?" Annan asked the deputy judge.

"The blood of the Great Horned Rat is more aggressive than that of the Shapeshifter."

Annan coldly looked at the deputy warden and the ministers: "Is this how you treat a meritorious official who has sacrificed so much for the empire, leaving him to spend the rest of his life as a rat?"

"This is my self-redemption, Annan, my mistake caused—"

"you shut up."

Annan told Albek to be quiet and looked at the ancestor: "Ah... Ancestor, do you have a solution?"

In front of outsiders, Annan still did not use mushy terms of address.

The old ancestor came out with Annan to support him: "It's a little difficult to collect the ink that was poured into the sea, but we can turn back time."

Before Annan could understand, Albek suddenly knelt down: "Lady Elies, please don't waste your energy for my sake."

"Consumption? Boy, you overestimate the Great Horned Rat."

Behind the ancestor's light laugh, there was a hint of the pride that once made even the gods wary.

As everyone in the dungeon held their breath, the ancestor unleashed two spells.

The first spell, Soul Extraction, extracts Albek's soul, still in human form, from his body.

The second spell, Time Reversal, caused Albek's body to tremble rapidly. Upon closer inspection, it became clear that it wasn't trembling, but rather his natural breathing and movements being sped up a hundredfold.

Time seemed to be rushing back for Albek. In a moment, almost in the blink of an eye, Albek's body transformed from a rat-man back into an old man in a gray robe.

The ancestor then unleashed his final spell: returning Albek's soul to his body.

The curse that High Priest Stunn cast on Albek was purified in this way—just like the old saying goes: it's too much trouble to collect ink spilled in the sea, so just turn the seawater back to a state free of ink pollution.

Albek rolled over and fell heavily off the stone platform, then bowed to the ancestor: "Thank you, Lady Elies."

"You should thank Xiao Annan for pleading for you." The old ancestor patted Annan's hand and winked as if to vent his anger.

“Sister Elies, you are amazing! You are a legend among legends, the queen among queens!” Annan said softly, bowing his head.

"Do not say silly things."

O'Lin glared at Annan with annoyance. What do you mean, the most female of all?
Albek then turned to Annan and bowed deeply.

Annan stepped aside and stood next to the deputy warden: "We don't need to be so formal with each other." Annan was angry, but only towards the deputy judge and high-ranking officials; Albek was a victim like him.

And those twelve Blackwatch warriors who will never return...

“Annan, if you have any grievances, you can request compensation from the Empire.”

"Why would I be dissatisfied?" Annan gave a perfunctory, fake smile.

The deputy warden remained unmoved, lowering his eyes and saying, "Since you don't have any, could you remove them from my feet?"

"Oh, I'm sorry."

Annan quickly stepped back, and the deputy warden looked at the footprints on the priest's robe but said nothing.

"Why aren't you getting up yet?" Annan asked, annoyed, seeing that Albek was still lying on the ground.

Albek said with a wry smile, "My legs are numb from sitting in that rat-man posture for too long..."

……

The matter of Albek was temporarily concluded. Before leaving the courtroom, Annan went to see the remaining seventy-odd Black Watch soldiers who were nominally under house arrest but were actually being protected.

Before long, Blackwatch will be exonerated, and these disgraced soldiers will be able to hold their heads high again. However... the Chaos Cult, having been tricked, will not let this go unpunished.

"How about sending them to my place?"

"Liberty City?"

"Yes, they need a change of scenery, and it's safer with me."

Of course, these were all excuses. Annan had been eyeing these elite troops for a long time and couldn't wait to bring them to Free City and then secretly learn the Empire's training methods.

Albek disagreed: "If the Empire wants, every member of the Chaos Cult will die."

Annan remained noncommittal and temporarily set the topic aside.

Back in the courtroom, as he was about to leave, the deputy warden called Annan to a stop.

“Annan, Prince Aidan, I would like you to visit the Palace Gardens around the mountain.”

"The emperor wants to see me?"

Despite the close relationship between Annam and the Empire, which seemed like they were inseparable, what outsiders would never believe is that Annam had never actually met the emperor.

At most, I heard his talkative voice during the championship title match.

Over the past three years, that emperor must have become as composed as I have become.

However, the deputy warden did not give a reply.

Annan realized that he and Aidan were just extras; the deputy warden's real purpose was to get the old man to the Mountain Palace Gardens.

Or rather, it's about letting the people of the empire see their ancestors visiting the palace gardens surrounding the mountains; whether they actually see the emperor is not important.

Annan didn't want to get involved and looked down at his ancestor.

"Want to see little Kane? Let's go see him then." The old ancestor still had a friendly, smiling demeanor.

They boarded the courthouse's black carriage and drove up the mountain along the main road.

The path to the summit is fraught with obstacles, and even upon reaching the uppermost level where princes and ministers reside, the entrance to the palace gardens surrounding the mountain is merely the beginning.

Those entering the garden are required to shower, change clothes, and undergo a check.

With the vice-judge and the ancestor present, they entered the mountain palace garden, which was regarded as a sacred place by the imperial people and was shrouded in mist.

(End of this chapter)