People in Xumi: I am really not the Dragon King

Chapter 492 Valley: Oh! Would I lie to you? If you don't believe me, then beat me up!

Fuchishita Palace, the core area, the passageway leading to the Great Sun Imperial Palace.

The machinery roared, and the massive device emitted a light as bright as the sun.

The towering spires above everyone's heads rotated endlessly, illuminating the dark, deep abyss under Paimon and Ying's curious gazes.

"."

Speechless for a moment, we walked through this ruin, now filled with broken walls and crumbling walls, yet still able to sense the magnificent civilization of the past.

Looking towards the valley leading the way, a white fluffy creature, remembering the question Ying had raised earlier, floated over to the self-recommended "strategist" and asked the question that had long puzzled them both:

"Speaking of which, it's always been strange how you found such a large underground space. We've been here for so long, and we don't seem to have seen anyone other than us."

"Furthermore, although we know this secret realm is called 'Abyss Palace,' what exactly is Abyss Palace? Why is there something that rumbles and shines like the sun?"

They felt that everything in this secret place was magical, and the architectural style was very different from any other country they knew.

Having explored for so long, Paimon had never seen a secret realm of this scale. He was extremely curious about how this place in the valley before him had been discovered.

"Oh? Did I forget to introduce it earlier?! Sorry, sorry, it was my oversight."

He paused slightly, as if he had genuinely forgotten, and turned around with an apologetic expression.

Looking at Paimon and Luminous before him, Gu Zhong, whose demeanor was more scholarly, temporarily stopped leading the way, pointed to the massive tower ahead, and explained:

"—As you can see, the secret realm we are in right now is the ruins of an ancient kingdom that is now almost completely cut off from the outside world."

"According to the texts we have examined, besides being called 'Yuanxia Palace,' this place was also once known as 'White Night Kingdom.'"

???

"White Night Kingdom? I've never heard of that name before."

"What is that towering, rumbling structure up ahead? Why is it brighter than so many light bulbs?"

She exchanged a glance with Ying beside her and found that they both had the same blank look in their eyes.

Feeling that he had completely touched on a blind spot in his knowledge, Paimon scratched his head and asked further questions.

"Ha, the place we are in right now is actually below Haiqi Island. According to legend, this place was once the home of all the Haiqi people a long, long time ago."

"To put it simply, based on the history of Haizhi Island, long ago, before they moved to the mainland,..."
Endless darkness once shrouded this underground space, with dragon lizards and monsters severely threatening the survival of all the ancient sea creatures, until a device capable of controlling day and night appeared.

"—Yes, that's the towering structure ahead that's making a rumbling sound; it's the day-night regulating device called the 'Great Sun Palace,' the core of the entire Fukushita Palace."

"."

"Huh?! All the people on Haizhi Island used to live underground? If we take over this place now, aren't we just robbing someone else's land?"

"What if the rebels find out? Won't we be suddenly kicked out or asked for compensation?!"

After thinking for a moment, I finally understood what this place was.
Paimon suddenly became nervous when he realized that they seemed to have casually occupied someone else's ancestral land.

"Kicked out? Demanding compensation?"

"."

He paused briefly, glancing at himself and the two hundred-odd "colleagues" in the distance.
After thinking about it for a moment, Gu Zhong felt that, given the strength of the seal they had previously applied, it wouldn't be wrong to say that this was the ancestral home of the Abyss Cult.

"Yes, please don't worry, I don't think there will be such a problem."

"In fact, due to certain changes, Yuanxia Palace has long been abandoned by the people of Haiqi Island. The environment here is too dangerous, and ordinary people simply cannot survive here."

"We determined the approximate location of this place based on some ancient books, and then by some twist of fate, it slipped through some 'gaps'."

"Times have changed, and now the only way to connect the inside and outside worlds is probably through the secret gate that you two rode through last time."

"."

"If, if you two still feel somewhat apologetic, you can speak with that living, divine priestess when you meet her later."
If she insists on kicking us out, then we can consider finding another place later.

They were somewhat helpless about their princess's excessively high moral standards, but they couldn't just blurt out, "The Abyss Order never talks about morality."
Putting the current problems aside for the time being, Gu Zhong also felt that this was not something to worry about right now.

"Well, okay, this place doesn't really look like a habitable place. There aren't even many raspberries."

It seems that in the short term, there is indeed no extra energy to think about issues other than the threat from the gods.

Paimon scratched his head, his doubts about why only they were here largely dispelled.

"Speaking of which, you just said that thing called 'Great Sun Fish' can control day and night, right? Does that mean it can turn this place into darkness?"

"While it's nice to have the lights on all the time, it might be a bit inconvenient when you're sleeping."

"—Of course you can, but please don't do that!"

Gu Zhong, who had been calm and composed until now, paused, turned around, and suddenly revealed strong emotions, which was rare for him.

???

"Huh? Why are you suddenly getting so excited? Is there some strange taboo surrounding this?"

Paimon was puzzled and found his reaction strange.

"No, there are no taboos. If I had to say something, it's just that I'm afraid of ghosts."

"The nights in the Kingdom of White Nights have a ghostly quality; after the 'White Night' transforms into the 'Eternal Night,' many lingering images of the past will appear."

They'll say strange things and stare at you while you sleep, Miss Paimon, from the bedside."

!!!

"Ugh! A ghost! I really shouldn't have done that!"

His white fur stood on end, making him look like a cat with its fur standing on end.
Paimon has always been afraid of these strange things, but just thinking about the terrifying feeling of being watched while sleeping made him instantly give up the idea of ​​trying it.

"Phew, we're almost there. Our usual rest and training area is just ahead."

"The space in Yuanxia Palace is too large, so we people generally only move around near the Great Sun Imperial Palace."
We've basically collected all the treasure chests and such as those as funds. Miss Ying and Miss Paimon, please try not to wander too far if you don't want to get lost.

This is a brief overview of the general situation here, and the ins and outs of how the cult discovered the Abyss Palace.
Seeing that the pressure would soon be passed on to his colleagues, Gu Zhongye breathed a long sigh of relief. "Uh, thanks for the reminder. You seem to know a lot."

The white fluffy creature's attempt to find treasure chests was accurately detected. After hearing that all the treasure chests had been searched, the creature paused, suddenly feeling that most of its motivation to explore had disappeared.

"Ha, just like the position of strategist, I'm actually just a scholar; I'm not good at combat at all."
But just like the scholars in the Imperial College, it's quite normal for intellectuals to know more.

"."

? ?
"Huh? Why are you looking at me like that? As your loyal admirers, would I lie to you?"

"I swear to the gods who protect you both, if there is any falsehood in my words, may I fall into the abyss and become one of those unspeakable evil monsters."

"If you still don't believe me, you can beat me up. Just remember to send me to the medical team afterwards."

He adopted an extremely pained expression, even adjusting his stance to prepare for a beating.

Gu Zhong, who had just declared himself a scholar, now looked completely different from the scholars they had ever met, begging to be beaten.

fluorescent:"."

Paimon: "."

That's weird. Does this guy have some kind of unusual fetish?
While the oath made was undoubtedly sincere, where did this habit of self-verification come from among the educated people?
"No, we don't need to. Being corrupted by the abyss is too dangerous. We trust you, okay?"

"One last question, really the last question!"

"We always hear strange noises when we're sleeping or when we get close to this tower. Is there something down there?"

Seeing that the other person was about to bring their face close, but having absolutely no interest in taking pleasure in hitting people,
With a mixture of incomprehension and respect, the white fluffy creature took two steps back and asked a question that had been troubling her for a long time.

"This one?"

"It's a dragon lizard, or more accurately, a modified dragon lizard."

“Yuanxia Palace was once the territory of the dragon lizards. Even after the ancestors left, the dragon lizards continued to live extensively here.”

"Although the dragon lizards are highly intelligent, we have previously reached a temporary cooperation with the dragon lizards from the outside world through peaceful communication. They agreed to gather near a path and a pond in the distance to help us defend against external enemies."

"But for some reason, we did not release the dragon lizards here; it's not something we can do for them."

I do not intend to discuss the Blood Branch Coral or the current issue of the sacredization of Haiqi Island.

They hadn't forgotten that their boss's boss, besides being a deity, actually had a very special identity.
After the initial discussion, the members of the cult agreed that there was no need for them to interfere too much in the affairs here at the moment.

"Um, so that means the sounds were made by the dragon lizards that were kept here? Your language is so hard to understand."

Blinking, revealing clear eyes untouched by knowledge, the white fluffy creature understood the general idea, but there were still many parts it couldn't comprehend.

"Ha, actually the mechanisms here are very complicated. Even if we wanted to move them, we couldn't open them. Besides, it's just a little noisy. There's no need to kill them over such a small matter."

"—If I had to say, the one who first met them, the one who took them away, the one they should be grateful to and follow, is someone else, not us, the resistance fighters who are fighting for the future of the entire Inazuma."

"In short, we have a lot to do right now. We don't really need to worry about these things."

As they walked, they finally arrived at the place where the other resistance members lived.
With the discussion of the dragon lizards that "they couldn't release" over, Gu Zhong breathed a sigh of relief and decided to leave the rest of the introduction work to others.

A moment later, a sword training base with many targets was set up.

They came here on the recommendation of the valley, and next, this gentleman with a very distinctive name, "Harden," will be their guide to visit the combat department, medical department, and mechanical department.

From afar, one could see the current "Princess." The swordsmanship instructor, whose hair was now streaked with gray, stopped his training and walked over with a smile to greet her.

"Hello, both of you. Gu Zhong told me about the current situation before, and he is willing to take the time to understand each of his subordinates. It is a great blessing to have you as our leader."

"If you don't mind my age and failing memory, as your current 'swordsmanship instructor,' I'm happy to demonstrate the skills of us 'resistance fighters.'"

With a casual flick of his wrist, he flung the broken half of his short sword into the mountainside. After a short, sharp slicing sound, the tattered iron sword disappeared into the rock, leaving only the hilt.

???

Seeing the bewildered expressions on the faces of the two visitors, Harden stretched nostalgically.

He served as a swordsmanship instructor at the Kanria Knight Academy hundreds of years ago, teaching many knights the Black Serpent Sword Technique. Later, he was corrupted by a massive amount of abyssal power and became a "Baptist of Deep Sin," a higher rank than the Abyssal Apostles, suffering from the torment of the curse of immortality.

Although it was only due to mission requirements, and with that person's help, they were able to maintain their current state.
But as a pure-blooded nobleman of Canria who bears the highest level of immortality curse, Harden, whose memory and spirit are now almost completely worn away, cherishes this brief feeling of "being alive" all the more.

“Mr. Harden, are you saying that because you were born outside of Inazuma, your name follows the format of other countries?”

"And because I lived there for quite a long time, I even practiced swordsmanship in other countries."

"Ha, thinking back, it really was a long, long time ago."

Back then, I wasn't well-liked; for some reason, I even offended two of my best students.

Perhaps it's because so much time has passed that everything from the past has faded like an ancient canvas. Even though some memories have returned, they still sound like the recollections of "others" when we talk about them.

He briefly explained the origin of his name, and when faced with Paimon's questions, he tried his best to gloss over them.

"Hmm, Mr. Harden, you seem much stronger than the introduction suggests. You might not even lose to someone with the Eye of God."

However, according to that personnel information, you must be the oldest in the resistance. Wouldn't it be a bit dangerous for you to go to the battlefield?"

Looking at the face that was clearly no longer that of a young man, Paimon, who was flying in the air, cast a somewhat worried glance at it.

"—Haha, the mental strain has indeed affected my appearance, but my body is still strong enough to survive the time being."

"Please rest assured, both of you. Even though I am not afraid of death and even crave it, our medical department is actually quite reliable. At least, an ordinary person should be unable to kill me."

He waved his hand, genuinely not worried about encountering any danger on the battlefield.

Seeing the expressions of admiration on the faces of the two men before him, who were ready to die for their cause, Harden sighed, unsure of what to say. He pointed to the series of relic machines they had transported from other parts of the Abyss Palace and decided to change the subject:
"Let's talk about my matter later; it's not important."

"Since I've taken on the role of guide for you two, and this place isn't far from our other training locations, let me show you the fighting capabilities of our 'resistance army.'"

While the restriction that prevents the legitimate use of elemental power without the Eye of God has indeed significantly impacted the combat capabilities of all Abyss Apostles,
Even with their combat strength greatly reduced, their mere two hundred "resistance troops" could still play a far greater role on the battlefield than the princess had anticipated.

(End of this chapter)