Gacha games can't save this bizarre world.

When the period of psychic dormancy began, the pantheon perished, the order of the underworld collapsed, and the current situation of numerous city-states of varying sizes emerged. The souls of the dead then worked within these city-states to acquire psychic energy from the powerful figures.

This person will not find peace even after death, and their good fortune will continue into their next life!

Moreover, Westerners are in an even worse situation, as most of them do not have an afterlife because reincarnation is extremely difficult, unlike in the East where it is much easier. Therefore, the vast majority of souls can only choose to work forever, and die when they stop!

But the psionic energy in the hands of the big boss is limited, and the number of people who need to do the work is also limited, which is why there are countless evil spirits in the wilderness.

The saying "To live, be a hero; to die, be a ghost of valor" is truly a profound truth.

If you don't become a hero or a villain, you'll only ever be a leek (a metaphor for being exploited).

But for the wicked, there is another path: hell!

According to Dante, those wicked people who died in the last century, while stronger than ordinary ghosts, were still limited in their abilities. Apart from a very few truly heroic figures, most of them could only be exploited by the rigid class system.

But they still have a chance to gamble with their lives, which is to go to hell!

Hell and Heaven are the same; they are both separate worlds distinct from this one.

The difference between hell and heaven is that hell is free—absolutely free. You can do whatever you want, as long as you're strong enough!

Therefore, those villains who are unwilling to be inferior to others but have no other choice choose to voluntarily go to hell and take a gamble!

Of course, to hell, these are just leeks, nourishment for hell.

Even among ten thousand evil people who go to hell, not one might actually become a demon or devil; that's very difficult.

After listening for a long time, Zhao Hao finally had only four words in his mind: Good and evil go unpunished!

It turns out that the saying "good deeds are rewarded and evil deeds are punished," which everyone around me said since childhood, is all a lie. The truth is that Heaven and Earth are ruthless, treating all things like straw dogs! Good and evil are concepts created by humans, and they are meaningless to this world.

Strength and weakness are what we rely on for survival!

However, I cannot accept such a world!

Seeing the five silent men with extremely grim expressions, Dante sighed as well:

"There's nothing I can do. When I first learned the truth about how this world works, I felt the same way. But what could I do? I wrote 'The Divine Comedy,' which was a huge contribution to Heaven. After I died, the angel of death came to guide me, but I ultimately chose to stay in the underworld... Newton studied theology his whole life, but in the end, he didn't go to Heaven either~ Hahaha!"

He seemed quite happy.

As they spoke, they arrived at the city of Julleri. Perhaps due to its founding era, the city looked like an ancient medieval city from a movie.

The streets are narrow and cramped, paved with uneven stones. Some old stone houses stand weathered and worn, with towering spires, balconies, and connecting passageways in the air...

There weren't many people going in and out of the city gate, and there were guards stationed there.

The gatekeepers were a small group of about ten wandering souls, whose psychic energy was much stronger. In contrast, the psychic energy of the hurried passersby was very weak; they were in a hurry and appeared tired and numb.

On their way here, Zhao Hao and his group had already passed through a large slum, all of which were built into the mountainside.

Without the protection of a city, these wandering souls are constantly at risk of being attacked by evil spirits. However, living in a city requires qualifications and expenditure…

While Zhao Hao and his group were oblivious to the passage of time in the Netherworld, the Mysterious Bureau of Amei in the real world was in an uproar.

The bureau chief, a chubby man, came out and slammed his fist on the table with Amei's men: "Didn't you say it was foolproof? Is this how it's foolproof? Where are they! Where are the five candidates?!"

Soon, Colt burst in, his face grim, carrying a stack of documents. "We have news! They seem to be... in the Underworld!"

"Dead?!" The fat man's voice suddenly rose, becoming as shrill as a pig being slaughtered in the countryside.

Chapter 378 The Giant Egg and the Congressman's Mission

"A living person! A living person!" One of the ghosts guarding the gate, who seemed to be the leader, suddenly shouted.

The surrounding spirits immediately began to stir.

The ghosts that seemed to be passersby hurriedly moved away, while the dozen or so gatekeeper ghosts surrounded them.

The expressions of these ghosts were also very strange, as if they were at a loss, or as if they were extremely excited, but they still surrounded Zhao Hao and Dante and the other six.

It's like a giant panda and a golden monkey running hand in hand to a downtown intersection! They're hesitant to attack, but they absolutely cannot let them escape.

Zhao Hao and his group of five immediately became alert, and even Black Lincoln was considering striking first.

These dozen or so undead guards were all at the Black Iron 3-star or 4-star psionic level, except for the leader, who was at the Black Iron 5-star level. If a fight broke out, it was certain that they would be wiped out instantly.

However, they were facing a city, a rather large city.

Just now, Zhao Hao used his flying paper shikigami to look down from a high place. The city is very large. Although many places look dilapidated and even have ruins, it is probably no doubt that it has housed hundreds of thousands of dead souls.

If a conflict were to break out, how many enemies would there be?

Moreover, a city this size can establish itself in the Underworld; it's impossible that it doesn't have high-end combat capabilities.

At this moment, Dante spoke up: "It's been a while since I've been to Jules Rieu; you've certainly become much more enthusiastic here!"

The guards of the dead were taken aback. A special emotion compelled them to not ignore this old ghost they had previously paid no attention to.

Having existed in the underworld for five or six hundred years and regarded as one of the shining examples of human spirituality, Dante naturally possessed extraordinary qualities.

To put it bluntly, in this day and age, when the gods are no longer around, these beings whose wisdom has been celebrated throughout the ages can be called “saints”!

The other undead guards stared blankly at Dante, seemingly lost in thought. The captain of the guards, however, appeared to remember something, his expression changing drastically. He cautiously asked, "Is it Lord Dante?"

Dante nodded.

"Oh dear! It's Lord Dante himself! This is so rude of me. Please come inside, I'll send someone to inform the council immediately..."

A Nobel laureate was standing next to the giant panda and the golden monkey, and suddenly the bear and the monkey didn't seem so appealing anymore.

The city of Julli was founded in the 13th or 14th century. Initially, it had a lord, but after several changes, it became a parliamentary system.

Although the Underworld can be considered another world, it is still connected to both the real and outer worlds, so it influences many things. For example, the formation of this council.

Of course, the laws are different in the underworld. Most of the souls here have blurred memories of the world, and this condition is more severe the longer they have existed.

Except for those who were extraordinary or had extremely high psychic potential in life, people become strangers after they die.

Therefore, the underworld did not directly transform into a brightly lit modern city like the surface world. Instead, it evolved extremely slowly, and even after all these years, it still resembles the late Middle Ages.

As Zhao Hao and his companions were led into the city, they attracted considerable attention along the way. Many wandering spirits secretly followed the five in the streets and alleys, eager to witness their spectacle.

After all, living people in this underworld are a rare sight, occurring only once every few centuries, let alone five at once! Ordinary people don't recognize or care about Nobel laureates; they're more interested in the bear and the monkey.

Zhao Hao and his group also discovered that the souls who could live in the city were not as miserable as those outside. Both their appearance and their spiritual energy levels were much higher.

The ghosts outside, who depend on the city for survival and are always at risk of being harassed and attacked by evil spirits, are all hunched over, thin, numb, and timid, regardless of gender, and their clothes are tattered.

However, the ghosts in the city are at least properly dressed and look more like normal people. They are emotionally expressive, curious, and some are even fat.

The five men and Dante were led to a spacious hall to rest. The hall looked quite luxurious and modern, with carpets of unknown material on the floor, decorations on the tables made of gold, silver and precious stones, and oil paintings hanging on the walls!

As Zhao Hao and his group traveled outside the city, the landscape first resembled a wilderness, then a concentration camp and slums. Upon entering the city, it felt like stepping into a relatively advanced and prosperous medieval stone city. The people on the streets were mostly dressed in a drab and drab manner, with only a few dressed smartly and accompanied by attendants.

But once they arrived here, it felt as if they had entered a modern luxury manor. The furniture and utensils all emitted spiritual energy fluctuations, clearly made of extraordinary materials, and the decorations were luxurious and elegant, dazzling the eye.

Sam looked around excitedly and exclaimed, "This...this looks just as good as those luxurious halls in TV shows and movies!"

Xiluo leaned back in his chair and crossed his legs. "Look at those paintings on the wall. Those are all original works that were clearly destroyed in the real world!"

Zhao Hao's heart skipped a beat: Could it be that if someone burns paper money in the mortal world, the underworld can actually get money? Wouldn't that cause the financial system to collapse? Besides, what about the people who burn the paper money? How would that be calculated?

Before he could ask, Nasiros asked Dante, "Sir, it seems you have some connection with the council of this city?"

Dante nodded: "It must have been more than a hundred years ago. I lingered in this city for a while, and the captain of the guards at the gate must have been there long enough to have seen me."

As they were talking, a hearty laugh came from outside the door, and then a middle-aged man strode in.

He wore a wig, sported a small mustache, and wore a gold-buttoned vest and tight-fitting trousers—an ancient attire reminiscent of an oil painting. Though a ghost, he was indistinguishable from a real person. In fact, one could say he was even more lifelike!

Zhao Hao sensed a very strong spiritual energy fluctuation from him—a bronze-level existence!

At this moment, Prada and Ciro both looked at Zhao Hao, clearly having also sensed his level of psychic energy.

Prada was guided by divine inspiration, while Ciro possessed a poet's intuition. Both were wondrous abilities that could only be understood intuitively and not explained in words.

In any profession or on any path, reaching the Bronze level always requires some extraordinary abilities.

That person was a member of the Council of Five in Julere City, and was himself an old ghost over four hundred years old.

Judging from his brief self-introduction, he must be European, and possess some ancient bloodline and surname, or at least have a very long name.

He was a rare psychic in a period of dormancy during his lifetime, but unfortunately died young.

He is now a Bronze-level undead and a member of the city's Council of Five.

He gave Dante a very warm welcome; Zhao Hao and his group of five were just there as an afterthought.

Of course, after Dante introduced the five people, that person was not mentioned.

Because all five of them were bronze-level superhumans!

Very few living beings are able to enter the underworld; it was only in ancient times when gods manifested in the world.

Those Western heroes and demigods often barge into the underworld and cause trouble.

The East also has this; for example, classic stories often feature scenes of rescuing people from the underworld. The famous monkey even tore up the Book of Life and Death.

However, after the period of psychic dormancy, fewer living beings were able to enter the underworld. It was all a matter of chance and a low probability event, and basically once they entered, they were gone.

But now, there are actually five bronze-level superhumans, this is truly... a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity!

Zhao Hao and the others expressed their request: they wanted to return to the surface world.

The congressman did not refuse, saying he had a way, but the cost of persuading the five-member council to open the "resurrection/return to life" channel would be considerable.

Both sides reached a simple consensus: it was negotiable. They didn't say much more then. They'll have to discuss it further depending on the situation.

Privately, Zhao Hao and Xiluo sought out Dante to inquire about the situation.

Dante did not know what demands this council of five, or rather this councilor, would make.

However, when it came to resurrection portals, he knew quite a bit. The resurrection portals in the hands of different forces were all different, but all of them consumed enormous amounts of resources.

Because the Western underworld does not have an effective reincarnation system, it is extremely difficult and costly to be reborn.

It's like being in a desolate wilderness without even a forest path; the journey would inevitably be difficult.

The gods don't care because they can fly, but mortals have absolutely no way to fly.

In the East, however, a high-speed rail line has been built, so all you need to do is buy a ticket.

Of course, the Western side didn't intend for these mortals to be reincarnated. Except for a very few who could gain the favor of the gods and were willing to pay a price to help them be reincarnated, the vast majority of mortals were treated as disposable items.

Treating the soul as a disposable commodity, with no regard for sustainable development, no wonder the Western population is declining! Don't you agree?