On my second playthrough, they were full of malice towards me.

"It's alright, let's go."

Liao Ji gently tossed the torch in his hand toward the cave entrance below and turned around.

The next second, the flammable wax, made by the kobolds, burst into flames upon contact with an open flame, and with a loud "boom," a raging fire quickly erupted in the secret chamber. Scorching heat waves swept out of the cave entrance, and the crimson glow of the flames illuminated the entire underground cave.

Following behind Liao Ji, Irene curled her lip as she watched the young man's dashing figure.

Hmph, she was busy running around the whole time, but when it came to lighting the fire, she stepped in herself. When she wasn't needed anymore, she didn't even turn her head. What a show-off!

But, it actually looks pretty cool, she wants to try it next time!

<<---Expand all chapters--->>

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Chapter 11 Them

Another major factor in Liao Ji's choice of Yilin was her familiarity with the area as a scavenger.

Led by Irene, who had become a Calamity, they were much faster than they had come. In less than half an hour, the two of them emerged from a cave.

The bright midday sun made Liao Ji squint as he emerged from the underground "ruins cave".

After gradually adapting and gaining a clearer view, Liao Ji, who could be considered to have "seen the light of day again," looked around.

The skyscrapers, city streets, bustling crowds, and thriving commercial streets that he was familiar with on Blue Star had all disappeared.

Instead

It was a land of flying sand and stones, a barren wilderness.

And

Just like in the "Black Hole Plains" in the game, the most iconic feature is the series of holes that sink into the ground.

These are all entrances to the "Kobold's Lair" below, a dungeon that Liao Ji used to enjoy farming in the early stages of the game, and he left behind quite a few resource points during his explorations, like the secret room where he was first born.

only

Unexpectedly, five hundred years later, because the source of the "turbid calamity" was destroyed by himself, the number of monsters decreased sharply. The underground area of ​​this Black Hole Plain was renamed "Ruins Cave" because of the early resource points he left behind.

Liao Ji shook his head with a touch of emotion, realizing once again that this was not a dream, nor an illusion; he had truly transmigrated into his own world of "The Fall," and it was the "second cycle" world five hundred years in the future.

"Old fogey, you've only been criticizing me, what about you? What are you going to do next?"

Once back on the surface, Irene became more talkative. As the two traveled towards the largest nearby Black Hole gathering place, she began to initiate conversations with Liao Ji.

"I plan to go find them next." After thinking for a while, Liao Ji remained firm in his main plan.

"they?"

Liao Ji explained simply, "They are the five personal guards of the Great Emperor that you mentioned."

Then, as expected, the girl next to him widened her eyes in an exaggerated way.

"You, you, you, you!"

Irene wanted to tell him he was crazy, after all, the simple word "they" that Liao Ji used referred to five women who, in today's world, could be said to stand at the pinnacle of power.

Even knowing Liao Ji's mysterious background and origins, Yilin felt it was still necessary to give this 500-year-old relic a proper education on the current situation.

The girl held up five fingers: "Come on, old timer, listen carefully. The person you're looking for next is the Empress of the Dragon Kingdom, which has the most expansive territory and the largest population, and is the world's most powerful force in the open."

"One is the Elf Queen of the Forest Alliance, who invented magic by studying 'Turbid Calamity' and is sought after by countless people."

"One is the world's largest weapons production site, the headquarters of the Mechanical Alliance, which brings together the most advanced technologies."

"Another one is the goddess of a holy country whose believers are all over the world and whose churches are countless. She is regarded as a faith by countless suffering people."

"As for the last one, hmph, it's the only one I think you still have a tiny bit of chance of meeting, that's the Lord of the Demon City."

Uh

I must say, they truly are the wives I raised.

After being listed like this by Yilin, Liao Ji did feel some pressure.

He also noticed something very interesting in the girl's words.

It was quite obvious that Irene held the first four in awe, but when it came to the last one, there were none of those preambles, and the previous awe was completely gone.

This made Liao Ji very curious.

"Tell me, why do you think I'd be easier to meet Lei, the city lord of Shanghai? To be ranked among the top five powers alongside the others based on just one neutral city, she must be quite remarkable, right?"

"Hmph! Of course you can't see her through normal channels, but this city lord of the Demon City is a succubus! It's said that she absorbs the essence of many men every night, and rumors say that she prefers young masters like you, pretty boys!"

"If you work hard, you might just be chosen by that city lord. Look, we've seen it now, haven't we?"

As the girl spoke, she seemed to look at the city lord of the Demon City with utter contempt.

This struck Liao Ji as quite amusing.

Despite having "read extensively" on the dark web, she surprisingly seems quite innocent?

Another one is

"What substantial evidence do you have for the rumors you mentioned about the Lord of Shanghai?"

Faced with Liao Ji's questioning, Irene adopted the typical keyboard warrior demeanor and exaggeratedly said, "Huh? What basis do you need for this? She's a succubus, a succubus!"

Lena's race is indeed that of a succubus.

But she really is that kind of special person. After recalling the various roles and events in which he raised Lena, Liao Ji was not swayed in the slightest by the rumors told by Irene.

"Alright, now that we're in the Holy Kingdom, let's head down and find the little nun first. Oh, the church goddess."

Seeing the young man's calm and relaxed demeanor, Irene sighed and covered her face, feeling as if everything she had just said had been for nothing.

But soon.

The girl frowned, suddenly realizing something was wrong.

"Hey! Wait a minute, how did you know we're currently within the Holy Kingdom's territory? I don't recall ever telling you anything about our location, did I?"

"Well, that was deduced, of course."

"Deduction? You can deduce this?!" Irene stared with wide, questioning eyes. Unfortunately, Liao Ji, who was next to her, clearly didn't intend to explain this time; he just smiled.

Seeing the young man's attitude, the girl stopped asking questions in a huff. She could tell him or not; she hated riddle tellers!

Actually, Yilin really misunderstood Liao Ji here.

You really can't blame him for the riddle.

after all

Liao Ji couldn't possibly tell the girl that this [Black Hole Plain] was actually one of the areas he explored in the early stages of the game, and that at that time, the only character who accompanied him at the beginning was Styutia.

This land, which holds memories that belong only to them, will surely be incorporated into the territory of Styutia if she truly establishes a new power.

And judging from Irene's reaction, his guess was correct.

Liao Ji felt much more at ease after confirming this.

to be frank.

In the secret room, Irene had told him about the most common rumor circulating among the people: that the emperor's disappearance was due to a conspiracy by his five personal guards. Although Liao Ji, as the person involved, knew that this was not the case, it still served as a warning to him.

It seems quite possible that love could turn into hate.

Recall how I treated them as "warehouse managers," and how I would get bored with them and "strip them of their equipment." Even at the end of the game, each of them had a 90% or higher level of affection for me. Calling them "wives" would be too distant; they were already family.

Liao Ji felt it was better to play it safe, especially since his strength had been reset.

but.

There was only one exception.

That's right.

Styutia.

The only character whose affection level never dropped after reaching maximum was the one he kept in storage or gave equipment to other women. This character was the only one with "100% affection" in the final ending CG image.

Five hundred years can change a lot. Perhaps the other four will no longer recognize him as the Great Emperor, but Liao Ji believes that Styutia will never change her mind and will never do anything to harm him.

Even though this once down-on-her-luck little nun has now become a goddess of the Holy Kingdom, worshipped by countless believers, Liao Ji believes that in the past five hundred years, Styutia has never given up on searching for him and has always been looking forward to his return.

The paper maker who was once deeply devoted to her has now become a reality, and...

There's something even more wonderful than this!

Chapter 12 Sthimitia (Part 1)

About half an hour passed after the two left.

On the desolate Black Hole Plain, at the entrance of the underground cave where Liao Ji and Yi Lin had just emerged, a sudden and violent spatial distortion occurred.

The scenery around the cave entrance seemed to be stained with an eerie dark red, which flowed in the air like liquid and was becoming extremely viscous at an extremely fast speed.

Only one force can produce this effect.

Turbidity and misfortune.

Moreover, judging from the scale of the pollution, the concentration of turbidity is definitely not low; it is at least "Grade B" or higher pollution.

Finally, when the entire area was filled and enveloped in dark red, the fluctuations in space seemed to reach their peak. The next second, the viscous dark red liquid completely solidified and transformed into three human figures.

They wore religious attire, predominantly in a pure white color, but the hats and headscarves that completely covered their long hair, as well as the stockings that covered their thighs and were visible through the slits on the sides of their dresses, were all pure black.

All three women wore cross pendants on their chests, and combined with their distinctive attire, it was easy to identify them.

Church nuns.

The tallest and most imposing nun had a silk scarf covering her eyes, but now, faint traces of blood were seeping from the inside out of the scarf.

She seemed to have exhausted herself; as soon as she solidified, she knelt on the ground, panting heavily. From the skin exposed outside her nun's habit, one could see dark red patterns, similar to those of Irene, symbolizing "turbidity and calamity."