reincarnation npc, but tomorrow's ark

The old man's age stemmed from his experiences and mindset. Two hundred years of war, the vicissitudes of his family members dying before his eyes—he had indeed witnessed too much separation and loss. Therefore, he looked like an old man.

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When the will of the White Night shone brightly in Lentinium, some people in Lentinium still witnessed this scene.

On the very edge of the battlefield, yet another ruler of the royal court, overlooked by everyone, turned and left. He was a member of the Shapeshifter Cluster, holding a seat among the ten royal courts as a cluster. Earlier, when Logos was investigating Londinium, besides noticing the strange magical ritual arrays, he had also fought some of the Shapeshifter clones.

He killed 28 clones, but that was all.

During the great battle, the Shapeshifter syndicate did not appear. He stood at the edge of the battlefield, quietly watching Bai Ye bring the Regent to the Western Hall of the Holy King's Council. He also witnessed Bai Ye personally killing Theresis and overheard their conversation through another clone.

He witnessed Bai Ye and the others fighting against Ducarre, the Lord of the Blood Court, and once again saw Bai Ye unleash a terrifying high-energy ray, blasting the Blood Demon Lord's physical body to smithereens.

Finally, when Bai Ye unleashed his mental strike, a look of surprise appeared on the shapeshifter's face. He saw Bai Ye's strike obliterate Ducarre's remaining consciousness, and witnessed the dead souls annihilated under his sword.

When the ancient shapeshifter horde was born, this land wasn't yet called Terra. On this vast land, nothing seemed to have ever posed a threat to him; in fact, it couldn't even be considered Sarkaz. But now, the being before him seemed to possess the power to severely injure or even destroy him.

However, compared to the power that threatened them, the shapeshifters cared more about other things. Bai Ye, through his own will, forged a path to a different future. The dazzling sword light captivated him.

“Interesting.” The shapeshifter clapped softly. There was little left on this land that could move him. But now, he saw something new in Bai Ye, a landscape he had never seen before.

Therefore, he did not interfere with Bai Ye's battle with his other "comrades." Although they were nominally on the same side, the shapeshifters always remained outside the Kazdel Military Council, acting only out of personal interest.

The shapeshifter had a premonition that perhaps what it had been searching for could be found in Bai Ye.

It eagerly anticipated this, and thus watched helplessly as its own faction came to an end.

Then it quietly departed and disappeared into Londinium. No one knows where it went, just as it did not know what new and interesting things would happen in the future, or where the fate of this planet would lead.

Theresis is in a bad situation too; his subordinates are either arrogant guys like the Blood Lord, or old fogies with far more seniority than him. They're completely out of his control.

Or they might be in a state of being elusive, only able to make a move when they feel like it, or they might just disappear somewhere and be impossible to find, making them useless in crucial moments.

There are also a bunch of guys like Cyclops and Banshees who don't respect him at all, which makes his daily work really difficult.

Fortunately, there was a general like Friedman from the Kazdel Military Advisory Committee, a real workaholic who could cover for Theresis in any situation.

……

"Come on."

The leader of the pardoners is packing his things.

He/She also witnessed Bai Ye's sword light. When he/she saw that dazzling light, he/she was greatly shocked. Similarly, he/she also felt a great threat from that light.

He witnessed firsthand how the dead soul was punctured by Bai Ye's sword like a bubble. This was a power capable of severely injuring him, the nemesis of souls. Therefore, he had to stay far away from here.

The further away from Bai Ye, the better, even if it means having to stop his research on the Demon King's power.

So, as the airship landed, the absolutist and his guards quietly left, burning down their residence and erasing all traces and research materials inside.

They didn't want to end up like the dead souls and the Blood Demon Lord. Those who manipulate souls and bloodlines were inherently afraid of that power.

Chapter Sixty-Five: Tacit Understanding

Just as Hadley had predicted, even before news of Theresis's death spread, the Sarkaz had already begun to split, and the Exonerators had fled overnight. Like the Shapeshifter syndicate, they wouldn't be coming out anytime soon.

……

Although Bai Ye and Logos noticed the appearance of the shapeshifter, they quickly lost their senses as the shapeshifter moved away, so they didn't pay much attention to it.

After sending the Sarkaz airship away via the Cyclops, Bai Ye then began contacting external rescue forces.

This is also a very important matter and should be given top priority.

Although the power and scope of the natural disaster were indeed controlled, it still had a significant impact on the city. Moreover, since Lentinium had never been hit by a natural disaster before, people had actually lost some of their fear and preventative measures against them.

When the natural disaster actually strikes, in addition to the Sarkaz, the citizens of Lentinium will likely also be significantly affected.

This incident originated with White Night, so he naturally had a responsibility and obligation to provide assistance. Moreover, he was also a member of Rhodes Island, so he was quite adept at handling large-scale Oripathy outbreaks.

In fact, before the White Nights caused the natural disaster, he had already begun to contact rescue forces. Similar to the last time, the Adventurers' Guild took the lead, Rhodes Island was the main force, and with the assistance of some other friendly organizations, a rescue and infection control team was formed and headed towards Londinium.

Some of the personnel were directly drawn from Little Hill County, where the work was mostly completed; the remaining tasks mainly involved disaster reconstruction and refugee resettlement. Therefore, some personnel could be transferred to Londinium.

Fortunately, Lentinium is now in a state of anarchy. Although this will breed many derivative problems, the self-organized civilian organizations can play a greater role. For example, the Lentinium Citizens' Self-Salvation Army has obviously regained its vitality overnight after getting rid of the Sarkaz's suppression and control.

The prisoners were freed, and the enslaved workers regained their freedom. They took control of the factories, using them as strongholds, and occupied the entire production line, ready to build large-scale weapons and equipment for themselves at any time.

Clearly, under the enslavement of the Sarkaz, many ordinary citizens of Lontinim have become skilled workers in crafting equipment and manufacturing industrial materials—there was no other way, as those who were not skilled had already been taken out and executed.

This is probably the only thing of value left to them by these Sarkaz, besides their suffering and pain. Although nobody really wanted it.

Furthermore, in order to fight the Sarkaz, the Self-Salvation Army has been stockpiling supplies in preparation for a protracted war. Now they are distributing supplies to deal with the sudden natural disaster and subsequent relief efforts.

Bai Ye believes this is the key force that Rhodes Island can win over locally in Londinium.

However, these are not the main points at the moment. From the beginning, the affairs of Lentinium were not decided by Lentinium itself. The actual controller of the city was indeed the Sarkaz, while the actual controller of Victoria was these Grand Dukes.

They are the root of everything, and the Sarkaz entered Lentinium because of their invitation.

……

As Bai Ye was pondering, he suddenly felt something strange. He narrowed his eyes, looked up, and found that Logos had also noticed something was wrong.

The two exchanged a glance, and the Banshee Queen nodded to Bai Ye. Although they had almost never cooperated before, their collaboration being limited to today, a considerable tacit understanding had developed between them. Almost instantly, they understood each other's thoughts.

The three deep-sea hunters who had been following Bai Ye also sensed something was amiss—a hunter's instinct, of course, and something they'd noticed from Bai Ye's actions. They were all prepared to cooperate.

The next moment, Bai Ye and Logos suddenly made their move. Logos raised the bone pen and chanted a banshee's incantation, creating ripples in the space.

Bai Ye, on the other hand, was more direct. After a crisp, low murmur, a sharp longsword appeared in Bai Ye's hand. As he raised the sword, Bai Ye's figure appeared in another location, with the tip of the sword pointing directly at a certain open space in front of him.

"Uninvited guest, would you like to come out on your own, or be... 'invited' out by us?" Bai Ye asked the air in front of him, his expression calm, even smiling, appearing polite and refined. However, the sword in Bai Ye's hand spoke a completely different story.

The "Wind Chime," which had just slain Theresis, the Blood Demon Lord, and the Dead Soul, still exuded a sharp aura, its malevolent energy undiminished. Its sharpness was such that even before the blade touched the skin, it could still leave a wound.

The "guest" hiding in the space in front of Bai Ye could no longer hide. Bai Ye's will still lingered on the blade, easily capable of wounding her soul. Although she didn't care about the demise of her physical body, even a mere injury to her soul was quite terrifying to her.

Therefore, under the pressure of the white night, something began to manifest in the space. Since Logos had sealed off this space with magic, she had no other way to escape or hide.

It was a polygonal...ball of yarn?

A ball of yarn.

Then, the ball of yarn was unfurled in the void, the intersecting lines hanging down and then disappearing.

Then, a beautiful figure appeared in the air before Bai Ye's eyes. She raised her hands above her head in an ancient Gallic salute, and wore a huge witch's hat that covered her blue hair.

This is a young girl wearing a long, black dress with some messy loose threads peeking out, giving her a mysterious look.

"Um, excuse me, could you perhaps move that weapon in your hand... just a little bit away from in front of me? Its terrifying sharpness is truly chilling. My legs are practically shaking with fear..."

The girl said softly, but although she said it like that, her facial expression and body language didn't seem to reflect that at all.

"you are?"

Bai Ye tilted his head and slowly moved the sword in his hand away.

"Phew, that feels much better... That was really suffocating..."

The girl stuck out her tongue, and somehow, all the lines and loose threads had been rolled up and folded into a small square, floating above her palm.

Chapter Sixty-Six: The Lich's Messenger

(Correction: All previous instances of "Friedman" should be corrected to "Manfred".)

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The girl's sudden appearance beside them surprised everyone.

Skadi stood behind Bai Ye, looking at the girl and tilting her head. Laurentina, on the other hand, was more direct. She turned to Bai Ye and gave him an utterly bewildered expression, as if to say, 'How dare this guy show up among us all alone?'

Clearly, if she were truly hostile, she would have already been dismissed by everyone. Compared to the enemy they had just faced, this person was obviously no threat.

Looking at the girl's appearance and the small black cube floating and spinning in her hand, Logos said with certainty:

"You are a lich."

Lich?

Bai Ye blinked after hearing this. In Londinium, he had never seen a lich, either before or after his transmigration. However, in the later stages of the game before his transmigration, Bai Ye had indeed seen liches in other places.

He was an old man, quite different from the classic evil necromancer image in traditional literature. He was a kind and gentle old man who liked to collect various spells and documents, and was also very friendly to players.

This lich was a friendly NPC, always asking players to bring him various remnants of ancient texts and fragments of knowledge scattered across the land, and he bought them at much more affordable prices than other NPCs. Bai Ye frequently interacted with him before his transmigration.

However, this was the first time Bai Ye had ever seen a young and pretty lich standing before them.

The liches are one of the Sarkaz tribes and hold seats in the Royal Court. The Royal Court grants the right to pay homage to the King of Kazdel, and each of the major Sarkaz tribes has representatives and seats within it. In the past, the Sarkaz race had ten Royal Courts; however, over time, most of them have become extinct or left the race.

This time, Bai Ye also personally destroyed the Blood Court, one of the best-preserved royal courts.

……

The lich's body structure is very peculiar, seemingly composed of "threads" with ends protruding from its body. The knots of these threads are called "life knots." As long as the life knots remain intact, the lich's life is virtually infinite.

Most liches possess vast knowledge, and many of them live in seclusion. Four years ago, when Kazdel was almost destroyed by civil war, and the Regent brought the Sarkaz to Londinium, the Lich King's court did not leave Kazdel. They stayed behind, bringing with them the knowledge of the Sarkaz, to protect the flame of this race's civilization.

For the Sarkaz, this is a respectable race. Moreover, they possess knowledge of space, and their study of this knowledge and technology is precisely for the purpose of preserving their "lifeline" more properly and safely.

"..." The young lich's gaze swept across the crowd, her expression somewhat stiff. After all, this lineup was practically an all-star team. In any country in the core circle, they could dominate, and it wouldn't be impossible for them to fight against an entire army.

"Lich, state your purpose." Logos sealed off the space and wasn't worried that the guy would escape, so he appeared quite calm.

“As you can see, I am Emengard, a messenger from the Lich King’s Court.” The girl forced an awkward smile, her face twitching as she fiddled with her little cube.

Bai Ye turned and met Logos's gaze. Logos whispered in Bai Ye's ear:

"The Lich King's Court has always remained neutral, without rushing to choose its own side, whether it was the last civil war between His Highness and the Regent, or this time. I think they are more like protectors of the spark of civilization."

Bai Ye nodded, understanding the situation. He sheathed the "wind chime" in his hand, then removed his hat and smiled at the lich before him:

“It seems there was indeed some misunderstanding between us before, Miss Emengard, messenger of the Lich King’s Court. I apologize for contacting you in this way.”

Hearing Bai Ye's words, the Lich Lady was very pleased. She smiled and said:

"Finally, someone is calling me by such youthful terms. Everyone else always calls me 'madam'... I don't know if they have some misunderstanding about liches. I'm really not that old."

She then leaned closer with some curiosity, looking at the longsword that Bai Ye had already sheathed in his hand. "This is the first time I've ever seen a weapon like this. May I... admire it?"

“Of course I would be happy to, but my sword might be a little less… willing. It always only allows me to handle it.”

As soon as he finished speaking, the wind chimes rang out with a clear, crisp sound, as if in response to Bai Ye's words.

“Oh, that’s a real shame,” Emengard said with regret.

Then, she bowed to Logos and Big Daddy:

"I never expected to see the masters of the Deathstroke Court and the Wendigo Court here. Greetings to you both."

“I am not the ruler of the royal court,” the eldest father said in a deep voice.

Logos nodded to the lich before him. Clearly, neither side harbored any hostility.

Then Emengard turned to look at Bai Ye and said:

"You must be Bai Ye?"

“Yes, I am Bai Ye. I never expected that my name would be known by you reclusive... well, hermit liches.” Bai Ye was somewhat surprised.

He even felt that the lich in front of him recognized him at first glance, and then Logos and Big Daddy, the two symbols of the royal court.

“Uh, Mr. White Night, we liches aren’t as closed off as you think… our intelligence network is actually quite efficient.” Emengard was somewhat speechless; it seemed that people’s stereotypes about liches still couldn’t be changed.

There's nothing we can do about it; they're always elusive, making them incredibly mysterious. At least, most Terrans will probably never see a lich in their entire lives.

Emengard then continued:

“Mr. Baiye, the teachers have been paying attention to your books for a long time. Our library has collected all of your works and placed them in the most prominent position. Some of the handwritten copies have even circulated to the Sarkaz of Letania.”

"We all believe that the landscape of this land is very likely to change because of the appearance of those... the undead. Therefore, we attach great importance to your theories and views, which are very enlightening to us. The teachers all think that you are a great scholar."

Emengard's words made Bai Ye feel a little embarrassed. Such boasting... really, isn't it a bit... inappropriate?

Laurentina, standing to the side, was already chuckling to herself; clearly, she knew best what kind of person this guy was.

Chapter Sixty-Seven Immortal Seeds

Bai Ye truly hadn't expected these liches to view him this way. It seemed this was one of the rare times Bai Ye, as a scholar, had received such attention. The last person to do so was Shivaish, the chairman of the Sheragkaran Trading Company.

In fact, Bai Ye hasn't written anything himself for a long time. Usually, he just lies on Skadi's or Laurentina's lap in his spare time, says whatever comes to mind, and then saves the content through recording equipment.