Super Righteous Player
Chapter 523 - 64 "Twin Goddesses Commonwealth" _1

Chapter 523: Chapter 64 "Twin Goddesses Commonwealth" _1

Although Giralda directly mentioned the names of the Four Dark Monarchs, Niusel did not want to take him directly to the three players.

It wasn’t that he wanted to charge a fee or deliberately make things difficult...

It was the common and necessary vigilance of the Underworld inhabitants.

While he didn’t look like any kind of assassin or spy, and indeed seemed to be an important person; this "Giralda" also wasn’t without his flaws and contradictions.

What if he wasn’t the leader of the Four Dark Monarchs but an enemy instead?

If I were to take him directly to the Four Dark Monarchs, wouldn’t I be selling them out?

Compared to the secretive Eye of the Secret that "will" change the Underworld in the future, the three of the Four Dark Monarchs have already given so much to the Sporogenesis Mill... even their souls and lives.

If for the sake of getting more help, I put aside those who have given much and helped with all their strength, then it is undoubtedly a shameful betrayal.

Even if I fail to secure more help because of neglecting Giralda, I would never blame the Four Dark Monarchs for it.

— Niusel had seen too many examples of kindness turning into enmity.

Even if the nightmare of the Sporogenesis Mill was never cleansed in the end... Niusel had long since decided never to show the slightest disappointment in them.

Because after all, the nightmare of the Underworld had nothing to do with them. Not cleansing it wouldn’t harm their interests, and cleansing it wouldn’t benefit them, either.

They were willing to come here to cleanse the nightmare—regardless of the ultimate result, Niusel had already acknowledged them as friends.

At worst, we would just return to the current situation.

Occasionally, Niusel reflected—perhaps, I never really believed they could cleanse the nightmare of the Sporogenesis Mill.

As long as one doesn’t harbor hope, there is no disappointment; conversely, if there’s not even a trace of disappointment... does it mean I never held onto that hope?

"What?"

Lin Yiyi’s face was a mix of excitement and resentment, "Lord Giralda... Sir, you’re finally here! I’ve been waiting a week and he hasn’t arrived, the snacks I bought for him have already expired!

"... He said he would arrive soon, but it’s already been almost ten days."

"’I’ll arrive soon’ just means ’I’m dragging my feet,’" Jiu’er said, patting Lin Yiyi’s head and gently comforting her friend, "Why so glum, Sister Gangzi?"

"Is this supposed to be comforting? Hey!

"— And didn’t any of you ever believe? Am I really the only one who did?!"

Lin Yiyi wailed.

Have you ever seen an NPC solemnly tell you, "Let’s meet back here after shopping," and then they disappear for two weeks, only to show up contentedly saying, "I’ve finished shopping"? If so, that could only happen in one of Ayu’s games.

In the past few days, Lin Yiyi would check out the subway entrance occasionally, concerned that Annan might not find them if he came... She felt like she was becoming Hachiko.

After nearly a week of waiting, she still hadn’t seen him.

Yet once she stopped waiting, Annan arrived in just a couple of days.

It was infuriating.

"To be fair, it’s true. If he hadn’t arrived within two days, then it wasn’t just a matter of strolling around above ground for fresh air; he definitely had something important to handle," whispered one of the Four Dark Monarchs from behind.

Lin Yiyi: "Hmm?"

Without changing his expression, the Four Dark Monarchs quickly defused the situation with a "danger" popping up above their heads, "But it’s not your fault, Sister. After all, the boss has never flaked out before, so there must have been some unexpected holdup. Since it wasn’t intentional, it’s normal that you couldn’t guess it.

"Considering the boss’s identity, him suddenly encountering something that needed immediate attention... makes sense."

—Because his real identity is Annan Winter.

Encountering emergencies on his own territory in the Winter Principality is quite normal.

Whether it’s an assassination attempt, urgent state affairs that need attending, or even being summoned home to inherit the Princely position, or perhaps arranged to meet a prospective spouse, it’s all very possible.

In fact, returning in just ten days suggests that Annan must have been extremely busy.

The Four Dark Monarchs figured that Annan must have hurried over as soon as he had dealt with his affairs.

Considering Niusel was still beside him, Sique didn’t utter the second half of his sentence.

Niusel walking alongside was also well aware:

This obviously meant there was something they couldn’t discuss with him.

However, that was quite normal, given that they had known each other for less than two weeks.

In the Underworld, maintaining constant vigilance was a virtue—it could prevent one from unintentionally betraying friends and family... After all, in the Underground City, there was no restraint from the Orthodox Church nor state management, and there were many devotees of the cults that worshipped the skull and the Black Widow.

——Being cautious with oneself, that was a good thing.

"Alright, we’re here,"

Niusel spoke up.

He reached out to steady Sique’s shoulder, looked ahead, and nodded with his chin: "That man over there is Mr. Giralda. Next to him is a werewolf companion. Take a look first to see if you recognize any of them, to confirm if they’re acquaintances of yours."

It was a tavern.

Giralda and Dorin were seated near a window, but curiously, they weren’t facing each other but sitting shoulder to shoulder, facing inward.

This seating arrangement was deliberately orchestrated by Niusel. Because such a test was too impolite, he had already taken care of their expenses for today.

This would prevent Giralda from spotting them first.

But at the sight of Giralda, Lin Yiyi and the others breathed a sigh of relief.

"Yes, that’s Giralda,"

Lin Yiyi confidently said.

Niusel nodded: "Then you go and have a word with him. Confirm his identity... Don’t all three of you approach together."

"Does it have to be this troublesome!"

Sique exclaimed in surprise.

It was practically like intelligence agents making contact.

"Such caution is necessary."

Niusel shook his head, accustomed to the naivete of those from above ground.

"In the Underground City, scams like ’Who are you?’ and ’It’s me, have you forgotten?’ are all too common.

"Furthermore, spells such as Shaping Spell and Idol Spell can disguise oneself as another person, using illusions and rituals to temporarily change one’s appearance is also not difficult. You go first to confirm if it really is your acquaintance—and if so, then invite them over. It’s best to set up a code word; if things go south, you’ll have to run."

Niusel spoke with patience: "After all, he is a silver-rank Transcendent. If it really comes to a fight, your only option is to run. I won’t be able to save you..."

This kind of ploy of disguising as an acquaintance and then immediately assassinating upon getting close, Niusel had witnessed it firsthand at least three times.

"Your place is really quite chaotic, huh."

Jiu’er remarked.

Niusel shrugged his shoulders, his voice a bit softer, "That’s just the way it is here."

The other interpretation of freedom was the inability to act—different cities had different laws, which meant that a criminal from one city might not be arrested in another.

——You’re a sage from another city, what right do you have to arrest our citizens? Isn’t your reach a bit too long?

Especially since the Underground City had such a large population, almost everyone had passed through other cities. Today you claim this person is a fugitive from your city, tomorrow they say another person is a fugitive from theirs, should I arrest everyone in my city?

Based on this concern, even if you were aware there were criminals in your own city, you absolutely could not arrest them following the wishes of sages from other cities. Arrests had to be based on the sages’ own judgments—such as considering whether keeping a person would drive the other citizens away.

After all, legally speaking, the status among the sages from different cities was equal; every sage was the supreme ruler within their own city.

There was no competition among them, nor were they allowed to wage wars. How a city developed relied solely on their own abilities—hence, rather than being many cities within a nation, it was more accurate to say it was a federation formed from many small nations.

But it definitely wasn’t a true federation since it lacked a unified constitution and laws, nor did it have a president; it couldn’t even be considered a confederation, as the vast majority of Underground Cities lacked independent finances and militaries and were not truly sovereign states. Transit and freight between these cities were shared; nobody dared to monopolize, much less dare to sever them.

Sometimes, even Niusel found it strange.

Why was it that inside the so-called "Twin Goddess Commonwealth,"

There were neither two goddesses nor a commonwealth?

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