Super Righteous Player
Chapter 917 - 452: Justice That Is No Longer Late

Chapter 917: Chapter 452: Justice That Is No Longer Late

"I think, in most cases, I can be."

Even as Annan was questioning him, the Silver Baron merely smiled gently, "Annan, I am the god of trade—I cannot, nor would I be as pure as glass like you.

"But you’re right, even if I were to witness it with my own eyes, I indeed wouldn’t stop it...

"If Yawen saw it, he would go to stop it. Because it’s ’ugly,’ and it would displease him.

"If nobody saw this happen, then the Old Bone Mother would bury their bodies before they could rot and collect their remains. She would inform the Bone Church of the real situation here... She wouldn’t interfere with it either.

"And if it were Mr. Radiance, he certainly would intervene—or rather, he would have ’cleansed’ Nicholas on sight, regardless of whether he was committing a crime at the moment. For the god of cleansing, anyone who has sinned and not sought redemption can be ’cleansed.’

"Likewise, even False Gods or Evil Gods... have their own ways of acting. The Tragedian may think he has done well or may feel that he was not genuine enough; the Bell Ringer would attack him on sight, the Iris Marquis and his master, the Red Knight, seeing such bullying of ’unarmed’ civilians, would step forward to stop it immediately, and the Twin-Headed Singer would simply record the event and turn it into a song to mock him..."

The Silver Baron paused for a moment in silence.

He looked at Annan seriously, "I’m seriously reminding you now, Annan. This world indeed needs the Celestial Chariot... but before you’re ready, I hope you won’t ascend lightly.

"Because once you become a deity, you must abide by the rules.

"In this world, even gods are bound by constraints. Rather, it is precisely because one is a deity that there are more constraints—The Holy Nation has a tradition, ’When the higher-ups commit crimes, their punishment is increased threefold,’ and this tradition comes from the gods, or as the centaurs say... it’s ’the living pillars.’"

The Silver Baron said this with a light chuckle, "I quite like this term. Let me explain to you how we gods manage this world.

"We all are the living pillars of this world, with the duty to stand between heaven and earth, none of us may abandon our post or exceed our bounds... otherwise, it would bring chaos to the entire world and trouble to other gods. For us, ’good and evil’ are less important than ’order.’

"Nicholas is smart because he hasn’t violated the laws set by me, which the Silver Church is responsible for enforcing. That’s why he operates in Noah—In other words, as long as he doesn’t embezzle, steal, rob, or evade taxes, I have no reason to kill him."

Annan suddenly realized.

So that’s why Nicholas kept all those possessions in the village... It was not only to mislead others but also to avoid the direct intervention of the Silver Baron!

"But his acts of kidnapping those people and slaughtering the village, will disrupt the public order of the entire Noah. According to a contract I previously made with little Noah, if the royal family applies to the church, then I can ’act as law enforcement.’ Which means the Silver Church can bypass the ’church law’ and implement ’kingdom law.’ Then I can arrest him on the charge of murder—and only arrest; of course, if he resists arrest, I also have the right to kill him directly."

The Silver Baron sighed, "Of course, there’s another thing I have to say... And that is, I indeed didn’t see this happen.

"I’m different from the old grandmother... In Winter, the blizzard itself is her eyes. But only those who are engaged in trade and those who stay in places like banks and market exchanges—’places of trade’—can be seen by me.

"The one who truly discovered this... is actually the Faceless Poet. Because it records and is the God of Secrets, when Nicholas was amassing treasure, attempting to hide his crimes within a conspiracy, it became a ’secret’ and ’scheme,’ and that was how the Faceless Poet and the Tragedian came to know of it."

Does that mean, only when something directly relates to their own domain... can the gods perceive it?

Then conversely, if other gods get involved in this domain, they would also be noticed by this god...

Annan finally understood the behavior patterns of the gods.

No wonder the Paper Princess needs to employ so many artists and is so strapped for cash, yet she doesn’t use her advantage of being able to cross national borders freely for trade... nor rely on her immortality to sell antiques and some dangerous cursed materials, but rather survives solely by selling paintings.

Because if the Paper Princess did business, that would involve the Silver Baron’s domain.

Its meaning is probably equivalent to directly asking the Silver Baron for money.

If it were other gods, she wouldn’t be too concerned.

But the Paper Princess herself is a subordinate god of Yawen—to avoid causing trouble for Yawen, she consciously avoids this method.

After all, the relationship between the Silver Baron and Yawen doesn’t seem to be very good...

It’s not the rules of the deities that prevent them from doing these things—it’s their identity and allegiances that make deities reluctant to directly involve themselves in the domains of other deities, in order to avoid misunderstandings and disputes.

...Suddenly, Annan felt that these gods lived quite tiring lives.

They weren’t the kind of gods who acted wantonly, doing whatever they wished, but gods who tirelessly worked to protect this world.

They weren’t "owners" of this world but its police, doctors, teachers...

"However, becoming such a deity wouldn’t be so bad."

Annan murmured softly.

From the bottom of his heart, he felt that having the power to help others and protect the world was something to be proud of.

Seeing Annan instead of shrinking back or hesitating, seemed to become even more resolute, the Silver Baron couldn’t help but chuckle with a wry smile, scratching his head.

"You really are something, Annan."

The Silver Baron sighed.

His face once again donned a gentle smile.

But this time it wasn’t the "merchant’s smile" from before, but a genuine smile of delight. And it wasn’t the first time that Annan had made the Silver Baron reveal such a smile.

"I don’t think holding onto such pure good intentions is a good thing for one’s self... But I still respect those who burn fiercely like fire, bringing light to this world."

The Silver Baron said earnestly, "As a gift, I’ll give you a piece of information.

"I originally didn’t plan to tell you this because to us, it’s not really a big deal. But seeing you like this... I think you need to know the truth.

"

"You’re aware that the Faceless Poet resides in the house of Earl Geraint... that is, where the Three-Eyed Crows converge,"

"By the time it realized that ’Nicholas II’ had suddenly massacred a village—while clearly not possessing ’Homunculus Technology’—and was hastily gathering materials and racing against time to create ’Spirit Dolls,’ it was already too late."

"Because Nicholas II was not aiming to create artificial human beings at that time. He was trying to create Spirit Dolls—a type of golem. Generally speaking, a golem refers to a puppet that can act naturally without sentient intelligence, whereas a Spirit Doll involves adding a soul into the process... For example, humans turned into tableware or animals can be called Spirit Dolls."

"Nicholas II wanted to create Spirit Dolls that he could control, to preserve Philip’s life—and to search for memories about the Fourth History within his brain. I speculate that after acquiring the Fourth History, he would have immediately used it to make himself into the Chariot."

"As long as he became the ’Chariot’ in fate, we wouldn’t be able to use spells to find him anymore. That’s why he started his experiments so recklessly and without hesitation."

At that time, when Annan saw that Spirit Doll, he also questioned Nicholas II, "Isn’t your goal to create artificial humans?"

But Nicholas II avoided the question and merely rambled on about how "artificial humans are a good thing."

Now, Annan finally understood...

It was not a diversion of topics.

Philip himself was a part of Nicholas II’s plan to restart the "Parentless Artificial Human Project"... He was the very beginning!

"Don’t rush, there’s more important information to come."

The Silver Baron interrupted Annan’s thoughts and continued, "The Faceless Poet immediately sensed something was amiss. Before reporting to me, it first discussed the matter with Earl Geraint and requested the earl to report to the royal family."

"Of course, with no new king crowned, the Geraint family could not yet resume normal actions... However, after he reported to Elizabeth, she rejected the idea.

"She didn’t agree to let the Silver Church handle the matter—instead, she directly mobilized the army, planning to besiege Nicholas II first.

"’Once something has happened, we must consider the best outcome for the kingdom.’ Her aim is quite obvious... She plans to use this opportunity to find an excuse to wipe out Nata County as well."

"Nata County, as Noah’s lawless land, is the main production site for demon’s blood and a refuge for fugitives. If, at this time, she can connect Philip’s past purchase of demon’s blood with his assassination... she could transfer Nicholas’s crimes onto Nata County and use it as a pretext to eradicate the county.

"This way, not only would Philip’s assassination not be an obstacle or a stain on her ascent to the throne, it could become a meritorious deed; and after this incident, her control over the army would increase greatly, enough to reassert influence over those favoring Kafney, and also use the military to pressure other nobles.

"At the same time, it also avoids a decrease in royal prestige and an increase in church prestige caused by ’the church personally dealing with the assassination of the prince.’ It can be seen as a plan that kills many birds with one stone."

The Silver Baron said slowly, "This also led to my inability to take action directly and judge Nicholas II..."

Annan fell silent for a moment before asking, "What do Kafney and her father have to say about this?"

"Earl Geraint didn’t get a chance to ask Kafney; Elizabeth had already confined him in her own palace. Crows do not harm the royal heirs, so this message got trapped."

The Silver Baron half-closed his eyes and, with a light chuckle, patted Annan’s exposed shoulder, "As for how this matter should be handled... I think after you go back, you can communicate with Kafney. Right now, Elizabeth doesn’t know that you’ve killed Nicholas II and that Philip is already dead."

"I understand... thank you," Annan nodded gravely.

The Silver Baron smiled and shook his head.

"No need to thank me for this."

He crouched beside Annan, stretching a hand toward a certain direction, "That... is what you should thank me for."

——Those were the children kidnapped by Nicholas II.

The Silver Baron had no pretext to take direct action against Nicholas II.

But when Nicholas II engaged in battle with Annan, he immediately rescued those children trapped in iron cages and kept them far from the battlefield.

That was because the Silver Church had the duty to rescue and aid "orphans," and they... had all just become orphans.

"Thank you, sir," Annan’s eyes brightened and his voice grew slightly louder.

The Silver Baron looked at him, smiled, turned into a beam of light, and disappeared from the spot. Along with the orphans, he returned to the city of Noah.

——Justice was delayed.

Although it’s said that no one is born with knowledge, although this was due to everyone’s small calculations, although this was not Annan’s fault.

Yet objectively speaking, "Justice" was ultimately delayed.

It could judge, but it could not save.

But even if it could save one more person, that was good.

Annan thought quietly.

If I could inherit the Heart of Justice... I wouldn’t pursue a "world clean of sin."

But I hope justice no longer arrives late.

Like what the Silver Baron said... Let those who need to be judged be judged, let those who need redemption be redeemed.

"What I wish to become is one that no longer delays..."

——Timely Justice.

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