The Last King Of Darkness
Chapter 277 - 197 King Wants to See You

Chapter 277: Chapter 197 King Wants to See You

The investigation team, consisting of the Military War Department, Internal Affairs Court, and Royal City Court, was mainly assembled to clarify everything that had happened after Theodore’s battle with the giant serpent in Laisuo City.

From the perspective of Royal City, the process was very vague; Theodore had disappeared after the giant serpent was repelled.

But when he reappeared, it was Rod who had acquired the Soul Ripple.

The man himself was neither seen alive nor found dead.

What exactly happened during that period and whether Theodore explained anything were what the investigation team urgently wanted to know.

In light of Rod’s conduct during this campaign, the investigation team respectfully chose his villa as the site for their inquiry.

The leader was a round-faced, chubby individual named Zhang Bai, who was the second Defense Chief of the Military War Department.

He was very friendly and polite, never interrupted Rod’s statements, and was cautious when posing questions to minimize the element of suspicion.

However, due to the bizarre nature of the circumstances, Zhang Bai really couldn’t restrain himself.

For instance, why had he opted to act independently, leaving the lighthouse instead of waiting for rescue or returning to his troop?

For instance, how could Theodore, severely wounded and heavily corrupted, suddenly recover?

After recovering, why didn’t he report back to Royal City but instead proceeded to act alone? How did they find another Abyss entrance? Why didn’t they call for assistance, among countless other questions?

It was really hard for Rod to explain.

He couldn’t reveal anything about the Dream Realm.

Especially the "Goddess’ Tears" that cured the giant serpent’s lethal poison.

This was a creation of the Dream Realm, miraculous in effect, a potion that simply did not exist in Royal City.

Theodore had revived from his coma after taking it, eliminating nearby threats, entering an Abyss Rift he had found by chance, killed the Abyss Giant Troll, and then discovered a spatial twist connected to the serpent’s Abyss.

After his failed attempt to kill the giant serpent again, the subsequent events unfolded.

However, what Rod was most worried about—killing Theodore—nobody questioned.

The high-level officials were well aware of Theodore’s deeply corrupted soul.

His life had been barely sustaining, and if not for the emergency of this battle, they wouldn’t have deployed him at all.

Theodore, on his deathbed, had passed most of his Soul Ripple to him, then died from the toll of the spell; this explanation was quite plausible.

With this, there was no problem with everything that followed.

Rod just needed to cover up the previous loopholes as best as he could.

If he couldn’t, just attribute it to the "Great Theodore" and the "Magical Spell."

This method proved to be very effective, and the majority of the investigation team accepted his version of the story.

Except for one person.

Great Judge Manolo Bana.

This extremely unpleasant man, due to allegations of involvement with the Doomsday believers reported by Reslin and others, had survived the investigation and was reinstated, and for some unknown reason, was selected to be part of the investigation team.

He was exactly the same as before, nitpicking at Rod, hinting both openly and subtly that Rod was a Doomsday believer, that he had murdered Theodore and stolen Theodore’s Soul Ripple to gain merits for himself.

Rod could hardly believe it; why would there be such foolish people?

If you are a Doomsday believer, aren’t you afraid of exposing yourself by acting this way? If you are not a Doomsday believer, then what is it for? For your master Jon?

But Jon had already extended an olive branch to me; why are you still clinging to me like a dog?

What’s worse, such a person had not yet been overthrown.

Fortunately, his opinions were not adopted by Zhang Bai.

Zhang Bai believed Rod’s side of the story, preparing to record it as a crucial subplot of the entire campaign, to ultimately be archived in the Trolian Museum of History and Culture, becoming a part of human history.

In the end, the inquiry was completed without much danger, followed by the discussion of merits.

Rod undoubtedly played an extremely important role, enough to be termed a "hero."

The only point of contention was about the merits earned during Theodore’s possessed state: should they be attributed to Rod or to the deceased Theodore?

If attributed to Rod, how much should be counted?

On this matter, Manolo Bana raised sharp objections.

"If the true hero’s merits could be stolen by a thief, that would be the greatest stain in Trolian history."

"He did nothing, he just happened to be there, and anyone in his place would have ended up with the same result. He has no merits and instead should be held accountable for maliciously harassing female warriors using Lord Theodore’s ’Soul Ripple’."

This statement seemed quite reasonable, but the reality was completely different.

However, Rod could not speak out this fact.

But the merit was extremely important to him.

Rod’s expression turned cold, and he said sharply, "Lord Manolo Bana, I do not know what mindset you have to speak like this, but from your mouth, it seems as if I just happened to encounter everything while having a leisurely picnic in the warm spring, and stumbled upon such a huge advantage, right?"

Manolo Bana coldly retorted, "Isn’t that the case?"

Rod sneered, "I cannot understand your hatred towards me. Was it perhaps similar to encountering your undressed wife during a picnic?"

Bang!

An invisible shock exploded in front of Rod, and it was blocked by an invisible wall.

Zhang Bai looked at Manolo Bana, whose face had turned ashen, with a warning glance.

"Lord Gula, mind your status. Your questioning has already exceeded necessary limits."

Rod sneered, "According to your logic, could it be understood that I have hit a sore spot for you, and you wish to murder someone to silence them? Or perhaps you are a Doomsday believer, attempting to murder the hope of humanity?"

Zhang Bai gave Rod the same warning look, "Shut your mouth, stop causing trouble!"

Manolo Bana’s face was as blue as iron. He stood up, flung his sleeves, and left, leaving behind only one sentence.

"No matter what he says, I firmly oppose listing him among the top honorees. This man is a cancer to humanity; he will ultimately destroy us."

Rod calmly replied, "If such a day really comes, I will kill your family first."

Manolo Bana did not reply and quickly walked away.

Zhang Bai scolded, "Rod, how can you speak like that? If it weren’t for your immense contributions, just this statement alone would warrant an investigation, do you understand?"

Rod discontentedly said, "Lord Zhang Bai, this guy is being unreasonable. You don’t know, he has been targeting me from the start, as if I had murdered his entire family..."

"Shut up!" Zhang Bai scolded. "He is after all the Great Judge, you must show basic respect!"

"Moreover, I have received a report from Great Commander Shireen. You indeed behaved excessively. The Disciplinary Committee has decided to fine you one hundred silver coins and you are to clean the sewers for a day as punishment."

Rod’s expression immediately fell, "Is it reasonable to make a warrior, fresh from a bloody battle, clean the sewers? Can’t you tell her to take it back?"

Zhang Bai patted his shoulder, speaking earnestly,

"Young man, it’s okay to endure some hardship. Besides, we also know that you’re proficient in cleaning sewers. Dubbed the ’Great Sculptor’ of the Hunter Group, you and the Hunter are known as the kings of the sewers from north to south. Moreover, Shireen is Jinworth’s 13th term’s top beauty—many of us could only dream of that fortune..."

His words were interrupted by a series of coughs; if they continued, they would all sound like perverts.

Rod’s mind was initially full of grand plans related to the Ancient Gods, but it suddenly went back to the sewers, which was somewhat hard to accept.

What irritated him most was suddenly hearing about someone dubbed the ’King of the North and South Sewers.’

Is that something people would actually compete for?

Isn’t ’The Great Sculptor’ my hunter title? And you guys still don’t know?

I’m actually ranked alongside myself, how ridiculous... Rod didn’t know whether to cry or laugh.

Afterward, they briefly discussed some details, and the atmosphere relaxed somewhat after Manolo Bana had left.

In the end, Zhang Bai promised to try his best to secure the greatest benefit for him and advised him to choose a companion soon. If he had no one in mind, the Royal City could provide one.

Is that even a thing?

Does the Royal City also take care of sending wives? Could it send Miss Qingyu to me?

Of course, he wisely did not raise this because bringing it up would just send him over to Qingyu, making him one of her one hundred and thirty-two husbands.

That was definitely not happening. If he couldn’t marry her, so be it; Rod had no interest in the plains.

But the matter was not over yet. Zhang Bai told him before leaving,

"The King wants to see you."