After the Lord of the Abyss Awakens - Chapter 28.2

Xiu Si paused, thought for a moment, and replied, “Thank you, I understand. I’ll assess the situation myself.”

The old gentleman gave him one last look, very politely tipped his hat in farewell, and said, “I hope we’ll have the chance to meet again.”

“I hope so too.”

Xiu Si stood at the door seeing him off, watching as the old gentleman turned the corner and gradually disappeared among the pedestrians.

At the same time, two cats slowly walked up behind him. They stood with him at the door, looking up at the passing pedestrians, one focused, one tilting its head.

Today, the wind and snow had lessened, the temperature had risen, and more pedestrians appeared on the streets.

The dark clouds of the Divine Kingdom of Light had retreated. Seeing that the empire was unaffected, the citizens resumed their usual spirits, chatting and laughing on the streets, coming and going as normal.

Among them, some were conversing.

“The Divine Kingdom of Light was defeated, and our empire is safe. We are indeed a country protected by the Goddess of Harmony and the Goddess of Happiness. Peace always descends under the gods’ blessings.”

Due to the influence of historical culture, some habitual thinking still existed. People would instinctively pray for and thank the gods for protection.

This was understandable, as humans had not yet truly risen, especially in the realm of thoughts and spirit.

The latter was the most troublesome, requiring proper education to be truly effective.

At this moment, someone said, “Rather than the gods, shouldn’t we be more grateful to the empire’s magicians and soldiers who protect us?”

Hearing this, others’ expressions changed slightly. Someone said, “Ah, that’s right. Without the empire’s protection, ordinary people would struggle to survive in this world full of monsters. How could we forget that?”

“Haha, you should add a qualifier. The empire of the past was a human abyss. It’s only now getting better. We should thank that emperor.”

“But to be precise, it was the Abyss Lord who greatly defeated the Divine Kingdom of Light. Perhaps we should thank the Abyss Lord as well?”

With these words, the atmosphere on the street subtly changed.

Because the Abyss Lords were very special beings. They were not the traditionally evil abyss demons. Most were rational and intellectual, some even emotional, almost like humans.

But there was something subtly different, as some among them had high divinity, like Agares.

He was a genuine world-class, legendary sage.

Speaking of which, the reason for the Abyss Lords’ sudden action against the Divine Kingdom of Light was still unclear. What exactly was the situation?

Xiu Si was silent for a while, lost in thought. A few minutes later, he turned and went back into the antique shop.

As humans were progressing, he needed to progress too. He became more determined to quickly recover his game system.

Almost simultaneously, the gray cat secretly said to the red cat. “Did you notice? That person is a favored one of the Goddess of Fortune.”

Certainly noticed. Her divine power was always so flamboyant, it would be hard not to notice.

Morax suddenly tapped his paw, remembering something.

“I remember now, wasn’t there a time when Beelzebub was cursed for refusing her costume party?”

Inpos nodded: “Oh, that did happen. But I think it wasn’t refusal, Beelzebub forgot, right?”

Morax chuckled, “Isn’t forgetting a form of refusal?”

Inpos agreed, “True. If he really wanted to go, how could he forget? We know Beelzebub’s memory all too well.”

But honestly, no one really wanted to go to the Goddess of Fortune’s costume party. She wasn’t like the God of Light or God of Darkness, those war maniacs who would fight you. But once you offend her, it’s very troublesome. The gods in heaven might not give face to any god, but they had to give face to the Goddess of Fortune. Otherwise, she’d give you a curse, and you’d have bad luck for thousands of years.

Morax recalled, “Come to think of it, Beelzebub was quite bold. Wasn’t he afraid of the Goddess of Fortune’s debuff?”

Inpos: “He always acts unpredictably.”

As they spoke, they fell silent for a moment, then suddenly looked at each other, seeing the shock in each other’s eyes.

Inpos: “By the way, how come Aelioge and Beelzebub haven’t returned yet? They went to investigate the subspace, it shouldn’t take this long.”

It certainly shouldn’t. Either of them could easily enter and exit the subspace, let alone both of them going together.

Could they have encountered something, or perhaps something happened with that otherworldly god?

Morax showed no concern for his siblings, instead seeming gleeful. “I told you, ranking is just an order, it doesn’t represent strength. If I went to the subspace, I wouldn’t take so long to return.”

They were still as incapable of wishing well for their siblings as ever.

After all, with those two gone, there was more space around Father.

Inpos: “Something unexpected must have happened, but with their strength, returning is just a matter of time.”

Morax was unconcerned.

And sure enough.

After Xiu Si returned, he quickly discovered that besides Vassago, Aelioge and Beelzebub had also become sleepy, not waking for most of the day. What was going on?

The gray cat padded out, indicating it was because they were too lazy.

Xiu Si paused, wondering if that was true. Vassago was an exception, as one of his core settings was “sloth”, which he had written during his chuunibyou phase. But Aelioge and Beelzebub clearly weren’t like that, right? They used to be diligent children.

But Xiu Si didn’t feel right waking them up. What if his children now enjoyed leveling up in their dreams?

He needed to broaden his perspective. Times were changing rapidly, and he couldn’t view the world with his old mindset anymore.

Meanwhile, Philip and the diplomat had sent off the Continental Human Alliance’s investigation team. Neither side mentioned much about re-establishing friendly and mutually beneficial relations, as there was no need.

The Senate of the Continental Human Alliance had already made its decision not to interfere with any of the Aust Empire’s actions.

Assistance was also a form of interference, so getting help from the Continental Human Alliance was basically impossible.

In contrast, the younger representatives in the House of Representatives had some thoughts of assisting.

After all, the Aust Empire was a large country with over 40 million people. Could they really stand by and watch so many people perish?

Although they didn’t have any methods either.

Historically, countries successfully invaded by subspace gods all ended up destroyed, ceasing to exist.

Unless they sent out half of the Continental Human Alliance’s powerful figures to specifically deal with the otherworldly god, but you know that’s impossible.

Because most of the Continental Human Alliance’s powerful figures had their own places to guard. Dangers were everywhere, so why would they put aside their urgent matters to save a country that had once refused their help?

The powerful had their pride too. Or rather, they had even more pride.

“So… are we just going to ignore the Aust Empire’s situation?”

“Let them handle it themselves. Besides, I’ve heard that Hero Luo Jie is in the Aust Empire.”

“That’s good news. Has Hero Luo Jie come out of retirement for the Aust Empire?”

“But you know, right? Hero Luo Jie’s strength has declined. Who knows if he can overcome this crisis?”

Half of the Continental Human Alliance team had returned, leaving half to observe, research, and record.

They discovered they were missing one person and were investigating and searching, but it might take a while to find the missing person.

On the other side.

At the Aust Empire’s front line, the investigation team infiltrated Duke Feman’s mansion, only to find it completely empty. In the vast noble residence, everything was vacant, with hardly even any furniture left.

“Duke Feman has actually fled.”

“At this point, there’s no need for pretense anymore.”

The front-line investigators immediately reported the intelligence to headquarters.

After learning this, Luo Jie pondered. “Next, they will undoubtedly use any means necessary to clear obstacles for the otherworldly god’s descent.”

Philip added emphatically. “Yes, we must pay extra attention to symbols, emblems, rituals, especially mass gatherings. There won’t be just one apostle; they’ll certainly develop a network and form factions to cause chaos.”

Luo Jie looked at Philip. “Eilinson’s side will expedite the cleanup of the previous king’s legacy. Our side is responsible for strengthening investigations and elimination, not just in the imperial city, but in all major cities outside it as well.”

Philip nodded heavily, and a few seconds later hurriedly left with his team.

The city’s defense personnel were insufficient, so forces had to be brought in from other places.

These young people were truly full of energy. The aging Luo Jie watched them and felt a bit nostalgic, recalling the adventures he and the other heroes had in their youth.

Indeed, as one grows old, one tends to reminisce about the past.

At this moment, an old soldier muttered, “I wonder how long until the Eldest Princess returns. I hope she’s alright.”

Luo Jie remained silent on this matter.

The curse on the royal bloodline was another major source of anxiety. To gain power, the previous king had offered up his entire bloodline, with no exceptions for any blood relatives.

Theoretically, once the sacrifice was deemed successful, all blood relatives except the previous king would die instantly. The magicians of that time desperately prevented that sacrifice, protecting the royal bloodline from total annihilation. However, this was replaced by a blood curse, mixed with debuffs such as “short life,” “coma,” “imbecility,” and so on, which was very troublesome and could only be resisted with magic.

These weren’t even the most troublesome aspects.

What Luo Jie worried about was… that the blood curse might lead to all royal bloodline members becoming “apostles.”

Counting up, there were three major challenges to overcome. With their current strength, was it really enough?

Luo Jie thought for a moment and simply said, “Even if it’s not enough, we have to make it enough.”

Meanwhile, elsewhere.

Someone laughed monstrously, “Hero Luo Jie, we were going to spare you, but you insisted on getting involved.”

At 3:30 in the afternoon.

Xiu Si looked at the antique shop, thinking that the cooldown for his creation skill should be about over, so he wanted to check the situation in advance.

But what he didn’t know became apparent when he looked – his system catalog was in complete disarray, as if someone had scribbled all over it.

“…!”

Xiu Si froze, dumbfounded on the spot.

Because he also saw two little birds rolling around in a mess, the box full of black and white feathers.

What…what were they doing?

No, wait, was this catalog box actually interconnected?

Xiu Si’s comprehension ability suffered a severe shock, leaving him stunned for several seconds.

What had his children done in the system catalog to make it look like this?

He had worked so hard to build those models, the feathers were particularly difficult to create. How did they end up plucked bare? Could…could this be restored?

Xiu Si was momentarily stunned, unable to process what he was seeing.

It was then that the black and white birds realized their father was watching them from outside!

Oh no!

They immediately stood up, hurriedly tidying up the feathers.

But this scene was impossible to explain away – to anyone looking, it clearly appeared they had just finished fighting. Could they let their father know they had been fighting?

No! In the white bird’s self-image, it was father’s good child!

They quickly sprang into action. When Xiu Si came to his senses and looked again, he saw them leaning on each other, standing up close together.

Like two dumplings supporting each other. They had even repaired the wall and were now each in their own nests.

Wait, it was fixed just like that?!

Xiu Si, confused by the situation, asked, “What were you two doing in there?”

They answered in unison, saying they were playing a game.

But what kind of game would result in such a mess? This was clearly a fight, right?

Xiu Si was skeptical, but the next second he saw them lovingly grooming each other’s feathers. Their small, round bodies occasionally bumped against each other. The whole scene was, how to put it, simply adorable, extremely adorable.

The scene was so beautiful it almost shook one’s rational thinking.

Xiu Si unconsciously said, “So they were just playing after all.”

The gray cat facepalmed, thinking that although it didn’t know what had happened, father seemed to have been easily convinced again.

“However…”

Xiu Si approached the panel and said to the little black bird, “You still need to be refined more. Don’t move around carelessly until then, okay?”

The black bird nodded, looking so obedient it hardly resembled the God of Darkness who once suppressed all heavens.

The little white bird gritted its teeth, really wanting to break through the wall again and thoroughly defeat this guy.

However, it was tired from the fight and suddenly felt sleepy. The young body seemed to always be prone to drowsiness.

Gradually, it really did fall asleep, with the last thing it saw being its father’s calm gaze.

It felt a bit guilty for not fully living up to its father’s hopes, but that guy was the one thing it just couldn’t bring itself to like!

Seeing them settle down, Xiu Si gradually relaxed and softly admonished. “You two need to get along harmoniously in the future.”

A few minutes later, Xiu Si focused on reshaping the little black bird’s body.

Fortunately, the panel images had all been restored, so he only needed to make modifications to the panel image.

Xiu Si quickly became absorbed in his task, his skill with the creation ability becoming more and more proficient.

At first, he just felt his efficiency had improved, but after about fifteen minutes, he felt his imagination, design ability, and various other aspects were improving.

It was a tangible…mental progress and elevation.

It was as if he were in a dream, floating and drifting in the deep sea.

This realization was fully manifested in the outside world. The sudden release of magic power shocked even Inpos.

Their father was only level 26, but this aura was completely above the maximum level!

Inpos stared blankly at Xiu Si, sensing that their father was about to enter an unprecedented, great realm!!