After the Lord of the Abyss Awakens - Chapter 41.2

This was the first time such a thing had happened in all the years the ranking activity had been conducted.

Did this mean that the current human number one ranked was a being that the God of Ranking dared not easily provoke?

“Huh? So has He given up on ranking? Is He not managing other rankings either?”

“Don’t know, maybe, He’s run away after all.”

The crowd came quickly and left quickly. Several minutes later, the God of Ranking slowly emerged from a dark room.

On the other side.

The one who smashed the lens with a paw was none other than Vassago, who had just woken up.

Vassago, who had just woken up, really disliked being stared at by something. He had been sleeping uncomfortably for some unexplained reason, and upon waking up, indeed saw a power peering in.

He smashed it in annoyance.

The little black bird, who had suffered severe injuries before, understood this all too well.

The two birds had no dark history, so Inpos’s nervousness didn’t really concern them.

And the little light body was just an infant, completely unaware of what Inpos was doing, let alone able to help.

However, it was fortunate that Vassago came.

Inpos let out a long sigh of relief, nearly stumbling, but Xiu Si caught Him in time.

Xiu Si glanced at the gray cat, then at the white cat. He hadn’t spoken yet, but his eyes already clearly revealed surprise.

“Are you awake?”

The white cat immediately dropped its lazy attitude and nodded obediently to its father.

Xiu Si was pleased that his child who had slept for several days was finally awake and moving about.

This was a bookstore, with more space than the antique shop.

“We moved while you were asleep. This is a bookstore, you can walk around and play.”

The white cat jumped onto the table gracefully, affectionately rubbing its head against Xiu Si’s arm resting on the table.

Xiu Si stroked the cat’s head, reminding, “Remember to balance work and rest. I know you’re not just sleeping, you like to level up in your dreams, right?”

The gray cat turned to look, seeing the white cat meow softly, snuggling against its father’s hand.

So fierce towards others just now, but immediately softening for father, really…why were all their siblings so alike?

Xiu Si remained unaware, still smiling faintly.

But speaking of which, there was no one in the bookstore, while the noise outside was getting louder, seemingly talking about things like “sudden number one”, “mysterious powerhouse”, “God of Ranking ran away” and so on.

Wait, why did the God of Ranking run away?

Xiu Si was puzzled and couldn’t help but be curious about what had happened.

But after thinking for a moment, he shook his head. He was at a crucial point in his magic research, better not to be fickle and disrupt his train of thought.

“You two play for now, Father has work to do.”

The two cats nodded very obediently, quickly retreating from the table to the floor.

Inpos looked at the bookshelf behind Xiu Si, immediately changing its material and most of the books while Xiu Si wasn’t paying attention.

The scene changed. Now it was foolproof, no one could discover that His father was the number one ranked, and those troublesome siblings couldn’t find their way here either!

Vassago glanced at Him, dragging Him away to the bookshelf with one paw, and began interrogating about what had happened.

Inpos answered one by one.

Vassago fell silent, his gaze suddenly fixed on the otherworld god’s offspring.

The little light body shrank back, blinking in confusion.

Vassago turned to look at Inpos, whispering, “I forgot to mention last time, has father even formed a connection with an otherworld god?”

Connection? This phrase seemed to have an unusual implication.

So Inpos asked, “Did you discover something in the dream realm?”

Vassago had been searching for Agares in the dream realm for so long, even if he couldn’t find him, it was impossible to have gained nothing.

Vassago turned his eyes, as if hesitating, before saying a few seconds later, “The dream realm has been gradually destabilizing these days.”

The dream realm destabilizing? Inpos was surprised. To his knowledge, this situation was very rare, having only occurred three times in over eight thousand years. Was the fourth time happening recently? The real world hadn’t been affected yet. What was the reason?

Vassago said, “I don’t know. Thanks to it, finding Agares has become even more difficult.”

Inpos paused, unable to hold back the doubt that had been weighing on His mind, “Agares has been missing for so many years. Has He retreated to the deepest part of the dream realm where no being can find Him, or has something happened…Is He really alright?”

Normally, He wouldn’t worry about Agares. It wasn’t that He lacked sibling affection, but Agares was too powerful and exceptionally wise. You didn’t need to worry about Agares – Agares always had a way to solve any problem.

But…

Inpos frowned. To be honest, ever since the appearance of “Priest Xilin”, He had a vague sense of foreboding.

Vassago looked into His eyes and answered, “Agares should be fine. I suspect He’s deeply focused on researching something.”

Inpos: “What?”

“Well, He’s always like that. Once He starts researching something, He easily becomes immersed in it, disregarding everything else. Except for father, He ignores everyone who comes.”

As he spoke, Vassago glanced at Xiu Si, who was intently studying magic, and said calmly, “Yes, completely inherited from our father.”

Inpos was slightly relieved, “Then we can’t do anything about the dream realm issue. Are you going to temporarily stop looking for Agares?”

Vassago shook his head: “I won’t give up, I’ll continue searching.”

Inpos: “Why?”

“My view hasn’t changed. Finding Agares would directly resolve many issues.”

Vassago’s energy-saving principle was also inherited from Xiu Si – taking the straight line between two points, never taking detours. But He was clearly a bit more “pure” than Xiu Si.

Inpos nodded, “Alright, I understand. Wait a few days here, Morax should be able to find Aelioge and Beelzebub and bring them back.”

After all, they were all protecting their father in different ways. This point was indisputable.

He felt that Agares sinking into the dream realm must also be related to their father.

On another side.

Aelioge and Beelzebub split up to search, one heading to the Great Oedipus Empire, the other to the Roman Kingdom.

They had both heard about the changes in human rankings, as the whole world was discussing it, not just humans, but other races were also talking about it.

Aelioge had been paying attention to human rankings, so He was more aware.

Beelzebub wasn’t interested in human powerhouses, so He hardly paid attention. This led to Aelioge discovering clues first.

Seeing through everything, Aelioge casually landed on a building and muttered to Himself, “Father… ranked number one, being frantically sought by all humans?”

Aelioge found this both surprising and unsurprising. After all, father was their creator, their power was essentially father’s power. How could it not surpass the human number one when combined? Even Baal alone could probably suppress them.

So, father being the “strongest human” was indisputable.

However, He felt it might not just be because of them.

Think about it, father’s level should theoretically increase along with theirs, but for some unknown reason it had stopped at where it was before he disappeared. Was it delayed upgrade experience, waiting for the system to recover, or – had it already reached the appropriate level, but the system was broken and not displaying correctly?

Was it the former or the latter? This difference was actually crucial.

Thinking of this, Aelioge suddenly raised His hand, magical power swirling at His fingertips, drawing in various pieces of information.

“The background is bookshelves, with many magic books. The location is on the first floor, with ample sunlight, not like a room, so…”

The words “bookstore” immediately popped up in Aelioge’s mind, and He began searching all the bookstores in the Great Oedipus Empire.

Buer, chasing after the two siblings, was once again left behind, Her anger value skyrocketing.

“Fine, fine, fine, use me and run, is that it? I’m going to cook you both!”

On another side.

King Levin Augustus of the Great Oedipus Empire was arguing with his ministers.

One minister said, “Your Majesty, please don’t be hasty. The number one ranked may be in our country, but we don’t know exactly where, and they might have already left.”

Another said, “Your Majesty, top powerhouses are rare and unlikely to choose a human faction. Wasn’t the previous number one like that? Wandering the continent and subspace, with stars as earth and time as sky. Even the ‘human’ attribute was faint on them.”

The minister spoke euphemistically, but the meaning was clear – no matter what you do, such an existence is unlikely to be flattered.

To win them over, you should consider what benefits you can bring them. Only if they need you can you win them over.

So, can we bring any benefits to the mysterious number one ranked?

Probably not, right? You don’t even know who they are or what they need.

Moreover, the minister dared say, now that they’re ranked number one, what can’t they do? What can’t they get? Why would they need to rely on you and your country? Without sufficient information, it’s best not to act. So no matter how he thought about it, he felt it was best to do nothing now.

To put it bluntly, even if you govern the country well and everyone praises you, do you think you can please that person? But what if that person is a deviant who particularly dislikes order?

King Levin, faced with continuous opposition, felt extremely frustrated. He was 27 years old and had only ascended to the throne two years ago. He desperately needed achievements to prove himself, otherwise he couldn’t suppress the ambitious factions in the empire, especially the power of Sword Saint Ferrol’s group.

“So, after thinking for so long, you can’t come up with a single idea?”

“Do you want me to just watch as that person is in our empire, yet do nothing?”

Levin questioned his ministers.

An elder suddenly spoke. “I hope Your Majesty understands, sometimes painstaking flattery can backfire, while letting things take their natural course can be more effective.”

Levin exploded with anger. “I see you have no respect for me, you don’t even consider me as your king!”

Another elder said, “Your Majesty misunderstands. Everything we do is for the great empire.”

A third elder suggested. “I have a plan. That person is a magician, and magicians usually favor rulers who value magical development. Your Majesty could increase funding for the Magicians’ Association, supporting magical research in various fields.”

“What if the funding is wasted?”

Levin could no longer tolerate these old fossils and stormed out.

The remaining ministers looked at each other helplessly. You had to admit, for those powerful beings, they themselves were like a country. There was no need to belong to a specific human collective, nor could they easily take sides. Moreover, as a long-lived magician, they didn’t have retirement concerns.

“They won’t obey orders, won’t offer solutions, and won’t let me search everywhere. Yes, I know we can’t easily provoke them, but we have to do something! None of you have seen them, you know nothing. What makes you so sure we have no value? What if we do?”

Levin burned with anger, “If you won’t search, I’ll do it myself.”

The next day, Levin angrily led people out of the palace.

Meanwhile, in just one night, the Magicians’ Association had conducted dozens of experiments.

Millard, with dark circles under his eyes, said wearily, “How can this be? We’ve experimented so many times based on that person’s magical structure, why hasn’t a single one succeeded?”

That person was ranked number one, their magical attainment must be top-notch. In other words, it couldn’t be that their theory was problematic.

The problem was with them.

It must be because they hadn’t grasped the correct magic!

Millard continued experimenting, his motivation undiminished, even more fervently excited.

The more he failed, the more convinced he became that the other person must have mastered an extraordinary method!

Meanwhile, Xiu Si woke up early, finished his chores, opened the bookstore, and skillfully sat at the front desk. He opened yesterday’s notebook and continued his diligent work.

The gray cat lounged as usual at the edge of the table, its posture lazy, unclear if it was paying attention to Xiu Si’s magic research.

The black and white birds wanted to come out at one point, but were glared back by Him. The reason was simple – when the little black bird came out, the surrounding light immediately darkened by several color values. In contrast, when the little white bird came out, it glowed brightly even in broad daylight. The alternating darkness and brightness would affect father’s reading, wouldn’t it?

The little light body was still sleeping, so there was nothing to worry about.

The gray cat’s tail swayed, its gaze occasionally sweeping across Xiu Si’s notebook pages, seemingly lost in thought, muttering to itself internally.

Never mind others, even Inpos might not know what Xiu Si was improving.

On another side.

Levin, hiding his identity, ran around everywhere, searching through bookshelf producers, sellers, and distributors. He came to one conclusion:

The target bookshelves were generally supplied to bookstores or libraries.

Libraries could be ruled out. Because the books on that person’s shelves were quite disorderly, most libraries wouldn’t categorize them like that, nor would most bookstores. But some bookstores, being privately owned, were relatively free in how they arranged things.

Levin searched three bookstores, finding nothing and receiving cold stares. He was furious inside but held it in, needing to continue searching. After persisting for so long, it seemed only success could prove himself.

But there were dozens of bookstores in the imperial city. Was he going to question each one?

As king, it wasn’t that he had no one to dispatch, but he felt only his personal appearance showed sincerity.

Levin fell silent, taking out a “wish-fulfilling” necklace blessed by the Goddess of Fortune.

He couldn’t believe that with the lucky buff, he wouldn’t be able to find the person if they were in the imperial city.

Holding the necklace, he wandered around, finally finding an unremarkable bookstore.

He felt somewhat excited, but upon entering, his expression froze.

Because the bookshelves near the door, bathed in sunlight, were not the material from the image, nor were they the books he remembered.

Had he come to the wrong place again?

Levin’s steps faltered. Unintentionally looking down, his peripheral vision caught sight of a cat on the table.

Gray fur, emerald eyes, elegant posture – clearly a well-loved cat.

Levin stared for a few seconds, only to see the cat slowly raise its gaze.