After the Lord of the Abyss Awakens - Chapter 54.2

As for himself, he couldn’t even see through the surface.

“Norwich, about last night’s incident…”

The Prime Minister turned his head and continued, “The matter of the Jupius family, right?”

“Yes…”

Levin suddenly stopped, a bit hesitant about whether to consult the Prime Minister.

The Prime Minister remained calm and collected. His gaze fixed on a section of dead tree in the distance as he spoke earnestly, “Do you remember what I said? In this world, maintaining good relationships with the powerful is most important. Some people become blind when they grow strong, especially in an environment surrounded by weaklings. The destruction of the Jupius family was due to their continuously inflating arrogance.”

Levin nodded and tentatively asked, “Do you know who did it?”

The Prime Minister didn’t answer immediately. His eyes revealed no thoughts. After a few seconds of silence, he said, “I don’t know. Some guess it was Great Mentor Matros, because there were traces of extremely exquisite magic use at the scene.”

Levin thought to himself, you’re completely wrong. The truth is perhaps only known to me – it was the “children” of Mr. Yi Xiusi’s family!

But Levin wouldn’t reveal his discovery. He thought for a moment and said, “The fall of the Jupius family is a good thing, but at this time there will certainly be many families seeking to rise up, wanting to swallow the Jupius family’s power or industries.”

The Prime Minister nodded and smiled, “Has Your Majesty already thought of so much?”

Levin candidly replied, “It’s all learned from you.”

The Prime Minister still smiled calmly and said, “It’s Your Majesty’s own understanding that’s good. However, I must remind you, the current Sword Saint Ferrol of the Jupius family didn’t die. Although he lost an arm, he’s still an expert above level 90. His existence will deter some people. If Your Majesty wants to start cleaning up and reorganizing things related to the Jupius family, you need to consider one thing.”

At this point, the Prime Minister suddenly walked closer to Levin, raised a hand that seemed too young for his age, and patted Levin’s shoulder. He said in a low voice, “Your Majesty, if Sword Saint Ferrol suspects you and breaks into the palace to kill you out of vengeance, do you think you can withstand him?”

There were experts above level 90 in the palace, including two level 90 court magicians. But they couldn’t protect Levin. Because they all had their own backgrounds and wouldn’t fight to the death with a Sword Saint to save Levin.

As the saying goes, kings come and go, but court magicians are constant. Seven or eight kings had died, but the court magicians were still alive and well.

In a true life-or-death battle, Levin would certainly die.

The Prime Minister continued, “I see people everywhere saying that it was actually you who sent someone to eliminate the Jupius family.”

Levin’s whole body shook, and his neck felt cold. “Will Ferrol target me?”

The Prime Minister turned his gaze and asked in return, “Why wouldn’t he?”

Levin panicked on the spot. If he didn’t find a solution, he was finished, right?

He had to seek help from Mr. Yi Xiusi!

****

9 AM in the morning.

The gray cat got up early to mind the store. As soon as it opened the door, it received countless gazes.

“Ah, is this the cat that solved Matros’ puzzle yesterday? Wow~ It looks so intelligent!”

Hah, not just intelligent. I created the puzzle myself, so isn’t it normal that I solved it?

The gray cat looked disdainful.

“I dare say it must have received the blessing of the Goddess of Wisdom.”

Who wants that fellow’s blessing!

The gray cat’s fur bristled a bit, seeming to really dislike the Goddess of Wisdom.

The Goddess of Wisdom had a cold personality, unlike the Goddess of Fortune who liked to cause trouble. But she was actually a fluffy-things controller, loving to give intelligence points to fluffy creatures, then getting bored of them. She’d give intelligence points but not care afterwards, adopting pets only to abandon them. A truly evil god!

Although all gods had their own eccentricities and were temperamental and willful, which was normal, the Goddess of Wisdom’s behavior was what They found most unbearable.

Because They had always been afraid of being “abandoned” by their father, so when They saw the Goddess of Wisdom’s behavior, They would feel distressed.

Of course, now that Father was back, They were all children with a father! Psychological shadow? Goodbye!

The gray cat was very annoyed by the various attention from people outside, so it simply cast a cognitive manipulation spell, making them all go back to their homes and stop bothering Father’s bookstore. If they weren’t buying books, then go away!

The little ragdoll cat came out, covering its mouth with its paw and yawning. Seeing the gray cat, it giggled.

The two cats started chatting idly.

The little ragdoll suddenly mentioned Luo Jie’s recovery status, saying, “Luo Jie is recovering. He just spoke, saying he missed his good friends and such, but only his mouth and eyes can move.”

The gray cat was stunned for a moment, then stroked its paw and said, “Speaking of which, I almost forgot, we need to help Father find the other heroes.”

The little ragdoll scratched its head, “But they’re all in a missing state, and all disappeared in subspace. We don’t even know if they’re dead or alive. How do we find them?”

The gray cat pondered, “Memory beasts? They replicated those heroes’ memories, maybe they have information from just before they disappeared.”

The little ragdoll shook its head. “But not necessarily, right? They didn’t replicate complete memories.”

Gray cat: “It’s still better than having no information at all.”

It raised its paw and started calculating, “If we find one hero, Father will be happy. If we find two heroes, Father will be very happy. If we find three heroes, Father will be especially happy! By extension, aren’t we being very filial, and won’t Father like us even more?”

This simple and easy-to-understand explanation made the little ragdoll’s eyes light up.

“Yes, yes!”

Inpos: “So let’s first ask the memory beasts for help, then find them one by one.”

“Who should we look for first?”

“Minjie or Justin?”

“I vote for Justin. When we were young, Father said he was a good fellow, maybe even too good-natured.”

“That was what Father said in the abyss. Have you forgotten Justin’s later reputation?”

“Oh, his famous quote was ‘I’ll kill you but I must also save you’?”

“Right, that kind of overly repressed person, once they become perverted, it’s very…”

Inpos recalled the past. In fact, He had never met Justin face to face.

Their siblings were divided into those born on the continent and those born in the abyss.

Baal, Agares, Vassago, and Samikina were born on the continent.

Those after Marbas were born in the abyss.

Therefore, Baal and the other three would have impressions of the heroes, and might even have had contact with them. But those born later hadn’t encountered the heroes. They only heard about them from Father and learned about them later.

To avoid being discovered by the heroes about Their relationship with Father, They would sometimes avoid contact with the heroes.

Vassago had previously revealed that when They were first born on the continent, Father’s power of creation was still very weak, and the model shaping was very unstable, so Their shapes were also unstable.

To what extent was it unstable? For example, if the bone binding failed or became ineffective, They would turn into something like slime as soon as They came out of the system box, commonly known as a liquid state, hardly able to move.

Although it was a thing of the past, for some reason Inpos felt a bit relieved after hearing about it. He couldn’t imagine that state – how could a liquid move around?

“…Justin, huh.”

The little ragdoll thought for a moment and decided resolutely. “Alright, let’s find him. If we fish him out of subspace, Father will surely praise me!”

“It’s not ‘me’, it’s ‘us’.”

Inpos saw through Buer’s bad intention of wanting to take all the credit, so he emphasized seriously.

Buer snorted, “But even if we find information, it would be difficult for just the two of us to search, the subspace is too vast.”

Inpos paused, “There’s also Morax…”

The two cats fell into an odd silence, deciding to move past this topic. There was no other reason except that They knew Morax must be furious right now. If Morax came back, it would surely be an explosion within an explosion, a big bang. They didn’t want to face an exploding Morax, so this matter… was indefinitely postponed!

Inpos said seriously. “Just us alone is certainly not enough.”

Subspace was so vast that even if They all mobilized together, They might not be able to search it thoroughly.

And it wasn’t just a problem of vastness, it was that there was no “size” at all.

You can search for things within a range, but can you search for things in an “infinity”?

But They had to search! To make Father happy!

Buer tilted her head in thought, her paw playing with a ball of fur. Suddenly, she had a flash of inspiration and her cat eyes sparkled as she said, “Isn’t there a family meeting next month? When They come, we can assign the task to Them to search.”

Now, more than half of Their siblings were in subspace, or on the way to transfer to subspace.

Because They all thought Father was in subspace.

Inpos thought this was a good idea, but They couldn’t come up with a suitable reason.

Buer always had sudden inspirations at times like this. “Stupid twenty-second brother, you bookworm, have you forgotten who you are?”

Inpos was puzzled, “What do you mean, who am I?”

The little ragdoll pointed his paw at the gray cat’s head, “You’re the most knowledgeable little brother among us except for Agares.”

Inpos was still confused, but after a moment’s thought, he immediately understood, “You mean I should make up a reason to get Them to work together to find the heroes?”

The little ragdoll was very clever and confidently said, “How about calling it ‘Destiny Magic’? Say you’ve thought of a magic that can find Father, but the prerequisite is to find other heroes and gather their destinies.”

Inpos reflexively said, “You think Father is the Dragon God? Find the seven Dragon Balls to summon him?”

The little ragdoll slapped the gray cat’s head, widening his eyes threateningly. “Do you dare say my method is not good?”

The gray cat meowed in pain, instinctively cowering. But on second thought, it was indeed a good idea.

At every annual family meeting, They would exchange information and discuss methods. With so many failed methods, what’s wrong with making up a fake one?

Besides, given his magical prowess, everyone should at least give him face, right?

Inpos nodded, thinking it was indeed a good idea, “Let’s do it at the next family meeting!”

Buer gave a look that said ‘this child can be taught’. Her twenty-second brother had a more introverted personality, loved studying and researching, and sometimes wasn’t very quick-witted, a bit slow. He still needed his sister to take good care of him!

“At the next family meeting, let’s see how you perform!”

Inpos glanced at Her, suddenly thinking, “What if Justin is on the continent?”

Buer questioned. “He disappeared in subspace, how could he be on the continent?”

Inpos: “It’s possible, isn’t it? Beelzebub said there was manipulation behind the heroes’ disappearances. What if that manipulator is actually on the continent, and that fellow has captured all the missing heroes, waiting to sacrifice them together.”

Beelzebub had synchronized this information with Them the day before yesterday. They were still in disbelief at the time.

Buer’s eyes moved, and she had another idea, “Then of course we need to mobilize the humans!”

****

In the adjacent bedroom, Xiu Si woke up early, feeling refreshed and more comfortable than ever before.

It felt like he had a really good dream!

He was about to get up when he noticed Vassago staring at him blankly nearby.

Vassago rarely woke up, but today he had risen even earlier than him, and seemed to be shocked about something?

Xiu Si couldn’t help but ask. “What’s wrong?”

Vassago paused for a moment, then obediently shook his head. He had been thinking for a long time about what happened last night, but couldn’t come up with anything corresponding. He still believed that only Agares knew the cause of the series of anomalies on Father and how to resolve them.

So the most important thing right now was still to find Agares.

Xiu Si saw that He seemed a bit tired and reminded him. “Don’t work too hard in your dreams, take a nap occasionally.”

Vassago was slightly stunned, raising his head, his eyes reflecting Xiu Si’s figure.

Xiu Si smiled, reaching out to stroke the little white cat’s head, “They say you’re looking for Agares.”

Vassago nodded instinctively.

“Agares…”

Xiu Si recalled for a moment, his black eyes carrying some thoughts, and said, “He likes to think in absolutely quiet places.”

Absolutely quiet?

Vassago blinked his eyes.

Xiu Si nodded, “Agares can occasionally get stuck on things, but I have to say, He always manages to think of things that none of us can.”

Xiu Si was a bit chuunibyou at the time, and when he made three basic settings for Agares, two of them were [Omniscient] and [Omnipotent].

[Omniscient] took effect and emitted a bright light, [Omnipotent] both took effect and didn’t, emitting a faint light, couldn’t be erased, and remained occupying one setting slot.

It seemed a bit of a pity, but with just [Omniscient] alone, Agares used it masterfully.

Sometimes Xiu Si always felt that Agares was right beside him, never having left.

Thinking of this, Xiu Si looked into Vassago’s eyes.

“Anyway, don’t push yourself too hard, okay?”

“…”

Vassago’s thoughts stirred slightly.

The black-haired youth lowered his eyes, as calm and serene as ever. By Father’s side, He always felt that time was peaceful, and His mood became incredibly calm as well.

“……”

Vassago lowered his head, seeming to have come to some realization, and actively nuzzled Xiu Si’s palm.

Sometimes He wondered why Father could always remain so steadfastly calm and peaceful, whether it was innate or developed later.

But there was no absolute answer.

This seemed to be determined by the nature of the soul.

He liked the feeling of being by Father’s side, even though He had already lived for thousands of years, maybe even longer.

… Floating scattered for too long, too long, so He wanted a place to belong even more.

That could be a place, or a person.

And His Father had taken Him in when He was most helpless and desperate, allowing Him to experience [family love] for the first time.

“…”

Vassago narrowed His eyes and fell asleep unintentionally, breathing softly, His sleeping face peaceful and serene, like an oil painting.

Xiu Si watched for a while, actually missing Their original forms a bit, though the cat forms were nice too. He just wondered when They could turn into humans…

Xiu Si was strangely fixated on this, like a parent eagerly waiting to see their children grow up, but he also knew that this needed time, and his children were all working hard to level up, so he couldn’t rush Them.

“Sleep well, may your dreams be free of danger.”

Xiu Si said silently.

****

A few minutes later.

Xiu Si walked out of the bedroom and found the gray cat and the little ragdoll whispering to each other, meowing continuously, seemingly discussing some major issue.

As a parent, he quietly chose not to disturb them.

But the two cats suddenly turned their heads, their cat eyes shining brightly.

Xiu Si was stunned.

“Hmm?”

****

On another side.

The Continental Human Alliance Council held its regular meeting.

This time, there was an unprecedented major topic.

Almost all countries had sent representatives, everyone sitting upright, with serious expressions.

The chairman’s assistant looked around the room, announced the start of the discussion, and read out the first topic.

“Regarding the Lord of the Abyss who has appeared twice recently in the Oedipus Great Empire, do the representatives from various countries have any information or opinions?”

As soon as he finished speaking, the entire hall fell silent.

The chairman’s assistant waited for a few seconds and was about to continue asking for opinions.

At this moment, suddenly a voice sounded from behind him.

“Are you discussing me?”

It was just one sentence, but the chairman’s assistant’s heart pounded violently, feeling a chill from his feet to his head!

The Lord of the Abyss is right behind me?!