I'm Really Not the Lord of the Abyss - Chapter 37

“Are you the chief warden?”

After a chaotic battle, Lu Mi looked at the old man who was slowly sitting up from the sickbed with support.

“Cough, indeed, it is me.” The old man put the oxygen mask on his face, took a few breaths before raising his head, and cast a gaze that was either astonishment or complexity on the silver-eyed young man, “I didn’t expect such a coincidence in the world.”

Without anyone explaining, just seeing Kano following the young man in, he knew the identity of the visitor.

To be able to survive from such a powerful demon, and without a scratch…..According to the old man’s understanding over the years, it must be that “friend” who was always on the other’s lips.

The chief warden cast his gaze on Kano, the abyss creature’s face was as always, smiling and composed, but those golden-brown eyes were clearly flickering with anxiety because of the human youth.

…It’s incredible.

The chief warden sighed, it was the first time he had seen such a Kano. There really was a human who made the tied feared storm hesitate.

Lu Mi didn’t know the old man’s turbulent thoughts at the moment, he nodded and said, “I don’t know if you have understood the current situation of the Tartarus, let me explain briefly–Scott rebelled, causing a riot starting from the middle third floors, now Sholun is stopping them, he hopes you can give instructions as soon as possible.”

Upon hearing this, the old man did not show an anxious expression, but instead asked the silver-eyed young man, “Can you tell me, you and Sholun are…?”

Kano also seemed to look over unintentionally.

Lu Mi looked as usual, “He is currently my superior.”

“……”

For some reason, the chief warden’s expression became even stranger.

After a long time, the chief warden sighed, not hiding his regret, “If only you could have appeared earlier…”

As his body aged over the years, his control over the Tartarus was not as good as before. In recent years, the headquarters seemed to want to meddle with the “absolutely neutral” Tartarus, and that Smith was even more troublesome.

Therefore, even though he knew about Scott’s little actions, he was always powerless, and it was only by relying on Sholun and the mechanical troops that he had been able to balance until now.

Time really was merciless, whether it was to him or to Tartarus.

If Lu Mi could have appeared earlier, it would not only mean a future with unlimited extraordinary, but also mean a powerful abyss creature would completely stand on this side–if that were the case, he would be willing to pick up his youthful decisiveness again, bet everything on a thorough purge of the Tartarus, and the result might be completely different.

“What a pity…” The old man lowered his eyes, imagining that dreamlike alternative possibility, murmuring a regret that only he knew.

Then, under Lu Mi’s waiting gaze, the chief warden spoke to him word by word, “Please tell Sholun…..no, tell everyone in the Tartarus now–there will be no Tartarus after today!”

Even though Kano had expected this, he was still a little moved when he heard it.

If there were people who truly belonged to this Tartarus, they would probably be completely unable to bear the shock at this moment, showing a shocked and incredulous expression.

Like a dying flash, the chief warden’s eyes burst out with a brilliant light, resounding, “The self-destruction system will start immediately, let those who don’t want to die hurry up and escape!”

“I understand.” Even in the face of such explosive news, Lu Mi remained very calm.

This calmness soothed the old man whose emotions were surging.

He didn’t question him why?

He didn’t accuse him of his ruthless incompetence.

He didn’t ask about the arrangements for the prison guards and prisoners.

At the last moment of his life, the old man unexpectedly found long-lost peace in this stranger. Even if this peace was more due to the indifference of an unrelated person, it still strangely comforted him.

It must be very relaxing to be with such a person. Strangely, the chief warden seemed to understand Kano’s desire to escape from the shackles, and the contradiction of staying involuntarily.

Then, as the old man reached out and pointed in the air, “Tartarus, file number one.”

Lu Mi saw a semi-transparent screen suddenly appear in front of the old man, with numerous symbols quickly sweeping across it. After a dense verification, a low electronic sound came from the air.

[Confirmed as the highest authority holder.]

“File number one–”

On that empty interface, there was only one red button. The red light that flashed over it was full of ominous meaning.

A skinny hand slowly reached out towards the interface, the short distance seemed like a lifetime.

Then that wrinkled hand began to tremble slightly, as if it was being tightened by an invisible rope, and the heart rate monitor next to it started to fluctuate rapidly, making Kano almost think that the old man was going to die the next second.

Just in this suffocating moment that seemed to squeeze the heart, the always silent silver-eyed youth suddenly said, “Let me do it.”

“There’s no need to force yourself at this time.” The silver-eyed youth looked at the suddenly frozen old man indifferently, “You can rest now, leave the rest to me.”

……..

In the fourth layer of the Tartarus, Sholun slowly rose from the pool of blood.

After a brief rest, he finally regained a bit of strength.

Chaotic footsteps suddenly came from a distance, Sholun’s eyes sharpened, and the surging blood made him look like a terrifying ghost.

“Warden Sholun, it’s us!”

Not until the familiar voice came, did the red in Sholun’s eyes suddenly stagnate.

“Why are you here?” Sholun looked at his familiar subordinates and his deputy.

The deputy quickly replied, “An exchange student told us everything, and now they are dealing with liaison officer Scott on the first floor with some of our people! I really didn’t expect that liaison officer Scott had such wild ambitions, lurking in the Tartarus for so long, but he had already used his authority to communicate with the outside world behind our backs!”

The deputy’s indignant words were endless, but Sholun’s impatient cold stare made him stop in time and immediately get to the point.

“…and then the rest of the people followed me to support you–are you okay?”

“Exchange student?” Sholun’s expression changed, and he suddenly covered his face and laughed, “He really got me completely…” He stopped suddenly as he said this, and didn’t continue.

Then Sholun took a deep breath again, opened his eyes, and his gaze was extremely sharp, “Since you are all here, then follow me to find the chief warden.”

That person should be there now, but he didn’t know what the situation was like now.

This never-before-felt emotion called “worry” made the warden of the Tartarus uncomfortably frown.

And his deputy hurriedly echoed, “Yes! The chief warden will definitely be able to turn the tide and restore calm to the Tartarus…”

However, before the deputy had finished speaking, a unique whistle suddenly sounded in the air.

–This whistle meant that the Tartarus Chief Warden’s unique communication channel was opened at this moment.

Sholun looked up faster than anyone else, looking at the broadcasts left in various parts of the passage.

Not only this floor, but even the people fighting on the first floor suddenly paused, and subconsciously looked towards the sound.

However, what came from the broadcast was not the voice of the chief warden they thought, or even a human voice, but a sudden electronic sound.

Like a declaration, it stated a message that made everyone’s eyes widen –

[Transfer of highest authority.]

[Identity entry: Lu Mi.]

“…!”

Wait -!

Although they understood every word, but when put together, how could it -!

Only a few people who were particularly quick-witted quickly calculated in their hearts: everyone in this world knows that the highest authority of Tartarus has always belonged to one person, that is, the Chief Warden of Tartarus, and now this person named Lu Mi has obtained the new highest authority, which means?

A pair of pupils suddenly shook, countless people subconsciously opened their mouths, and opened and closed like a twitch.

No, it can’t be!?

Their hearts suddenly started to beat wildly.

However, the next second, the system that completed the transfer of authority spoke again, with the same cold electronic sound, issuing congratulations–

[Announcement, the 39th Chief Warden of Tartarus is born!]

That cold but increasingly indisputable electronic sound, just like that, hit everyone’s hearts.

[From now on, Lu Mi is the new Chief Warden of Tartarus!]

“..…”

After a brief silence, the entire Tartarus suddenly exploded, like a booming firecracker.

Not only the prison guards, but even the prisoners were furiously discussing–

“Huh? Who is this Lu Mi?”

“That old man let someone we’ve never heard of succeed the Tartarus, is he out of his mind?”

“The Chief Warden must have his reasons for doing this…”

“Now it’s the former Chief Warden!”

“I don’t know who this new Chief Warden is…..but now Tartarus is a mess, too immature means can’t suppress these restless lunatics, so, what will you do? New Chief Warden?”

The prisoners’ mockery and schadenfreude, the prison guards’ panic, some people’s deep-seated speculation and observation…..

Everyone’s minds were filled with a myriad of thoughts in an instant, all their attention was focused on the name that was deeply imprinted in their minds, even though it was the first time most of them had heard it.

“Hey, Anbo…”

“Don’t ask me! I don’t know what’s going on either!”

The exchange students on the first floor were also in a daze, looking at each other, almost forgetting about the battle.

“Warden Sholun?” In the fourth layer, the deputy looked tremblingly at his superior, whose expression was unclear.

Just as everyone was immersed in their own thoughts and the Tartarus was in a uproar, a different voice finally came from the broadcast.

[Hello?] Like a voice test, a young voice drifted over like a snowstorm in the wilderness, waking everyone up abruptly.

[You should all be able to hear it.] The voice continued.

“So he’s our new Chief Warden?” Some people with ill intentions laughed, “He sounds like a child who hasn’t grown up yet.”

[You should have heard the announcement just now, so, as the newly appointed highest authority of Tartarus, I will issue the first order after taking office–]

Eyes of curiosity or disdain were cast towards the broadcast that was constantly emitting sound.

[It is now the New Calendar, 4:35 in the morning, I hope everyone can remember this time, because at this moment, I will represent Tartarus and declare its end to the world.]

As the voice in the broadcast slowly came out, more and more people changed color.

“…What is he saying?” The faces of those who were watching the show retreated one by one.

Shock, panic, and disbelief echoed more and more from all over the Tartarus.

However, their voices and noise did not shake the existence on the other side of the broadcast at all.

And in the empty ward on the top floor, the old man who seemed to have let go of everything was also whispering to the silver-eyed youth he had chosen, “Tartarus is a place of ‘absolute neutrality’, it is absolutely independent of any political faction, just like some myths. In the same name as it, even the supreme being has to bow his head here. Its establishment was not overnight, and it involved many reasons, and now I can’t sort it out.”

“But over the long years, more and more people wanted to get involved here, they saw the powerful and terrifying monsters here, and wanted to use these dangerous forces when the world was not ready, and caused a terrible tragedy in history, many people died at that time.”

“Therefore, after that, Tartarus set a rule that no one, even the prison guards, could leave for life, in order to reject the impact and influence from the outside…But perhaps, from that time on, it gradually went the wrong way.”

Whether it was the ambitious Scott, the airborne Smith, or Sholun who grew up in the prison and stubbornly maintained the system…..they were all products of this twisted cage.

“I didn’t have the courage to end all this, I devoted my life’s efforts here, so–”

The old man’s words were not finished.

The silver-eyed youth had already pressed the red button on the interface with one hand, and the gear-like pattern in the background began to spin rapidly.

He said, “Let me be the one to sever everything.”

[Self-destruction program has started, countdown 10——]

[9——]

[8——]

The huge countdown echoed throughout the Tartarus.

People on all levels finally realized that this was not a joke.

“Crazy, crazy——!!” It seemed that only this incoherent term could describe what was happening.

Panic-stricken expressions crawled onto their faces, completely distorting their expressions.

As the countdown approached, the entire Tartarus began to shake violently, countless layers of lava lost their restraint, and began to pour down in large areas.

All the power was cut off, and the prisoners locked in the cells began to violently hit the energy-less shields.

Run——

Rise in chaos——

The roars of the mutants echoed in the corridor, and the prison guards standing in the mess looked around blankly.

This was the carnival of the apocalypse.