Read Novel Full Chapter 1702: Chapter 52: Shepherd of the Deep Sea
Chapter 1702: Chapter 52: Shepherd of the Deep Sea
Louis XXXIX began to shed his white robe and the hat on his head. The Emperor did not explain anything about this, and Luo Qiu did not ask.
It was as if both sides were aware but tacitly chose not to speak.
The path was quiet, and some inconsequential topics were needed to embellish the journey, so that people did not feel alone—this was the deep sea, a world far beyond human imagination, where sunlight could not reach, thus breeding darkness and solitude everywhere.
“Mr. Luo, do you know why the Undersea City and the Sea Demon Clan split initially,” the Emperor suddenly turned back to ask.
Luo Qiu casually replied, “It is said that the ancestors of the Sea Demon Clan and the ancestors of the Undersea City had differences of opinion. The ancestor of the Sea Demon Clan, to gain the power to live freely in the deep sea, fell into the form of a monster.”
“You heard that from Jin Kailun, right?” The Emperor chuckled.
Boss Luo said, “I read it in books, and some educational channels also explained it.”
“That’s something the Undersea City allows the people to see.” The Emperor said indifferently, “Including Jin Kailun… In fact, his research achievements are good, but from the beginning, it was wrong.”
Luo Qiu laughed, “Is the Emperor planning to tell me the truth?”
“Remember the wall relief in the library last time?” The Emperor said suddenly.
Luo Qiu nodded, “It seemed like a war.”
Louis XXXIX said, “Actually, most of Jin Kailun’s historical research is accurate. During the Limoria Era, they did mistakenly direct the evolution of magic energy, leading to destructive disasters. The Limoria people had to initiate the Undersea plan. However, in reality, the initial Undersea plan was not limited to just one location in the Undersea City.”
Boss Luo listened with interest; he enjoyed the feeling of historical truths being revealed little by little.
“We built a total of ten undersea cities.” Louis XXXIX slowly said, “The ten undersea cities accommodated all the survivors of the great disaster. These ten undersea cities were led by the last two princes of the Limoria Era… know the two statues at the entrance of the Undersea City?”
“They are the last two princes?”
“Correct.” Louis XXXIX nodded, “This is not recorded in any documents, only known to us as their bloodline descendants. In fact, besides us, no one would think that the ancestors of the Undersea City and the ancestors of the Sea Demon Clan were actually brothers.”
“After all, they look too different.” Boss Luo shook his head… they were already distinct like humans and beasts.
“My ancestor, Louis I, and the Sea Demon Clan’s ancestor, Cassidy, as the last surviving princes of the Limoria Empire, were always committed to restoring the former civilization.” Louis XXXIX’s voice gradually became somber, “There was indeed a difference between them, but it was not about the decision to live in the deep sea or return to the mainland… but about their attitude towards a certain power.”
“The thing you were fighting as shown in the library’s relief?”
“Why don’t you guess what it actually was?” The Emperor now showed a cunning look, “What kind of power caused such a division between the two princes and accumulated generations of hatred.”
“It seems to be related to the black sphere that surfaced in the preliminary selection of the competition.” Boss Luo No. 2 smiled, “After all, the relief also features similar black spheres… easy to associate.”
“We call it the Eye of the Abyss, it can devour all negative emotions of living beings as food, to enhance itself, and cannot be destroyed by any means we know.” Louis XXXIX said self-deprecatingly, “In fact, the Limoria civilization, which prides itself on reaching the end of civilization, actually understands nothing. There once existed things that the Limoria civilization didn’t know… and it hides deep in the sea.”
“The Undersea City is the side that compromised with this power?” Luo Qiu pondered.
Louis XXXIX said, “Do you find it strange that the prosperous and calm Undersea City would be the side of compromise. Instead, the violent Sea Demon Clan was the side of resistance.”
Boss Luo remained noncommittal.
The Emperor sighed, “The Eye of the Abyss is the food for that thing. The Undersea City must supply enough Eyes of the Abyss periodically to survive under its domination. You mentioned the exchange of twenty black spheres for new technology… Unfortunately, each Eye of the Abyss requires a lot of warfare, multiple Fietuo competitions to be condensed. The supply is just barely enough… I truly cannot do it.”
Luo Qiu did not speak.
This price was set by the altar—since it was set by the altar, it meant that Louis XXXIX at that time must have possessed enough things, and these were things he could offer.
“Emperor, my conditions are still those few.” Luo Qiu shook his head, “But, this time’s explanation, I’m afraid can only let you cross out one from those conditions yourself.”
“I understand.” The Emperor waved his hand, “I just wanted to find someone to talk to… someone from the Undersea City couldn’t do it. Lei Yaz could but not now. You are different, you don’t belong to the Undersea City, you have no relation to us, knowing makes no difference… Importantly, I feel you are not someone who likes to spread others’ secrets.”
“Since the Undersea City chose compromise, and the Sea Demon Clan chose resistance…” Boss Luo curiously asked, “Considering your level of fear of [it], why hasn’t [it] wiped out the Sea Demon Clan?”
“A disaster caused at once can indeed harvest massive Eyes of the Abyss, which is why nine of the Undersea Cities were destroyed and disappeared. But later it found out, the carefully preserved last Undersea City was already all the food… It started pondering, and then the idea of captive farming was born… However, one Undersea City alone is not enough to provide for [it].” The Emperor said expressionlessly, “I mentioned, the Eye of the Abyss is something that grows by devouring all negative emotions… Where do negative emotions come easier?”
“War.”
“[It] is raising the Undersea City.” Louis XXXIX’s eyes showed a touch of self-mockery, “And I am raising the Sea Demon Clan… Activities like Fietuo competitions can’t be held too frequently, otherwise the state of the Undersea City people would be hard to control. But the Sea Demon Clan is different; their reproductive ability is strong, their population far exceeds the Undersea City, truly inexhaustible. This year’s batch can be killed, and next year they soon replenish a batch, continuously.”
Boss Luo said, “But the Undersea City I saw has everything based on magic energy technology, not a hint of other external forces intervening. You say… [it] is raising the Undersea City?”
Louis XXXIX suddenly stood still and then slowly turned around.
Now, the Emperor appearing before Luo Qiu was not the handsome appearance known by the people of the Undersea City… He was exceptionally ugly, his face constantly twisting and then forming a new shape, like some kind of insect.
“I have already said, Jin Kailun’s research direction was wrong from the start… Now do you understand?”
Luo Qiu opened his mouth, then suddenly realized, “So, you are the fallen sea monsters.”
…
The Emperor seemed quite dissatisfied with his original appearance.
He only maintained that ugly facade for a moment before reverting to his former appearance.
“Actually this is the true appearance of Limoria people.” The Emperor now said bitterly, “Or rather, it’s the appearance of Limoria people’s bodies after being immersed in magic energy, resulting in mutation… This evolution gave us stronger magic energy capabilities, but also turned us into monsters, and deprived us of the ability to live under sunlight. Another ancestor of the Undersea City, Cassidy, believed this was punishment for Limoria people; we should remember our mistakes and should not submit to [its] rule for the sake of restoring a false past… even if imprisoned in the deep sea in an ugly form, we must not lose the dignity of being Limoria people. Every one of us carries [its] curse; once we break free from its control, ugliness and mutation will appear again. Moreover, when excessive anger, brutality, and other negative emotions accumulate too much, we are prone to expose our true appearance.”
“So, rather than saying the Feituo Competition is held to collect the Eye of the Abyss, it’s more like a periodic cleansing of the negative emotions from the people of the Undersea City, to prevent their true nature from being exposed.” Luo Qiu thought for a moment and said, “How long do you think this can be maintained?”
“So far, there haven’t been too many changes,” the Emperor said calmly. “The Undersea City can continue to be maintained like this.”
“Since that’s the case, why do you want the technology of the Giant Energy Civilization?”
“I am already the last generation.” The Emperor looked at Luo Qiu and said softly, “I’ve reached a point where I can no longer find a suitable successor… By the way, do you know what my actual role is as the Emperor of the Undersea City in front of It?”
Boss Luo shook his head.
“A servant, a servant to the Shepherd,” the Emperor said softly. “I believe the compromise made by our ancestors was wrong; Cassidy’s ideals were the correct ones.”
Luo Qiu thought for a moment and said, “You hope to rebel against It, but at the same time, you’re afraid of failure… You hope that Lei Yaz will replace you after your failure and continue to serve as a shepherd’s servant… Will you challenge It with the identity of a Sea Demon Clan?”
“I will die in this deep sea,” the Emperor pointed to an area ahead, speaking in a low voice, “Just like this land of death.”
…
There is a miraculous lake deep in the sea… formed because of disparities in salinity.
This saline lake on the seabed has a visibly distinct boundary, much like how density differences form underwater waterfalls due to variations in temperature. A large number of organisms are concentrated above this boundary… mostly shellfish, arranged densely and neatly.
At the edge of the boundary, there are more corpses of deep-sea creatures… They have not decayed; the high salinity preserved their once-living forms. This is the most spectacular museum at the bottom of the deep sea.
“Why bring me here?”
Louis XXXIX smiled and said, “For one, it’s simply beautiful here. Lakes in the deep sea are not common. Secondly, it always feels quiet enough here… death is right in front of us, within reach. There aren’t many miraculous sights under the sea, and missing this one would be a pity.”
As the Emperor spoke, a deep-sea moray eel suddenly slipped into the salt lake to forage, but it quickly swam out. After several dives and ascents, the eel was already poisoned.
It needed to escape this saline brine to have a chance of survival.
Thus, its body began to struggle in the brine and seawater, twisting, coiling, sinking, desperately rising, and finally, it successfully escaped the brine field.
“Lucky one,” the Emperor smiled slightly.
Behind this smile, however, lay countless, floating, undecaying corpses of seabed creatures at the boundary.
“The last reason is,” the Emperor once again looked at Luo Qiu and said calmly, “It is right beneath this lake.”
“Have you made your decision?”
“There’s really nothing to decide,” the Emperor laughed casually. “From the time I was born, this has actually been my mission. I just can’t understand why, compared to the White Tower, the Eye of the Abyss… compared to the Saint Armor, this last condition seems so trivial?”
Boss Luo said nothing. At this time, he was using the identity of the shop manager, and the exchange with the customer could only end here… it had already gone far beyond, as his predecessor would not have come to this point.
“Actually, has the Emperor considered that perhaps more could be obtained from me, such as… power to resist, even eliminate It?”
The Emperor listened quietly and then asked softly, “Is an entire Undersea City enough?”
Luo Qiu shook his head.
The Emperor seemed to already know and smiled, “Then why should I bother thinking about it.”
“I understand now.”
The lake in the deep sea suddenly dimmed, but soon, a cluster of faint light appeared… the light belonging to a contract.
…
…
Inside the complex caves of the mine.
On one side were the Sea Demon Clan under the Bashacrown Prince, and on the other, the Undersea City delegation accompanying Lady Kaia. They were respectively hiding behind two gigantic, tilted pillars.
They had all clearly seen the terrifying monster.
It could emit terrifying acid jets, had seemingly endless tentacles, a massive exposed eye, and a maw that could easily crush anything.
“This is probably the biggest squid I’ve ever seen in my life,” Professor Jin Kailun, hiding on one side, shook his head and said, “I’ve never wanted to eat squid again in my life.”
Lady Kaia said nothing, and neither did any of the Undersea City warriors, but it was evident they shared the professor’s sentiments.
At this time, the Prince of the Sea Demon Clan hidden on the opposite side suddenly shouted, “To the people of the Undersea City opposite, I heard your Third Legion is outside? I now formally request political asylum from the Undersea City as a Prince of the Sea Demon Clan!”
Professor Jin Kailun heard this, opened his mouth— not because of the prince’s loud proclamation nor his cowardly fear of death.
It was solely because—what divine intervention allowed the use of the term “political asylum” this way?
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PS: The next chapter will be a bit later… around three.