RNP Chapter 3637 The Truth About the Mission
Chapter 3637 The Truth About the Mission
Chapter 3637 The Truth About the Mission
Hearing the noise outside the window, Shad instinctively felt, "I should be woken up," so he grabbed [Dawn of the Dawn], rolled out of bed, and went outside to find that the entire village, including his house, was engulfed in flames.
The night was illuminated by the flames, but he had neither felt the house was on fire nor seen the village burning outside the window while he was inside. It was as if the fact that the village was burning only appeared the moment he opened the door.
However, within ten minutes of entering the village, Xia De had already encountered enough problems, so he didn't care and walked out of the courtyard with his sword.
Ordinary flames couldn't harm him, but the village was littered with corpses. The villagers appeared to have died recently, their bodies bearing wounds from cold weapons. Of course, the veteran's family was nowhere to be found.
There were clear footprints and hoofprints on the muddy road in the village, and Xia De followed these tracks all the way to the east end of the village.
Horse-riding bandits with red turbans wrapped around their heads were burning more corpses at the village entrance. Mules, cattle, chickens, sheep and other livestock were all kept in a pen, while various valuables looted from the village were piled up to await distribution.
The veterans were talking to what looked like a bandit leader beside the burning pile of corpses. They noticed Shad walking out of the village with a sword in his hand and turned to look at him.
The bandit leader, shirtless, wearing a red turban, muscular, and with a scar on his face, said to Shad:
"Knight, we are willing to give up a quarter of our spoils, please don't worry about what's going on here."
Shad didn't speak. He noticed the number "1958" above the bandit leader's head, then looked at the retired soldier who had hosted him for the night. The latter explained:
“Honorable knight, I did not intend to harm you, otherwise I would have already instructed my wife to poison your food. I am a member of a bandit gang. I led my family to live in the village, and after my family was accepted, I left under the pretext of serving in the army. After my family became familiar with the village, I returned and led my companions to plunder the village.”
He explained it in great detail:
“There are many families like mine in the bandit gang. If we take advantage of the villagers’ kindness, we can easily acquire the wealth of an entire village.”
Only then did Xia De speak:
"You've explained everything in such detail, aren't you afraid I'll kill you?"
The bandit leader laughed heartily:
"Knight, I believe you can kill us all, but such things are common in this kingdom. Even if you kill us, others will come. There will always be people who exploit kindness, and people who exploit naivety. That's all the stories that happen here, and that's how the stories are supposed to be."
The queen sat in the palace, observing everything through her mirror—all of which was permitted.
Xia De was about to swing his sword forward, but the next second the world spun around him again.
When he opened his eyes while clutching his head, he found himself standing in an unnamed room of a hotel in Whispering Hills.
This room was the cleanest and tidiest Shad had seen in the hotel, even possessing a certain artistic flair. An unidentified oil painting hung on the wall, the aroma of black tea permeated the entire room, the fire in the fireplace roared through the iron bars, and God stood before the window without any wooden planks, gazing out at the dark world.
Before the fireplace, a white wooden round table sat on the carpet. To the right of the table, in a comfortable, cushioned chair, a middle-aged woman, whom no one knew, was closing a large book and curiously asking Shad what he thought.
"How's that story?"
Shad's gaze swept past the god's back and landed on the woman, who looked very much like the woman on the coin from that strange world:
"Was that your magic lock just now?"
After a slight pause, he looked again at the large book in the woman's hands:
"An artifact. A familiar script from the Puppet Master?"
The woman smiled brightly:
“I knew you would be able to see it. Yes, I incorporated the ‘Puppet Master’s Script’ into my own storybook, and then used it to release my Maze Lock. After the Maze Lock merged with the script, it formed a world that was more real and more stable than a regular Maze Lock, and could even exist semi-permanently. That is—Maze Lock: My Kingdom.”
"A genius move!"
Shad inwardly praised, but his expression remained unchanged. He had dealt with the [Puppet Master's Script] many times, but he had never imagined that this relic could be used in this way. Perhaps this was the most correct way to use this angelic-level relic. The woman before him, though an enemy, was undoubtedly a genius.
"You are Lady Gerd's mother?"
"Yes, God just introduced you to me, Mr. Hamilton."
"You've captured all the monsters from the 40th floor and the adjacent floors into your labyrinthine lock? Are you trying to conduct a social experiment?"
"Social experiment?"
A reserved smile appeared on the woman's face:
"Interesting words, but I can guess what you mean. Very good. I knew someone would always guess what I was going to do."
Using only androids as the kingdom's inhabitants, while numerous enough, lacks variety and surprise. Therefore, I placed most of the monsters I could handle into my kingdom.
The strong will be treated as wild monsters, but confined to specific areas; the interesting will be given unique identities to participate in the stories I create; the weak will have their memories erased, becoming ordinary beings to experience life in the kingdom—I'm looking forward to them causing trouble.
She placed the heavy book on the table, seemingly eager to share her thoughts with Xia De:
"I've been thinking about how to make the androids I've filled with soul fragments closer to real humans, how to give them their own thoughts and their own destinies. I've found the answer here—what they need is to experience stories, to live and think repeatedly."
And I even had an unexpected bonus! Look, I've recorded all the interesting stories that happened in the kingdom. Maybe when I adopt my second daughter, I can read them to her as bedtime stories.
Where are my companions?
Shad asked again, and the woman in the chair pointed to the book with her finger:
"Of course you're still in the story, just like you were just now."
She did not give Xia De another chance to ask questions:
"When I first came to this hotel, I boldly asked the gods to allow me to experiment with the evil creatures imprisoned here, but the generous god pointed out that the kingdom I had built and the stories I had written would only lead to a tragic end."
So I made an interesting bet with this god: if one day someone could, through storytelling, create a tale within my kingdom with an ending that surprised me, I would offer my kingdom to the god—obviously, my methods would manage the guests here far better than this current inn.”
Shad felt as if he understood everything. He turned to look at the Old God by the window—the Lord of the Walls—who had already turned to face him.
"You planned all of this from the very beginning?"
He felt that all his and the witches' actions were part of a pre-arranged plan, and that everything was for this moment:
"We all came here to turn this hotel into a kingdom, and to better seal away the evil spirits here?"
God looked at him calmly:
"It's to select someone to replace me as the guard of this prison. That person will be a special resident on the first floor. Vampires, witchers, and their daughters are candidates. Whoever passes the test and is willing to stay will become my angel."
I merely invited them here; I haven't arranged for you to have any encounter with them. I'm simply observing them until someone meets my conditions. At the end of this adventure, if no one volunteers to stay, I won't force anyone to remain.
This made Shad feel less annoyed. If the adventure was all part of a preordained drama arranged by the gods, he would lose interest in the story of the Time Key.
You hate feeling like you're being told what to do.
"She" said at that moment, "She really knows Shad."
Please do not worry, the Tree Father will not allow any Old Gods to arrange your actions in the Fifth Age.
The deity by the window then proceeded to explain further in Deraea:
"Guest from afar, you should understand that I will leave sooner or later. And without my power, everything here will flee back to the material world before Whispering Hills completely disappears. Therefore, a suitable guardian needs to be chosen here. This is the truth behind the stories that have unfolded here."
"Selecting guests from the first floor"
Shad finally fully understood the task given to him by the Tree Father: it wasn't about choosing one of his companions to lock up in the inn, but about choosing someone to guard the inn.
Although he didn't know exactly what the gods were looking for in the test of the three witches, the test was indeed of great significance: to find a guardian for this place after the departure of the old gods, and also for the sake of the entire material world.
“Go and tell a story, prove that you can overcome the witch’s fabricated narrative and destiny. If you think I’ve used you, I can give you a special gift before you leave.”
God continued speaking in Delaware, and if the woman by the fireplace had heard this, she would have immediately realized the risks of telling Shad stories.
But Shad shook his head:
"If it's for the sake of this world, I don't need your reward. Besides someone as great as you, ordinary people also have the desire to protect the world. I will tell this story, but I hope that after the problem on the 40th floor is resolved, you can explain everything to my companions before asking for their wishes."
The gods nodded in agreement. Shad reached out and touched the cat wriggling on his chest, then sat down in the armchair opposite the woman in front of the fireplace.
P.S.: Six chapters were updated today, please vote!
The illustration in this chapter is titled "Mother".