raknovel Chapter 82 Self-Salvation
Chapter 82 Self-Salvation
Chapter 82 Self-Salvation
The words recorded on the scroll are cold and abstract; Nan'an urgently needs to establish more intuitive associations.
The format of the battle is excellent, allowing you to understand the specific manifestations of the power of the Nightmare Gods and to gain a deeper understanding of who the first batch of Nightmares sent by the Senate were.
The aftershocks of the impact lingered, and Qi Zhan swayed as he stood up.
Despite his best efforts to control his facial expressions, the slight trembling of his lips and the constant twitching of his eyelids betrayed him.
Nan'an ignored him and turned to other living creatures.
"Is there only one Qi Slasher?"
"The remaining guys don't even have the courage to challenge it. Can they really suppress their urge to fight the black mist?"
The middle-aged man strode into the warning zone created by the goblins.
"Fate has played a cruel trick on these children; they deserved a better future."
"I know I'm no match for you, but I hope that after this challenge, you'll have a different opinion of the Living Eclipse—Qi Zhan is right, most of us didn't have a choice before."
Nan'an glanced at him.
"name?"
"Cole."
"Oh, I remember you, the cook who prepared meals for the test subjects. The scroll described you as being kidnapped while you were out, abandoned before the entire base was exposed. Those people disdained to execute you and the remaining children, letting you continue to live and drag down the incoming Evil Deer."
Qi Zhan raised an eyebrow in surprise, realizing that Nan An had indeed memorized all of their information.
Nan An said in a calm tone: "You have a big misunderstanding about me. Although I am Elu, I have no hostility towards you. As long as you don't become my enemy, I have no interest in twisting off the head of the Living Erosion."
"I could have avoided mentioning the matter of the living erosion."
"Actually, I could just ignore everything, say nothing, give you all the freedom, protect your fragile self-esteem, and raise you like pigs. Wouldn't that be great?"
Oka noticed that this was the second time Nan'an had mentioned "pig farming".
Since the Graystar Age, among the various races of Nora, the goblins have been the most enthusiastic about raising and eating domestic pigs and wild boars.
After the Black Fog Era, the collapse of the livestock industry due to land loss meant that pork once again graced the tables of the nobility.
Considering that Nan'an was an old ancestor from the Black Mist Era and had an abundance of meat, Oka couldn't help but shed tears.
He truly deserves to be called a close friend of our ancestors!
The use of the phrase "pig farming" has moved some people, while others remain silent.
Most people's understanding of the living erosion is insufficient to comprehend the profound meaning of Nan'an.
Cole understood.
Lianshui Town was not among the first batch of towns selected for the erosion project. When they arrived, they imagined that they would have to build their new homes with their own hands.
As the first officially established living erosion settlement since the beginning of the Black Mist Era, it carries a more complex significance.
Everything here will be observed.
Their performances would be recorded, analyzed, and presented to the elders of the Twin Crown City.
These records will influence Solitz's leadership's subsequent assessment of the erosion issue, and affect the fate of many more people like them.
Cole stared at Nan'an's indifferent face, his body beginning to tremble slightly.
He could read the expression on the face of the Siamese governor.
That wasn't indifference or disdain, but rather—impatience.
"no--"
Cole began to breathe heavily.
Only those who demonstrate value and whose fates are determined by others are willing to give them more trust and attention.
This is not only for the first living erosion in the town of Lianshui at this moment, but also for the future—
Choosing to give and sacrifice—as the initial builders, they will sooner or later reap the rewards of their hard work.
But his clueless companions behind him were far from wise enough to understand this almost obvious "profound meaning".
Through long-term experiments, they have been domesticated to be as docile as lambs and as timid as mice.
In the presence of the consul, one can only naturally submit to and revere him, and feel a deep-seated conviction that authority is unassailable.
That's not what he wants!
The governor is trying to awaken the fighting spirit in every living soul!
It is the consciousness of "I fight for myself" and the courage to step into the darkness.
Cole took a deep breath: "Your Excellency, I have no special abilities; I can only barely condense and utilize the power of the Nightmare God—please accept my challenge!"
With an incomprehensible clumsiness, he charged straight toward Nan'an.
That's ridiculous.
A clumsy footwork and a near-suicidal straight-line sprint will only make it easy for the opponent to predict your moves.
Cole had absolutely no combat experience.
Obviously, Nan'an realized this as well, so he simply stretched out his leg and tripped Cole, making him roll on the ground like a ball a few times before getting up with a groan.
Qi Zhan was a smart man. After their first exchange, the huge gap in their strength made him lose the courage to attack.
After their second encounter, he toned down his arrogance.
No need.
If you can't beat them, you can't beat them. Why make things difficult for yourself?
Cole was like a fool, getting knocked down time and time again by Southampton's various tricks.
Once, twice, ten times, twenty times—
Covered in wounds, with bruises and blood blurring his vision, Cole struggled to his feet again and again, muttering to himself.
"We are not pigs."
When Cole fell for the 40th time, the chuckles on Qi Zhan's face disappeared as he put his hands in his pockets.
He suddenly realized something, swallowed hard, and looked around at the living erosion below the stage—his lips were pursed, his fists were clenched, and his eyes were red. Nan'an looked at Cole, who was covered in blood, and grabbed his collar with relief.
Looking into his blood-stained eyes, he asked in a voice loud enough for everyone to hear.
"You know you can't beat me, yet you still insist?"
"If I—give up—the adults will think we're all cowards—we just didn't have a choice back then."
"You'll get beaten to death if you don't give up."
"Some things—someone has to do them—I don't want to be treated as a monster, as something worse than a wild dog, anymore, under the name of the Living Eclipse—if fighting against the Black Mist can change things—I'm willing to do it!"
Qi Zhan planned to take over the role to alleviate Cole's pain, and the audience was already in an uproar.
"I also want to test Your Excellency's strength."
A young erosioner jumped into the warning circle.
He looked no more than seventeen or eighteen years old, with faint nightmare patterns on his arms. He looked tense, but he tried his best to straighten his back.
"Me too."
again.
"Since the governor wants to challenge us, then we must go all out."
One after another, people jumped into the cordon.
At Nan'an's prompting, Oka Oka did not stop them.
That's right, that's correct.
How could a group of hot-blooded children not harbor hatred after nearly 10 years of repression and terror?
All of this, hidden deep within, will only brew into flammable and explosive marsh gas.
"Okay, come on!"
Nan'an welcomes all who come.
It's unrealistic to expect a group of kids with an average age of 13 to 16 to overpower Southampton, a place that even Elmar Hearn is struggling with.
As Suiyue slowly awoke, groans echoed continuously both inside and outside the guard circle.
She accepted the goblin soldier's salute with a bewildered expression.
"What...what happened?"
"Lord Nan'an, did you give the living eclipse who challenged him a sound beating?"
"what?"
Suiyue approached the area in shock and breathed a sigh of relief when she found the Eclipses' heads still safely on their shoulders.
Seeing Nanan and Father Rusca chatting and laughing, she curiously moved closer.
"What are you doing? Are you beating up a kid?"
Nan An suppressed a laugh and said, "What, do you think I'm bullying someone?"
"No, you always have your reasons for doing things."
Suiyue's inner self comes with a built-in beautification mod for Nan'an, which has already reached the point where she can rationalize all of Nan'an's actions.
If she can't understand, it's not that Nan'an did anything wrong; it must be that she's too stupid to grasp the deeper meaning.
Oka was left behind to continue supervising the live erosion work, while Nan'an called everyone to get on the carriage, including Cole, whose head had been beaten into a pig's head—most of which he had fallen on his own.
Inside the carriage, Cole gulped down several mouthfuls of the strong liquor that Nan'an handed him, then winced in pain, his face contorted in agony.
The strong liquor seeped into the wound on his lips, and the stinging pain almost made him jump.
Before Nan'an could speak, he struggled to his feet, his knees buckling—
He knelt down directly in front of Nan'an.
"Your Excellency the Consul—"
His voice was hoarse, with an uncontrollable tremor.
"Your Excellency - thank you for not discriminating against the Living Eclipse and for giving us a chance."
"I kowtow to you on behalf of those children."
As if anticipating this, Rusca reached out and helped the clumsy yet intelligent middle-aged man to his feet.
Nan'an bluntly stated, "I know you also have your own selfish motives—your family members haven't been implicated."
Cole swallowed hard, looking up nervously and guiltily.
"You understand what I mean. Talk to Father Rusca more in the future. I'm really looking forward to seeing how to guide the living people of Sicklewater Town to form a correct sense of collective honor." Nan An nodded slightly. "They all have hatred for those scumbags in their hearts, so let them release it, but in the right direction."
Cole hesitated for a moment, then took another swig of his drink.
"Anything else?"
"Be prepared to enter the black mist at any time. I will show you around. After that, it's up to you," Nan'an said. "No one will recognize you unless you pay the blood tax on your own."
"No, I mean the town's rules. Aren't there any more detailed ones?"
Nan'an said, "Strictly speaking, Lianshui is my personal fiefdom, so you should restrain yourselves with morality until the Senate scribes arrive."
With Nan'an's arrangements in mind, Cole left the carriage.
As payment for his courage and acting, he also received two bottles of alcohol that neither Nan'an nor Suiyue would drink.
Ruska exclaimed, "Your Excellency Nan'an has very effectively given them a sense of community, so they are no longer strangers."
"This is one of the few things I can do," Nan'an said. "It's better to rely on ourselves than on others. Whether they can change public opinion depends entirely on their performance. We can't save Huoshi."
"No, you're already saving them," Rusca said gently. "You've given them the sense of recognition they desperately need."
Rusca declined the invitation to join them for dinner in Kren, insisting on working alongside the living eclipses.
Nan'an did not force the issue.
The carriage continued its journey on the stone-paved road, its wheels making a "gurgling" sound.
Suiyue rested her chin on her hand, leaned forward, and blinked her big eyes under Nan'an's gaze.
"what?"
"Before you came, you clearly said that you didn't intend to teach the living erosion, only to guide it, but you still couldn't help but do it."
"Just doing it on the side." Nan An lifted the carriage curtain and looked out the window. "They go in and out of the black mist, obtain fragments of the Divine Nightmare, and hand them over to me. This is a legitimate way to profit from their position as administrators. Naturally, they have to be more attentive to the tools of production."
"Oh~~" Suiyue giggled. "I just realized that sometimes you're quite hypocritical, old man. You clearly can't bear to see the Eclipse, who has suffered misfortune, continue to sink into depravity, so you can't help but offer some guidance, but you end up being stubborn—I was deliberately using you, okay? Nan'an has to admit that although he's a submissive man, as a Heroic Spirit he's bound by the inertia of history, he wants to headhunt the Eclipse when he sees it, wants to smash the Nightmare when he sees it, and even feels pleasure in killing—"
But he certainly didn't forget the education he had received.
He has no interest in being a saint, but to be so heartless as to completely refuse to help someone in distress would be against his conscience.
His current philosophy is to save half of the people who have fallen into the pit and let them try to save themselves.
After transmigrating, he rarely placed his hopes on others. Only magic, weapons, and the heads he had hunted and hung on his waist could bring him a heavy sense of security.
If the Living Erosions are just a bunch of useless good-for-nothings, he believes the Senate should be the ones in a hurry.
Nan'an's top priority is still to obtain the Divine Nightmare Fragments.
Damn it, after entering and exiting the black mist several times, breaking through a large number of spirit erosions, and even dismantling half of the Divine Nightmare, not a single fragment exploded.
That's weird, is the drop rate of Black Mist really that low?
Is there no pity system in Nora Continent's gacha system?
The connection he established with the giant Rubik's Cube guided him to acquire more fragments of the Nightmare God and "Darkness".
On the way back to the Cave of Kren, Nanan visited Pirion's mansion again.
He was eager to know whether, after some time had passed, he was going to make a move to get rid of that troublesome "Norn" governor.
The town of Lianshui has begun to get back on track, but the off-site assistance has been slow to arrive, which is quite different from what was originally agreed upon.
Pirion lazily enjoys the back-stepping service from the maids in the central garden—this guy actually knows how to enjoy himself in private?
"Hey kid, are you some kind of jailer?"
"What's a jailer? Oh, that feels good, just step on it, ah~~~"
It seemed the maid in white stockings had stepped into the right spot, and Pirion was moaning and groaning in front of Nanan with pleasure, the sounds of which gave both of them goosebumps.
"It seems the Chief Elder can completely disqualify you from the Senate on the grounds of misconduct?"
Upon hearing the word "elders' seat," Pirion looked up sharply and exclaimed excitedly.
"What? I'm not the consul anymore, can't I even enjoy myself?"
"Let's get down to business."
Nan'an gestured for the maid to come down.
"I am your master—tsk, keep stepping on me, it feels good—oh, I think you're just envious. You can't enjoy this as a mere summoned creature, so you're jealous of me."
"Okay, if you don't speak like a human being, I'm going to start causing trouble."
"What kind of trouble do you want to cause?"
Nan'an unfolds a photo scroll.
Pirion whirled around, tumbling the maids to the ground, his face flushed red.
"Why are you carrying something like that around with you?!"
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