Chapter 1354: The journey

The light illuminated the depths of the ocean, illuminating the dark underwater with a light-blue hue.

The gentle voice continued:

『 This black dragon might seem like a draconic life form, but he was actually an advanced Soul Artifact crafted for the sake of war——— the one who created it must have spent great efforts 』

『 It is one-of-a-kind 』

『 …But I can sense a particularly malicious and powerful hex afflicting him 』

『 I currently have my hands busy with dealing against the viruses, so I don’t have the time to worry about your side. I want you to take Dragon King of Atrocity Jail to the sealing grounds for me 』

The voice slowly disappeared.

The light receded from the ocean and disappeared in mere seconds.

But a layer of holy white light remained around the black dragon’s body.

Laying inside the white light, he delightfully slept.

If Gu Qing Shan was conscious, he would see the lines of text appearing on the War God UI:

[You’ve received the blessing of the Serpentes King]

[The Wicked Thoughts Burning Spirit hex you are afflicted by has been partially dispelled, the hex duration has been reduced by one hour]

The white light around the black dragon’s body slowly shrunk and became dim.

Sensing that, the black dragon swiftly grew smaller as well, eventually returning to human form to keep himself enveloped in the white glow.

A few moments later.

The light thoroughly faded.

Gu Qing Shan mumbled something in irritation, but then fell back to sleep.

The giant beetle swam towards him, cautiously lifting him from below.

“I will take him to see King now, which one of you wants to come with?” the giant beetle asked.

“Me!”

「 I’m going as well 」

「 Me too 」

“Me!”

The monsters all volunteered.

——-according to their King, this living Soul Artifact had been afflicted by a wicked hex.

While under this hex, it still managed to defeat Gerhard, so its strength is unquestionable.

This is currently its roughest moment, so if we don’t take this chance to flatter and get acquainted with it, when would we get another chance?

After it recovers, why would it pay any attention to us?

The giant beetle carried Gu Qing Shan up and was about to leave, then remembered something and asked Gerhard: “Are you coming?”

The twin-headed sea serpent scoffed: 「 Bringing that fellow to our King would only cause them more trouble. You should understand how full their hands already are 」

After a moment of silence, the giant beetle replied: “I’m merely following King’s orders”

Saying so, it took Gu Qing Shan out of the water and hovered just above the surface.

Several dozen monsters followed suit.

They all floated at the surface to examine their surroundings.

Only to see that the sky had turned a gloomy grey hue, with deep grey, mossy green, and crimson clouds falling like meteors across the sky, continuously raining down on the earth.

“7-8 new viruses again…” the giant beetle muttered in shock.

『 Strange, we’ve already defeated over a dozen viruses, why are there still more new viruses coming nonstop? 』one of the monsters doubtfully asked.

Apparently hearing this, Gu Qing Shan turned over on top of the carapace and muttered: “So what if you’ve defeated over a dozen of them? There are over a thousand viruses in total”

The monsters exchanged glances, completely stupefied.

Just fighting against the few dozen viruses up to this point had already caused them so many casualties, if there are actually over a thousand types of viruses, wouldn’t that mean complete extinction for them?

“He’s just sleep talking” the giant beetle said.

All the monsters looked at Gu Qing Shan.

He was sleeping soundly.

“So that was just nonsense huh, that’s good”

『 Right, caused me such a huge fright 』

They all sighed in relief.

The giant beetle stayed silent for a bit, then determined a direction and abruptly sped up with its wings flapping at high frequency.

The monsters followed closely behind.

Around 10 minutes of flying later, Gu Qing Shan suddenly said: “There’s a foul stench up ahead, don’t keep going this way”

The giant beetle froze.

After thinking for a few moments, its wings flapped to change directions, drawing an arc across the sky.

The other monsters had to follow as well.

“Hey, Purple Star, you’re going the long way” one of the monsters called out.

“That’s right, he’s just sleep talking” another monster agreed.

Purple Star didn’t reply, only continuing its roundabout path.

A few more minutes of flying later——

Gu Qing Shan was still lying on top of the carapace, but suddenly reached his hand forward:

“Over there, go over there!”

The giant beetle followed his direction.

A monster carrying a large shell on its back suddenly jumped out, loudly asking: “Purple Star, why aren’t you flying on the Altitude Cableway?”

The giant beetle stopped in mid-air, replying: “There might be issues with the Altitude Cableway, I’m going to listen to Dragon King of Atrocity Jail”

“He’s sleeping, and you know there are troops guarding the Altitude Cableway, it’s very safe—– if you keep flying around like this, it’s just going to waste time” the monster berated him.

The giant beetle didn’t know how to explain.

The monster continued: “You’re going against King’s expectations and I can’t accept that. Give Dragon King of Atrocity Jail to me, I’ll bring him along the Altitude Cableway and quickly reach King!”

Before the giant beetle could even digest these words, a muttering voice sounded from its back:

“Who is… talking?”

The giant beetle replied: “A snail”

“Snail?” the voice repeated.

“Yes, a snail”

“How come it’s on this world?”

The giant beetle explained: “It’s very strong——- but that isn’t the main point. It was the only snail in history that could fart, this unique characteristic granted it the qualifications to remain in this world”

“Ah…”

The person on its back seemed to have just scoffed as he put up one finger.

——what does this mean?

All the monsters were curious.

Gu Qing Shan suddenly sat straight up, shouting: “Snail! Need to be braised, cooked in the same pot with fish and beef fat! Combined with some chilled strong liquor, that’s the peak of deliciousness!!!”

After that shout, he yawned, slowly laid back down, closed his eyes, and remained still.

All the monsters were stunned.

They were trying to argue over the right of who to take Dragon King of Atrocity Jail to see King, why… Why did he suddenly mention eating?

They suddenly recalled how this human took dragon form earlier and pinned Gerhard to the ground while ripping his flesh away with his teeth, shouting in his frenzy something like ‘delectable stench of blood’.

Hm…

So Dragon King of Atrocity Jail’s menu has a snail dish?

He could even eat a twin-headed sea serpent.

Is he an omnivore?

Right… that makes sense.

It makes perfect sense.

The other monsters felt a chill run down their spine, refusing to even breathe heavily.

The snail monster was scared into trembling, so it quickly twisted its body to make way.

Indeed, it wanted to please King, but it definitely did not want to offer itself as a dish to be eaten.

No other monsters tried to stop the giant beetle.

——nobody knew for sure whether or not Dragon King of Atrocity Jail’s menu contained their species.

The giant beetle didn’t worry about that at all, it kept moving its wings and flew forward.

Following that.

Whenever Gu Qing Shan spoke up and requested to change directions, the giant beetle would obediently follow.

About two minutes later, several panicked monsters could be seen rushing at them.

The giant beetle called them back, quickly asking: “Strange, where did you guys come from?”

“The Altitude Cableway” the monsters were still breathing heavily, still hadn’t regained their senses.

“What happened?” the giant beetle asked.

“Over a dozen viruses descended upon that place at once, instantly destroying the defenses”

The monsters here were all speechless.

We almost had to risk our lives there as well, it’s fortunate that we didn’t go that way!

Everyone felt even more respect and fear towards Dragon King of Atrocity Jail.

About half an hour later, the monsters finally reached their destination.

This place was filled with the color white, an entire forest of withered trees was covered completely in frost and snow.

Behind the forest was a magnificent mountain range whose borders couldn’t be seen.

The monsters landed at a distance, taking care not to get too close to the snow on the ground.

「 There’s more snow on the trees again 」one of the monsters commented.

「 Yeah, I wonder how much longer can our world persist 」another monster confirmed.

The monsters were all worriedly staring at the withered forest.

Each tree was covered from head to toe in a thick blanket of snow and frost, barely retaining their appearances.

A breeze blew past.

It was bone-chillingly frigid.

The giant beetle stepped a bit forward, speaking towards the withered forest: “King, I have brought Dragon King of Atrocity Jail to you”

A flash of holy light appeared out of nowhere and enveloped Gu Qing Shan.

Just as Gu Qing Shan appeared pleased, the light disappeared.

The gentle voice resounded following that:

『 The number of viruses that I could fight off had reached a limit, but then several hundred types of viruses suddenly appeared at once. I had no choice but to spend the efforts to manifest them outside my body 』

『 However, these viruses seemed to be able to connect to one another, they fused with my energy and created a sort of sealing restraints that had managed to seal me 』

『 For that reason, my current power is no longer enough to help him dispel the wicked curse 』

The monsters froze.

“King, are you going to be fine?” the giant beetle asked out of concern.

The gentle voice sighed: 『 It is hard to say, most likely, I would also—– 』

Gu Qing Shan abruptly leapt to his feet, shouting towards the forest: “Light! I want that previous kind of light! Where is the light? Why didn’t you give it to me?”

『 I am sorry, my power is no longer enough to help you dispel the wicked curse 』the gentle voice told him apologetically.

“No, I want that kind of light! If you won’t give it to me, I will eat away all of your power!”

Gu Qing Shan transformed into an orange cat and directly charged towards the white snow and frost.