Free Web NovelChapter 2641: Chapter 1777: Leave of Absence (The Howling Wind Early This Morning)
After eliminating the False God avatar of the God of Shattering, things became much easier. Duanmu Huai issued an extinction order for both this planet and the one that produced resources, then reported the matter to Dada Niel.
The latter’s expression was also very complicated upon hearing Duanmu Huai’s report.
"Evil God... is it another Evil God?"
"That’s right."
"... Your Honor, the Judge, it’s not that I have any objections or discontent with you, it’s just..."
"Exploring the universe is like this."
Duanmu Huai knew what Dada Niel wanted to say.
"When you reach a new planet, you want to conquer it and acquire everything there. But you should also understand, humans are not the only beings in the universe; the planet you fancy could also be fancied by other aliens."
That’s right, that’s the logic. Humans need air, water, plants, minerals. But other races are the same. All cosmic civilizations develop through similar means. There’s no reason for what humans desire to be considered trash by other races.
"So every time you arrive on such a planet, you may face such a situation: a slumbering Space Undead Empire, an unknown alien civilization. In fact, those are the better scenarios. Often, when you discover those ancient ruins, that is the most troublesome and vexing."
"Troublesome?"
"That’s right, because you have to figure out—why they were extinct." freewebnøvel.com
The threats capable of exterminating other alien civilizations could possibly also exterminate humans. When you see bones, you must be wary of whether there are man-eating monsters lurking around. The universe is like a dark forest, and human exploration of any planet is not an easy task.
"... Ha..."
Dada Niel sighed silently.
"I used to think that inheriting the will of our ancestors, expanding territories, and conquering the Milky Way was a very noble endeavor."
"Whether it’s noble or not is aside, but the danger indeed exists, which is why Merchant Voyagers have a high status within the Empire. Because they are the pioneers of the Empire, they encounter the Empire’s enemies earlier than anyone else, and face dangers and losses sooner than anyone else."
At this point in his speech, Duanmu Huai paused.
"I will send five Reality Stabilizing Anchors to you, which should ease some of your worries."
"Are you referring to that Divine Artifact that renders all evil forces ineffective?"
Upon hearing Duanmu Huai’s words, Dada Niel’s eyes lit up, while Duanmu Huai chuckled inwardly. When he heard Dada Niel’s pitiful complaints earlier, he knew that the other party was pledging loyalty to him while hoping to gain some benefits. However, Duanmu Huai also acknowledged that Dada Niel, a Merchant Voyager expanding everywhere, was likely to encounter various troubles. For the Tribunal, it was naturally a good thing.
"Yes, that one, but remember, it only works against reality-distorting powers. If you use guns or grenades to attack, that’s another matter."
"Rest assured, as long as it works against those evil forces, that’s sufficient!"
At this moment, Dada Niel was grinning. He had been acquainted with Duanmu Huai for a while now and knew that the universe was filled with various malicious creatures. As the saying goes, ’a clear threat is easy to dodge, an ambush is hard to prevent.’ With Dada Niel’s current Strength, dealing with normal Attacks is not a problem, but he was also worried about what to do if he encountered something like a Curse.
Although the Tribunal was indeed helping him, and Dada Niel also wore the Sacred Badge of the Tribunal, he still felt a bit worried. Previously, when Dada Niel knew about the Reality Stabilizing Anchors on Duanmu Huai’s side, he had always wanted to acquire a few, but he also understood Duanmu Huai’s principle that "what is given is yours, what is not given, you must not ask for," so he never dared to make this request of Duanmu Huai.
This time, considering his sacrifice of two planets and tens of thousands of employee laborers for the Tribunal, although Dada Niel really wanted to directly state his request, he dared not to. Fortunately, Duanmu Huai did not treat him badly and directly gave him five devices. According to Duanmu Huai, one device could cover an entire building, and adding a few more could even protect a Warship, which meant Dada Niel wouldn’t have to worry anymore!
However, the expansion of the Milky Way was indeed a dangerous task, though luckily now Dada Niel was quite wealthy and didn’t need to be there in person most of the time.
Originally, Dada Niel intended to fulfill Duanmu Huai’s requirements as quickly as possible, but after this incident, he couldn’t help but be cautious. Duanmu Huai also indicated that he would dispatch a team from the Tribunal to Dada Niel’s territory for an inquiry—given the recent developments, Duanmu Huai found that the people under Dada Niel seemed not to have a clear understanding of the Tribunal, nor were they good at cooperating with them.
Therefore, he didn’t mind using blood and fire to let those guys know that the Tribunal is not to be messed with.
Naturally, Dada Niel readily agreed.
Consequently, the progress of material transportation preparation was significantly postponed. Through Zhenjiling, Duanmu Huai inquired the Star Union and found out that they also lacked many needed materials. Moreover, unlike Dada Niel, those guys showed a lack of respect for the Tribunal during the negotiations—well, Duanmu Huai had already decided to send a few investigation teams to the Star Union to see if they could find any heretical aliens to burn one or two times in front of them, letting the Star Union understand what kind of organization the Tribunal is.
You’re trying to haggle with me over what I asked for?
Such audacity and arrogance must be punished!
Let me reiterate, the Tribunal is not composed of people to be trifled with. In their dictionary, there is no request, only demands.
After sending people out, Duanmu Huai returned to his laid-back mode. Of course, before that, he reviewed the situations of those worlds again.
The commercial alliance world led by Dada Niel was operating normally. Perhaps it’s because these worlds had just recovered from the brink of destruction and were busy rebuilding civilization, entering a hot and busy construction phase. Although some people were talking about independence and division, these were not concerns of the Tribunal.
As long as they don’t provoke aliens and heretics, whatever they do has nothing to do with the Tribunal.
The Duel City side was also normal. Although Duanmu Huai had exterminated the Demon Clan, their invasion still caused significant casualties among humans. Duanmu listened to Ling’Nu’s report that Queen Leia of Lisas was planning to form a "Princess Alliance". Ostensibly, this was to rope in Hera of Herman, Magico of Sasi, and Princess Xiang to create a harem, but actually, it was a chance to unite the entire continent—after all, even in a harem, there’s a hierarchy. As Duanmu understood Leia, her wisdom and political skill would make dealing with someone as naive as Hera and someone as resolute as Magico a piece of cake for her.
Of course, this wasn’t Duanmu’s business, at least he wasn’t in the mood to care about it at the moment.
On the Faelun Continent, there were several Demon invasion attempts, but they were eliminated. It showed that areas with many deities were advantageous. With so many deities already having claimed their territories, an outsider trying to snatch land would require their consent first.
Even if someone wanted to agree, the Tribunal and the benevolent faction’s deities were watching closely. If anything seemed amiss, Duanmu would come over and perform a "tear apart a True God" act, and no one wanted to become a second Rose.
Therefore, places with many deities also had their benefits.
The colonization of the new planet by the colonization fleet was going smoothly. At least up till now, there was no situation requiring Tribunal intervention—only that Duanmu had to give them an answer, stating that the Tribunal only dealt with heretics, aliens, and Demons. The problems among humans were up to them to resolve.
I’m the Tribunal, not a court, don’t come to me with every grievance!
As Duanmu reviewed reports from various worlds, an unexpected person appeared before him.
"You, want to take a leave?"
Looking at Frieren in front of him, Duanmu was baffled, while the latter nodded.
"Yes, something’s happened in my world, and I need to return to help."
Even though that planet was isolated out of caution, Duanmu wasn’t a heartless Demon. Before leaving that planet, he gave Hero Ximiel and his team a communicator. If they encountered an unsolvable problem, they would contact Frieren. It seemed they indeed ran into trouble now.
"What trouble?"
"Demon."
"I thought... the Demon Clan should have been wiped out?"
At least Demon King Duanmu had certainly been defeated, and most of the high-ranking Demons were dead too.
"That’s what I thought too, but Ximiel and his team seemed to have discovered a hidden advanced Demon labyrinth, which is very troublesome." freёwebnovel.com
Frieren explained to Duanmu that, in simple terms, after defeating the Demon King, the Heroes continued traveling and exterminating the remaining Demons. However, while passing through the northern countries, they learned about a gigantic underground labyrinth that suddenly appeared at a country’s border without any warning. The country sent people to investigate, but they were annihilated.
The information sent back at the cost of the investigation team’s lives indicated that the nest was full of undead soldiers and monsters, with defenses even more stringent than the Demon King Palace.
Upon learning of this, the Heroes went there to investigate and fought with the so-called guardian of the first floor.
Although Ximiel managed to kill the first-floor guardian, several strong enemies appeared afterwards. Being a thoughtful hero, Ximiel decided to "get out of there."
Because there was a very powerful Magician on the opposing side, Ximiel contacted Frieren via the communicator, hoping she could assist.
"These Demon Clans really have strong vitality; they’re not all dead yet. Maybe I should send the Night Guard to thoroughly clean the place."
"I have no objections."
"Well then."
Duanmu thought for a moment.
"I’ll dispatch a reconnaissance fleet for you. Just flatten that creepy place for me. That underground labyrinth sounds annoying, might as well blast it to pieces."
Upon hearing Duanmu’s grumble, Frieren raised an eyebrow.
"That’s exactly what I had in mind; this sounds perfect."
She then spoke.
