Chapter 58 : Chapter 58

Chapter 58: “The world recognizes the plot single-handedly pushed forward by Chu Zu.”

Even the well-traveled Lady Blythe had never encountered a human-shaped wild pufferfish in her life.

Now she had.

At three in the morning, the pufferfishes’ names were Nilia and Polika Landor.

Ten minutes ago, students had trussed these two up and stuffed them into the infirmary, crying out for help.

Lady Blythe had thought some other trouble had broken out.

Her clothes weren't even properly arranged, and she rushed over disheveled.

The moment she arrived, she saw the two, bound like caterpillars by an ugly knotting technique, still trying to squirm and attack each other.

“...Polika, what did you do?”

Lady Blythe believed this could only be Polika's problem.

Everyone knew Nilia's character.

At most, he would grumble a bit when he was unhappy, then turn around and feel like he had won a spiritual victory.

He rarely even argued, let alone fought.

For him to be this angry, it was hard not to wonder what Polika had done.

Polika: “...”

Lady Blythe saw his faint defiance and changed the question: “Who started it?”

Polika: “...”

Nilia stared straight at Polika and said faintly:

“While I was studying hard in the library, he threw all my luggage out of the dorm, changed the lock. It was already late when I got back from the library, and I couldn't get in, so I had to squat at the door.”

“I was a little dazed after studying all day and bumped my head on the door. Maybe I disturbed him. He opened the door and started cursing at me, calling me a good-for-nothing, a disgrace, disgusting, and even a dead dog.”

Lady Blythe’s expression gradually turned serious.

She didn't have a good attitude towards underachieving students, but she was still a teacher at Saint Imolai.

A teacher should not judge a student's character based on their academic performance.

Apart from the verbal dispute, the other things Nilia mentioned could basically be verified.

He wouldn't lie about such things.

Nilia didn't lie, he was just selective in what he said.

“I was originally going to ask the dorm manager to change dorms, but he directly hit me with a punch... I’m sorry, Lady Blythe. I haven't been resting well recently and couldn't control my emotions for a moment.”

Lady Blythe: “!”

Her sharp gaze was already fixed on Polika.

Polika's eyes were so swollen he couldn't open them, but he tried his best to glare at Nilia:

“You—”

“Do you know this is considered bullying?”

Lady Blythe completely suppressed Polika's small voice and reprimanded him coldly.

“Saint Imolai strictly prohibits discrimination, bullying, and private fights between students due to conflicts. Polika, what on earth is wrong with you!”

A lump of anger was stuck in Polika's chest: “I—”

“I was also at fault.”

Nilia interrupted Polika a second time.

“The academy hasn't fully recovered yet. I shouldn't be causing trouble at this time. Lady Blythe, I'm very sorry to disturb your rest so late at night...”

This person was well-versed in the art of apology, making himself sound as miserable as possible, with every word full of sincerity.

Give him a broken bowl, and he could go to the small town at the foot of the mountain and get the first pot of gold in his life without working for it.

Polika was furious.

Nilia's face looked uglier and more hateful the more he looked at it.

If he wasn't currently tied up like a caterpillar, he would have definitely performed a scene of "infirmary bullying" in front of Lady Blythe.

But Nilia didn't get to be smug for long.

Lady Blythe had a considerable personal bias against Polika, but she still acted according to the school rules.

The school rules stated that in a fight, both parties were equally responsible, and serious cases would be reported to the headmaster for a decision on how to handle it.

The two caterpillars were hung at opposite ends of the infirmary, their gazes shooting sparks at each other across several examination beds.

The rope, a friendly contribution from a classmate, had secret art properties and was of excellent quality.

Not to mention hanging people, it could even hang an elephant without any problem.

As soon as Lady Blythe left, Nilia's expression changed instantly.

He flapped in the air, trying to turn himself half a circle so he wouldn't have to see his roommate's annoying, stinky face.

It was difficult to control the angle while suspended in the air.

With a twist, Nilia's whole body began to spin uncontrollably.

After a few spins, he made himself dizzy and couldn't get up again.

The sky in the infirmary was already turning white.

In another two or three hours, the two of them would be taken to the headmaster for investigation.

Nilia was big-hearted.

If he was dizzy, he was dizzy.

He decided to just go for it and sleep like the dead, planning to build up his energy to bewitch the headmaster.

Polika Landor had never been so humiliated in his life—he didn't win the fight, was shamelessly framed by his opponent, and was finally hung in the air in a very undignified manner.

To make matters worse, Polika understood the school rules better than Nilia.

Saint Imolai was basically full of children of nobles, and the school rules were designed to avoid private feuds between the offspring of different families as much as possible.

The headmaster probably never imagined that a local Nilia and a down-and-out noble Polika Landor could actually end up fighting in front of him because of this rule that was not meant to restrain them.

Polika could already imagine the headmaster's reaction.

A sentence of "young people these days are really something," followed by sticking to the rules.

Polika had originally wanted to get the headmaster's recommendation to go to the royal capital and take the level-one secret artist exam.

The headmaster would not recommend a student with a blemish on their record.

Polika's plan to bring Shanjielina to Saint Imolai early had also pretty much turned to dust.

But for some reason, looking at Nilia, who was still spinning with inertia, Polika breathed a sigh of relief.

It was like he was trying to find his way out of a maze, when suddenly a moron jumped out, grabbed him by the waist, and they both crashed into a wall, knocking a huge hole in the maze.

It was absurdly funny, but the wind and clouds outside the maze were at least breathable.

Polika realized belatedly.

He seemed to have forgotten how to breathe for a long time.

***

“Host, are we really going to do the retrospection at this time?”

The system was slightly hesitant.

It was less that Nilia was sleeping and more that he was in a coma.

He had studied for a whole day, and after returning to the dorm, an argument broke out, which eventually escalated into a fistfight. It was only normal for him to be exhausted.

In a little while, Nilia would be woken up.

If they did the retrospection at this time, the young man who woke up would most likely be in a daze, half-dead from body to spirit.

He would have a miserable appearance that was perfect for acting pitiful.

And it wasn't even acting, he was genuinely miserable.

Even if the headmaster used a microscope, he wouldn't be able to find anything amiss.

This was too cruel to Polika.

Chu Zu was unmoved: “Don't mind them. I suddenly have an idea, and I want to verify it with Feian.”

The little yellow chicken got excited.

The system had been trying to analyze the secret arts on the wall of the Aturu temple.

Although the host had not explained his thoughts, it was always right to prepare in advance.

But the scope was too wide.

Apart from the numbers all being after 200, there was basically no logic to classify or connect them.

It had been working on it secretly and had been caught by Chu Zu a few times.

At first, the little yellow chicken was unwilling to say.

It felt like secretly studying, only to be discovered by the parents before the results were out.

After Chu Zu found out, he saw the system was putting in a lot of effort and was quite invested, so he gave it a line of thought.

Feian's goal should be "how to solve her own problem," so starting from the numbers was useless.

During the Sagteni Kingdom period, there was no concept of secret arts at all.

In their eyes, this was the power of the gods—the ordering was something that came later.

Looking at the numbers, you couldn't see anything.

The system had also listed the keywords of each secret art to see if there was a logical chain that could connect them.

But there were too many.

This was like being given a few words to make a sentence, and there were many blind spots.

For example, given the words: Nilia, Polika, Lady Blythe, infirmary.

The correct answer: Nilia and Polika were hung in the infirmary like caterpillars by Lady Blythe.

Who could have thought of that?

The system could only give up the idea of helping the host find clues and put it aside for the time being.

Now that the host was planning to start dealing with this matter, the system immediately threw the two youngsters to the back of its mind: “Okay!”

Feian was treated with extremely high courtesy in the Sagteni Kingdom, something that was completely unlike what a country that expelled gods would do.

After returning to the country, Zui did not immediately pay attention to her.

After clearly stating to Naqiya that he had no intention of getting married, the king immediately began to deal with the backlog of important matters.

Rewarding the soldiers was ranked before all political affairs.

He met with countless soldiers every day, of high and low ranks.

The king would sit on high and listen to the soldiers' merits, praise them unsparingly, and give them the rewards they deserved.

The matter of settling Feian was handed over to Naqiya.

Although Naqiya was quite embarrassed about misunderstanding the situation, when she remembered Feian's age, she was instantly relieved and only treated her as a guest.

When Feian saw Zui again, it was already two months after she arrived in the Sagteni Kingdom.

The king summoned her to the council hall.

Feian could clearly feel the complex gazes from the palace, mostly of confusion, and a few hints of disgust—not directed at her, but subtly influenced by the king's attitude towards the gods.

“Feian requests an audience with Your Majesty.”

Feian stated her purpose outside the council hall.

Before the royal guards could reply, a cold and majestic voice came from within the council hall: “Come in. Everyone else, leave.”

Several tall figures left from Feian's side, and the small "girl" stepped onto the stone steps that were slightly difficult for her.

During this process, Feian had been telling herself to be cautious.

The one she was about to meet was the only possible future.

And this "possibility's" temper was really not good.

He didn't care about things outside his own interests.

She had to be cautious.

For these two months, Feian had been warning herself.

The council hall was converted from the queen's bedchamber.

Zui ordered all obstructing structures that blocked the view to be demolished, and the original stone carvings were preserved.

In the huge space, apart from the murals depicting successive battles and celebratory banquets, there was only Sagteni I sitting at the head of the stone table.

Zui was still looking at the clay tablets on the table.

Turtanu had laid out all the deployment plans the king needed in front of him.

All that was left was the monarch's command, and the iron cavalry would once again sweep through everything like a hurricane.

“Your Majesty.”

Feian said respectfully.

“Continue where we left off.”

Zui raised his head, his black hair sliding to the side of his face.

The eyes that stared at Feian were as madly sharp as ever.

“Regarding Aturu, explain it to me clearly.”

***

Chu Zu was very patient.

Even though he said he had an idea and wanted to verify it, he hadn't paid any attention to Feian since the retrospection began.

He secretly had the system keep an eye on her, but on the surface, he just left her hanging.

Only after confirming that Feian had no connection with any of the crazy gods did Chu Zu summon her for questioning.

Feian answered very readily, so readily that it seemed like a trap.

The topic started with what was mentioned before, Feian calling Zui a "plunderer."

“I don't know how you did it, but you did indeed plunder the authority of 'death' from Hikta.”

Feian said, “Before possessing that authority, no one could harm a god. But now, you can—so whether it’s Katur or Aturu, they would never dare to appear before you easily.”

Chu Zu didn't show much surprise, and even explained to Feian: “I have killed Hikta.”

Feian was stunned.

After truly understanding the meaning of this sentence, she was so shocked that she couldn't speak, almost unable to maintain the composure she had cultivated over a hundred years.

Did Sagteni I know what he was saying?

Killed Hikta?

If attacking Katur could still be considered a monarch's defense of his royal power, then what was attacking the god of death?

He was already so arrogant... that he wanted to "kill" death?

Even before attacking Katur?

Chu Zu directly ignored Feian’s astonishment.

He couldn't just say that when Zui was a child, Hikta had already started to enjoy being a perverted harasser of the future king, and he loved being killed for fun, getting more excited the more he was killed.

He didn't care about Hikta's reputation, but if it brought down his own style, that wouldn't do.

“I have killed Hikta many times. I know how it feels to kill a god.”

Chu Zu sneered, “When the flames burned Katur, his life was rapidly draining away, and the more he lost, the more I gained—is this the kind of nonsense you want to say?”

Feian was speechless.

“I don't want to hear things I already know. That’s not how you survived, Feian.”

Feian's original thoughts were thrown into disarray by Chu Zu's simple two sentences.

The things this monarch knew... might not be less than what she, who had lived for over a hundred years, knew.

There was even a part that was beyond her comprehension.

Feian would not gamble on Sagteni I's patience.

She calmed down and chose the most valuable content from the countless things she had planned to explain.

“This world is a paradise for the gods.”

Feian dropped a bombshell, “They have the right to make judgments on the world. This land is to the gods what this council hall is to you. You can tear down the building and rebuild it at any time, shaping it bit by bit into the form you desire—”

She bit her lower lip, “The gods are the same. If it doesn't suit their fancy, they can tear down the world and rebuild it at any time.”

“And Your Majesty, as I said, you are plundering their authority. Perhaps in the eyes of humans, you are only taking away the extraordinary abilities they display, but for the gods...”

“You are plundering this world from their hands.”

***

The system was inputting the rapidly unfolding worldview, and its little chicken beak hadn't closed once.

Not because of the "truth" that Feian spoke, but something deeper...

Zui killing Hikta was like crushing a bag of potato chips, and burning Katur was just a matter of clicking wherever the secret arts illustration lit up.

Chu Zu had even grumbled to the system about how weak and useless these gods were.

Of course, the host wouldn't have any feeling about it, because these things weren't in the settings.

The setting was only that Zui is an all-powerful secret arts master.

When the retrospection first started, Zui's secret arts were all grayed out, and then he was suddenly able to use them during the ritual.

At that time, the system inferred that it was because the worldview supplemented by the retrospection was not yet complete, and there was no formed logical chain.

In other words, in essence, they had been exploiting the loophole of the time retrospection.

A very simple logical relationship:

Chu Zu knew the conditions for using secret arts.

As long as the current situation had a reasonable explanation that made sense, he could use them.

What was a reasonable explanation?

During the ritual, Zui’s killing intent was too strong.

He was provoked and would inevitably fight Katur to the death.

Sagteni I would not bow down to the gods, but he also could not die at Katur's hands, and at the same time, he did not accept protection from Hikta.

Then there was only one result left—Zui learned secret arts at that time, enough to make Katur flee in panic and end this plot point.

The world recognized the plot single-handedly pushed forward by Chu Zu, so the "explanation" became an established fact, and Zui began to be able to use all secret arts.

And now, Chu Zu has come up with a new logic to explain the origin of secret arts.

He knew nothing about plundering and was only using his own deductions to bluff Feian.

He spoke with such certainty that, under his influence, Feian tacitly agreed…

The system asked tremblingly.

“What you wanted to verify with Feian... was not a guess about the secret arts she wrote down, but that you can dominate the settings in the background retrospection... right?”

Chu Zu answered as a matter of course: “Of course.”

He said, “The settings I add can only affect myself, and they can’t be too over-the-top.”

“If I directly wrote ‘Zui can plunder the authority of the gods,’ not only would it not work, but I would also be warned and punished, right?”

System: “Yes…”

“So I don’t add such rigid things. Zui’s status can do too many things and it’s easy to have an impact, so I tried it a little.”

He said in a relaxed tone that the little yellow chicken could not have imagined, “It works.”

Of course it worked.

Because it was so reasonable.

The Zui that Chu Zu created was so greedy, arrogant, he was the synonym of ambition.

Of course he would take everything, even if it belonged to the gods.

The little yellow chicken was dizzy and even began to think that the host had been thinking about the essence of retrospection since Silent Peach and Plum.

And when it came to the King of All Kings, it was also the host who proposed to do the retrospection in stages.

Because retrospection was “inferring the past from the established facts of the future.”

In the main storyline, with the author’s authorization, Chu Zu could directly change the future, thus causing subtle changes in the past… the changes he hoped for.

Little by little, step by step, methodically.

Chu Zu patted the little yellow chicken’s head in his consciousness and said softly: “Don’t make a fuss. Haven’t I been thinking about military funds all this time.”

“Military funds… you mean the inheritance?”

“Even if we gradually shift the main storyline to confronting the gods, the inheritance is still the MacGuffin of King of All Kings.”

The system had loaded a film and television related installation package in Silent Peach and Plum.

MacGuffin, usually refers to an object, person, or event that drives the plot forward in a movie, novel, or play.

Although it may not be important to the specific content or meaning of the story itself, it is the key driving force that moves the plot forward.

“Since it exists in the plot, it must be resolved, and it must be beneficial to Nilia—”

Chu Zu asked, “What do you think of secret arts?”

The system was a bit afraid to answer.

It was still in a state of shock and couldn't get back to normal for a long time.

Chu Zu made his words more complete:

“I plundered the authority of the gods and thus created a more rigorous system of secret arts. But the humans of this era cannot understand, cannot keep up with my pace. They cannot create the same miracles.”

“I tried to take the world back from the hands of the gods, but it cannot be considered a success. My kingdom was destroyed because of it, the world vanished, and I also slept for a long time in that cramped, stubborn stone.”

“When I awakened in a new world, this world was still being disturbed by the gods. I have no intention of saving an era that has nothing to do with me, but I am willing to completely bestow the limited secret arts upon the human I have chosen, who is willing to inherit the king's will and fight against the gods.”

“I want humans to declare war on the gods in the way of the gods, and that sentence will be spoken from the mouth of Nilia, who is cowardly, good-for-nothing, and only wants to protect himself.”

The system shivered: “What declaration…?”

“When humans and gods fight, not losing is a complete victory, a victory over fate by a crown.”

Chu Zu smiled, a smile that truly belonged to the King of All Kings.

With the supreme authority that despised all authority, like a sharp blade unsheathed, undefeated, immortal, with the force of a thousand jun.

“And now, there is no need to submit. Your fate has long been permitted by me. Only death as the end.”

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