309 Nightclub Ecstasy

Psychedelic colored lights alternated and shone, and people of all kinds in the center of the dance floor shook their heads and swayed their bodies to the beat of the energetic music.

"Forget that damn life! Space knows no day or night, work is eternal, and happiness is yours to enjoy!"

The DJ on stage turned up the volume and yelled into the microphone, "Get the fuck in there and shake!"

Bang bang bang—thump thump thump—

Purple light streamed down, and the criminals danced wildly, writing haphazardly in the air with their heads. In the private room, the people openly and honestly shook some unspeakable powder into their noses, then closed their eyes, their bodies convulsing as they let out bursts of insane, maniacal laughter.

A sexy Six-Armed Snake-person waitress nimbly weaved through the crowd, carrying a plate. Her hips swayed so gracefully they seemed to squeeze out juice. She laughed and swatted away an ill-intentioned groper's hand, then turned and went into a booth. She placed the drinks and fruit platter on the table and was about to leave when a small, white hand grabbed her and pulled her into an embrace.

"Oh dear, how annoying." The snake-woman maid glared reproachfully at the woman who was bothering her, and said in a soft, coquettish voice, "Priest Ailiya ~ why are you always bothering me? I'm not trying to develop any new business."

"Hehehe~ Look at what you're saying, Little Cherry, I've given you plenty of tips."

"That's not what I meant—you always go too far."

The priestess, known as Ailiya, had short, blood-red hair and a face crisscrossed with scars, but her former elegance and beauty could still be discerned from her features. With one hand, she brazenly played with the maid's small face and ear, while with the other, she poured whiskey onto the maid's chest. The snake-woman maid, however, seemed to be both resisting and welcoming, actively thrusting out her chest and shaking it, her scales shimmering with light.

"Oh, so beautiful! I love you snake people. No other race understands fever like you!"

"You're being too vulgar. What we're doing isn't flirting, it's exotic flair."

"Hahaha—good, good, charming."

Priest Ailiya crossed her legs, holding a beautiful woman in one hand and fine wine in the other. Her black robe with white patterns was covered with runes of evil, hatred, and curses, confirming her identity.

The Depraved Priest

The "Redemption" system, as a path to saving lives, has evolved in different directions due to variations in Worldview, technology, magic, and theories. While the vast majority have become "doctors" dedicated to saving lives, many others have chosen a path of toying with life and desecrating corpses.

For example, the advanced branches of the [Doctor] class include the [Healer], who advocates healing others while also controlling the battlefield, transmitting life force through nanowires and causing damage; and the ruthless [Stitch Corpse Person], who specializes in surgical techniques, stitching up corpses, using violence to combat violence, and possesses extremely strong blood-sucking regeneration and combat abilities.

Because of their different focuses, the path of the "Redemption" system is usually divided into two schools: the "surface" and the "inner".

The outward-facing school of priests naturally reveres light and nature, using life force and faith to save lives as "Blessing Master." The inward-facing school, like Ailiya, uses evil techniques to worship evil gods, achieving healing through the taking and harming of others as "Depraved Priest."

Once you step into the "Depraved Priest" faction, you no longer need to abide by strict rules and regulations. Instead, you must become more corrupt, decadent, and enjoy all the filthy and dark aspects of the world. Only by accepting these things from the Follow the Heart and gradually reshaping your Worldview can you go further.

"You're going too far. You still have work to do later, won't it affect your job?"

Sitting opposite Ailiya was a blue-eyed half- Fiendkin with a white eye on each side of her cheekbone. She was leisurely drinking her wine, and her pale skin exuded a cold aura that made the male attendants beside her tremble, while they had to put on gentle, professional smiles.

If any mercenaries from Valkyrie Fortress were here, they would surely exclaim in surprise: Isn't that the legendary mercenary, ' Ice Demon ' Duggen Golas, who has been missing for 43 years? For mercenaries of the Abyss, the Zeta-rank is the pinnacle, and they are known as legendary mercenaries.

Duggen Golas, on the other hand, is a legend among legends—he possesses the abilities of a quasi-Italian (7).

"Don't worry, it's just reviving a Zeta-rank. I can do it while I'm having sex—the client won't care about such details."

Ailiya chuckled and pinched the girl in her arms' face, earning a sweet, playful punch in return.

"On the contrary, Duggen Golas, you actually accept money from Narrative-level Civilization."

Is there anything strange about it?

"Of course it's strange."

Ailiya rested her chin on her hand and said, "The Zeta-rank (6) is a very special rank. The Epsilon-rank (5) allows people to determine their godhood and aim for their future development direction, while the Zeta-rank is the watershed that divides those Deified Person and those who are extraordinary."

"As recognized earthly deities and the main force in Cosmic War, they are capable of boiling the oceans, destroying mountains and rivers, and destroying cities on the surface is only a matter of time. This kind of power is the limit that mortals can witness."

"Therefore, they were no longer called 'superhumans' but were respectfully referred to as ' Deified Person '."

Dugen sipped his lava beer calmly. "Why are you suddenly bringing this up?"

"I was just lamenting the situation in Star Abyss."

Ailiya chuckled and continued, "But the Star Abyss is so vast that there are simply too many Deified Person like these."

"Battlefields like the Galaxy Eye Meat Grinder actually exist in the universe. Zeta-rank mercenaries often operate in such places, as assault teams and boarding fighters, infiltrating disputed areas to carry out missions that regular armies cannot accomplish."

"As for those above the Zeta-rank, their losses in the war have not been significant."

Ailiya looked at Dugen and said, "After all, those who are above this level basically have the ability to influence interstellar warfare and local war zones, and they would not choose to do things personally and live a life of licking blood off a knife."

Dugen knew the other person was mocking him, so he casually explained, "While it's generally believed that those Deified Person have essentially completed their initial accumulation of wealth, either retiring to the sidelines, rising from pawns to players, building alliances and capital, or aligning themselves with the government, becoming guests in a civilization or even a narrative, thus achieving financial freedom, there are also Ita rank members who, due to political stances, are unable to commit to the righteous path..."

"In short, true strong people either start their own businesses or become leaders within the system."

Ailiya took a swig of wine, her eyes glazed over with intoxication:

"I remember you saying to yourself: 'Working? That's just a poor man's fantasy'—and now you've chosen to make a comeback?"

"I'm a bit short on cash lately, so I'm just looking for some work to do."

Dugen replied dismissively, "As for you, you were originally a key figure being groomed by the first-class civilization [Kelly Sanctuary], but you've fallen to this state, from a highly respected priestess to a penniless wretch indulging in wine and women. By any measure, your situation is worse than mine, isn't it?"

"It's different. I chose this path myself. I couldn't stand spending my whole life shutting out my desires, staying in a monastery all day praying, chanting, and washing clothes—unlike now, I'm playing cards with one hand and drinking beer with the other. Those priests are always guarding the idols. How can they be as happy as me?"

Ailiya shrugged:

"Besides, now that we're in the Tomb Stars, let's not pretend to be good guys. Ice Demon Dugen, how many civilizations' lives are you carrying on your back? Two hundred million? Or four hundred million?"

"I am not a butcher. I did not kill that many people. There were only 163 million."

"That still resulted in widespread slaughter. The Interstellar Court convicted you of genocide, man-made natural disasters, and ecosystem destruction—23 crimes, with multiple sentences combined. Great."

"I already said it. It's not that exaggerated!"

Dugen countered:

"I just used magic to lower the temperature of that planet by a little bit: only 6 degrees Celsius. They died from the reduced food production caused by the arrival of the Little Ice River. In fact, the verdict is not fair to me at all. I didn't kill them with my own hands. It was their own fault for not working hard enough. If they had the habit of accumulating food, not so many people would have died."

"Look at what you're saying, I think the court's ruling is absolutely correct."

Priest Ailiya lit a cigarette and muttered:

"The moment you mentioned natural disasters, something immediately came to mind—do you know that kid, Remnant Moon?"

"You mean that Calamity Aura Holder? I remember him. He reached the peak of the Zeta-rank before he was 100 years old. He is also recognized as the most difficult to advance to the [Dominator] type of path to Deified Person. He can be said to be quite talented."

When Dugen mentioned the waning moon, he spared no words in praising it.

Unlike other paths, those with Aoneng in the [Dominator] system rarely have the opportunity for systematic learning. Most of them embark on a rugged path for various reasons, especially those who hold Sequence Aura. They are all either madmen or fanatics, or illiterate idiots with no brains.

Unlike Crescent Moon, Dugen's impression of him was that he was a very pure person who did not develop any extra Aoneng, but instead focused on honing his innate talent and controlling the power of the calamity from beginning to end.

"He is studious, quick-witted, and possesses considerable strength and charisma. He is generous in rewarding his subordinates and I've heard that he has also built up a fleet and maintains connections with many civilizations. I really admire such a young man who rose from the slums to this level."

Ailiya glanced at him.

"What's wrong? Is there something wrong with what I said?" Dugen shrugged. "You, the female priestess, never praise others, unlike me. If someone is better than me, I will only praise them more."

"The crescent moon is dead."

Ailiya, a cigarette between her fingers, said calmly.

"... Dead?" Dugen exclaimed in surprise, "Crescent Moon was so young, I remember he wasn't even 90 years old, right? He could jump between dimensions at will, even I wasn't confident I could kill him, how could he be dead?"

"This is what our client told us."

Ailiya took a drag of her cigarette and said:

"The client is a subsidiary of Narrative-level Civilization, you know— Verrazzi Security, the infamous war contractor and security dispatch company of the Abyss, they do even worse things than us."

"Get to the point."

"The person I'm dealing with is a young girl named Verrazzi, whom I've known before. The person she asked me to resurrect is the one who killed Canyue."

"This is really... unexpected."

Dugen stroked his chin. "The Crescent Moon's abilities are very difficult to kill. Since he was able to kill the Crescent Moon, it means that his Combat Power has reached the level of the Ita class."

"That's what I think too."

Ailiya said, "So don't be too careless. I deliberately chose this place because I don't trust the security force that little girl recruited herself. If that guy is resurrected and suddenly starts killing people, seventy percent of the people in this Nightclub are Zeta-rank. Even if they haven't followed the path of cultivation, their strength is still there and they won't give him a chance."

"You really have a bad heart, making the people around you share the firepower."

Dugen joked, "But no matter what, he's just a Zeta-rank. With me, a near-Ita-class, here, plus the people in this shop, even if it were a real Ita-class, we'd take them down."

"That's exactly right."

Ailiya nodded. "That little girl named Nalia is quite shrewd at making money, but she has never suffered a loss and has no idea what it means to be able to kill Canyue."

"The Crescent Moon's power involves the dimension of spacetime, and only gravity can transcend spacetime."

Dugen narrowed his eyes. "Only Sequence Aura can counter Sequence Aura, not to mention that he killed Crescent Moon, which means that his Aoneng development level is not low."

"To be honest, we're all seasoned veterans. This job is certainly risky, but we're fighting on home turf, which is advantageous to us no matter what."

Ailiya, with a cigarette dangling from her lips, said, "As for that rich young lady, Nalia, from the tone of her voice when we talked on the phone, she's probably accompanied by two Zeta-rank, and one of them might even be Gabros."

"Are you worried they won't be able to handle the guy who killed Canyue?"

"No, I'm just worried they'll renege on their debt."

As soon as Ailiya finished speaking, the Nightclub doors suddenly opened, and a group of half-orcs rushed in. Behind them, an elegant and poised young lady, completely out of place in the dirty and sinful environment of Tomb Stars, naturally and gracefully stepped into the club.

"Oh dear, everyone's here."

Ailiya stubbed out her cigarette and waved to the girl over there:

"Nalia, over here."

Nalia glanced over and immediately located Ailiya's position. She turned her head and gave one of her subordinates a look, who understood immediately and quickly dragged the Cryo-chamber through the crowd on the dance floor to the booth.

The table was pushed aside, and a black Cryo-chamber replaced it, displayed in front of Priest Ailiya. She smoked a cigarette, her eyes lighting up. "Wow—CVF-109, the most advanced bio- Cryo-chamber. It's said that high-level [Biochemists] use this to transport materials for bio-beasts. You really know how to spend money."

"This is the cheapest prop used in this operation."

Nalia said calmly, then looked at the ' Ice Demon ' Duggen Golas beside her and politely extended her hand. "Nice to meet you, Mr. Golas, the legendary mercenary."

"Nice to meet you, the company's daughter—but I left Valkyrie Fortress 43 years ago. I haven't been a mercenary for a long time."

As soon as Dugen shook hands with the other person, Nalia's entire arm froze instantly. She didn't seem to care, though; a mere -70 degree Celsius wouldn't harm her.

"Thank you for your help this time."

Nalia said.

"No need for that, just give me a bigger tip later."

Ailiya pursed her lips and looked at the data panel of the Cryo-chamber: "Storage time 4 hours and 22 minutes - not bad, you delivered it quite timely, the body should be very well preserved."

"This is the best option."

Nalia glanced at the noisy surroundings. The music was blasting, and people were dancing and reveling with abandon, completely oblivious to the fact that they had brought in a corpse.

"Will this affect the resurrection ritual?"

"As long as it's not Sky Ring, it's fine. Tell your men to get into position quickly. Once this guy revives—someone who can kill Canyue, who knows how powerful he will be."

Ailiya muttered to herself, walked to the Cryo-chamber, pressed the unlock button on the control panel using the code Nalia had given her, then grabbed the edge with both hands and lifted it up:

"You brat, stop dying! It's time to get up and dance!"

laugh--

The hatch opened, cold air escaped, and after a few seconds, the internal structure was revealed.

"... I'm talking about the company's daughter."

Ailiya picked up the cigarette butt she had just stubbed out, put it in her mouth, and tilted her head to look at the shocked Nalia: "You spent 4 hours and 22 minutes to get here, just to deliver a wisp of air?"

The Cryo-chamber was completely empty. Despite the fact that Lioz's body had been confirmed to have been placed inside, not a single hair could be found.

"This is impossible, impossible..."

Nalia murmured:

"We escorted him the whole way. I saw his head get chopped off with my own eyes. How could he just disappear?"

Before she could finish speaking, she suddenly felt someone pat her on the shoulder.

Are you looking for this?

She turned her head, and Lioz's head immediately smashed down on her, shattering her skull! Happy Children's Day, little ones! No chapters today.