History

"Who exactly are you? And what did you do to me! Also—"

"Why do you know my name!" Irin demanded, shouting sharply at the mysterious young man across from her.

From the moment they tumbled into this secret chamber, the series of events had spiraled completely beyond her comprehension. If Irin could choose again, she would rather die than accept this escort commission for the generous reward offered by the gang.

"Don't be nervous. We aren't enemies, at least put the weapon down first."

On the other side, Liao Ji did want to talk to the female scavenger. He was desperate to capture a local to grasp information about this "world," but he didn't want to chat while someone held a sword to him.

He tried to use a peaceful approach to ease the tense atmosphere, but unfortunately, he failed.

Irin not only refused to lower her sword, but she gripped it even tighter; the deep wariness toward him was visible in the scavenger's eyes.

Left with no choice, Liao Ji had to resort to some uncivilized methods for the sake of effective communication later.

He never expected a scavenger to keep a promise in the first place.

After all, if they kept their promises, could they even be called scavengers?

Liao Ji's true confidence stemmed from his own abilities.

In the game, any Corrupted who signed a "contract" with the protagonist could be fully controlled by the player. To put it simply, once you're on my ship, you're my person; there's no chance of running away.

Applying this to reality.

After Liao Ji tried to focus his intent on the female scavenger, several faint, shimmering threads appeared within his field of vision, connecting him to Irin.

When Liao Ji issued the thought "lower your sword," the female scavenger gasped. Irin felt her body suddenly stop obeying her, and to her horror, it actively lowered the sword aimed at the young man.

That wasn't all. Immediately after, Irin could only watch helplessly as the black-haired youth walked toward her. He then produced a thick, coarse, and sturdy hemp rope—as if he were intimately familiar with this secret chamber—and bound her up, circle by circle.

Throughout the process, other than staring with eyes that were on the verge of tears, Irin could do nothing. She couldn't even make a sound, forced to watch her own body being toyed with at the other's whim, like a marionette on strings.

"I say, Miss Irin."

"That expression of yours is very easy to misunderstand. Someone who didn't know better might think I actually did something to you."

Looking at the female scavenger, who was bound tightly and unable to move, her face full of shame, indignation, and tear tracks at the corners of her eyes.

Liao Ji clapped his hands in satisfaction, then lifted the restrictions on Irin, returning control to her.

Suddenly.

The secret chamber was filled with a flurry of colorful profanities.

"You *******--!! I *******--knew you were a *******! Quickly *******--untie me!"

"I *******--woo woo woo!!"

To protect his ears, Liao Ji chose to mute the female scavenger first.

"Miss Irin, listen well. First, I won't even mention that you initially tried to use me as a hostage to save your own life."

"After you played with fire and summoned that uncontrollable Kobold monster, you were the one who begged me for help, stating you were willing to pay any price to resolve the crisis. I fulfilled your request, so according to our agreement, no matter what happens to you, you have no reason to blame me. Please, Miss Irin, don't be the type to pull up your pants and pretend you don't know someone."

"Secondly, I know you have many questions, and so do I. Out of humanitarianism and respect for you, we will take turns asking questions, starting with me."

"Finally, when the other person is asking a question, keep your mouth shut, listen patiently and quietly, and answer seriously afterward. No unnecessary chatter."

Liao Ji emphasized the words "keep your mouth shut."

"So."

"A nod means acceptance, a shake means refusal."

"By the way, if you shake your head, I will just leave you here." Liao Ji stared into Irin's eyes, not joking in the slightest.

In the end, although annoyance was still visible in the scavenger's eyes, she nodded.

"Very good, Miss Irin. You have taken the first step toward our harmonious coexistence." After Liao Ji nodded in satisfaction, he released the binding effect on the female scavenger.

And Irin.

Humanitarianism, my foot!

Did he even give her any other choice!

Of course, all these words were only screaming in the depths of Irin's heart.

She had already learned her lesson once, and she had accepted the "taking turns" proposal, so in reality, Irin obediently kept her mouth shut just as Liao Ji had said.

However, even though she couldn't use her mouth, it didn't stop Irin from casting a protestful glare at Liao Ji, which was unfortunately ignored by the youth.

After all, if one were to compare this to a game perspective, it was just a newly acquired character with low affinity—perfectly normal.

"Alright, according to the rules, I'll go first. So, Miss Irin, could you explain to me what the 'Legacy' you all kept mentioning earlier refers to?"

After Liao Ji finished speaking, he gestured to the female scavenger that she could speak now.

However...

"Hm? What's wrong? Is there something on my face?" Liao Ji asked, seeing her staring at him with a confused and strange expression.

Seeing that the youth didn't seem to be joking, Irin said in an incredulous tone: "You don't even know about the Ash Emperor!?"

"Um, just in case, let me clarify with you first: is the 'Ash Emperor' you're talking about that handsome and dashing, self-made savior who relied on his own outstanding intelligence and leadership to unify the wasteland and finally purified the Corrupt Calamity pollution, ending the wasteland—that greatest of all great savior emperors?"

"Is there really a second Ash Emperor in this world?" Irin asked in return, completely unable to understand the smug look on the young man's face.

"Since you know who the Ash Emperor is, why ask what 'legacy' means? It refers to everything the Ash Emperor left behind after his death! Like this secret chamber, this stone coffin, and what's inside the coffin—"

As she spoke, Irin suddenly stopped.

Because Liao Ji had been acting too normal before—and by normal, she meant he didn't seem like those unspeakable, bizarre existences, but rather like the type she detested: someone with a refined, scholarly air, whose mouth could run on forever and who was better at lecturing than anyone else.

This caused her to almost forget that this black-haired youth had emerged from this "stone coffin," or rather...

It was highly likely that the youth was the "legacy" himself.

Liao Ji didn't notice Irin's pause. His brows were tightly furrowed, his attention entirely captured by her previous sentence, and he quickly pressed on:

"The Ash Emperor... died? When did this happen? And how did he die? As far as I know, with the Ash Emperor's strength, there shouldn't be anything in this world capable of threatening his life."

As far as he knew?

Irin felt more and more that this youth spoke in a strange way.

But considering his mysterious origins, Irin reined in her attitude slightly and answered honestly:

"Actually, the Emperor's death is just a folk legend. More officially, if I recall correctly from history books, it says the Emperor disappeared, right?"

"Disappeared?"

"I'm not entirely clear on the specific history, but it was roughly five hundred years ago, after that decisive battle regarding the source of the Corrupt Calamity. The Emperor returned in triumph, only to vanish that very night. Even the five most powerful personal guards he had personally trained couldn't sense where he had gone. The Ash Empire once mobilized its entire national strength to search for any trace, but in the end, they found nothing and could only announce the fact of the Emperor's disappearance."

"However, because the whole event was too suspicious and bizarre, many people don't believe the statement released jointly by the five guards. Some think the Emperor didn't disappear but died from severe wounds sustained in battle. Others speculate that the Emperor was infected by the Corrupt Calamity and chose to commit suicide to prevent a rampage, and some even say..."

"Wait!"

Liao Ji had no interest in hearing more guesses about his own "disappearance." After all, he had already guessed the reason for his true "disappearance."

It was the node where he entered "New Game Plus."

But...

He didn't just transmigrate directly; he arrived in a wasteland world five hundred years later? No, the wasteland had already been ended by his first-run self, so this is...

The post-wasteland era five hundred years later?

A brand new epoch?

Actually, those things were secondary. What Liao Ji was most anxious and concerned about was...

"Then, are they still alive!?"

"...They?" Irin didn't understand.

"The five personal guards by the Emperor's side that you just mentioned!"

This was the first time Irin had seen the youth look so anxious and lose his composure.

But at the same time, this made her even more suspicious.

"Come on, that's common knowledge, right? If they weren't around, where would the five major powers currently carving up the continent come from?"

This time, without waiting for Liao Ji to ask, Irin spoke as if she had expected it: "After the Ash Emperor died... disappeared, the five personal guards under him each took their subordinates, split from the Empire, and established their own factions in different parts of the continent, eventually forming the current two kingdoms, two alliances, and one city."

"The two kingdoms refer to the Northern Holy Kingdom and the Eastern Dragon Kingdom. The two alliances are the Mechanical Alliance in the south and the Forest Alliance in the west. And finally, located in the center of the continent, the largest neutral city in the world: the Demon City."

Irin had originally wanted to explain which of the Emperor's guards corresponded to which country, alliance, or city, but looking at the youth, it seemed that just hearing the names of the factions was enough for him.

Instead...

"That's impossible. Why would they separate?" Liao Ji muttered to himself.

Judging from the history described by Irin, after he "disappeared," the six-star "Calamity-level" wives he had painstakingly raised with his own blood and sweat had voluntarily split the Ash Empire they had built together. This made no sense, right?

"That's why I said, stop interrupting people!" Irin spoke up then, looking annoyed.

She continued, finishing what she hadn't been able to say earlier because Liao Ji had cut her off.

"Didn't I mention the folk theories about the Emperor's disappearance? There is one, which many people today—myself included—find the most plausible, and that is..."

"Actually, the five personal guards under the Emperor, who were the five most powerful Corrupted in this world second only to the Emperor, joined forces..."

"And murdered the Emperor!"

Irin said it, word for word.