City Lords Love Peace

Closing intrusions is impossible; it has become the underlying logic of Sion.

There would be no fun if the intrusion was shut down, but the feelings of the other city lords could not be ignored. Therefore, Gong Qiying came up with a solution that would satisfy both sides.

Sigh, why don't I just send some of the items needed for invasion to each dungeon, and then everyone can just join in the melee?

I'm sure those Bloodthirsty City Lords who designed the Supermodel Astel would agree!

As it turned out, after Gong Qiying distributed the Cracked Blood-Red Eyeball Orb, more than half of the city lords immediately changed their tune, praising him as a genius who knew best how to enjoy life and exploit adventurers.

Indeed, Bloodlust is the common underlying trait of city lords.

However, there are also city lords who dislike invasion. For these people, Gong Qiying has to take advantage of their personalities and defeat them one by one.

When facing a conservative city lord, just say that everyone is invading, and your adventurers will have no way to retaliate and can only be beaten for nothing.

Facing a city lord who dislikes him, he said, "If you don't compare your invasion records with mine, I'm going to steal your beloved Miss Lin Weier away!"

Facing a peace-loving city lord. You've become a city lord and reached such a high level of authority, and now you're telling me you love peace? You're not Unicorn Dungeon that can only do Pre-Marriage Checkup, so stop talking nonsense. Come on, quickly grab these boxes of invasion tools.

Not long after, Chi Ya received good news from Gong Qiying:

[Done]

"That's really efficient."

Following the suggestion given by the other party, Chi Ya convened a meeting of the city lords, put forward several points of attention and new rules regarding the "invasion", and rewarded the dungeons that performed well in the first three days.

The rewards from the other city lords are nothing more than the permanent right to use a certain monster or item, or more bluntly, Spirit Power.

When it came to the dungeon where Gong Qiying won first place on the first day of the event, Chi Ya really couldn't think of any reward to give him. In the end, he simply wrote it down so that Gong Qiying could come to him anytime he wanted something.

Whether it was just his imagination or not, Chi Ya had a feeling that after a while, it wouldn't be him sitting here presiding over the various dungeon meetings, but rather it would be Gong Qiying.

That's not bad either. Once he becomes the boss, I'll have to encourage him to organize more events and then get some good stuff from him.

Chiya thought to himself with a smile.

As night fell, a somber atmosphere enveloped the magnificent and vast Royal Palace complex.

In his moments of lucidity, Anzi III would stand by the window and gaze at the city where he had lived his entire life; every old building held memories for him.

Sometimes, recalling happy memories would allow him to temporarily forget his pain, but the thought of the impending destruction of the city would return the pain tenfold.

He used to desperately long for clarity, but now it has become a form of torture for himself.

"The Meteor Shower is almost over, isn't it?"

"It's about to start."

Anzi III looked into the distance, where several brightly lit places were where adventurers were gathering after work. Just looking at those bright lights could make people feel joy and vitality.

He sighed again. Now he could only hope that when the unknown entity triggered the Beastification Syndrome, most of the adventurers would have entered that dungeon called... Zane Dungeon? I think that's what it's called. He hoped that people could escape the calamity there.

He learned about the Zane Dungeon from a rare moment of lucidity when he pulled aside a maid and asked her to tell him about the latest news from the Leyndell.

The maid happened to be Tus's older sister. Influenced by her brother, who was an adventurer, her knowledge of the Zane Dungeon was, though vague, quite comprehensive; she could talk about a little bit of everything.

The legend of the Farron Undead Legion rekindled Anzi III's long-dormant passion, the Overlord Wolnir ignited his desire for glory, and the various magical wonders of Lake Liurnia made him think:

What would my life be like now if I had given up everything to become an adventurer back then?

Before he ascended the throne, he lived as an adventurer incognito for a while, but he was soon captured and brought back to the Royal Palace and never left again. Those days were quite unforgettable. He wondered how his former teammates were doing now.

However, after hearing from the maid about the Kindling Secret Ritual that could strengthen the spirit, he wondered if it could cure his illness.

Unfortunately, neither the unknown entity nor Iliphis would allow him to leave. As for Minister Aoluo? That guy was loyal to the kingdom, but only to the kingdom. Who ruled the kingdom was unimportant to him, as long as the country was well-governed.

If anyone were more suited to govern Iliphis, Aoluo would probably not hesitate to Backstab Iliphis.

"Iliphis hasn't been coming these past few days either."

What a pity! If that bastard dares to show his face again, he'll bite that guy's pretty face no matter what.

Not long ago, Minister Aoluo did manage to visit him, and the only order, or rather request, that Anzi III gave him was—

Standing by the window, Anzi III could see a sneaky figure running around the Leyndell, dodging patrolling guards while doing parkour, and finally climbing out of the Royal Palace.

That's Princess Serena; the child has run off to play again.

Anzi III's only request was that Serena, the child he had never even seen while sober, be freed.

Without his help and Minister Aoluo's tacit approval, how could the Royal Palace, filled with guards and magic, have allowed Serena to go out and play?

Fortunately, she knew her limits and never actually ran away. She always went out and came back on the same day, perhaps enjoying the time without her Princess status.

"My child is just so beautiful."

Anzi III muttered to himself with a touch of pride, a rare joy rising within him. However, the moment this emotion appeared, his beast form began again.

He collapsed to his knees in agony, his body transforming into a grotesque form once more.

Meanwhile, Princess Serena had already run out of the Royal Palace, quickly changed into ordinary clothes, put on a hood, and removed her makeup. No one could recognize her as the glamorous Princess she had been during the day.

People might wonder how an ordinary person could possess such exceptional skills, but this is actually thanks to Saine.

Knowing that the Princess was fond of anything related to Sen, people naturally considered Sen when choosing gifts. Among the gifts Serena received were items like [Nameless Warrior's Large Soul], [Experience Candy], and [Rare Candy], which were used to level up and become stronger.

She simply hadn't had the opportunity to use these before, because Iliphis didn't seem like the kind of person who would allow her into the Zane Dungeon.

However, in the past few days, Serena discovered a good opportunity. For some reason, Iliphis stopped coming to the Royal Palace to meet her, Iliphis also decreased. She seized the opportunity to persuade Minister Aoluo and successfully got him to go into the dungeon with the guards.

Although she only wandered around the safe Firelink Shrine and Gourmet Area, the precious experience still made her feel incredibly satisfied.

It was on that occasion that she used up all the things the nobles had given her by the campfire.

She consumed all sorts of large souls and Experience Candy, causing her level to soar to around forty, primarily increasing her intelligence and agility.

However, after upgrading her intelligence, she found that she didn't seem to have become much smarter, which made her feel somewhat disappointed.

There was no skill involved; it was all about the numbers generated by money. Since the anomaly of the Zane Dungeon, Serena was the first person to use so many upgrade items at once.

"Boss, I'm here again." Serena stopped at a roadside barbecue stall and chatted familiarly with the owner.

"Oh, it's you. Same as always?" The owner said while grilling skewers. "By the way, I have some good news for you. Those guards I told you about who extorted everyone actually came to apologize yesterday. It must be that the gods heard our prayers. I'm in a good mood today, so I'll give you an extra Grilled Brandy Lobster!"

"Ingredients from the Zane Dungeon? Yay!"

Upon hearing the guard's apology, Serena's lips curled up slightly; it was obvious who had done it.

She strolled along the bustling street, eating barbecue as she went. The vendors around her greeted her warmly, and one of them said:

"Strange, this girl has only been here for a few days, how come she's so popular?"

"Everyone has had good things happen to them since she appeared. This child must have been blessed by Goddess of Luck. Who wouldn't like her?"

After strolling around the familiar streets, Serena turned around and headed towards the residential area. The further she walked, the dimmer the surrounding scenery became. This seemed to be the residential area where the Tus family lived.

She came here because she had heard that the locals would stare straight at the Meteor Shower in the middle of the night, a very eerie sight, so she wanted to come and see for herself.

I really only took a quick look from afar, and never went any deeper.

The flickering streetlights and the cold air created an eerie atmosphere; she had been excited just moments before, but now she was a little scared.

"Maybe we should go back."

Despite saying that, she still mustered her courage and walked forward, however...

"Isn't there nothing here?"

The residential area was still the same residential area, no different from what Fingel had seen when he first came, not even the streetlights had been repaired.

The only change is that the residents who used to stand on the rooftop like telephone poles gazing at the Meteor Shower are gone. People are sleeping normally in their bedrooms, and there are even some embarrassing sounds of people making babies.

Occasionally, groans could be heard, mixed with cries of regret such as, "Why did I have to go to the Zane Dungeon to suffer?"

Serena felt both relieved and disappointed, muttering, "Why should I believe in Urban Legend?" before turning to leave.

"Tap tap tap—"

Suddenly, a figure rushed towards her from the darkness!

"Ah!"

Serena screamed and fell to the ground, instinctively closing her eyes and shouting that there was a ghost.

The figure stopped in front of her, and just as she was trembling with fear, an apologetic voice came, "Sorry, sorry, I didn't mean to scare you. Are you alright?"

Serena looked up and saw a tall, handsome blond man extending his hand to her.

"No, it's okay."

She patted her chest lightly, clearly terrified, and chose to let the other person pull her up.

"I'm so sorry, I'm in a hurry, so I'll be going now. Oh?"

The two were standing quite close together, and after seeing each other's faces clearly, Fingel was stunned for a moment.

Serena tensed up. Had she been recognized?

But in the end, Fingel just ran away without saying anything, which relieved her.

"Should I not have gone out today?"

Serena took a few deep breaths and left the unremarkable residential area.

A shooting star streaked across the sky, but the local residents were fast asleep, and no one paid any attention to the area.

People in other residential areas seem to be gazing at the stars, but they will also enter the Zane Dungeon early tomorrow morning.

Then you'll find that there's one more Glory Stone Tablet.

The ranking of this newly appeared Glory Stone Tablet is not based on the number of Small Falling Star captured; it returns to tradition.

It's related to the number of people killed during the invasion!

"Hehe, I'm going to hack in ten times today, ten times in total! Yesterday was so much fun!"

An adventurer from Sion walked out of Firelink Shrine because the Eye Orb could not be used there.

However, just as he stepped out of the Firelink Shrine, he received a familiar notification.

[The Boulder Dungeon "Te Pi"!!!]

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