Chapter 253

The average latitude of the Free Alliance is roughly above forty degrees; Weilan is even higher, at over fifty degrees north, making it a temperate country bordering on the frigid zone.

The Radiant Empire, meanwhile, has an estimated average latitude of only around thirty degrees, making it a temperate region bordering the subtropics, with high temperatures and precipitation clearly more abundant than that of the Free Alliance.

It is now May; the Natural Alliance's temperature is below twenty degrees, so going outside still requires a thin windbreaker for warmth, but the capital of the Radiant Empire, Mei Da Xilin, stays at around thirty-five or thirty-six degrees, and travelers on the streets wear short shirts and thin skirts, feeling very cool.

Rosen Ziran also followed local custom, changing into knee‑length loose shorts and a breathable undershirt, and on his feet he put on a pair of leather sandals unique to the Radiant Empire.

He also deliberately concealed the Life‑Death Ring and the Ghost‑Resonance Staff he carried with him using Shadow Secret Technique.

But his appearance remained unchanged.

Most people of the Radiant Empire also have black hair and black eyes, some dark brown, some jet black, and their facial features are similar to Rosen's.

Walking the streets in his original appearance, Rosen felt no sense of being out of place.

This is, of course, due to historical reasons.

Because in the Ancient Chaotic Era, the ancestor of the Steel Iron Dragon originally lived near the Radiant Empire before later migrating northward.

Getting back to the point.

Rosen walked around the streets, seemingly wandering aimlessly, but in fact he was scouting everywhere.

After all, this was his first visit to Mei Da Xilin, and he still had to carry out the major deed of regicide, so he naturally needed to familiarize himself thoroughly with the situation.

How to infiltrate, how to stay concealed, the specific deployment of forces inside the imperial palace, and so on—all needed careful observation.

Most of the time he rode public Black Stone Cars; occasionally he just walked; even less often he took Black Stone Cars similar to taxis.

The Radiant Empire's Black Stone Cars are of considerably better quality than those produced by Kao, Aaron, and other countries, better even than Nawate's, but they are clearly inferior to Weilan's Electric Cars.

Riding them is fairly comfortable, but the price is relatively high.

The starting fare is one Light‑Cast silver coin; according to the exchange rate, that equals about 200 cla of Weilan, which is hardly affordable for ordinary people.

While scouting, Rosen also used Legendary Vision to match the mundane terrain with the ripples of the magical ring one‑by‑one, thereby increasing the precision of Laifu's analysis of the incident.

"Mm~ The water resources of this capital are truly abundant."

Less than a kilometer apart there is a fountain, and bathhouses and public toilets can be seen everywhere on both sides of the road, giving the place quite the air of an otherworldly ancient Roman city.

Because the weather is hot, the city's residents, regardless of gender, enjoy playing in the fountains, the bathhouses are always packed, so beautiful sights are often seen on the streets.

Rosen silently sighed: "It truly makes one feel refreshed and delighted."

He deeply felt the beauty of the world.

As he walked, his heart suddenly stirred, and he actually discovered an acquaintance in a bathhouse by the roadside.

Finding an acquaintance in a foreign capital was truly unexpected for him.

Last time they had only exchanged a brief greeting, but this time he wanted to have a proper conversation and probe the other's background.

So he also entered the bathhouse.

Rather than calling it a bathhouse, upon entering he found it to be more like a summer‑cooling pool.

The water is flowing, drawn from the city's underground river and discharged through another channel, making it exceptionally clear, yet the pool is packed with many people seeking relief from the heat, men and women mingling and filling it to capacity.

Fortunately, there are separate pools for VIPs and commoners.

The VIP pool's water is upstream, with fewer people, and the price is naturally higher as well; Rosen's target was to soak in the upstream VIP pool.

She was a young woman with long legs and a slim waist, golden hair and brown eyes, and like the others in the pool she wore only a dedicated white gauze swimsuit.

The VIP pool is also mixed, but it is far more restrained than the commoner pool, with strangers of opposite sexes keeping a considerable distance.

Rosen headed straight for her, naturally not bothering to avoid suspicion, and as soon as he entered the water he swam toward her.

At first she did not notice him, but when he got within about five meters, her expression underwent a subtle change, indicating she had detected him.

Rosen thought to himself: "Although the Master of Shadow is only a Legendary 6 power, this guy's hidden abilities are really strong."

This is normal; even gods and demons have their specialties and are not omnipotent.

Once he was nearby, he leaned against the pool edge side‑by‑side with her and greeted her via a mental whisper.

"An apostle of Atum, coming to join the fun again?"

The woman's face showed no surprise; evidently she had also recognized Rosen's identity.

Rosen didn't find this strange either, for he knew that the Lord of Sun, Atum, is a powerful void god wielding Legendary 14 strength, even stronger than the soon‑to‑return Lord of Truth.

Such powerful void gods not only possess immense power themselves, but also wield wisdom far beyond that of ordinary mortal mages, mastering numerous spells with astonishing effects.

If one got close nearby and the other still failed to notice, that would be abnormal.

The woman smiled and replied: "My name is Fuleiya; it is an honor to meet you, Your Majesty the Emperor of the Natural Empire."

The VIP pool has attendants; soon a servant brought fresh fruit and drinks.

Rosen took a glass of chilled sparkling wine, while the self‑named Fuleiya, Sun Apostle, picked up a string of crystal‑clear green grapes and ate them one by one with relish.

Her movements were graceful and relaxed, yet Rosen faintly sensed a strong hidden wariness, as well as a hint of hostility.

He immediately understood that so‑called gods and demons differ only in their attitude toward mortals, but their essence is the same.

Having already slain three demons with his own hands, the Sun Lord Atum, also a void being, would naturally pay him extra attention, feeling wariness and hostility toward him, which is entirely natural.

The succubus Mediana said that to gods and demons, mortals are merely ants, whose fates can be toyed with at will.

But now a giant ant has appeared, capable of biting to death a god or demon.

Thus all gods and demons would naturally feel wariness toward this giant ant, and even when a suitable opportunity arises they would seek ways to kill it.

One can even imagine that, once the Lord of Truth returns and discovers what he has done, he will surely come at once to deal with him.

These principles are not hard to grasp, but understanding them requires dispelling illusion.

One must eliminate the natural reverence for the so-called gods and the natural fear of the so-called demons in one's heart, only then can one easily see through their positions and tricks.

In Luosen's eyes, this Sun Apostle's power is Legendary 14.

Of course, it wasn't him who figured it out, but Laifu who analyzed it out.

This power is of course not her own, but a grant from Atumen behind; because it's a grant, it's not considered large, its scale is probably only about the same as Luosen's own innate magical power.

Without magical artifact assistance, Luosen is far from being a match for this woman; even if he possessed various magical artifacts, he might not be able to win, because the opponent surely also carries immensely powerful magical artifacts.

So, the existence of this sun apostle is a major variable in this decapitation plan; it would be best to drive her away.

After some thought and analysis, Luosen said: "Miss Fuleiya, how about we make a bet?"

Fuleiya immediately shook her head: "Your Majesty, I don't like betting with people, especially I don't like betting with those who can't bet."

Luosen leaned back slightly against the edge of the bath, smiling, and said: "What if I insist on betting?"

Fuleiya also smiled, but her spirit tightened: "Oh, then this counts as coercion; what's your confidence, Your Majesty?"

"Since it's a bet, what need is there for confidence? Win or loss depends entirely on the Creator's arrangement."

Anyway, he's just a clone; losing it doesn't matter, so he can do as he pleases.

Fuleiya's eyes blinked lightly, and a strange light appeared in them; her tone also changed.

"Mortal, what do you want to bet on?" Obviously, the one now controlling this body is the Solar Lord Atumen.

Luosen took a sip of wine, silently sighing: "Such a pretty girl, yet she's a puppet—what a pity."

Facing a powerful void creature of Legendary 14, his mind and spirit were tense, the Heart of the War God operating at its peak, yet his expression remained very calm.

"Powerful Atumen, are you skilled at calculation?"

"Not especially skilled, but far more so than you mortals."

"Oh~ then I'll bet I can calculate faster than you."

"I don't believe it."

Fuleiya shook her head: "If you're truly a mortal, you couldn't possibly out-calculate me."

She then added: "What is the stake?"

"The right to remain in this plane."

"If I win, you leave; if I lose, you stay."

"That's unfair; you seem not to need to pay any price."

Luosen smiled faintly: "I am a native of this plane, equivalent to its master, so I naturally deserve a small privilege."

Atumen shook his head: "It's not that wherever you're from belongs to you. The true ownership of a plane, or an item, must be decided by strength and wisdom."

"So, if you lose, we'll go outside the city to fight."

Luosen raised his eyebrows: "That works too."

Then he added: "To show fairness, the specific math problem will be posed by you."

"But please note: if you yourself can't solve this problem, then we can only call it a draw."

Atumen chuckled: "Let's just use pi. If you can calculate a thousand digits within an hour, you win."

Luosen clicked his tongue in amazement: "What a tough problem."

He pretended to be silent; about ten minutes later he said: "I've figured it out."

Atumen said: "Just read it out."

Luosen began mechanically reciting numbers, three digits per second, and in one go recited for over seven minutes, even reporting over a hundred extra digits.

As he recited, the woman opposite began to look somewhat petrified.

After Luosen finished, Atumen frowned: "Have you calculated this before?"

"The problem is yours to set; even if I had calculated it before, that would just be my luck, right, mighty Atumen?"

The woman immediately said: "I just forgot to add something; I hope it's best two out of three."

That's the downside of having no notary—one can change their mind at any time.

Luosen didn't dwell on it, smiling: "Then please pose another problem."

"What is the largest prime number within one hundred million?"

Luosen remained silent for several more minutes, then gave his answer.

The woman turned to stone again, her eyes darting about, as if she wanted to renege once more.

Luosen laughed: "Mighty Atumen, I've heard you're a god who keeps his word; don't let a tiny mortal like me tarnish your reputation."

Atumen shook his head, solemn: "No, you are definitely not a mortal!"

Luosen spread his hands: "This has nothing to do with our bet."

"Indeed it's irrelevant, but unless you tell me which deity stands behind you, I won't leave even if my reputation suffers."

These words stirred Luosen's heart slightly, sparking an idea.

His mind quickly flashed through the contents of the Encyclopedia of Void Creatures, and he let out a helpless sigh.

"You're really stubborn, but fine—I'll tell you who stands behind me."

Luosen fixed his gaze on the woman's eyes, enunciating each word: "I serve the Great Witch Paluomenasi."

The Witch Paluomenasi is a very mysterious neutral void creature, possessing the power of Legendary 17, and can be called great.

This great being does not like to torment mortals, has no interest in preaching in the mortal realm, and appears and disappears like a divine dragon.

Apart from occasionally enjoying a harmless, elegant joke with mortals, it hardly ever appears in the mortal realm.

But the might of Legendary 17 makes people dare not underestimate its existence.

Thus Luosen's words caused the Solar Lord Atumen's solemn expression to intensify severalfold.

"Are you not lying?"

"My arcane knowledge comes entirely from serving that great being; I have also been granted some special abilities by it. Although that great being has only seen me three times and never bestowed power upon me, I still consider myself an apostle of Paluomenasi."

Atumen was half‑believing, half‑doubting, but Luosen spoke with conviction, and his demonstrated abilities were truly extraordinary.

But one thing he was certain of: he must not provoke that Great Witch, cannot take any risk, otherwise endless trouble would follow.

Thus he slowly nodded: "I'll leave right away, and I won't come back to this plane to join the fun."

Luosen hadn't expected such effectiveness; he immediately pressed on.

"Excellent; when I next see the Great Witch, I will surely speak a few kind words of you in her presence."

I never expected these words to make Atumen almost jump up.

"Don't! I don't want any flattery; never mention my name! Just pretend we don't know each other!"

Having said that, the sun apostle rose and hurried away.

After walking a few steps, she stopped again and said, 'Misai has defected to De Rui Tan; the elven and demonic powerhouses are protecting him in the imperial palace.'

"Remember, never ever mention my name!"

Having said that, without waiting for Luosen's response, she hurriedly left the bath, and shortly afterward Luosen sensed the fluctuations of a phase shift.

She left very decisively, seeming to be very wary of this mysterious witch.

This reaction made Luosen feel strange: 'Is the Lord of Light afraid? Why would they be afraid?'

He felt strange because Atumen and the Light Alliance he belonged to had once helped Nawate, fighting against the supreme demon god Gomiller of Legendary 19.

Yet now he feels so wary of a Legendary 17 witch, which seems a bit unreasonable.

"There definitely exist some secrets in the void that I don't know about."

"But speaking of which, this witch's name actually has such a deterrent effect; it could serve as my talisman."

Recalling Atumen's final message, he silently thought: 'Elves and demons protecting humanity—this world is truly fantastical.'

He had wandered enough; it was time to see Zhuo Ya.

(End of chapter)