Chapter 230

How could she be Galiusha?

Cheng Shi slipped away.

It was hard to imagine that with the office roof destroyed, the laboratory head dead, and a huge explosion sounding within the laboratory, the vast laboratory—both at the entrance and in the corridors—actually didn't have a single guard in sight.

Not only that, but neither martial law procedures nor even an alarm had been triggered inside or outside the laboratory.

One must know that for Montrani, this place could be considered a god-defying land that "utilizes 【Order】," and with such a huge secret hidden here, the guard force was shockingly small.

If he hadn't just experienced everything, Cheng Shi would have thought this place had been abandoned just by looking at the surroundings.

He walked carefully for a long time, sweating nervously, but nothing unexpected happened—not even the other Selius who had appeared in the experimental field was to be seen.

Cheng Shi really wanted to turn left to see what was in the other experimental workshop, but his reason told him it was better to leave as soon as possible.

This was too strange.

Strange to the point of being abstract.

But no matter how strange this place was, it had nothing to do with Cheng Shi anymore, because the laboratory gate was right before his eyes, and he could leave here and escape to safety immediately.

Compared to the gate of the secret laboratory, this gate looked more like the door to an underground warehouse, with the only guard Cheng Shi had encountered on his way standing at the entrance—and a female guard at that.

She did not wear a leather hood and black coat like the Nisk or Figor here, but instead wore a face-covering helmet, with a head of long purple hair scattered messily, which, set against the dazzling armor on her chest, made her appear both serious and charming.

This was clearly a knight, a female knight.

She had long since discovered Cheng Shi sneaking closer but had never made a move until Cheng Shi tentatively called out, "Melina... my lord?", at which point she turned to look at Cheng Shi and nodded solemnly.

"It is I."

"Hello, I am Punishing Knight Grinder. There is... uh, a little lord who asked me to find you; she... told you to take me out." After finishing, Cheng Shi touched the tip of his nose.

"Your name is Grinder?" The female knight looked at Cheng Shi, her tone startled.

Cheng Shi put on a smile and nodded, though his heart skipped a beat.

Did this female knight seem to know Grinder? Was she also an Iron Law Knight?

But it didn't matter; having the same name was perfectly normal.

"How did a Punishing Knight come here? Who ordered you to come?" As she spoke, Melina raised her lance and rested it on Cheng Shi's shoulder.

However, Cheng Shi was not panicked at all, because he knew that if the female knight opposite him wanted to kill him, she would have acted the moment she discovered him, not waited until now.

Therefore, regarding the current interrogation, Cheng Shi was more inclined to believe she was waiting for him to respond with a suitable excuse—perhaps even an excuse that would help him leave this place.

Interesting.

The little girl in the laboratory was clearly a powerful woman of high status. Since both she and this fierce-looking female knight were tacitly allowing him to leave, did that mean they...

... had known Selius was going to leave, and that he would do so by using this soul-hitchhiking method?

The logic seemed sound.

They knew Selius's plan, approved of Selius's actions, and believed Selius had already attached himself to him, which was why they were not "suspicious" of him appearing in the laboratory out of nowhere.

Because this wasn't a lack of "suspicion," but rather helping Selius "break out of prison"!

They were even helping Selius leave!

Thinking back to the little girl's attitude when she pushed the door open earlier, hmm, reasonable, very reasonable.

Since it wasn't a confrontation, he just had to make it up.

"The explosion in the arena blew me under the ruins. When I woke up, I found the space beneath the prison had been hollowed out. I guessed it must have been a tunnel dug by someone attempting to escape, so my strong sense of knightly duty drove me to pursue it, and then I fell in here along the tunnel."

Cheng Shi rubbed his nose red with great sincerity. Melina looked him over with a strange expression for a long time, then gave a "Mm."

"A decent excuse. It would be better if you weren't so nervous; your nose is about to be rubbed red by you. What, have you never lied before?"

Ah, yes, yes, yes, I never lie, how could I lie?

But Cheng Shi still quibbled slightly.

"I'm a bit allergic to the air here..."

"Not bad, a new lie to cover the holes in your previous one. Follow me. I don't know who you are, and I don't want to know, but I know you are definitely not Grinder.

Since that lord asked me to take you away, I will fulfill my duty as a guard and let you go.

I won't pursue what happened in here, but remember: after leaving here, go to the South Market of Montrani to buy a ticket, stay far away from Gaoshan County, and never come back."

As she spoke, Melina used her lance to pry open Cheng Shi's armor.

"?"

Cheng Shi couldn't react in time and was stripped bare.

Don't misunderstand; it was the armor that was stripped bare. He was still wearing the red prison uniform underneath, and now it was all exposed.

He looked at the female knight in front of him with an awkward expression, thinking of another excuse to deal with it, but he didn't expect Melina to stop pretending altogether.

"Gr... Grinder, from now on, you are a newly hired servant in the home of the Supreme Judge, Lord Kyn Laoer. Today, you followed Lady Galiusha here to seek advice from Mr. Selius on a problem, and accidentally contracted an illness in the laboratory, so you will be taking leave to go home and recuperate for the next few days..."

Before Melina could finish her sentence, Cheng Shi froze in place.

"Ga... liusha?"

The female knight frowned: "Lady Galiusha. Mind your status, servant Grinder. What, is there a problem?"

Is there a problem?

The problem is fucking huge!

Why is she Galiusha!?

How can she be Galiusha?

Is she that madwoman who, in Zhen Yi's words, buried the Tower of Reason with her own hands?

Of course, this history might have been made up by Zhen Yi; at the time, in order to gain his trust, she borrowed a historical figure to fabricate a cause-and-effect just to bluff him into completing the disguise.

But this history could also be true, because Zhen Yi was also a knowledgeable player who clearly had a very deep understanding of the Star Fall Continent.

So...

If this history is true, was the Galiusha from just now the Galiusha in Zhen Yi's words?

That can't be, it wouldn't be the same name, would it? She's so young!

And this is only the end of the mid-Civilization Era; there are still five or six hundred years left until the end of the Civilization Era when the Tower of Reason falls. How could she possibly...

Wait!

Why is it impossible?

Cold sweat instantly seeped from Cheng Shi's forehead.

Slicing experiments...

If the thing Galiusha came here to ask Selius about was slicing experiments, or rather, divinity germination experiments, does that mean that in the five hundred years to follow, she could continuously slice herself, allowing herself to "live" eternally in this way?

Or perhaps, in these five hundred years where even the void-reality conjugation experiments hadn't succeeded, she luckily managed to complete the divinity germination experiment and obtained her own 【Divinity】?

Only then would she have the strength to overthrow the Tower of Reason and the Scholarly Chair Society, right?

No wonder they say she's a madwoman; in the endless depletion of personality slicing, how could she not go mad!?

Following this line of reasoning, could this little girl, who is terrifyingly calm, really be the Galiusha from Zhen Yi's words?

*Hiss*—

What did I just say to her?

That the Tower of Reason killed Selius?

Is that why she targeted...

No, it can't be! Absolutely not!

Cheng Shi came to his senses. He hadn't activated 【The Surging Tide of the Hack】, nor did he have any other means to change history. Looking at Galiusha's attitude, she didn't seem to care who killed Selius, because at this moment she should think Selius is still alive, and living inside him.

"..."

This is bad, I have to leave quickly. Even if what Zhen Yi said was fake, it's best not to get involved with people like this!

But fortunately, he gave a fake name, so there's no need to panic too much.

Cheng Shi's mind raced with a thousand thoughts, his brow furrowed like mountain ranges, yet he still hadn't reacted. Melina, who had been observing him for a long time, finally lost patience. She casually threw down a coarse white linen garment and urged:

"Stunned by the lord's prestige? Put it on, quickly, we have to go."

It was indeed time to go; if he didn't leave now, he wouldn't be able to once he was discovered.

Cheng Shi hurriedly changed his clothes, threw the prison uniform and the shattered armor onto the ground, and asked "anxiously":

"These..."

Before he could finish, Melina pointed the tip of her lance at the discarded items. A flash of light burst forth from the tip, and all the fabric and iron instantly vanished into nothingness.

Fire.

And fire with extremely strong explosive power.

This might be an Elemental Judge with explosive fire-element control capabilities!

Cheng Shi's gaze tightened, and he followed meekly behind her, walking toward the outside of the gate.

There are fewer readers following the updates recently; it's probably because the dungeon is a bit boring, but this dungeon should be ending soon.

(ง•_•)ง

…