Civilization: Beyond Two Worlds

414 Source of Joy

Kang De kicked the restricted Night Walker until it flipped over.

He did not know any ordinary faces. Foreigners all looked the same.

He squatted down and sized up this pitiful assassin who had visited the Maple Leaf Palace at night and bumped into the Phoenix King. His smile was very gentle, “Brother, what’s your surname?”

That person had done something shameful and was aware of his outcome. He only looked at Kang De coldly, and cold mockery flashed through his eyes, “The Guardian of the Goethe people, the hero who saved Red Maple City, is actually the lover of the Phoenix King, Delilah. This is really the most ridiculous joke in the world. I wonder what the elves and Goethe people who died in this war will think.”

Kang De glared at him and said, “How can you slander others for no reason…”

Before he could finish, his iron son on his shoulder said, “Father, you can even tell such a person.”

“—Shut up!”

“Yes.”

Just from his gaze, he knew that this person’s will was like steel and could not be shaken by words and threats. Kang De clenched his hands in the air a few times and pondered.

The power of the Fire Thief could extract the human body and seize the other party’s proudest ability and technique in his life. He could also read the memory fragments in his soul, but the process of the latter was not controllable.

Its function and mechanism were not to devour all the other party’s life experiences in one go and slowly check them. It could not be seen from the side and casually fixed. Instead, it was filled with uncertainty.

It was as if he only had one chance and one chance to click on the progress bar to locate it. After clicking on it, he could only see it for a short period of time. Perhaps he could see a passionate martial arts scene that was visually impactful, or perhaps he could only see a meaningless scenery image.

The most uncultured situation was to see the female lead from a specific angle reveal an out-of-control expression that could be said to be beautiful. It was enough to stun the audience who had taken off their pants on the spot and doubt their lives.

Therefore, Kang De did not plan to use the power of the Fire Thief to absorb this guy now.

Firstly, it was very painful and torturous. Secondly, he might not be able to obtain useful information. Extraction was a one-time violent method of extorting a confession. The victim would definitely die, so it was the last method.

He sighed. “It seems that I can only let the Goethe people play with you first.”

The other party revealed a disdainful sneer.

“Don’t laugh like that, don’t laugh like that…”

Kang De waved his hand and still squatted on the ground, looking down at the other party’s face. “To be honest, I know. Goethe looks very lousy now. As a teammate, it’s a little embarrassing. I was played by you tonight. Even I suffered a little. I’m a little suspicious of their methods of extorting a confession, but it’s fine.”

He tilted his head. “You didn’t only offend Goethe. The Goethe people can’t pry anything out of you. There are also the dragons. They almost took the blame. The dragons can’t pry it open. There are also the elves. Didn’t you see the Elven King run over at night to not take the blame? The Goethe people can’t do it. There must be a thousand ways to obtain useful information from you in these two countries…”

The dragons and elves were two generations of overlords, a chosen race. No matter how arrogant a living being was, they would still be in awe of such a great and ancient country. In the end, that person’s gaze wavered for a moment.

Kang De and his iron son captured this throbbing at the same time. Kang De saw the swaying of the soul fire with his Phoenix Vision, and Horus scanned the smallest change in the physiological signal.

Then, his weak heart hardened again, but the assassin’s head was pressed down. He saw Kang De’s eyes shining with a strange light.

“Even the dragons and elves can’t do anything to you…”

That voice entered his ears.

“Don’t I still have you?”

Low, cold, and suffused with chilling evil intent.

Then, indescribable pain and horror rose from the depths of his soul. A bridge was built in the void. He felt that Kang De’s eyes were like vortexes. A terrifying suction force was like a tsunami, churning his soul that was like a lonely boat. He felt that his soul had been torn apart by a mighty force and had become without secrets. It was as if he had knelt in front of the gods in his original posture at the beginning of his birth and allowed them to size him up benevolently or scrutinize him.

In the next moment, the light retreated and the cold air of the night sky surged into his lungs again. Everything before was like an illusion, but his back was already drenched in a cold sweat, and there was still helpless fear in his soul.

He looked at Kang De. Even if his will had been trained to steel, mortals still had reverence. Their souls were the domain of the gods, but just a moment ago, they had been involved and interfered with by humans.

The assassin’s voice trembled slightly, and his face lost all color, “Who… who are you? What did you do to me? Who are you? Kang De, the Cathayan! You…”

“It’s the end of your annihilation, your terrifying fate, the river where your blood gathered and flowed, the movement of your eternal pain, or it has nothing to do with you.”

Kang De stood up and looked down at the person lying at his feet.

“The path is mine and yours. Choose for yourself.”

He slowly left, his footsteps neither fast nor slow.

Horus said, “To be honest, Father, as long as you share your ability to show off…”

“—Shut up!”

“Yes.”

The Grand Duke and the others rushed over. The commotion here had long been investigated by the Maple Leaf Palace, but Kang De asked the gorilla to stop the experts guarding the palace. After all, they had seen the soon-to-be Prince Consort meet the Phoenix King in the Maple Leaf Palace. It was a little bad. After all, the excitement of carrying it out to the end was clearly too coquettish.

Sword Saint Snowfall glanced at the assassin on the ground. “Are you alright?”

Kang De said, “It’s fine. He’s still alive. Let’s see what we can ask.”

Hillmelia looked at the gorilla. “Thank you—where did you discover him? What combat characteristics does he have?”

The gorilla glanced at Kang De.

She returned to the Maple Leaf Palace and was a little happy and unhappy to see the Phoenix King. She was happy that there was a familiar smell on the other party’s body that made her feel close. What she was unhappy about… she could not tell. In any case, she was unhappy. Looking at her talking to Kang De, she felt unhappy.

However, when Sharp Ears said that she was forbidden from marrying Big Gold Hair, the gorilla realized at that moment that she was definitely going to be friends with Sharp Ears.

Moreover, with her beast instinct, she vaguely realized this principle. Sharp ears were sharp ears and lived very far away. No matter what she said, she had to carry Sprite and get lost obediently. Big Gold Hair was Big Gold Hair. He was beside Kang De and rubbed against him every day. Therefore, the latter was clearly a greater threat.

Therefore, when Sword Saint Snowfall asked, her first reaction was that she could not betray her superficial friend.

Kang De did not know that in this short moment, the gorilla’s heart had already been affected by the concubine fights in palace dramas she’s watched. He said, “It’s a long story. Let’s talk in private. Deal with this prisoner first.”

Delilah’s identity was really awkward. The blood feud between Goethe and the elves could not be easily resolved. This was also the reason why the Phoenix King did not want to stay for long… She and the Goethe people felt disgusted to meet under such circumstances.

Now that there were so many outsiders, it was even more troublesome to explain.

Could it be that he had to tell everyone that the person who beat and captured the assassin was the Phoenix King?

Then why was she here?

—I don’t know. Perhaps they saw the change in Red Maple City and ran over to see if they could take advantage. Sigh, these elves are really evil to not give up on Goethe.

However, if that was the case, why did he hand over the assassin?

...

—I, I don’t know. Perhaps it’s because we made a deal.

What deal?

—Let, let me not marry your Princess Tina for the time being.

Apart from that?

—You… you even gave me a ring.

Kang De felt that if this round of answers went smoothly, Tina’s axe would probably be returned to its owner in some novel way.

He should tell Tina and the others in private. There was no need to publicize it.

When he thought of this, he thought of the ring that Delilah had stuffed into his hand before she left. It said that it was a return gift for the boxes of snacks, but this guy seemed to have been prepared long ago…

Kang De took out the ring from his pocket. The material was unknown, like stone or metal. It emitted a mysterious halo under the moonlight. The fine patterns on the surface were like extremely small words. He could sense that the inside of the ring was spitting out a power he was familiar with as if it came from the same source as Tedrell’s crimson scroll.

Hillmelia was about to go see the prisoner, but at a glance, her expression changed. She darted back to Kang De’s side and grabbed his wrist. She stared at the ring and cried out, “Where did this come from?”

Kang De asked, “You know him? I also think this is related to you…”

...

“This is the Proof of Star Authority! The Sun God’s seal ring!” Sword Saint Snowfall turned around and shouted, “Leckos! Come over quickly! Come and take a look!”

Hillmelia had flown over from the roof. The Grand Duke and the others had to take the ordinary path and came a little slower. A moment later, they came to the courtyard from the corridor in the corner. The guards guarded the four corners. The Grand Duke walked over quickly with his two daughters. Tina stared at Kang De, and the Grand Duke and Stella saw the ring in his hand.

The Grand Duke was also shocked. “Where did you get this?”

—Is he more concerned about this than the intruder?

Kang De looked at the surrounding people, “…Let’s deal with this guy first?”

His name was unknown, and his background was unknown. The assassin who had been beaten up by Delilah was personally locked in the prison under the Maple Leaf Palace by the Grand Duke… Hmm, how should he put it? The last time he saw this setting was when he used a flat monitor to play Diablo 2 with the win98 system.

How insightful was he?

Sword Saint Snowfall personally placed a physical restriction on this prisoner. In other words, she used iron nails, thorn chains, and restraint serrations to penetrate and bind the key parts of this person’s entire body. Then, she and the Grand Duke brought the mortals into the prison. Kang De and the others were left outside to wait.

He looked at Tina, who shook her head too. There were still many secrets in the palace that were not suitable for a beautiful princess to know. Her second sister knew nothing about this. After all, a few months ago, she was still a carefree flower in a greenhouse. Her father had always kept the wind and rain out. How could he let her know such a secret?

The answer to the question could only be answered when the Grand Duke returned.

Leckos wiped the dirty blood from his hand. “The location where this intruder was discovered is the entrance to the underground area… In other words, he’s almost here for what’s hidden below.”

“What’s in it?” Kang De asked. “Dangerous felons?”

“No! No!”

“That’s the half-brother who failed to fight for the Grand Duke’s position with you?”

“…You’ve seen too many third-rate plays.”

“A spatial portal? It leads to the interstellar alternate dimension that hides the Newbie Killer One, the ancient tomb world that traps the Newbie Killer Two, and the Black Gothic Terrill, who is often beaten up very badly.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.” The Grand Duke shook his head and said, “There’s no prisoner inside. Although it’s a prison, it only serves as a prison. It’s a treasure vault and the last fortress… I’m almost certain that that person is here for the treasure inside…”

“What treasure?”

“The one for you.”

“Crimson scroll?” Kang De frowned and said, “He’s here for the crimson scroll?”

The Grand Duke shook his head and said, “It’s only a guess… but that’s the only possibility. We’ll personally ask him about the exact goal. This will take some time.”

Kang De said, “Is it safe? Don’t let him be silenced by someone again.”

“It’s precisely because I’m afraid of this possibility that I locked him up here.” The Grand Duke glanced at Kang De. There was only him, his sister, his two daughters, and the wild boar from Cathay in the house.

He thought for a moment and revealed the truth, “The area under the palace is the greatest secret of the Tedrell family. The blessing of the gods and the bloodline of the heroes have built a forbidden mysterious domain. In the area below, supernatural power is completely useless. Everyone has to rely on their flesh and blood to fight, so it’s the safest place… Therefore, it’s the last fortress.”

Kang De was shocked. He looked at Tina and saw the surprise in the girl’s eyes.

The Grand Duke saw this and snorted, “The crimson scroll is inside. I originally planned to let you follow me in to get it and ask about your feelings inside. If you refuse and don’t care about Tina, I’ll beat you up to vent my anger…”

Kang De blinked his large eyes and said righteously, “If you want to teach me a lesson, I can go in with you now. If you need anything in the future, feel free to tell me. I’ll accompany you at any time.”

—Father-in-law, times have changed.

Before he could finish, Tina glared at him.

“…Hmph, let’s talk about the ring.”

The Grand Duke skipped this topic and asked about the origin of the ring. There were no outsiders now, so Kang De told the truth. However, he had to be detailed and appropriate. He mainly talked about the ring. As for the prohibition of marriage, it was all a small detail, so there was no need to emphasize it.

“Since it’s given by the Phoenix King, I have to be wary. Perhaps there’s some sinister curse spell.”

The Grand Duke said, “To be honest, this ring is called the Proof of Star Authority. It’s one of the divine artifacts given to the church by the Sun God. It was lost in the early years. I didn’t expect it to fall into the hands of the elves… According to records, it has a powerful ability to protect, heal, and fight and can give the user magical power, but only people recognized by Sulla can use it. To be safe, we have to find someone from the church and the legal department to check first.”

Kang De said, “I don’t think there’s a problem. The elves don’t have the ability to curse in the Sun God’s ring, right?”

The Phoenix Vision only saw a ball of hot light like the sun. The power of the Fire Thief could only sense a pure divine light of sunfire. This ring was pure and blazing, as if it was one. It was like a frozen star with no impurities, only the purest and surging light and heat.

It was impossible to leave any foreign mark on this ring.

“That’s the logic, but…”

“It’s fine—how should I use this thing? Can I just wear it?”

“Only believers recognized by Sulla can use it. You…”

Kang De put on the ring.

Nothing happened.

After all, there was no manual and he was already used to such things.

Grand Duke Leckos smiled. The defeat of his son-in-law was the source of his father-in-law’s joy. Men’s joy was sometimes that simple and boring.

He said sarcastically, “The Sun God, Sulla, likes elegant, kind, gentle, and amiable believers who are brave and tenacious. I don’t know what you’re missing, but it’s not so easy for the gods to like you…”

Kang De took the ring off his index finger and put it on his middle finger.

“The finger doesn’t matter. Do you think this is…”

Kang De took off the ring and put it on his ring finger.

In an instant, light shone brightly. The light passed through the roof and rushed into the sky, illuminating the stars.