Thousand-Faced Dragon

Chapter 174 Urgent
The unexpected event disrupted Rean's rhythm. Just as he was about to find the snake to get some answers, the snake disappeared in the blink of an eye, like a free-roaming cat.

After putting down his sword, taking off his armor, and taking a shower, Rean hesitated whether to continue according to the plan.

Perhaps I should remind Dania, but it seems that having more preparation time is a good thing, so there's no need to rush to notify her.

Or perhaps her prophets and perceivers have already completed their reports.

"Never mind, I'll ask Suliman to pass on the message when I go to her place."

But before he even left the house, visitors came to his door, some even bringing their families.

"Lord Rean, it is an honor to see that you are well."

When Mushroom King Mushroom walked in with his family and luggage, Rean thought he had encountered a demolition crew.

My own little house was rattling and making a lot of noise from the combined movements of these enormous creatures with their families.

"I heard you encountered a lich. Was it the same one we encountered before? Shouldn't it have already perished?"

Among a group of mushrooms, the dark elf Victoria stood out.

The cart pulled by the tall mushroom-like figure behind her was also full of alchemical tools and bottles; she had brought all her belongings with her.

Clearly, both of these Kuku apprentices brought all their belongings, looking like they were planning a major move.

"Uh, you guys..." Rean was a little surprised; he had thought Sallyman would take good care of them.

After all, even if Suliman couldn't see a future for him, Dania wouldn't let any of the Heroic Souls inheritors go.

Victoria and Mushroom, weren't they planning to open an alchemy shop together? Are they resorting to racism now?

This is quite unwise. These heirs of heroes from the underworld are subtly forming a group. Your city's higher-ups targeting someone will discourage others.

“Oh, Viscount Suliman actually hoped to sponsor us to open a shop in the city, and was even willing to introduce us to jobs, but we didn’t think it was quite right.”

Victoria smiled and shook her head. The people on the ground were much friendlier than she had expected. Although some of them were angry with her because of the dark elf attack, no one came up to stab her in the back. They just cursed and swore, seemingly without feeling any pain.

This visible malice and hostility was like a harmless breeze to the dark elves.

“It wouldn’t be appropriate for the Viscount to be there,” Mushroom added.

As an alien race in the underworld, it's not a big deal for them to get close to the nobles of the royal faction, but living together is obviously going too far. Besides, Mushroom needs to find a new life for her people.

"After Viscount Salman's introduction, Ophelia will need to stay in Mage Street for a few more days to adjust (be studied), and then she should join us." It seems the apprentices are still sticking together.

“Viscount Salman said that there should be a place in the dock area that would be very suitable for me and my people. Could you please help me find one?”

Rean was taken aback at first, then thought for a moment, and then suddenly realized.

“An underground cave. Indeed, it would be quite suitable.” This was clearly Salman’s idea.

The Mushroom Clan has indeed adapted to sunlight and doesn't need to worry about food at all. However, for the Mushroom Clan to thrive, they still need a damp and cool environment. The Glowing Zone is not suitable, but the water-rich Dock Zone is quite suitable.

Dimon is running an underground tunnel business. Ordinary people would become depressed if they stayed there for too long. Mushroom people need such a place as a dwelling, not only for cultivation, but also for mushroom fields to grow various edible and alchemical mushrooms.

Those mushroom fields that produce resources have always been their foundation. They can move around in the underground caves while coming up to the dock area to find some work and gradually adapt to the surface world.

The environment in the dock area isn't great, but it poses no problem for the mushroom people.

The weakest among them can be considered low-level superhumans, and they are generally mind-linked; messing with one means messing with a whole group. Most importantly, they are basically all really poor; why kill them just to eat mushrooms?

"Actually, I don't really want to appear in the eyes of the nobles of the two cities. If possible, I would like to take it one step at a time. GuGu is obviously a trustworthy partner, so I came along. The first store will probably open in the dock area."

Victoria wants to break free from the social circle of the Dark Elves, and leaving the Radiant Zone might indeed be a good option.

But what she didn't say aloud was her fear of remaining in the eyes of the dark elf nobles and being bound by the old circle. If those matriarchs and eldest daughters came to her door asking her to fulfill divine will, would she help or not? But if she mingled with the "filthy orc commoners of the ground," in the eyes of the dark elf nobles, she would be a worthless person who had willingly fallen into depravity.

“When doing business, I go to the Radiant District. I still need some time to accumulate experience and learn.” Victoria is not in a hurry at all; she is still very young.

She needs more time to develop, and the deserted dock area seems like a good starting point.

"Okay, I'll take you to the dock area later, and I'll introduce you to a local bigwig. Don't worry, although he's a gang leader, he's also a paladin."

Rean's words were so counterintuitive that Victoria was stunned for a moment, and finally murmured unconsciously.

"Truly worthy of being called the Earthly World." Black
A paladin helping someone? That's completely incomprehensible. Does he really think he can seize territory while shouting "For justice"? Believe it or not, reality is really that absurd.

"You'll see later that there's no fundamental difference between the surface world and the underworld; there are good people and bad people just the same."

Rean gave a heads-up: many "outsiders" who come to the city come with overly optimistic expectations, thinking that everyone in the big city is kind and beautiful, only to be scammed and lose everything.

During their previous conversation, he learned that Victoria had an extreme aversion to Dark Elf society, and that this aversion could easily translate into excessive expectations and blind faith in other social groups.

Rean wasn't worried about Victoria being deceived; after all, she was a dark elf and a noble alchemist of considerable skill. He was worried that she would be overwhelmed by disappointment (there was no pure land anywhere!), and become too corrupted, bringing her dark elf ways to the surface world.

“I know it’s already much better than what’s below.” Victoria nodded; she had actually heard a lot about this from Suliman.

Rean glanced at the situation and saw that the courtyard was already crowded. His small place couldn't possibly accommodate all twenty-odd mushroom-man brothers, so he simply set off.

More than half an hour later, they arrived at the perimeter of the newly built textile factory in the dock area. Rean was a little surprised to see that Dimon had grown even bigger.

"A third-tier Oath Knight? That's a bit outrageous."

"Heh, perhaps the credit for starting to clean up the local chaos and rebuilding order should be a legacy of Teacher Suer."

Rean suddenly realized that the chaos in the dock area didn't need to be repeated. If there were a slightly more reliable operator who could come up with a legitimate way to make a living, countless people would be saved every day.

Having handled vast sums of money, rejected all attempts at power and influence, and remained indifferent to the allure of beauty and food, this ascetic, who walks a tightrope on the edge of a knife, naturally progresses rapidly.

"Is there a problem with your evolution?" If your career progresses too quickly, your hardware needs to keep up.

"Lord Kuku has guided me to a good one. Although it doesn't have any powerful racial talents, it's very good at improving my physical attributes, which is perfect for me."

Rean could tell that Dimon had vaguely transformed from a "white pig" into a wild boar, and those two protruding tusks were a bit frightening. This didn't seem like a very high-level advancement, but since it was Kuku who guided him, it should be fine; the first few advancements were usually for building a foundation.

"Uh, is this... a paladin?" Victoria and Mushroom were astonished. This time, they were truly amazed. The burly, tusked boar-man, half-naked and carrying two Vajra cleavers, looked nothing like a good person.

Behind him was a group of supervisors urging the workers to go to work; they all looked like gang thugs.

Judging by his appearance alone, he didn't seem like a good person. Not only were there fresh bloodstains on his pants, but there were also dried black bloodstains on his feet and the kitchen knife.

"Yes, you have actually met him, in the Hall of Heroes, but it was shrouded in mist. He is the successor of that previous paladin."

"Uh, did he defeat Lord Larry and Princess Dania?"

The two apprentices were even more bewildered. Was the paladin's taste a bit too extreme?

"Heh, you'll find out later." Rean knew there was no point in saying anything; let them figure it out for themselves.

Dimon had no reason to refuse the two alchemists' offer to join him.

Having already met face-to-face in Valhalla, it was easier to communicate once the conversation was out in the open.

They exchanged recent intelligence, most of which sounded like good news.

"The dock area is back on track. The underground cave area is short-staffed, so Brother Mushroom can stay there."

After a brief chat, Larry arrived and was delighted to see Rean in good health.

During this period, she has essentially settled down in the dock area.

"Two of the workers were the first to become first-order Oath Knights. They are now my knight apprentices. Judging from their learning progress, it shouldn't be long before they become Law Knights."

"There are now nearly sixty Oathbearers, but only six have become Paladins. Several have switched to the paths of Warrior and Monk."

Even for those former slaves, the paladins' "requirements" were too high.

The main point is to follow the path of the highest good throughout one's life. This moral constraint is too strict, and one cannot become a classical covenant paladin by deceiving oneself.

"Six? That's more than I expected." Rean, however, was quite satisfied.

After all, there is only so much time available, and both a new Holy Knights Order and a Law Knights Order need time to be refined.

With the arrival of a righteous knightly order in the dock area, it's as if they have law enforcement, making it easier to advance a new order.

"Has the name of the Knights been decided?" A name is extremely important for an organization, especially for a holy knight organization, where a prestigious reputation is a kind of extraordinary blessing.

Honor is a virtue of knights, and also a constraint on them.

"It's still a militia organization, but internally everyone still calls it the 'Weaver Knights'."

He might have to work at the newly built textile factory during the day and then practice his spiritual cultivation at night; it wouldn't be wrong to call himself a weaver knight.

“This way, it’ll be easier to cover things up.” Dimon glanced at Larry, who was grinning from ear to ear. His meaning was clear: he wanted Baron Weaver to continue taking the blame.

This name sounds like their private army, which will save them a lot of trouble in the early stages.

It's normal for a promising fourth-tier noble paladin to have many apprentices and followers.

Rean nodded. He thought the name was good. Many incredibly powerful knightly orders in history had rather "approachable" names.

"Senior Brother Li En, you promised me..."

Rean thought for a moment.
"Oh, you mean the promise to take the apprentices down for training? Of course, let's do it in a couple of days, I'll take care of what I'm doing."

After thinking it over, Rean decided not to reveal the underground disturbances.

There are many people here, and rumors could easily spread and cause panic. The mere fact that there are evil gods in the underworld is a secret that cannot be revealed casually.

He had actually inquired and found out that, in a sense, he should thank the Beast Order for their wicked actions; they had previously collapsed and blocked most of the entrances to the underground ruins.

Only a little over ten days have passed, and the main passages are still being cleared. Even if the monsters in the underground world riot, they won't be able to reach the surface in a short time.

If I were to take the initiative now, I'm afraid there would be a lot of pressure. I'll wait a few days and see how things go.

He felt relieved to know that there were no problems with any of the parties involved for the time being. But at the same time, some people in the city were very anxious, even frantic.

"There's been some unusual activity underground; an evil god might be awakening!"

This news spread rapidly throughout the noble circles and high-level extraordinary professionals of Radiant City.

The information that Rean had previously provided was strictly controlled by Dania to avoid panic.

Only the city's top officials and leaders of various organizations knew about it and gradually pushed forward with the preparations.

But this morning, many high-level spellcasters and prophets hired by nobles felt the tremors from the ground!

A terrifying entity is awakening underground.

Then, by combining the recent actions of various organizations and the royal family, the absurd operation of suddenly throwing all its efforts into underground development was instantly confirmed as a rumor, and those in the know were all anxious.

"Rushing? Rushing is a good thing." Dania, who had attended four meetings in one day, was quite satisfied.

She had actually wanted to announce it ahead of time to get the whole city moving, but she had to temporarily suppress it due to the persuasion of other organizations and nobles (the reasons being nothing more than economic stability/avoiding large-scale desertion).

Now, things have completely spiraled out of control, and everyone is getting anxious.

"Ha, what's this about prioritizing the big picture? If you're prepared and announce it later, those who are going to run will still run. Wouldn't it be better to prepare earlier? In the end, it's just that you're worried about affecting their interests."

Princess Dania was full of resentment, but for her, this was a great thing, as the preparations for the upcoming war and the underground development would go much more smoothly.

Perhaps the increased city survival rate in the snake's eyes was not just a change caused by Rean alone; the entire city began to take action in response to the changes that occurred overnight.

(End of this chapter)