Chapter 207 About Happiness, Unconsciously...
"As the beneficiaries, do we have a responsibility to ensure that the victims live out their remaining years happily and without worry?"
Zhongli pondered the child's words for a moment, then chuckled softly.
"Lord Zhongli? What's wrong?"
"It's nothing, I just had a sudden feeling."
The Rock King Emperor's gaze was distant, as if he could see through time and witness countless similar moments.
"A clear sense of responsibility and spontaneous goodwill—it is precisely because humanity has always been so aware that many of us extend a helping hand to them time and time again without complaint or regret."
"Ah... the victim."
Xiao was stunned for a moment, and many past events involuntarily surfaced in his mind.
The Bronze Sparrow was enshrined in a temple, and the Deer Immortal was commemorated with the bright moon.
Ancient legends have never ceased in the world, and the praises of a thousand years still echo in Liyue Harbor.
Regardless of whether the immortals and gods who are remembered still exist in the world.
"..."
Xiao suddenly looked melancholy and gently tugged at the hem of the monarch's robe.
"Lord Zhongli, may you also live a happy and carefree life."
"Of course, we'll go together."
Zhongli swept his gaze over the top of his fluffy head, then gently fell between Ruo Tuo, Liu Yun, and Gan Yu, whose juniors and friends were all smiling at the image.
Haha... After Mainkuhn's trial is over, he should also have such happy and peaceful times.
Mainkuhn was somewhat surprised, as he seemed to have never heard a view similar to that of Seno.
"So, experimental subjects don't have to be treated like disposable napkins after all..."
"So!" Seno slammed his hand on the table, looking excited. "How do you want to help Mimi? We know it's too late to teach it manners now, and we don't have any dog whisperers here to help it explain to its kind that it meant no harm—so how do you want to fulfill its wish?"
"Eek!"
The sound of the table being slammed startled the King of Li, and as he tried to flee, he was blocked by Kavi.
"It's alright, we can talk slowly, there's no need to rush. The desert project is progressing smoothly, so there's no need for me to be by your side every step of the way."
"ah……"
With both earnest questioning and gentle reassurance, Mainkuen paused for a moment before finally speaking like an overly shy child.
"I……"
It was a difficult, long, and intermittent narrative, but fortunately Mainkuhn had some of the most patient listeners in the world.
"What a brutal yet efficient solution!" Kavi exclaimed after hearing the whole story. "As expected of you, King of Wrath!"
"Meow..." The cat felt guilty upon hearing this.
“But it’s perfect for this!” Seno’s eyes lit up as he picked up the cat that was gnawing on a table leg. “Just six months! After a lifetime of hard work, what’s wrong with indulging a little in your later years? I support this approach!”
"wer!"
"Mimi agrees too."
"Lady Nasita, why are you joining in this nonsense?... Fine, I give in! Give me some time! Seriously, doesn't anyone think its name is weird?"
A few days later, the citizens of Sumeru were puzzled to see that the King of Li was followed by two menacing scholars, one holding Nasita by the hand and the other leading a strangely dressed dog towards the open space.
"Go get your revenge, Mimi."
He called the name, which had only become cute, and then released the leash from the pack of dogs that had begun to growl warningly.
"wer!"
The cat couldn't wait any longer and pounced the moment Mainkun let go, swinging its big droopy ears.
“It really doesn’t seem to realize how unpopular it is,” Kavi sighed, shaking his head.
"Thank goodness it wasn't locked up with other animals of its kind, or it would have been bitten to death long ago," Seno said, rubbing his forehead.
'...'
Mainkuhn didn't participate in their discussion; the cat was intently staring at Mimi's back.
It's really stupid. It can't even tell that it's being disliked. It sticks out its tongue and pounces on the big white dog in the lead, panting excitedly.
"Woof!"
The dog, of course, disagreed, gave an angry warning, and opened its mouth to bite Mimi's shoulder hard.
Bite... couldn't bite through it?
"?"
The big white dog looked closely and realized that its strange fellow dog was wearing a light armor that looked like a piece of clothing, covering its neck and legs completely. It looked cool and didn't hinder its movement.
“Its defenses are strong enough to withstand attacks from small mammals…” Cavina wrote in his pen.
"Pure white vicious dog, do you think this is the end? No, this is just the beginning!"
Little Seno suddenly became excited. He wasn't even past the age of being a teenager yet, and he swung his five fingers forward with great force, forming claws!
"With this body—I will rectify all things!"
"wer?!"
A strange thing happened. Just as Seno was shouting with joy, a green light flashed on Mimi's armor, and it began to move on its own as if responding to a command! Snap! Mimi stood up on its hind legs, looking completely confused, and was lifted into the air, where it performed a single-claw downward slash like a human!
That's it!
Seno shouted excitedly, and the armor, holding the bewildered dog inside, led it towards the oncoming pack of dogs.
"The verdict has been reached!!"
"What's this?"
Suddenly, Elhesen appeared around the corner.
Kavi instinctively replied, "My new little invention, the canine mech No. 1, which combines defense and counterattack functions... wait, what are you doing here?"
"That's not important."
Even Elhesen was shocked by this bizarre scene. He looked at the experimental dog, which was clearly using a Seno skill to retaliate, and asked Kavi again:
"What's this?"
"Cough, there's no time to find a particularly strong dog. The motion capture data entered into the mecha terminal was done by Sino... Don't worry! I've already removed any body movements that would make Mimi uncomfortable!"
"I see."
Elhesen glanced at the tyrant, whose short tail was sticking out from the hem of his robe, looking quite excited.
"Then I'm all set, goodbye."
"Where is there no problem! This is all problems!" With a startled exclamation, two, three, four or five Sumeru people jumped out of the bushes.
"Kavi! With such high technical skill, you actually let that despicable King play with your dog?! You sycophant! If this armor could be used by humans, why should we be able to—"
"Another attempt to revive the Great Sage," Kavi rolled his eyes. "I'm an architect, not a weapons master, okay? Let's get out of here!"
In no time, Elhesen chased them all away. Almost at the same time, Mimi also knocked down all the dogs that had attacked him and was now jumping around on them, having a great time.
Nasita: "Because you were afraid that Mimi would get hurt, you took them all down first? That's the kind of method you could come up with."
"Um."
Mainkun narrowed his vertical pupils with pleasure, enjoying watching the kitten's counterattack.
"'I'm here, this is my territory from now on'...that can be considered as helping it realize this body language."
Nasita smiled helplessly and reminded her:
"But Mimi wants to be friends with them, right? Fighting alone won't do."
"Of course I remember that."
The cat raised its head with a hint of smugness, then whispered a command.
"Mech, the command is 'Let's play together'."
"Huh?"
Almost immediately, the experimental dog felt a gentle yet irresistible force coming from the device on its body, pressing it down on its front paws and raising its tail.
A friendly, standard, inviting gesture.
"!?"
Seno immediately turned around and glared at Elhesen to clarify, "I didn't do this motion capture!!"
"I didn't ask."
"But I have to protect my image!"
Kavi was somewhat puzzled, "You didn't do it? Then who sent this data to my terminal? I was wondering why it was so standard..."
"...I don't know."
Mainkuhn was also surprised that cats and dogs had so many similarities in their playful gestures, but none of that mattered. He was now focused on the pack of dogs in front of Mimi.
"Instruction Two: 'Expose your belly'."
"wer?"
"?"
The dogs, who were initially quite frightened by the beating, were all bewildered when they saw the cat suddenly lying down and rolling over in a very friendly manner.
After a while, the big white dog that was the leader finally tentatively stepped forward, no longer baring its teeth, but slowly walking over and sniffing the cat's scent.
"wer!"
The cat immediately stuck out its tongue and smeared its face with saliva.
"..."
Honestly, this is really offensive to an unfamiliar dog.
Do all humans really enjoy a quick cheek kiss? I doubt it.
"..."
The big white dog frowned in a human-like manner, staring at the kitten that was lunging at it again, seemingly lost in thought.
"Woof."
Mainkuhn only saw it let out a final, helpless growl to its companions, and then they all came over and began to hesitantly sniff their strangely behaving companion.
"This means... I've been accepted..."
Kavi exclaimed excitedly, "I've been accepted!"
"Yay! Yay!"
Mainkuhn's little tail was sticking out of his clothes, trembling excitedly in the air, while his partner, who had worked with him to achieve this, was chatting happily beside him, his words filled with laughter.
"Indeed, having ability is the first step to being recognized."
"But friendliness is also indispensable!"
"Hahaha…"
Naxida laughed incessantly, her gaze towards the usurper of Sumeru softening further.
"Is this ending a coincidence, or an inevitable destiny?"
Mainkuhn didn't understand any of this; he was simply happy that this lonely, alien life had finally found its companion.
"Kavi! Seno!"
An irrepressible joy almost burst from his chest. He took Nasita's little hand and rushed toward Sumeru, the city of victims, with unprecedented joy.
I like you guys!!
But before he could express his gratitude, he noticed Al-Hysen standing quietly to the side.
"The results of the first phase are good."
Those overly cold, almost inhuman eyes slowly met Mainkuen's gaze.
“You seem to have something to say, King Li.”
He asked the question casually, without expecting an answer at all.
Unexpectedly, after staring at him motionless for a while, the fear in his eyes disappeared, replaced by anger.
"You...you're lying..."
Elhesen blinked and straightened his back slightly.
Which one are you referring to?
"Liar, liar..."
Mainkuhn angrily accused him, his ears practically standing on end.
"Meow..."
He pointed to the lab dog that was happily playing with its friends.
"Not at all..."
"I don't like crowded places!"
"It only likes places with lots of dogs! You lied to me! You made me so worried and scared!"
This is a very formal accusation; it's the first time Mainkun has been this angry since he came to Sumeru!
But that wretched vizier, after a few seconds of stunned silence, showed no remorse whatsoever. Not only did he not intend to apologize, he also started laughing in an extremely inappropriate manner.
He's usually expressionless, but he's made an exception just to laugh at me!
“…Ahem, so you hate me now, Lord Li?”
...
No.
Mainkuhn was a bit slow-witted, but not so slow as to not be able to distinguish between goodwill and malice. He glared angrily at Elhesen for a while, but eventually had no choice but to back down.
"Are you happier now, King Li?"
"……Um."
A dog that could live for another six months, a farewell that was destined to come.
Mainkuhn himself found it amazing that he could find happiness in the process of preparing to say goodbye.
"How strange, is this still me?"
Although relaxed, Mainkuhn did not forget his plan to save Fontaine.
After returning to 'normal', he knocked down several scholars again, and was sent to the desert by Elhesen because he found it too noisy.
"The Iabu, Unu, and Hinti tribes were all once prominent tribes in history, but the first two tribes have increasingly abandoned their former glory, while only the Hinti tribe's leader still retains reason and wisdom."
With just a few words, Elhesen decided the fate of three tribes.
"Take the message of unity with them, and go ahead and intimidate the opponents as you please. Dixia is waiting for you over there."
In a sense, Elhesen is more like the actual ruler of Sumeru.
What the public didn't know was that Maine didn't care, but Nasita was delighted.
Amidst the groaning desert dwellers, Mainkuen casually toyed with the black mist he had just collected.
"Um, sir..."
The leader of the Hinti people stammered behind him, his forehead still covered in cold sweat from fright.
Even so, he still had to speak with a trembling tongue.
"I, my people, fully agree with the theory that rainforests and deserts should be like one family, so, could you..."
He gritted his teeth, closed his eyes, and bravely voiced his request.
"Could you please grant my clan a special admission spot to the Order Academy? Really, sir, my daughter Nefer is exceptionally intelligent and will definitely study diligently!"
"No."
"Ah...no, that's impossible." He hesitated, somewhat unwillingly. "If it can't be done, then it can't be done..."
"Your Highness! Can't you say a few more words?"
The girl leading the way, Dixia, shouted angrily and quickly explained to the leader, "Mr. Xinnuhai! The reason why the King of Li didn't give you special permission is because you no longer need any special permission. Now, children from anywhere can enroll in the Order Academy!"
"...including deserts?"
"No matter where!"
"...So they really want unification, huh? It turns out they can't just find any excuse to beat people up..."
"Dixia".
Mainkuhn, who was "normal," shook his head.
"You've made him unafraid of me."
"Isn't this a good thing?"
"No, a solid rule is built on absolute violence and bloodshed; this is based on my experience."
"Mmm mmm mmm mmm mmm."
The girl, Dixia, responded absentmindedly, not taking it to heart at all.
"..."
Only the audience knows what a terrible topic she just glossed over.
"I heard you own a dog?"
"No."
"Should we buy some handmade treats that desert hounds eat?"
Caring for the King, and also for his dog, Dixia paid for the shopping herself.
"Fresh poultry is sliced into thin pieces and dried directly on stones under the midday sun. It's said that eating this will strengthen hunting dogs and prevent them from suffering from heatstroke..."
"..."
Mainkun stared at the thin, crispy slice that was being offered to him, then lowered his head and smelled it.
Click!
It smells so good.
"Wait! I'm not asking you to eat it! Spit it out!"
"What does it matter? Your good intentions haven't been wasted."
Mainkuhn lifted a bit of his mask, crunching each snack in one go, and devoured them all by himself.
"Now I need to be more careful to prevent heatstroke."
-----------------------
Author's note: No update tomorrow.
Updated in five minutes:
Holy crap! What is this Iron Curtain livestreaming right now?? Are they celebrating Iron Curtain's birthday??
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