Chapter 242
On the other side, the Black King's Palace.
The court physicians possessed superb medical skills, and with the continuous blessings of divine power healing his mental damage, Xie Xubai, whose soul had been divided, quickly recovered to his original state.
He didn't have time to rest anymore, his mind preoccupied with the important information the system had inadvertently revealed.
—I now suspect he already knows the secret of the Infinite Game! We must end this trial as soon as possible and eliminate this scourge!
The calamity refers to Theseus.
Judging from the system's desperate and relentless attitude in wanting to eliminate the threat completely, Theseus must possess some kind of secret.
Xie Xubai sensed the man's emotions several times. He wasn't 100% certain about other things, but he was certain that Theseus's belief that he had "handle the weakness and is invincible" was genuine.
Unfortunately, Theseus seemed to have anticipated being mind-read, and had carefully sealed and locked away the relevant memories of that secret beforehand, so Xie Xubai was unable to read them successfully.
Now the question arises.
Just how great is the secret that Theseus possesses?
Could it be large enough to solve the entire system?
Could it be big enough to kill the game?
There was another point in the system's second half of the sentence that Xie Xubai was very concerned about, which was "end this trial as soon as possible".
It is generally assumed that the system's "end" means that the player loses the trial.
However, combined with the memories read from the Ninth and Tenth Apostles—that players achieve a record of [10] consecutive first-time clears, the game will not end, but everyone's memories will be wiped, and they will fall into a new cycle.
The concept of "end" suddenly became much broader.
The instance ends when a player loses the trial, and it also ends when the player completes the trial. Winning or losing is a favorable situation for the system.
Just like pushing a stone up a mountain is time-consuming and laborious, but letting the stone roll to the foot of the mountain can achieve the same goal—what will the system do when it repeatedly prevents players from climbing the tower?
Xie Xubai suddenly remembered the current First Apostle, the only one among the current players with the record [9], his heart jumped, and he subconsciously stood up.
Before she could even stand up, she was pulled back by a thick tentacle around her waist and fell into the man's strong, broad embrace with a thud.
"Xie Xubai, I often feel like a failure." Yan Shuo wrapped his arms around him and said in a hoarse voice, "Even though I'm right beside you, you don't think of asking me for help when you encounter trouble."
Xie Xubai subconsciously refuted Yan Shuo's previous statement: "No..."
Yan Shuo frowned thoughtfully: "Or is it that we don't have enough manpower?"
Xie Xubai's brow twitched, and he quickly grabbed him: "That's enough, no need to call anyone else, this is fine!"
Right in front of the two of them was a dark, imposing mass of people, and a chilling atmosphere permeated the air.
Tens of thousands of imposing and majestic royal guards, clad in armor, assembled and lined up to receive the inspection of the Black King and Xie Xubai.
When Xie Xubai looked over, countless guards immediately stood up straight, intentionally or unintentionally displaying their most valiant and powerful posture, their eyes filled with excitement and anticipation.
To be honest, Xie Xubai was reluctant to wake up and see this spectacular scene.
However, with several tentacles hooking around his ankles in broad daylight, he couldn't very well run away.
Thanks to the thick skin he had developed from confronting the Federation for generations, he was able to nestle in Yan Shuo's arms without changing his expression, displaying the calm and composed demeanor of a master.
As a result, the gazes of everyone, including the guards, toward Xie Xubai changed repeatedly, filled with a mixture of surprise and doubt, as well as silent admiration.
After all, what kind of simple person could enjoy the Black King's service so nonchalantly?
Let's get back to the main topic.
The guards were fully armed and ready to go, naturally to quell the frequent riots that broke out at various levels of the kingdom.
Yan Shuo originally thought that this was only a temporary solution, so the guards who were supposed to be the first to quell the rebellion changed their course upon receiving the order and went to the tenth floor below, which was ravaged by natural disasters, to provide disaster relief and rescue the people.
The 10,000 men who remained were actually the Black King's personal guards, who only obeyed Yan Shuo's orders.
Upon hearing that Yan Shuo was going to hand over the command of 10,000 cavalrymen to Xie Xubai, the palace steward and his ministers were terrified.
Now that the kingdom's main military force has been transferred away, the safety of the entire palace depends on these 10,000 men to guard it. The king actually wants to send them out. What's the difference between this and cutting off his own head and presenting it to Xie Xubai?
They dared not protest to Yan Shuo, and could only anxiously look back, hoping that the king would realize his mistake and understand the problem.
Suddenly seeing Yan Shuo frown, all the ministers were delighted.
You've noticed, haven't you? You must have noticed!
Your Majesty, lighting the beacon fires to amuse the feudal lords is a sure sign of national ruin! Wake up to this fact!
Little did he know that Yan Shuo was stroking Xie Xubai's nape and sighing, "Their combat strength is a bit meager, but they should have no problem helping you deal with those troublesome royals."
After the Black King ascended the throne, the other members of the royal family were granted titles according to etiquette and ranked in order of seniority. They had their own territories at various levels of the Black Tower and governed local affairs. They also basically represented the current power hierarchy of the Black Tower, which was ranked from top to bottom as Duke, Marquis, Earl, Viscount, and Baron.
The territories of dukes and marquesses are located in the upper section of the Black Tower, while the others are in the middle section and below.
Yan Chuyi and the others have now reached the upper section, so there is no need to consider anything below the twenty-first floor.
The reason Yan Shuo wanted Xie Xubai to lead this group of personal guards was mainly because most of the marquises had demigod-level strength.
Although there is only one duke, he is just one step away from becoming a god, not to mention that he has countless elite and strong soldiers under his command.
Yan Shuo paused, and the more he thought about it, the more uneasy and unstable he felt.
Or should he go and take care of that duke right now?
Upon seeing Yan Shuo's expression, Xie Xubai knew that the other party was definitely thinking about something dangerous, so he quickly told someone to stop.
Yan Shuo met his gaze for a moment, a slight smile playing on his lips, remaining noncommittal.
He knew perfectly well that Xie Xubai was being so careful not to let him get involved because he was worried that as the Black King, he would be bound by the rules and suppressed if he recklessly exercised his privileges.
So he directly ordered the palace steward: "I suspect that there are disguised rebels among the contestants who are currently climbing the tower. The competition is suspended immediately, and the new chairman of the oversight council is to thoroughly investigate this matter."
The game is paused!
It has to be said that Yan Shuo's arrangement hit Xie Xubai's nail on the head. Since the outcome was unpredictable, why not just pause the game?
But he subconsciously recalled that Yan Shuo had relaxed the conditions for players to climb the tower, and the system immediately arranged a pollution outbreak and natural disasters, forcing the citizens of the kingdom to rise up and overthrow the tyranny, with the spearhead pointing directly at Yan Shuo. His heart skipped a beat.
Strangely, no.
The noise in the square died down, and a cold wind blew in the air. There were no system prompts or warnings.
What's going on?
Yan Shuo: "From the moment the system disregarded the rationality of the game and caused the natural disaster, the rules were already distorted, inconsistent, and full of loopholes. Therefore, without shaking the foundation of the Black Tower, we can also change certain rules."
"So did you hear that, Xie Xubai?" Yan Shuo whispered to Xie Xubai, and ever since he saw Xie Xubai getting injured frequently, and ever since he regained his memories and witnessed Xie Xubai dying time and time again, he was no longer as cold and aloof as before. His eagerness to show off was simply impossible to hide. "You can use me as you please."
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