msmithbooks Chapter 104 You don't think I'm a civilized person, do you?
Chapter 104 You don't think I'm a civilized person, do you?
Chapter 104 You don't think I'm a civilized person, do you?
Clara grabbed Nan'an's hand, met his questioning gaze, and swallowed.
"You should know about the Bamboo Moon Witch Society, right?"
Nan'an can do it with ease.
"Founded 80 years ago, it has inherited and mastered three major schools of thought: spiritualism, alchemy, and puppetry, as well as 12 lost spells, and holds two seats in the Senate."
"The current president, Kaphni Valentine, has considerable connections among the double-crowned nobles and close ties with the Dawn Church."
"The Witch's Guild currently has 552 members. The selection criteria are stringent, and only the best of the best are chosen."
Coralina pressed, "Anything else?"
"That's the message Pietro and the Raven left me." Nan An frowned. "Were there any key points they didn't mention?"
This puzzled him.
There's no way these two would be avoided by omitting their names from the Bamboo Moon Witch Society, right?
Clara leaned close to Nan'an's ear and whispered.
Suiyue leaned closer out of curiosity, her ears tickling as she listened, while the other person's description made her pupils tremble slightly.
"I appreciate your kindness—you old man, you should still—"
She stopped talking halfway through her sentence.
Nan'an reacted indifferently, tilting his head and glancing at her sideways.
"I know what I need to do."
1
Kren, East Street Corner.
It was already late at night, but the streets were still noisy and bustling.
Large-scale entry registration and "contraband searches" were carried out simultaneously, and many people were awakened from their sleep and temporarily moved outdoors.
"Concealing contraband" is the pretext publicly announced by the Bamboo Moon Witch Association for arrests.
"Commander Brin, 102 people have been arrested in connection with the Living Devourer, and those closely associated with Corella have been imprisoned in the Windvelvet Prison."
A witch then took out a crystal ball, which reflected the time.
Pudding turned around, her high ponytail swaying behind her. She glanced at the crystal ball and waved.
"That's enough for today, let's rest now."
Perhaps due to exhaustion, the witches were all rather sullen on the return journey. It wasn't until they approached the governor's residence that one of them couldn't help but ask, feeling guilty.
"Commander, wasn't the arrest a bit hasty?"
Pudding turned around and stared coldly at the new witch who was not much younger than her.
"Do you feel that innocent people have been harmed?"
"No—they should be closely related to the Living Eclipse, but—"
"But there's no evidence, is there?" Brin laughed. "But what would you think if I told you that Ellu used to do the same thing?"
Her voice suddenly became excited: "If El Deer can do it, so should we!"
"But what if—in a subsequent review, the Senate envoys discover—"
Pudding stopped, took a deep breath, and activated a soundproofing array that enveloped everyone.
The newly joined witch was timid. Facing the gazes of her seniors, she seemed to suddenly become a kettle on a shelf, nervously rubbing her fingers, unsure of where to place herself.
"Rongye, you're a newcomer. What the Dawn Church teaches you can be used as a reference, but it has no practical value."
Brin walked up to the short Velvet Leaf and looked down at her, who was looking down and dared not meet her gaze.
"Listen, when the Deer is on the move, the Owl is on the move, the guards trained by Pirion are on the move, and all the capable people are busy running around this city, if we, the Bamboo Moon Witches, do nothing, what do you think the envoys of the Senate will think?"
"Doing it is more important than thinking about how to do it." Pudding pinched Velvet Leaf's cheek. "There are quite a few people in the Senate watching us. Can you bear to let the president, who is fighting for more benefits for us, be questioned?"
"No, I don't want to," Rongye stammered in reply.
Brin nodded, quite satisfied with the effect of this impromptu tip.
Before entering the governor's residence, they met Vice President Carly, who had just returned from the Kamakura quarantine zone.
Brin bowed respectfully and reported the day's results truthfully.
Delegating authority means trust. Carly has more important things to do and doesn't have time to oversee things, but she has no objection to Brin's approach.
The only thing that made her frown was that she had acted against Coralina a little too soon.
But now that she's already done it, Carly won't dwell on whether it was too early or too late.
Coralina has too many scandals, and the scope of those scandals is wide enough that she was already a key research subject of the Bamboo Moon Witch Society long before she visited Kren.
The living room was filled with pre-ordered meals.
It was late at night, and the exhausted Bamboo Moon Witch toasted and ate heartily, continuing the conversation that had been left unfinished at the mansion gate.
An argument could be heard outside the door.
It's blurry, but it looks like servants are stopping someone.
The sound grew louder and louder, mixed with the chaotic stomping of footsteps and the dull thud of something being knocked over.
"Bang!"
The reception room door exploded mid-flight, shattering into countless pieces of wood chips.
The unexpected scene left all the witches present stunned, staring blankly at the figure that appeared at the door.
Nan'an's face was cold and gloomy. He was holding a servant who accompanied the witch. The servant was unconscious and had his head hanging limply.
With a flick of his wrist, the body flew out like a rag doll, crashing straight into the long table laden with hot food.
The servant's body swept across half the tabletop like a robot vacuum cleaner.
Plates shattered, soup splattered, roast meat rolled over, and wine glasses tipped over.
Red and yellow hues mixed together in a mess, dripping down the edge of the table.
Carly was the first to react.
She raised her hand and cast a spell, creating an invisible barrier that blocked the impact of her continued slide, preventing Nan'an from successfully sweeping the ball and achieving a home run.
Suiyue hurriedly followed, and was taken aback when she saw the mess on the table, but immediately put on a serious look, as if she shared the same hatred as Nan'an.
"Nan'an, what are you doing!"
Carly rebuked him sharply, angrily slamming her hand on the table repeatedly, leaving fine cracks where her palms struck.
Nan'an leaped up, jumped onto the table, stomped on the plate closest to him and smashed it, staring defiantly at the plate's owner, whose face was flushed with anger.
He looked at Carly with disdain: "I've heard that the Bamboo Moon Witches are all elites selected from the best of the best. Why don't you give it a try?"
Brin casually took out the communication statue and contacted the interim governor Batu, while also informing the envoy of the Senate.
"Erlu members Suiyue and Nan'an have attacked the Zhuyue Witch Society. Those who have received this message, please come to the Governor's Reception Room immediately!"
""
As she spoke, she kept a wary eye on Nan'an, bracing herself for him to suddenly snatch the statue, but all she saw was a mocking look in his eyes.
Nan'an waited patiently for her to call for help.
"Is that enough?" he asked. "Can these people save you? Should we talk to the Double Crowns too?"
Suiyue's communication statue was taken down by Nan'an and casually tossed aside.
The tiny crystal traced an arc in the air and landed on the table in front of Brin with a crisp clinking sound.
"I have the coordinates of the chief elder's communication array here. Shall we talk to them as well?"
"You think I wouldn't dare?" Brin was utterly enraged by the contempt in Nan'an's words. Grabbing the statue, she pointed it at Nan'an and roared, "Offense, blasphemy, attacking your own kind—what's the difference between you and the Living Devourer God?!"
"What a convenient way to label someone!"
Nan'an's voice was even louder. He used the [Voice of the Giant] spell, letting the rolling sound waves crush the eardrums of everyone present, making the hearts of everyone awake and asleep in the entire governor's mansion stop for a beat.
"Why don't I see any teammates? Do you guys have teammate icons above your heads? They look like red-named monsters in disguise to me."
Nan'an's strange words left the Bamboo Moon Witches completely bewildered.
The unfamiliar wording and incomprehensible metaphors did not prevent them from sensing the strong sense of sarcasm and strangeness emanating from it.
Suiyue, standing to the side, tried hard to suppress her laughter, her expression clearly showing that she understood the deeper meaning behind it.
"Stop using your obscure slang from the Gray Star era. This is the Black Mist Calendar. Respect is due to your seniority from the previous era, not to give you the right to act like an old man!"
"You're not convinced? I'll send your heavenly parents down to compete with me in lifespan." Nan'an went all out. "What's wrong? You don't have parents, do you? Is the first requirement to become a Bamboo Moon Witch sacrificing your parents? You must really hate that you only have your own biological parents."
"I have a suggestion for you: adopt several parents, regardless of whether they acknowledge you as an orphan. Be the first to adopt them, and you can sacrifice them one by one when you do bad things, thus achieving sustainable sacrifice."
It's impossible for someone who surfed intensely before time travel and was immersed in various subcultures not to be aggressive.
After the time travel, Nan'an rarely had the opportunity to show this side of herself.
The Red Rat Adventurers are all playful and mischievous, and they don't need this large-scale, later-stage fixed team. They're all quite adorable, and Nan'an is reluctant to let them get involved in subspace cults.
When it comes to cult members and targets, Nan'an prefers to take their heads first and then chat with them slowly.
They really appreciate hearing advice based on their experience.
Anyway, I've never encountered anyone in Nan'an who said they had any objections.
At this time, not all the main characters were present, and the opportunity was too rare to miss. Nan'an did not mind undergoing rehabilitation, returning to the cesspool before his transmigration, and regaining his "Word Spirit" talent.
Even after transmigrating, Nan'an discovered that Nora's language system was extremely lacking in swear words.
"You goblin bastard!"
"Something even trolls wouldn't want!"
"Even slimes have more magical talent than you!"
"A vampire's blood puppet!"
Nan'an couldn't understand how the words those adventurers used during the conflict could be so offensive.
The fact that parents always manage to survive these verbal battles shows how lenient the public opinion environment is.
Before time travel, some games were criticized in the community. Not to mention parents, even their ID numbers might not be safe.
Cultural differences?
Through his patient research and conversion of the language system, he discovered that this was not the case at all.
Words that are meant to be hurtful can still be hurtful when translated.
Suiyue stared blankly at Nan'an, as if trying to get to know him all over again.
The old man seemed to be possessed by something filthy; every word he uttered was like years of accumulated grime in underground waterways.
"Insolent! Shameless!"
Stepping on the curses of the Bamboo Moon Witch, the footsteps outside the door grew louder.
Batu's close associates arrived first, followed by the Senate envoy.
Seeing the chaotic scene in the reception room, Nan'an stood arrogantly on the dining table, the overwhelming amount of information causing everyone's language system to crash.
As the audience entered, Nan'an got straight to the point.
"Who ordered Corella's arrest?"
The sparks ignited by the previous conflict were burning fiercely. Seeing that the crowd of onlookers was growing, Brin took the initiative to come to the table.
"I!"
Like a gust of wind sweeping across the table, the plates and food still clinging to the surface flew around in a blur as Nan'an moved.
There were no traces of spellcasting; it was comparable to an instantaneous incantation.
Carly was on guard, and before her hand could even reach Brin, she felt a sharp pain in her fingertips.
The sharp blade, as if slicing with a knife, cut her index finger, and blood flowed freely.
When they came to their senses, screams erupted in the reception room.
In the blink of an eye, Pudding had already been brought back to the table by Nan'an.
Her hands were crossed and pressed behind her back, and Nan'an's boots slammed down on her waist, shattering the magic she was trying to gather.
"Nan'an!"
"Nan'an!"
A series of urgent shouts came from outside the door, some surprised and some angry.
Nan'an heard this and gently exerted force, bringing Brin's cheek even closer to the tabletop.
"Korella has close ties with smugglers, colludes with the Corruptors, aids the enemy, and is strongly suspected of joining the Black Mist. The evidence is conclusive, and there are numerous witnesses willing to testify." Carly's eyes were icy. "Nan'an, are you challenging the laws of Solitz?!"
"I believe that Brin also has close ties with smugglers and is involved in collusion with the enemy, and is highly suspected of joining the Black Mist."
"Envoy, look! This is the spirit granted special privileges by the chief elders—he's nothing but an evil spirit!"
"Kolela is my informant. I authorized her to find a way to get in touch with the Living Eclipse so that we can wipe out all the hidden people around Kren. But the Bamboo Moon Witch not only openly arrested Kolela, but also insisted on humiliating her—tsk tsk tsk, I have to suspect your intentions."
"Nonsense! Where's the evidence?!"
"When did Elu need to report the details to the Bamboo Moon Witch when dealing with the Living Eclipse? What are you people? A bunch of maggots who only drag your feet. You have visited Kren several times, but made zero positive contributions. Apart from fighting amongst yourselves, I have never seen you on the front line against the Black Mist, the Living Eclipse, and the Gods and Demons."
The two men's rapid-fire pronouncements left the Senate envoy dizzy.
Taking advantage of a break, I asked someone in the know, and only then did I understand the reason for the outbreak of the conflict.
The conflict between Erlu and the Bamboo Moon Witch has a long history and is a difficult issue to resolve, but it has never erupted so violently before.
Gunn always considers the consequences of his actions, and with him keeping Bewitching Crow in check, there are usually no major conflicts.
But Nan'an is clearly an exception.
Even among all the crazy people in El Cortez's history, he was probably the most outrageous.
Having been awakened for a long time, he must have heard about the power of the Bamboo Moon Witch, yet he still did something like stomping a guild leader's face into a table, which was tantamount to challenging the authority of the entire Bamboo Moon Witch Guild.
With the Senate seats becoming increasingly prestigious, this anecdote alone is enough to keep everyone talking about it.
"Nan'an, calm down first. Why don't you get off the table? This is not very dignified." The Senate envoy intended to offer some advice.
"Decent?" Nan An laughed, slowly squatted down, and in front of everyone, forcefully broke Pudding's finger.
"Gentlemen, you seem to have forgotten that before I died, I was the most rude and barbaric frontier adventurer—I'm already being quite civilized by not immediately severing her head!"