Life Game In Other World
Chapter 1238: The Nameless, Humble Life (Grand - for Monthly Votes)

Chapter 1238: Chapter 1238: The Nameless, Humble Life (Grand Chapter for Monthly Votes)

For the longest time, He Ao had always harbored a doubt in his mind.

That is, in the Copy World of the Wilderness Wanderer Ronald, what was the "reason" the federation had for supporting South City City Defense Army Commander "Noan" in his rebellion?

After Noan killed Christos, even with the backing of the federation, could he really convince an Angel-Tier Legion Commander, convince Ains, to recognize his "illegitimate" ascension?

What kind of price would the federation have to pay to achieve this? Could Noan really repay these "losses" to the federation?

At the time, Christos had not fully ascended to power, and his "threat" to the federation only existed in future projections.

The federation likely wouldn’t have been willing to pay such a hefty price for Noan, especially considering the federation’s "stingy" nature.

So why would they encourage Noan to "rebel"?

It wasn’t until today, when he saw Dick in front of him.

He Ao finally obtained the long-overdue answer.

The federation never truly "supported" Noan. They merely intended to use Noan to kill Christos and his supporters. Then, Dick from the North City Defense Army would suddenly "descend like a divine weapon," annihilate all the rebel forces, and complete the suppression of the rebellion.

At that time, Dick was still the Minister of City Defense, a position appointed by Christos and his cabinet.

As long as the cabinet was entirely wiped out, he would have an absolutely legitimate right of succession, enabling him to smoothly and unimpededly become the Mayor of Dawn City.

The federation would not need to deal with Ains, nor the Legion Commander, nor the citizens of Dawn City.

Because this "succession rule" was entirely lawful.

With the achievements of suppressing the rebellion, coupled with the federation’s support and propaganda, Dick could even proclaim himself as the inheritor of Christos’s "legacy." Seeking re-election would then be a simple matter.

From the very beginning, the federation’s support was always for Dick.

And to ensure Dick’s legitimacy remained intact, he could not be involved in any "rebellion."

From this perspective, the current events are nothing but a "repetition" of Noan’s rebellion back then.

However, because Christos exhibited a much greater threat, the federation and the Order Church lurking in Ains’s shadow had invested much more power into this endeavor.

Dick was still one of their trump cards, and the "intercept" army appearing here was, theoretically, only a preventive measure.

The South City Defense Army was almost entirely held back by the rebels. This intercept army was only prepared to deal with small-scale "reinforcement units."

Dick was here likely to guard against South City Commander Vislo, in case Vislo seized the opportunity to break through and rescue Christos.

He didn’t even need to kill Vislo—just slightly impede him. By the time the mercenary corps entering from the North Gate massacred the Glorious Palace, he could simply leave, take off his mask, and inherit the position of Dawn City’s mayor as the Minister of City Defense.

No one would suspect that an entire structured mercenary corps of the Nolanka Group would suddenly appear outside the South Gate.

The one planning a surprise attack instead became the victim of an even greater "surprise attack."

Dick straightened his posture, gazing calmly at He Ao before him. He lifted the massive blade in his hand, slowly removing the mask remaining partly intact on his face.

The figures following him also removed the masks from their faces.

He Ao tightened his grip on the alloy sword in his hand, staring at Dick.

Of course, did anyone know that the Nolanka Group’s mercenary corps had arrived?

Yes, someone did.

Christos had known all along.

Without Christos’s directives and prior hints, South City Commander Vislo would never have so easily opened the gates to let the Nolanka Group mercenary corps inside.

But as the "Minister of City Defense," Dick did not know.

It appeared Christos was not entirely oblivious to the treachery around him.

Even if he had no awareness of this earlier, with the storm closing in, Christos’s sharp instincts must have picked up on it by now.

The Nolanka Group mercenary corps’s presence was likely deliberately concealed from the North City by Christos.

This way, even if the Nolanka Group mercenary corps reached the city’s outskirts and were discovered entering the city by the South City rebels, Dick would have limited reaction time and would find it exceedingly difficult to make any targeted deployments against them.

Of course, He Ao realized Dick was a traitor even a bit later than Christos did.

"It seems you’re not surprised to see me here?"

Dick looked at He Ao, smiling faintly.

"Actually, the enemy I anticipated facing in my plans wasn’t you,"

He Ao shrugged with a slight smile. "After all, I don’t know Dawn City that well. But the moment this intercept army appeared, I knew something was off. When you showed up, the outcome was already as clear as day."

He slightly rotated the alloy sword in his hand. "After all, there are only a handful of B-levels in Dawn City who can mobilize an army. If you were part of the mercenary corps, you should be at the Glorious Palace right now, not here in South City waiting, right?"

"It seems stepping out of the army and abandoning misdirection wasn’t the best choice."

Dick chuckled, his voice hoarse.

He had originally only planned to spectate and clean up some loose ends without revealing his identity.

But the intensity of the Nolanka Group mercenary corps had far exceeded what the ambush forces could handle. He had no choice but to step in personally, taking a risk to attempt a direct beheading strike, paralyzing the Nolanka Group’s command system and buying time for the mercenary corps up north.

He hadn’t wanted to station more troops here, but Vislo certainly wasn’t a fool. The troops gathered were already stretched to their limits, like ants gathering one by one.

"But you had no choice but to step forward."

He Ao looked at him, his voice soft.

"Christos has already begun to suspect me,"

Dick sighed and said calmly, "Even without concrete evidence, after this, I won’t be able to continue as the City Defense Officer.

"Since that’s the case, why should I keep hesitating? To hesitate when one should fight is a major taboo in warfare. Trying to protect both ends will ultimately lead to losing everything."

In this operation, he had exposed too much of his strength. Unlike in Noan’s rebellion, he could no longer sit on the sidelines without arousing suspicion.

He raised the massive blade in his hand and looked at He Ao. "My friend, your strength is impressive, yet I’ve never heard your name. But from the look of it, you’re not entirely Christos’s subordinate, either.

"I recently secured the backing of some greedy vampires. Regardless of whatever agreement you have with Christos, I believe I can offer you something even more satisfying,"

He tightened his grip on his blade, giving it a gentle shake that caused it to hum. "Step aside now, and we can negotiate everything."

"In that case, how about giving Dawn City to me?"

He Ao raised an eyebrow and smiled.

"It seems we’re at an impasse."

Dick glanced at the flames overhead. A streak of red light flashed before him, and his figure suddenly vanished.

The Nolanka Group’s firepower held an advantage, and their aerial mecha units were already beginning to breach the blockade. The longer he delayed, the worse it would be for them.

At this moment, five C-level Transcendents, who had dispersed around them while Dick spoke to He Ao, suddenly converged, assaulting He Ao simultaneously.

He Ao had initially thought they’d "talk" a bit longer. He shook his head slightly, lifting his alloy sword to slash backward.

This time, Dick appeared behind him again. Blades clashed. The prepared Dick took a step forward, his blade scraping along the alloy sword with a sharp screech, swinging heavily toward He Ao.

He Ao instantly shifted his stance, parrying with a reverse grip and dodging to one side. While avoiding the stroke, he thrust his sword toward Dick’s neck.

At that moment, Dick suddenly withdrew his blade. A holographic, three-dimensional black box unfolded around him, enveloping his body.

The sword pierced the black box, but it was as if it had stabbed into cotton.

In the next instant, the black box abruptly disappeared.

Teleportation?!

He Ao reacted without hesitation, twirling the alloy sword in his hand before reverse-gripping it. The tip of the sword thrust backward from his right waist as he simultaneously sidestepped.

At that moment, a massive blade nearly grazed his face as it slashed downward. Had he been even a split second slower, the giant blade would have split his skull in two.

Of course, as the blade swept past his body, He Ao’s alloy sword also struck toward Dick’s waist.

He Ao’s technique was faster than Dick’s blade and more sharp, leaving Dick with little room to block.

Dick twisted his body in an effort to sidestep the attack. The alloy sword narrowly missed his waist.

At the same time, the holographic black box appeared around him again.

Bang!

Dick’s body barely avoided the alloy sword, but the sharp edge struck a device embedded in his waist armor.

The black box that was about to form flickered for a moment before collapsing entirely. Dick raised his hand, and a flash of red light appeared. His figure teleported to a distant corner.

He Ao gripped his alloy sword, parrying the onslaught of the five simultaneously while creating separation. His gaze remained calm as he locked back onto Dick.

The two miracle magics Dick had been using were among the most common tricks found on a magician’s stage.

One was the "red cloth teleportation," where a magician vanishes behind a red cloth and reappears in the corner of a stage, unnoticed by anyone.

The illusion created the effect of "teleportation." But He Ao had already deduced its limitation: it could only teleport to the blind spot in the attacked subject’s field of view.

True, indiscriminate "teleportation" would no longer be magic but rather real magic.

This was the restriction of the "miracle magic" belonging to the "Magician" Talent Sequence. Only magicians performing magic in its magical form could fix these "miracles," leading to their inherent limits.

Of course, there could be an extraordinary magician capable of replicating miracles within a human grasp for genuine miracle effects. Such magic fixed as "miracle magic" would indeed be deserving of the title of "miracle."

But clearly, Dick did not possess such expertise.

Aside from red cloth teleportation, Dick’s second miracle magic was "magic box impalement," another classic trick often seen on stage.

The magician would enclose themselves in a box, which blades stabbing into the box could not penetrate.

When manifested as miracle magic, the effect was that when the black box surrounded Dick, any sword stabbing into the black box could not harm him.

To be fair, both of these "miracle magics" were powerful. But they shared a fatal flaw.

The critical weakness was that they were "prop-dependent magic."

Even though fixed as miracle magics, these "magic tricks" required props to function.

Without props, the magic could not be performed.

And Dick, using the Federation’s advanced technology, had seamlessly integrated holographic projections as substitutes for "props," allowing these complex setups to appear and disappear in an instant.

However, holographic technology was still a "prop."

If He Ao destroyed the device generating the black box’s "holographic system," the magic box trick would cease to function.

This rationale was the reason He Ao initially avoided fixing prop-dependent magic back in the Main World, preferring instead the "Retrieve objects from the air" trick as his choice.

Performing prop-free magic was not limited by any tools.

"It seems you’ve studied the ’Magician,’"

Dick’s eyes narrowed slightly, his raspy voice breaking the silence.

"You’re not of the Mage Sequence, but your physical abilities are remarkably strong,"

He Ao observed Dick. "I would wager your C-level Talent Sequence must be Sequence 75: Magic Warrior?"

"Interesting."

Dick’s eyes squinted further.

He Ao, utilizing the Super Memory Mark, had already plucked the name of Dick’s Talent Sequence from his subconscious: Talent Accumulation 147—Spirit Extractor.

"I have a question for you,"

He Ao held his alloy sword steady, his gaze meeting Dick’s. "You don’t seem fond of the federation. Why collaborate with them? Got tired of being a City Defense Officer and decided to take one last gamble?"

"To be honest, I don’t particularly aspire to be Mayor of Dawn City,"

Dick slightly shook his head. "But Christos is far too disruptive. He is bound to bring calamity to Dawn City. All I want is to maintain this city’s stability."

"Endless gunfire, unrelenting hunger, perpetual illicit drugs, and a hopeless Hope Building,"

He Ao’s voice was quiet but cutting. "Is this your version of stability?"

"What’s wrong with that?"

Dick met He Ao’s gaze steadily. "This city has lived this way for years."

"So, would you be willing to abandon your Transcendent power, your authority, and live as a powerless civilian in this ’stable’ city?"

He Ao’s voice carried a piercing calm.

"I see your sympathy is bleeding through,"

Dick’s tone carried a touch of derision as he stared at He Ao. "I think I may finally understand why Christos acts so recklessly—you people really do meddle too much."

"It’s not about sympathy,"

He Ao sighed softly as his eyes drifted to the alloy sword in his hand. He glanced at his youthful, slightly calloused palms and chuckled lightly. "It’s because I, myself, was once that nameless, insignificant life."

In his mind, a narrow room bathed in blood appeared again as if emerging from the mist of haunting memories.

And that frail, bloodied writing.

"I have already lost everything."

Standing atop a fortress on solid ground, Lina’s cool gaze remained fixed on that thin, solitary figure.

The howling wind carried the flames aloft, seemingly lifting the flag of destiny, crackling in its dance.