This Lich Requests More Remuneration
Chapter 516 - 473: Sincerity is the Ultimate Trump Card

Chapter 516: Chapter 473: Sincerity is the Ultimate Trump Card

Ange Watson hung up the communication with a grave expression, stating that approval was needed for the meeting with the Emperor.

Amberser was not in a hurry; it was the Laine People who should be anxious now.

"Why do you want to do business with the Emperor of Laine?"

Hake Stone had already taken out his notebook once more, ready to record Amberser’s response.

"I’m a bit worried that the Emperor of Laine might have been replaced."

Recently, Amberser had been too busy to pay close attention to the changes within Laine. It was only now, when he had to do business with the Laine People, that Amberser had the time to sort through Laine’s latest intelligence.

Then he discovered many dubious points.

Firstly, the complete demise of the Ryan Royalty; Amberser had heard a bit about it and initially thought it was an exaggeration, assuming the Laine People just beheaded a few royal family members to end the matter. However, upon further inquiry, he found out that indeed many had died.

Whether they were completely wiped out was debatable, but the number was substantial.

This was far too insane, and Amberser could not understand it.

He had originally thought that the point was to make the Young Emperor abdicate and simply replace him with another Emperor.

After all, the Emperor of Laine had been replaced quite frequently in recent years, which was not a big deal for the Ryan Royalty.

But it turned out that the Young Emperor was fine, and other members of the Royal Family had been sacrificed instead, which Amberser simply couldn’t comprehend.

The real puzzle was—who gave the order?

As everyone knows, people are habitually self-serving, in short, selfish.

The Laine Royalty had long ago violated the teachings of the Lord of the Dawn and would do anything for the benefit of the Royal Family. With that in mind, who would order the sacrifice of a large number of royals to preserve a useless Young Emperor?

The only explanation was that the Young Emperor himself gave the order.

And this implied a premise—that the Young Emperor truly held power.

But this premise should have been impossible.

Anyone paying attention to the performance of the Emperors of Laine in recent years would know that the Emperor was a puppet, a target, a breeding machine.

Such a person could not possibly wield power, let alone have the authority to have a large number of royals die to provide a stepping stone for themselves.

Something must have happened during this process.

Now that Amberser was available, he needed to study the situation seriously. After all, on this continent, only Laine was his true arch-enemy.

Holy Light and the Undead are incompatible; even if Amberser prayed devoutly to the Lord of the Dawn, all it would bring was agonizing pain akin to being torn apart.

No matter what Amberser did, or did nothing at all, the nature of the Holy Light is to "kill the Undead."

Perhaps a talented Undead could change their stance, but that was also a form of "death."

As an Undead living a decent life, why should I live by the standards of your Holy Light?

Cattle and sheep eat grass, people eat cattle and sheep, the Undead consume people—it is all just a part of the food chain. It is reasonable to discuss the strong and the weak, but discussing moral high ground is meaningless.

Yet this world does not establish perspectives on morals but rather on the will of Deities.

The Holy Light is there, not as an empty public opinion battle but as a reality that would fall upon Amberser even if he tried to withdraw from it.

Therefore, Laine will always be the foremost enemy in Amberser’s mind.

Following the incident wherein the Young Emperor killed his own people, sweeping changes began to unfold in Laine. Offering family members as a sacrifice stabilized the precarious state of Laine, postponing the open divisions.

Then, the Young Emperor was surprisingly willing to listen to Allen, initiating gradual reforms in Laine, which looked like the beginnings of a transformation from an extreme religious state back to a normal faith.

Later, when the Orc invasion occurred, despite the intense national pressure, the Emperor of Laine sacrificed twenty thousand civilians and refused to cooperate with the Orcs.

Considering the Royalty’s already diminished reputation, to shield Ange Watson from the pressure of public opinion, the Emperor used himself as a shield, thus securing Ange Watson’s absolute loyalty to serve until death.

Then there was the resurrection of corpses, which was a stroke of genius.

All the curses he had borne before that moment turned into commendation.

After this series of maneuvers, Laine lost a city but became united once more, with the Emperor’s prestige skyrocketing and morale on the front lines soaring.

That city might have been deliberately lost; otherwise, if the Young Emperor could bear the pressure of those twenty thousand lives for Ange Watson, it’s unlikely he couldn’t withstand the earlier pressure and had to change commanders, losing a city in haste.

Ruthless, venomous, and with such clever operations, the results were perfect ... Such masterful manipulation, turning clouds with one hand and rain with the other, was impressive enough for even Amberser to commend.

But could this kind of maneuver have been pulled off by that life-fearing, death-shunning Young Emperor?

Amberser felt it was impossible.

A person’s growth requires a process; one’s character might change after an encounter with life and death, but wisdom doesn’t suddenly increase.

The Young Emperor might be able to overcome his fondness for grandstanding on the battlefield, but these kinds of tactics were not determined by character; instead, they required exceedingly intricate planning, something one couldn’t comprehend all at once. Starting from an insight into human nature, it took a long period of time to accumulate.

Therefore, there must be someone behind this, and Amberser wanted to know who that person was.

If he were to see him face to face, that should reveal many things.

After Amberser finished analyzing, Hake Stone had a sudden epiphany. The Dwarf Vampire couldn’t help but admire that even though the Lich enjoyed setting people up, when it came down to the wire, he was truly reliable. Being friends with him was indeed reassuring; he had everything calculated for you.

"Then, should we inform Rose about this? With matters related to the Ryan Royalty, I believe she would be very interested,"

Amberser nodded, then said, "I’ll notify her now. Information related to Laine should naturally be shared with her."

Contacting the Withered Rose wasn’t so complicated; he simply needed to open the Magic Mirror.

The Undead Queen still looked the same, her snow-white skin flawless, her eyes and lips a bewitching crimson—anyone who saw her for the first time would be left with a profound impression.

Withered Rose spoke in a quirky tone, "How come you have time to look for me? Weren’t you just busy holding hands striving for deification with Aige?"

As Hake Stone hid in a corner frantically writing his little compositions, Amberser, oblivious, calmly explained, "Just a minor nuisance, which has now been resolved, thanks to the Guild Leader’s help."

"The Guild Leader? He appeared just now?" Withered Rose said in surprise.

She had joined the Elegy Poetry Society much longer than Amberser, yet she had never met this mysterious Mourner.

"I was surprised, too, because I didn’t sense his presence or departure at all. It’s like he never existed. Very mysterious indeed; our boss is probably not just any ordinary Deity."

Withered Rose pondered for a moment then asked, "Did you talk about anything with the Guild Leader? With your ability, you always manage to gain an advantage, as long as you can speak."

"How could that be? I only take advantage when dealing with enemies; everyone in the Elegy Poetry Society is one of our own... But unfortunately, the Guild Leader didn’t give me that opportunity, he just greeted me and then vanished. Nevertheless, it wasn’t without gain. Aige no longer requires my assistance now, and furthermore, her path to ascending as a Deity should no longer have any obstacles. This will make our plans against Laine go much more smoothly."

Withered Rose was taken aback and asked, "Our plans against Laine?"

Amberser said, as if it was the most natural thing in the world, "What else? Haven’t we always aimed to destroy Laine? The God of Alchemy, my teacher, is no match for the Lord of the Dawn. The recent kidnapping attempt of the Koutao Mermaid Goddess was also a trial. I wanted to know how much power of the Deities I could mobilize. If I could extract the Koutao Mermaid Goddess from the Divine Realm, would that force be enough to threaten the Lord of the Dawn?"

Withered Rose was somewhat excited. So he had never forgotten about this.

Amberser kept expounding his own thoughts.

"You see, once Laine faced an external threat, they quickly shed their fractured state and united internally and externally against the Orcs. This is why I previously disagreed with exploiting Arthur Laine. Over a thousand years, Laine’s cultural values have grown deep roots, and a huge shock would only cement the gaps between them. However, there are some benefits to be had; Laine has now started doing business with me. They’re constantly lowering their standards, and collapse isn’t far away..."

Withered Rose listened carefully and looked at Amberser with increasingly tender eyes.

Looking at this scene, Hake Stone couldn’t help but want to write a verse in praise of the Lich. It wasn’t by chance that this Lich deceived so many women; what was clearly a lethal problem was "sincerely" solved by him.

But was this "sincerity"?

Hake Stone, as an observer, found himself unable to tell anymore, because all the merits Amberser mentioned were real, all achieved through his own efforts.

This was way better than those men who only talked big.

Perhaps, as Amberser previously said, sincerity is indeed the strongest finishing move.

After Amberser briefly explained the current situation, when he brought up the issue of the Young Emperor, Withered Rose seemed well-prepared and straightforwardly told Amberser, "That Young Emperor of Laine must be finished already."

"Finished? What do you mean by that?"

Amberser knew Withered Rose had special sources of information in Laine, but this statement was nevertheless very odd.

"It’s only conjecture, but one thing can be certain: ever since he donned the Magic Dragon Armament, that Divine Artifact has never been taken off. You should know what this signifies."

Amberser exclaimed in surprise, "The Dragon Blood Curse of the Laine bloodline! Has the Magic Dragon finally succeeded?"

The Magic Dragon Tyrant had once used himself as a sacrifice to cast the most venomous curse, lurking within the bloodline of all in the Ryan Royalty.

With this power, they could control the Magic Dragon Armament, but this power would also incessantly corrode their souls, just like the previous Arthur Lane, who in the end couldn’t hold on and died at the hands of the Old Elf King.

The Dragon Blood Curse had a deep connection to the Magic Dragon Armament; if the Young Emperor had never taken off the Magic Dragon Armament, there was a high possibility that he was already under the control of the Magic Dragon’s soul.

"Wait, something doesn’t seem right here." Amberser pondered for a moment, then said, "If the Dragon Blood Curse ultimately succeeded, does that mean the longstanding bet between the Lord of the Dawn and the Deities of the Dragon Race has finally come to a conclusion. Regardless of how they decide the winner, once the bet is settled, the rule that Deities should not interfere with each other becomes void."

Amberser couldn’t help but feel a bit nervous as he rubbed his hands together, "If the bet really is over, then these Deities will enter the next stage; the loser is either preparing to turn the tables or ready to flip the table over!"