The body of the stray dog that visited late at night disintegrated into a multitude of black and white slender hairs that spread and twisted on the walls, covering the entire rental house in a grotesque black and white jungle.
The air smelled of damp and rust.
Where the pirate dog had crouched before, a tall silhouette was projected on the wall.
It had a huge trident-shaped head – if that could be called a head, the trident head almost touched the ceiling, and under the neck was an amorphous mass that twisted and constantly stretched and contracted.
Lu Yao unleashed the [Spell of True Sight] with Isabelle’s eyeball.
……
[Cyberus LV62] Harrow [Dueling Stance] [Weakness]
Life: 3300/3300
Mana: 1051/2991
Damage: 35
Defence: 29
Speed: 14
Soul Torturer
Powerful suppression of all the undead.
[Carrion Mastery LV17]
By devouring corpses or rotting matter can slowly restore life and mana, and gain information attached to the rotting matter from it.
Toxin Immunity
The vast majority of toxins are unable to take effect.
Chaser Mystery LV5]
By recognising touching objects or related objects, thus locking onto the specific coordinates of the prey within a given world.
Dueling Stance LV2
Returns to its true form, displaying itself as its full form in its heyday. The duration of Duel Stance is related to the level of this ability.
……
At one o’clock in the middle of the night, a duel suddenly opened in a rented house and fell at the speed of light.
“No fair!”
The pirate dog slumped to the ground exhausted, crossed against its neck by the Blood Knight’s Greatsword and the Tyrant’s Bone Sword, with Isabelle’s Holy Sword hovering over its head.
It struggled to tilt its head, “The duel is one-on-one! The three of you fight one! It’s not fair!”
Lu Yao held the ribs and instigated a mouthful of the soft and spicy meat that was cooked.
“It’s now a society of law and order, dueling is no longer popular.”
The pirate dog had a resigned look on his face.
Lu Yao was startled at first, how a strange dog had somehow sprung up.
Through the Spell of True Vision, he found that this Pirate Dog wasn’t considered weak, and with the [Weakness] on top, it still had this data panel, but it was a pity that it encountered the Three Great Apostles.
It was normal to be defeated and captured.
Although he wanted to know where this dog came from, right now it was more important to have a late night snack. If the steaming hot ribs were to get cold, the flavour and texture would be much worse.
Lu Yao continued to eat the meat ribs with his cola.
Isabelle interrogated the captive, “Where did you get the dog from?”
“I’m not a dog!”
Harrow stalked his neck, “Don’t you insult me! I’m not a primitive creature like a dog!”
There was something really unconvincing about a spotted dog saying that.
Isabel frowned, “You’re a wolf?”
“Not a wolf either!”
Harrow showed his teeth in exasperation, “I’m Sleepless Harrow, I come from the noble Underworld, one of the Sebelas that guard the gates of the Underworld!”
The Underworld?
Lu Yao wiped his mouth with a tissue, “The Underworld you’re talking about, is that the Underworld where all the dead go, or the Underworld that tortures ghosts?”
“The Underworld doesn’t torture ghosts, even though you are an Enlightened One, you can’t slander us!”
Although Harrow’s neck was stuck by a sword, he still tried his best to defend his hometown.
Lu Yao ate his ribs while pondering.
In the legends and myths recorded by humans, people from different regions had different definitions and understandings of the Underworld.
Now it looked like the Underworld might actually exist.
“Tell me about the Underworld.”Lu Yao spoke.
“Delusional, even if you beat me to death, I won’t betray the Underworld!”
Although Harrow had been reduced to a prisoner, it had its own peculiar arrogance and persistence.
Lu Yao placed the bowl in front of it, with a meat steak left inside.
“What do you mean by this?”
Harrow said angrily, “I am not a dog! You are sending out beggars for food!”
“No, this is a little evening snack for the visiting guests.”
Lu Yao took off his disposable gloves and clapped his hands, “The cutting has been done, the fooling around has been done, okay. Let go of our guests.”
Isabelle’s trio put away their weapons, but they did not move, still keeping a close eye on this outsider from the Underworld, ready to subdue it at any time.
Harrow hesitated for a moment, it licked its nose with its tongue and looked at the appropriately fat and thin marinated pork ribs in the bowl in front of it, its eyes tried hard to move away but it still couldn’t help glancing into the bowl.
“Since you’re so polite, thanks for the hospitality ……”
It made a vague remark and buried its head into the bowl, wolfing down the bones.
It didn’t take long for Harrow to lick a large piece of ribeye to the point where only the whitish and dry bones remained.
After eating Lu Yao’s meal, the pirate dog became much more polite and courteous: “It’s a great honour to visit late at night and still receive your hospitality.”
“Before, I only wanted to get closer to further screen the Silkworm Bush’s memories, and in no way meant any harm – it must trust you very much for storing its memories with you. I also ask that you can forgive me for my recklessness.”
“It’s fine, let’s all make friends.”
Lu Yao smoothly said, “Hello, I’m curious, what is the Underworld really like?”
“In various human records and oral accounts, some say that the Underworld is a place where the dead are imprisoned, some also say that it’s a prison where ghosts are punished, and others say that it’s a place where the dead and the living are converted to reincarnate.”
Harrow sat crouched on the ground in a dignified stance and spoke under his breath, “The Lord God of the Underworld forbids divulging the real-time situation of the Underworld to the outside world.”
“However, you are the honourable initiator, so I’ll make some general introductions that don’t violate the oracle.”
“The Underworld, like here, is a nearly solidified Highworld Dimension Zone, a collective term for a large collection of worlds. The gods of the Underworld are the rulers and defenders of the Underworld.”
“Unlike this world, the Underworld is associated with many worlds by a special rule. The low boundary dimension worlds move continuously, and the dead are transformed into ghosts and then introduced into the Sea of Sinking, which is the River Styx of the Underworld. On the other hand, the Higher Boundary Dimension is unable to naturally produce ghosts due to being in stasis.”
“It’s a one-way anchoring.”
The word anchoring evoked Lu Yao’s memories.
The Golden Harlot had the ability [Anchoring the World], but the prerequisite was a world level overlap first.
Harrow continued to speak, “One-way anchoring allows the dead to pass through world after world, rolling and stepping into the Underworld along the transmission and continuity of the force of world rules ……”
The ghosts were pulled under the force of the world’s rules and pointed towards the Underworld where they would eventually return. They were like a swarm of meteorites flying through the universe, travelling through the vastness of the boundary dimension space.
Unlike meteorites, ghosts are pulled, passed from world to world and converged, like a long-distance train travelling to a distant land, stopping temporarily at one station and then continuing on its way with new passengers.
After a long journey to death, he would finally arrive at the gathering place of the dead, the Sinking Sea of the Underworld.
Lu Yao listened with curiosity, “During the long journey, will the ghosts ever be intercepted, or stranded?”
“Yes.”
Harrow couldn’t help but lick the bottom of the bowl, “Freedom of life and death, they don’t want to go to the Land of the Dead, and they aren’t forced to. It’s just a tradition formed by a rule anyway.”
A thought popped into Lu Yao’s head.
In that case wouldn’t …… it be possible to place some Reapers in other Simulator Worlds and have them pick up and intercept a portion of the undead and send them to the City of the Dead, Saniro.
One more source of population!
Lu Yao directly inquired about this line of thought to Harrow.
Its doggy eyes rounded, “This ……”
“No?”
Lu Yao was a little disappointed.
As a high realm dimension world with a long history, the Underworld was capable of one-way anchoring at the level of many world rules, and its strength was unquestionable.
Angering the Underworld for the sake of the ghost population would not be worth the loss.
“It’s not impossible, the Underworld doesn’t matter.”
Harrow scratched his head hard with his claws, “The dragons do it too. Most of the deceased of the Dragon Race won’t enter the Underworld and will stay in the Dragon Tomb.”
“It’s just that there would be a whole host of difficulties in intercepting ghosts passing through from the outside world, far more difficult than it seems. Time-consuming and labour-intensive it would also be difficult to achieve results, and I think that it would be best for you to give up on this intention.”
“Understood, thanks for the reminder.”
Lu Yao asked Harrow, “More?”
“Yes, yes!”
Harrow licked his nose.
Little Fire served two more rib chops out, and it placed the dinner plate respectfully in front of Harrow.
“Harrow, why did you leave your hometown to come over here?”
Lu Yao’s words made the pirate dog’s eyes melancholy, as if the ribs in the bowl didn’t even smell good anymore.
“I came here for a duel, a life and death duel that was arranged many years ago.”
“But when I came here, I couldn’t find it.”
