Chapter 721: Wishes
"Pardon the intrusion," the soldiers said, bowing to her after they had killed the noble. Then, they slowly withdrew from the tent, leaving behind the maid, covered in blood and utterly bewildered.
She had initially braced herself for death, or perhaps a fate even more tragic, but she hadn't expected the intruders' military discipline to be surprisingly strict.
After wiping the blood and grime from herself, she decided to remain hidden in the tent's wardrobe. She changed into a proper servant's uniform, then smeared her face with coal ash from the stove, transforming her appearance into one that would draw no notice.
The land was in turmoil, ravaged by war, and she was more likely to die running out into the chaotic army than not. It was better to hide here; after all, no matter which powerful figure emerged victorious, they would always need maids to serve.
As for the corpse lying on the ground, she decided to pretend she hadn't seen it.
...
"Long live His Majesty!"
"Long live His Majesty!"
"Long live His Majesty!"
Each time a noble was slain, the lieutenant would lead his soldiers in three cheers of "Long live His Majesty!"
The royalty and high officials who had escaped the horde of corpses under the protection of the Imperial Guard now, ironically, met their end, one by one, at the hands of that very Imperial Guard.
"His... His Majesty! The Imperial Guard has rebelled!"
"Ah!"
A eunuch, who had frantically rushed into the central imperial camp, was shot in the head by a soldier outside before he could utter another word.
"Traitors and national criminals are causing trouble within the camp; we request Your Majesty relocate."
The quick-witted and swift-handed Imperial Guard lieutenant, leading his fully armed subordinates, surrounded the temporary camp with the utmost speed.
"Your Majesty, please relocate!"
"Your Majesty, please relocate!"
"Your Majesty, please relocate!"
The other soldiers echoed him like repeating machines.
"..."
"Hmph... the first part of the mission is finally complete," the lieutenant murmured, letting out a breath. "It's not easy to take advantage of the Great Chaos Will."
Seeing the Emperor layered with "protection" by his subordinates, the lieutenant finally breathed a sigh of relief.
He was originally a Reincarnator affiliated with the Main God Temple, brought to this world along with others, and had become a lieutenant in the Imperial Guard.
Then, in a dream, he came into contact with an existence known as the Great Chaos Will.
This existence didn't possess a fully clear consciousness, and even communication was nearly impossible, yet the lieutenant discovered something truly terrifying about it—it allowed for upfront credit, with payment due later!
In detail, it meant he could make wishes to It.
Depending on the difficulty of the wish's fulfillment, the wisher would receive corresponding tasks or pay a corresponding price.
The wish would instantly come true upon the wisher's agreement, but the task also had to be completed within the stipulated time, or there would be unbearable consequences.
To test the wish system, he once wished to spend a passionate night with a certain beauty, and the surprising price he had to pay was merely losing ten thousand yuan.
He had also wished for a colleague who had bullied his original body to fall into a cesspit, and the task he needed to complete was running three laps around the military camp...
After numerous tests, the lieutenant finally grasped the rules of the game and realized that the other party was certainly not the Main God. Thus, he made an extremely bold decision:
"I, Dun Que, hereby wish that I may completely break free from the Main God's control! For this, I can accomplish anything!"
He then felt that the last faint, tenuous connection he had with the Main God was torn apart by a mighty force.
But at the same time, Dun Que also received a mission that utterly astonished him.
"Within fifty years, exterminate all the people of this world."
At first, he was dumbfounded. Transmigrating to become a mere legion lieutenant and leveraging his transmigratory advantages to become a figure of influence wasn't difficult, but aiming to annihilate all humanity in this world, where the extraordinary remained hidden, within fifty years—that was practically a pipe dream.
Was he, by some chance, expected to instigate a world war?
But soon, he understood why it was possible.
When the Apostles attacked, the imperial capital transformed into an apocalyptic landscape.
Moreover, these monsters, which slaughtered every human they encountered, would not actively attack him.
And so, he understood: he was to become a "human traitor."
Of course, calling Dun Que a complete human traitor wasn't entirely accurate; after all, he was merely a transmigrated Reincarnator.
To a Reincarnator, these humans before him were nothing more than NPCs in a story world—mere tools for him to extract benefits, the kind whose deaths wouldn't cause a single pang of sorrow.
Sympathy? Non-existent.
Reincarnators who lacked the necessary cold-bloodedness to maximize their exploitation of the story world's benefits had long since been eliminated in the Main God's brutal Gu ritual.
The veterans who survived could hardly feel any qualms about ruthlessly exploiting the value of NPCs.
"The Great Chaos Will only gave fifty years..."
After severing his connection with the Main God, he was no different from an ordinary person, apart from the few memories lingering in his mind.
There were no readily redeemable, convenient, and easy-to-use world-destroying viruses, nor did he know if he could re-cultivate the divine techniques and secret arts he had practiced before.
Although the Apostles wouldn't attack him, they wouldn't obey his commands either.
So Dun Que finally made up his mind: he must first climb to the leadership of the remaining humans, for only then, as a high-level mole, would he have a greater chance to destroy humanity.
This wave of "Respecting the Emperor and Punishing the Traitors" was precisely his first step in his ascent.
Too many nobles and grandees had escaped; if he didn't clear out a wave first, it would never be his turn, a mere lieutenant, to rise to power.
Only when these powerful figures of the past actively "yielded" their positions would newcomers like him have a chance.
But the Emperor could never be killed. In the Seris Empire, which had maintained an imperial system for thousands of years, the concept of legitimacy was thoroughly ingrained in the very bones of its populace.
A powerful minister with a weak ruler, wielding absolute power, was acceptable, but regicide and usurpation were absolutely forbidden, even in such a chaotic era.
...
"Sister, where should we go next?" Lun Heping asked, a little weakly.
During these past few days of fleeing, he could feel that each time he awoke, the sister he saw would be stronger, but simultaneously, her disposition had grown colder.
This made Lun Heping utterly terrified, for the life-disregarding coldness in Lun Qin's eyes grew ever more intimidating. Perhaps one day, she would kill him without a second thought, just like squashing a passing insect.
"I don't know," she replied, also feeling lost.
Every night at midnight, Lun Qin would precisely experience a surge in her body's power.
But this truly wasn't something to be happy about.
Because the existence of the Zero Hour Stray meant that every increment of newfound power was backed by the demise of countless lives.
It was a miracle forged from mountains of human lives.
Indeed, she leveled up effortlessly, but beneath her lay a bed paved with bleached bones.
"Four billion people," Lun Qin murmured. Having just completed another round of power adaptation training, she had inferred the current death toll of this apocalyptic disaster by calculating her own strength.
Compared to the first day she obtained the Zero Hour Stray, a week later, she was twice as strong.
In other words, Water Blue Star had lost half its inhabitants.
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