Chapter 1 After the Reunion

After sharing a moment of joyful reunion, Su Zhou signaled the cheering children to calm down.

Whether it was celebration or tears, it was too early. The entire city of Aivende was uneasy. If they wanted to enjoy being together, they could wait until everyone was aboard the First Light Research Ship.

And this unease wasn't entirely because of Su Zhou's earlier act of charging the city with his ship. The moment he entered Aivende, Su Zhou keenly sensed that the city's emotions were turbulent, almost at the edge of a powder keg.

It only needed a spark to ignite it.

And he seemed to be that spark.

"In any case, let's see what's going on first."

Shaking his head slightly, Su Zhou counted the number of children currently in the orphanage.

The result was good. All the children were present.

Including Loya and Gasha, the Dawnlight Orphanage had a total of thirty-seven children.

Twenty-one boys and sixteen girls.

Because almost all the children were orphans rescued by Professor Svetlye during the Southern Territory's Great Famine, there were inevitably more boys—also due to the times, many girls died in the famine before Professor Svetlye could rescue them.

Originally, the orphanage had three nanny aunties to take care of the children, but recently, due to various reasons, only Aunt Daria remained.

Although some children were sick, and many appeared malnourished due to a lack of food recently, at least everyone was there, none missing.

"So, the local tax officials are not only deliberately targeting me but also the orphanage?"

After patiently listening to Seneca's explanation, Su Zhou stood up. He walked to the side of the sick children, then reached out and stroked their foreheads: "Interesting, it seems there's more to this than meets the eye."

As he said this, streams of verdant vitality surged from Su Zhou's palm. Almost instantly, the feverish symptoms of the touched children vanished, and the inflammation in their bodies was directly suppressed. Even the overflowing aura invigorated everyone present.

Although their bodies were still somewhat weak, and the Divine Wood vitality couldn't completely eliminate all the bacteria in their bodies, the appropriately enhanced immunity was enough to eliminate all ordinary diseases. All the sick children were expected to make a full recovery within a few hours.

"Seneca, come here."

After doing this, Su Zhou turned his head again. He signaled the brown-haired teenager, who was spacing out beside him, almost falling asleep from exhaustion, to come over.

"Ah, yes!"

As the oldest child in the orphanage, Seneca had been working all night and was still busy until now without sleep, and he was indeed very tired.

But after watching Su Zhou easily restore several children with pained expressions, he had been staring intently at Su Zhou's green glowing hand, his gaze somewhat dazed.

—What exactly is that power?

Isabella had already developed a fever of thirty-nine degrees. If the other children hadn't brought her over because the professor had returned, she wouldn't have been able to walk on her own!

If it were the previous headmaster, perhaps they would have prepared some alchemical potions, and she would have been fine after drinking them and resting quietly for a day or two… But now, just touching her could heal her?

The previous headmaster couldn't do that!

And now, after hearing the professor's voice, Seneca's body jolted.

He walked forward with nervousness and anticipation.

Then, the boy saw Su Zhou reach out and press his hand against the petrified left side of his face.

Instantly, a warm, peaceful sensation, along with a slight tingling, appeared deep in his eye socket and on the inside of his cheek muscles and bones.

"Hmm… The mutated demonic bloodline has already invaded the internal tissues? It's not possible to expel it instantly."

Vaguely, Seneca could hear the man mutter to himself: "Medusa and Siren bloodline? Good heavens, no wonder you're so good-looking, and no wonder the power is leaking, causing your body to be petrified."

"Luckily you're a boy, otherwise, you'd have a head full of snakes now."

He said this, then smiled: "Alright, you should be able to see again in a few days."

That hand was withdrawn.

And just as Su Zhou withdrew his hand, Seneca took a slight step back.

He gasped for breath and reached out in astonishment, touching his face: "I, I can feel it…"

His left face, which had been numb due to the demonic disease, had actually felt a long-lost tingling and itching just now… as if the completely petrified body had begun to reactivate and return to flesh and blood!

Apart from advancing to the Mind Light realm, there was no cure for the demonic disease… Yet it had been partially cured?!

If this were known to the outside world, in the outside world… how many dignitaries and aristocratic generals who accidentally contracted the demonic disease would be envious!

"It's just a chaotic transcendent organ, bringing about abnormal soul pollution. Although it's troublesome to cure, it's not incurable."

As if he could hear Seneca's surprised thoughts, Su Zhou shook his head with a smile: "But after this, you need to be careful with your words and glaring—I've catalyzed your bloodline. Now, in addition to your gaze being able to petrify others, your voice will also lull people to sleep."

"If you want to control this power, you need to cultivate diligently for a while."

Not only that.

Su Zhou raised his head and looked around at everyone present, thinking to himself: "Except for a few very young children, almost everyone is a demonic disease patient."

"Even Ms. Daria has a slight demonic disease, but she hasn't noticed it herself, or simply doesn't care."

Based on what Seneca had said before, Su Zhou could almost be certain that the Asmodeus Third Army Group and the nobles of Aivende were not on the same side.

And the Aivende side wasn't targeting him but the orphanage.

This was a strange thing, because Su Zhou knew that the group led by Yelena essentially wanted to recruit him. They obviously had ideas about the relics of the previous era located throughout the world, so even he, this 'former militia instructor,' had to be held accountable and then taken for their own use.

The orphanage was a tool for them to manipulate Professor Svetlye, so they had to protect the orphanage's safety.

But the local nobles of Aivende, judging by the tax official's actions, seemed to want to push the orphanage into a dead end and then send everyone to the mines and farms… or maybe not even that.

What they wanted was the children in the orphanage themselves.

"Is it the lord of this city?"

Su Zhou muttered softly, looking towards the center of the city: "Or is it someone else?"

This question had no answer for the time being.

"But sir, recently, there have indeed been fewer demonically diseased people in the lower city!"

Hearing Su Zhou's muttering, Aunt Daria, who was holding two of the children who had previously had fevers, replied loudly: "Not to mention anything else, the Eisen family from the next block is completely gone. Who knows where they ran off to."

Aunt Daria was a typical Asmodeus woman. She was broad-shouldered and thick-waisted, with arms as thick as the thighs of local young girls. She looked mighty and majestic, almost comparable to a sumo wrestler from Earth's Eastern Japan.

If it were before, Professor Svetlye might not have been stronger than her in terms of physical strength, because she could carry the entire orphanage's firewood from the Western District to the Southern District by herself.

Aunt Daria's voice was like a large bell: "Sir, what do we do now? It was indeed satisfying to kill the tax official, but Earl Aivende…" Speaking of this, she spat: "Alright, that dirty bastard won't let you off!"

"Yes, Headmaster."

At this moment, Seneca had also recovered his calm from the joy of the Headmaster's safe return; the sick children had been healed; and his left eye seemed to be recovering.

He looked around at the surrounding neighborhood with some worry: "I don't know what happened just now, but I feel like the entire outer city is in chaos—the tremors in the Eastern District are particularly strong, as if someone is attacking the city."

In response, Su Zhou used only one sentence to turn everyone's worries into astonishment.

"That's what I did—I brought a warship over and broke through the walls of Aivende to pick you up."

After speaking, Su Zhou paused for a moment, then continued: "I'm going to take all of you to the warship now, and then we'll leave this place directly."

This was Su Zhou's original plan.

If he had infiltrated the city alone, there wouldn't have been such a big commotion, but in that case, he wouldn't have been able to take people away from this place of right and wrong in the first place.

Not to mention, the Third Army Group must have sent people here to monitor the orphanage.

Fortunately, the children were not injured and none were missing.

Otherwise, Su Zhou wouldn't have been so easy to talk to, simply planning to cause a big scene, not provoke anything else, and just pick up people and leave.

"After taking the orphanage's children away, I've solved one problem. Next, whether to continue observing this world or try to save the world together with Dawn, those are choices."

Standing at the entrance of the orphanage, Su Zhou watched Aunt Daria take the lead in helping the children pack their clothes and odds and ends into the large suitcases that Seneca had already prepared.

While thinking about the follow-up plan, he turned his head without concealment and gave a warning glance at a hidden shadow: "I'm busy, so I don't want to cause trouble, and I don't want others to cause trouble for me."

"Anyone who makes me waste time, I'll make them waste their lives."

"Understand?"

A moment of silence.

Afterward, from the shadows of a nearby house's balcony, came two trembling voices.

"U-understood!"

"Good that you understand."

With that, Su Zhou stopped paying attention to that direction and instead watched the children stream out of the orphanage. Then, he walked forward and picked up two huge suitcases.

"Headmaster, those alchemical devices of yours…"

Seneca walked forward, also carrying a huge backpack filled with the change of clothes for over thirty children. He said somewhat ashamed: "The lighter ones are fine, but we really can't move those heavy potion tables…"

"It's alright, if you can't take them, forget it. I don't need those things anymore."

Su Zhou naturally didn't care. He smiled and stroked Seneca's head, then signaled him to walk forward quickly: "Let's go."

"The Eastern District should still be in chaos because the commander was beheaded, but I don't know how long it will last. Our time is short."

Soon, Su Zhou led the entire Dawnlight Orphanage towards the Eastern District in haste.

And at the entrance of the orphanage, in the shadows of a balcony.

Two Third Army Group scouts hidden in a blind spot, realizing that Su Zhou's figure had disappeared at the intersection of the third block, collapsed in trembling, sitting down on the ground.

"W-what's going on?! Why has Professor Svetlye suddenly become so strong?!"

One figure swallowed, his voice trembling: "Even if he was still at the peak of his career as the vice-chairman of the Alchemist Association, as per the data, he was only at the middle stage of Mind Light—and according to observations, he should have had difficulty even condensing a Mind Light Body after neglecting cultivation for the past ten years!"

"But the pressure just now, that killing intent… it's not something a Mind Light stage could have! I've only felt a similar pressure from a few generals…"

"Could it be that we've all been deceived?"

The other figure took a deep breath and guessed: "Professor Svetlye has never actually neglected cultivation. On the contrary, he's been diligently cultivating all along, but he's been using the orphanage as a front to deceive us all…"

"And now, he's broken through Mind Light and reached Divine Will?!"

This guess was too exaggerated, so after the two looked at each other, they suddenly thought of another more reasonable possibility: "The relic!"

"Major Yelena is dead, but Professor Svetlye is still alive and has become much stronger than before… It's the relic, the relic of the previous era!"

"He gained an incredible opportunity in the relic!"

This explained everything.

"We must immediately report this news to the commander!"

Although his hand was still a little shaky, the first figure still took out a communication array.

However, the second figure interrupted his actions, his tone even carrying a hint of excitement: "What commander!"

"Report such important news directly to the Supreme General!"

All of this conversation was heard by Su Zhou.

Su Zhou didn't choose to kill the two Third Army Group scouts because he knew very well that whether he killed them or not, the high-ranking officials of the Third Army Group would find out that after the failure and death of their team leader, this item that had originally been in their grasp had not only returned alive but had also gained power beyond their imagination.

Without a doubt, they would be curious about his power and then send out the appropriate people to try to capture him, Dawn, and the First Light Research Ship.

In that case, it would be better to display some of his powerful strength, making himself an opponent that the Third Army Group would also feel hesitant about, not easy to provoke, and would need to spend time preparing a plan to deal with.

The more he made the other party fear him, the longer the time would drag on, the more beneficial it would be for Su Zhou.

Although he was still only at the Soul Condensation stage, this was only because he was still preparing to integrate all of his cultivation methods, so he hadn't rashly cultivated yet.

Once Su Zhou integrated his cultivation methods, he would be able to quickly break through Spirit Radiance and reach Mind Light.

As for Divine Will, because the previous Svetlye had never broken through it, he had no experience in this area, so Su Zhou planned to see the situation at that time and then decide whether to break through or not, and whether he needed to innovate and optimize it.

Now, Su Zhou, at the Soul Condensation stage, already had enough power to make most people wary.

And after a period of time, after the Third Army Group prepared a plan, Su Zhou's power would become even more terrifying.

The man was looking forward to it, wondering what kind of expression the fully prepared Imperial military would have when they encountered him, whose strength had increased by at least ten thousand times.

Hopefully, everyone would be alright.

"The Asmodeus Empire's influence doesn't spread throughout the entire continent, and the Third Army Group's garrison is even more so in the north-central region."

Thinking about the plan, Su Zhou nodded slightly: "I remember that the southeastern coast is a neutral zone under the conflict between the Tianlong nobles and the southern city-state alliance. It's a commercial boomtown where the three authorities don't care about anything, and their attitude towards the demonically diseased is also relatively good. At that time, I'll let the First Light Ship go there to avoid the limelight. Once I leave the mountain, it'll be convenient to do anything."

"During this time, I can also cultivate some of my own subordinates."

In an instant, Su Zhou had a general outline of the actions in his mind, and he chuckled: "Demonic disease is indeed a very troublesome transcendent disease, but it's also beneficial."

However, contrary to what Su Zhou thought.

As the beginning of the plan, the process of everyone leaving the city was not smooth.

Because now, the entire city of Aivende was in complete chaos.