Chapter 1120: 107. Bullying

The land was barren, with barely even a few weeds. The poor yellow earth stretched all the way to the end of his vision, then suddenly sank halfway through, gathering into a vast valley.

A faint mist shrouded it, adding a few traces of inexplicable chill. The fog here did not look as thick and heavy as the outer Fog Wall, but because it covered an equally vast area, it was already impossible to make out the scene inside the valley at all.

“What a perfect place to hide.”

Muen stood at the edge and glanced down. “Without someone guiding the way, no one would probably find this place in a lifetime.”

Annabawei’s Pioneers all had extremely rich experience exploring through fog, but most of their energy was focused on the Fog Wall. How would they ever discover that there was this kind of place deep within the land?

Ordinary people were even less worth mentioning. The long night divided the city-states from one another, and exchange between different places was already extremely rare. This kind of wilderness might not see a single person for hundreds of years.

It could be said that if not for Theodore’s accidental stumble that time, no one would ever have imagined that the legendary Goddess of Night was actually hiding in a place like this.

No...

Had that really been an accident?

Rabuya City was nearly three days away from here on foot.

“Is... is the Goddess of Night really here?”

Muen was still thinking when Marcie, tightly wrapped in her not particularly thick linen clothes, came trembling over to his side.

“It’s so cold... This place doesn’t look like somewhere a god would stay at all...”

Three days had already passed since President Theodore’s speech had roused everyone’s morale, but with one thing after another happening, there had been no real time to make many preparations. Marcie was still wearing the thin clothes she had brought with her. If Grandma Meg had not worried about her before they left and packed two extra pieces for her, she might already have frozen into a dog by now.

Of course, for three whole days, it had still been night.

Daylight seemed to have truly been erased from Annabawei completely.

“Where do you think a god should stay?” Muen did not give Marcie any additional cold-weather clothes. A slight chill would instead sharpen a person’s mind and raise vigilance.

Especially at a time like this.

“I think... a palace on top of a high mountain? A throne in the very center of a sea of clouds? Or maybe a sacred place filled with birdsong and fragrant flowers?”

Marcie tilted her head and thought seriously. These were all things she had seen in storybooks when she was little... but now it seemed those storybooks really had just been lying to children.

Good thing she had not believed them at all!

“I have absolutely no idea where that proud expression on your face is coming from.”

Muen shook his head, unsure whether to laugh or cry. “But then again, if she truly were a powerful god, perhaps she really should live in one of the places you mentioned... Unfortunately, right now, she is nothing more than a pitiful creature struggling on the verge of mental collapse.”

Mad and deranged. Not quite herself.

Hard to tell righteous from evil.

“You really are getting more and more arrogant...”

Marcie curled her lips. The number of people who dared describe the Goddess of Night as a “pitiful creature” was probably limited to this guy alone.

At the very least, even President Theodore, who had spoken with such hot-blooded fervor before, had only dared use phrases like “a deity who had gone mad for some reason.”

She really did not know whether he was bluffing to make himself look tough, or whether he genuinely had the qualification to say that.

Even if he was powerful, he could not blaspheme a true god, right?

Could it be that he had seen true gods before? And knew what those gods were like?

Marcie did not ask these questions. In truth, during this time, she had even asked Muen fewer questions about what the outside was like, because the clever her already understood that this was Annabawei’s final gamble.

If they won, they would break through the clouds and see the sun. Everyone here would obtain true light.

If they lost, then they would be like all those innocent people Annabawei had once lost, buried completely in eternal night.

“What are you thinking about? You keep looking distracted.”

“Ah... nothing.”

Muen, who had fallen into thought again, waved his hand, indicating that Marcie did not need to mind it. “I was only thinking about what Mr. Theodore mentioned before, regarding the Goddess of Night’s normal state and her insane state. I keep feeling a little...”

“Mm?”

“Forget it. It isn’t important right now.”

Muen shook his head.

“Why do you always stop halfway through talking...”

“You two.”

Marcie’s own words only made it halfway.

They turned their heads and saw Bear King Theresa walking over in a bold, unrestrained manner while greeting them. Behind him followed another person, fair and clean-looking, also a young girl.

Only, compared to Marcie, who had an incurable case of social fearlessness, that girl was much more reserved. She was hiding more than half of herself behind Bear King’s sturdy body, not daring to face anyone.

“Good evening, Mr. Theresa.”

“G-Good evening!” Marcie’s face only managed to darken halfway.

“Haha, good evening.”

Theresa first gave Muen a courteous nod, then looked at Marcie, who had puffed out her chest, raised her head, and stuck out her rear. He could not help praising her.

“Miss Marcie is doing very well too. Full of spirit.”

“Yes! I am extremely full of spirit!” Marcie looked as if she had been injected with chicken blood and could now directly fight the Goddess one-on-one for two hundred rounds.

“...”

Muen was speechless. This girl really was the same as always no matter the time... a brainless fan, not betraying her true heart in the slightest.

“Haha, Miss Marcie truly is a fine seedling. Worthy of last year’s first place in the exam. If you were not already following Mr. Campbell, I would even want to ask for you to work under me. Given time, you would certainly become an outstanding Pioneer.”

Theresa raised his thumb in praise, clearly very receptive to this kind of behavior.

“Th-Thank you!” Marcie became even more fired up.

“Eh, there is no need to thank me for speaking the truth. Miss Marcie really is excellent. Unlike this one from my house.”

As he spoke, Theresa gave the girl behind him a slight push forward. But that girl was stuck behind him like a burr. He could not push her out at all. Instead, she buried her completely red little head even lower.

“Let me introduce her. Trainee Pioneer Landa. She is also my assistant. Everything else about her is fine, but she is far too shy around strangers. She can clearly kill a bull with one punch, but normally, she does not even dare leave the door.”

Theresa gave a helpless, bitter smile, looking especially troubled.

“It’s good to be quiet.”

Muen praised her. “Steady people are more likely to accomplish great things.”

“Eh, lively is better.”

Theresa waved his hand repeatedly. “Without any ambition at all, what great thing can she accomplish?”

“Quiet is good.”

“Lively is good.”

“Quiet is good.”

“Lively...”

“...How about this?”

After a round of businesslike mutual flattery reached a deadlock, Muen rubbed his chin, and his eyes suddenly shifted.

“Since Your Excellency Theresa likes lively ones, and I like quiet ones, why don’t... we trade?”

Theresa glanced sidelong at his own assistant, clapped his hands, and said happily, “That would be wonderful. I have wanted Miss Marcie to come work with me for ages. If that is what you mean, then I welcome it ten thousand times over.”

The two went back and forth, their conversation cheerful and harmonious. In a short few dozen seconds, they went from opposing each other to reaching some sort of consensus.

Now everyone had a wonderful future.

Worthy of celebration. Truly worthy of celebration.

However...

Before the quiet young girl over there had time to say anything, Marcie, who had just been worshiping Theresa like a brainless fan moments ago, suddenly bowed.

“I’m sorry.”

She said to Muen with extreme sincerity:

“I was too arrogant just now. Please don’t exchange me to Lord Bear King’s command. He’s too weak. I’m afraid of dying.”

Muen: “...”

Theresa: “...”

This girl—worship was worship, but when it came to who was strong and who was weak... she really was damn clear-headed.

“Little girl, you... you look down on people too much! I am the mighty Bear King. Am I that weak?”

Theresa’s expression twitched. He reached out and yanked his own slow-reacting assistant, who had only just poked out half her body at this moment, back behind him, then snorted coldly.

“Quiet ones are better after all!”

Landa: “...”

Why had she never realized before that Lord Bear King could change faces this fast?

“All right, all right.”

Muen deliberately did not look at little Landa, who was frantically using her small fists that could smash a bull to death to pound Theresa’s lower back. For the moment, he hid the smile at the corners of his eyes.

“If you have business, say it directly. This is not the time for jokes.”

“Hmph. You are so strong, it seems I don’t need to inform you of anything!”

Theresa bared his teeth, his waist nearly smashed apart by the pounding, yet he was still stubbornly arrogant.

Fortunately, the quiet young girl behind him understood proper priorities. After only a few dozen little punches, she set aside the resentment from just now and secretly tugged at the corner of his clothes.

“Lord Bear King, the serious... the serious matter comes first.”

“You...”

Theresa looked as if he hated iron for not becoming steel. Being a man who cared about face, even though he was inhaling sharply from pain, he still had to put on an aloof, lecturing air.

“You are just too honest. That is why people bully you so easily!”

“Bul... bully? I wasn’t bullied...”

Miss Landa blinked her innocent big eyes.

“The one being bullied... wasn’t that Lord Bear King?”