In a deep ocean trench somewhere.
At these depths of over a thousand meters beneath the sea, a bizarre and wondrous ecosystem thrived. In places where sunlight never reached, the appearance of the various sea creatures could only be described as completely haphazard.
Aeolus lay within a giant clamshell. With a flick of his fingers, currents converged around his fingertips into a vortex.
Not far off, a strange fish whose mouth was larger than its entire body was drawn in. Halfway there, the razor-sharp currents stripped away its scales and pulverized its flesh, churning everything soft into a thick slurry that poured into Aeolus's mouth.
The fish's remaining pale skeleton drifted slowly down, sinking into the deeper ocean depths.
Aeolus had been living in this trench for several days now. It had started because he got lost; swimming through the sea, he grew hungry, and chasing after schools of fish to satisfy his hunger, he ended up in this place.
The trench's terrain was too complicated, and after wandering for ages without finding a way out, Aeolus simply decided to settle down here.
Still, he wasn't truly slacking off. Over the past few days, Aeolus had mastered many new abilities. While still controlling water currents, he no longer needed to whip up massive waves; he could now manipulate water pressure, crushing these deep-sea monstrosities to pulp. If unleashed on a living person, the pressure could just as easily grind them into meat paste.
In addition, Aeolus had learned to sense ocean currents and distinguish the taste of seawater. Compared to a few days ago, he was practically reborn.
Such was the blessing of a deity, allowing even a newborn to wield such immense power.
Feeling he had rested long enough, Aeolus finished his meal and swam toward the surface along the direction of the current.
It took him less than two minutes to rise from a thousand meters deep to the ocean surface. Billows rose into giant waves beneath his feet, propelling him swiftly forward.
This time, he had to find Ariel.
Yet Aeolus did not know that the direction he was heading was the exact opposite of the Raging Tide Kingdom. Ahead lay not Ariel's whereabouts, but the territory of the sahuagin.
It would likely be quite a long time before Aeolus could find Ariel.
***
While this child of a deity was roaming blindly across the ocean, the Rose of Decay had already set off for the Raging Tide Kingdom, traveling aboard Anbaixiu's Black Tide.
The two brothers, Hastings and Hares, steered the Black Tide with trepidation, not daring to cast a single glance in the Rose of Decay's direction. From useless thugs under Anbaixiu's command, the brothers had now become captains of the Black Tide. Even as captains, however, they harbored an innate dread toward the Rose of Decay.
Unlike their master, this Undead Queen exuded danger from head to toe. Not even undead dared approach her, terrified she might crush them with a flick of her finger if displeased.
Having ruled as a queen in the Underdark for many years, calling her hands bloodstained would be an understatement; behind her seemed to stretch a boundless sea of blood. Undead creatures were extremely sensitive to such murderous aura, and having only recently turned into undead, the two brothers could barely keep their footing before her.
The brothers couldn't help marveling silently that, by comparison, their money-grubbing master was actually quite easy to deal with. If they had to follow the Rose of Decay, they would probably have been scrapped into junk within days.
The Rose of Decay noticed that the two bizarre-looking undead feared her, but she paid it no mind; such reactions were far too common. Her attention was focused on the documents Anbaixiu had given her, which detailed the transformation plan for the Raging Tide Kingdom: blueprints for alchemical production lines, staffing needs, material requirements, lighting and water supply specifications for the factory grounds, and so forth.
The Rose of Decay had only dabbled in alchemy and never studied it deeply, so the documents were rather difficult for her to grasp. But Anbaixiu was well prepared; besides the original documents, he had provided a simplified version listing only the requirements without the underlying principles.
All the Rose of Decay needed to do was negotiate term by term following the checklist.
Yet doing so made her feel rather useless. Following orders without understanding the reasons was an unfamiliar experience for the Rose of Decay, so she did her best to comprehend the material to avoid blunders during the negotiations.
While the Rose of Decay had such patience, her daughter Melina certainly did not. When the Rose of Decay handed her the simplest section, Melina began squirming restlessly within minutes, and upon questioning, admitted she hadn't absorbed a single word.
The Rose of Decay felt helpless. How could this daughter take after neither of her parents? Not in the slightest.
Melina complained helplessly, "Mother, I really don't understand it. The words look like they're dancing!"
"If you're like this, how are you going to inherit my kingdom in the future?" the Rose of Decay chided in exasperation.
Without even basic patience, Melina would sooner or later be tricked into digging in the mines by the slaves again.
"Mother, you're a lich, you won't die! Why can't I just stay a princess forever?" Melina countered.
The Rose of Decay sighed and said, "Who said I won't die? Once the plan to destroy Ryan is complete, I will be leaving this world."
"Ah? Why?" Melina asked in shock.
"Because my wish will have been fulfilled. Undead inherently possess few sensations; if not sustained by this obsession, I would be no different from a corpse. Once your father helps me fulfill my desire, it will be time for me to begin the next journey. Whether descending to Hell or fading into oblivion, I will depart all the same."
The Rose of Decay spoke these words with uncanny calm, tinged even with faint anticipation. Memories imparted emotion, and emotion sustained the continuation of life. Undead had lost every sensory faculty capable of deriving joy; to a lich, the world was merely a dull instruction manual. The only thing that could stir emotional ripples in a lich was a powerful obsession. If even that was lost, a lich would have no reason left to exist.
Like a machine, even if it could still function, the machine itself was merely an inanimate object.
A lich's body was an inanimate object, and even the soul had grown numb and indifferent. Once her lifelong wish was fulfilled, the Rose of Decay would completely lose the ability to feel joy; her soul would turn into stagnant water, devoid of any desire to keep functioning. At that point, it would be no different from death.
The Rose of Decay was an exception among liches, for the vast majority of those who transformed into liches simply wanted to go on living. Longevity was the most common wish among liches, so they were never satisfied.
Anbaixiu was the same; because money had no ceiling, he could forever maintain that impulse to pursue wealth and live on for eternity.
From the moment the Rose of Decay transformed into a lich, she had known full well that she would fade away with the destruction of Ryan. Yet even that could not deter her resolve to destroy Ryan; she wished she could drag that revolting empire down to ruin with her this very instant.
Therefore, nothing in the Underdark mattered to her—wealth, power, slaves... none of these held any place in her heart. She only wanted to thoroughly dissolve the hatred within her and bring an end to this eternal torment.
Hearing this for the first time, Melina gaped in shock, then said agitatedly, "No, Mother, you can't just leave like this! Even without Ryan, don't you still have me? And Father—could you bear to leave us? Can't we become your obsession?"
Melina's barrage of questions took the Rose of Decay aback. She couldn't help thinking of that lich who had made her heart race.
Even now, she couldn't tell whether her heart had stirred because Anbaixiu was helping her destroy Ryan, or purely because Anbaixiu's uniqueness had restarted a heart dead and silent for so many years.
Seeing Melina's frantic expression, the Rose of Decay smiled faintly. "Melina, I envy you. Your soul is as vibrant as if you weren't undead at all. But it's too early to talk about this now. Let's wait until Ryan is destroyed. When that time comes, I trust your father will find a way."
Leave everything to that man. If he were willing, he should be able to help her find a reason to live on. And if he were unwilling, what would she have left to cling to?
The Rose of Decay lowered her head back to the documents, appearing completely unaffected.
Yet Melina could not calm down. She had never imagined that one day her mother would leave her. That was a future she could never accept.
Frowning, Melina fell into deep thought: *Mother's only obsession is hatred. Could she turn love into an obsession, just like Aunt Canggu? No, I have to make Father look into this seriously. I can never let Mother leave.*
Although Melina wasn't very clever, she knew she wasn't very clever, so she decided to rely on her omnipotent father for this matter. Once these negotiations were over, Melina resolved to stick by Anbaixiu's side, begging him day after day until he found a solution.
***
Carrying the mother and daughter with their disparate thoughts, the Black Tide arrived at Storm City in the Raging Tide Kingdom.
Storm City was the capital of the Raging Tide Kingdom, situated atop a central mountain. With a population of one hundred thousand, Storm City was the most prosperous place in the entire kingdom. Surrounded by archipelagoes of various sizes, most commoners of the Raging Tide Kingdom considered moving into Storm City their ultimate life goal.
Thus, though the Raging Tide Kingdom was poor, Storm City looked rather bustling.
Having received permission from Princess Ariel, the Black Tide was permitted to touch down directly near Storm City, landing on a hillside in the suburbs.
Ariel had also received word well in advance, and she was waiting to receive them alongside a group of storm priests.
The ceremony was simple, but the attendees held sufficient status, making the reception suitably grand.
Meeting the legendary Undead Queen for the first time, Ariel was somewhat surprised by her cool, breathtaking elegance and nobility. Compared to her, Ariel felt she herself lacked a bit of that aristocratic air.
Yet Ariel did not feel inferior because of it. She was a girl born of the sea; thunder and tempest were the only things she pursued. An aristocratic air would have been utterly out of place in the Raging Tide Kingdom anyway.
She simply didn't understand why the negotiating partner had been switched to this Undead Queen, rendering all her prior preparations completely useless.
Nor did she know what sort of disposition this Undead Queen had, or how to cater to her preferences so she would yield more concessions.
Ariel had barely exchanged greetings with the Rose of Decay and had not yet begun talking business when the Rose of Decay broke into a radiant smile and said, "Princess Ariel truly surprises me. I have never seen a female commander so valiant and dashing. You are far superior to my daughter. Would you do me the honor of acting as my guide? I would love to see the place where you grew up, so that my daughter might learn well from you."
Before Ariel could even react, the Rose of Decay had already linked arms with her, standing intimately close.
Ariel froze for a moment. *Was this Undead Queen really this warm and friendly? She is completely different from the rumors of her being cold and ruthless.*
The people of the Raging Tide Kingdom were all stunned, but those on Anbaixiu's side knew exactly what was going on.
Watching the scene unfold, Hastings mused to himself: *Truly worthy of being paired with our master. Even her methods of conning people are so uncannily alike.*
Chapter 409