Melina watched her mother close the Necrotic Codex. Though she did not know what the elders had discussed, she could sense that something was off with her mother's mood.
Even if Rose of Decay's expression showed no visible change, Melina had stayed by her side long enough to perceive that her feelings were unsettled.
Melina hurried over to Rose of Decay and asked, "Did something happen?"
Rose of Decay shook her head. "Your father is coming over. Business here in the Raging Tide Kingdom has reached its final stage, and after that, I plan to return to the Underdark. You should stay with your father, or else going back will only end with you getting tricked into mining by the slaves again."
Melina turned sheepish and hurriedly explained, "That was an accident! At first, they claimed the pickaxes issued to them couldn't dig into the rock at all, so I showed them that a single strike could break it open. Then they said the pickaxes would shatter after ten swings, so I proved to them that it definitely wouldn't break in ten strikes! Later, they said maybe not ten, but somewhere around there, so I had no choice but to keep showing them..."
Rose of Decay said helplessly, "And so you carved out an entire mine shaft with a single pickaxe."
Melina argued excitedly, "In the end, I proved there was nothing wrong with the pickaxes!"
Rose of Decay looked at her daughter and sighed. "Acting like this, you'll only drag your father down in the future. When will you ever be able to lend a real hand?"
"Huh? Father's in trouble again? Did he offend another goddess?"
Melina was practically used to it by now. Other people's fathers at worst had vices like gambling, lust, indecisiveness, cowardice outside while being abusive at home, or falling into ruin and selling their wives and daughters into slavery.
Her father was entirely different. He had none of those ordinary human vices. Not only was he successful in his ventures, but he also took exceptional care of his family and was generous beyond reproach toward his friends; anyone who had ever aided him received ten- or a hundredfold in return.
The only downside was that whenever he stirred up trouble, it invariably involved offending a deity.
For a mortal, that was getting a bit out of hand.
History was not devoid of mortals who had provoked the gods, but no one had ever offended as many, across such a broad spectrum of alignments, as Anbaixiu.
Rose of Decay briefly explained how Anbaixiu had caught the eye of Talos. Melina gasped in surprise. "The Lord of Storms this time? Father's knack for stirring up trouble is getting ridiculous."
Even Melina understood just how terrifying the Lord of Storms was. It filled her with worry—this was not one of the goddesses her father was so adept at handling. Could he solve it this time?
"Mother, what should we do now? Has Father come up with a plan?" Melina asked with concern.
Rose of Decay shook her head. "Talos is not so easily satisfied. Your father ruined a wedding He had orchestrated. I suggested he marry the princess of the Raging Tide Kingdom, but he refused."
Melina asked in confusion, "Ah? Mother, why would you suggest that? Last time I said the wrong thing, you were furious."
Last time, Melina had blurted out that Anbaixiu could continue impersonating Mengge Grayriver to marry Ariel and fully stabilize the Raging Tide Kingdom, which had earned her a close brush with some harsh discipline from Rose of Decay.
She had never expected Rose of Decay to make that very suggestion herself.
Rose of Decay shook her head. "Before, it wasn't a major crisis; it could be handled without marriage. But this time, the trouble your father has run into is beyond my ability to help."
In the past, Rose of Decay could spare some coin or lend some people to help Anbaixiu resolve most issues. Now, every predicament he faced was tied to deities. She felt she could no longer be of any use; instead, whenever she ran into trouble, she ended up turning to Anbaixiu.
What baffled Rose of Decay even more was wondering when she had begun to care about such things.
What did any of this have to do with destroying Ryan?
She even found herself wondering how Anbaixiu would react when the day came for her to perish.
The sensation was so bizarre that Rose of Decay had no idea how to process it.
That was why, when the subject of a wedding came up, she had probed Anbaixiu to see if he had any interest in marrying the princess of the Raging Tide Kingdom.
In her eyes, the princess was no different from drow elves. If Anbaixiu took a liking to her and it resolved this ordeal, that would be a fine outcome.
Yet upon receiving a negative answer, Rose of Decay had felt a subtle spark of delight.
Still, if Anbaixiu was not going to marry Ariel, how was he going to solve this? She could not bear to sit idly by and watch him suffer Talos's punishment.
The last lich targeted by Talos had been turned into His subordinate deity and tortured mercilessly for countless centuries before finally escaping by a stroke of luck.
Not every god was as lucky as Velsharoon. If Anbaixiu could not escape, he would be tortured to death by Talos.
These unfamiliar feelings left Rose of Decay bewildered. What had come over her?
A surge of irritation welled in her chest. This was the first time she had felt emotionally unsettled by anything unrelated to Ryan.
Just as she was at a loss, Princess Ariel suddenly arrived at Rose of Decay's quarters.
Ariel greeted Rose of Decay, then turned to Melina. "Remember that narwhal hunt I mentioned last time? A harpoon ship is heading out to sea today. Want to come along?"
Melina's eyes immediately lit up.
After spending time together, Ariel and Rose of Decay maintained only a pleasant surface relationship, but when it came to genuine closeness, being around the slightly dim-witted Melina was far more enjoyable.
Ariel had few friends her age, and someone like Melina, who clearly possessed no scheming bone in her body, was perfect for companionship. It allowed Ariel to step away from heavy official duties and court intrigue and relax her mind.
Through repeated outings, their bond had grown quite close, and they often arranged to spend time together.
Melina glanced at her mother, and once she received Rose of Decay's nod of approval, she happily took Ariel by the arm and walked out.
Watching their retreating figures, an odd thought struck Rose of Decay. When Ryan fell and the time came for her own demise, even if this Princess Ariel truly took her place, she would probably treat Melina well.
Rose of Decay shook her head. That was not something she should be dwelling on.
Provoking so many deities in the past had not brought that man down, and Talos would likely be no different. She should trust that he could resolve it.
***
Anbaixiu was entirely unaware of how complicated his "romantic life" had become. At that moment, he was taking another lady entangled with him deep out into the open sea.
Catherine, the former Elven Queen, sat alongside Anbaixiu aboard the Black Tide. Two months ago, she would still have been fascinated by the airship.
Now, however, two drow airship routes had already been established: one from the Silvermoon High Court to the Dwarven Royal Capital, and another from the Dwarven Royal Capital to the Orc Empire.
Across these two routes flew six transport airships, with cargo capacities ranging from ten to fifty tons, entirely crewed by drow elves. Catherine had personally trained every single one of them before sending them aboard.
Out of the more than one thousand drow around Catherine, only thirty could be picked to serve aboard the airships—and that was only achieved through Catherine's boundless charm, which had barely reformed those thirty individuals.
This went to show just how deep-seated the drow's vices were; turning them around was hardly an overnight endeavor.
Each transport airship had only five drow, responsible for navigation, steering, client handovers, and the like. However, Anbaixiu had installed plenty of "smart undead" aboard, making operations relatively simple.
All they had to do was deliver the cargo to the designated location, inspect the goods, and collect the payment; unloading was not something the drow had to do themselves.
To make a name for themselves, the first batch of freight operations barely made any profit, merely offsetting the shipping costs. But the drow routes had built up their reputation, and as cargo volume increased, the distributed costs would start turning a profit.
However, Catherine had spent a tremendous amount of time warning these drow elves never to advertise their services by selling their bodies. Had she not caught on early, they might have turned the airships into flying brothels to drum up business.
Anbaixiu fully supported Catherine's decision. There was no inherent hierarchy in business, but one had to consider how ventures interfered with one another.
These routes were meant to earn transport fees, serving as a single cog in his broader commercial domain. Mixing other elements into it would not only make management a nightmare, but also court all sorts of mishaps. What if the drow got carried away and had a romp right over the control console? Whose fault would it be if the airship crashed?
The loss of a single airship was measured in millions of gold coins. Flight safety had to be strictly upheld to eliminate any chance of disaster.
Catherine had been truly overwhelmed lately. Beyond managing the drow routes, the undersea campaign was still underway. The generals from Ryan had returned to fight their own war, but commanders from the elves and the Kingdom of the Unholy Hymn were still advancing the front line in the Volcanic Sea. Relations between the tieflings and the elves were strained at best, and neither side possessed a military genius like Ange Watson who could dominate through pure strategic skill, leading to frequent quarrels.
So Catherine had to manage the drow routes while making occasional appearances to quash internal squabbles and ensure the front line pushed forward smoothly. Right when she was run ragged, Anbaixiu had pulled her away.
"You had better give me a good explanation," Catherine said, sulking aboard the Black Tide. "I'm already swamped. What could possibly require my help so urgently?"
Anbaixiu nodded. "Only you can help with this. I'm going to have a chat with the Kuo-toa Goddess."
Catherine frowned. "Are you planning to blaspheme against another deity? As a friend, let me give you some advice: greed is a potent poison that corrodes the will. You already have more than enough wealth; even if you do nothing, countless gold coins will pour your way. Why must you lay your hands on a god again?"
Anbaixiu said with exasperation, "Listen to yourself. When have I ever actively looked for trouble with a deity? Every single time, it was the gods picking on me, and I was merely acting in self-defense."
Catherine gave a dry chuckle. "If there were a few more people like you acting in 'self-defense,' the Book of Deities would probably lose half its pages."
"Look at you, Catherine, learning to be sarcastic. Hanging around drow elves has tainted you! Your purely virtuous soul must have turned pitch-black."
Catherine rolled her eyes, too tired to entertain the subject.
"You'd better explain quickly. My mouth hasn't been blessed by the Prince of Lies, so I can't help you swindle any gods. Otherwise, I'm heading back."
Anbaixiu had no choice but to lay out the predicament with Talos, explaining, "I need the Kuo-toa Goddess's help. Aeolus let Talos down. But if Ariel can play through Aeolus's script and endure those trials, I believe it will satisfy Talos.
"All He wants is a hero; gender shouldn't make much difference. So in seeking out the Kuo-toa Goddess, I want Her to carry on with Her original plan—just switching the target from Aeolus to Ariel."
Catherine looked at him in shock. "You're crossing the line! Last time you deceived the princess of the Raging Tide Kingdom, and now you want to shove her into torment? You have no humanity at all!"
"Nonsense. I'm a lich—where would I get humanity?" Anbaixiu retorted. "Just tell me whether you're helping or not. This affects the safety of your drow airship routes too. If Talos is displeased, one sneeze from Him could send all our ships crashing down."
Anbaixiu was not exaggerating. Talos's will directly influenced the realm's weather. He did not even need to intervene in person; throwing a few temper tantrums would ensure perpetual thunderstorms, bringing devastating consequences to airship navigation.
Yet Catherine insisted, "I cannot stand by and watch you push an innocent girl into suffering. Even if the Lord of Storms directs His wrath at us, that is no excuse to harm an innocent soul! I would rather pray to the Elven Gods for aid than watch you do this. You weren't like this before. Back then, even when you plotted against others, you retained a shred of basic decency. When you took an entire city of Ryanites hostage, you couldn't bring yourself to kill a single one of them. That was why I continued to help you. How did you become like this?"
Staring at Catherine's hurt, disappointed expression, Anbaixiu paused.
Catherine was right. His moral standards were plummeting off a cliff—and what was worse, Anbaixiu had not even noticed.
This was the consequence of losing one's humanity. He would grow colder, more ruthless, drifting further and further from what made one human.
Anbaixiu fell silent for a moment before saying, "Perhaps this is simply my fate. From the moment I transformed into a lich, no matter how hard I tried, I was destined to slip toward the evil alignment. Why else would the undead be inherently evil?"
Catherine countered, "I don't believe that. Other undead can say that, but not you. You don't even hold the gods in reverence—there's no way you can't find another way through this."
"You overestimate me," Anbaixiu said, shaking his head. "Enough chatter. Since you refuse to let Ariel be subjected to those trials, what do you suggest we do?"
Chapter 448