35 Scattering Seeds

The Underground City Chrometaxo was probably the underground city closest to Sulfur Mountain City. Though it was not a route that merchants needed to pass through to head to other underground cities, but quite a handful of merchants would choose to head out from there to stock up on supplies, or purchase some mining products, jewels, slaves and other special products.

70% of its citizens were Dwarves and Underground Beastman, and the original city lord had been the king of the Pig Tribe, Underground Beastman Hng Hng. The land here was infertile and after the army raided a few merchants, it caused the infamy about the greediness of these pigs to spread. Nowadays, they had no other choice than to rely on their mining industry and slave trade.

When the news of the death of City Lord Hng Hng spread, it wasn't surprising that the entire Chrome City plunged into chaos.

There was a reason why the entire underground world was regarded as a land of Chaos by the Order faction. At least, in most underground cities, what they believed in was the primitive survival of the fittest, and the city lord together with the nobles were the ones with the strongest fist.

The outstanding reproductive ability of the Pig Tribe resulted in their massive population and in previous days, it was only through the balancing of power that allowed for a certain level of stability within the tribe. However, Hng Hng had died too suddenly this time and he even brought along the number one elite army of the tribe, the Blackwater army, with him on this operation, causing his son and successor, Haha, to lack enough influence and power to stabilize the situation. As such the powerful figures1 in line for the throne started wavering.

Or rather, using the word 'wavering' to describe these pigheads may be a bit too merciful. After news spread out that afternoon, all restraints were cut and the internal strife started.

The 2nd biggest tribe, the Gray Wood Lizards and Gray Dwarves teamed up together, intending to enthrone themselves. The peasants could no longer live on in the city anymore and the miners who intended to flee for their lives… Chaos was contagious and fights started breaking out everywhere. Chrome City's 700 000 population was cut down by a tenth a the end of the day.

It was truly a picture of disaster when Lilith and her team had arrived in Chrome City. If she had delayed her schedule and arrived 2 days later, Chrome City's population would have probably been cut by a half.

Of course… After the situation had settled, the victors got to reap the rewards. Very quickly, there would be a new city lord and new nobles in Chrome City, then it would transition into another relatively stable period. As for the slaves and peasants who died in the chaos? No one cared.

The underground world formed by those exiled was that kind of world. You needed to have the strongest fist, the winner ate it all while the weak ones died…

But looking at the smoke rising throughout the city and the sight of the guards and armed Beastmen casually slaughtering the citizens they should have been protecting, Lilith and the other enforcers of Sulfur Mountain City went into a rage.

Thus, Lilith activated the God Equipment Scattered Page of Codex, letting the God Equipment of Law send the entire city into the Great Judgement.

Of course, to repeat what I did the previous time, directly judging the entire city through the laws2, was impossible. Nevertheless this scattered page of a God Equipment was still a God Equipment, and had the power to back it up.

Scattered Page of the Codex (God Equipment)

Faith in Law: 367/999 (The belief from 1000 people allows it to increase by 1 point every week, and this is capped at 50 points every month. When the points reach the maximum, it will automatically replicate another Scattered Page)

In every period of time, when the God Equipment Origin of Codex collected sufficient Faith for the Law, it would create a new piece of the Scattered Page. It was a part of the God Equipment of Law Origin of Codex, and was a manifestation of its will and power. — There was a line of words on the Scattered Page (The Indefatigable One3 never rests, the gaze of his intangible eyes is always on you)

Effect 1: The Land of Law (Passive): In the heart of the city where it is placed, the entire city will become a Land of Law and in the area where itws effect is active, Enforcers can wield the Power of Law.

Effect 2: Great Judgement (Active): Requires 100 Faith in Law to activate, and consumes 1 point every minute after the activation. After the user activates it, everyone in the city will be hit with a Legend-rank Judgement Spell and be judged for their actions in the last 3 hours. If guilty, their freedom will be restricted and debuffs such as intangible cuffs and weapon seal will be inflicted on them. In the Great Judgement, the effects of the enforcer's Incantation of Law will be multiplied several folds and their power ranking will be increased by 1. (Requirements for usage: The laws in the city are in chaos, criminals are doing as they please and the city is on the verge of destruction)

Effect 3: Unknown

A God Equipment was God Equipment after all. When they were utilized, they had the potential to change the flow of a battle. The number of God Equipment that changed history were numerous. Even if the Scattered Page of the Codex was just a replica.

After the Great Judgement, all of the criminals were judged and inflicted with a bunch of debuffs while the enforcer's power ranking went up by 1… A Gold-rank like Lilith instantly became a Legend-rank and expecting the chaos in Chrome City, her 'logistics department' otherwise known as the Hall of Legislation obviously lacked firepower. So, to stabilize the situation, I sent the strongest Hall of Law over.

The Hall of Law was filled with old fellows that were well-versed with the law. Normally, they were the judges of the Supreme Court and most of them had an job from the legal system. More importantly the weakest of them were still at a Gold-rank.

This time, almost the entire of the Hall of Law got sent over. 200 Gold-ranks and 6 legend-ranks. That was to say, during the 5 hours of Great Judgement, there were 200 Legend-ranks and 6 World Saints…

It was truly a pity that Head of Hall of Law Kale was still recuperating at home. If the World Saint were to go up another rank, he would reach Myth-rank, just a step away from SemiGod. If he tried out the power in advance, it could do him some good for his advancement in the future.

But even so, 200 Legends and 6 World Saints, this was already outrageous enough. Even the previous City Lord Hng Hng had only been at Legend-pinnacle…

What happen afterwards was simple, in the 5 hours before the Faith in Law was fully expended, all of the murderers and thugs were dealt with and when the red light of sin was bright to a certain extent, it meant that the crime warrants a death penalty and the veterans from the Hall of Law, towards these ugly sinners, didn't know the meaning of the word mercy. Thus, the Great Judgement turned into a Great Execution… After the incident, the smell of blood in Chrome City didn't dissipate for 10 days.

As for those who were rescued in the catastrophe, a large portion of the citizens of Chrome City started regarding these outsiders as their saviors. Capturing the weakness of their heart after the incident, the Judgementors tried their best to spread the ideas of Law and Order and the withered God Equipment Scattered Page of Codex also started recovering under the faith of the citizens who were rescued, even if the next time it could be used was 3 months later…

This movement to taking over the city was bound to shock the entire underground world. Its effects would be far greater than the setback faced by the two Underground Autarchs…

After all, the opponents that the 2 Underground Autarch had been facing were the almighty SemiGods and the Forbidden Spell that had judged all of the criminals and destroyed the armies of the invaders could be explained as a prepared Forbidden Spell trap. But this sudden appearance of a powerful army, over 200 Legends and 6 World Saints, this could no longer be explained by saying that they were prepared. This only showed off the power and the peculiarity of this new Power of Law.

I could already predict what would happen afterwards. Very quickly, the information of Power of Law and the Law Jobs was bound to be spread across the entire underground world.

Perhaps, my Justice Knights created by the Power of Law wouldn't be able to travel around like the Holy Knights and were unable to fight and tank to make a huge difference in an offensive war. But, as protectors of the Order and Law, when they were protecting citizens from villains, they could easily exert a battle power several times stronger.

My Judgementors didn't need to go around like Priests to spread their teachings, sing praises about the greatness of the Holy Light and the purity of the Order Gods. They only needed to spread around the Codex of Law, understand and analyze the cases and create a simple court one after another, punishing the evil-doers and redressing the grievances of the weak. Then, the normal people who benefited from it and achieved a peaceful life would naturally start believing in the law and provide the Power of Faith4.

My Law Incantationers studied the integration of the legislation with the power of the rules, creating new Incantations of Law, increasing the Power of Law5 and the fighting ability of Law Jobs.

Power of Law? It was a purely defensive and targeted power. Very quickly, the underground city lords would end up with this kind of conclusion and their hearts would start to waver. After all, who wouldn't wish the land they governed to remain peaceful and prosperous?

Mass producing security officers using the Power of Law to provide support to the internal security of their land, one would understand just by thinking about it that it was something beneficial.

Simply producing these kind of Law-class experts wouldn't help them rule the world (If they joined the army of invaders, the sin of starting a war would cause them to lose their Law Job and their Power of Law), however they could use the manpower, that would originally stay behind to maintain peace in the city, to fight the war, leaving behind these Law-class experts to protect their homeland (Law Jobs were allowed to join in the fight to protect a city), so wouldn't it also improve their total fighting power in the end?

The underground world's pursuit of strength was never-ending. Very soon, those who arrived at this conclusion would send people over to learn, steal and even snatch… As for me, I intended to give out the Codex of Law for free and not just mentioning the secrets to practicing the arts, I would even gladly give out the God Equipment Scattered Pages of Codex to relatively friendly cities.

Hehe, whoever desired it could go ahead and take it. Naturally I would warn them beforehand, that it was a defensive Power of Order that targeted sinners. That was to say, if the opponent was not a sinner or if their sins weren't as heavy, then it was far from matching up to the almost omnipotent Holy Light.

Of course, these underground lords wouldn't give up just because of my warnings and instead, they would go mad over the limited stocks of the God Equipment… Hehe, I was looking forward to the day that they, who had committed the most sins, were brought up to the execution platform by their own citizens. Would they remember the words that I said to them the day I passed the Power of Law over to them?

If everything went the way I planned it, the Power of Law would spread to every single corner of the underground world very quickly… Maybe, in a short period of time, a decade or two, its effects may not be plain to see. But when a new generation wielding the Power of Law arose, hehe, the entire underground world would gradually undergo a massive change.

Furthermore, the underground world wasn't the end of the road for the Power of Law… The Holy Church who had long received the Codex from me should be trying it out on the surface and achieving very good results.

As people who respected the Order, they would be even more obsessed with the advantages the Power of Law granted for maintaining security and I the process of judging of crimes. Maybe, 3 or 4 decades later, the existence of Law Jobs would be natural in every city.

This was my wish and also the most important part of my plan, to let the seeds fly along with the wind. I could not dare to be hasty about this, rather I was more than willing to bide my time…

Perhaps, someone would be able to see through my scheme, oh, no, since it was all exposed from the outset, calling it a project should be more accurate. Even if were to see through my project, these gigantic benefit that I offered would make anyone happily swallow this sweet poison. Afterwards, as the roots of the Power of Law would stretch deep and grow healthily, the intangible executioner's blade would eventually land on the heads of the underground city lords.

But the current me didn't have the leisure to think so far ahead. Only yesterday did the ambassador team and the construction workers arrive Chrome City.

Looking at this pile of wreckage, the faces of the citizens were still filled with smiles and hope for the future. Indubitably, it meant that our takeover had already won the support of the citizens. Thus, even though I already found her very trustworthy, in this instant, my satisfaction bar for Lilith shot through the roof.

In just a few short days, she managed to reorganize the entire government structure and judiciary system and wielded the authority of the city lord temporarily in her hands. After everything started to settle down, she would pass the power on to the Public Council that was about to be created.

As for the authority to write the legislation? Of course it belonged in the hands of Sulfur Mountain City's Supreme Court's Chrome Branch, converting this city into a Land of Law.

Indeed, if we didn't consider the unspeakable private problems that she had, she was the hard-to-come-by 'normal person' in the top brass of the judiciary system. Even more so, she was the head of logistics team of the entire judiciary system, so her efficiency in getting things done was top-notch.

"You should bear with it for the moment and stay as the city lord before the Council elections are completed. Afterwards are you interested in becoming the Branch Head?"

The moment I said these words, the faces of the others who were alongside her hardened and shook their heads vehemently behind her back. They weren't worried about the 'young' Lilith catching up with them, but…

"Lord, please reconsider. If I were to become the Branch Head here, I'm afraid that problems will occur in the Sulfur Mountain City Headquarters. After all, the other Heads are…"

There wasn't any need to say anything further. As a disciple-in-name of the Saint Margaret, even if Kale wasn't injured, he would have been obsessed and spent his time in books and scrolls, combining theory together with experiments to create new Incantations of Law. As for Kelvin, his presence was too weak and his leadership ability could almost be entirely ignored. As for the last of the Four Heavenly Kings of the Judiciary, the Guardian of Steel Xueti … Looking around me, I didn't see any Guardian of Steel, only a pervert who was currently discussing his experiences in nude running with Eaglestorm!

"Yes, just like how you can't function without Lady Silver Rose, the 4 Halls 1 Court can't do without me for now." There was a tinge of pride within these words that Lilith said. She regarded her previous accomplishments in her job as the pride of her life.

Indeed, with Elisa as my private head of intelligence and my outer conscience, constantly reminding me not to go too far, then Lilith was the head of logistics and the only conscience of the entire Sulfur Mountain City's 4 Halls 1 Court, allowing the humongous system to operate healthily. If she wasn't here, big problems might certainly arise.

"Un, then let Kelvin transfer here. Just find him a helper from your Hall of Legislation to help him deal with his work. Are the ambassadors from Kajah and Ainsterna6 here yet?"

"Kajah's ambassador is already here. Ainsterna's ambassador should be here in a few more days."

I nodded my head satisfied. This was also one of the reason why I had to stop at Chrome City. Since I had already offended 2 of the Underground Autarchs, then naturally, I should try to get along with the other two. Luckily they had decisively stretched out their hand of 'friendship' to me.

Joining the Underground Alliance, needless to say, required an invitation letter. I would be lowering our value if I simply knocked on their door. Right now, these ambassadors were definitely bring along the invitation letter that I desired.

Just like how the surface Elves and Beastmen's relationship was full bloodshed and hatred, the Dark Elves and underground Beastmen were deep-rooted enemies. The agents of Devils and the agent of Demons even more so, destined to be mutual enemies. The Beastman's Sovereign Shou's relationship with Kajah and Ainsterna was destined to be fractured and Molly was simply an unreliable 2-faced ally. Even if the enemy of an enemy couldn't be considered an ally, they could form an alliance built on benefits.

However trusting that the Dark Elves who believed that Betrayal and Murder was something to be highly regarded, or seriously treat the cunning and evil Devils to not look for loopholes in an alliance, that was equal to binding yourself with a knot and then handing over that knot to the other party… Not a single one of the Underground Autarchs was easy to deal with.

"Has the news about the Eternal Night Scepter been successfully spread?" As I predicted, the other party gave his confirmation and I turned my attention to the field.

There, 16 gigantic Goblin robots were nervously testing out their weapons. The engineers from Sulfur Mountain City were currently working their hardest to rush these robots out and Chrome City's outstanding Gray Dwarves Blacksmith with a history of mining would become a steady pillar of support for these engineers. At least, with the city's rich mine reserves, the metal used for these big fellows was much better than the original, much firmer and long-lasting.

"No one listens to the words of the weak in the underground world. If the weak have a treasure that no one steals, that can only mean the treasure is a fake. Then, if we want to play out a show, we should go all the way. Before Ainsterna's ambassador arrives, let's finish building our 'Treasure-protecting army'. Right, are these toys really safe?"

"This is the 3rd time you have asked today. Roren has already done 17 edits on the blueprint to refine it to perfection, it is definitely safe. Un, … in theory."

"Theory again. I was afraid that they would edit it to be too perfect. They're always unsatisfied with the blueprints and try to incorporate some of their unique skills and secret techniques into the product they are making and call it perfection… The last time, a Goblin did some refinement to a shaver it destroyed the entire barber shop. 2 days ago, when I asked those trouble-causing bastards again, I realized that I overlooked a blind spot."

"Un?"

"At that time, even though the giant robot was surrounded, but in the end, everyone was fighting their own battle and no one bothered with the big fellow."

"Then how was it destroyed… I get it, I will immediately make Roren and Miheuer make an 18th edit."

Yes, that giant robot wasn't destroyed by any external attacks but rather, from what I expected from the start, suicide explosion… That being said, I was starting to feel that these bastards who were punished deserved it. While getting engrossed in fighting, they all actually forgot about the primary objective…

"Right, could you change the name? The name makes me panic."

A string of words could be seen from the front, Roland No.3, Roland No.4… all the way to Roland No.18… These 'Rolands' who could explode anytime, how was it possible for me, Lich Roland, to not panic?

"I have already answered this many times but the Goblins and Dwarves insist on using their creator's name and say that this is a tradition. In fact, their pilots are also very adamant, making it impossible to change it."

"The pilots? You mean those we chose from the Dark Elves? They shouldn't have a reason to insist on it though? I thought they hated Lich Roland to the guts?"

"Yes, they really hate him very much. But they say, sitting in Roland Number X makes them feel like they are sitting inside the body of their enemies. Looking at the painted name of Roland, it reminds them of their treasures and dowry that was destroyed twice, giving them infinite motivation. This way, they won't forget their vows to catch that bastard, no matter where he escapes to and what he disguises as… Lord, why are you squatting there, are you feeling unwell?"

"No, I just feel like I should reduce my size a little bit. They are so tall there, so they shouldn't be able to saw my clearly, right…?"