Chapter 622
Are these your last words?
"Thank you for your help. I'll take this person back with me and give you an explanation later."
Gabriel bowed slightly, said a few simple words, and then flew away from the scene with the archbishop.
"Hmm, this should be fine, right?"
Xie Bai nodded, then looked into the distance.
north.
After Xie Bai finished dealing with the matters of the archbishop, Nereus had already arrived in Northgard, which was ruled by the Northern King.
Unlike the South, which is warm all year round, the North is mostly covered in snow during winter, and even when spring finally arrives, the warmth only lasts for a short period of half a month.
This has led to many things in the North revolving around energy, but the North is also a very barren region, with its energy supply consistently lagging behind the other three regions.
Logically speaking, such a place would hardly be able to give rise to civilization, let alone life. It was only with the arrival of the Northern King that the North was able to establish its first city, which is now Northgard.
When Nereus arrived in Northgard, the first thing he saw was the huge boiler in the city center.
Geothermal Unit
That is Northgard's main energy supply facility, which is said to have been built by the Northern King when he broke through the earth's surface. Now, thousands of years later, the geothermal engine still roars every day.
Thanks to geothermal power, Northgate hardly has to worry about energy issues, but that's precisely where the problem lies.
Despite having geothermal engines with virtually unlimited energy, the living conditions of people in Northgard are still very worrying.
Each household has a limited energy supply quota, which generally only accounts for about 80% of the minimum survival requirement.
If you want to maintain a minimum standard of living or further improve your quality of life, you have no choice but to work harder at your job.
This is based on the premise that Northgard is the capital of the North.
If we look at other towns, those places without even geothermal generators, the living conditions experienced by people are even more severe.
There's been a blizzard recently, and you can hardly see any pedestrians on the streets.
Nereus had only taken a few steps into the city when he noticed a person suddenly appear in the deserted square.
【Northern King - Florence lv.215】
The Northern King was dressed entirely in simple white, as if he had blended into the surrounding wind and snow.
Upon seeing the other party appear, Nereus instinctively wanted to draw his sword to fight, but suddenly sensed something unusual.
"Strange, he didn't show any hostility at all..."
Just as Nereus was wondering, the Northern King suddenly walked towards her and beckoned her, saying...
"Let's go to the nearest pub. Hopefully, we can have a proper talk there."
Having said that, the Northern King swept past Nereus and disappeared into the snowstorm.
Nereus glanced back, hesitated for a moment, and finally chose to follow the trail left by the Northern King, all the way to a dimly lit tavern.
Pushing open the door, I found that apart from a customer in white, only the bartender was at the front desk.
"Oh, another guest. I thought everyone would be indoors at this time, and not many people would be out strolling around. Please make yourself at home, and just let me know if you need anything."
After a few brief greetings, the bartender ignored Nereus and continued wiping the table.
Having confirmed that this was just an ordinary tavern, Nereus sat down directly in front of the white-robed guest and asked.
"Speak, what do you want from me to come here? If it's just to talk, we could have done that outside."
Faced with Nereus's questioning, the Northern King, disguised as an ordinary person, raised his wine cup and casually replied.
"It's nothing, it's just that it's warmer here, which is more suitable for entertaining guests. Also, I like the wine here."
The Northern King held his wine cup, and after a moment, he pursed his lips and said.
"Guest from the Northern Border, I admire your strength in defeating the Sharp Lord and the Spirit Emperor, and I know that you have come here for my life, but before the battle officially begins, please allow me to say a few words."
Upon hearing this, Nereus was about to take action without further ado when he heard the Northern King suddenly speak.
"Human beings are inherently base, whether they are kings on high or ordinary people struggling at the bottom."
"Back then, Feng was a hero who led people in rebellion, and he remained so even after he was crowned king."
"But when the benefits of war corrupted his men and, in turn, led the leader to veer towards conflict, the hero lost his way, making the resistance increasingly fierce and ultimately becoming a new source of chaos in the East."
"And that Spirit Emperor, although he was good at sensing people's emotions and tried his best to solve their demands, eventually became numb and closed himself off because of people's increasingly excessive greed."
"As for that Mountain Lord, ha, he was a tyrant from the very beginning. The reason the Western Region improved later was essentially due to the Mountain Lord's self-change. But if he hadn't done that, wouldn't the Western Region have never seen the light of day again?"
"Therefore, people can never be relied upon. Even the wisest king will eventually die. Only a system can be reliable in the long run."
"Unfortunately, I am also one of those despicable people. I am not yet capable of creating a perfect and consistently reliable system."
"What I can do is to ensure that civilization does not die out, while establishing a system that prevents people from constantly taking, so that even after I die, people will not turn to greed."
After listening to the Northern King's account, Nereus pondered for a while before finally speaking.
"So these are your last words?"
"..."
The Northern King put down his wine cup, speaking in a casual tone.
"It's not really a last message. This is the path I chose myself, and there's nothing to regret."
"But I want to thank you for finally listening to me finish what I have to say. Even if you don't understand, it's okay. It's enough that someone remembers."
As he spoke, the figure of the Northern King faded away before Nereus, leaving behind his last words.
"There are too many people in the city. If you want to fight, come out into the snow."
Watching the other person leave, Nereus glanced down at the table and then followed them out of the tavern.
Just then, the bartender finished wiping the table.
"Um?"
Looking at the empty house, he looked somewhat bewildered.
"Where did they go? They were just here a moment ago, did they leave...? Wait, it seems like they haven't paid yet!"
After the bartender realized what had happened, he was about to go out to check if the person had gone far when the door was pushed open by someone else.
"Hello, may I sit here?"
Xie Bai poked his head out and politely asked the bartender.
"Oh, by the way, do you have any other drinks? I don't drink alcohol, thank you."
……