Chapter 5  : Chief Justice (G)

Sulfur Mountain City was a good place. This was a commonly accepted fact in the Underground World.

In order to understand what kind of place Sulfur Mountain City was, one must first understand what kind of place the Underground World was like.

‘A land for exiles.’ This was probably the common understanding among those living on the surface.

The Underground World was a crevice under the continent of Eich. The total size of the Underground World was immeasurable, its geography far too complex to be mapped out properly. It was even said that there was a route in the Underground World that led straight to the Chaos Abyss.

Initially, there weren’t many residents here, but as eras passed, it became a land of gathering for the exiled.

The elves had exiled the dark elves, the dwarves had exiled the gray dwarves, and the gnomes had exiled the wild gnomes. 40% of the beastman tribe were chased by other factions into the Underground World. Even the powerful great dragons chased the brutal Red Dragons and cunning Black Dragons into exile here. This was also where the Titans had exiled the Volcanic Giants.

The dominant race of the surface, the humans, were no exception as well. Although it was all their brethren they exiled, it was the most complicated bunch of all, including witches, extremists, cultists, necromancers, revolutionists, demon worshippers, scientists and so on. It seemed as though the Underground World was a disposal ground.

As time passed, the races of the Underground World became far too complicated to be calculated, but there was one common rule here.

In the Underground World, there was no order. Strength spoke the loudest. The winners earned it all while the losers were enslaved.

Even in the chaotic Chaos Faction, this was one of the messiest places. The Underground City Lords waged and fought wars all year round.

They annexed land, stole rations, attacked cities and enslaved the population. Of course, the countries on the surface were no better, but due to the restrictions by the different religions worshipping the Gods of the Order Faction and the different Councils of each country, it was still mainly peaceful there. However, in the land abandoned by the Gods, the Underground World, the war had never stopped.

Those who were able to survive in the chaotic Underground World, when placed in comparison with those on the surface, were far from being weaklings.

Well, if we were to use the analogy of a game, the Underground was a dangerous zone for the high-leveled, opened later on in the game. Only players above LV40 were able to form parties to enter.

In most of the cities of the Underground, due to the presence of diverse races, there would normally be just one dominant race oppressing the others.

But, Sulfur Mountain City was different.

This city lay next to the Sulfur River but did not have a long history. It was slightly younger than 130 years, and in the eyes of those tribes blessed with longevity, that was no more than a blink of an eye.

But they accomplished a deed that the surrounding Underground City Lords had been unable to achieve for a few millennia.

There was no war here, no nobility or oppression.

In fact, there was no ruling race here. The City Lord Adam Han, a well-known hero, took up the lonesome job of becoming the City Lord. Despite Adam, a human, being the City Lord here, humans were the scarcer race within the city. Furthermore, there wasn’t even a single ruling-class nobility present here.

And, the fellow being was jokingly said to be muscle-brained. The City Lord was even more renowned for having totally no interest in power or land.

Contrary to the armies in other Underground Cities, which numbered in the tens of thousands, Sulfur Mountain City only had a few hundred people in the reserve army and public security team. In fact, the strongest of them was the Town Order Security Army, better known as Town Security, which mainly comprised of dark elves. Yet even so, their scale didn’t even cross the 800 mark.

In the chaotic Underground World, pacifists were synonymous with weaklings. With their backs to the mines in Sulfur Mountain coupled with their weak defense force, they naturally attracted aggression from the other Underground City Lords.

But, after a couple of battles, no one dared to set their gazes on them anymore.

The reason? Their fists were strong enough.

No army? In actuality, there was no need of one.

Ein Mezus, the ancient Red Dragon who was titled Disaster of Veron, lived in the sulfur mines behind Sulfur Mountain City. This evil dragon once laid waste to dozens of human kingdoms, but for reasons unknown, it became the guardian beast of this city.

Adam Han was one of the most renowned heroes of this era; he had once killed Undead Emperor Lord Yongye [1] 1 and saved the world. After coming to the Underground World alone, he destroyed a city of dark elves with just brute force. That was 40,000-50,000 dark elves and a hundred thousand of other races. He himself was probably the most famous Thousand Man Killer.

The Great Saint Margaret, nicknamed ‘The Child of Heaven’, was comrades with Adam on their journey to seal Lord Yongye. She was rumored to be a remarkable existence capable of summoning an army of angels by herself.

It was said that there was once an Underground City Lord who, while on his way to attack Sulfur Mountain City, was ‘persuaded’ to leave by a prominent figure without even catching sight of the city walls…

It was said that as long as the three heads of Sulfur Mountain City existed, it would remain an impregnable fortress.

In my System, these three fellows were LV200-300s perfect super boss level characters. Not mentioning the current era, even after 3 or 4 updates in my game walk-through database, they were still extremely powerful characters, far beyond the reach of those LV80-90s barely Legend-ranked Underground City Lords in the surroundings.

It was due to their strong protection that this city had turned into the only clean land in this chaotic Underground World.

However, having only military strength was insufficient. The Great Saint took up the role as the Head of Internal Affairs and kept the city in good order, while the Chief Justice Wumianzhe—yup, that’s me—even went on to create the most equal and fair laws in the entire Eich.

As for the City Lord Adam, he spent most of his time doing what he usually did, being a useless lucky charm.

Coincidentally, I, who was rather close to the 3 heads of Sulfur Mountain City, became one of its founders.

Previously, when I was questioned by the Town Security, I didn’t lie. I really am a good employee with a proper job—the Chief Justice of Sulfur Mountain City!

Although my memories had been mostly scattered after three deaths, I still managed to retain most of the important knowledge.

As a lawyer and judge in my previous life, I had accumulated knowledge of legislation far beyond that of this era. The legislation I had written for Sulfur Mountain City had become a role model for the entire Underground World, and the surface dwellers even sent scholars to study from us.

The conflicts due to the diverse races? I carved Martin Luther King Jr.’s ‘I Have A Dream’ on the city markets and city gates such that everyone entering or leaving the city would see it. And this was only the first step.

I established racial discrimination to be illegal, and offenders would be severely dealt with. I then came up with a series of policies to tackle racial tensions, and I severely dealt with a couple of fools who crossed my laws to give a stern warning to others.

As someone interested in sociology, I understood that society would get used to the presence of a rule as long as it gained recognition and agreement on the surface. After sufficient time, it would be viewed as being morally correct.

As an immortal undead, the only things I didn’t lack were time and stamina. After spending long years trying to change other people’s mindset, I had at least succeeded in planting the ideas of racial harmony in the minds of the citizens of Sulfur Mountain City.

The comparatively harmonious relationship between different races was the basis of Sulfur Mountain City’s prosperity, and the next step would be security.

Killing a person and stealing his items was a heavy crime? In other Underground Cities, one could pay his way through his crimes, causing rich merchants and nobilities to not treat folks of other races with proper dignity and respect. Here, however, it was a non-negotiable death penalty. Under the threat of heavy punishment, the security of the city turned for the better.

Of course, there must be sufficient strength to put these legislations into action, and a group of queer dark elves, who were driven out of their clan for believing in the Holy Light, became the cornerstone of the security team. After devoting a lot of resources, I managed to turn them into a team of Public Security Officers trusted by the citizens.

Sometimes I did regret getting such good equipment for the Town Security. Giving them so much power made the difficulty of completing my daily quests twice as difficult and the frequency of me being locked in a cell increase progressively… Cough—cough—let’s not talk about how I managed to shoot myself in the foot. Let’s continue talking about how the blood and tears of a transcender ushered in a new era for the Underground City.

The religious conflicts that resulted in the splitting headaches of the leaders of other parts of the Underground World? This was indubitably a difficult problem for other cities to handle due to the physical manifestation of Gods in the world of Eich. The Underground City Lords were often believers of certain Gods, so how can they be trusted to be impartial? An oppression against certain races would cause endless conflicts in the city.

In this city… amongst the three heads, Red Dragon Ein Mezus believed in gold coins, the City Lord Adam Han was well-known for not having a faith, while the Great Saint believed in knowledge and Adam…

Yup, you didn’t hear it wrong. The Great Saint has had a ‘crush’ on the Great Hero for very long and this was a well-known fact throughout the world. However, the blockhead seemed to be ignorant of it. Little Red and I couldn’t stand looking at the situation any longer so we trashed his wedding reception twice. [2] 2

Of course, I couldn’t deny my ulterior motives. Other than the Evil Points I earned from causing utter chaos, looking at Adam’s dumb face on the verge of tears was really gratifying.In their eyes, defying orders meant starting a war against the entire Law Organization of Sulfur Mountain City. Even if they tried to escape, they might not be able to escape from the hands of the judges. What was in front of the dark elves seemed to be a dire situation where they might very well end up exiled.

In the face of such dire circumstances, everyone’s heads drooped as they waited for me to pass my verdict.

“My Lord! Please consider how I worked for Sulfur Mountain City for so many years! Please only punish me!” Diana knelt with a teary face.

A respected female Knight Captain just knelt down; how could the other knights still continue to remain standing? Thus, the sight of a group of kneeling knights unfolded in front of my eyes.

Aiyo! Looking at how deep their sisterhood was, I started to feel sentimental myself.

In reality, the Town Security Captain Diana was also a LV81 Legend-rank Knight, and her abilities were definitely above mine. As for why she was unable to stand up against me? Other than her guilty conscience, it was the workings of my God-tier equipment.

The enchantments of this silver robe were done by me during the most powerful phase of my life. Initially, I had used it mostly to scare other people, but after I became a judge, I mainly used it to pressurize the accused. After realizing the Incantation of Law, the Elite-ranked magic robe turned into a piece of SemiGod equipment for no apparent reason.

[SemiGod Equipment: The Dignity of Judicature (Bound)]

[Defence: 10 Points (Even metal plates only have 5 Points of defense. For a cloth magic robe to reach this level of defense is already very incredible.]

[Unique Ability 1, The Self-Judgement of the Sinner: Induces guilt within sinners, and as time passes sinners would fall deeper into a state of fear and helplessness. The greater the sin, the greater the effect of this ability. The innocents are exempted from this ability.]

[Unique Ability 2, The Dispassionate Judge: The user equipped with the mask would have his charm fixed at 100. Resistance against seduction, detection, illusory and similar magic +20.]

[Unique Ability 3 isn’t activated as the user doesn’t satisfy the basic requirements.]

[Unique Ability 4 isn’t activated as the user doesn’t satisfy the basic requirements.]

[God Equipment Curse, Weight of the Gavel: The user equipped must have a job related to the legislative system and must carry out his job impartially. If he were to twist the laws for personal reasons or speak falsely, the law robe will transform into an unquenchable fire, destroying the user’s soul and physical body.]

[“Please use the authority granted prudently. The choice made after the gavel strikes down doesn’t merely decide the rise and fall of an individual, but represents the dignity of the legislative system and its impartiality.”—Chief Justice Wumianzhe]

In the continent of Eich, SemiGod equipment and such were that troublesome. Its abilities were specific albeit strong but were often affixed with some kind of troublesome God Equipment Curse.

The magical robe was exactly the case. Other ordinary robes could only boost the effects of spells cast. It, however, didn’t boost one’s intelligence, but in exchange, it came with several powerful special abilities.

The first Unique Ability saved me quite a lot of hassle while on trial. Be it a serial killer or the head of a triad, as long as they retained a shred of conscience they would all become a bunch of chickens in front of me. As for the second Unique Ability, it allowed me to disregard all attempts at figuring out my true identity.

As for the God Equipment Curse, being unable to defy the laws set and being unable to lie wasn’t too big of a deal to me. Firstly, I was single, and thus there was no reason for me to flout the laws for personal reasons.

Taking a step back, if I were to engage in a scam, it would be more than sufficient to play a word game to mislead others. Instead, using lies that could be exposed were actually less effective.

“I don’t lie, but this doesn’t mean that you are able to understand the true meaning of my words. Don’t blame me if you misunderstand my words.” The SemiGod Equipment Curse might not work on me but its power didn’t take a cut.

Right now, the law enforcers, who believed in the Holy Light, had overstepped their authority and were filled with guilt. Under the pressure of the SemiGod equipment, they felt as though invisible chains were restraining their bodies and pushing them down, causing them to be unable to straighten their bodies.

I estimate that by simply standing there, the pressure the other party encountered wouldn’t be inferior to that of a dragon, and this would continue to increase as we proceeded on with the judging. However, seeing the current circumstances, if I continued to pressure them so, I might end up seeing some girls wet their pants.

Alright, this should be sufficient. If I were to go too far, they might just snap and do something desperate. Furthermore, I had no intention of driving them from the city.

Thus, I turned around to leave, leaving just a few words behind.magic

“I just happened to pass by and didn’t see anything. Tomorrow, remember to get your captain to file the report.”

Hearing my words, I could hear tears of joy and thanks sounding from my back.

“Thank you, my lord!!”

After I turned about the corner, the dark elves collapsed onto the ground together, some of them hugging each other crying, celebrating the dangerous circumstances they had just overcome. I smiled under my mask.

“Lord Wumianzhe may seem frightening but he is actually a kind person.”

“That scared me! Momo almost suffocated to death. Sister Anna, let Momo rest on you a bit.”

“You wrench, don’t touch as you please. You should go find Lilith Milan instead.”

I left a little toy to listen in on their conversation—cough—I meant the naughty wind delivered their discussion to my ear.

“To listen seriously to the complaints of your subordinates is the responsibility of a superior. If I don’t know who is talking bad about me, what if I mistreat the wrong person…? That girl is called Stacey, right? She really knows how to talk. Of course I’m a good person.” My mood lifted significantly and I decided to lighten their punishment. However, in the next instant, I knew my mood would worsen.

That was because just by the street, my loyal maid, Elisa, had been waiting for a long time.

“Master, what happened to you? To think you would actually let them off?”

“The law is dead, but we are alive. A legislation with no flexibility or humanity would only create grudges. Their actions and motives weren’t wrong; it is just that the procedure they worked by is illegal. Exiling them would be going too far. See how the great me dealt with this perfectly, holding the executioner’s blade high up in the sky yet putting it down lightly. This is how a true superior official should act; learn a bit.”

“The truth?” Her lips curled in disdain. The maid with a vicious tongue, my number one loyal servant, once again chose to ignore my facade and glee.

“… It isn’t fun playing them to death at one go. Haha! I really earned quite a bit today. Not only was my daily quest a huge success, I also got a handle and a favor over the Town Security. Heh—those lasses, see how I will deal with you all tomorrow! You all actually dared to steal the feed from the mouth of my Ah Bao!?”

I would forever remember the dark elf named Diana, that evil bitch who had taken Ah Bao’s bone from me.

Tomorrow, when you go to the Supreme Court to file the report, I will let you understand what a superior’s harassment meant. I will let you understand what non-violent aggression was like, what bloodshed in the office meant!

Chasing you out of the city? As dark elf knights who believed in the Holy Light, you all are probably the only such ones in the entire Underground World. Wouldn’t I lose a hard-to-come-by toy and useful tool like that?

Elisa sighed helplessly.

“As expected, I really shouldn’t hold any expectations for your conscience. You really are evil to your bones.”

“No, I am a good person! One day, I will definitely convert those Evil Points to Justice Points, then work hard at doing good deeds. Then, I will finally be able to enjoy a good reputation!”

From a certain viewpoint, my current situation could be said to be caused by that mess of a System… Having to do evil deeds to earn points, just how could I earn a good reputation doing evil deeds? I even had to wear a metal mask just to go to work…

If only that was all. What I really couldn’t tolerate was that…

“…That darn mask and robe, for it to be a SemiGod equipment set. Just by looking at me, those beautiful ladies are either stunned with fear or shaking their legs and peeing their pants, causing me to still not have a girlfriend despite being advanced in age.”

“No, what is wrong isn’t the mask or your dress up but your brain. An undead lich looking for a girlfriend? …Hehe, I can’t even laugh at such a joke. Right, I heard that while you were still a human, you retained your virginity… Reality may be harsh, but please don’t escape from it.”

“Tsk! I don’t want to scare you, but there’s a female who says that she wants to marry me.”

“Aiyo! Which necrophile would have such heavy taste… No, I get it, it must be some naive loli, agreeing to marry someone after receiving a lollipop. Even though you aren’t popular, but to go to the extent of lying to lolis just to satisfy your own pride, that really is too pitiful… Aiyaya, master, why does your face look so awful? Don’t tell me Elisa has guessed it correctly again?”

“Elisa, you bastard! I… I want to be a good person! I also want to have a girlfriend!”

Thus… This time, the citizens of Sulfur Mountain City had the honor of seeing the tears of the Head of their Supreme Court.

Note:

. means ‘Eternal Night.’

. Little Red is the nickname for Red Dragon Ein Mezus.