Chapter 1682: The Warden
Liu Ye said, “I went there once by accident, but I left very quickly.”
“He went to save me,” Fei Hua explained.
Liu Ye smiled and reached out to grasp Fei Hua’s hand. “We survived that incident and became Envoys, so it was worth it.”
Fei Hua gently smiled back at her husband.
“Alliance Leader, it’s very easy to get lost in Gaia’s Swamp, and most Enlighters aren’t able to withstand the toxic gas here. Many of our prisoners have even been killed by the toxic gas. Actually, the Hall of Honor ordered us to protect the prisoners for a certain amount of time, so they shouldn’t be dead, but Sir Warden is too lazy, and I’m too busy to care for everyone. I hope that you won’t blame us, Alliance Leader Lu.”
The toxic gas that Lord Piggy was referring to was actually death energy, but the pig did not use the term “death energy.”
“Sir Warden just watches videos all day and doesn’t care about anything. I don’t know what he’s watching, but sometimes he laughs very loudly, and he’s even killed some prisoners with his laughter. A lot of the prisoners say that I’m the warden while he’s basically the a.s.sistant warden. What do you think, Alliance Leader Lu?” Lord Piggy babbled on without end, and he even tried to imply that he wanted to become the prison warden.
Lu Yin replied, “That’s a good idea. It’s not bad.”
Lord Piggy was delighted. “Right? Right? Alliance Leader Lu, you also think that I should be the warden, right?”
Lu Yin smiled.
A dark castle soon appeared in front of them. It was tens of thousands meters tall, and it took up nearly half of Gaia’s Swamp.
Lu Yin was surprised. “Is that where Sir Warden stays?”
Lord Piggy exasperatedly answered, “Yes. Sir Warden is too enormous, so that’s the only place where he can stay. Alliance Leader Lu, it cost an incredible amount to build that castle, and if we had used those funds to hire guards instead, we would have been able to double our defenses. Sigh, Sir Warden is too wasteful.”
Lu Yin listened quietly as Lord Piggy kept slandering the Warden. The various guards bowed as the pig and his guests pa.s.sed by, and they soon entered the castle.
Lord Piggy suddenly picked up his speed after entering the castle, and he ran straight in a certain direction.
While the castle was enormous, its layout was very simple. The interior had the appearance of a storage s.p.a.ce, as there were not many rooms or facilities. Actually, there was nothing more than a path that led to the Warden.
Lord Piggy rushed down this path, and Lu Yin saw a tremendous number of rune lines up ahead that were comparable to Cang Zhou’s. As they neared the end of the path, a huge toe suddenly appeared that Lord Piggy crashed into.
Liu Ye and Fei Hua leaped down to the ground with Lu Yin and Emperor Luo. When Lord Piggy collided with the huge toe, it looked like the pig was used to doing such a thing, and Lu Yin felt that the pig had done it intentionally, likely in hopes of killing the Warden from the impact.
“Hmm? What’s wrong?” A loud voice rang out, and a huge wine flask rose high.
Lu Yin looked up to see the Warden’s face, who was a colossal giant 30,000 meters tall.
He had learned of this before arriving at Gaia’s Swamp.
To be honest, he had not expected the warden of Gaia’s Swamp to be a colossal giant, as Chen Huang had mentioned that the colossal giants had gone extinct. The chief of the colossal giants clearly had not known that there was actually a tribe member in Gaia’s Swamp.
Glug glug glug.
The Warden took a long drink of his wine.
Lord Piggy shouted, “Sir Warden, guests are here! It’s Alliance Leader Lu from the Great Eastern Alliance.”
The Warden lowered his flask and wiped his mouth before glancing down. “Who’s here?”
“Alliance Leader Lu! The honorable Alliance Leader Lu is here!” Lord Piggy screamed.
The Warden glanced at Lu Yin and the others, surprised. “Who are these experts? Are you here to break into the prison?”
“Sir Warden, it’s Alliance Leader Lu from the Great Eastern Alliance!” Lord Piggy shouted desperately.
Lu Yin shot a sympathetic look at the pig. The creature would probably die soon if it kept on shouting like that. He was even more sure now that it had run into the Warden’s toe as an act of revenge.
The Warden knelt down and looked at the humans. “Oh, Alliance Leader Lu, I remember you. You’re the one who defeated Ze Cu. Why are you here?”
Lu Yin answered, “I have someone to commit to Gaia’s Swamp.”
The Warden took another swig from his flask. “It’s not that easy for someone to be condemned to Gaia’s Swamp. What did you bring me?”
“Sir Warden, you’re being too rude!” Lord Piggy shouted as he ran into the Warden’s toe again.
Lu Yin grinned. “Do I need to bring a present in order to have a criminal imprisoned in Gaia’s Swamp?”
The Warden was shocked. “A criminal? You’re not sending someone here to become a guard? That won’t do. There’s only 3,000 chains here in Gaia’s Swamp, and we don’t have any free s.p.a.ce.”
Lu Yin asked, “Are there no empty s.p.a.ces?”
“No, no. Just leave,” the Warden said in frustration while resuming drinking.
Lord Piggy was overjoyed. He had kept quiet in hopes that Lu Yin would end up in a quarrel with the Warden, as that would increase the pig’s chances of becoming Warden when the overseers met. Lord Piggy already knew that Lu Yin held a lot of influence over the overseers.
“If there’s no s.p.a.ce, then just execute a prisoner,” Lu Yin suggested.
The Warden smashed his flask onto the ground and glared at Lu Yin. His terrifying aura swept outwards, and Lord Piggy was pushed away.
Liu Ye and Fei Hua moved in front of Lu Yin and glared at the Warden.
The Warden bellowed, “Where do you think this is? No means no!”
Lu Yin’s gaze grew sharp, and he locked eyes with the Warden. He took some wine out of his cosmic ring that he had prepared beforehand.
He had previously drank with Zi Rong, Cai Jianqiang, and even Hui Kong. Many people throughout the universe loved alcohol, so Lu Yin had made it a habit to always carry some wine with him.
“Senior, have a taste of this wine from my home. You might like it.” Lu Yin tossed the wine over to the Warden.
The Warden looked at the flask that floated in the air. It was a minuscule amount to the giant, and he could finish it in a single mouthful. Still, he laughed. “Hahahaha, Alliance Leader, you’re too kind! The wine smells great, and it must taste amazing too.”
He finished the wine and happily wiped his mouth.
“Oh right, what were you saying just now, Alliance Leader?” the Warden asked.
Lu Yin smiled. “This is Emperor Luo, the former emperor of the Ross Empire. He killed a great number of people recently, and I want him locked up here in Gaia’s Swamp.”
“No problem. Piggy, go find a place for Alliance Leader Lu’s guest,” the Warden ordered.
Lord Piggy shook his little tail and muttered to himself reluctantly. Then, he turned to Lu Yin and smiled in an ingratiating manner. “Alliance Leader Lu, this way, please.”
The Warden smiled as he watched Lu Yin leave. What an interesting young man; he truly was the master of the Outerverse.
Lu Yin also possessed the Chief Justice’s bell, which meant that he could have just ordered the Warden to imprison Emperor Luo. However, like the Warden had said, this was Gaia’s Swamp, and he made the rules in this place. Even though all of the criminals had been judged and received prison sentences which meant that they could not be simply thrown out or killed, the Warden could actually do just that as there was no one to question his decisions.
If Lu Yin had actually wanted to force the matter of bringing a prisoner into Gaia’s Swamp, he would be grossly underestimating the place. Still, he had done his best to test the Warden.
“Gaia’s Swamp is connected to both the Innerverse and the Cosmic Sea, and it’s divided into two different areas. The area that’s in the Innerverse houses the criminals who aren’t too powerful and can be easily controlled. However, the area in the Cosmic Sea holds the scary criminals,” Lord Piggy explained as he led Lu Yin towards the area close to the Cosmic Sea.
Lu Yin asked, “So will Emperor Luo be held in the Cosmic Sea?”
Lord Piggy nodded and warily answered, “Emperor Luo is an Envoy, and even the prison in the Cosmic Sea has only a few Envoys. There’s no way he’d be held anywhere else.”
“Aren’t you scared that the prisoners will cooperate and rebel?” Lu Yin asked.
Lord Piggy was shocked by such a question. “Alliance Leader Lu, don"t scare me like that! I’ve never considered such a thing, but these chains are specially made so that even cultivators with power levels of more than a million can’t break them. Everything should be fine.”
“Show me the section in the Innerverse,” Lu Yin said.
Lord Piggy felt torn. “Emperor Luo isn’t suited for that section.”
“I just want to take a look, don’t worry,” Lu Yin answered. Since he had made it to Gaia’s Swamp, releasing Grand Marshal Shui Chuanxiao was another one of Lu Yin’s goals, as he had promised that to En Ya long ago. Besides, the Great Eastern Alliance needed a commander for its armed forces.
There were the Allied Forces, the Lu Elite Troops, as well as the Great Eastern Alliance’s reserve army. The system was a complete mess! Lu Yin did not have the time to deal with such affairs, and En Ya was too busy gathering intelligence. They needed an actual professional to oversee the military.
Lord Piggy changed directions and started moving towards the portion of the prison that lay within the Innerverse.
Lu Yin saw some prisoners.
The prisoners in Gaia’s Swamp were all chained to the ground. There were no cells to be seen, and all of the prisoners were simply exposed to the swamp, allowing the death energy to surround and erode their bodies.
Lu Yin saw many prisoners, some of whom were already dead.
Lu Yin frowned. Grand Marshal Shui Chuanxiao was not a very powerful cultivator, so was it possible for him to have already died? “Not many prisoners are able to last to the end of their sentence given these conditions, are they?”
Lord Piggy answered, “Some prisoners are given special care, like that guy up front. He’s been isolated from the toxic gas, though a little bit might seep in from time to time.”
“Oh? Some people get special treatment? Who is he?” Lu Yin asked.
Lord Piggy replied, “Some madman. He removed people’s brains and used their bodies to stay alive. He’s just a Sentinel, but he’s managed to live for more than 2,000 years. While he was active, he killed a lot of people, one of whom was the child of a senior member of the Hall of Honor. That person ordered him to be imprisoned here for 10,000 years.”
“If he’s just a Sentinel, how can he be held here for 10,000 years?” Lu Yin asked.
Lord Piggy pointed to something in front of them.
Lu Yin turned and saw that the death energy had been isolated from an area, and there was a brain sitting in the area that was clear of death energy.
“He died long ago, but his brain has been kept alive. The person from the Hall of Honor ordered us to prepare multiple scenarios with tragic endings for the prisoner’s brain so that he can experience pain and suffering for 10,000 years.” Lord Piggy shivered. “What a poor thing.”
“Who from the Hall of Honor ordered this punishment?’’ Lu Yin grew curious. Even though the man had been given a terrible punishment, such methods could only be used on normal people, as even Explorers could easily kill themselves.
Lord Piggy glanced around before softly answering, “Overseer Xin Jiao.”
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