Novel Full Edited by: La0o9
Proofreader: Arya
All the other Lords turned around, smiling, observing the shocked expression of Su Xue Er.
The very first time they found out about this truth, their faces were exactly the same.
“Quickly, quickly, we need to make it to the bottom of the mountain, otherwise if those horrible things appear again, it’ll be even more troublesome” the Lord leading the group spoke.
As the Lords heard that, their expressions all changed and quickened their steps.
Right now, the North Pole was in its “day” period.
Thanks to that, even when it’s nighttime, the sky doesn’t get dark.
But more and more black clouds gathered in the sky, blocking out the dim sunlight.
The sunlight became dimmer and dimmer, finally disappeared into the darkness.
The cold rain poured down, washing everything below.
In the rain and wind, the group finally arrived at their destination.
“I need to make a deal with all of you” a Lord was breathing heavily.
“What deal?” one of them asked.
“For the next few years, don’t any of you die, otherwise I won’t be able to take it”
“With the blessing of the starlight, there won’t be any big problems”
“But it’s still too tiring”
While the Lords were talking, Su Xue Er was observing this place.
This was a mountain made entirely out of metal.
When they made it to the bottom of the mountain, a small metal pedestal rose up from the ground.
The 8 Lords walked up one by one, pressing their hands on it.
“Come, Lord Su, you need to do this too” one of them yelled out.
Su Xue Er also walked up and placed her hand on the pedestal.
As the pedestal received the confirmation of all 9 Lords, a green and a red button appeared on it.
“Remember these two buttons” one of the Lords said.
“What do they do?” Su Xue Er asked.
“There is a camouflage on the outer atmosphere of the planet, to ensure that space monsters don’t realize that this planet exists”
“Pressing the green button will enable it, pressing the red button will disable the camouflage”
“Is it enabled now?”
“It has been enabled since the start of the modern era, otherwise, with so many space monsters running around, why would they not notice our planet brimming with life?”
“This is also the reason why the Confederate never has to fear any invasions of other countries”
“If anyone wants to put their hands on the Confederate, they have to be ready to deal with the endless hordes of space monsters that’ll come”
“Remember this clearly, no one will ever dare to invade our Freedom Confederate, the Confederate belongs to the 9 Lords, now and forever”
The Lords sincerely told her.
“I’ll keep that in mind” Su Xue Er said.
“A new heir has come, please show her the way” one of the 9 Lords spoke to the pedestal.
“Are you sure?” a low voice came from the metal pedestal.
“Yes, she has come”
After that, no one said anything else.
But a path opened up, leading to the top of the mountain.
At the bottom of the mountain, a room that looks to be about 100 meter squared rose up from the ground.
Seeing that, the Lords breathed out from relief and made their way to the room.
The inside was warm and comfortable, with wide sofas, warm food and drinks were already prepared.
More importantly, there were few beds specifically for resting.
Seeing that, Su Xue Er followed them inside.
“You don’t need to come in here” one of the Lords said.
“Why?” Su Xue Er asked.
“You’re the new heir, which means you have to climb up the mountain ———-the reason why we even came here this time is to lead you to the path up the mountain”
“Is there something at the top of the mountain?” Su Xue Er asked.
“The rite of inheritance”
“What is it specifically?”
“You can come up and see it yourself, it’s not something we have the right to discuss, we all have to keep absolute respect towards this”
All 9 Lords looked at her with utmost seriousness.
“An advice” the Lord who was leading them spoke.
“As a Lord, your wish will be granted by the Guardian of the 9 Lords, but only once, so make sure to treasure this privilege”
Su Xue Er went silent for a bit, nodded her head and started to make her way up the newly created mountain path.
The starlight cloak let out a mesmerizing light, enveloping Su Xue Er.
On her way up, Su Xue Er saw nothing alive.
The entire mountain was barren.
Within the screaming wind and rain, occasionally, she could see dried up corpses at certain parts of the mountain where the wind couldn’t quite reach.
These are all people who wanted to peek into their secret, blown back and forth by the circulating wind around the mountain even after their death, finally stuck at dead spaces and remained permanently.
The rain and wind couldn’t reach her body, but the higher she ascended, the colder the air became.
The dim light that the starlight cloak emits keep fluttering, covering Su Xue Er.
When the temperature reached a level that humans can’t possibly survive in anymore, some sort of power welled up within Su Xue Er.
This was an endlessly vast power, as it manifested, it turned into light and heat, tightly wrapped around Su Xue Er.
Su Xue Er felt warm again.
“That’s strange, this isn’t my power” Su Xue Er carefully traced it back as she noticed.
Suddenly, she felt a complex, twisting pattern within her body.
This was the pattern on the Su family’s insignia, every child in the Su family mainline grows up with this insignia.
They’ve been taught ever since they were small, “everyone will die eventually, but this insignia shall keep being passed on, never to be cut off”
Su Xue Er suddenly understood.
“So this is the power that grandpa passed on to me”
She was emotional for a bit, but quickly began to head up the mountain again.
A few hours later, Su Xue Er reached the top.
“You were quite fast to make it up the mountain, seems like we’re welcoming a very young heir this time”
Within the screaming wind and rain, this voice was hoarse, carrying the sentiment of numerous years passed, it was firm and gentle, resounding from within Su Xue Er’s heart.
“Who are you?” Su Xue Er asked softly.
“It’s cold outside, come in before we talk” the female voice spoke again.
The ground of the mountain opened and a small cabin quickly rose up.
The door of the cabin opened automatically, it was dark inside.
Su Xue Er observed the cabin for a bit.
This was a completely ordinary wooden cabin.
But at the North Pole, atop the snow mountain made from the outer layer of a spaceship, the very existence of such a wooden cabin is extraordinary.
Su Xue Er quickly stepped inside.
It was silent in the darkness, there was no sound but the wind and rain outside, tapping on the windows in chaotic patterns.
The voice once again resounded from Su Xue Er’s heart.
“I welcome you, young lady, it seems a close relative of yours has recently passed”
“Yes, it was my grandpa”
“If that’s the case, you must be quite excellent, otherwise your grandfather would have passed this position to your father or mother instead”
“I’m not really that excellent”
“I see you’re quite the humble one; this is a good start”
“Young lady, close the door, come closer to the fireplace”
Su Xue Er followed her words and closed the door, keeping the icy cold weather outside.
Keeping up her guard, she slowly made her way towards the fireplace.
Standing there was the person who was talking, a woman ———if she can be considered a ‘person’ at all, holding a metal stoker, shifting the bits of unlit coal in the fireplace around an ember at the center.
The woman didn’t turn her head and said: “You have the smell of wind on you, come help me light these up a bit”
“Ah, yes” Su Xue Er gently lifted her hand.
The wind blows softly, igniting the coals and embers inside the fireplace.
As fire was lit, the room became slightly brighter, as well as warming it up a bit.
Su Xue Er stood there, silently watching the woman.
She was an exceptionally old person.
Her entire body was wrapped in a baggy cloak, her face showed the years she’s lived, as numerous wrinkles as deep as cuts were all over.
She didn’t have eyes, or nose, all the features of her face were blank, hollowed out.
Her mouth was sewn shut.
From head to toe, wherever she wasn’t wrapped by clothes, her skin was incredible pruned up, like a fruit that has lost all moisture.
“I hope my appearance doesn’t scare you”
“It doesn’t”
“If you don’t know how to talk to me yet, we can start with a bit of small talk” the voice came from Su Xue Er’s heart again.
“Why do you look like this?” Su Xue Er asked.
“Ah, normally, the heirs that meet me all shake in fear, quickly ask for their wish and run away, it’s rare that someone would ask about my conditions” the woman was a bit surprised, but intrigued at the same time.
“It’s fine to tell you I guess, I once entered a small little game, to gain eternal life, for the sake of protecting the 9 Lords for as long as I could”
“The Game of Eternal? I heard that it’s a really frightening trap” Su Xue Er said.
“Wait a minute” Su Xue Er suddenly remembered something and said: “I’ve seen all the rounds of the Game of Eternal, but I don’t think I’ve ever seen you”
“Of course you didn’t, because the time that I participated in that game was over a few thousand years ago”
The woman’s voice sounded happy: “Right, now why would I join such a dangerous game? Because after compiling and analysis, I’ve found that the Eternal Pills they reward, aside from the devastating side effects, are truly the closest thing to the miracle of eternal life”
“Your appearance now, they are because of those side effects?”
“Correct, I immediately cut off and dealt with all the features that I found had problems, as well as using special methodologies and drugs to finally be able to live all the way until now”
The woman opened her cloak, revealing a body that was bare to the bone without any flesh for Su Xue Er to see.
Looking at her appearance, suddenly Su Xue Er had a look of pity in her eyes.
How cruel does a person have to be to be able to do that to themselves?
“No need to look at me like that, I’m actually quite happy with the way I am right now”
The woman’s voice continued: “You’re still only a young lady, of course you wouldn’t know what a luxury this is, being able to survive amidst the Worlds’ Apocalypse”
“The Worlds’ Apocalypse?” Su Xue Er very sharply caught on to this.
“No need to keep standing to talk, have a seat” the woman said.
Two antique-looking wooden armchairs suddenly appeared, placed neatly right next to the fireplace.