CHAPTER 40: 40 EXCELLENT MATCHING MECHANISMS

Prison of Darkness.

Herbert slowly strolled through the darkness.

This time, for some unknown reason, Svanni didn’t interfere with him again, and he didn’t rush to search.

He just walked slowly in the darkness, conversing secretly with the Evil God in his mind.

"Nenasha, does Fremay’s singing have some special power? Can it hurt ordinary people when they hear it?"

Herbert wasn’t so dull as to not realize that Fremay’s excitement was related to that song.

["It probably does? It doesn’t affect me anyway, and I think it sounds quite nice!"]

"Okay, I shouldn’t have asked you, go play then."

Recalling Fremay’s panicked expression when she first discovered him, he raised an eyebrow slightly, remembering her title "Death’s Howl."

Singing and death—aren’t the two possibly related—could her singing have a deadly effect?

Many people couldn’t withstand it and died horribly?

If that’s the case... Wow, what a death rock Sea Siren!

How thrilling!

Ehem, no, if that’s the case, was Fremay’s crime back then really an intentional act to destroy those ports?

Is there some unspeakable truth behind it?

Herbert pondered and deduced, feeling that Fremay’s strategy was becoming clearer.

Now, their relationship had gone from the initial "mild hostility" to "above neutral, not quite friendly."

Put in a bit more effort, start from the case back then, and see if these "truths" can be used to further close the gap...

While Herbert was quietly contemplating, Nenasha suddenly, for some inexplicable whimsy, teasingly chimed in:

["Oh dear! Speaking of which, your relationship is really~ good!"]

["The young lady even invited you, wanting to sing again~ for you~"]

"Hmm?"

Herbert’s train of thought was interrupted, and his right eyelid twitched as he was unsure what mischief Nenasha was up to, but his intuition told him it wasn’t anything good.

... What’s going on?

He raised an eyebrow, warily retorting: "What, are you jealous of her?"

Speak!

Are you feeling insecure?

["Tch!"]

["Jealous? Ha, my dear ally, you’re quite the joker~"]

The Harmonious God snorted disdainfully at the words, flatly denying it and stating that it was baseless.

["I can’t wait for you to get closer to them, it’d be best if you could deepen your interaction soon, and then gather strength to free me sooner!"]

What would I be jealous of?

What a joke!

"Ha, you better be."

Herbert sneered, having gradually mastered the art of communicating with Nenasha over the past two days.

This self-proclaimed great Evil God is someone who whimsically causes chaos, casually acts up, talks nonsensically, and from whom one could only believe a punctuation mark in a sentence.

The downside is that it’s quite tiring to get along with, requiring constant vigilance.

If one isn’t cautious enough, they might fall into the verbal trap and end up as a pathetic plaything in the hands of a bad woman just like Tom.

But there’s good news as well.

He’s also the same type of player, equally not someone easy to deal with.

He’s the same doppelganger, and his level of craziness is no less than Nenasha’s!

In terms of bewildering talents, they’re about fifty-fifty...

It’s like a meeting of the minds between a potato and a spud, both equally matched.

It has to be said.

This darned, remarkable matching mechanism!

After bickering back and forth for a while, Herbert realized he wasn’t going to get anything out of it, so he chose to retreat for now, waiting for the next opportunity to challenge.

Finally, he seemingly casually mentioned: ["Speaking of which, I actually want to hear you sing sometime."]

Herbert didn’t really put much thought into this statement; it was just an offhand comment given the circumstances.

But unexpectedly, it seemed to pierce through the other’s solid defenses, leaving the previously chatty Nenasha silent.

["...Listen to me sing?"]

After a slightly long silence, Nenasha chuckled lightly, then replied meaningfully:

["If you wish to hear it, it’s not that I can’t sing, however... if I were to sing, a lot of people would die, you know."]

["So, do you want to hear it now?"]

Hmm?

Herbert’s brow furrowed, sensing that he might have inadvertently touched upon something crucial.

Yet at the same time, there was a nagging feeling of impending doom in his heart, reminding him constantly—be cautious, don’t mess it up!

If not handled properly, it could all blow up real bad.

Hesitating for a moment, Herbert finally opted for a conservative approach, not responding directly, and instead changed the topic:

"Uh, I didn’t mean for you to sing for anyone else, just sing in my head, it shouldn’t hurt anyone, right?"

Just me listening, I’m not one to broadcast publicly!

["Well~ that’s hard to say."] The Evil God’s laughter was rather subtle, leaving Herbert feeling extremely unsettled.

No more testing.

"Then let’s wait for another opportunity!"

Herbert decisively chose to evade for the time being but was unwilling to just withdraw, taking the initiative instead: "Say, Evil God, you need to be more proactive, offering to sing without me having to ask, don’t you think?"

Herbert became the Warrior, leveraging the power of a small notebook to turn the tables on the Evil God.

This young compatriot, you need to be insightful in providing emotional value!

Can’t help but sigh—Magic really is effective!

["Pffft, haha, you wish!"]

Nenasha was successfully amused by him, her mood returning to normal, teasingly saying: ["Haha, you’re really humorous~ turns out choosing you was the right decision."]

"Right? I think I’m pretty humorous too."

Herbert secretly breathed a sigh of relief, realizing he managed to get through this round.

After that, as he relaxed, he casually remarked: "Of course, you can only choose me! After all, look at what you’ve turned everyone else into."

Turning a righteous Ascetic into a mere grass carp guy.

So cruel.

Alas, Evil God, alas.

But what Herbert didn’t expect was—after Nenasha heard his words, she responded with a question mark.

["Hmm?"]

"...Hmm?"

Herbert suddenly sensed something was off, stopping abruptly, eyes widening.

"That Ascetic wasn’t bewitched by you?!"

["What are you talking about? When did I bewitch anyone else besides you?"]

Herbert: ?

"Hmm!!?"

.

.

Meanwhile, Valentina, who had been sulking the whole time, suddenly had a change in expression.

Hmm?

She twitched her nose, muttering oddly:

"Strange, where’s that fishy smell coming from?"