CHAPTER 1514: CHAPTER 214: AIWASS: SO YOU ARE ALSO...

Unexpectedly, Avalon found the feeling this city gave him quite good.

If a word were to describe this city... its keyword, unexpectedly, would be "civilization."

In this savage and sinful desert, there exists such a tranquil and peaceful city, which indeed changed Aiwass’s impression of Adil.

He did not despise everything about Adil simply because Adil was his enemy. The relaxed, tranquil, and natural lifestyle of the people here indicated their comfort.

This is not the kind of happiness that an ambitious "feudal monarch" could bring to people. Nor something achievable by a maniac trying to brainwash people into worshiping him like a god.

Regardless of whether it was Aiwass or Shasha, they had extraordinary beauty, and they were not dressed in Parthian attire, but rather in the priestly robes of the Nine Pillars Divine Church and Avalon’s style dresses. It was obvious they were newcomers to Parthia.

Yet, despite that, the locals here were quite friendly towards them—it wasn’t that they tried to commit any crime against them, nor did they flock over to peddle something, and they didn’t simply avoid them either.

Aiwass and Shasha did not kneel or pray to Adil’s statue... yet no one in the city came forth to demand them to conform to local customs.

They were neither timid nor malicious; neither flattering nor xenophobic, merely casting curious glances as they passed by... this strongly indicated their sense of confidence.

They strolled leisurely through the city, walking down a street. Along the way, they encountered many people, and the density was definitely far more than "three hundred free people."

Evidently, there were quite a few slaves mixed in. They were slaves with owners, not the "ownerless slaves" living underground... Yet from appearances alone, Aiwass couldn’t specifically tell who was the master and who was the slave.

And on the streets, there were many large copper plates. Their diameter was about three to four meters, and their height only half of an adult human’s.

Inside were some delicious-smelling foods—baked flatbread, stewed chickpeas, stewed lamb, each copper plate contained one type of food, with some small copper plates containing honey and salt. Many people gathered around, putting food into their pouches, or directly grabbing and eating with their hands.

Aside from humans, Aiwass also saw other races.

Dwarves stepped on stone benches, greedily eating lamb with flatbread; Avianfolk focused on eating meat, their mouths greasy; the Lizardfolk and Serpentfolk did not like eating with others, preferring to pack some meat and chickpeas mixed together to take away.

Aiwass even saw an Elf—a female Elf clad in white gauze, gracefully and slowly using a spoon to eat stewed chickpeas.

More and more food was continuously brought over by people in barrels, which required two people to pour the contents into the copper plates—what surprised Aiwass the most was that the barrels were made of some thin stainless steel!

He felt momentarily dazed, as if transported back to his past life, back to a cafeteria at work or school.

...It seemed Heaven City’s ironwork technology was significantly better than that of Avalon and Iris Flower.

Although Star Antimony’s technical level was much higher, its civilian application rate was lower—in part because alchemists’ investors anxiously hoped those technologies would generate revenue, so these less profitable civilian technologies were not very popular.

Instead, they favored those luxury products that nobles were willing to splurge on—like the vehicles all over Star Antimony, humanoid automata capable of self-regulation, lifelike flying Jewel Birds, systems capable of defending manors from theft and surveillance... or quality building and clothing materials. Innovations in metals were kept as confidential military technologies by the Royal Alchemy Association.

To nobles, since gold and silver utensils can replace stainless steel ones and showcase wealth, such "cheap metals" were not welcomed by investors.

Aiwass had seen similar technologies in many places within Star Antimony, but perhaps due to cost issues, they never gained widespread civilian application.

Yet the first instance he saw ordinary people using such a level of civilian technology on a large scale was in the slave state of Parthian Ancient Country...

Aiwass suddenly found it hard to hold back.

The aroma of these foods was indeed enticing, to the point where Aiwass went up to try some, and symbolically fed Shasha—Shasha’s appetite was enormous, and this level of nutrition was surely insufficient.

She could eat a whole cow in a single day now... and compared to her supersonic flying ability like a fighter jet, this energy conversion efficiency was already incredibly high.

However, once she transformed into human form, it was as if she entered a saving mode... her food intake decreased significantly. Typically, while in the carriage, she maintained this state to conserve food consumption.

And due to the transformation by Aleister, Leviathan acquired a new ability—similar to that of the Son of the Moon, the ability to draw strength from blood. Before flying to Heaven City, Aiwass had nurtured Shasha once with his own blood.

The Path Power drawn from Aiwass’s blood was far superior to these foods. That was the most pure, energy-efficient source.

The only discomfort for Aiwass was the overly vivid colors of these foods.

The lamb was all bright red without exception—which could be explained away as caramelized sugar, anyway, it looked rather nice.

But the beans, however, were bright green.

The stewed mushy chickpeas and lentils, with dill, mint, and honey added, created a taste that made Aiwass’s expression quite intricate, and the color was a kind of fluorescent green reminiscent of apple-flavored Miranda. This bizarre colorful mush was reminiscent of Indian food.

And the color of the flatbread started becoming rather peculiar.

Neither brown, nor gold or white... they’re actually purple, resembling purple sweet potatoes. Or perhaps grape-flavored Mirinda.

And the cheese is as blue as blueberry jam, the salt is pink, the honey a dazzling orange color—back to classic orange flavor.

This is Adil’s method for detecting if any slaves are secretly consuming free food. He added a special, indigestible dye to the food, which clearly marks the excrement.

These foods are all glowing!

It’s not like Little Master Chef’s glow but a strong fluorescence. It’s so bright that Aiwass even wonders if there’s some kind of radioactive element inside. After Shasha ate it, she opened her mouth and even her tongue turned bright red.

Aiwass suddenly remembered that he had eaten a candy when he was young. After eating it, his tongue would also change color.

Thinking about it, it’s somewhat nostalgic...

And at this moment, the distant crowd suddenly became noisy.

Aiwass heard the excited, mixed dialects of Parthia from afar. Aiwass couldn’t understand Parthian very well, so he didn’t quite grasp what they were saying. He only vaguely understood the words "Adil," "Benevolent Lords," "praise" from the comprehensible ones.

...Adil is coming?

Aiwass frowned slightly, but wasn’t surprised. After all, the Benevolent Lords’ spies are certainly scattered throughout the city, with Ritualists and Astrologers responsible for surveillance.

But Aiwass himself didn’t intend to hide. He didn’t ask Isabel to use illusions to change his appearance, only concealed his conspicuous antlers.

And at this moment, Aiwass suddenly noticed something—

Shasha abruptly gripped Aiwass, which indicated she sensed a fleeting hostility. The Path of Love’s instinctual perception in this regard is much stronger than Dedication and Transcendence Paths. Just like the Sons of the Moon can also sense enemies’ intentions to harm them in advance.

Aiwass looked in the direction Shasha indicated, but unexpectedly found that it wasn’t from Benevolent Lords’ people.

It was a youth who seemed only about seventeen or eighteen years old. He wore a straw hat, covering most of his face, and held a ceramic pot filled with water in his arms.

His gaze swept past the side of Aiwass and looked toward the direction where Adil was coming.

The crowd surrounding Adil slowly moved this way. Some people stood, following the crowd with a small run. Others immediately knelt on the ground, continuously and devoutly performing rituals and kowtowing.

Eight tall and solemn-faced Trolls carried a huge sedan chair. It was crafted from pure gold and lapis lazuli, decorated with a large number of rubies and amber. The sedan was engraved with somewhat abstract murals, and protective runes were inscribed at the sedan’s entrance.

In front were two Elves, a man and a woman, dressed in ceremonial attire, solemnly swinging the staffs in their hands. Bells were on the staff’s tips, emitting mysterious sounds. Behind them were four Serpentfolk Sacrifices, who clapped or stomped every three steps, producing a song-like hymn.

Adil sat on the cushioned throne—his appearance was identical to the statues, with an additional touch of divine aura. It was an aura of long-standing worship and sacrifices accumulated during his lifetime.

Everyone unanimously receded and knelt. And Aiwass and Leviathan, standing still, were suddenly exposed, becoming extremely conspicuous.

Yet Aiwass had no intention of concealing his identity, simply raising his head to carefully observe Adil.

And at this moment, Aiwass’s pupils slightly contracted.

He suddenly noticed the decoration behind Adil’s throne.

It was a massive pure gold ring, resembling a halo suspended behind a deity. As sunlight brightened it, it emitted a dazzling radiance.

But Aiwass clearly realized that it wasn’t just a ring.

—He saw the engravings on the ring.

It was the Ouroboros.

It was the emblem of the Serpent Celestial Marshal, its ’Ring of Ouroboros’!

And a more familiar feeling accompanied the hymn sung by the Serpentfolk Sacrifices—

"You shall celebrate my death, you shall sing of my sanctity. You shall hold a ceremony, you shall raise the scepter..."

Aiwass remembered clearly.

—That was the hymn from the "Nurturing Secret Sequel."