Chapter 118: The Benevolent King

Everything happening outside the funeral home was being observed by nearby Association personnel.

Male, 2.79 meters tall, 270 kilograms in weight. Estimated strength rating is above 90, with extremely high elemental and physical resistance talents. Combat power rating: S.

Branch Manager Li Qi, upon receiving the report, slammed his fist onto the table in fury.

Because of the two consecutive emergency distress signals previously sent from Bal Island, and the subsequent warning circular issued by headquarters, Li Qi had already deployed all of his A-rank heroes and his only S-rank squad. The four B-rank squads previously dispatched were already considered the highest-spec security force in the entire city at the time.

Yet, the assessment in the report was S-rank!

This was simply making things impossible for them.

As for using the researcher-faction mages to launch a bombardment, it was already too late, as there were a large number of hostages inside. Now, there was only one thing they could do: negotiate.

The official style of this world was rather hardline; when encountering malicious incidents, they usually struck first and talked later—provided the other party was still capable of talking. But now, it was clear that the opponent was qualified to engage in a dialogue with them.

"Listen, people inside! As long as you do not harm the hostages, according to the relevant laws and regulations, we can—"

"Haha, so the negotiation begins." Inside the funeral home, the large man stripped a robe off a mage and draped it loosely around his waist.

It seemed this man was no nobody, as he dared not reveal his dungeon equipment to cover himself; this indicated that his equipment was highly recognizable, making it easy for his true identity to be revealed.

"Just staying here is quite boring, let's play along for a bit..." The large man thought for a moment and finally decided to go out and chat with them.

"Hey! Hello everyone!" The large man pushed the door open and said with a smile. "Please rest assured, I won't hurt the hostages. The only ones who will hurt them are you guys! Hahaha!"

The large man was referring precisely to the heavy spell bombardment tactics of the researcher-faction mages.

"State your purpose and demands, and we will try our best to meet them," the negotiator said. "I can guarantee that you can safely evacuate from Saint Ross Port. Please do not become an enemy of the people, especially regarding matters concerning the dungeon... We will not back down!"

"Hmm, my purpose? Well, I came here actually to go treasure hunting," the large man said, scratching his hair. "There is something great underneath here! Though, even your branch manager might not know about it, right? Hehehe!"

Just as the large man said, the biggest problem at this moment was that even though everyone knew there might be a huge problem, no one knew exactly what was going to happen.

Branch Manager Li Qi was currently contacting Carter, the branch manager of the royal capital, Saint-Ville. His intuition told him that this inexplicable dungeon reaction might be related to the man-made dungeon extortion incident that had occurred in the royal capital previously. More importantly, Carter's security clearance was higher than his; perhaps the other party knew what was buried here.

The previous incident involving Zhao Tianhe had not been handled by him personally, but rather taken over by headquarters for the aftermath, so he only knew the general sequence of events.

"That place in the northern part of Saint Ross Port... Let me check." Seeing Li Qi's anxious expression, Carter immediately began to search using his own clearance.

And the result of the search truly gave him a shock!

That place, within that sealed dungeon, actually concealed the remains of a great hero who held the title of "Hero of Salvation."

And what was suppressing that dungeon was precisely these remains. But the problem was that the files clearly noted that this hero, named "Abu Fang'er," was the possessor of the "Heart of the Rainbow"!

"No way..." Carter looked at the vast amount of data displayed on the crystal tablet, feeling more and more terrified as he read.

Abu Fang'er was no ordinary hero; he was the strongest hero in the world five hundred years ago!

He was the pinnacle of S+ rank heroes, the first person to lay the groundwork for the Endless Sea conquest campaign five hundred years ago!

In the past, Saint Ross Port was not a vacation resort, but a supernatural demonic realm where S+ monsters roamed freely. It was Abu Fang'er who led his squad to conquer the entire Gold Coast region and convert it into a dungeon.

However, he himself was attacked by the then-King of the Endless Sea. The other party was no fool, watching others run wild at his doorstep.

At the end of that earth-shattering battle, the King of the Endless Sea was split into two; one half fled into the Endless Sea to lick its wounds and never recovered, leading to the fragmentation of the Endless Sea, which was eventually thoroughly annihilated by the main forces of the Elven Empire Federation.

The other half was suppressed beneath the current Saint Ross Port by Abu Fang'er with all his might!

After that, until his death, Abu Fang'er never left Saint Ross Port for a single step. His strength plummeted to below that of a C-rank hero, and he gradually faded from the public eye, finally using his own body to complete the final seal in obscurity.

To protect this seal, the authorities completely blocked all news. But in truth, the authorities themselves did not know how to open this seal, because Abu Fang'er had never mentioned the relevant issues.

'Although there is a dungeon reaction there, is it really that easy to unlock?' Carter frowned, feeling puzzled, and then dialed the communication crystal of the Sky Palace Research Institute.

"Sorry, that belongs to the highest level of forbidden areas, and we have never conducted any research on it," the relevant expert at the Sky Palace Research Institute replied. "However, theoretically speaking, that unknown King and Abu Fang'er are actually composed of life energy. It's just that, due to some unspeakable reason, they fell into a state of magical entanglement, resulting in both sides being trapped in a state of seal and imprisonment."

"I suspect that after a full five hundred years, these two forces should have completely merged into one, turning into another state—a very delicate state of balance," the expert thought for a while and said. "If it is converted in the manner of a dungeon, it is very likely to cause it to erupt completely, thereby turning into a giant monster, or... a super-giant dungeon. Of course, this is only one of the more severe possibilities; in other aspects..."

Carter did not listen to the rest, because this was already enough to give him a headache!

"The remains of a monster at the level of an otherworldly Demon King, the Rainbow Hero... Those guys are after the Heart of the Rainbow!" Carter covered his forehead, gritted his teeth, and dialed another communication crystal. "It must be that bunch of bastards from last time! Well, it just so happens that this person is still vacationing in the city..."

At a breakfast stall in a small alley in Saint-Ville, a man was eating.

His figure and face were very ordinary, with a high nose and deep eyes, reddish-brown medium hair, wearing a black short-sleeved shirt, brown camouflage pants, and sturdy heavy boots. He looked just like a worker about to go to his job.

However, a slight vibration came from his pants pocket. The man took out the communication crystal and read the voice on it.

"Benevolent King, an anomaly has occurred at Saint Ross Port. It concerns the Heart of the Rainbow and the secrets of the Gold Coast development period five hundred years ago. Go at once!"

"Understood." The man known as the Benevolent King put the communication crystal back into his pocket, placed a few copper coins on the table, and finished his food in one go.

"The porridge and side dishes here are still the best. Hope I can eat them next time." The man stood up, smiled at the owner, and then vanished.

"Hey, boss." A young boy looked at the scene before him and asked the shopkeeper, who was already trembling as she walked. "Who was that?"

"Ah, that's right," the shopkeeper said with a smile. "That is the Benevolent King."

"No way?" The boy was so shocked that the food in his mouth flowed out. "Is he one of the Top Ten, no, the greatest 'Benevolent Practitioner' in history?"

The old woman smiled as she tidied up the bowls and chopsticks, looking at the sunlight shining into the alley; her whole demeanor seemed much more spirited. She still remembered the days when that remarkable hero helped her set up this small stall, and when he and his teammates came to patronize and encourage her, even though she was a pathetic criminal...

That smile, which was like the first ray of light cast upon this world by the gods...

Benevolent King, Dice, a heroic spirit from Earth seventy years ago.

Just as his title suggested, this person was universally recognized as the King of Benevolence. The reason was simple: his talent system, the Benevolent Practitioner System! Simply put, he could become stronger by doing good deeds!

And now, he was the top powerhouse in melee combat among the S+ Top Ten! Therefore, the peak powerhouses of the contemporary Top Ten were also known as the "Twin Walls," because the gap between him and the top-ranked individual was negligible.

"Saint Ross Port, huh... closer than the Northern Frontier... I should be able to arrive in about half a day? I wonder what exactly is going on..."

Five hundred meters in the air, a blurred figure left a clear contrail behind him.

Dice did not use magic; all his abilities lay in a physique that was powerful beyond words. Walking at dozens of times the speed of sound was as casual to him as a stroll for an ordinary person. The shockwave of every step he took was comparable to a fifth-tier spell, and once he entered a combat state, there was no need to mention the consequences.

Although the situation was critical, theoretically, this matter had not yet reached the point where the Benevolent King Dice needed to intervene; it should have been handled by nearby S or S+ powerhouses first. What Carter was doing was equivalent to using personal authority for revenge and directly dropping a nuclear weapon.

However, no one could say much about him doing this. After all, Saint Ross Port had already requested aid, so theoretically, Dice could take over the matter; it was just unnecessary.

At this moment, Branch Manager Li Qi of Saint Ross Port, knowing the severity of the situation, had already begun to prepare a second batch of researcher-faction mages.

This time, they set up elemental induction interference arrays and various magic traps, increased the distance, and once again began to summon aggregate elemental guards.

"They have hostages, Manager!" The superior of the researcher-faction mages looked at Li Qi in horror. "If we do this... will there not be a problem?"

"There is no other way. Sacrifice is always inevitable," Li Qi said expressionlessly. "I will bear the responsibility. In any case, if that thing is truly as Branch Manager Carter said... then we absolutely cannot make any compromises or concessions!"