Chapter 450 There is a conspiracy
"I'm not a qualified leader."
Looking at the respectful guardians below, Ainz sighed inwardly. The enemy had kidnapped Narberal in front of him, which undoubtedly gave him a slap in the face.
Is he not careful enough?
Or is this world too dangerous?
Thinking of this, the red light in Ainz’s eyes dimmed. If he had not been so confident in his own strength, Narberal would not have been abducted.
As expected, he was not cautious enough. After rescuing Narberal, he had to be more careful when going out.
“Lord Ainz!”
Suddenly, a pleasant voice called out to Ainz's ears, pulling him back from his self-condemnation.
"What's wrong, Albedo?"
Ainz looked up. Albedo, who was sitting beside the throne, no longer looked relaxed as before. Her beautiful face was filled with solemnity.
"Something's wrong with Narberal."
"What!"
Hearing this, Ainz opened his mouth in shock, and green light flashed from his body.
He did not doubt Albedo's words, because Albedo was the head of the floor guardians of the Great Underground Tomb of Nazarick, responsible for managing a total of seven floor guardian NPCs.
In other words, she was the character who ranked above all the NPCs in the Great Underground Tomb of Nazarick.
Because of this, she can also roughly feel the status of all NPCs.
Thinking of this, Ainz, sitting on the throne, looked solemn as he chanted the prescribed codeword.
"Turn on the main power."
In the blink of an eye, a translucent window that looked a bit like a control panel, but was completely different, opened before Ainz’s eyes.
The window was divided into several pages with tabs, and each page was filled with densely packed text. This was the management system for the Great Underground Tomb of Nazarick.
It records the daily management expenses, the current types and numbers of servants, and various magical trap devices that are being activated.
In the game "YGGDRASIL", it can be viewed at any time and anywhere, but Ainz has learned through experiments that this system can only be operated in the throne room in the heart of this world.
After opening the console, Ainz expertly opened the NPC tab page.
This page contains a list of NPC names created together with guild members.
After changing the display from the original katakana order to the order of rank, Ainz scanned the list from top to bottom until he saw Narberal’s name.
“…”
After a few seconds of silence, Ainz silently shifted his gaze to Albedo's face.
Albedo's expression was not very good either, because among the series of names displayed in white text, only Narberal Gamma's name turned black.
After watching it three or four times, Ainz confirmed that he was not seeing things. He couldn’t help but exclaim in his heart that this was impossible. If he could still make an expression now, he would definitely be showing an expression of astonishment.
"Is he...dead?"
Ainz felt a pang of pain in his heart, and asked Albedo with some reluctance.
He was expecting that perhaps it was because of traveling to a different world that some unknown changes occurred in the system, which caused the color to be wrong.
However, the truth that Albedo said was extremely cruel: "If you die, the words will disappear and turn black... This means betrayal."
"That's right...
Ainz replied dully, and once again recalled the change in text he had seen in "YGGDRASIL". Thinking about it carefully, this change was not so much a betrayal as it was a little different from the system's meaning.
In a broad sense, it may be similar to betrayal, but it is the result of being mentally controlled by a third party. If the enemy causes a friendly NPC to temporarily take hostile actions, its name will change color.
So... Narberal was under mind control?
impossible!
Ainz couldn't help but deny it in his heart. He was only abducted by the Wise King of the Forest, how could he be under mind control?
Could it be that the Wise King of the Forest also has the power of mind control?
No, that slime-like appearance and the electromagnetic cannon that looks more like technology than magic seem to indicate that there is something wrong with the Wise King of the Forest!
Isn't that the Wise King of the Forest? !
It was not until this moment that Ainz suddenly realized that something was wrong. Following his guess, Ainz looked down at the dark elf girl below.
That was Aura Bella Fiora, one of the twin guardians of the sixth floor of the Great Underground Tomb of Nazarick.
Before he went to E-Rantel, he had issued different orders to each guardian.
Among them, he instructed Aura to explore and control the interior of the Great Forest, confirm whether there were any creatures willing to submit to Nazarick, and set up a supply warehouse.
However, it would be more accurate to say that it was a shelter rather than a warehouse for supplies.
If we encounter an emergency and cannot return to Nazarick, we can use the forest as a hiding place.
In addition, in order to avoid the exposure of Nazarick, it is safer to have an alternative base. Of course, it can also be used as a warehouse for storing various resources.
As for asking her to find out if there are any creatures willing to submit to Nazarick, it was to confirm whether it was possible to upgrade faster, and to find out how the world upgrades levels, etc.
Aura, who was carrying out these tasks, could not have been unaware of the existence of the monster called the Forest King.
Thinking of this, Ainz looked at Aura and asked, "Aura, do you know the monster called the Wise King of the Forest?"
"Know."
Being called suddenly, Aura quickly knelt down and responded with the courtesy of a subject: "I have been to the forest to see the wise king of the forest, but I did not communicate with him, I just determined his location."
"So, Aura, what do you think of the strength of the Wise King of the Forest?"
"Hmm..." After hearing this, Aura thought for a moment and replied, "Compared to my monsters, the Forest Sage King is very weak and has little value. However, since it is a monster I don't know about, I have thought about conquering it."
It is true!
At this moment, Ainz's body glowed green. Under the effect of being forced to remain calm, he confirmed again: "Aura, since you have seen the Wise King of the Forest, does he have a slime-like body?"
Hearing this, Aura shook her head and said, "No, I'm pretty sure it's just an ordinary quadruped beast that can't even defeat any of my monsters."
Crunch!
Hearing this, Ainz squeezed his bony palms until they cracked.
The clues were so clear, how could he not guess that the one who abducted Narberal was not the Wise King of the Forest, but a creature he didn't know!
No!
That kind of thing can't be called a living thing at all. It has no heart and is dead. It's more like a dead thing than a living thing.
But how can a dead thing move?
Ainz was confused for a moment as he fell into a misconception. No matter how he guessed, he could not imagine that the so-called Wise King of the Forest was actually a liquid robot.
After all, the appearance of electromagnetic cannons in the fantasy Middle Ages was already very unreasonable. Without seeing it with his own eyes, he could not associate it with robots at all.
However, it doesn’t matter who the Wise King of the Forest is. What matters is that Ainz knows there is definitely a conspiracy here!
The moment he saw Narberal's name was in black, he almost lost his composure . Fortunately, he was an undead, so no matter how intense his mental activity was, it would not show on his face.
Now that he knew that Narberal might have been forcibly controlled, he had to find a way to deal with it. He had to solve the problem as the absolute ruler of the Great Underground Tomb of Nazarick.
A boss who is unable to help his subordinates when they are in trouble and who acts like a superior is not a qualified leader at all.
Thinking of this, Ainz looked at Albedo again and said, "I have thought of a possibility. In order to find out Narberal's whereabouts, we should go to your sister first."
“Yes, Master Ainz.”
…
At the same time, deep underground.
In the underground space dug by the mercury hamster, Xia Yu looked at Narberal who was kneeling in front of him and swearing allegiance to him, and nodded with satisfaction.
As expected, he was able to enslave and control these NPCs through his mental power.
Narberal had now become like him, and even her brain cognition had been forcibly changed.
Unfortunately, the friendly NPC is under mind control, and the system in the Great Tomb of Nazarick will immediately update the name situation. Maybe Ainz Ooal already knows that Narberal has rebelled.
Otherwise, he could have arranged for Narberal to act as an undercover agent and erode Nazarick bit by bit.
Thinking of this, Xia Yu shook his head with some regret, but he was not too depressed.
Now that the feasibility of slavery has been confirmed, it seems that it is not impossible to seize all the NPCs in Nazarick.
Now Bone King is really going to become a lonely old widower.
As for why he chose hostility directly when there was no conflict, it was because he knew that hostility was inevitable.
Ever since Nazarick set its goal to rule the world, there has been an irreconcilable conflict between him and Bone King.
Because he is a human, and the members of Nazarick are generally alien races, and most of them look down on humans.
As for releasing kindness and becoming a companion to Bone King...
Forget it. If it was the cute king, the slime named Rimuru, he could still get along well with him.
Because even though Rimuru became a demon king, his confused, curious mentality and kind character in daily life remained unchanged.
In other words, Rimuru is still the same Mikami Satoru, and even though he has turned into a slime monster, he has not become evil.
But it is different for Bone King. From the moment he traveled through time, the human named Suzuki Satoru has been slowly killed by the undead named Flying Squirrel.
Not to mention that the world that Suzuki Satoru lived in as a human was a dystopian world in the future. In that world, the relationships between people became very cold, and they almost became selfish.
People with a righteous character like Takimi are extremely rare. Takimi was also a former player of "YGGDRASIL" and also a companion of Bone King.
Although he is in Nazarick, Takimi has a strong sense of justice and believes that "one should not call himself a strong person if he does not save the weak."
The old butler Sebastian, whose justice value is +500, is an NPC created by Takimi. From this we can also see the difference between Takimi and the entire Nazarick.
If it was Takimi instead of Bone King who traveled through time, Xia Yu would not have thought of becoming an enemy of Nazarick. Instead, he would have chosen to make friends with Takimi.
But unfortunately, it is not the case. Besides, he is not a quick traveler, he is a time traveler, which means that after traveling to this world, he is equivalent to settling down in this world.
However, due to an unintentional remark, Demiurge decided that Nazarick was going to conquer the world.
Xia Yu doesn't want to live in a world ruled by evil aliens, so hostility is inevitable.
With foresight, he naturally would not allow the world to be ruled by Nazarick. Therefore, he would come to deal with Nazarick and Bone King.
Of course, he is not the kind of person who doesn't like being ruled, he just doesn't like being ruled by evil aliens. If he is asked to join Rimuru's "Jura-Tempest Federation", he will naturally do everything he can.
Although both Rimuru and Ainz are alien monsters and have established their own countries, they are ultimately different. Ainz established his country for the purpose of invasion, while Rimuru established his country for the purpose of protection.
"Ah, I wonder if I have traveled to the world of the cute king. I really want to go there and take a look."
Xia Yu sighed somewhat melancholy, but quickly came to his senses. Now that he had enslaved Narberal, he could just ask the question that Bone King had once asked.
"Narberal, what do you think humans are like?"
"Human?"
Narberal looked up from her kneeling position. After a moment's thought, she replied, "Although humans have bad qualities, they have also created many beautiful and unique things. I believe that humans are creative beings."
Hearing this, Xia Yu raised his eyebrows slightly. Although it was not an excellent answer in his mind, it was at least above the passing line and was still a good answer.
At least it's better than her previous view that "human beings are worthless trash". It turns out that it must be mind control.
A mind control at least allowed Narberal's good and evil value to reach +150. If the NP Cs of the Great Tomb of Nazarick were all positive good and evil values and had no strange quirks, he would have no trouble dealing with Bone King and Nazarick.
"By the way, do you remember Ainz Ooal Gown?"
“I remember.” Narberal nodded and replied, “Lord Ainz was my former master, but now I know that serving Lord Xia Yu is a better choice.”
“If I meet Lord Ainz, I will persuade him to pledge allegiance to Lord Xia Yu. Only Lord Xia Yu is the true Supreme Being.”
Well, if you really said that to Ainz’s face, even if Ainz had the passive skill of “Forced Calmness”, he would probably explode with anger.
It was so miserable that he wanted to laugh.
Holding back his smile, Xia Yu suddenly pulled out a black robe from the chat group and put it on, then looked at Narberal.
"Narberal."
"I am here."
"I remember that you are an eighth-rank magic caster, right? Teach me all the magic you know, without leaving out any."
I'll need to learn degree-level magic sooner or later anyway, so I might as well try to learn it now. It's always more convenient to have someone teach me than to learn on my own.
What's more, studying underground will not affect others. There is simply no better learning environment than this.
