Chapter 673: Scandalous Headlines [Bonus]


    ?


    Ss wasn''t very surprised that Lucius was nowhere to be found.


    It had to be remembered that the tundra region wasn''t far from the Evergreen Territory where Ss had left Morgan, and this was also the region where Lucius had set up his Territory.


    Now, there was no longer a convenient path to the Africor Continent, but the Portal to Paradise was still there.


    Ss hadn''t forgotten about Professor Fembroise, her family, and the skateboarding thief, but he couldn''t spare the time to go and get them right now. On the way back to his Woond Territory, he would. Or maybe he could task Cole with that job.


    He wasn''t even a City Lord, but he felt like he had too much on his te.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om


    **


    Before the Summoning, Ss fancied himself aw-abiding citizen. But after... well, he had done quite a few things that were far from so.


    Today, he found himself stealing a boat for the second time, tethering it to the Basilisk King, and having it carry them toward Cassarae''s ind.


    This time, despite his thievery, he found himself being quite luckypared to his first stint across the ocean. At least this time, there were no raging storms. And maybe, because the Basilisk King was so powerful andrge now, there were no attacks they suffered... at least not yet.


    Ss knew that the underwater Portal wasing up. The creatures here would certainly be attracted by it. Unfortunately, that wasn''t all either.


    Back in his Woond Territory, he had shot Cassarae a message, so he had a general understanding of what was going on here, and it couldn''t be said to be the best.


    His spections about there being a traitor in the Terranova government were bearing out. The System City was growing stronger, and it wasn''t just because of Level increases.


    A System City would always maintain a certain number of Levels above the citizenry of a world. However, they would remain capped at Level 50 for a while. Ss wasn''t sure just yet what would allow them the chance to break into E-Grade, but he knew that the moment they did, a lot of things would be far more difficult to manage.


    That aside, the main issue this time wasn''t the City Lord of Guiz, but rather therge number of humans joining.


    After Cassarae mentioned it, they both agreed that this was far from normal.


    Ss had been to several System Cities now, and not only had a poption of humans as thriving as Guiz City''s.


    Usually, those that had to rely on System Cities, to begin with, weren''t very powerful. System Cities were, by definition, crutches.


    Using them from time to time, especially when you could pay for their more premium services, was good. But it was the sign of someone poorly adjusting to this current world if they relied on it too heavily.


    That was to say that the most powerful of Earth''s warriors almost always had their own organizations, own cities, or own backers to rely on outside of System Cities.


    Ss actually felt that this was a push by the system. It tended to reward those that did things on their own, so that was where the strong would gravitate.


    This made sense. If the system was aware that the System Cities were tampered with, it was in its best interest to guide Humans toward other opportunities.


    That meant that if the reverse was happening...


    Someone was putting their thumb on the scale again.


    This would be fine under usual circumstances. After all, Ss was a noble of Guiz, a Baron to be precise. The power he had over the city should supersede most...


    Unfortunately, therein lied the problem.


    He was no longer the highest-ranked noble of Guiz. Well, that had always been the case, but now he was no longer the highest-ranked non-spawned Human.


    The good news was that Cassarae hadn''t just been sitting on her hands. She had improved her own Noble Title to Viscount, and this gave her a level ying field. But there was one other Viscount to contend with, and though this person hadn''t bared their fangs, the undercurrents spoke for themselves.


    ...


    Ss stepped foot onto the ind Cassarae''s Portal rested on, but this time, rather than wild beasts, he had actually been greeted by a patrolling unit.


    He couldn''t help but nod inwardly. Cassarae had done well.


    The ind was no longer easy to step on. It was surrounded by mutated Sperm Whales spawned from the Den. Although Ss didn''t get a clear look at any one of them, even his current self still felt some threat from them, albeit a very small one.


    On the ind itself, the Rotten Wolves were under far more control as well and directly led by militiamen with dark auras around them.


    This time, there was no odd urrence like there was the previous time. It seemed that Cassarae had reined in Gregory''s influence quite a bit as well.


    She was a firecracker, but she had already shown potential in leading a city. It was just unfortunate that her Luck was so bad.


    Ss had wanted to get the ne from Lauren for her... but he knew that with the time dtion, Lauren and the three monarchs would be dyed for several more months. He couldn''t just wait around in the Africor Continent for them.


    ''It doesn''t matter. However bad her Luck is, I will offset it with my presence.''


    Ss walked forward under the escort of the guards with calm strides. They entered the Portal and found Cassarae waiting with her arms crossed and an unamused expression on her face. By her side, Olivia was grinning wildly as though she was waiting to grab a bag of popcorn and enjoy the show.


    As for Ss... he didn''t seem to notice any of this.


    His lips curled into a genuine smile, and his eyes softened somewhat. She was just as beautiful as always. No amount of leather armor could hide that proud figure, and no amount of raging fury could change the cool blue of her irises.


    Cassarae''s pupils trembled before she forcefully controlled herself.


    "What are you doing grinning at me like that for? Do you think I don''t know what you''ve been


    up to?"


    Cole and the others were in a bit of a daze. Not one of them had ever seen Ss smile, so they didn''t even quite register Cassarae''s words.


    "Hm?" Ss mumbled, not quite understanding.


    Cassarae''s re shifted from Ss over to Tasia.


    Ss'' lip quivered a bit. He hadn''t even done anything with Tasia. Plus, how could Cassarae


    even know anything about it?


    Last time they spoke, she had also been doing fine, too. So why was she mad now all of a sudden? What could have happened between then and now?


    Olivia giggled and fluttered over to Ss'' side like a little butterfly before sharing something


    from her notification screen.


    Ss looked at it for a moment and shook his head.


    When did the Nexus'' start getting sensationalized headlines? He hadn''t even done anything


    wrong here.


    **The Mysterious Grimde! How did Tasia Win his Heart?? And the Auction of the Century!**


    Ss thought it was over before Olivia flipped the screen and another headline appeared.


    **Trouble in Grimde Paradise?! News of a Secret Mistress and Tasia''s Struggle for a Noble Title!**


    Ss'' eyes narrowed because he immediately realized that this headline wasn''t about


    Cassarae. It was about Nosphaleen.


    But who could have known that he gave Nosphaleen a Noble Title in the Woond System City? And why would they choose to use that knowledge like this?


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