https://novelcool.info/chapter/Chapter-179-The-Deceased-is-the-River-God-Asopos/12850307/
https://novelcool.info/chapter/Chapter-181-The-Endless-Stone-Pusher-Sisyphus/12850309/
Chapter 180: There Must Be Something Fishy
Chapter 180: There Must Be Something Fishy
After the Grim Reaper Thanatos escaped, the mortal world quickly restored the order of life and death, and the Underworld became busy once again.
The workload was even greater, after all, it had accumulated over several days. When Qin Muye returned, he rode Charon's boat, and the latter was grumbling the whole time. It wasn't just about overtime anymore; it was about one person doing the work of several.
Unlike the Grim Reaper Thanatos, who had the help of the Sleep God Hypnos, Charon had to row the boat by himself, nearly straining his hands to the point of breaking.
Sisyphus, standing beside him, didn't dare to say a word. He felt that he might have offended not just the Grim Reaper but the entire pantheon of Underworld deities.
Qin Muye could only play along and said that a bit of overtime wasn't so bad.
What else could he say? Should he kick Sisyphus out and let him get a beating?
Sisyphus wouldn't die, of course. Zeus had specifically chosen him to suffer, and even though the situation might have escalated, it didn't mean Sisyphus could escape.
By binding the Grim Reaper, he had not only offended Zeus but also the Underworld deities.
Even if he tried to pull some strings with Qin Muye, he couldn't avoid punishment. At the very least, he had to let the other Underworld deities vent their anger.
Even if Sisyphus's twelve Titan in-laws came to his aid, it wouldn't be easy. For now, he probably wouldn't be sent to the Fields of Punishment, given his background. There would be punishment, but the specifics were unclear.
After crossing the River Styx, Qin Muye brought Sisyphus straight to Hades' palace to meet the Lord of the Underworld.
After listening to Qin Muye's account, Hades fell silent. Ultimately, this whole mess was caused by Zeus's lust.
Now, not only had he abducted a girl and killed her father, but he had also sent the witness to prison to suffer.
"Lock him up for now, and we'll see what happens next," Hades said, still unsure of the situation. No news had come yet, but from Qin Muye's description, he understood that this was a serious matter. All those involved were the offspring of the Ocean God Oceanus.
If this wasn't addressed, the Ocean God Oceanus would be unable to protect his descendants.
First, it was the River God Asopus, then his son-in-law Sisyphus. This was a concerted effort to suppress a Titan. If there was no response, it would be quite amusing.
Sisyphus was rather unlucky. His connections were somewhat useful, and being related to Hades by marriage, plus being brought by Qin Muye, his suffering would definitely be lighter.
If the Ocean God Oceanus won and came to his aid, he might even be restored to his former glory.
But if no one came to his aid, he would have to suffer for a while to appease the Underworld deities.
Qin Muye certainly wouldn't let Sisyphus cause a rift with the Underworld deities; Sisyphus wasn't worth it.
He helped him a bit out of respect for Merope and the ocean pearl, otherwise, Qin Muye would have let the Grim Reaper take him away long ago.
Sisyphus was taken away to be imprisoned, and his treatment would be better.
"What do you think of this matter?" Hades asked.
"Lord Hades, I believe there must be something fishy about this," Qin Muye replied.
He wasn't Dianpang, so he could only use Yuan Fang's phrase. He couldn't just start analyzing everything; he needed the right information to do that.
Qin Muye had only spent a day traveling between the Underworld and the mortal world, most of it on the journey. If he knew everything, he might as well pretend to be a famous detective.
"Oh~ What makes you think it's fishy?" Hades raised an eyebrow and asked.
"..." Qin Muye had just said it off the cuff: "With Zeus involved, how likely is it that there's nothing fishy about it?"
As long as he blamed Zeus, there wouldn't be much of a problem.
If Zeus didn't work, then it could be Poseidon, since this involved the ocean. If that didn't work, he could add Hades. The three brothers were all the same.
Qin Muye felt his way of passing the buck was entirely in line with the trends of the Titan gods. If Hades was his ally, and there was no one else to blame, he would have to let this Underworld lord take the fall.
"Perhaps it is fate," Hades said with a deep gaze.
"Perhaps," Qin Muye replied, not believing in fate. If he really believed in fate, he wouldn't be here.
As for the massive meteor that had destroyed his world, if that thing really was fate, then it wouldn't be an irresistible force.
"Alright, stay in the Underworld for a while. If you get caught up in something, you might lose your life," Hades said.
Qin Muye nodded: "Let's wait until the dust settles. I think Zeus might be keeping an eye on me."
While he didn't think he was important enough for the King of the Gods to personally guard his corpse, safety first was still his priority.
He could blend in with the fairy tale world for a while. After all, no matter how long he stayed, he would only return to his territory after 24 hours.
However, being in this world prevented him from leveling up or researching projects related to himself, and many of his studies couldn't be applied. Otherwise, why would he want to return? He simply wanted to convert his recent gains into strength.
As for further research, he was already approaching a bottleneck. The reason was simple: he only had theoretical data, not experimental data. This was no different from talking about war on paper.
No matter how good the theoretical data looked, it couldn't match the practical data.
Regarding the Titan bloodline, he had made significant progress. This was the only project that showed results. Currently, his bloodline concentration had increased from 31% to 46%. He estimated that 50% was likely the limit. Unlike the bloodlines of the Siren or the Hellhound, he couldn't reach 100%, possibly due to the fact that he had acquired it later in life, or because of the limitations of the Underworld deities' authority.
This also dashed Qin Muye's hopes of directly reverting to the primordial bloodline of Chaos.
Moreover, he discovered that his compatibility with the Titan bloodline was only about 20%. The power of the Titan gods consisted of two parts: their inherent strength and the divine authority they possessed. Qin Muye's approach was more of a makeshift solution.
Initially, he planned to return to his Hell in the Horror Universe once his bloodline concentration reached the 50% limit for further refinement.
He knew he should have the corresponding divine authority, but it wasn't in this fairy tale world; it was in the Hell of the Horror Universe.
The Horror Universe couldn't be exposed to the Titan gods. If they knew his identity, it would reveal a weakness.
Therefore, Qin Muye decided to wait until he completed the Ruby King title quest before revealing himself.
Or, more drastically, he could destroy all the Hells. However, this was unrealistic given his current strength.
So, he needed to separate his Hell from the Horror Universe and take it with him. This might be possible by combining his Hell King talent with the Titan bloodline to form a divine authority.
If his Hell enveloped his territory, it would provide double protection, along with the floating city, transforming it into a mobile extraplanar city.
Before that, he had completed the theoretical data and design. Now, he needed to conduct on-site investigations.
With the Aladdin's Lamp, Qin Muye didn't need to rely on the three local powers in the Horror Universe to gather resources.
He could simply make a wish. While the Genie might not be able to create things out of nothing, he could certainly collect the necessary resources.
As for the subsequent value of the Horror Universe, to be honest, there wasn't much left. If he could gain all the benefits at once, why wait for a trickle? After all, the total benefits were limited, and there was no point in prolonging it.
The only remaining value was probably the Hell and the alien civilizations.
The local civilizations had little value.
Qin Muye didn't have any grand plans to strengthen these powers. His strategy from the beginning was to exploit and absorb them. If he tried to strengthen them, he would likely be the one being exploited.
He believed that there were good people within a power, but he didn't believe that an entire power could be entirely good.
Unless forced, like this time when he had to pretend to be a son of Hades and Persephone, he wouldn't take such risks.
He always remembered that "ten out of ten gambles usually lose." Given that his awakened Lord talent was so mediocre, he felt he couldn't afford to lose.
It wasn't about who couldn't gamble, but who couldn't afford to lose.
He didn't have any grand ambitions. His philosophy was to survive, his strategy was to fight if he could win, hide if he couldn't, and run if he had to.
Not to challenge the heavens and the earth while showing off and humiliating others.
(End of Chapter)
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