Rope sensed the fluctuations of battle outside the city walls, and his heart was filled with mixed emotions.
He had been negligent after all, failing to realize that these demigods harbored such basic dissatisfaction toward the gods... It was a case of not seeing the forest for the trees. After all, Rope's rise to power had been too swift, and there were no constraints imposed by the world or the races. So back then, he had to look up to the gods.
But soon he became their equal. In the end, it was the gods who relied on Rope.
This transformation took less than a year…
Not even enough time for the gods to take a short nap. Fortunately, they were too busy to fall asleep. Otherwise, the situation would be something like this:
You raised a little Alaskan[1].
You woke up to find yourself nearly crushed to death. And the one crushing you is your Alaskan pig.
Rope's power has grown at an astonishing rate. Even compared to his predecessors, Rope's progress is by no means slow.
And precisely because of this, Rope simply cannot understand the frustration of the demigods.
So he didn't bother to warn the demigods. He didn't tell them that the shackles binding them would soon be naturally released. And some of it has already been lifted.
Those whose strength hasn't improved are either lazy or incompetent.
It was this oversight that led to many Pokémon being brought by the demigods to attack humanity.
But now Rope doesn't even bother to debunk the rumors.
Firstly, the demigods have already crossed the line. In the end, even if they escape capital punishment, they won't escape punishment.
Secondly... even if Rope were to speak out now, the demigods wouldn't believe him. After all, the demigods have only heard rumors about Rope. Trust is something that takes time to build. The gods' favorable attitude toward Rope was earned through his actions, not just a single statement.
Just as you know, often there's no need for others to deceive you, but you still instinctively doubt whether they're lying.
Sometimes such matters have nothing to do with differences.
Seeing Rope looking downcast, Kattie immediately offered his head, rubbing it against Rope's hand. Rope smiled and patted his head without saying anything.
Looking at the concerned gazes of the Pokémon in the room, Rope smiled and said, "For now, you don't need to rush to follow me. When I need you, I'll call you."
All the Pokémon nodded. Though they were puzzled as to why Rope insisted on bringing them along to battle and how he planned to do so, they trusted him and didn't ask any questions.
They would just follow Rope's arrangements. When the time came, they would fight if they could, and fight even if they couldn't.
It was better than standing by helplessly while Rope got beaten up.
Perhaps Rope had considered this as well, which was why he was now thinking of bringing them along to fight.
After all, these guys weren't completely defenseless if it came down to it.
Rope looked out the window at the sky, which was about to dawn, and felt a faint sense of anticipation.
He had been in this world for six years and had known the truth behind everything for a year. Rope had always wanted to find a way to leave this place. And after this battle, he would finally be able to take some time off to go home.
I wonder if my parents have had another child while I was away.
But I doubt it. After all, my mother isn't getting any younger. My father wouldn't want her to take that risk.
"What are you thinking about?"
"I'm thinking about something happy."
"What is it?"
"My mom..."
Rope was about to speak, but immediately realized what she was about to say and replied indignantly, "How can you trick someone like that? We're not that close, so we can't talk about these things."
Chen: Very sensitive to social norms, knows what to do in different situations. Oh.
The woman in the black dress smiled gently and said, "Hello, Rope. This isn't the first time we've met. My name is Halley."
As she spoke, the woman in the black dress made a gesture of placing her hands together over her heart.
Rope's lips twitched. He had to admit that this woman had a figure to die for…
However, Rope didn't say anything else. He mimicked her gesture and asked, "Is this a customary greeting in your world?"
Halley nodded and said, "This is the gesture our faction uses to greet those we recognize. While there are universal greetings in the Void, we find them lacking in sincerity."
Rope understood, and it was clear that the Void was indeed a vast place. More importantly, there must be an organization with immense power.
This so-called universal greeting gesture was likely left behind by them.
Then, an awkward silence fell over the room.
The Pokémon all stared at Halley, their eyes filled with hostility.
After all, to them, Halley was a clear enemy.
But Halley didn't see it that way. Because both Rope and she were outsiders to this world. Even though Rope had developed a strong sense of belonging to this world, the very fact of existing across multiple worlds inevitably caused Rope to lose some recognition of the world.
Regardless of which one.
"It seems like the two of us really have nothing to talk about."
Rope said with a hint of resignation. He had originally intended to extract some information from Halley. But when it came down to it, he still felt there was nothing to say.
After all, they were about to fight to the death… More importantly… If he wanted to get any information from Halley, he would inevitably have to give up some of his own information as well.
Rope didn't want to give up his own information.
"I thought you'd ask me something. Like which faction I belong to, my true position in the company, or my status in the Void."
Halley pulled out a cup of coffee from somewhere, took a sip, and smiled lightly.
Rope sighed wryly.
He did want to ask those questions.
But the deep-seated dislike he felt toward Halley prevented him from maintaining a polite attitude toward him.
After all, the things Halley had done—though as the mastermind behind the scenes, his hands were probably not stained with much blood—made him even more despicable, didn't they?
"I'll spare your life at the end and ask you these questions then."
Rope spoke fairly gently.
"Oh, don't worry. After you fail, I'll graciously tell you the answers to those questions as well."
Halley also smiled and said.
[1] Alaskan husky