CHAPTER 164: CHAPTER 103: ZIYU’S OATH OF LOYALTY

The task manual added one more line. "Complete System Task One—meeting with King Hammurabi—awarding 1000 points of military merit."

This man with an eagle’s eyes and a meticulously groomed handsome beard was none other than the illustrious Hammurabi.

(Hurry up, pay your respects,) Little Eight didn’t offer hindsight advice this time and timely suggested flattering the king, knowing presenting respect was of paramount importance.

"You needn’t pay respects. That stranger the other night mentioned, your nation doesn’t practice bowing or kneeling in salutation." King Hammurabi was in his prime, and the assassination attempt a month prior hadn’t deterred him from going out against the counsel of his subordinates.

Today, he went out alone, without a single guard by his side.

"The stranger you’re speaking of is?" In the half day since Ling’s absence, too many events had occurred.

"It’s not convenient to speak in the streets, please let Your Majesty and our benefactor come inside," Ziyu led King Hammurabi in first, then invited Ling.

At this point, Ling also harbored a bellyful of questions; Yijie was being pursued again, yet she had also met King Hammurabi, making the situation increasingly mysterious.

Turns out, the day after Apoli’s unfortunate demise, the temple pointed fingers at Yijie.

"Last night, when I was about to inspect the stone pillar delivered by the temple, a man broke in. Without greeting me, he snatched away the stone pillar. Before leaving, he mentioned his name as Yijie. He insisted that someone else was the killer and also revealed Ziyu’s location." King Hammurabi, having been through numerous battles both great and small, had never encountered someone like Yijie who moved like the wind, spirited as a cloud, and refused to bow before the mighty.

Within the Babylon Inner City’s palace, there were over three hundred members of the Personal Guard rotating on nightly duty; with Yijie unfamiliar with the layout, unable to recognize the locations, how had he managed to infiltrate?

But regarding his physical abilities and that imposing Weapon, Ling still held confidence. "Damn it, what am I confident about," Ling blushed, excusing her own odd sentiment. She and Yijie were now allies, pure and simple allies, better than allies wanted for crimes. The whole affair might involve her as well.

"Your Highness, I’m not sure why my friend would take the stone pillar, but one thing I can be sure of, he’s not the killer." In the entire affair, what puzzled Ling the most was why Yijie had taken the intricately carved stone pillar.

"I know why he took the stone pillar," Ziyu, who hadn’t spoken since inviting them in, said, "I’m afraid Yijie and I share the same thoughts, that the code on that stone pillar is not the true law code."

King Hammurabi had received the stone pillar last night and only memorized a few lines, yet those few lines were already different from the text Ziyu had previously copied onto her waist.

After learning of Apoli’s death, Yijie connected it to what Apoli was viewing at the time of her death—the recently transferred stone pillar codex. That’s why he risked capture to rush to the Babylon palace overnight and seize that stone pillar.

"Benefactor, could you copy down the documents on me," as soon as Ziyu finished speaking, King Hammurabi stepped out.

Ziyu prepared black ink and smoothed it before asking Ling to transcribe it.

"Ziyu, now that you have King Hammurabi’s support, you can return to the temple," Ling, still concerned about Yijie but relieved knowing he’d been cleared of suspicion and the codex successfully delivered to King Hammurabi, felt more at ease. As long as the codex transfer was successful, Ziyu returned to the temple, thus clearing Yijie’s suspicion thoroughly.

"No, I won’t return to the temple. I must leave Babylon City to find Apoli. I know she’s not dead, no one knows better than I, she’s still alive." Ziyu and Apoli were twins, and shared a remarkably strong bond.

Just as Apoli also knew that Ziyu was alive and well.

"From our birth, we have never left Babylon City, if she caused harm to others’ lives this time, it’s because evil thoughts arose in her, and I must stop her. Besides, I am no longer a respectable Goddess," Ziyu’s eyelids held back hot tears.

Apoli, time after time, had harmed the innocent; as a sister, she must stop her.

"System Task Two: Find the lost Hammurabi Code. Completion of System Task Two awards 2000 points of military merit. System Task Three: Fulfill King Hammurabi’s long-cherished wish. Accumulate 3000 points of military merit, promoting to the rank of Junior Sergeant. Please proceed to the local ’military station’ for rank adjustment." Ling received the latest prompts as she handed over the transcribed law code to King Hammurabi.

"Your Majesty," Ling asked straightforwardly, "may I inquire about your long-cherished wish?"

King Hammurabi, holding the document in hand, gazed towards the civilian home where Ziyu found refuge. He sighed, "Stranger, could you persuade Ziyu to stay? Babylon needs her, and the people need her..."

0号 also understood that after King Hammurabi pushed for the initiation of the new system, he would encounter unprecedented resistance. At this time, the words of the Goddess, beloved by the people, could make the implementation of his new law code much smoother.

"I need her too. I almost went mad after discovering that Apoli was impersonating the Goddess," King Hammurabi said with difficulty, revealing his most sincere plea.

That night, which was also the night Apoli seduced Yijie and pretended to be Ziyu to treat King Hammurabi, she also used tricks on King Hammurabi.

"This law code is the joint effort of us both. I hope she can stay by my side to witness this law code, and let Babylon truly become a world power," King Hammurabi was much older than Ziyu. He watched Ziyu become the Goddess. One represented religion, and the other represented political authority. They bridged the gap and cherished each other.

"Your Majesty," 0号 asked loudly, "do you love the woman in your room?"

King Hammurabi nodded his head.

"Then give her freedom," 0号 said with utmost determination, "If her heart is burdened, she will be joyless. She has already given everything to you, to Babylon."

"Her wisdom," 0号 pointed at the law code, "her beauty," 0号 made a cross on her face.

"Now all she wants is freedom," 0号’s words moved Apoli and made King Hammurabi fall into deep thought.

The veiled woman who came out of the civilian house had already removed her veil, and hot tears rolled down her cheeks. She bowed down, picking up the dust at King Hammurabi’s feet and kissed it: "Your Majesty, please allow Ziyu to leave this place."

King Hammurabi closed his eyes, hiding a crystal tear beneath them, "The female eagle of Babylon will eventually spread her wings." He staggered out of the civilian house.

Ziyu was crawling on the ground, her head bowed, and the sand beneath her was wet. The Goddess, revered by thousands, leaving the protection of the Emperor, renouncing her lofty position, was it truly just for freedom?

At this moment, 0号 couldn’t think of it, nor could she remember that she once faced such a choice.

(Look at you, always causing trouble. You’ve managed to complete the first two tasks by fluke, and then you should have persuaded Ziyu to stay. Now that the system task can’t be completed, we’ve suffered a big loss.) Little Eight calculated the cumulative points of the first two tasks, with a total of 3000 military merit earned.

If system task three were completed, 0号 would be the sole victor, and her name would surely be engraved on the Honor Wall of Babylon.

"Ziyu, what do you plan to do next?" 0号 didn’t argue with Little Eight, as experience told her that arguing with Little Eight was like squabbling with an eight-year-old over snacks, which is laborious and thankless.

"I shall follow my promise and always follow my master," Ziyu lowered her head and turned direction. Her warm hands fell in front of 0号’s feet.

"!!" 0号 felt a warm and moist touch on her toes as Ziyu kissed her feet. Xia You quickly stepped back, but it was too late.

(Is this? 0号, don’t dodge, otherwise, it is disrespectful to Ziyu,) such treatment was even higher than that bestowed upon a monarch. Ziyu was actually giving 0号, an ordinary player, even higher honor than a king.

"Besides God, there is only you whom I serve," 0号 did not dare to pull away, as it would be a disgrace to Ziyu if she did.

"Ziyu, are you sure? I am just a stranger you met by chance, not worthy of your lifelong loyalty. Moreover, where I will go next, even I myself am not clear." 0号 was still concerned about Yijie’s whereabouts, intending to inquire about Yijie’s situation before leaving Babylon City.

"After His Majesty returns, he will revoke the warrant, and then your friend’s grievances will be cleared. Please allow me to return to the temple for the baptism of the next Goddess. After that, Ziyu will forever follow her master." Ziyu was a seemingly fragile person, but once she made up her mind, she would not back down.

Ziyu went back to the temple first, asking 0号 to witness the Goddess’s baptism ceremony in three days.

0号 arrived at the city gate, finding that the notice had been taken down from the bulletin board. The people who had been discussing the case had all dispersed. But Yijie was still nowhere to be found.

"Let’s go to the military station first, to inquire about the situation," 0号 walked outside the "military station," feeling unease.

The half-masked woman, as usual, waited there, blinking her veiled eyes in a friendly manner when she saw 0号: "Congratulations, your military rank has been promoted to Junior Sergeant, and you will gain a Special Skill. Moreover, since you became the first in the city to complete the system task, your name will forever remain on the Honor Wall."

After speaking, the half-masked woman took two shiny shells, planning to affix them to the Honor Wall. (To be continued. If you like this work, you are welcome to vote for it at Qidian.com; your support is my greatest motivation.)