Chapter 37 (Two Chapters in One)

Su You looked at the person before him with confusion, unable to understand why he was speaking in such a manner.

In the void, however, the Soldier King System 001, having detected the special nature of Su You’s "Eye of Truth," had already used its god-level data analysis capabilities to deduce the reason behind everything.

Just moments ago, when the system identified Su You’s "Eye of Truth" as a unique racial talent, it automatically broadcasted this information to the viewers in the livestream. In reality, however, the information provided was a censored, "watermarked" version. As some of the viewers' spiritual entities had perceived, this "Eye of Truth" was by no means an ordinary racial talent. If one were to assign it a grade, it would undoubtedly be SSS-level. With this SSS-level talent, Su You could see through all falsehoods and curses, piercing through the mist to reach the absolute truth.

It must be noted that within Plane 25838, even the Soldier King System 001, with all its god-level processing power, had failed to see through the truth hidden behind these "monsters" until Su You had already broken their false appearances. This was to say nothing of the other Soldier King candidates and their systems who had arrived on Plane 25838 alongside Su You. To everyone else, this was a place devoid of intelligent life, inhabited only by monsters.

In truth, according to the original records of this plane, it was a place of civilization and intelligence—a fact that every candidate, system, and even the viewers within the virtual broadcast spheres seemed to have subconsciously ignored. It was not until the little cub took a curious step toward a "monster" that everything about these creatures quietly dissolved before everyone’s eyes.

System 001 felt as if a fog had lifted the moment the "monster’s" true appearance was revealed. It was certain that a mysterious force had once existed in this plane, transforming its intelligent inhabitants into "monsters" and forcing all life forms that perceived this world to accept the premise that it was nothing more than a den of beasts. It was a curse so vicious it defied imagination.

System 001 could see how overwhelmed with emotion the "monster," now restored to a humanoid form, was at this moment. With the fog cleared, the system could finally perform a sensory scan on the humanoid. Its emotional fluctuations were violent, a mixture of joy, excitement, fear, and the relief of having survived a catastrophe. The system was certain that had it not been for the cub’s help, this being would have eventually succumbed to the collapse of its own willpower and become a true "monster."

Perhaps that was the original curse-caster’s intent: to use a curse capable of deceiving all life to turn Plane 25838 into a "land of exile" or a "cursed realm," forcing its original inhabitants into despair as their wills crumbled, ultimately transforming a fake "gathering place of monsters" into a real one. Even System 001, having straightened out the cause and effect, was shaken by such a cruel method. This was a place where all hope had been extinguished.

If not for the appearance of the cub...

At that moment, the Soldier King System 001 watched in silence as the humanoid entity held the cub tightly, as if having found salvation, and truly understood the weight of the moment. It was a rare, almost impossible stroke of luck—finding new life in a realm of unredeemable despair.

...

Only after his uncontrollable excitement subsided did the young man with black horns begin to calm down. The little cub looked at him curiously, sensing that the young man’s mood had stabilized, and blinked his beautiful, large eyes. "Hello! My name is Youyou. What’s your name?"

The young man, dressed in pale purple robes with a pair of black horns, lifted the cub into his arms. Hearing the question, he offered a very gentle smile. "Wan Ming. My name is Wan Ming..."

He paused, then added in a voice tinged with melancholy, "Though, my people and my enemies refer to me as... the Demon Lord Wan Ming."

...

[???]
[Aha, Demon Lord Wan Ming? What does that mean?]

Inside the virtual broadcast sphere, the host, Maka Maka the Green-skinned, watched the incredible turn of events. He felt both excited by his previous "prophetic" predictions and shocked by the scene unfolding before him. Of course, despite his shock, he maintained his professional standards, striving to provide context for the ignorant audience: "The term 'Demon Lord' originates from ancient civilizations. It is roughly equivalent to what we now call a 'Master of Monsters' or a 'Great Demon King.' It is typically used to describe extremely powerful and evil beings."

In the audience section, some viewers who already understood the meaning of the term found the scene in Livestream 001 utterly baffling.

[Hey, so is this humanoid still a monster?]
[He looks so kind and gentle; why would he have a title like a Great Demon King?]

The viewers did not understand why things were the way they were. Of course, the cub didn’t understand, either. In Plane 25838, the cub in the arms of the Demon Lord looked up at him with confusion. "What does Demon Lord mean?"

Wan Ming smiled, raising a hand to stroke the cub’s head. With a wistful expression, he carried the cub toward the mirror-like, ethereal lake and spoke softly: "...Because my race was branded as 'demonic' by the cultivation world. We do not practice internal cultivation methods; we cultivate the strength of our physical bodies, and we do not shy away from killing during our training."

"Thus, my race was deemed 'naturally evil' by the practitioners, and I am one of the strongest among these 'naturally evil' beings. My name is Wan Ming, and in the cultivation world, I am known as the Demon Lord Wan Ming."

The young man in purple looked forlorn, while the cub in his arms remained bewildered. Clearly, although the cub had grown from three and a half to five years old, he still could not grasp the complex relationships and reasons behind the Demon Lord’s words.

Wan Ming noticed the cub’s confusion and laughed. "Simply put, there is a group of people who believe my race is bad, and I am the 'leader of the bad guys.'"

Having heard the simplified explanation, the cub finally understood. He widened his large, cyan-green eyes, grabbed the Demon Lord’s collar, and said with great seriousness: "Mingming is not a bad guy!"

*Mingming...*

The Demon Lord had never heard anyone address him this way. Looking at the cub, he felt a surge of warmth and emotion. After a long moment, he reached out to pat the cub who had saved him from the endless darkness. "Youyou, thank you for believing in me."

When he had been sinking into endless evil and terror, he, too, had felt resentment and malice stir in his heart, but he had managed to keep his sanity intact. He knew that if he surrendered to that resentment, he would never see the hope of salvation again. Although he had been filled with despair, believing his Nether race was beyond saving, he had felt a flicker of hope when he detected an outsider and came to investigate—and finally met the child who would save him.

Thinking of this, the Demon Lord remembered his kin still trapped in the sea of suffering... If this child could save him, then... could his people be saved as well?

The cub in his arms sensed the Demon Lord’s agitation and tilted his head. "Mingming, why are you shaking?"

The Demon Lord closed his eyes tightly, took a deep breath, and opened them again. In a trembling, expectant voice, he asked the cub: "...Youyou, can you tell me, after you touched me just now, did you feel tired?"

Although he hoped the cub could save his people, the Demon Lord did not want to harm his savior. If breaking the curse on his body would cause the cub to suffer damage to his power or spirit, he had to ensure the cub would be safe.

Fortunately, the cub tilted his head in confusion. "No?"

The little one looked up at the young man holding him. "Youyou has lots of strength! Grabbing Mingming’s clothes doesn't make me tired at all!"

The cub did not know what his reaching out and grabbing the Demon Lord’s collar represented in terms of hope; he was simply stating a fact. Upon hearing this, a fierce, blazing hope erupted in the Demon Lord’s eyes—he saw the hope of his race being redeemed by the cub.

He spoke to the cub in an earnest tone: "Youyou, may I ask a favor of you?"

The little one looked at his new friend in the pretty clothes and nodded seriously: "Yes, you can!"

The Demon Lord whispered: "I would like to ask Youyou to help me by 'shaking hands' with my people as well, is that alright?"

As he spoke, he added: "As long as Youyou can help me 'shake hands' with my people, then... from this day forward, I swear in the name of the Demon Lord Wan Ming—from this moment on, the Nether race shall be your most loyal servants!"