Chapter 37

As a toddler who had not communicated much with the other Soldier King candidates, Su You was naturally unaware that, on the outside, rumors had already painted him as the "leader of the Nether clan's cubs."

For the moment, he simply sat obediently in the arms of the Wanming Demon Lord, following him to sightsee and "shake hands" with the Demon Lord's tribesmen. Although the little one did not understand why the Demon Lord wanted him to do this, he perfectly demonstrated the essence of "respecting what one does not understand." One could say he was a very polite little child.

***

Meanwhile, as the Wanming Demon Lord traveled through Plane No. 25838 with Su You, the number of Soldier King candidates who had received help from "Candidate No. 001" continued to grow. Many candidates, who had never seen No. 001 back in Plane No. 12768, finally caught a glimpse of what he looked like.

"A very mysterious appearance; he wears a purple robe and has a pair of black horns, moving through this terrifying plane with ease, completely unafraid of any monsters appearing!"

"Yes, it’s truly incredible—though I think it’s all because he’s holding the leader of the Nether clan in his arms!"

"I agree... I never expected the leader of the Nether clan to be a toddler who looks like he’s only four or five years old. But he is truly worthy of being the leader of the Nether clan; as soon as that cub reaches out and touches those disgusting monsters, they turn back into humanoid life forms..."

"Yes, after being restored to their humanoid exterior, those monsters seem to lose their original aggression."

"Of course! Didn't you hear? Every time a monster is restored to its humanoid form, the main system announces: 'Candidate No. 001 has tamed an XX-ranked member of the Nether clan.'"

"It’s so enviable... Where on earth did No. 001 pick up that Nether leader? It makes subduing those monsters look effortless..."

"I have a sinking feeling that this damn No. 001 is going to be the biggest winner of this plane again. Will he end up taming every single member of the Nether clan in this entire plane, leaving us with nothing to do but rely on our points to move on to the next plane?"

"...That’s a terrible thought. Forget it, let's just find our own ways to increase our survival points, otherwise, we'll be eliminated in the next plane!"

...

Salvador, an orc numbered 098, relied on his keen beastly instincts to hide successfully in a location devoid of monsters and other candidates, remaining silent and still from start to finish. So much so that when three or four candidates gathered nearby to chat, they never noticed that Candidate 098 was hiding just a short distance away.

098 stayed calmly in his hiding spot, listening to the chatter of the other candidates transmitted through their systems, and did not reveal himself even after they left. This was mainly because he found these candidates to be incredibly stupid. Just by listening to their gossip, he knew these fools had completely misidentified the person they should be admiring.

That fellow in the purple robe with the black horns was absolutely not Candidate No. 001!

The real Candidate No. 001 was the toddler in that fellow's arms—that was his most revered Son of the Beast God, his great little master! Oh, of course, back in the previous plane, Salvador hadn't known at first that his dear little master was Candidate No. 001, but as his master tamed one high-level beast after another, the prompts from the main system were enough for Salvador to figure everything out. Even so, that did not in the slightest change the fact that he was his most revered little master.

***

And now, in this plane, his most revered little master was still impressively powerful!

"098, the little master is truly worthy of being the Son of the Beast God! His power is plain for all to see!"

Soldier King System 098: [...]

Never mind. Its worldview had collapsed more than once or twice. As a strictly materialistic warrior system, it felt its "heart" was very tired. But the good news was that it believed there must be many other systems in Plane No. 25838 whose hearts were even more tired than its own. After all, its host might be stupid, but at least he knew the truth, whereas the hosts of those other systems were much worse off—they still regarded that Candidate No. 001 as a "monster cub leader."

:)

Sometimes, even if you are suffering, seeing that others are suffering even more suddenly makes you feel a little better.

***

However, in Plane No. 25838, besides those candidates who felt lucky to have escaped disaster and were just trying to scrape together survival points to make it to the next level, there were naturally those who were powerful and wanted to continue the challenge.

For example, the half-breed winged person, Sylvanando, numbered 002. Although he found the monsters repulsive, as the system notifications rang out one after another, Sylvanando began searching for them, using his bow and arrows—which burned with spiritual fire—to pierce and kill them one by one.

Sylvanando had once tried to do as he had in the previous plane: pinning the monsters' limbs down and applying mental pressure to attempt to tame them. But the monsters in this plane seemed to have a natural, extremely high resistance to mental pressure, and no matter how he exerted his power, he could not tame them.

It was a terrible result. Consequently, Sylvanando had no choice but to use his spirit-powered bow and arrows to pierce these monsters and kill them.

Just then, as Sylvanando aimed his bow at a monster before him, preparing to pierce it with another arrow, he felt an intense sense of threat from a hundred meters away! When he looked up alertly, he saw a figure in a purple robe with a pair of black horns. The figure was holding a toddler in his arms. After noticing Sylvanando's gaze, the toddler looked at him, then looked down at the disgusting monster below, and finally blinked his eyes as if he were about to cry!

Sylvanando frowned at the scene. He remembered—just a moment ago, he had heard the rumors among the candidates. Candidate No. 001 was constantly subduing new members of the Nether clan with the "Nether clan cub leader" he had tamed. Sylvanando guessed that the figure in the purple robe and the toddler were likely the Candidate No. 001 and the Nether cub leader he hadn't encountered in the previous plane.

But out of caution, Sylvanando still confirmed the other party's identity with his system.

Soldier King System 002: [...Yes, that is indeed Candidate No. 001 and the Nether clan leader he has tamed.]

As a Soldier King system, 002 could not directly tell its host "you are mistaken," so it could only use tonal emphasis to tell its host that it was Candidate No. 001 and the "Nether clan leader," not the "cub leader."

But unfortunately, its host clearly did not understand the hint. This was probably because the toddler candidate No. 001 seemed so unbelievable that everyone felt it was easier to believe he was a simple monster leader than to accept he was Candidate No. 001. After all, a monster leader could obtain their position through bloodline inheritance, whereas the identity of "Candidate No. 001"... was not something that could be inherited.

Of course, Soldier King System 002 looked at the toddler before them and couldn't help but sigh inwardly—there was likely another reason everyone had guessed wrong. It was that when the toddler saw those monsters, his eyes were filled with joy and excitement... along with the pity and pleading he showed at this very moment. It was clear the toddler was begging his "host" not to hurt the monster. Under such circumstances, who would think this soft, adorable toddler wasn't the leader of the monsters?

***

"Hello?"

Su You was using a soft, pleading voice as he looked at the "opponent" with the beautiful wings. The little one looked up at the "angel" flying in the air, then at the Nether clan member pinned to the ground by the "angel," and felt his tears welling up. The member pinned to the ground looked like he was in so much pain...

So, the little one continued to look up and ask Sylvanando in a soft, friendly voice: "...Can you let him go?"

The half-breed winged person hovering in the air looked coldly at the "little monster" below. Hearing the "little monster's request" relayed by System 002, he was about to coldly refuse, but for some reason, upon seeing the gaze of the "little monster," he fell silent.

After a moment, Sylvanando looked at the little fellow and asked coldly, "Why should I agree to your request?"

The tiny toddler was stumped by Sylvanando's question and didn't know how to answer. He struggled to reach down and touch his pockets—he only had his bear and his branch scepter in them. Teacher Little Sunflower had taught him that if you want someone to help you, you need to offer a fair trade, but besides the bear and the scepter, he didn't seem to have anything to trade with this big-winged angel...

What should he do?

The little one didn't want to be a bad child who "forces others to give for free," but he had nothing else. So, clutching his pockets, he pouted, and tears of sadness slowly welled up in his large, turquoise eyes.