Chapter 661: Chapter 398: Genesis
Meanwhile, in Flower Street.
The Alben Family’s servants, who had just received the order and rushed here, immediately drove away the gangs and prostitutes squatting in Flower Street. Those who didn’t understand human language were killed on the spot. In the end, they arrived at the academy that had stood here centuries ago.
But now, rather than an academy, it looked more like a warren of fortress-like slums.
The once tall and tightly packed buildings had completely turned into mixed hovels where countless prostitutes lived and hid children. It looked as if many places had already been cleared, yet the moment one stepped inside, one could immediately smell the stench buried beneath layers of soot.
Even within Flower Street, this was the lowest-grade area, the sort of place only untouchables came to amuse themselves.
That alone made many people’s brows knit, even stirring up an uncontrollable urge to vomit.
While clearing the rooms, someone saw a disgusting pile of organs in the corner, already sprouting maggots. Those were the severed organs of the children here, cut off when they were castrated. The first person to discover them threw up on the spot, then hurriedly called more servants over to clean up.
And this was only one corner of what had once been a Mysticism academy.
Bodies casually discarded and left as bare frameworks of bone, organs so mangled they no longer had a recognizable shape, and a great number of eyeballs soaked in some strange solution...
Even they couldn’t begin to imagine why these things existed here, or what kind of lives the people here had been living.
After all, this had been an academy centuries ago. In such a long span of time, this place had already changed hands more times than anyone could count; the power over this academy had passed through who knew how many nobles and gangs.
What it had turned into now—how could they possibly know?
And yet the Patriarch actually wanted them to restore this den of prostitutes and gangsters into the appearance of the old academy within half a day...
"I don’t care what methods you use. This is the Patriarch’s demand. No matter what means or price it takes, I want this place to look like the old academy in half a day!" The Alben Family member snarled at the servants who were complaining to him.
He himself had received the order from above: it had to be done. But the Old Dengs up there had no idea how to restore this place either, so they simply pushed the pressure onto him, and he, in turn, could only pass that pressure down onto those even lower than himself.
The servants could only wear expressions like masks of suffering as they gathered up every bit of filth and garbage to be collected, buried, burned, and scrubbed away as best they could...
As for whether such crude cleaning and washing could cover up the filth of centuries ground into this patch of land, only ghosts would know. All they could do was give it their all.
...
In the main compound of the Alben Family, Patriarch Harley had by now taken Mephisto on a rough tour of several festival areas, then began to lead him away, preparing to head to the main sightseeing spot of this visit—the place where they had once gone to school.
But those memories belonged to a hundred years ago. In this past century, this place had gone through several wars and changes of hands. In fact, even before Mephisto became God, this city had experienced more than one war; this place had been controlled by more than one noble. During that period, it had been a school, a hospital, a military garrison...
And now, after being abandoned, it had simply been occupied by gangs and prostitutes for far too long.
Faust might once have felt something over it, but now he was exceptionally calm, at most letting a hint of emotion show on his face as he said to Mephisto, "Hundreds of years have passed. That place has long since become synonymous with filth and chaos."
"I don’t mind. I just want to see the place where we once lived." Mephisto spoke, and at the same time noticed the people serving them at the side.
Seemingly aware of his gaze, Faust—inside the body of this noble Patriarch—immediately said, "Those two are the ones who previously handed over Soya’s Book. They’re from the Roland City branch family, now my trusted men. I brought them along this time."
Xue Dili kept his head lowered the whole time, appearing just as humble as everyone else around them.
Susu had just been about to lift her head when Xue Dili pressed her head back down with one hand.
Mephisto nodded and said nothing more.
The group moved in imposing fashion toward what had once been their school. Meanwhile, when those scrubbing this place clean received the news that Lord God had already set out, they all broke into a cold sweat.
They hurriedly finished off a barely cleaned stretch of passageway to stand along, while the remaining areas were still being frantically scrubbed. They could only silently pray in their hearts that Lord God wouldn’t see those parts.
The big shots outside, of course, had no interest in what these people were thinking. When Mephisto saw the ragged, broken academy gateframe, an endless tide of emotion rose in his heart.
Stepping into the academy, it seemed that everything here had completely changed. In the once tall and splendid school buildings, after all this time, the walls were now covered in peeling plaster, grime, and foulness soaked through by unknown liquids, mottled with all sorts of bizarre stains.
He remembered this was the library, with a very tall spire and a huge clock that could be seen from anywhere on campus; even at night one could clearly see the time displayed there.
But now, the top of the spire seemed long since destroyed. The great clock had vanished without a trace, leaving only a collapsed tower top where a makeshift shack had been thrown up to barely keep out the rain.
And that building over there—that had been the main lecture hall for classes. Its exterior walls should have been pure white, but now half the plaster had flaked off, like an old man covered in age spots. Various stains that hadn’t had time to be cleaned mottled the entire wall, making it look like a gravely ill patient with a skin disease.
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