"I'm afraid you'll dirty my floor, let's go outside to talk."

"Okay..." 𝗳𝗿𝐞𝕖𝘄𝗲𝕓𝗻𝚘𝚟𝕖𝐥.𝚌𝕠𝕞

Facing Loren's nearly insulting language, the King still chose compliance and forbearance.

As long as Loren was willing to give him a chance, that was enough.

Loren casually took the King to a small restaurant. The staff member inside trembled with fear upon seeing the visitors, taking several deep breaths before he could move again.

Even so, he couldn't stop shaking while standing beside Loren and the King, terrified that any mistake might cost him his life.

He knew Loren was merciful; normally encountering Loren would only excite him, not frighten him. But the King was not so merciful.

The King's ascension to this position hadn't been smooth; he had many siblings, and his actions had been so significant that even the common folk had heard some rumors.

Normally he was indeed submissive and timid before Loren, but that didn't mean he was truly that benevolent.

"You've frightened the attendant. Aren't you going to apologize to him?"

After sitting down, Loren didn't immediately begin discussing serious matters, but continued putting pressure on the King.

"Sorry for frightening you, I'll give you some compensation later..."

Seeing the King actually apologize to him, the attendant was so terrified he knelt on the floor. Just as he was about to kowtow, Loren stopped him.

"Enough, go back and rest. We don't need service for now."

"Yes..."

Hearing Loren's words, the attendant felt as if a heavy burden had been lifted, scrambling away from there on all fours.

"It seems your reputation isn't very good... uh... I don't know your name, never mind it's not important. Now let's discuss serious matters."

"Yes..."

Even though Loren didn't know the King's name, the King had no intention of introducing himself.

If Loren wished, there was nothing he couldn't know.

"To make a long story short, you know about the Gedlan Kingdom importing medicine from the Uridia Kingdom, right?"

"I know..."

Loren told him to make it brief, so he truly didn't say an extra word.

"Do you know the effects of these medicines?"

"I know."

"You've made quite a bit of money during this time, haven't you?"

When asked this, the King's tone finally became somewhat hesitant:

"Yes..."

After he answered this question, Loren didn't ask anything further. The longer this silence lasted, the greater the pressure he felt.

Having interacted with Loren for so long, the King had roughly understood Loren's temperament.

Perhaps many rumors about Loren were false, but Loren's concern for the people was absolutely genuine.

That's why he was so afraid when Loren fell into contemplation.

Actually, Loren really was thinking; he truly wasn't sure how to handle these medicine bottles.

After all, this was just a feudal society. With Loren's influence, he could indeed get the Gedlan Kingdom, and even the Nofica Theocracy, to ban the drugs. But Loren's reach ultimately couldn't extend too far; even if they truly proliferated, he couldn't easily manage it.

"Forget it, I can't be bothered with this. Remember to clearly label all hazards when selling any related items, and simultaneously raise the price to a level ordinary people simply cannot afford."

The medicine from the Uridia Kingdom was cheapest there, just affordable for ordinary people, so it equally sucked the blood from both commoners and nobles, just in different ways for different people.

By the time it was sold to the Gedlan Kingdom, it had been marked up many times, already difficult for ordinary people to afford. So Loren decided to raise the price again.

Blocking is worse than channeling; let the capitalist drugs poison the feudal nobility instead.

The King was initially somewhat shocked, but soon understood Loren's meaning. Loren had always disliked the nobility; some nobles who committed even minor mistakes would be tormented by Loren in various ways, to the extent that the King himself was the one most frequently tormented.

"Understood..."

The King waited anxiously for Loren's next words. Loren didn't speak further, directly standing up:

"Forget it, that's all. I've never been good at handling these matters. Figure it out yourself. Just don't let these things harm ordinary people."

Loren didn't give the King time to react, directly turning and leaving.

Simultaneously, Loren was also thinking about how to govern this world in the future. It was like this while the gods existed; it couldn't remain like this after the gods died. If Loren truly continued letting people grow freely, the situation probably wouldn't be much better than now.

"How long will it take to develop AI..."

Loren felt somewhat troubled. Perhaps letting the Witches manage the world could completely avoid corruption, but the Witches also lacked the ability to govern the world.

Loren had once heard a saying: an incompetent honest official causes more harm than a competent corrupt one. This argument had some merit, but if possible, Loren still wanted to find a competent honest official.

"Looking at it this way, perhaps I need to find a way to keep Noah alive..."

Although Noah was quite fanatical, his scientific research ability was still commendable; he managed to handcraft a nuclear bomb using materials left by the Dawn Society.

Moreover, he was nearly immortal. Loren thought if given unlimited energy, starting from scratch to create AI probably wouldn't take more than a few hundred years.

But this matter wasn't actually that important. What Loren cared about most were the Witches. If Noah's death could more easily kill a certain god, Loren wouldn't mind letting him die either. It's just that with the Goddess of Love's blessing, he wouldn't die so easily either.

The remaining matters could be left for the King to worry about. Loren walked back home, just in time for dinner.

Phoris was dead, the God of Dreams had received due punishment, the medicine issue was basically resolved, and Loren had nothing pressing for now.

"Perhaps it's time to set off for the Eternal Dark Abyss..."

Just going there would probably take a long time, meaning being separated from the Witches for a long time. Even if Loren could accept it, they probably couldn't, and taking them along was impossible.

Anna had never been apart from Loren for long since childhood.

"Forget it, no rush. After all, I've already obtained the Justice Card. Now no one can kill me..."

For survival ability, Loren had the High Tower and Justice, plus his extremely high stamina. For output, he had Judgment and Blood Moon Condensed Light, along with many high-tier spells... He even had the True Sight Eye and the Strength Card to negate control. Currently, Loren had no weaknesses left.

As for sustainability, needless to say, Loren estimated no one below the Angel level could have more Mana than him.

"It seems there's another period of leisure ahead..."

Regarding this, Loren also felt a wave of relief. He already had everything he wanted, and even if the Divine War erupted now, Loren was confident he could protect himself and the Witches.

"Perhaps I could go to the Nofica Theocracy to find that Dawn Princess's Diary..."

This was very simple. All Loren needed to do was say he wanted to go see it. The Church wouldn't just not stop him; they would actively send him there.