"You're my 'own kind.' How could I just leave when I have the power to help?"
Leilin said this with great 'righteous conviction.'
"Fool!" The half-serpent woman snorted coldly, but Leilin keenly noticed that her gaze had softened considerably. He rejoiced inwardly, then continued in a low voice: "After all… 'kind' like you are already hard to come by!"
After hearing Leilin's words, the half-serpent woman immediately fell silent, her face dark enough to wring tears from.
Seeing this, Leilin nodded to himself in secret: "My guess wasn't wrong. No matter what world it is, mixed-bloods—especially those crossing races—will always face exclusion and discrimination…"
Her behavior looked to Leilin like someone who had endured long-term neglect and persecution, making her somewhat cynical, yet deeply caring toward those of her own kind, because they were the last warmth left in her heart. Relying on this shared sympathy, Leilin was quite confident he could earn her complete trust in the shortest time possible.
"Oh, I still don't know your name." A sunny smile spread across Leilin's face.
"Belinda! My name is Belinda! And you?" Belinda stared at Leilin, particularly at the white scales on his face, her eyes somewhat dazed.
"My name is Nick! Beautiful lady!" A small compliment was enough to bring a faint blush to Belinda's cheeks—she clearly didn't have much experience dealing with people normally.
"So… Belinda, what do you plan to do next? And what exactly happened at the port? Why were you arrested?"
Leilin asked with confusion, acting as though he knew nothing at all—as though the one who had gone to inform on them earlier wasn't him.
"Nothing much, just the death throes of some evil cultists!" The moment this was mentioned, Belinda's expression turned cold, clearly harboring deep resentment over the earlier attack.
Leilin actually understood them quite well. After all, they hadn't intended to make a move on Iyas Port—at most, they were just using it as a waypoint to secretly transport some contraband—yet it had drawn a full-scale crackdown. It would be strange if there weren't any hard feelings.
"Nick! There's one more thing…" Belinda looked at Leilin, her expression extremely serious.
"Do you… worship the Mother of Domination, or are you a follower of Justice and Order? Or perhaps you believe in another Supreme?"
In the Purgatory World, which Supreme one aligned with was an extremely serious matter of stance—even more grave than ordinary enmity. Forces serving opposing Supremes would often fight to the death upon encountering each other.
"I'm a Wanderer. I haven't chosen a specific Supreme to follow the path of worship…"
Leilin understood the implications behind this perfectly, so he answered without hesitation: "But I do lean toward the Mother of Domination. After all, she is the origin of all of us…"
The Mother of Domination! That was the title of the Mother of Ten Thousand Snakes in the Purgatory World. Essentially, all descendants of the Ten Thousand Snakes addressed her by this name.
"Since your inclination is the Mother of Domination, then there's no conflict with the Eye of Order that I follow!" The tension on Belinda's face softened at once, even carrying a hint of closeness.
The relationship between the Mother of Ten Thousand Snakes and the Eye of Judgment, two Supremes, seemed to be far from ordinary—there were even alliances and the like between them. Leilin understood this as well.
"Actually, I serve under the Eye of Judgment. My coming to Iyas Port this time was to receive a shipment of supplies—capital for resisting the forces of chaos and evil…"
Belinda gave a brief introduction to her background. The conflict between the Eye of Judgment and the Defiled Bird had run through the development of civilizations across several worlds, and their tales of strife could be heard in many realms.
In the Purgatory World, where both Supremes' true forms resided, this conflict was amplified countless times over.
Worshippers of the Defiled Bird and worshippers of the Eye of Judgment had absolutely no peace between them. If they met in the wild, one side was certain to fall.
"No wonder you were attacked. After all, Iyas Port is that Supreme's territory…"
Leilin's face showed 'utter shock.'
"Hmph! A port built on the power of Chaos doesn't have much hope of remaining!" Seeing Leilin's expression, Belinda let out a cold snort.
"Oh? What do you mean?" Leilin's interest was piqued.
"I've already reported what happened here to my superiors. The organization will send reinforcements soon—at least a fifth-level worshipper!"
A dark expression flickered across Belinda's face. "This cancer of chaos known as Iyas Port dared to forcibly detain our cargo and kill our people. It has no right to exist anymore! Besides, this is the Hel Continent's waters—no matter how massive the forces behind Iyas may be, this still belongs to our world…"