The fact that Tashiniya never had professional ethics was already a kind of urban legend within the Tasiniya Demon Subjugation Squad.
It was like 'An Duo will never have 101 gold coins.'
However, Tashiniya's decision to once again abandon professional ethics was not based on this overwhelming war.
At most, the war only solidified Tashiniya's belief that she was right.
Her true resolve came after her massive shopping spree at the Adventurer's Shop that day.
Although Tashiniya was an idiot and lacked integrity.
As an old woman who had lived in the Celestial Realm for tens of thousands of years, Tashiniya still had a very high level of discernment.
After carefully examining the resources from the MC Dungeon, she came to a startling conclusion: conceptually, those resources seemed to be even more advanced than the concepts of divine laws.
For example, regarding the Enchanted Golden Apple, Tashiniya's intuition told her that this item could truly grant immunity to all fire damage, including the Fire God's divine flames.
Tashiniya never doubted her intuition; after all, it was by relying on this 'Archangel's intuition' that Tashiniya was able to achieve countless great feats.
She stole the Love God's ball of love threads and extensively sold disposable red strings.
She stole the God of Knights' divine steed, tricked the Food God into believing it was Kobe horse meat, and enjoyed a grand horse meat feast.
She used the Sun God's divine chariot to generate solar power, leading the Thunder God to believe the Sun God was freelancing and stealing his business, resulting in a massive fight between them.
And so on... It was precisely because of her extraordinary angelic intuition that Tashiniya was able to escape gracefully after repeatedly causing chaos in the Celestial Realm.
So... as long as she brought the Enchanted Golden Apple back to the Celestial Realm, the Water God would definitely pay a hefty price for it, as that fellow had wanted to spit in the Fire God's house for a long time.
Tashiniya wanted to do cross-realm reselling business.
As for the Celestial Realm's seal, if it couldn't be undone, then so be it; strictly speaking, it wasn't an unacceptable weakened state.
While it sealed her power, it also granted her the Celestial Realm's blessing; at least with the Celestial Realm's seal in place, she wouldn't die on the Aetheram continent.
As for An Duo, she could only continue to wait for Tashiniya's promise to find the God of Wealth to bestow a blessing of prosperity upon her once they returned to the Celestial Realm.
This was also the reason An Duo was talked into coming out.
As for whether it would be useful... anyway, by then she would be back in the Celestial Realm, and even if it wasn't useful, could An Duo really go to heaven and beat her up?
Although Tashiniya hadn't fully understood the other resources yet, the Elven Kingdom had already proven a lot through this war.
Doragon's mission?
The meager amount of money they offered made it difficult for Tashiniya to resist all temptations and uphold her professional ethics.
A heart-wrenching yet pleasurable scream echoed from the adjacent dark room, interrupting Tashiniya's thoughts.
Deconis was drinking healing potions again.
Healing potions produced by the Elven Kingdom were top-tier torture for undead beings like liches, but... the lich in Tashiniya's household just loved that kind of thing.
"Deconis, please, use a silencing spell, you scoundrel! What if you corrupt An Duo?"
But the screams still didn't stop, and eventually, Weini reluctantly cast a soundproofing spell on the room.
She strongly supported Deconis's pursuit, as Deconis also supported her inspiration for creating 'erotic art' with her actions.
Only Lulu was a bit worried about Deconis developing a potion addiction... "So, we're really not continuing Doragon's mission?"
Although they had often done things lacking professional ethics under Tashiniya's leadership before.
This time, however, Doragon had given a deposit of ten thousand gold coins.
Lulu always felt that Tashiniya was more like a demon than herself.
Tashiniya scratched her cheek.
"Doragon has already ceded territory and paid reparations, is there still a need to know the secrets of the Elven Kingdom?"
"But..."
"No need to say anything!"
With a wave of her small hand, the halo above Tashiniya's head brightened another degree, illuminating the room.
"The Adventurers' Guild doesn't have a rule that you must complete a mission if you've taken the money, right? There's no adventurer squad in the world with a hundred percent mission completion rate!"
Most importantly, given the Elven Kingdom's current level of martial prowess, if they were to do that mission again, they might easily get buried alive as fertilizer.
"But, you idiot angel..."
Weini's tone was faint.
"We only received the deposit; Doragon's final payment hasn't been made yet."
"..."
The room fell silent, and Tashiniya finally realized the blind spot.
The next moment, the wise Archangel excitedly swung her staff.
"How can this be! Adventurers' wages cannot be withheld! Weini, let's go! This Angel is going to the Adventurers' Guild to demand payment!"
"But Captain, according to the rules, it's normal not to make the final payment if the mission isn't completed, isn't it?"
"No!"
Tashiniya had a righteous and heroic expression.
"This Angel has always believed that as long as effort is put in, there must be a reward!"
Lulu was stunned.
Such chivalrous words, could they really come from this greedy and lazy angel?
It seemed she had underestimated Tashiniya... "Of course, the most important thing is, if we don't demand the final payment while Doragon is in chaos, once they recover, the final payment will be completely gone!"
"...Captain, please don't use such inspiring words for robbery!"
Her image of an angel shattered again, and Lulu still chose to stick to her previous thought: this guy was definitely a fallen angel.
Tashiniya didn't care, however, and pulled An Duo and Weini along, striding out the door; in the sunlight, her pure white back was a sight to behold.
"Lulu, remember! This Angel was able to run rampant in the Celestial Realm entirely due to the three great virtues of angels — being afraid of death, bullying the weak, and taking advantage of others' misfortune!"
"Please don't describe such base qualities as so noble!!!"
---
Su Lin was now somewhat unaccustomed to being alone in the MC Dungeon.
Although Aelita and Hilulele were noisy when they were around, and every now and then they would do things that crossed moral boundaries, they always made the MC Dungeon more lively.
After not seeing them for so long, he actually missed them a bit... This feeling only lasted until the day Aelita and the others returned to the MC Dungeon.
"Su Lin, This Queen has another bold idea."
"..."
Su Lin felt a bit of a headache.
Not even a 'long time no see,' this fellow just came back and was already trying to challenge his worldview?
But this time, Aelita seemed very serious, with a complex and unreadable expression.
"After this incident, I have a deeper understanding of war; the old me was still too naive... Ending war with war is not advisable."
"!"
Su Lin's face turned pale with shock.
His Enchanted Diamond Sword traced a precise arc and rested on Aelita's neck.
"I don't care who you are, get out of Ailili's body immediately!"
"...Idiot! I haven't been possessed by magic!"
Aelita's face turned red with anger, and she stomped on Su Lin's foot in exasperation.
After a moment, she recollected her emotions, which had been ruined by this guy, and continued to speak slowly.
"A few days ago, when Grandpa Lop was invited to the Doragon capital to witness Doragon's surrender and apology, I also went... I had thought that this unprecedented, disastrous defeat would make Doragon fearful."
"Making Doragon understand the horror of war, and fostering anti-war and war-weary sentiments within Doragon... But I was wrong!"
Aelita's expression instantly became very complex; Su Lin understood it was disappointment and also bewilderment.
He had never seen Aelita like this.
"The people of Doragon were indeed afraid, but more than that, there was hatred; the way they looked at us was with deep-seated hatred... It was then that I realized, perhaps this painful experience would not make them cherish peace."
Su Lin did not interrupt.
The word 'war' was easy to say and quick to execute.
But hidden behind war were countless shattered families; those Doragon soldiers who died at the hands of the Elven Kingdom had elders, wives, and children... Once war began, the spread of hatred was unstoppable.
If Su Lin were to say it, in any war, there were no victors.
"You know my talent, Su Lin..."
Aelita lowered her head, her entire demeanor becoming somewhat melancholic.
"When Valentino delivered his surrender and apology speech, all I felt from him was hysterical hatred, and in the silent hearts of Doragon's citizens, all I felt was bone-deep humiliation."
"Su Lin, I understand, they will always seek revenge; this humiliation and pain, besides bringing fear, also bring deeper hatred."
"At that time, we will definitely face an even more insane retaliation from Doragon; war will never stop, and hatred will only be passed down from generation to generation."
"Ending war with war has never been the correct way to pursue peace!"
Hearing these words from Aelita truly shocked Su Lin.
Perhaps Aelita's trip to Doragon this time made her see many things she had never considered before.
"Aelita, you've finally grown up..."
Su Lin felt somewhat relieved.
"I'm not finished yet!"
Interrupting Su Lin, Aelita's gaze was more resolute than ever.
"It wasn't until I returned from Doragon that This Queen solidified that bold idea! True peace can only come from extreme deterrence!"
"I will send people to use the tools from the MC Dungeon to dig all the way into Doragon's territory, placing clusters of TNT beneath all major cities in Doragon, and deploying arrays of TNT duplicators in the skies above Doragon!"
"If Doragon dares to invade the Elven Kingdom again, I will blast them all to the heavens! This is the truly permanent peace!"
"..."
That's more like it.
This was Aelita!
Su Lin smiled with relief in his heart; Aelita had indeed not been possessed, and he could finally rest easy... Rest easy my foot!
This fellow went out for, at most, a few days, and how did she come back even more radical?
No!
This wasn't even radical; now Aelita was a bit genocidal!
"Aelita..."
Su Lin opened his mouth earnestly.
"I'm very pleased that you've reflected on war from a deeper perspective, but your idea is a bit too dangerous..."
"I know!"
Aelita's gaze was stubborn and firm.
"But I don't want to see the same helpless sorrow and hatred on the faces of the Elven Kingdom's citizens as I saw on Doragon's citizens!"
This time, Su Lin couldn't refute Aelita as he had before.
She was simply acting from the perspective of the Elven Kingdom... to be a sinner unmatched by anyone in Doragon, and a hero without equal in the Elven Kingdom for generations to come.
To bear a lifetime of infamy, and enjoy an eternity of peace!