chsdbacks Page 323
Page 323
[Torso? Seeing this familiar name, you immediately recall the scene of your secret confrontation with him years ago. Later, you also learned some of the integrated techniques of the magic warrior from him, and your relationship was still quite good until he left.]
[And now he's wanted by the capital as a member of the Black Hat organization...? Your intuition immediately sensed something was wrong, and you fell into deep thought.]
[The Imperial Capital had previously issued missions to eliminate Black Hat members, but you've come to realize that it was more like the Imperial Capital was symbolically cracking down on Black Hats; those being eliminated were just pitiful civilians.]
From this perspective, you can immediately guess Torso's current predicament. Since the Imperial Capital is cracking down on members who were already abandoned by the Black Hats, Torso has very likely already betrayed them!
You took a deep breath and silently noted down this moment.
You know, your first true ally has appeared.
Chapter 324 Meeting "Your Excellency"
[Six months have passed in the blink of an eye. You seem to be deeply involved in the mission in the capital, and unlike the previous two missions, you haven't been able to resolve them as quickly. While the capital is offering you condolences, they are also gradually lowering their guard.]
In reality, you secretly allied with Torso in Twin Gorges and learned about the events he had experienced over the past year.
[It turns out that after that back-and-forth confrontation with you, Torso suddenly realized that he seemed to have been going down the wrong path for too long. With a death wish, he immediately turned back to "Your Excellency" for a confrontation and severed ties with him face to face.]
Unexpectedly, under the impact of that determination and will, he unexpectedly broke through to the legendary level. In his self-contained domain state, the alchemical explosives planted in his body by "Your Excellency" only severely injured him, and he gradually recovered.
From him, you learn that he is not alone in being lured by "Your Excellency" and subsequently threatened with death. To young people just starting out, the Black Hat organization appears as a mysterious and immeasurably vast entity, making it easy to fall into its clutches.
Within the Black Hat organization he belonged to, "Your Excellency" was the absolute center. Torso didn't know "Your Excellency's" name, only that they had a camp at the northeastern entrance of the imperial trade route, and almost all major decisions were made personally by "Your Excellency."
He originally intended to assassinate "Your Excellency" using his legendary strength, but after several attempts, he discovered that he would be intercepted by the Black Hats almost immediately whenever he approached the capital. Therefore, he decided to recruit some like-minded allies to launch an attack on the Black Hats. Ultimately, his existence became part of the Black Hats' roving force in the capital's mission book.
[You know that their individual strength alone is absolutely no threat to the leader of the Black Hat organization. The fact that the Black Hat organization issues "Black Hat Coins" shows that their hidden strength is far greater than Torso knows. That's just the tip of the iceberg, something only you, as both the leader of the organization and a cyber police officer, could possibly know.]
After meticulously planning several battle scenarios, you assisted Torso's team in secretly crossing the border of Andora, allowing them to safely develop their forces there.
[Actually, you also wanted to bring Torso back to your territory as a subordinate, but he had to be responsible for his team, so you had to give up the idea. However, you still found out where Torso recuperated after being injured, and you plan to take him in as a follower after returning to reality.]
[After this, you finally sent a reply to the capital confirming the mission's completion and returned to Titania to await your investiture.]
Currently, Titania has become a significant power within the Kingdom of Norrad. The various nobles stationed in your territory are constantly watching you, relaying every detail of your movements back to their families. This has even made it much more difficult for you to bring your disguised girls back to the inner city for fun.
Fortunately, you already possess the power of the Mind Dragon, which can confuse others to some extent, so you won't be discovered when you accompany girls shopping and playing around.
[Normally, an ordinary viscountry wouldn't receive this much attention, but you exploited a bug: you passed the noble examination before being considered part of the floating islands, thus gaining a balanced dual identity as both a floating island family and a Norard noble, even linking your territories together. This is why you became such a special existence.]
[Soon after, your earldom was conferred. You still haven't settled in the capital, but the upgraded earldom is now practically a city, even larger than Silverway City, which has expanded over the past two years.]
After careful consideration, you temporarily focused on governing your territory, completely ignoring the rankings of the floating islands. This further solidifies your status as one of the imperial capital's own.
[After a year or two, the collaboration with Black Money and the Broker Lady has deepened. Finally, one day, Black Money tells you that the leader of the Black Hat organization is very interested in you as a descendant of the Titans and may meet with you in the future.]
[You felt a surge of excitement; you were finally about to make contact with the core members of the Black Hat organization. However, you also became more vigilant. After all, the Queen had glimpsed your figure in the time-space flow years ago and shared related clues with the Black Hats. Although they hadn't been tracking you for a long time, you still needed to be careful not to be recognized.]
[Amidst this stable and prosperous development, another six months have passed. Two years have passed since you completed the construction of Titania City. A major event has occurred on the continent of Atlantis.]
The Witch God will emerge from seclusion.
[This is something that seems extremely strange to you. After all, the Witch God Society hadn't made any moves in the previous simulations, so why would they suddenly emerge? And you've also heard that they seem to be looking for someone, something called Atlantic Seller... You've never heard of him before, so it shouldn't have anything to do with you.]
[The former Latis has vanished into the shadows. You are now the great Latis, King of the Titans, Lord of the Floating Isles, Earl, Sixth Ring Mage, Legendary Warrior, Lord Titania.]
[The emergence of the Witch God Society coincided with the change of ownership of the Dragon Horn Territory. The Witch God Society, from the Southeast Continent, immediately seized the territory of the Dragon Horn Territory, and it is said that the previous young lord of the Dragon Horn Territory perished in this struggle.]
[You have some doubts. Over the past two years, you've heard stories of that young lord's back-and-forth struggles between the capital and the floating islands. Although he hasn't achieved anything on either front, his every move often reveals the dynamics of the forces he's recently been in contact with. Therefore, the major powers have reached a tacit understanding, allowing him to switch sides without killing him.]
[While his death appears to be an accident, orchestrated by the Witch God Society, your intuition tells you it could be a signal that those forces may no longer be interested in continuing this game.]
Your premonition was soon proven true.
Two and a half years after the completion of Titania City, public opinion began to rise within the magic network, pointing the finger at the Church of the Goddess. Since Dragonhorn Territory had become an isolated island, it was widely believed that no one had survived under the terrifying rule of the Witch God Society, and people began to complain about why the Church of the Goddess had not taken action to eliminate these organizations composed of undead and demons.
[But in reality, you once disguised yourself as a necromancer dragon and went to Dragonhorn Territory for a look. It's fair to say that the Witch God Society didn't take any action against the civilians. They seemed to have reached some kind of agreement and stopped in this territory.]
Upon closer inspection, the online discourse on the Magic Network appears to be manipulated behind the scenes. Based on your understanding of the Magic Network, nearly 80% of the buzz is orchestrated by the Black Hat organization. And looking closely, those mages flooding the various chat areas don't seem to be real people.
In other words, the black hat organization used a method of mass-producing online trolls to manipulate public opinion on the internet.
[You've been observing this farce with a detached eye, and you have to admit that when public opinion is loud enough, it can indeed distort the truth. Dragonhorn Territory is clearly the territory of the Kingdom of Norard, yet the mages are being led to believe it's the responsibility of the Goddess's Church. If you hadn't been watching with a detached eye, you probably would have been misled by statements like "the Goddess should be the one to fight the Witch God."]
However, the Church of the Goddess was ultimately a human church. Under such pressure, the priests could not withstand the gossip of the mages and launched the first attack on the Witch God Society.
You originally intended to help your former employer and old flame, but the Black Hat organization sent you a meeting invitation. After much hesitation, you decided to attend.
Surprisingly, the meeting was being held in the city ranked forty-eighth among the floating islands, not near the imperial capital that Torso had told you about. You pondered this for a long time before realizing that the fierce battles on the lower floating islands seemed to have subsided quite some time ago... So, the reshuffling of the floating islands was also orchestrated by Black Hat and the imperial capital?
[Within a specially designed magical network environment composed of nodes, you maintain personal magical network control over your surroundings. Before the meeting began, you met "Your Excellency" in the reception room.]
[“Your Excellency” is a very tall, middle-aged man, almost as tall as you. He has a light beard, an open and sincere expression, and gray eyes that reveal a strong analytical ability; he looks like a very difficult person to deal with.]
He began by warmly welcoming you to the ranks of the Black Hat organization's allies, then highly praised your achievements over the years. In this friendly atmosphere, he went on to propose deepening cooperation and promised that, if you wished, he could help you revive Titania's reputation and spread your deeds throughout the world.
You outwardly agree, but inwardly remain unmoved by his sweet talk, until he finally tells you that if you wish to follow in the footsteps of the Titan ancestors, he can offer his godhood as a bargaining chip in exchange for your temporary allegiance.
[A divine spark? You were immediately taken aback, your mind racing as you subtly inquired about its origins and purpose.]
[It turns out that "Your Excellency" has always been obsessed with rebuilding the Path to Godhood, which is why you went to great lengths to settle on the floating islands. For the past hundred years, the Goddess Church has stood on all the floating islands, seemingly peaceful and serene, but in reality, it is the cornerstone of the stable floating island system. As long as the Goddess Church exists, the Path to Godhood will never be rebuilt, and the people of Atlantis will never be able to escape this plane.]
He made no attempt to hide his ambition to replace the Church of the Goddess from you, and even demonstrated in front of you his ability to use magic network nodes as signal towers and hack into the magic network to modify official spells. You sensed a powerful confidence in his words.
As for the origin and purpose of divinity, it naturally comes from the United Nations of Yanium, a place filled with all kinds of gods. From his mouth, you hear a secret history:
Originally, there were many gods on the continent of Atlantis, but when the goddess was born, she swept all those gods off the divine realm and imprisoned them in the barren land of Yanium.
The gods, stripped of their power, left only with incomplete wills and fragmented divine essences, and fought amongst themselves across the land of Anium, until finally managing to form a barely unified federal government.
In short, the goddess shattered all complete divine entities, depriving people of the opportunity to ascend to godhood within a plane. Furthermore, the goddess's church controlled the floating island system, preventing the re-establishment of a complete path to godhood.
[The Black Hats now intend to eliminate the Goddess Church and rebuild the Path to Godhood. Having possessed a fragmented divine essence, you will have the power to traverse the Path to Godhood and successfully reach beyond the plane of existence.]
Your conversation ended here, and "Your Excellency" then went to prepare for the meeting. You remained in the reception room, reflecting on what "Your Excellency" had just said, and a slight ripple of emotion stirred within you. If what he said were truly the case, then it really was a simple and direct path...
No, it can't be that simple. Your eyes instantly regained their clarity as you recalled the incidents caused by the Black Hat squads in Torso and the Wilderness Territory, and alarm bells rang in your mind.
The Black Hat organization's greatest strength lies not in its corruption of the magic network, but in its ability to manipulate people's hearts! Even a single word they utter may be true, yet it's arranged to support their arguments!
You take a deep breath, using the power of the Mind Dragon to instantly calm yourself down.
[In Torso's presence, the ideals and so-called path to godhood that "Your Excellency" spoke of had absolutely nothing to do with this. It's conceivable that he must have conducted a thorough investigation into Titania's background before making such a brief and inspiring conversation that was both factual and inspiring.]
You very rationally ignored "Your Excellency's" encouragement, temporarily treating his words as a reference, glanced at the time, and entered the conference room.
[“Your Excellency” nodded slightly to you, and after everyone had arrived, he began his speech. The topic of his speech was how to use magic network nodes and other means to gradually erode the magic network of the floating island system, and how to divide the spoils afterward...]
[After listening in for a while, you suddenly felt a pang of sadness. In the previous simulation, you had spent a peaceful and pleasant time in the Goddess Church's camp. Now, however, you have to watch them gradually fall under these conspiracies, and even now, the priests of the Goddess Church are still fighting against the Witch God Society.]
You took a deep breath and subtly activated the Mind Dragon's power, temporarily confusing the people in the meeting room about you. Then, you silently walked out the door, transforming into the Disguise Dragon's power and becoming "Your Excellency."
Before your eyes, the radar of your personal magic network transforms the magical fluctuations across the entire floating island into a tangible grid, revealing all previously unknown areas. You look up, gaze towards the study, and begin your journey.
[Five minutes remain until the Mind Dragon's power expires.]
Chapter 325 The Old Ox in the Stable Still Aspires to Travel a Thousand Miles
Pretending to be deep in thought, you made your way to the study, bowing to the passing Black Hat members. After subtly extending your mage domain, you silently froze the magic surrounding the magic circle on the door, then pushed it open and went inside.
There was nothing on the desk in the study. You took a deep breath, guessing that a shrewd person like "Your Excellency" would carry important things with them at all times, so the current plans were probably impossible to find.
However, there were some files stored in the bookcase shelves. You quickly took them out, unfolded them, and began browsing through them rapidly.
The files mainly contain reports of income and personnel changes from various regions. At first glance, nothing seems amiss, but a closer look reveals the timing and changes that could indicate whether events occurred in each region. If you have intelligence on the relevant region, you should be able to match the dots.
But right now you don't have time to memorize these fragmented notes; you can only try to find any noteworthy information as quickly as possible.
A list of meetings and events? It might be useful, but it's unlikely to be.
[Squad roster? It's not as good as your cyber police's ability to open the box directly.]
[Regional ledger? Is this how black hat trolls, disguised as NGOs, distribute "dog food" (a term for support/expenditure) to different regions? Interesting...]
Your gaze swept over the numerous and fragmented files, then suddenly stopped on a thin, bound booklet. You immediately pulled it out of the bookshelf and glanced at it. The cover of the book clearly read "Plan (1)".
[The Black Hat organization is really meticulous; this looks like a preliminary draft of their power plan. They even included a (1).]
You immediately opened the booklet, only to find it completely blank. Meanwhile, a message slowly appeared on your magic network interface: "Unzip in parts (1/2)."
[You immediately broke down. What kind of damn black technology is this from the Black Hat organization? It's way too urbanized! Damn it, so (1) doesn't mean the first edition but rather a volume?]
[You, with a tense expression, frantically searched through the bookshelf for the remaining pages of your project plan, but to no avail. Seeing that your mental dragon ability was about to expire, you reluctantly took the page with you and tried your best to restore the bookshelf to its original state.]
[A few seconds later, you walked out of the study, about to hurry back to the conference room, when suddenly your eyes widened in surprise. At the end of the corridor, you saw "Your Excellency" walking slowly towards you.]
[Have you been discovered? You quickly turn your back to avoid being seen by "Your Excellency"... No, it shouldn't be like this. The mind dragon ability you left in the conference room hasn't been broken yet, which means that others haven't regained their ability to see and hear you. So your whereabouts shouldn't have been exposed yet...]
"Young man, what are you doing here?" A hand patted your shoulder, and then "Your Excellency's" voice came from behind you. You suppressed your racing heart, slowly turned around, and said:
“Your Excellency,” I was just about to go downstairs to find you. A guest who visited today asked me to come and see you, and I only remembered you were still in the conference room after I had already come up.
"Oh, I see." "Your Excellency" looked at your changed appearance, pondered for a moment, and then, remembering that you were indeed a staff member serving guests on the island, nodded and said, "The meeting will continue for a while longer. Go back and have him come to the meeting room. The main external plans have been explained, and now it's time to answer their questions."
"As you wish, 'Your Excellency'." You calmly bowed to "Your Excellency" and then turned to leave.
[As "Your Excellency" was about to enter the study, he suddenly sensed something was amiss. He carefully recalled the exact appearance of the person you had transformed into, then frowned, raised his hand to look at it, and muttered under his breath, "The height is wrong..."]
He immediately turned around to look in the direction you had left, but you had already changed your appearance multiple times and blended into the crowd. He could only remain silent for a moment, stroking his beard and muttering, "The ability to disguise and break through the magic network, huh? Interesting..."
You spent a long, cautious day on the Black Hat's floating island. As dusk fell, you finally followed the crowd and left the island, returning to Titania City.
However, the plan (1) in your hands still leaves you clueless. You can tell what kind of file is inside, but you can't completely decompress it. If you use your cyber police ability to forcibly decompress it, it is very likely to cause the file to be corrupted. So you have no choice but to put this matter aside for the time being.
That night, you walked the streets of Titania's inner city, gazing at the plants that continued to grow under the bright starlight, and let out a long sigh. Two and a half years had passed since you founded Titania. It seemed the more you interacted with it, the more complex the situation on the Atlantic continent became. If the Black Hat's promises to everyone were only "partially true," then what exactly did "the complete truth" look like?
A pair of gentle hands caressed your face, and you knew from the touch alone that it was your beloved Artemis. After the Herod Magedom gradually disappeared from public view, the girls had much more freedom. The half-elf, with her unique abilities, traveled to and from Titania undetected, and so she now often accompanied you.
"Brother, is something on your mind?" The half-elf stood on tiptoe behind you, resting his face on your shoulder, and asked curiously.
You gently stroked her cheek, habitually playing with her long hair. In her soft embrace, you thought for a moment and said, "It just feels like the situation is still very complicated, especially after meeting the leader of the Black Hat organization today. I still can't figure out what his goal is."
Ateliers tilted her head. She had been listening to you confide in her about these things happening outside, but faced with such confusion, the half-elf, rather oblivious to politics, didn't quite understand. So she thought for a moment and said, "Brother, time will expose all conspiracies. If this is still a 'simulation,' we'll see things clearly sooner or later."
You smiled helplessly, turned around, met her gaze for a moment in those lake-like blue eyes, chuckled, and picked her up.
In this vast inner city of Titania, there is not a single outsider except your girls and the magical golems patrolling everywhere.
Contrary to popular belief, your city of Titania doesn't rely on any industry. Even the large quantities of alchemical items sold by the broker lady aren't made by human labor at all. They were all crafted by the guys sleeping in the cemetery at Yashutia's request, working through the night. In return, you improved their sleeping environment and even gave them some bone spa treatments as a bonus.
In short, there are currently no civilians residing in Titania, but you intend to keep track of the number of residents in the outer city to ensure you can escape with them at any time.
However, precisely because of this, the wide streets bear the marks of your battles with the girls, from the fountain in the garden to the top of the city lord's statue, from hidden alleys to rolling mountains, from one end of the Titan Palace to the other, from the Hundred Herbs Garden to the Three Flavors Study... You tried one, two, three... In short, your life was very fulfilling. You were arrogant and domineering on the outside, yet hardworking and diligent on the inside, living a life as burdened as an ox, fully embodying your ox-and-horse spirit.