Chapter 839: Chapter 838: Why Not Make Use of Them

Lord Bomai sat there quietly, trying his best to pretend he was just another piece of decor in the room. Opposite him sat the ruler of the Empire, with an inscrutable calm smile on his face. He heard the other’s voice: "Is ’Outland Wanderer’ a title he gave himself, or did you come up with it?"

"Apart from demonstrating formidable mental power and revealing those ’memory fragments,’ does he have any other inhuman traits?"

"Have you had direct contact with him?"

Lord Bomai licked his slightly dry lips and honestly answered Emperor Rosetta Augustus’s questions, but what he could accurately reply with was ultimately not much. As a disciple enticed by knowledge, his standing within the Eternal Sleepers was not high. In that strict and mysterious sect, worldly status couldn’t fully translate into a position within the cult, or rather, the benefits a mere ’Lord’ could bring were not enough to elevate him to the middle tier within the Eternal Sleepers. A follower like him had only limited understanding of the ’Outland Wanderer’ from the publicly available information.

In fact, it wasn’t until the evacuation order came down that he learned the Outland Wanderer had already infiltrated the mental network.

Once Lord Bomai spilled all the information he had, Emperor Rosetta Augustus nodded slightly: "Well done, Bomai, you made the right choice."

Bomai hurriedly lowered his head: "Yes... yes, Your Majesty."

"But I am still curious as to why you came to report it," Rosetta looked at Bomai and asked seemingly casually, "You clearly know the risks involved, and even if you don’t consider the sect’s reprisal against betrayal, you—a Typhon aristocrat—have fallen into the dark sect, which itself is a great sin. Yet you took the initiative to confess everything to me. Why?"

Lord Bomai raised his head and struggled to meet Emperor Rosetta Augustus’s calm gaze. He opened his mouth several times before finally summoning the courage to articulate his words: "Your Majesty, I joined the Eternal Sleepers just for secret knowledge, but I never intended to betray you. I know it’s not convincing to say this now, but if I must choose between an indescribable daemon and the Empire, I would still wish to die on Typhon’s side..."

As Lord Bomai spoke, he couldn’t help but feel a bitterness in his heart. Many years ago, when he first encountered the mysterious knowledge of the Eternal Sleepers and mastered powerful mental force, he never thought he would sink so deep into this darkness. This world has more secret sects than just the Eternal Sleepers, with many shadowy and uncanny transcendent groups proclaiming their bizarre teachings and claiming dealings with unspeakable powers. Yet, most are mere traps for the gullible. He once thought the Eternal Sleepers were just one of these and felt confident he was clever enough to gain knowledge and power from the dark sects without falling into their fanatical and dark ’thrilling myths.’ But who knew...

Who knew they were playing for real, and that indescribable power would so soon rear its head!

Lady Windsor Maple glanced at Lord Bomai with a hint of pity, shaking her head: "Too many people share your mindset, Mr. Bomai. Such people overly trust their luck and ’caution,’ thinking that with a bit of care, knowledge and power can come easily. Yet they almost all end up paying a steep price for this."

Thinking of those followers who tried to inform before him and perished, Lord Bomai couldn’t help but shiver: "I now deeply understand this."

"Bomai, I will justly judge all you have done, including your crimes after joining the dark sect and the credit you’re earning right now," said Emperor Rosetta Augustus, "And before that, I still need you to do many things; this might compensate for your errors.

"As for now, you may go rest in the adjacent room—rest assured, Lady Windsor Maple will ensure your safety. As long as you remain within the Obsidian Palace, there is no need to fear for your life."

Lord Bomai stood up excitedly and bowed in gratitude: "Thank you for your mercy, Your Majesty."

After this noble court member left the reception room, only Rosetta and Windsor Maple remained. The Royal Head Maid in black hair and a black dress had quietly left at some point.

"Your Majesty," Windsor Maple looked at Emperor Rosetta, "I have already sent a message to the archMages on duty at the Royal Mage Association, commanding them to immediately transmit the information to every communication Tower, to have the association’s strongholds hunt down the Eternal Sleepers."

"Very well. Also, contact the regional officer in Orlandeau to immediately commence an investigation," Rosetta nodded and said, "Besides, Bomai’s information is limited, and the Eternal Sleepers in various areas should have started their evacuation by now, so those strongholds are likely empty. Therefore, the key to the hunt is intercepting those followers still in retreat..."

"Their destination is Cecil," Windsor Maple said, "The Cecil Clan must have also prepared to receive them, and perhaps... by now someone may have already crossed the border."

"Issue a warning to the communication Tower closest to the border to intercept and inspect anyone and anything entering Cecil territory, especially on the latest rail lines. Also remind them that a more powerful Mage must oversee inspections—Eternal Sleepers possess extraordinary power in the realm of the mind, and outposts composed of ordinary people are very easy to deceive and breach..."

Rosetta spoke as he pondered, and after making a series of arrangements for border interception, he paused slightly.

"Additionally, we need to draft a reconciliation announcement..."

Windsor Maple instinctively raised her eyebrows: "Reconciliation announcement?"

Rosetta nodded: "For Eternal Sleepers willing to return to normal society and pledge allegiance to the Empire, the Augustus Clan will pardon their past misdeeds. As long as they are willing to obey order and no longer cause harm, the Royal Mage Association or Imperial Construction Association will consider accepting them."

"Your Majesty," Windsor Maple couldn’t help but say, "Are you really going to pardon those Eternal Sleepers so easily? To pardon a dark sect on such a large scale and even integrate them into the Mage Association and Construction Association... This might..."

"They are retreating westward, and the Cecil Empire has chosen to accept them. Why do you think that is?" Rosetta interrupted Windsor, "Lady Maple, why do you think Gawain Cecil needs those Eternal Sleepers?"

Windsor Maple was initially confused and resistant due to Rosetta’s astonishing command, but with a slight reminder, she immediately showed a contemplative expression, and the clues gradually formed in her mind: "...Gawain Cecil is a ruler, at least for now. He wouldn’t simply take in the Eternal Sleepers just because they are his ’kinsmen’ unless it benefits his rule..."

"The mind network... an incredible technology, isn’t it?" Rosetta said calmly, "Do you remember those magic symbol combinations we found in that ’Magic Web Terminal’?"

Windsor Maple’s brow gradually furrowed.

"The Eternal Sleepers are not just a dark sect; they also have advanced technology. Perhaps from the very beginning, Gawain Cecil saw this point and approached them," Rosetta said, "And what I regret the most is that those Eternal Sleepers were right under my nose, yet I was a step slower than him—it’s our dull inherent thoughts and rigid vision that caused us to miss this treasure. But fortunately, we still have a chance to make amends now.

"Lady Maple, find more effective methods to block the mind network, find a way to completely remove the imprint from the minds of the Eternal Sleepers, and then announce that the Empire can save those who accidentally went astray. They were merely beguiled by the dark sect and controlled by a curse, unable to escape. We can help them lift the curse, thus minimizing the aversion towards ’Dark Cultists’ and attracting many Eternal Sleepers who don’t want to go to Cecil.

"Believe me, there are quite a few such people—Lord Bomai is a typical example. Most Eternal Sleepers are Typhon people, and what drives them to flee to Cecil, aside from the command and intimidation of the ’Wanderers from Outer Realm,’ is significantly due to their identity as dark cultists making it impossible for them to have a foothold in Typhon. Now that we give them a foothold and help them escape the threat of the Wanderers from Outer Realm, many will be willing to stay."

Windsor opened her mouth, still showing some doubts, but before she could speak, Rosetta continued, "Lady Maple, knowledge itself is innocent—or rather, even if someone believes that certain knowledge carries ’original sin’, for the sake of the Empire’s interest, we must grasp it because right beside us is Cecil, and the ruler of Cecil... has already advanced far ahead of us in many fields.

"If we don’t strive for certain things, others will naturally occupy them. In this aspect, the Cecil Clan will not be modest towards us."

Windsor slowly nodded—she was convinced.

"Your Majesty, I am a bit worried," she said, "If we make the announcement, the upper echelons of the Eternal Sleepers might take extremely radical responses—they are obviously loyal to the Wanderers from Outer Realm, and for the sake of their master’s interests, might they simply kill all those ’traitors’ who defy orders to leave and join us? As a dark sect... they are capable of such things."

"But they can’t," Rosetta shook his head, "If they could still maintain mind control over every follower, Lord Bomai wouldn’t have made it to the Obsidian Palace—according to Bomai’s intelligence, this dark sect also suffered severe blows during this event. The condition of that ’mind network’ is evidently terrible right now, which is why informants have successfully contacted outsiders one after another. We just need to seize this gap and separate as many willing to pledge allegiance to the Empire from their network before the Eternal Sleepers rebuild their mind network, and we will have achieved our goal."

"I understand, Your Majesty. I’ll immediately arrange for these matters once I return. With Lord Bomai as a reference, and today we have successfully implemented a ’block,’ I believe I can find a more thorough ’curse’ solution—even if I can’t find one in the short term, I will lead the high-level mages to intervene, striving to retain more Eternal Sleepers."

Rosetta nodded slightly and added, "Moreover, we must not passively wait for defectors. Many followers might miss the opportunity out of fear and doubt—this is precisely why I had Lord Bomai stay. Based on the list provided by the lord, arrange for the mystics to actively contact and control those followers who haven’t yet had the chance to escape, and through this, spread the control as much as possible over the followers in Aldernon."

"Yes, Your Majesty."

After making all these arrangements, Rosetta took a long breath, then stood up and slowly paced to the crystal glass window on one side.

The window faced the inner courtyard of the Obsidian Palace directly, where a few well-placed lights dispelled the dark and eerie atmosphere of the courtyard. The magic barrier enveloping the entire courtyard made it warm as spring, and lush plants grew wantonly in the courtyard.

They had thrived throughout the entire winter, and now with the advent of spring, the barrier was about to close, and the flowers and plants in the courtyard would seamlessly transition to the next blooming season—such is the power of human wisdom opposing nature.

Rosetta knew that the mages from the Imperial Construction Association were researching ways to reduce the cost of such magic barriers. Several visionary scholars believed this could help increase food production and maintain more fruit and vegetable supplies during the cold winter, and this research had been ongoing for several years.

Once successful, its effects might be comparable to the widely applied "Fertility Dust" technology.

And not far away, in Cecil, there must also be clever minds paying attention to similar fields, conducting similar research.

They started many years later than Typhon, but their progress in many fields has been rapid.

Because that ruler of Cecil—regardless of what lies within his body, be it the ’Wanderers from Outer Realm’ or some Holy Spirit—has been tirelessly gathering talents, and even now, talents from Typhon are beginning to flow towards Cecil.

A sense of urgency was pounding in Rosetta’s heart, yet it brought a slight smile to his face.

This real and ’alive’ feeling is truly delightful.