Oldenheim's East End, in a street in the deepest part of the city, the lights were dim.
This was the darkest and most secluded area in the Imperial Capital, a place that seemed to have been forgotten by the upper class. The huge Oldenheim was like a hill piled on top of each other. The upper layer was filled with magnificent buildings, while the lower layer was like a festering wound hidden in the depths of the darkness. Advanced magical technology, prosperous new businesses, and an increasingly glamorous class of citizens. None of these things had anything to do with the streets in the deepest part of Oldenheim's East End.
This place was only half a city away from Obsidian Palace, but it seemed to be even more distant from civilized society than the more distant mountainous cities.
And in this street, far away from the various official eyes of Oldenheim's officials, a man with a messy beard, sunken eyes, and a tattered coat was hurriedly walking in front of the low and dilapidated houses.
Hurried and undisguised footsteps were heard, and some prying eyes peeked out from the doors and windows of the houses. It was already late at night, and anyone who dared to walk alone in the deepest part of the East End would always attract the curious prying eyes of the curious. But those who were attracted by the footsteps and looked at the street quickly fell into doubt.
Because they did not see anything. In their eyes, there was no one on the street.
However, the sound of footsteps did indeed appear.
Those who were hiding behind the doors and windows gradually became nervous and fearful. The superstitious residents remembered the terrifying legends of wandering ghosts and dark wizards at night. They quickly retracted their gazes and closed the doors and windows even more tightly.
The man walked openly through the entire street and came to the door of No.14 Black Iron Alley.
He stood in front of the dark door, pressed his hand on the door, and sensed the movement inside. After confirming that there was no abnormality in the house, he turned the key and silently pushed the door open.
He saw a warm light in the room, and a black-robed figure with a blurry face was sitting on a chair in the room as if he had arrived a long time ago. A bonfire was burning in the corner of the room, and the bright floor, tables, and chairs were spotless.
The man quickly entered the room, closed the door, and bowed in front of the blurry figure. "Greetings, Bishop Daniel."
"No need for formalities, Grando." The black-robed Daniel waved his hand, and his voice rang directly in Grando's ears. "It's safe here, we can talk without worry."
"Yes, Bishop." Grando bowed deeply.
"The matter I asked you to investigate, how's the investigation going?" Daniel asked quietly.
"Yes, your subordinate has completed the preliminary investigation," Grando immediately replied respectfully. "As of last week, the few subordinates that you ordered me to contact and question have sent me feedback. They all said that they have never sent out any distress signals on the network, nor have they lost any memories. At least, they don't remember these."
Daniel nodded. "That's all?"
"No, there's more," Grando replied hurriedly. "I was also skeptical about the feedback from the followers, so I secretly contacted and hypnotized the people around them to get different information … According to the memories of those people, the followers mentioned above had all been in a trance for a period of time, sleeping for a long time, and even temporary personality changes."
"Personality changes?" Daniel immediately noticed this keyword. "Is there a possibility of mind replacement or mind parasitism?"
"I have confirmed that there is no such possibility." Grando shook his head. "After that, I contacted the believers several times, and observed their minds while they were awake and under hypnosis. Their minds still belong to them, their consciousness is intact, and their subconscious has no signs of being pieced together or cut."
A hoarse voice came from under Daniel's hood. "Everything is normal?"
"Yes, everything is normal." Grando said respectfully.
"Everything is normal, and that is the biggest abnormality …" Daniel's voice was low. "Mental absent-mindedness, long periods of deep sleep, and sudden personality changes, this in itself is evidence that the mind has been affected, and there will definitely be traces left in a short period of time. Under such circumstances, their minds appear normal, and instead …"
He suddenly stopped, and the believer named Grando could not help but ask curiously and nervously, "Your Eminence, you …"
Before he could finish, his words came to an abrupt halt, and his eyes fell into a momentary daze. The moment his eyes lost focus, the warm light in the room, the burning fireplace in the corner of the room, and the neat furniture and furnishings disappeared in an instant.
The room was dark, and there was not even a candle, nor a burning fireplace. In fact, other than a chair by the window, there was no furniture in the room.
The man named Grando stood quietly in the empty dark room, at the door, and stood there in a daze for a full two minutes.
Two minutes later, his eyes blinked, and the room instantly returned to its previous warm and bright state. Bishop Daniel in his black robe reappeared on the chair in front of him.
A chill ran down Grando's spine, and he instantly shivered. He realized that he had just received a detailed "inspection" from the powerful Bishop of the Eternal Rest in front of him. He could not help but nervously say, "Sir, I …"
"Your memory has been modified." Daniel said bluntly. "The investigation of this matter ends here, don't go any further."
"… Yes." A drop of cold sweat dripped down Grando's ear, and he was full of lingering fear. "Thank you for the reminder."
"Mm." Daniel nodded. "Also, try not to connect to the mental network for too long in the near future. If you must connect, maintain a shallow connection, and do not go too deep.
"Lastly, there may be archbishops from the highest bishops contacting you in the near future to ask about your recent investigation. When that time comes, you don't have to hide it for me, just tell them frankly."
Grando could not help but reveal a shocked expression, and instantly realized the truth of his memory being modified. He blurted out, "Your Eminence, could it be that the archbishops were the ones who modified my memory to cover up the truth …"
Halfway through his sentence, he cautiously shut his mouth, and continued to ask in a low voice, "Your Eminence, what happened to the mental network recently?"
"Don't ask too much." Daniel calmly interrupted him. "Knowing too much is not a good thing."
Another chill ran down his spine, and Grando could not help but gulp, and cautiously kept his mouth shut.
Then, the various objects in his field of vision suddenly shook.
The lights disappeared, the fireplace disappeared, and all the furniture and furnishings disappeared. 14 Black Iron Alley once again turned into a dark and empty room. The man named Grando blinked, and completely woke up. He found himself standing at the door of the room, one hand reaching behind him, and still maintaining the posture of closing the door.
The powerful and mysterious Bishop of Eternal Rest had left, and left Grando's mind.
…
Oldenheim Mage District, in a brightly lit and exquisitely decorated villa, Daniel was sitting in a reclining chair in the study, holding a scroll in his hand, and casually flipping a page.
The artificial nerve cord behind him was quiet and obedient, only the end poking out from under his clothes, swaying slightly near the back of the chair.
"… It's time to think about how to answer the question of a certain archbishop," the old mage sighed silently, and said to himself, "I just don't know who I'll be facing …"
The highest bishops were indeed trying to hide a huge secret, and this secret was definitely widespread and influential. They were closely monitoring the flow of information related to this secret.
Daniel felt a wave of relief.
Fortunately, he had been strictly following his master's orders, controlling the scope of his investigation, and carefully handling the details of his actions. Even though he was investigating the fluctuations of the mental network, he did not appear to be out of the ordinary. Instead, he was more like a loyal believer who was concerned about the operation of the mental network, and actively took the initiative to troubleshoot after discovering abnormalities.
An excellent, passionate, and hardworking security supervisor.
Other than overstepping his authority, he was unbelievably loyal.
…
Obsidian Palace, Rosetta Augustus was sitting behind his large desk, and Duke Ferdinand Wendell was sitting diagonally across from him.
Looking at the emperor who was reading a letter with his head lowered, Ferdinand suddenly felt a little emotional.
It seemed that ever since Cecil's rise, and ever since the situation suddenly turned in a direction that no one expected, the ruler of Typhon, who had been troubled by the mental curse, suddenly got rid of his family's curse, and became spirited and full of fighting spirit. As for himself, he was summoned by the emperor more frequently than usual, and came to Obsidian Palace more frequently.
Almost every time there was a matter related to the Cecil Empire or the domestic magical engineering industry, the emperor would summon him. This made Duke Ferdinand want to apply for a room in Obsidian Palace, and he could just stay here.
"Cecil has agreed to our idea of sending overseas students here, and expressed that they are willing to deepen their relationship with us to create international relations that are more in line with this new era." Rosetta Augustus' voice suddenly came from the side, interrupting Grand Duke Ferdinand's thoughts.
Ferdinand looked up with a complicated expression on his face. "That Gwen Cecil really agreed right away …"
"Yes, he's more daring than we thought …" Rosetta Augustus said as he shook his head lightly. With a flick of his wrist, he tossed the letter with the royal emblem of the Cecil Empire to Duke Ferdinand. "You can take a look."
Duke Ferdinand took the letter and read it carefully. His brows furrowed slightly. "… Send emissaries to both countries for long-term contact, and build 'embassies'?"
"Yes, this is also in line with the development of the situation." Rosetta nodded. "We can't always rely on these letters and waves of emissaries to maintain communication."
Ferdinand continued reading. "… Open up more business channels, increase the scale of the existing orders, and add new orders, including more magic components, synthetic crystals, and handicrafts, as well as open up legal and limited investment by private merchants in both countries …"
"There are many points worth discussing and analyzing in this part of the content. Make a copy and send it to the Parliament and the royal advisory team to complete the risk assessment and discussion as soon as possible."
"I understand," Ferdinand said with a lowered head.
After reading the last part of the letter, he looked at Rosetta. "Your Majesty, about the matter of sending overseas students, how do we decide on the candidates?"
"That's not urgent. We should first send an emissary to Cecil, just like when we decided to introduce the magic train back then. Someone should go and see the situation there with their own eyes. This is also a necessary etiquette and solemnity when an empire is interacting with another empire."
"Emissary …" Ferdinand looked at Rosetta's rarely changing expression. "You already have a candidate, don't you?"
"Let Mathilda lead the team," Rosetta said calmly. "She always has good taste."
"Her Highness Mathilda … is indeed the most suitable candidate."
…
In the extreme north of the continent, beyond the mountains and plains in the north of the Cecil Empire, there was another country in ice and snow, quietly lying on the peak of the mountains.
The magnificent and towering city was built among the mountains. Day after day, the cold wind whistled past the mountain walls, the city walls, and the mountain streams. In the monotonous color with ice and snow as the foundation, the grayish-white stone buildings seemed to have merged into one with the mountains. Facing the north, they emitted an arrogant, ancient, and desolate heavy aura.
The people who called themselves the Dragon Descendants had lived in this frozen country for an unknown number of years.
This was a closed country. The proud but sinful Dragon Descendants had sealed off their mountains and plains, and had almost never paid attention to the changes in this continent. However, even a closed country was not forever unchanged and never communicated with the outside world.
Private merchants could still visit this mysterious "Holy Dragon Dukedom," and the latter did not reject human merchants and adventurers — as long as they could endure the harsh weather in the extreme north.
The Dragon Descendants were happy to deal with those "brave people" who could challenge the cold weather in the extreme north.
However, in most of the past years, there were only a few people who could challenge the extreme cold of the Northern Territory. Those who were qualified to visit the Holy Dragon Dukedom were basically Extraordinaires who were revered by others. Ordinary commoners and merchants … would never have the ability to travel in the Northern Territory.
However, this situation had changed recently.
A new "Cecil Empire" had replaced the old Ansu Kingdom. Many brave and well-equipped Cecil merchants began to appear frequently at the border of the Holy Dragon Dukedom. The cold weather, which in the past could deter most ordinary people and even the mountain people in the north of Ansu, could not stop the Cecil merchants. They wore thick winter clothes, drove magic vehicles that could withstand the cold wind and snow, and drank frost resistance potions. They brought with them countless new things that were said to be from the "Age of Magic Engineering."
The change, with the Cecil Empire as the center, quietly spread to the areas that were once closed off …
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