Chapter 366

While Alamir was packing up his belongings, Anser made a trip back to White Stone Island and brought Lin Qiancheng and his apprentice over.

Lin Qiancheng devoted himself wholeheartedly to spell research, so he was just the right person to temporarily oversee the Mages' Guild and the magic academy here.

He wouldn't need to handle the actual work himself. Federation officials, royal court wizards, and Sakkors's Spirit Net maintainers would naturally assist him afterward.

Earlier, Anser had only invoked Waterdeep and the Magic Research Society to pressure Alamir. He had no intention of actually using their people. At most, he would ask them to come lend their presence.

Alamir knew which way the wind was blowing. Once he finished packing, he quickly returned and introduced Lin Qiancheng to the staff, familiarized him with the guild's situation, and even personally drafted an announcement and posted it in the main hall.

There were no tricks hidden in its wording. It stated outright that from now on, the Mages' Guild would be placed directly under the Holrewen Federation's administration.

Lin Qiancheng also issued an announcement on behalf of the guild. The gist was that everything would continue as usual, but all registered wizards and apprentices would have to return to the tower in person to register and confirm that no Mind Flayers were hiding among them.

If anyone had something to hide and refused to return, Anser wouldn't care.

Given his and the Federation's current reputation and standing, taking over the Mages' Guild meant turning a private institution into a public one, which would inevitably elevate it to a whole new level. No matter how you looked at it, this was a good thing.

The biggest concern was Anser's status as a Paladin. It wasn't hard to imagine what sort of people would refuse to come because of that.

Anser summoned Osborn and asked him to give Lin Qiancheng some extra support.

Osborn was the head of Bral's commercial alliance and a well-connected local, making it convenient for him to get things done.

For the time being, they first needed to straighten out the Mages' Guild, bring it completely under their control, and handle the preliminary work.

Once Sakkors had properly trained those Spirit Net maintainers, Anser would transfer a group of them into the Ministry of Education. Then the whole operation could officially begin.

He was starting to understand why the Mind Flayers had been able to establish a multiversal empire.

Without brainwashing or some kind of ideological imprinting, what emperor could possibly keep such an enormous empire under control?!

...

Abeir, Emerald Plains, Miasma Forest.

Clusters of low wooden buildings surrounded the outer edge of the miasma. Green dragonborn moved back and forth among them, with the occasional half-dragon appearing among their ranks, gloomy eyes sweeping over the surroundings.

At the center of the sprawling settlement stood several tall treehouses.

Emmanuel surveyed the savage scene, which looked like some primitive tribe, and felt his heart turn cold.

Before coming here, he had known this endeavor might be difficult, but he hadn't expected it to be this difficult. This was practically hell difficulty.

No wonder the Green Dragon Queen had agreed so readily.

"This is the good place you were talking about? You expect me to put my lord's ideals into practice among a bunch of dragonborn who live like savages?" He abruptly turned around and stared coldly at the man in the room.

The man had a full beard, trimmed neither too long nor too short, which made his features look particularly rugged.

"I didn't force you. You chose this yourself," he said indifferently.

"I should have listened to the Zhentarim's advice. Mulmaster might have been the better choice. One of my lord's temples once stood there." Emmanuel sighed.

"Heh. That place already has a master. You can always go fight them for it." The bearded man gave a strange grin, revealing a row of stark white teeth.

Emmanuel took a deep breath and closed his eyes, hiding his anger.

There was more than one Chosen of Bane. He wasn't the most special among them.

If he wanted to receive more divine favor, he had to produce results. That was why he had abandoned comfort and chosen to carve out a foothold in the wasteland of Abeir.

He opened his eyes and stared at the man. "We're in the same boat. This situation is bad for both of us."

"The Emerald Queen only gave us status. We have to fight for actual power ourselves. Right now, we can't even command those cunning, arrogant half-dragons."

"Those half-dragons and the wyvern guard only obey the Queen's orders. You'll have to demonstrate your methods and your value. Otherwise..." The bearded man shook his head without finishing.

Emmanuel turned toward the window. Everyone around them was one of his own trusted followers, roughly five hundred people. They were his final trump card.

"War. Only war!" he declared decisively.

He couldn't mobilize the half-dragons or the wyvern guard, but he did have the authority to command every people within the Emerald Kingdom in the Queen's name.

War was a means to an end. It would allow him to rapidly accumulate capital and seize the opportunity to bring everything in the Emerald Kingdom under his control.

"Who do we fight?" The bearded man's interest immediately perked up. "Amn is to the east, Baldur's Gate to the northeast is occupied by creatures from the Underdark... Do we secure passage east and attack Durlag?"

Emmanuel's expression froze. Some unpleasant memories suddenly resurfaced, and the image of a handsome, mysterious figure involuntarily appeared in his mind.

They had clearly met only once, yet the man's actions had come surging toward him like wave after wave, leaving him barely able to breathe. If he hadn't fled, he would have been smashed beneath them.

"Amn is an ally. We can't attack them..."

He didn't want to provoke the Underdark creatures either. It would take tremendous effort for little reward.

As for Durlag...

While he was still considering it, a crisp ding suddenly sounded in his mind.

[Congratulations. You have become a member of the Spirit Net. Please choose a username for yourself first...]

He jolted in alarm and instinctively swept his gaze around the room before realizing that it was a telepathic message.

'Spirit Net?'

He closed his eyes and actively reached out to sense the Spirit Net's presence. A moment later, a mental projection descended and hovered before him.

The projection was enormous, several meters across, with crisp text and even images.

His gaze fell on the first column, and his eyes immediately widened.

[Holrewen Federation Launches Lightning Operation, Wipes Out Mind Flayer Group Hidden in Bral for Years in One Fell Swoop.]

Just as Emmanuel was about to open it, a projection window popped up.

[Please choose a username for yourself.]

He froze for a moment. After hesitating for quite some time, he finally followed the Spirit Net's instructions.

Once he had chosen a name, he was presented with the Spirit Net's rules of use. They warned everyone to follow the rules, value their lives, avoid revealing their real identities and addresses whenever possible, and not arrange fights offline...

'Arrange fights offline?'

All of this left his head spinning. After briefly composing himself, he returned his attention to the news article from earlier.

The projection shifted, and a Mind Flayer with multiple tentacles growing from its face suddenly appeared out of nowhere. The tentacles looked like they were practically wrapping around his neck. Emmanuel flinched so hard that he immediately disconnected from the Spirit Net.

"What's wrong with you?" the bearded man asked curiously, having noticed something was off.

"It's nothing." Emmanuel sat down in a chair with his back to the bearded man, rubbed his temples, and pretended to be lost in thought.

He reconnected to the Spirit Net and opened the news again. This time, he was prepared and much calmer than before.

After carefully reading through the article, the comments below quickly caught his attention. Someone had voiced the very question on his mind.

[That scared me to death! So that's the legendary Mind Flayer!]

[Is this real?]

[Are there any members from Bral here? Come out and say something!]

[It's real. The Waterdeep Daily reported it.]

[The Holrewen Federation is seriously impressive...]

[...]

Emmanuel stared blankly at the comments, his entire worldview suffering an unprecedented shock.

People from all across Faerûn were speaking freely on some unknown Spirit Net, discussing fresh news from different regions and sharing their opinions and feelings. It was almost too fantastical to believe.

The person on the other side might be a pauper or an artisan, or perhaps a noble or an adventurer. Yet no one cared. Everyone was enjoying this unprecedented freedom and novelty.

For the first time, this closed-off world had opened its arms to everyone!

Emmanuel did his best to calm himself and began exploring the Spirit Net bit by bit.

News, telepathic calls, messages, knowledge, tasks...

The more he saw, the more alarmed he became. His thoughts churned, and before he knew it, a layer of cold sweat had formed across his back.

The religious landscape that had endured for countless years was about to be reshaped!

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I will post some extra Chapters in Patreon, you can check it out. >> /TitoVillar

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