Chapter 620 - 46: Bloodline Inheritor

Chapter 620: Chapter 46: Bloodline Inheritor

"I’m afraid you won’t see that happen even in five hundred years."

York’s expression stiffened slightly.

Cheris continued:

"Your Shaping Domain hasn’t just started researching bloodlines yesterday. Every time you make a little progress, you go around trumpeting it as some ’breakthrough’ or ’era-defining achievement’."

"And what’s the result?"

"Either the research isn’t universally applicable and can only be used by a few core members."

"Or you get halfway through, realize you can’t gather the necessary resources, and come crying poverty to the council, demanding a budget increase."

"Or you just create some bizarre thing that turns people into monsters and blows the lab sky-high, then you just shrug it off and say, ’Experiment failed. We’ll try again next time’."

"As for this ’filling a void’ you mentioned—"

She sneered:

"A Fourth Level bloodline heir can indeed fill a void. But what’s the cost?"

"The resources needed to cultivate one Fourth Level bloodline heir are enough to train ten ordinary Fourth-Level Wizards."

"Besides, an ordinary Fourth-Level Wizard can study Laws, develop new Magic, and explore the Nightmare World. What can a bloodline heir do?"

"They’re good for nothing but fighting."

"And you’re telling me this is an era-defining breakthrough?"

She shook her head, her tone filled with undisguised contempt:

"Cedric, do you take me for a three-year-old?"

York’s expression went from slightly stiff to genuinely awkward.

But he quickly regained his composed demeanor:

"Lady Douglas, what you’re saying is..."

"I’d actually like to ask you a question."

"You are the leader of the Society of Truth. What does the Society of Truth excel at?"

Cheris didn’t speak, just looked at him.

York continued on his own:

"The Society of Truth excels at summoning creatures from the Otherworld, making pacts with creatures from the Otherworld, and compelling creatures from the Otherworld to serve you."

"But not just any creature from the Otherworld is worth summoning."

"What you need are creatures from the Otherworld that provide enough value for their cost. The creatures from the Kronos plane contain a trace of divinity, but their strength isn’t particularly overwhelming."

"After gaining divinity, summoning them requires a much greater price. I really can’t understand what significance the creatures of the Kronos plane hold from a summoning perspective."

Cheris sneered:

"Cedric, are you questioning my judgment?"

York quickly shook his head. "No, no, no, I’m just curious..."

Cheris said bluntly:

"What’s wrong with conquering it and then selling it to you?"

Hearing this, York was stunned for a few seconds before giving a wry smile:

"Lady Douglas, your calculations are..."

He paused, organizing his thoughts:

"But, if you sell it for too high a price, we won’t accept it. And from a time-cost perspective, it’s not worth it either."

His voice grew serious:

"The resources you invest would be wasted on a plane of lower value to the Society of Truth. You’d be better off investing in other planes."

"Developing a plane takes a vast amount of time. You know better than I do, from establishing an outpost, to clearing out native forces, to prospecting resource distribution, to building a stable development system—every step is measured in years."

"By the time you can actually get a stable return from that plane, it will be at least twenty years from now."

"And in those twenty years, the resources, manpower, and materials you invest would be enough to develop three planes more suitable for the Society of Truth."

"The value of the Kronos plane lies in its bloodlines. Those bloodlines are a treasure to the Shaping Domain, but for the Society of Truth, they’re hardly worth the effort."

"Even if you conquer it, you’ll only end up reselling it to us."

"But if your price is too high, we can’t afford it. If your price is too low, you take a loss."

"Why bother?"

"Why not let the Shaping Domain develop it? Then, whatever the Society of Truth needs, we can provide it with priority. A win-win, isn’t that better?"

As Cheris listened, the sneer on her face deepened:

"Are you finished?"

York nodded.

Cheris raised her eyes to look at him, her jade-green eyes filled with mockery:

"Cedric, have you forgotten something?"

York frowned. "What is it?"

The corners of Cheris’s mouth lifted into a sweet smile:

"I’m rich."

York’s face froze again.

Cheris continued:

"Who’s a poor wretch like you?"

"Pinching pennies and haggling endlessly just to conquer a single plane?"

"Your Shaping Domain has been researching a single Fourth Level bloodline for decades, haven’t you?"

Her jade-green eyes were full of disdain:

"And you’re still short on resources, short on funds, and you even have to beg me to let go of a single plane’s development rights."

"And me?"

"I take whichever plane I want."

"I can conquer it and let it sit there, waiting for its value to appreciate. Or I can sell it to you. Or I can just treat it as my own backyard, a place to take a walk when I’m bored."

"And you want to talk to me about cost? About returns? About time?"

"Cedric, have you gotten something wrong?"

...

「Nightmare World.」

Murphy asked, "Then what about the fourth significance?"

’The fourth significance?’

Rodrick said respectfully:

"My lord, the fourth significance is to transfer the Nightmare Transformation."

Murphy’s brow twitched slightly.

’Transfer the Nightmare Transformation?’

Rodrick continued:

"You must have understood by now that the Nightmare World itself is ’contagious.’ The Chaos Law will seep like water from the Nightmare World into normal planes, gradually transforming normal lands into new nightmare regions."

"This is the most terrifying thing about the Nightmare World, and also what makes it most dangerous."

"The longer the Empire develops the Nightmare World and the more outposts it establishes, the more severe this seepage becomes."

"One day, the Chaos Law will spread throughout the Empire’s entire homeland."

Murphy listened quietly, his pitch-black eyes betraying no emotion.

But he already had a vague inkling of what was coming.

Rodrick continued:

"But, my lord, the unique aspect of the Nightmare World is that it connects to thousands upon thousands of planes."

"When the living beings of those planes dream, their consciousnesses enter the Nightmare World. Their dreams become a part of the Nightmare World. Their fear, desire, and despair all leave their mark here."

"And the Empire exploits this very point."

"The Empire establishes outposts in the Nightmare World not just to study Laws and gather materials. More importantly, through these outposts, the Empire can track creatures from Alternate Planes that enter the Nightmare World."

"Those explorers from other planes, those poor souls who accidentally step into the Nightmare World, those targets the Empire has its eyes on..."

"The Empire will find them, track them, and use the traces they leave behind to locate the worlds they come from."

"Then, the Empire will dispatch its armies, using the Nightmare World as a bridgehead to invade that world."

"By doing this, the Empire gains two kinds of benefits."

"First, resources. Every new plane means new resources, new markets, and new slaves. The natives of those planes will become the Empire’s labor force, consumers, and research subjects."

"Second, transferring the Nightmare Transformation."

"My lord, the power of the Nightmare World is not infinite. Although it is vast and connects to countless planes, the chaos of Law it can cause at any given time is limited."

"It’s like a river with a fixed volume of water. If it only flows in one direction, it will cause immense destruction along that path. But if you divert it into dozens, or even hundreds, of tributaries, the power of each tributary will be greatly weakened."

"When the Empire was only developing the Nightmare World itself, all the pressure from the seeping Chaos Law was concentrated on the Imperial homeland."

"But as the Empire invaded one plane after another, establishing colonial strongholds and performing special guidance rituals, the Chaos Law of the Nightmare World began to seep into those planes instead."

"My lord, can you imagine what this means?"

Rodrick looked at Murphy, his eyes flashing with a certain indescribable light: 𝑓𝑟ℯℴ𝓂

"As long as enough planes are developed, as long as the Chaos Law of the Nightmare World is dispersed across enough worlds, then the pressure on the Imperial homeland will approach zero."