Chapter 156
After a 2-night, 3-day trip to Shanghai, I returned to Korea.
The first thing I did after returning home was to log into the game.
[Welcome to Ard World, user.]
My vision changed along with the monotonous notification window.
The landscape of Snow Castle, where I last logged out, appeared in my view.
As soon as I logged into Ard World, I headed straight to the Forest of Monsters in the Southern Great Forest.
It was to meet Circe, my ‘last loyal follower’.
Forest of Monsters.
The Witch’s Cottage, standing amidst the still-unpleasant atmosphere and grotesque monsters, exuded a bizarre ambiance.
“Welcome, My Lord.”
I received Circe’s greeting and sat down at the place she had prepared.
쪼르륵 (Pouring sound)
Circe brought out fragrant tea.
[You have consumed Mandrake Tea.]
[Magic Power temporarily increased by 20%.]
A buff notification popped up in front of me as soon as I drank the tea!
I dismissed the notification and looked at Circe.
“Circe.”
“Yes, My Lord.”
Circe waited for my command with the same expression as in the previous game and this one.
Looking at her, I placed something on the table.
[Hive Mind’s Heart Fragment]
[Grade: Legendary]
[Classification: Material]
A part of the Hive Mind’s heart. The Hive Mind’s heart is one of the sources of the mighty power possessed by the Hive Mind. Despite being fragmented, the Hive Mind’s heart still holds a fragment of the power possessed by the Conquest Lord Hive Mind.
[A fragment of the powerful mental power left by the Conquest Lord is felt.]
[Can be used as a material for item crafting.]
It was the ‘Hive Mind’s Heart Fragment’, a legendary grade material item I had received as a reward for completing the Broken World quest. It was in the form of a sparkling blood-red gem.
“This…… A powerful force emanates from this gem.”
Looking at the Hive Mind’s Heart Fragment radiating a b*oody glow, this was the first thing Circe said.
I handed the Hive Mind’s Heart Fragment to Circe and said,
“With an item like this, can you break the shackles of the Forest of Monsters that bind you?”
The shackles of the Forest of Monsters!
That’s right.
The Witch Circe had assimilated herself with the Forest of Monsters to transcend the thousand years between the previous game and Second.
Therefore, she was unable to leave the Forest of Monsters even a single step.
But I needed Circe.
If she, who possesses the power of at least an Over-Ranker class, could break free from her restraints and join me, it would mean a significant strengthening of our forces.
“This…… Are you bestowing this upon me?”
Circe asked back with a slightly surprised expression at my question.
“Yes.”
I nodded at Circe’s words.
I could obtain legendary grade material items if I had the money, and I had no immediate use for it anyway.
The moment I completed the Legacy Quest, I was almost certain that I would reach EX Rank.
Otherwise, they wouldn’t have demanded such an absurd reward as a Mythical grade material item.
And if I reached EX Rank, it would mean that I was almost complete in terms of combat power.
Moreover, I desperately lacked a faction.
Eugene.
Now that he and the Five Eyes were one, I had no way of dealing with him alone.
So I had to increase my forces even a little, and for that, I could sacrifice a legendary grade material item.
“Thank you, My Lord.”
Circe bowed her head at my words and continued speaking in a voice filled with genuine gratitude.
“With the powerful force residing in this item…… I can break free from the shackles.”
“That’s a relief.”
“And once the shackles are broken, I will be able to serve by your side, just like I did a thousand years ago, My Lord.”
Circe reached out for the Hive Mind’s Heart Fragment with trembling hands.
Her eyes were filled with loyalty.
Well, with her loyalty stat at 100, it would be strange if it wasn’t.
I smiled as I watched her.
And not long after.
[The Witch of the Forest of Monsters has been freed from her shackles.]
I could confirm through the notification window that Circe had been freed from her shackles.
It was a historic moment where another Over-Ranker class power joined my side.
▄ ▄ ▄
Seocho-dong Simseong Town.
Vice Chairman Shin Jeong-hyeok’s office.
A guest was currently visiting Vice Chairman Shin Jeong-hyeok’s office, which was always busy with work.
It was Wu Jing, the Over-Ranker from Shanghai, China.
“Why did you ask to see me in reality?”
Vice Chairman Shin Jeong-hyeok, seated in his chair, looked at Wu Jing.
Sword Emperor Wu Jing.
He looked no different in person than he did in the game.
The only difference was that he was wearing a neat suit instead of gaming equipment.
Wu Jing made a serious expression at Vice Chairman Shin’s question.
Today was the seventh day since the secret meeting with Jeil Group ended.
It was time to leak the information about the Aerial Mobile Fortress, as agreed.
“I came because I received important intel.”
Important intel.
Vice Chairman Shin Jeong-hyeok’s eyebrows twitched at those words.
The alliance between Simseong Iron Stars and Xiongmao eSports, which began in the Broken World, was still ongoing.
Broken World.
It wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say that the otherworld of Phase 2 had effectively divided Ard World into three major factions.
The existing hegemonic forces, including Eugene and the Five Eyes!
Drakan and Jeil E&M, and the Dark Alliance, opposing them!
And the alliance of Xiongmao eSports and Simseong Iron Stars, belonging to neither side!
These three factions were maintaining a delicate balance by checking each other.
Of course, logically, the most rational choice would be for the remaining forces to unite against the overwhelming power of Eugene and the Five Eyes, but Vice Chairman Shin Jeong-hyeok’s wounded pride would never allow such a strategy.
That’s why the current situation came to be.
“It’s intel secretly extracted from the Floating Castle. Information about the weapon Drakan is building.”
Saying so, Wu Jing took out an envelope and handed it to Vice Chairman Shin Jeong-hyeok.
Vice Chairman Shin Jeong-hyeok received the information Wu Jing handed him and his face inevitably hardened.
“Aerial Mobile Fortress?”
The Aerial Mobile Fortress Voltaha!
Of course, to avoid suspicion from Vice Chairman Shin Jeong-hyeok, the exact specifications were not included, and only general information was written.
If the information was too accurate, it might raise suspicions about it being false.
However, even this general information was enough to unsettle Vice Chairman Shin Jeong-hyeok.
The appearance of the Aerial Mobile Fortress, a moving airship mothership equipped with unknown weapons of mass destruction, operating at altitudes unreachable by Wyverns, meant that the control of the skies in war would have to be completely surrendered to the enemy.
Of course, with the advent of airships, the top brass of each faction, recognizing the military value of airships, were trying to recruit Magic Engineer users to build airships, and a very small number of airships had actually been built. However, it didn’t seem like airships could counter the Aerial Mobile Fortress.
In any case, surrendering air superiority to the enemy in war meant defeat.
Of course, the true victory or defeat of a war was decided on the ground, but that didn’t mean the importance of aerial combat could be ignored.
“It’s still incomplete. But if this is completed, we have no chance of winning.”
Wu Jing said this to Vice Chairman Shin with a serious expression, feigning concern.
No chance of winning if the Aerial Mobile Fortress is completed!
Vice Chairman Shin Jeong-hyeok also sensed that fact.
“What about launching a sabotage operation?”
But Vice Chairman Shin Jeong-hyeok barely managed to utter those words, suppressing his boiling emotions.
Sabotage operation.
Vice Chairman Shin Jeong-hyeok’s suggestion was to hinder the construction of the Aerial Mobile Fortress through unconventional warfare, terrorist activities, rather than a full-scale war.
Wu Jing shook his head at Vice Chairman Shin’s suggestion.
“I’m against that. First of all, since the Floating Castle is entirely under Drakan’s control, even attempting it would be an obstacle. It was difficult enough to extract this information, and besides, a sabotage operation would only give the enemy a justification for war.”
Of course, Wu Jing’s true intention was to instigate a war between Simseong and Drakan as agreed upon in the secret meeting, but his words weren’t wrong.
The Floating Castle was entirely Drakan’s territory, a remote island in the sky with no means of infiltration other than airships.
It was almost impossible to infiltrate the Floating Castle without a trace and carry out a sabotage operation.
Even if it somehow succeeded, it would only give Drakan a good justification for war.
Of course, even if Drakan declared war using that as an excuse, this side could simply deny it, but comparing the public support for Simseong and Xiongmao to that of Drakan, Drakan’s side was overwhelmingly higher.
Drakan.
As a result of his efforts to manage public opinion over the past years, users supported Drakan second only to Eugene.
Therefore, if Drakan declared war, pointing to Xiongmao and Simseong as the perpetrators, the users would believe it regardless of whether this side denied it or not.
This was because Drakan said so, and if one used the process of elimination, it was either Eugene or Xiongmao and Simseong, and all users in Ard World knew that Eugene wouldn’t resort to such underhanded tactics.
Therefore, a sabotage operation was the worst option.
“Then are you saying we should just sit back and let it happen?”
Vice Chairman Shin Jeong-hyeok’s voice was laced with irritation.
He already understood the hidden meaning in Wu Jing’s words.
The fact that a sabotage operation was nearly impossible, and even if it yielded results, it wouldn’t be of much significance.
As soon as he realized that fact, Vice Chairman Shin became irritated.
Did that mean he had to just sit back and watch the Aerial Mobile Fortress being completed?
That didn’t suit Vice Chairman Shin Jeong-hyeok’s temperament.
Seeing Vice Chairman Shin’s irritation, Wu Jing smiled inwardly.
The big fish had finally taken the bait.
Thinking so, Wu Jing began to speak smoothly to fulfill his mission of inciting war.
“According to the information I’ve obtained, there’s still quite a bit of time left before the weapon is completed. Moreover, Drakan, that bastard, is still unaware that information about this weapon has been leaked to us.”
“Then what?”
As Vice Chairman Shin’s eyebrows twitched, Wu Jing smiled and said,
“A preemptive strike before the Aerial Mobile Fortress is completed, and then we defeat Drakan. If we do that, we might be able to eliminate him and claim his Aerial Mobile Fortress for ourselves.”
Hearing Wu Jing’s words, Vice Chairman Shin leaned back and laughed loudly, filling the office.
Wu Jing’s suggestion was sweet.
A preemptive strike against Drakan before the Aerial Mobile Fortress is completed, and then eliminate him!
In this situation, Wu Jing’s words, suggesting that they could not only remove the huge obstacle that was Drakan but also take possession of the powerful Aerial Mobile Fortress, sounded like the best possible option.
The Aerial Mobile Fortress!
If he could only get his hands on that powerful weapon, after eliminating Drakan, he might even be able to aim for Eugene’s position. With that thought, Vice Chairman Shin immediately stood up and said with a laugh,
“Let’s do as you say.”
