Chapter 184: The Empire’s Burden

Held in the Slime Queen’s embrace, Owen was completely isolated from the ground. This left Chima, with nowhere to run, with no choice but to surrender. Otherwise, it was only a matter of time before the Slime, which had already digested a layer of the ground, reached her “original flavor” intestines.

Compared to Chima’s surrender, Owen was more interested in her current state.

He wasn’t even sure if “she” was the right pronoun to use anymore. After all, Chima’s current form was nothing more than a section of pink intestine, the kind that could be used for sausage filling after a good wash.

“No brain, no brainstem, no spine… how is she even thinking?” Owen stared at the pink intestine in the glass bottle, utterly fascinated. The intestine was currently trying to act cute and curry favor by wriggling, a clear indication that Chima was fully aware her fate—whether she’d be turned into “Nine-Turn Intestines” or sausage filling—depended entirely on Owen’s mood. How could she not submit?

As for whether such actions were a disgrace to a veteran assassin of the Flesh and Blood Church, was that something a mere intestine needed to worry about?

Chima’s state intrigued Owen, so instead of grilling her over charcoal, he handed her over to Flame Empress for research.

As for the Book of Flesh and Blood, it was found under Chima’s guidance. However, Owen immediately had his puppet seal it in a heavy lead box, further encased in gold, minimizing any potential influence.

He couldn’t help it. When it came to outer gods, Owen always recalled the octopus slumbering in the deep-sea ancient city and those indescribable beings who loved to sing and dance, driving anyone who heard them mad.

Thus, Owen had no intention of keeping this thing. He directly handed it over to the Black Hand to deal with.

Owen didn’t care whether the Black Hand sold it back to the Flesh and Blood Church or used it themselves. His only condition was that this thing was not to remain in the Northland.

As for what this book could be exchanged for, Owen left the negotiations to Maya.

In the Black Hand’s underground branch beneath the inn, Little Finger studied the gold-plated lead box before him with amusement.

“It seems our ally is no stranger to this thing, at least knowing what it is.” The Book of Flesh and Blood would have an irreversible impact on those around it, but this knowledge was not widespread. However, judging by the way it was handled, the person clearly knew what they were dealing with. This further narrowed down Little Finger’s speculation about his ally’s identity.

However, business still needed to be conducted. It was the foundation of the Black Hand’s existence. So, even knowing this thing was troublesome, Little Finger still accepted it.

With this incident concluded, Owen still felt no sense of relief.

The territory had been attacked twice, once by the Demon’s Head and once by the Flesh and Blood Church, proving that Owen’s previous worries and preparations had been incredibly prescient.

The only problem was, he hadn’t anticipated this damned world having so many lunatics.

The Demon’s Head members, who enjoyed arson, murder, and summoning demons, were a group of depraved scum who treated people as mere currency for hiring demons.

The Flesh and Blood Church was even worse. They were lunatics with aspirations, ideals, and the damned ability to execute their plans.

To transform the world into a realm of flesh and blood, returning all living beings to the Flesh and Blood Lord… what kind of sane person would pursue such a goal?!

Owen truly couldn’t comprehend why they would do this. Was it truly such an honorable and delightful thing for everyone to return to the Flesh and Blood Lord, becoming part of its intestines?

And these were only two evil organizations. According to some intelligence Owen purchased from the Black Hand, the number of similar evil cults and organizations reached several hundred, with those capable of making a significant impact numbering in the double digits.

After reading this, Owen felt only exhaustion. This damned world might as well just be destroyed.

Yet, he couldn’t help but feel a sense of sympathy and admiration for the Empire. With so many madmen and troublemakers, the Empire had still managed to maintain overall stability. This ability was truly remarkable, and certainly not easy.

Although filled with worry, Owen still had things to do.

He took advantage of this incident to announce that unrest had broken out among the nomadic tribes, allowing Bella to take a large portion of them away.

Secretly, Owen not only equipped Bella with a large amount of weapons, equipment, and supplies but also provided her with a new breed of sheep ━ Merino sheep.

The wool sheared annually could be brought to the territory for trade, exchanged for supplies and food. It also served as a link to maintain the superficial connection between the two sides, after all, the act had to be complete.

Even with the departure of the nomadic tribes and the barbarian tribe isolated at the Magic Horn Forest logging camp, Autumn Field Town remained prosperous. A population of over 3,000 was not small for a town, especially considering the constant influx of “North Drifters” chasing their dreams of wealth. At least half of them would choose to stay in Autumn Field Town, with most becoming commoners and a small portion becoming citizens, greatly increasing the territory’s foundation.

With enough citizens, Owen appointed more grassroots administrators. Coupled with Flame Empress’s future planning and Maya’s management, the territory’s development required no further attention from him, allowing him to spend extended periods in the underground dungeon chamber.

Bryan had begun modifying his own body, with Owen as the lead.

Instead of rebuilding his flesh and blood, Bryan chose a different path ━ mechanical modification.

Owen couldn’t fathom his reasoning, but the final modification plan shocked even him.

If not for considerations of inspiration, soul, creativity, and other such aspects, Bryan even wanted Owen to digitize his consciousness, transfer it into a spiritualized crystal ball, and then control a mechanical body, achieving a form of mechanical ascension.

Even so, he treated all his body parts except his brain and spine as disposable and implanted an energy core, an intelligence core, and a small spiritualized crystal ball, making him essentially a fantasy version of a cyborg.

It had to be said that Bryan was truly ruthless towards himself, but his ideas were also deeply fascinating to Owen, so he didn’t try to dissuade him too much and began perfecting Bryan’s plan.

Removing the body was simple, but maintaining the viability of the brain and spine was no easy feat. After all, the human body was a whole. The lack of any part would have an impact, let alone removing 90% of it. Dismemberment was basically at this level.

However, Bryan had rich practical experience, Flame Empress possessed a vast database, and Owen had his cheat. Many problems were not truly problems.

For example, to maintain the viability of the brain and spine, Owen had the Slime Queen cultivate a special type of slime that could maintain cellular activity and provide nutrients.

So, by immersing Bryan’s brain and spine in the slime solution, not only could their viability be maintained, but the slime would also provide ample nutrients, repair them, and facilitate metabolism.

The issue of nerve conduction was also resolved after Flame Empress modified some puppetry techniques.

The subsequent control problem wasn’t difficult either. The human brain certainly couldn’t directly control a mechanical body, but the presence of the intelligence core turned the brain into a driver, eliminating the need to focus on controlling every part and every movement.

Moreover, with the spiritualized crystal ball serving as a secondary processing core, Bryan could perform complex calculations and precision machining with his modified body alone.