The Queen Villainess Eavesdrops on My Heart and Won’t Let Me Slack Off – Chapter 215

Chapter 215: Another Year of Empress Award Ceremony

Nallynell was, to be honest, somewhat disappointed.

She had hoped to trick some deity into sending a projection or incarnation to test if the Azurevine Empire was truly as solid as iron. After all, when she herself had sent a projection down previously, intending to collect the benefits of a wager, she hadn’t even known what had happened before it vanished without a trace. Nallynell still felt uneasy about it. Although she could afford that bit of Faith Power through financial means, she, a vampire angel, minded losses with no feedback whatsoever.

As it turned out, the Sea God and the Goddess of War had accepted the mission. Their believers were so competent that they completed the harsh conditions she had deliberately set without the two deities needing to act personally. Nevertheless, the intelligence gained was of great help to her judgment. After all, the information was compiled jointly by Nicole and Tasika, and it was entirely truthful when it was sent out.

However, due to the Azurevine Empire’s rapidly changing development, when Nallynell used this intelligence to assess the empire’s strength and then personally descended, there were bound to be many discrepancies. It was precisely because the information was so real that, even for someone as intelligent as Nallynell, she couldn’t discern any issues within the intelligence itself. Convinced the investigation task was complete, she distributed the rewards. This was, in fact, Roger’s arrangement.

Nicole’s new analysis of Nallynell had piqued Roger’s interest in conducting a small test. This test certainly carried risks, but compared to the world’s predetermined fate of destruction by the Seven Gods, the risks were well within acceptable limits. This was why Nallynell had received such perfect and detailed intelligence.

Although Nicole had been expelled from the anti-Azurevine Alliance, she had also become an important mole in the Eternal Night World for the empire. This allowed her to speak with Tasika again. Tasika had pulled her into “Lord Charles’s fan group.” Previously, they had worshipped different gods, but now, as devoted followers of Lord Charles, their shared devotion had instantly brought their relationship to an intimate level.

With the naval battles concluded and the empire involved, it was the perfect opportunity to complete the empire’s intelligence-gathering mission. Thus, Roger provided them with the necessary information, ticking off all items on that lengthy task list. The information was immense; Nallynell had spent a full… five seconds… reading it. Do not doubt the information processing capabilities of a Six-winged Angel. She was a Time Shepherd, the CEO in charge of the Faith Power revenue of countless worlds for the God of Knowledge, constantly processing and making more decisions than an ordinary king would in a lifetime. Constant practice, coupled with the abilities bestowed by the God of Knowledge, naturally gave her super-information processing capabilities.

“Interesting changes are indeed happening…” Nallynell mused as she finished reading the intelligence on the Azurevine Empire. Corresponding to her efficient information processing ability was her computational power. Armed with this intelligence, she could simulate many possible futures for the empire. This was a transformation never before seen in the entire Multiverse, a rapid metamorphosis spontaneously evolving from those Mortals. In a World where divine intervention, the dominance of professionals and bloodlines, and the prevalence of Magic Power meant the strong always stayed strong, the World had been evolving at an extremely slow pace. The relationship between the lower and upper classes was almost constant, perpetually maintaining a game of nobility.

But now, with the Azurevine Empire’s power held in the hands of the Empress of Eternal Night alone, the game of nobility had become centralized. The country’s resources and technology began to flow rapidly, presenting a completely new picture that even Nallynell had never witnessed. One did not need to become a professional. Even ordinary people without any talent could control immense power, far beyond what ordinary professionals could wield, to alter, control, or even cause great destruction to their surroundings, simply by learning to operate Magic Crystal machinery. In the Azurevine Empire, this was called Neo-Arcana, powered by external Magic Crystals, allowing all citizens to be considered artisans, spellcasters, or Soldiers.

On the surface, this seemed like a delegation of authority, with professionals gaining more benefits from this progression. For example, more easily obtainable magical equipment, alchemical items, and potions to aid in power growth, leading to a significant increase in individual combat power compared to ordinary people. However, Nallynell’s deductions revealed that, in the end, the professionals would not benefit as much as ordinary people. This was due to the difference in magnitude. Talent was a bloodline mutation that could not be stably inherited; even the children of two powerful individuals might not possess the talent to become strong.

Therefore, the number of powerful professionals in the Universe was certainly increasing over time, but due to consumption from battles, adventures, and so on, the overall number had not fluctuated drastically. However, the Magic Crystal machinery being produced by the Azurevine Empire was stable, mass-producible, and a means for ordinary people to possess the destructive power of professionals, replicable as long as resources were available.

The newly emerging Neo-Arcana had not yet reached the height of magical civilization. However, as time progressed, this technology had the potential to alter the existing structure of this Universe. In a sense, this would be a more meaningful revolution than killing gods ten thousand times. Even if all existing deities were killed, it would merely be a reshuffling, and new powerhouses would soon ignite their divine fire and tread the old path. Just as the Seven Gods had done, they had killed far more deities than Mortals.

But Neo-Arcana was something that would change the Multiverse, giving Mortals, once like ants, the possibility of sitting at the gambling table. Nallynell seemed to see a magnificent scene, a single spark igniting a prairie fire, gradually sweeping across the entire Universe and bringing about new changes. Yet, she also saw the possibility of this flame being extinguished. Even if Mortals held the possibility of the future, the Seven Gods were already executing a planar cleansing, possessing an overwhelming first-mover advantage.

All Nallynell needed to do was report her deductions to the God of Knowledge, and this fire would be easily extinguished. If the Seven Gods’ faction decided to exterminate the Azurevine Empire, they would be hunted down wherever they fled in the Universe. No, they wouldn’t need to be hunted to death. As long as this flame lacked sufficient fuel – ordinary people – it could never reach the Seven Gods.

“Little Ao, you truly give me surprises, though this surprise comes a bit too late… There isn’t much more I can do for you.” Nallynell sighed helplessly. She extracted the memories of the intelligence she had obtained and her related deductions and then pushed them towards Universe #25. This way, she would forget this information and be clueless even if the God of Knowledge asked about it. However, this flame that could ignite hope would bring immeasurable changes to Universe #25.

As Nicole had said, Nallynell was not a pure believer. Over her long period of shepherding, she had interacted too much with Mortals, understood their joys and sorrows, experienced their emotions, and sympathized with their plight… In other words, Nallynell had fallen, no longer viewing the execution of divine commands as her sole and noble pursuit. However, as the God of Knowledge’s most perfect and favored creation, she had no way of escaping the God of Knowledge. The moment she stepped out of line, the God of Knowledge would sense it and utterly destroy her. Her current minor actions were covertly carried out under the guise of “possessing stronger strength to assist my Lord.” As long as she harmed the interests of other deities, not the God of Knowledge’s own, it was tacitly permitted.

Nallynell loved this Universe. She had no pursuit of the scenery beyond the Universe or the so-called “truth.” She felt that the joys and sorrows of those Mortals were real enough. As long as they themselves acknowledged it, this was the delirious fantasy of some existence, a virtual World, so what? Let them experience their joys and sorrows to their heart’s content, live their own lives, and create their own value. Why live so arduously? Sometimes, she envied the God of Hope’s unbridled freedom. She had even dismantled his divine kingdom, a deliberate act of revenge fueled by envy.

At this moment, she had a guess about her projection that had been lost in the Azurevine Empire but did not dwell on it. If that projection still existed and possessed Shady’s body, it would have more possibilities than she did. If possible, she hoped it could taste the flavor of freedom in her stead… The Time Shepherd, holding the power of life and death over countless planes in the void, concluded her emotional reflection. A giant ball of light illuminated in her palm – the closest thing to the origin of power in the World: the Faith Power ceaselessly generated by countless World’s. It was her harvest from her shepherding, her devout offering to the God of Knowledge.

She should not have her own desires, her own emotions; she only needed to fulfill her originally set mission. Angels, messengers of the gods, were always merely tools, not supposed to have a “human” side. But she did, and it was spiraling out of control. This was destined to be the source of an irreconcilable tragedy.

…

…

In the Fearless Space, an independent space established by individual users, there was a place called “Qing Gong Education.” It looked like an online school or educational institution, but the density of students entering and exiting was comparable to a subway station in later eras. Established in the fourth year of the Eternal Night calendar, after nearly five years of development, Qing Gong Education had become the empire’s largest training institution for qualifying examinations. It provided guidance for adults to obtain professional qualification certificates, skill qualification certificates, and research and development qualification certificates.

The most popular and Qing Gong’s most successful specializations were the empire’s civil service examinations. Since the empire’s bureaucracy had opened to Commoners, anyone wishing to enter officialdom, regardless of their background, had to pass a unified administrative test to be selected for interview. The “Imperial Civil Service Examination” had become the second-largest avenue for ordinary people in the empire to change their destinies. The first avenue was, of course, the study of magic. Spellcasters, even now, were still the elite. They continued to possess infinite possibilities and were the backbone of the empire’s technological advancement.

Although the upgraded generations of Soul Mimicry Bracelets, combined with Magic Crystal machinery, could provide combat power equivalent to that of past mages, mages were now the empire’s most crucial R&D talent, with completely different requirements from their past abilities. In the past, mages pursued powerful Magic Power and strove to cast spells with direct destructive force. In contrast, the core pursuit of today’s mages was control precision. It was somewhat like what Roger had told the Empress of Eternal Night, weakening a spell by ten thousand times. But it was even more complex and precise, fundamentally changing the professional positioning of mages.

Magic Power was no longer a direct means of casting spells but a medium for mages to transform the World. Tasks like filling in seas or leveling mountains could be accomplished by Magic Crystal machinery. As for combat? If arcane masters took action, what would warriors, rogues, and archers do? Just eat rice for nothing? The values of Lady Che Guevara, the Red Dragon, were disseminated to all mages through “Arcane Musings” and were widely accepted. Today’s arcane masters were researchers, engineers, designers, and scholars… They were the new nobility who earned the most commendations from the Empress through their knowledge and thought!

The primary factor was the rapid advancement in detection and analysis magic in recent years. These Magic Crystal machinery were expensive, and the higher the precision, the higher the cost, plus the addition of various intelligent recording and analysis chips… But ultimately, their effectiveness was not as good as the results provided by a magic apprentice. With the vigorous development of Neo-Arcana, the most important task for mages was to develop ultra-intelligent, ultra-precise detection machines for R&D. A few cantrip-level spells could measure material data such as temperature, humidity, hardness, and photosensitivity. This was convenient for production, research, and analysis. Even the “Magic Shot Microscopy,” a powerful tool for exploring the microscopic World, was merely a level-three magic that a level-five mage could master.

Classified by strength, this was Tier 1, a level achievable by anyone with magical talent. However, being able to directly perceive the microscopic World and material parameters during R&D offered a huge advantage. Not to mention legendary mages constructing “Micro-Magic Accelerators” to deeply explore the essence of the World… These were things ordinary people could not easily accomplish and required complex instruments. Thus, innate magical talent became a significant threshold in the R&D field. Unless one was a peerless genius with exceptional mathematical or cognitive abilities, ordinary people would have a chance to compete with arcane masters in cutting-edge fields.

If they couldn’t become mages, those with good physiques became combat professionals. Otherwise, the best path was to serve as an imperial civil servant. The empire’s territory was vast, and its administrative system was still being established. Many new positions were created annually, urgently needing to be filled by talent. The work was stable, society status was high, there was great room for advancement, and they could personally participate in the empire’s construction. Civil servants had rapidly become one of the most sought-after professions in the dating market.

Previously, the administrative assessments were monopolized by the original nobility because they had better educational advantages and “scope limitation” preferential treatment guaranteed by their Oath of Honor. But in recent years, the low cost of education in Fearless Space had allowed the educational level of ordinary people to quickly catch up, and they also gained the qualifications to take the exams. Institutions like Qing Gong Education sprang up like mushrooms, even hiring young officials who had truly passed the administrative tests as part-time lecturers with extremely high salaries. The improvement in the candidates’ level naturally led to a rise in the passing lines for the annual written and oral examinations. It could be said that the empire’s administrative tests had become highly competitive.

The Empress of Eternal Night had proposed suppressing such educational institutions, but the cabinet had prevented it. Because if everyone competed, it was easier to nurture hardworking talent. The empire’s development momentum was incredibly rapid, and the civil servant force did not need geniuses but diligent and hardworking “screws.” The more intense the educational competition, the smarter, more obedient, and more self-aware the candidates who ultimately stood out would be.

A supplementary lesson on current imperial affairs had just ended. “Hey, want to go for a drink at the ‘Star Bar’? I’m really curious about this year’s Empress Award winner!” “Is it time for the awards again? We have to go!” Tom and Jerry, two young men preparing for the Eternal Night Year 9 administrative examination, left Qing Gong Education arm in arm and teleported to a futuristic bar.

ps. Updating progress (6/18)
Last day of the typo correction extra update plan, let’s go!