Chapter 182: The Empress’s Prestige Soars Against the Trend
Similar scenes have been appearing throughout the Multiverse.
The youth you thought was weak and easily bullied suddenly gains the ability to turn the tables in a desperate situation.
As for why it’s not uncles and aunts, it can only be said that a certain Empress is a fan of good looks.
Roger originally wanted to persuade her, but the Empress of Eternal Night immediately described a scenario to him:
You’ve had a busy day and habitually log into the game before bed to check your character’s growth. You open your inventory, and it’s filled with middle-aged men in plaid shirts with large bellies and middle-aged women in headscarves, all waiting to be fed more materials…
Doesn’t it resemble an aging streamer from a rural non-mainstream scene begging for donations?
Roger instantly agreed with the Empress of Eternal Night’s train of thought: System’s Children must start from childhood.
Whether one is strong or not is a matter of a version, but looking cool is for a lifetime!
Under Galilei’s supervision, Sky Sea Tower quickly built a super-large anti-god scanner, continuously scanning various Planes to find individuals with extreme hatred for gods.
Regardless of race, as long as their souls are pure and they haven’t committed truly heinous acts, and their willpower and talent meet certain conditions, Afu will take the initiative to establish contact with them.
Subsequently, he would unlock the system, helping them find ways to escape their current predicament.
Backed by the Azurevine Empire and one hundred million Believers, Afu, although only possessing nascent divine power, is still a deity. By helping those pitiful individuals struggling in the quagmire of the lower rungs, the power he bestows is enough to help them turn their fortunes around.
By the standards of this Universe, these god-favored individuals can be called the chosen ones.
Because they are close to divinity, they will possess higher growth potential than ordinary people and will be more focused on mastering many specializations and comprehending Skills.
Recently, with Players entering the national warfare phase in the virtual space, Afu, with Roger’s permission, has dabbled in the divinity of slaughter. On the System’s Children’s panel, the “experience” attribute has been added.
From now on, System’s Children will gain experience by practicing Skills, completing missions, and through direct killing, which will allow them to strengthen attributes, comprehend specializations, and Skills upon leveling up.
They will also be able to view more detailed professional information.
This is not game information from the virtual space, but a professional leveling system perfected by the Secret Arts Society after discovering the shortcomings of the nine-level magic system, combined with the experience of the Seven Gods’ factions.
From System’s Children to the enemies they will face, the system will provide a more refined level for each.
In the current system, levels 1 to 5 are Junior Mage, levels 6 to 10 are Intermediate Mage, and so on. Each 5 levels are considered a tier, with a more detailed division.
Levels above 21 are considered the legendary realm, and levels above 31 are called veteran legendary. By using these standards for classification, the originally vast span of legendary status now has the most intuitive comparison method.
Not only Mages, but the Empire has incorporated all occupational systems into the new, detailed leveling system, and their own attributes, Skills, and other aspects are also managed in a data-driven manner.
This can also be considered an additional function of the Soul Mimic Wristband; the screen made of flexible crystal is not entirely wasted and can serve as a watch face.
Of course, this new professional system currently has issues with insufficient data and lack of reference for judging high-level characters above level 30, requiring the Secret Arts Society to gradually perfect the database of powerful beings.
For example, the Empress of Eternal Night, according to this professional level assessment, directly rates as level 50 or above, which is quite overpowered. Lydia, who was responsible for the overall design of this system, directly classified the information related to the Empress of Eternal Night as top secret.
This is to avoid demoralizing the confidence of other Mages in the Empire, as legendary figures may be common, but veteran legendaries are not.
Suddenly, a legendary figure above the current tier is rated as level 50 or above, and the entire World’s artistic style becomes incongruous because of her.
The growth of the System’s Children, through battles and travels in different Planes, actually helps expand the Empire’s database.
Knowing oneself and the enemy, one can win a hundred battles. Through these selected interdimensional Players, it is also a good opportunity to scout the Empire’s enemies.
With an increasingly data-driven perspective and guided by various mission and reward mechanisms, the reality experienced by System’s Children has gradually transformed into a hell-level difficulty game where they have only one life to clear.
It is still extremely difficult, with thorns everywhere, but compared to a certain death, there is at least some Hope.
They also remain active on the stage, trying to continue their miracles.
These souls that will be scanned by the Empire originally possessed more resilient willpower than ordinary people.
As long as such individuals do not die and remember their profound hatred for the Seven Gods, give them a little opportunity, and they can create infinite possibilities.
Now, with the growth bonus from the divinity of slaughter, coupled with the inheritances, resources, and Equipment provided by the Empire, and utilizing intelligence advantages, they can access the fastest path to obtaining growth resources. At least personal success is within reach.
As for how far they can go in combating the Seven Gods’ cause after growing, it depends on luck and their own character.
Even Roger, who activated the true system, has, on several occasions, wanted to defect to the Seven Gods’ faction for an easier victory…
He can only be grateful that he didn’t defect at that time. Judging from the Seven Gods’ arrangements for the Eternal Night World, joining their faction might be easy initially, but in the end, they would still perish with their World after truly achieving victory.
If there’s no path forward, the Seven Gods wouldn’t nurture their turncoats for free.
Therefore, from the beginning, Roger never had a so-called choice. Those were beautiful misunderstandings born from insufficient information; his fate was to follow the main villain to the very end…
“But if everything I’ve done in the Eternal Night World is revealed, will Players think I’m the hidden boss that must be killed after defeating the Empress of Eternal Night?”
Roger couldn’t help but fall into thought, realizing his current position was rather precarious.
With the Empress of Eternal Night’s aggressive imitation of other empires’ strategies, it wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say he’s the mastermind behind the Empire’s changes and the instigator obstructing the Seven Gods’ actions!
But no matter what, the System’s Children plan was ultimately executed successfully, planting these seeds of rebellion throughout the Multiverse, which is a crucial step on the Empire’s path to self-salvation.
To allow the System’s Children to go further, the Empire must also strive to provide them with sufficient firepower.
Will the system dare not wholesale divine artifacts for later missions?
The good news is that the Empire’s operations are currently running very smoothly.
After a failed act of retaliation against the Terra Kingdom, imperial public opinion was in turmoil for a while, and public sentiment saw a significant backlash, with calls to continue retaliating against Terra never ceasing.
However, due to the Empress of Eternal Night’s strong suppression, self-reflection was actually implemented, and at least no calls for renewed conflict could be heard publicly.
As propaganda efforts caught up, the “Chronicles of the Empire” was officially incorporated and became a media outlet subject to censorship by the Imperial Propaganda Department. More detailed regulations were established for information disseminated to the public through channels like the Fearless Space, and inciting public emotion to gain online traffic became a task that required extreme caution.
Gaining traffic is acceptable, but one must maintain a good image and not actively provoke conflict or create antagonistic emotions. One must promote positive energy as much as possible, contributing to the Empire’s stability and sustainable development.
The Empire does not restrict entertainment media, but even entertainment must be within certain limits.
The complete controllability of the Fearless Space and the age verification system have always been in place. It’s only necessary to manage the episode releases properly, and adult citizens of the Empire won’t have their screens filled with holy light even when watching cartoons, and even key plot points can be cut.
Roger recalled that he once opened a supernatural horror movie on a certain website and was confused the entire time:
All scenes depicting ghosts were censored and cut!
If it’s going to be like this, it’s better not to watch it. Refund my money, damn it!
Precisely because of this, although the Empire has also imposed censorship on its media outlets, the scope of these restrictions is legally based and can be flexibly adjusted at any time based on feedback from below, allowing creative freedom for internal entertainment methods.
This is because the Empire is confident and always has the ambition for cultural output.
Of course, this output doesn’t mean fooling its own citizens.
A defeat, coupled with the rectification of the media and entertainment industry, and the Empress leading the reflection, finally pulled the Imperial citizens back from their previous feverish state.
A consensus has been reached within the Empire: War is not the only means to solve problems, and the Empire cannot become mere brutes who only know war.
With the development of the times and changes in their position, they should also use more means to resolve issues.
There are many options before them, such as economics, diplomacy, culture, trade, and special operations.
Even if war is unavoidable, the form of warfare should also evolve with the times.
The old tactic of having soldiers and mages attack in full force is outdated, and they must be wary of enemies constantly introducing new equipment.
For portable null-magic fields, the Empire actually has corresponding equipment to counter them. As long as pre-war reconnaissance is done thoroughly, such losses can definitely be avoided.
Unfortunately, due to arrogance, the necessary actions were not taken, and they treated the enemy as easily crumbled fish, so they had to swallow the bitter fruit themselves.
The Orcs can also progress. With the support of the great powers and stolen technology, they managed to win this battle.
The people of the Empire believe they wouldn’t lose another fight, but the superiors’ answer was “We can fight, but there’s no need.”
The upcoming retaliation against the Terra Kingdom will be carried out in the form of economic sanctions. The Empire will continue to recuperate and focus on improving its overall military strength before considering the complete liberation of the Eternal Night World.
If this were before, people would have been grudgingly compliant.
But now, after experiencing enough lessons, the Empress of Eternal Night’s commands carry greater deterrent power, and everyone has diligently returned to their posts.
This surprised the Empress. She hadn’t expected her prestige to increase so much without even participating in the battle.
The mindset of the Imperial people is quite simple:
The Empress said we could win, the Empress went all out, and we won.
The Empress didn’t want to fight, the Empress didn’t go, and we lost.
Since both of these events have a 100% probability of happening currently, rational people would say the evidence is insufficient. However, the human brain is often irrational, so everyone believes the Empress is a necessary condition for victory.
As long as Her Majesty talks about war, blind obedience is the way to go, and it will never be wrong!
This is a rather comical scene: the Empress of Eternal Night, by not participating in the battle, has proven her power, and this Empire cannot function without her…
The great powers, who were waiting to see the Empire make a fool of themselves and found out about this outcome through their intelligence agencies, were filled with question marks.
Your people, do you really engage in such self-consolation?
Because they didn’t use their strongest weapon, the Empress of Eternal Night, such a loss is insignificant. Next time, as long as the Empress says to fight, you will surely win!
As long as you didn’t lose using your full strength, it doesn’t count as a loss?
This logic is too ridiculous!
The great powers certainly hoped that after this battle, the internal situation of the Empire would become more chaotic, the Empress of Eternal Night’s prestige would plummet, various internal conflicts would surface, and even the nobles who were previously driven away would make a comeback, leading to internal division and the establishment of fifty states.
However, the reality is that all strata of the Azurevine Empire have become more united, the Empress of Eternal Night’s prestige has risen instead of falling, the execution of all commands is higher than before, and both the general populace and officials have become more pragmatic.
Many kings couldn’t help but think, if losing a battle leads to such results, why don’t we lose one too?
Winning a battle is difficult, but deliberately losing one is very easy, isn’t it?
Unfortunately, no country has the guts to copy the Empire’s failure for fear of blowing themselves up.
It’s better to continue focusing on the real estate market of the Terra Kingdom and see which new plots are worth investing in.
The pace of life in this World is actually slow. Nobles and professionals have long lives and have already experienced everything they wish to experience.
This is why the planning for Free City has made them so expectant; it indeed proposes many designs that have caught their eyes.
Having developed for hundreds of years in a rapidly changing capitalist society, there are too many ways to appease the wealthy.
Moreover, Tasika, who has unlocked the attribute of Capital Queen, has applied this knowledge and mastered the “wealth code” for extorting money from these nobles.
She even has the spare capacity to invest in the Empire’s magical industries.
Of course, this can be explained as her repaying Lord Charles for his long-standing assistance, with overseas hot money flowing back into the Empire.
In reality, it’s mainly because Tasika sees clearly that real estate is a way to extort money.
Commercial real estate and the entertainment industry cater to these nobles, but the true purchasing power, the future of the Eternal Night World, should belong to the laborers at the very bottom.
The industrial upgrading and technological progress in the Empire have already exhibited powerful productivity, far surpassing the traditional magnates who are still immersed in the dreamlike state of extreme pleasure.
New technologies can enhance national strength, upgrade weapons, and also bring new enjoyments.
The Empire cannot easily extort money from its own citizens, but it can use the Terra Kingdom to corrupt the great powers.
Tasika doesn’t mind letting the nobles bleed a little more.
The aforementioned steps are all preparations for smoother integration into this World in the future.
And those self-proclaimed clever great powers wouldn’t think giving money to Tasika would cause any problems.
She has a “deep-seated animosity” with the Azurevine Empire and will seek trouble from the Empire even with money.
Investing money in the Terra Kingdom, they can have more freedom to play, and they are also strengthening the vanguard resisting the Empire. Isn’t this a win-win situation?
Especially since the Azurevine Empire didn’t even consider further military retaliation, which seemed very weak, making the kings and dukes of these great powers gradually lower their guard.
The Empire is a paper tiger, and even the Empress of Eternal Night has moments when she can’t fight. Her era has ended.
At this moment, let us all praise Queen Tasika!
As the warfare on land gradually subsides and various countries enter a relatively stable phase, the battles between the Naga and the Merfolk beneath the ocean have been escalating.
With Tasika’s assistance, the Naga Empire initially held an absolute advantage and was about to breach the Merfolk Sea Kingdom and capture the first landing point.
Just then, Crown Prince Shaq of the Sea Kingdom returned to the Merfolk Sea Kingdom with his newly purchased equipment, bringing the battle between the two sides to a stalemate.
