Sovereign of the Ashes

Sein understood why Gilbert had done that perfectly well.

Everyone was driven by profit, and they were no different.

As the first discoverers of the ruins, Gilbert, Sein, and the others naturally had the right and leeway to secure some benefits for themselves.

Sein had previously been in charge of this region. It would not have been nice if Gilbert and his group had taken something valuable for themselves without sharing it with him.

“Besides this crystal, what else did you all discover?” Sein asked.

“If it were some crucial artifact from the ancient civilization...” he began.

“Of course not. Just a few crystals,” Master Gilbert replied quickly.

“If there were any ancient artifacts with real research value, we would’ve left them alone,” he added at once.

Since the ruins of this civilization had already been reported to the Magus Civilization, they now formally belonged to it.

In due time, the Magus Civilization would reward Sein, Gilbert, and the others based on the scale and value of the ruins discovered.

During this interim period, if Sein and the others took a few unimportant relics, surely the higher-ups of the Magus Civilization would likely turn a blind eye.

However, if what they took was too precious, to the point of interfering with the Magus Civilization’s proper evaluation of the ruins, that would clearly be an issue.

Even if the Magus Civilization did not penalize them, such actions would still damage their reputation.

They might even wipe away any merits earned from the discovery itself.

Master Gilbert, despite his age, was still sharp. The moment Sein raised the topic, he understood the implication.

Hearing the old mage’s response, Sein felt a wave of relief wash over him. He lowered his gaze to the crystal in his hand once more.

“Is it really a hundred times stronger than the Gray Quartz essence Blue Star gave me?” Sein asked again, unable to help himself.

“At least!” Master Gilbert corrected him.

Sein was rendered speechless.

The destructive power of the magic bomb he had personally designed was directly tied to the purity and energy density of the Gray Quartz used, and it was already enough to threaten Rank Four creatures.

The batch made from the Gray Quartz Essence gifted by Blue Star’s higher-ups could even endanger Rank Five beings.

On the battlefield, this kind of single-use magic artifact, designed for quick deployment, served as a formidable trump card.

And now, the crystal Old Gilbert had handed over to him contained an even greater amount of energy...

If refined into a magic bomb, it could potentially threaten even Rank Six creatures!

Although Sein had met many Rank Six beings, he had never truly fought one.

The Shadow Fleet that had ambushed him in the Grand Eye Demon World Star Domain had indeed rivaled Rank Six in power, but a technological fleet was fundamentally different from a true Rank Six creature. Sein could not extract the precise data he wanted from that encounter.

Gently squeezing the peculiar crystal in his hand, Sein asked, “How many of these crystals did you all find in total?”

“The one in your hand is the only one,” Gilbert replied. “We recovered a few others, but none of them come close to its energy density.”

The implication behind Gilbert and the other elders handing this rare crystal to Sein was obvious—they wanted him to turn a blind eye to what they had done.

Sein trusted that Gilbert and the others would not go overboard, so he simply replied, “I see.”

***

After the specialized ruins exploration team from the Magus Civilization arrived, they immediately began a full investigation of the ancient civilization’s secret realm.

Living up to their reputation as specialists, these explorers made progress far beyond what Gilbert’s group had managed.

In just a few months, they had already pushed their exploration to the deepest parts of the site.

By the time Sein received their next report, the team had already identified the ancient civilization’s name.

They had also roughly determined its level of advancement and gained a preliminary understanding of what lay hidden in the depths of Blue Star’s oceanic core.

In recent days, Sein had not rushed to study the inert crystal that Gilbert and the others had discreetly handed over to him.

Instead, he focused his efforts on reinforcing the Magus Civilization’s defensive perimeter around Blue Star.

This was the task entrusted to him by Grandmaster Feylis and the Magus Civilization’s high command.

During this period, Sein interacted more frequently with Gregory.

Gregory’s combat power and presence were stronger than Sein’s, and the nearly ten million troops under his command largely followed his lead.

Given his seniority, Sein usually deferred to his elder’s judgment, offering only occasional suggestions, all of which Gregory readily accepted.

In truth, since the war had not formally begun, it did not really matter who called the shots.

Even if the new Ocean King, Orven, along with Arid Expanse World and Aquaria, had the nerve, they would not dare push their forces toward the Magus Civilization’s positions around Blue Star.

For now, Sein and his allies were more concerned with when the Magus Civilization’s main forces would finally launch their offensive.

Unfortunately, the discovery of the ancient ruins had once again disrupted the Magus Civilization’s strategic plans.

At the very least, neither Sein nor Gregory had received any word from Feylis that an invasion was imminent.

“I hear this newly discovered ancient civilization was truly a top-tier one. It’s called the Eiyurant Papillon Civilization. A world civilization dominated by technology,” Gregory suddenly told Sein via mental focus during his visit.

Many Rank Four knights and mages from the Magus Civilization stationed near Blue Star were still unaware of the ancient ruins.

Perhaps a small number of Rank Five beings knew fragments of the truth, but even they understood very little.

This alone spoke volumes about the Magus Civilization’s formidable information control.

Gregory effectively served as the frontline commander of the Magus Civilization near Blue Star.

As a trusted confidant personally dispatched by Feylis, it was only natural that he possessed firsthand intelligence regarding the ancient ruins.

Gregory was clearly not the type to keep secrets.

While he could not disclose such information openly, sharing it with Sein, his junior from the same faction, was not a big deal.

After all, as a Rank Five mage, Sein effectively held half the authority over the Magus Civilization’s front near Blue Star.

More importantly, the two shared a close working relationship.

“Oh?” Sein raised an eyebrow at his elder.

Then almost immediately, Gregory disclosed another rather interesting detail.

“Based on the data gathered by the ruin exploration team,” Gregory said, suppressing a laugh, “they have concluded that the current lifeforms of Blue Star... are actually evolved descendants of pets once bred by the ancient Eiyurant Papillon Civilization.”

“Huh?” This time, Sein was genuinely stunned.