Myths Reawakened

There was more to the abandoned factory. As the manufacturing site of Astral soldiers, it was quite spacious. Since it was Wayne’s first visit, he had trouble finding his way around. It wasn’t much of a problem, though. He could forge a path with his thoughts and easily befriended the NPCs with his silver tongue and friendly smile.

“Hey, you, did you see the Prussian officials?”

“Ugh, we have to work overtime tonight again.”

“Mate, did you see the Prussian officials?”

“My coffee is gone. Could you help me find it?”

“Manager, did you see the Prussian officials?”

“A few strange guys showed up at the factory today.”

“Um, I mean...”

“A few strange guys showed up at the factory today.”

“...”

Wayne rolled his eyes and stepped out of the office. His thoughts were so strong that the NPCs were left disoriented, unable to provide him with useful information. It would be fine, though. He made a turn at the end of the corridor and found the factory site and a group of Prussian officials.

According to Regina’s information, Weaving had called two of the officials ‘generals’, and Weaving was quite respectful to them. They must be the ones in charge of this collaborative program and hold a significant status among the Prussian leadership.

The machines in the factory rumbled as a large volume of steam permeated the workshop, condensing into water droplets on the ceiling before falling as white foam. In the workshop, the janitors in charge of cleaning the white foam worked harder than the machines running twenty-four seven.

Wayne glanced at the metal machinery and silently cursed at the eeriness. There was no telling whether machines could be combined with human flesh, but the combination of machines and the Astral Plane had already become reality.

Weaving and Prussia had come together to overcome the technological obstacle and created an assembly line for Astral soldiers. Though the quality fell short of the dragon-blooded soldiers that the Windsor Ministry of Magic had created, they had an absolute advantage in quantity.

There was no comparison between an artisan hand-made shop and an assembly line.

Instead of catching up with the group of officials, Wayne stayed by the assembly line to observe the Astral soldiers up close. Detecting with his thoughts, he found out that the soldiers created out of the flesh of Astral Beasts were empty-headed yet unusually obedient, never trying to parasitize or corrupt those around them.

That was absurd!

After more inspection, he speculated that the Astral soldiers were just like the chicken eggs. They were under the control of a mother rather than individuals with autonomy. By controlling the mother, one could control the emotionless super soldiers.

From the perspective of the world of magic, Wayne believed Weaving was doing a poor job on purpose just to cheat funding out of the Prussian leadership. From Prussia’s perspective, however, the project held great strategic value. Even the cannon fodder would be powerful enough to wipe out Franc’s top-tier army.

The factory couldn’t be left alone. Wayne had to bomb it!

He gave himself a figurative thumbs-up. Today, he had ambushed Weaving in the name of the SS, bringing to the table the conflicts between Weaving and the other Oracle High Reverends and driving a wedge into the partnership between Weaving and Prussia. Before the misunderstanding was resolved, Weaving wouldn’t hand them the control over the mother—not now, not ever.

Wayne smirked. Rushing over to the group of officials, he patted the soldier in the very back on the shoulder to borrow his clothes. Prussian military uniforms were indeed cool!

The factory manager told the two generals the daily output of the assembly line and stated that productivity could triple with enough funding. If Prussia ever encountered a shortage of manpower in her conquest of the world, the Astral soldiers would be her most trusty subordinates.

The manager talked down the other two projects: the mechanical augmentation and the demon vessels.

The two generals were in charge of the project, sharing a common interest and thus the same sentiment as the manager. They nodded in agreement, calling the demon vessels and mechanical augmentation worthless trickery. The Astral Plane was the only eternal truth.

Wayne had had enough. He whispered, sweeping the manager and the two generals with white foam to corrupt them before browsing their memories for accurate, first-hand information.

“Prussia’s Department of Arcane Technology Development, a non-military unit and a specialized research team under the Department of Logistic Support of the SS...”

“The headquarters are located in Berlo, capital of Prussia...”

“Groundbreaking progress has been made on both demon vessels and mechanical augmentation, so they came to check on the progress of this project...”

“Tsk, they succeeded!”

Wayne felt his scalp tingle as he found out about Prussia’s remarkable achievements. It was one thing for them to have a breakthrough in demonic vessels, since the study of Hell was part of magic. Still, the ability to merge people and machines was a revolutionary advance that defied all established magical theories.

“The combination of machines and magic... Interesting!”

Wayne felt quite eager. He combed through the two generals’ memories, but alas, they weren’t experts in the field and had nothing to do with the project. They knew too little to provide Wayne with the information he wanted.

After some consideration, Wayne ordered, “August, Finn, spread the corruption once you’re back in Berlo, aiming for total domination over the Department of Arcane Technology Development. Afterwards, Pope Weaving will reward you handsomely.”

Then he scooped up a handful of white foam and smeared it on the two men’s faces.

He activated the parasitizing ability of the white foam with his thoughts to conceal his own white foam, framing Weaving. Such was the way of a super spy. He had to make sure that his identity wouldn’t be exposed under any circumstances.

Though he hadn’t gotten any concrete intelligence from the two generals, he did extract the passcode of the safe from the manager of the factory. Walking out of the workshop, he headed straight to the manager’s office.

Just then, the Astral soldiers at the assembly line went wild, attacking everyone around them indiscriminately, be it the officials, the factory manager, the assembly line workers, or even the janitors. A large volume of white foam spread to every corner of the factory, corrupting and assimilating everyone.

Wayne frowned, suspecting Weaving. Learning that the project had been axed, Weaving was personally erasing evidence that could be used against him.

Wayne didn’t stop it, only allowing the two generals to escape the factory by a hair. This would further accelerate the conflict between the Prussian leadership and Weaving.

The white foam rushed out of the factory, morphing into tentacles that climbed along the floor and walls until they completely covered the underground base. Not even the researchers in the laboratory were spared from the assimilation.

Wherever the white foam flooded, the white flesh of the Astral Beasts hardened into what seemed like concrete to trap the base in place. It was Wayne’s first time witnessing such an unusual method of killing the witnesses and destroying the evidence. Coveting the research data Weaving had, he grabbed the safe and made a run for it before the white foam could reach him.

***

Mansion, Seinube riverbank.

Wayne, Regina, and Ottilia had had a busy night. Wayne’s need for sleep had decreased further, and he only needed one hour of sleep before he started the next day refreshed. He went through the map and crossed out the target he had investigated tonight.

Today, he only looked into Weaving. He still had to inspect the bases of the other two Oracle High Reverends, Baker and McCarey.

By the sofa in the living room, Nilsson had to struggle to stay awake after an all-nighter. When she saw how energetic her sister was, she asked enviously, “Aren’t you sleepy, Regina?”

“Nah, I could go without sleep now.”

Why sleep when you could be awake? You’ll be in eternal slumber after death!

Regina had died once and was now half-alive, with minimal need for sleep. She only went to sleep out of respect for her past human self when she remembered to mimic the living’s routine. Usually, she killed time by working, making her Wayne’s best employee.

Among the three secretaries, Regina was the most diligent. She didn’t even need bedtime with her boss.

Nilsson became even more envious. She knew that working for the Nature Knight was the reason her sister had achieved what she had achieved. Nudging Regina’s shoulder, Nilsson urged her to put in a good word and get her a job.

Nilsson wanted to advance!

Regina opened her mouth, but didn’t know how to explain the truth to her sister. Under the heated gaze, she had no choice but to say, “Boss, what do you think about my older sister?”

“What do you mean?” Wayne lowered his pen in confusion.

“My sister is good.” Regina patted Nilsson on the back, who immediately puffed out her chest like she was waiting to be summoned.

Wayne was speechless. “What does her being good have to do with me? This is your actual sister. You shouldn’t be throwing her under the bus.”

“You misunderstood, Boss,” Regina said. “I’m asking if you need more employees at the library in Londan. If you do, I recommend my older sister since she’s on my side.”

Wayne shook his head. “You should know my criteria for employees, Regina. The library doesn’t need your sister.”

“That’s not necessarily the case,” Ottilia suddenly chimed in. “I need an assistant. Let me have her, Boss.”

Wayne turned to her in surprise, the question in his eyes mortified Ottilia. Still, thinking of Senna’s beauty, she gritted her teeth and met his gaze, reaffirming her stance.

“No, I’m not handing my sister to you!” Regina raged. It wouldn’t take long for her innocent sister to be corrupted by their boss after going to Ottilia.

Why are you dragging my sister with you when you’re feeling cowardly yourself?!

Ottilia stared back. She’s the one who wants to get stronger. Why are you blaming me?

Nilsson didn’t know what they were arguing about. She tilted her head at Wayne, trying to join the Nature Knight’s entourage by acting cute. She had seen Regina’s changes and kept her envy to herself. She knew that she could do as well as her sister.

You know nothing! Wayne rolled his eyes. Regina had gained her power after death. He couldn’t guarantee that Nilsson would become a wraith with strong enough grievances after she was killed, and even if it was a guarantee, he couldn’t do it!

Without the contract of a vengeful spirit, Nilsson would have to go through Astral corruption to become stronger. That would be even more undesirable to Wayne.

He waved his hand in rejection, advising Nilsson, “Everyone has to rely on themselves since there’s no free food in the world. Regina has paid a heavy price to get to where she is today. Think about it and work hard on your own.”

Nilsson didn’t understand. What did he mean? She didn’t see anything different in her sister.

When both Regina and Ottilia fell silent, Nilsson covered her mouth and whispered to her sister, “Regina, have you...”

“Did-did you realize it?” Regina smiled bitterly, worried that her sister would be heartbroken.

“You should treasure yourself more.”

...What? Boss isn’t that kind of person!