Chapter 359: Chief Imperial Sage (12)

Underground military base.

Your Majesty, we have discovered a huge number of native warriors gathering around the Gate of Creation, exceeding three hundred thousand, and have blocked all ground access to the Gate of Creation, even the underground entrances.

In the deep underground base's conference hall, a military legion intelligence officer with the rank of lieutenant general is reporting the latest military situation to Luosen.

This was expected by Luosen.

In an environment filled with warlords, since Xiseeruo dared to crown himself emperor of the Dawn Empire, he surely commands a considerable number of legions.

But this emperor of his is merely an empty shell, because he has not truly mastered the Dawn Empire's high-energy arcane achievements.

To break this awkward situation, the only way is to obtain the imperial secret key.

And since Tilalilin is the keeper of the secret key, he naturally must spare no effort to capture her, and also spare no effort to prevent her from entering the Royal Creation Bureau.

It's easy to imagine that the army formed from these 300,000 native warriors is absolutely not all the forces he can mobilize.

Surely, the intelligence officer then reported the second piece of news.

Your Majesty, our secretly placed law-ring detection stations in various locations have transmitted two important pieces of news.

First, within a 1000-kilometer radius around the Gate of Creation, a very strong law-ring ripple has appeared, and the closer to the Gate of Creation, the stronger the ripple.

After testing, it was found that no phase transmission can be conducted within this area.

A transmission ban with a radius of 1000 kilometers? That's not a small move.

Obviously, this clause is meant to be used together with the first.

Having cut off transmission, one can only go there on foot, thus one must face the interception of the 300,000-strong native army.

But relying solely on the native army is certainly not enough, so Luosen asked: 'What about the second?'

In the seventy-two hours after the transmission ban formed, the law-ring detection stations reported a total of approximately 16,481 special law-ring ripples caused by phase transmission, and after screening, 2,181 distinct transmission characteristics were discovered.

That means Xiseeruo mobilized nearly 2,200 Dawn Guards and granted them special transmission permissions to coordinate with the native army in battle.

However, the law-ring transmission ban is bidirectional; it can not only prevent Tilalilin from transmitting, but of course also prevent the Dawn Guards from free transmission.

Therefore, Xiseeruo likely set up a large number of special anti-interference transmission arrays around the Gate of Creation.

That means the Dawn Guards can transmit, but they certainly cannot arrive instantaneously as before.

Of course, this is Luosen's speculation, and actual observation data is needed for confirmation.

Show me the law-ring ripple chart.

The intelligence officer had prepared in advance and presented a huge scroll to Luosen.

When opened, it was a diagram that looks extremely abstract to laypeople, but highly rigorous to professionals—a law-ring ripple chart.

It can also be called the mortal version of the 'Void Vision'.

Compared to Luosen's Void Vision, this one is far less clear, but it has an advantage that the latter cannot match: its information sources are far more numerous.

A law-ring detection station is an information collection point, and the legion has secretly established a total of 500 such stations scattered around the Gate of Creation area.

Thus, Luosen's Void Vision is equivalent to the 'human eye': high configuration, clear imaging, but narrow field of view.

The law-ring ripple chart, however, is like an insect's compound eye: low single-eye resolution, blurry imaging, but many eyes, so it can also see many truths.

Luosen examined it carefully for a moment and confirmed his speculation: 'Indeed, it is achieved through specially made transmission arrays, and these arrays are mostly buried deep underground.'

Buried deep underground, they are concealed and safe, but prone to being buried alive.

The Dawn Guards certainly won't be buried alive to death, but digging out from the soil layers does take time.

This will greatly slow their support of the native army, as well as their mutual support speed.

Luosen thought for a moment and said: 'Continue sending out scouts, combine with law-ring observation station data, and ascertain the exit locations of the Dawn Guards.'

When the situation demands, he will use unmanned blast-flame aircraft carrying directed explosive nuclear bombs to strike the exits.

Yes, Your Majesty.

The Dawn Guard situation is a mixed blessing.

The bad news is that the Dawn Guard is very troublesome, capable of inflicting huge threats on the natural army on the battlefield; a mistake could cause massive casualties to the legion.

The good news is that, according to Tilalilin, he needs a batch of Dawn Guards and doesn't know where to find them—this just delivered them right to his door.

Any other news?

There's one more.

The intelligence officer said: 'The native army and the exploration team of the Great Void Gods have also joined forces, and are now searching everywhere for the perpetrators who invaded Silver Sand City a few days ago.'

Luosen's heart stirred slightly; this is good news.

This shows Xiseeruo does not realize he has an army at his disposal, thinking he is a lone lone wanderer roaming the world.

The enemy is clear while we are hidden; this is the best state.

He nodded: 'I understand; continue gathering intelligence, but try to avoid conflict with the native army as much as possible.'

Yes, Your Majesty.

After the intelligence officer withdrew, Luosen summoned Tilalilin again.

After sharing the latest military situation with her, he said: 'Obviously, Xiseeruo plans to capture you alive, and I intend to build a trap based on this to specifically lure and capture the traitorous Dawn Guards.'

'What suggestions do you have on this?' At this point, three days have passed since Tilalilin obtained the memory artifact.

She has fully absorbed the relevant memories and transformed them into concrete power.

She also, as agreed, shared with Luosen the knowledge of safely advancing to the 12-ring, as well as a large amount of related knowledge about the 12-ring principles.

At this moment, whether it is her or Luosen, although they currently possess the extreme power of level 19, if the situation demands, they can instantly advance to the 12-ring by vigorously drawing power.

The 12-ring is a true high-energy ring; after advancement, soul strength and scale increase greatly, and the power one can freely control also increases greatly.

For example, Luosen previously releasing a single ultra-giant spell exceeding 1,000,000 Luosen was extremely taxing, requiring Laifu's assistance to cast quickly.

But now, even without Laifu's assistance, he can easily control a single spell exceeding 5,000,000 Luosen.

If Laifu is added, he can directly reach over 100,000,000.

This is power that was previously unimaginable.

Besides, Twelve-ring experts can also freeze magical power barehanded, solidify specific spell rules, and forge Twelve-ring magical artifacts with special functions, also known as first-tier divine artifacts.

Of course, being able to forge divine artifacts and forging high-quality divine artifacts are two completely different concepts.

Just as everyone can write, some produce a pile of dung, while others produce writing worth a thousand gold per character.

But no matter what, this ability is already astonishing, essentially a metamorphosis from mortal to god.

At this moment, Tiralalin's demeanor became noticeably more confident and composed.

She also completely discarded her previous disguise, revealing once again violet-colored hair and eyes like purple scattered stars.

At this moment, she first bowed to Luosen: "Your Majesty, I am the best bait. As soon as I reveal my whereabouts, I will surely attract a large number of Dawn Guards."

This is natural, but before actual operation, Luosen needed to confirm one thing.

He sat on the makeshift throne, one hand propping his cheek, looking down at Tiralalin's exquisitely classical face.

"Capturing Dawn Guards is not difficult, but now, as the Gate of Creation is about to open, I must clarify: you, Miss Tiralalin, former Seven Sages of the Dawn Empire's Imperial Court, what is your ultimate goal?"

"Is it revenge? Restoration of the nation? Or some other unspeakable purpose?"

Tiralalin blinked: "Your Majesty, what do you mean by that? Are you doubting me?"

Luosen smiled faintly: "You can understand it that way, but as the helmsman of a great empire, I cannot gamble the fate of countless citizens; I must ensure you are on our side."

"So I formally ask you, what is your ultimate goal?"

Tiralalin blurted out without hesitation: "I will fulfill my oath to Safen Nuosi and restore the glory of the Dawn Empire."

"How to restore it?"

"Choose a new emperor candidate capable of great responsibility for the empire, let him inherit the empire's supreme treasury, then use that wealth to restore the empire's glory."

Luosen raised his eyebrows: "Are you planning to choose me? Or is there someone else?"

A hint of bewilderment first appeared on Tiralalin's scholar-like face.

After a long silence, she said: "Your Majesty, from every angle you are indeed the best choice, and seemingly the only choice at present."

"But I still have some doubts in my heart."

"You are indeed ambitious and possess great talent and strategy, always seeming to easily achieve extremely difficult goals."

"Even Xisailuo, who once oppressed Safen Nuosi to the point of breathlessness, was easily defeated by you."

"I believe that if you successfully inherit the treasury, you have a great chance to achieve accomplishments surpassing the Dawn Empire, and even a great chance to defeat the Abyss."

"But the question is, what after defeating the Abyss?"

Saying this, Tiralalin looked at Luosen: "Your Majesty, if you successfully defeat the Abyss and lose all your enemies, what will you do?"

"Will you let your empire continue to decline with time, becoming a new Abyss in this solar star realm?"

Luosen slowly shook his head: "No."

"Then what is your goal?"

Luosen raised his hand to point at the sky, speaking in a calm yet firm tone.

"I will attempt to break this cycle of rise and fall."

"In the starry sky, every celestial body is a sun; our sun is merely an insignificant star in the endless sea of stars."

"Therefore, my ultimate goal is to break through our solar star realm, enter the true sea of stars, and become a true divine race."

"Even if I ultimately fail, I want to erect a spiritual monument in the river of time for future generations to follow and emulate."

"I know this is extremely difficult; future descendants may not necessarily succeed. But if one attempt fails, then a second, a third, even countless times."

"I firmly believe that as long as time does not end, there will always be born enough outstanding descendants to successfully realize our grand aspiration."

Tiralalin instinctively clenched her fists, her body trembling slightly from excitement.

She said nothing, only raising her head to gaze at Luosen.

Luosen also lowered his head to gaze at this Seven Sage of the fallen empire.

After a prolonged mutual gaze, Tiralalin slowly knelt on the ground and said in a solemn voice: "Your Majesty, swearing by time, as long as you do not change your original intention, I will forever follow your footsteps."

Luosen was very satisfied, smiling faintly and nodding: "Good, from today on you will be my Chief Imperial Sage."

(End of chapter)