Chapter 910: Path to the Future
Autumn arrived.
To most people, it was the season of harvest. After experiencing a war-torn winter, their lives finally returned to the path of normalcy. But for some, this was just the beginning of their new lives.
The Void Territory.
Tens of thousands of people, including elders, children, and young people formed a long line. But no matter who they were, there was only one thing that they could do—lift their heads and gaze at the sky at the flickering barrier connecting heaven and earth. That was the absolute wall of Order that no one could pa.s.s through. And now, they were about to enter the doors of a whole new world.
The refugees expressed different emotions. The elders were full of concern because they didn’t know what sort of living conditions, hards.h.i.+ps, and tests they could expect. On the other hand, the young people were full of antic.i.p.ation because they were about to enter this mysterious territory that they had heard about from their elders since young. The children were curious and couldn’t wait to see what this territory would look like.
“Everything is ready, Madam.”
“Got it.”
Orchid Heart, leaning on the stone pillar, opened her eyes and swept a glance at the team before her sleepily. Although she seemed lazy and unreliable, none of the soldiers around her dared to question her capability. The reason was simple. It was this sleepy young lady who dealt with all the refugees.
Everyone knew that refugees were difficult to manage. But now, around 40,000 refugees queued up neatly as though waiting to enter the cinema. It was all thanks to Orchid Heart’s management in the situation. Back then, the mercenaries thought that it was too risky when preparing for migration because a lot of resources and time were needed to organize this huge number of refugees. As long as the refugees disobeyed the management, problems could easily arise. But the mercenaries didn’t expect that this sleepy-looking young lady easily contained the refugees and divided them into four groups of 10,000 to be welcomed into the Void Territory. Not only that, but she also further divided them into groups of hundred and each group was managed by ten experienced soldiers. Moreover, she had also handled the logistical supplies, emergencies, and resettlement issues perfectly. This impressed the soldiers and mercenaries. Although they witnessed how powerful she was during the training sessions, they didn’t expect that she was this capable in handling refugees too.
This was also the main reason why Rhode left Orchid Heart in charge of leading large troops. In the game, players wouldn’t follow orders as strictly as soldiers. Whenever Starlight got into wars, all tens of thousands of players were managed by Orchid Heart. Players generally disliked obeying commands and the fact that Orchid Heart successfully managed them showed her skills. It was due to this that it presented no problem for her in this current situation. Compared to the players who logged off due to disagreements or newbies who were foolish enough to launch ambushes, these refugees were much easier to handle.
Orchid Heart took out the pocket watch.
“Time’s up.”
She muttered under her breath. In an instant, a crack was revealed in the middle of the barrier as it slowly opened to both sides. This instantly created an uproar among the refugees, but the soldiers quickly calmed and a.s.sured them. In the distance, the azure sky merged with the pitch-black night while glowing stars interwoven with the radiance of the sun and presented a whole new scenery.
Although the people had heard from Orchid Heart and Gillian about this phenomenon, they were still nervous and frantic. The soldiers even gripped their weapons and scanned the surroundings vigilantly. On the other hand, the refugees had their backs against one another. They couldn’t be blamed for having such a reaction. After all, it was common for humans to react strongly to unknown situations.
Rhode temporarily had no intention of casting his dragon soul protection over this territory. This was also his way of expressing to the Munn Kingdom and Lydia his views and standpoint. After all, if he cast his dragon soul protection over the entire Grenbell, their relations.h.i.+p would be done for. And now, a part of his territory was within the Light Dragon Soul protection and this meant that his opinions on Lydia and Lilian didn’t change.
Of course, this was only the choice for now. Once a war erupted and the Light Dragon Soul protection crumbled to the Dark Dragon’s infiltration, Rhode would decisively cast his dragon soul protection over this territory. After gaining the dragon soul powers, he understood the source and strength of it. Based on the fact that the more people acknowledged the dragon soul protection, the more dragon soul powers it would be, Lilian’s powers were extremely weak.
Under the Light Dragon Soul protection, perhaps only the Munn Kingdom could provide Lilian substantial dragon soul powers. But the problem was that this amount of power was an utterly inadequate measure to the vast territory under the entire Light Dragon Soul protection. It was tough enough to maintain Order with this amount of power, not to mention resisting the attack from foreign forces. In the game, this was one of the biggest reasons why the Dark Dragon’s forces were so powerful. The fragile Light Dragon Soul protection was completely shattered and the Dark Dragon spread its dragon soul protection onward. The Undead Army under its protection naturally grew in strength while the humans became relatively down. Therefore, the results weren’t surprising. Previously, it was thanks to the Holy Maiden Statues strengthening the Order rules which stopped the Dark Dragon’s powers from penetrating the dragon soul protection. But if the Dark Dragon were to launch an all-out attack, Rhode would need to be sure that he was prepared for it.
Orchid Heart let out a long yawn. Then, she closed the book in her hand and gave a command.
“Do it.”
The orderly bowed respectfully and ran off to spread the word. Shortly after, the blaring sound of bugle-horns filled the sky from all directions. The panicky refugees instantly quietened and although they were still feeling afraid of their uncertain future, their only choice now after losing their homes was to move forward.
“The refugees have entered the Void Territory.”
Rhode stood on the balcony while gazing at the sky. Marlene stood behind him with knitted brows and reminded him.
As of now, Marlene didn’t feel anything strange about her being a summoning card. After she was successfully sealed into the card, Rhode placed her in the [Empathy] position within the Ten Strongest Spirit Decks. Thereafter, she basically felt no different from when she was a human. She even thought that there were many more benefits such as she wouldn’t fall sick and could spiritually communicate with others within the summoning cards. Of course, all of this was built on the basis of her love for Rhode. If she were full of hatred toward him, her current state would be an eternal punishment.
The biggest benefit of turning Marlene into a card was that he could finally understand how strong she was. The number of cards in the [Wisdom Deity Warden Deck] was 1/1. In other words, unlike Orchid Heart and Gillian, Marlene didn’t require other complementary cards like the venue or spell cards and was powerful enough to be on her own.
[Marlene Senia (Margaret Arcturus) (Wisdom Deity Warden) Offense 20 Defense 20: Unique Deity Warden. Unfuseable. Master of wisdom. Master of magic technology. Skills—<> (Dominator of the wisdom and wealth treasure chest under the Phenomenon Void)
Omniscient Library (Treasure chest of wisdom)
Deity Warden Authority (Release skills with absolute suppression properties)
Speed a.n.a.lysis (Shortens the a.n.a.lysis time of the target’s intelligence by one-tenth)
Dominator of Knowledge (Skills that are a.n.a.lyzed become invalid for the target. The holder will automatically learn the a.n.a.lyzed skill)
Gifter of Knowledge (Appoint a target and learn any one of the skills, talents, or production techniques. Cool-down period based on the level of preciousness of the selected move)
Master of Knowledge (After the holder learns the skill/talent/spell, it will be enhanced to the max mastery level)]
This is just like BOSS stats.
Rhode was completely speechless. [Dominator of Knowledge] was enough to make all players bow humbly. The skill that Marlene a.n.a.lyzed would turn invalid and this would mean that players would need to rely on their physical strength. But how could those players without skills and talents be able to defeat Marlene?
Christie’s skill was already so brutal and now Marlene’s was equally insane. Although Rhode didn’t know what Alice’s attributes were, it seemed like there was nothing on this continent that could basically take down the two Deity Wardens, Christie and Marlene. Moreover, not only could Marlene shamelessly and automatically learn the a.n.a.lyzed skill, but she could also take advantage of [Master of Knowledge] which would instantly raise the a.n.a.lyzed skill to the max mastery level. This was simply G.o.dlike.
As for [Gifter of Knowledge], it was extremely beneficial for him because this meant that he no longer needed to hit the streets and dig ruins for some lost, ancient talent or spell. As long as Marlene used this spell for him, he could automatically learn a skill without going through the learning process and jump straight into the highest mastery level.
But before that…
“Marlene, are you ready?”
He turned to the young lady behind him.
As long as this young lady was still the one who had always been by his side, it was more than enough.