https://novelcool.info/chapter/Chapter-541-This-Time-Lanchi-Must-Ensure-Huberyan-s-Satisfaction/12584807/
https://novelcool.info/chapter/Chapter-543-Lanchi-s-New-Journey-as-a-Diplomat/12584821/
Chapter 542: Lanchi's Salem Plan
Chapter 542: Lanchi's Salem Plan
"Today marks the sixth day since you arrived in this Shadow World." The cat boss, intrigued by a music box he was fiddling with his paw, addressed Lanchi while a suspenseful melody filled the room. The undulating and unrestrained string music carried a sense of urgency, and the enigmatic tune was like a lonely dancer in the mud, seeking light in the pitch-black darkness.
It was late at night in Lanchi's home in Hersalem. He sat alone behind an old-fashioned wooden desk, surrounded by piles of books. Various magical engineering instruments lay before him, among which a radiant glowing tube timer caught the cat boss's attention the most. The lamp tubes emitted a saturated orange-red glow, like lava illuminating the numbers, making the device appear especially mysterious in the dim room.
The soft buzzing of the timer echoed in the quiet room, serving as a subtle reminder of the passing time.
"Indeed, it's about time I left Hersalem," Lanchi acknowledged, his face illuminated by the desk lamp, his expression solemn yet his eyes bright with determination. His gaze seemed to pierce through the snowy fields to the north.
In recent days, the Honing Empire had not only launched a frontal assault on its neighboring Kingdom of Bliss but, according to Lanchi's intelligence, their special forces had also infiltrated the Kingdom of Fuckle and the Kingdom of Idies to the east and west.
However, Lanchi had anticipated as much.
The northern snowy fields, a land of perpetual night with barely any daylight throughout the year, might not be a strategic location in history, but to the vampire tribe, it was a treasure trove.
Due to the prolonged nights and rare appearances of the sun, they could avoid their sole weakness.
Should the vampires gain a foothold in the east or west and occupy the Land of Perpetual Night, sandwiching the Porland Empire from the north and south, it would spell disaster.
The Land of Perpetual Night was likely much more dangerous than before, and no one could be sure if any vampire pioneers had successfully infiltrated the area.
Fortunately, the vampire ancestors were monitored by the Demon World year-round, and any movement of eighth-rank marquises or higher would surely stir the demons first.
One of the provisions in the "North-South Treaty" between the vampires and the demons stipulated that vampires must not cross the Land of Perpetual Night without permission. An exception to this rule was the vampire envoy, Baron Sanchez, in the Hell Corridor Academy of the Shadow World. With prior agreement between the demons and vampires, he could be openly received into the Demon World and work alongside the Demon World investigators to search for humans hiding within the academy.
"Cat Boss, tomorrow morning we'll be leaving Hersalem and paying a visit to the Demon World." Lanchi's fingers gently tapped the desk as he gazed at the "Transformation Technique: Human" card he had just crafted.
This card would allow him to transform into Lanchi Wilford, and he had made it himself over the past two days.
Thanks to the presence of the cat boss, he had ample card slots and even equipped the cat boss with a portable card-making toolkit consisting of ten equipment cards. This enabled him to continue crafting magic cards even in the Shadow World.
However, such compressed portable tools were far inferior to the high-end equipment found in the workshops of the present world, and card-making in the Shadow World was far more challenging.
Lanchi intended to have a trusted subordinate from his faction transform into him and impersonate him for the next three to four weeks, following his plan to maintain activities in Hersalem.
During this time, he would transform into Loki McCassy, traverse the Land of Perpetual Night, venture into the Demon World, find Shubelian, and seek some negotiation possibilities with the Great Demons.
He would shut down the live broadcast in the Shadow World, not only to prevent people from the Southern Continent from seeing Loki McCassy but also because he didn't want those from the present world to see his current form as a demon.
Once he transformed into a demon and lost the disguise of human skin, other demons in the Demon World might recognize him as a Great Demon, and that would be challenging to explain to the people of the Southern Continent.
"Meow, I wonder how Shuberian is doing in the Demon World's magic veins. I'm so worried that she might not be accustomed to the environment there." The cat boss voiced his concerns for Shuberian.
Previously, when Shuberian had fallen into the Kingdom of Etherland, the cat had not worried about her at all, as that place was akin to a pure land. But the Demon World was an entirely different matter, and the thought of it made the cat anxious.
"Rest assured, I'll bring her back safely," Lanchi assured, reaching out to pat the little black cat.
"Meow," the cat nodded.
These past few days, Lanchi had been surprisingly normal, even though the cat had no idea what he had been up to.
Aside from negotiations and drafting proposals, Lanchi had been diligently performing the duties of a chancellor, and after work, he engaged in small-scale magical engineering research. Contrary to expectations, he didn't embark on a grandiose speech.
It was pleased that Lanchi had finally heeded its and Shuberian's words.
Despite the seemingly dire situation of this Shadow World, after their journey to the Northern Continent, it had great faith in Lanchi's abilities and potential. This Shadow World was Lanchi's forte, and as long as he applied himself diligently, raising the odds of success from 0% to the desired 1% within the next forty-plus days might not be difficult.
Its role was simply to ensure Lanchi maintained a balanced diet and good health.
It observed that the current state of the Pollant Empire had evolved as follows:
Public Support: 145 → 276/1000 (Support and unity among the populace)
Parliament: 252 → 227/1000 (Support from the Pollant Empire's upper echelons)
Military Strength: 124/1000 (With the Honing Empire as a reference)
Finance: 222 → 236/1000 (Current productivity of the Pollant Empire)
Diplomacy: 115/1000 (Relations with the Demon World and surrounding nations that have not yet surrendered)
The odds of success remained at 0.0000%, with no positive numbers even in the fourth decimal place.
However, this was understandable, as Lanchi's achievements in the past week had been minimal. Aside from stabilizing public support and parliamentary support, the only decisive factor that showed a slight increase was finance, and that was due to the related impact of improved public support.
Cat Boss felt that due to Lanchi's overly cautious and conventional decision-making, people outside the Shadow World might perceive that Lanchi had done nothing substantial during this week, using the time to familiarize himself with this world.
Or, to put it another way, out of a total of forty-five rounds, he had already wasted the first six. One could only imagine the immense pressure his teacher, Loren, was facing at this moment.
With the upcoming journey to the Demon World, they would have to cut off the live feed from the Shadow World for another three to four weeks. By the time the live feed resumed, it was uncertain if Loren could withstand the pressure.
This all-or-nothing diplomatic mission had to succeed; otherwise, Lanchi and Loren might have to defend their families from public backlash.
"By the way, Lanchi, what's the point of this?" Cat Boss asked, using its paw to flick some of the handwritten notes and complicated project plans scattered in front of Lanchi.
Among the many tasks Lanchi had arranged before his departure, it could vaguely understand this one, which didn't involve too much about the Pollant Empire's political affairs. It was merely a pure engineering strategic plan.
The cover page was titled—'The Salem Plan.'
The plan would be overseen by the Army, utilizing a large amount of resources and manpower. Magitech researchers would conduct studies and experiments in a confidential institute located in the suburbs of the capital, Hersalem, while simultaneously overseeing construction and expansion. Multiple laboratories and factories would be established nationwide to provide assistance.
"Whether it succeeds or not is not important," Lanchi replied. "What I need is to make the Southern Continent's spies aware that we have a 'Salem Plan' and that we are pouring all our efforts into creating a secret weapon. The goal is to make the Honing Empire suspicious of us."
There were no secrets between Lanchi and the cat.
"So, can you create something?" Cat Boss asked, even more perplexed.
It actually thought that within the short span of forty-plus days, it would be impressive to even complete the initiation phase, let alone achieve any tangible results.
"No, I can't create anything," Lanchi admitted frankly.
"But as long as we can make the Honing Empire uncertain about whether we have a 'Salem Plan' or not, that's enough."
"But we really don't, right?" Cat Boss inquired, still confused.
"Who knows?" Lanchi shrugged.
Just because something hadn't been created yet didn't mean it didn't exist.
Later, they could drop a Fusion Wolf on the Honing Empire, and they might just believe it.
They might even come to believe that such bombs could be mass-produced and that the Pollant Empire could drop a second one.
For now, they would fabricate the non-existent "Salem Plan" to sow seeds of doubt in the Honing Empire, which would naturally give the vampire tribe a small but impactful jolt.
In this era, dropping a Fusion Wolf probably wouldn't land them in a military tribunal, so he could rest easy as he pushed the button.
The key now was to find fuel in the Demon World.
Tomorrow morning, his secretary would help him find a coachman who could safely guide him and Cat Boss through the Perpetual Night's snowy fields. And so, their journey would begin.
(End of Chapter)
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