https://novelcool.info/chapter/Chapter-725-The-Ice-Witch-and-Hyberrian-s-Double-Surprise/12585197/
Chapter 726: Lanchi's Ace, the Gale
Chapter 726: Lanchi's Ace, the Gale
"Today is your fourth day in the capital city of Brielda."
"Just one day after you jotted down your theory in the classroom on Monday, it has already sparked immense interest within the Saint Cryxie Monastery, meow."
In a luxurious mansion reserved for professors on the outskirts of Brielda, the capital of the Cryxie region, far away...
Lanchi, sitting in the living room on the first floor of the mansion, was eating bread while watching the black bread—Cat Boss—reporting punctually on the table.
"Alright, Cat Boss."
Lanchi was about to end today's broadcast by pressing down on Cat Boss's head.
It was Tuesday, and he was going to continue his lecture on the fourth floor of Elliot Hall. Monday, Tuesday, and Thursday were his working days at Saint Cryxie Monastery.
Suddenly, he felt Cat Boss deftly lift its front paw, using Wing Chun-like skill to skillfully deflect his hand.
Lanchi: "?"
"Many professors from the School of Magic came to discuss with you yesterday and highly acknowledged your strength and the contributions you'll make to the Empire."
Cat Boss continued its broadcast, speeding up its speech.
"Among them was a friendly professor who, from the perspective of a senior, advised you that more and more influential figures in the Empire might approach you in the coming days. You need to protect yourself and discern the intentions of everyone who comes into contact with you. Be wary of spies from the Silver Moon Reformists and the Allied Forces."
With that, it finally sat back on its haunches on the dining table, contentedly watching the astonished Lanchi.
The morning sun of the Empire shone through the floor-to-ceiling windows, adding a touch of lazy comfort to the classical two-story villa and illuminating Lanchi's puzzled and motionless figure.
"Cat Master, you know martial arts?"
Lanchi realized that ever since Cat Boss reached the eighth rank, it could be considered a powerful magical beast comparable to the fifth rank. It seemed like it couldn't stop broadcasting.
"Of course! Back in the day, with my Meow Meow Fist, no stray cat dared to compete with me for food!"
The whole wheat sugar-free black bread proudly raised its head and said.
There was a time when it was at the zero and first tiers, and its combat strength was even weaker than that of an ordinary cat. If it didn't have some skills, how could it fill its stomach?
You have to know that it also had to fight for its survival during the time it spent with the previous restaurant owner before meeting Lanchi.
"I see..."
Lanchi never expected that Cat Boss had gone through such difficult times.
However, Cat Boss had worked hard for many years, drifting to Ikelyte and even becoming the owner of a restaurant. Its story was truly inspiring.
On the other hand...
"It's a good thing you didn't meet that person who would compete with cats for food under the walls of the South Wantina territory..."
Lanchi was just about to sigh with a smile and start the day in a good mood, but he stopped halfway through his sentence.
It seemed that he couldn't bring himself to finish the second half of the sentence and could only continue to bury his head in his breakfast.
Maybe it was better to just quietly finish breakfast without reminiscing.
However, if he didn't think about it, he would almost forget that the first casual conversation he had with Talia was about feeding cats.
Lanchi absentmindedly took a bite of his oatmeal sandwich, filled with ham, gherkin slices, fried eggs, and cheese.
He knew that today's breakfast was also made by Talia as soon as he took a bite.
Her cooking skills were obviously different from Cat Boss's. She didn't aim to create glamorous dishes but rather delicious, homely breakfasts.
"..."
After thinking of this, Lanchi felt that he could speak again, which surprised him a little.
It seemed that the reason he could speak again was that he had realized that Talia was the one who made the breakfast, and she was suddenly happy about that.
"Heh..."
Lanchi shook his head and smiled.
How could he not be able to tell who made the breakfast that was placed on the table?
Only Talia could make such a breakfast with a "mother's touch." It was something that couldn't be replicated without the accumulation of years.
As he felt a chill down his spine, he quickly stopped that train of thought.
"By the way, Cat Boss, if you evolve to the ninth rank, wouldn't you be invincible to anyone below the seventh rank?"
Lanchi asked, shifting his attention to the little black cat.
"Oh... right."
Cat Boss thought about it. According to its standard of transcending three tiers, if it reached the ninth rank, it might indeed have the strength of the sixth rank. Plus, being a ninth-rank beast would allow it to use ninth-rank magic cards, making it practically invincible to anyone below the seventh rank.
Not only did it have low racial stats, but it was also the weakest type of sprite cat, with no combat talent. However, correspondingly, the amount of training and experience it needed to reach the next rank was also less due to its initially weak body. Additionally, it had drawn the lucky talent of the space-system survival skill, which had allowed it to dodge countless disasters. It had even slept its way to the seventh rank thanks to its long lifespan.
Once it could pass through the high-level shadow worlds that it originally had no ability to participate in, and with Lanchi helping it gain contribution points, its rank might increase faster than anyone else in the team.
"The ninth rank is the true divine beast realm, meow. I've never dreamed of reaching that level."
Cat Boss shook its head, clearing its thoughts.
To break through to the ninth rank, the divine realm, one needed not only to reach the limit of the eighth rank but also to fulfill two more difficult conditions.
The first was the power of faith related to the true divine beings of the Divine Age, and the second was an immortal token capable of carrying one's legendary glory.
This was also the reason why Sigrid wanted to become the Pope. Once she became the Pope of the Resurrection Church, she would possess the faith power of the entire Resurrection Church on one hand. On the other hand, the Pope's authority would also be sufficient to serve as an immortal token. After consolidating and commanding all the branches of the Resurrection Church, she would have enough power to ascend to the ninth rank.
Aside from the Pope and other religious leaders...
One could also take the royal route and become the king or emperor of a large enough nation to bear the weight of faith.
The third option was to start a war and become a savior or a guardian of the nation as a hero.
The difficulty of these three methods increased successively, and the most challenging was undoubtedly the hero route because one had to be in a dark enough age, and one had to be yearned for and recognized by countless beings to gather enough scattered faith power to reach the threshold of the divine realm.
"You need to have dreams, Cat Boss. Don't you think a ninth-rank cat would be super cool?"
Lanchi placed his hand on Cat Boss's tiny head and asked.
If he could use a ninth-rank destructive magic with the cat, it would make their enemies suspect that not only had Loren not died, but he had also seemingly broken through to the ninth rank and was making a comeback.
That would be truly exhilarating.
"Meow..."
Cat Boss tilted its head, feeling that its usually calm heart had been stirred with desires lately.
Lanchi always told it about things that were impossible to achieve, making it itch with anticipation.
Outside the window, red maple leaves adorned the lush green courtyard, and the branches swayed gently in the breeze, rustling softly.
Next to the winding stone steps of the Grand Monastery, towering ancient trees stood like sentinel guards, their branches dense and their roots firmly embedded in the ground.
As Cat Boss gazed at the scenery, Lanchi finished his oatmeal bread, and their breakfast moment came to an end.
"Cat Boss, I need to work hard to reach the Seventh Rank too and become a true Transcendent realm expert so that I won't be a glass cannon anymore."
Lanchi flipped through the latest issue of the Central Daily to keep up with the current war situation and muttered to himself.
Once he reached the Seventh Rank, his physical and mental attributes would undergo a qualitative change. By then, with his magical resistance, dying would be a difficult feat.
Ever since he arrived in the Cryxie Empire, he had been filled with a strong sense of drive and motivation, feeling as if he had been reborn. He would strive forward, carrying the weight of Loren's hopes as well.
"Meow meow meow, what's the situation?"
Cat Boss climbed onto Lanchi's shoulder and snuggled close to his face as they read the newspaper together.
"It doesn't look optimistic," Lanchi replied, his furrow deepening as he read. From time to time, he took quick sips from his coffee, intending to finish reading and head to Saint Cryxie Monastery for his lecture.
Initially, he and Nigel had agreed that if they needed to meet with the intelligence agents of the Bosen Kingdom stationed in the Cryxie Empire, all means of contact would be through poetry, advertisements, or lost item notices published in the Central Daily.
However, now that he had lost his identity as the old publisher, Lovia, and his current identity as Professor Landel was rather sensitive, it was best not to proactively seek out the Bosen Kingdom's spies unless absolutely necessary.
Even so, Lanchi continued to buy the Central Daily every day, and if he spotted any secret messages from the Bosen Kingdom's intelligence agents, he would find a way to get in touch with them.
"It feels like the Allied Forces might not even last a month, meow!"
The more Cat Boss read about the war situation, the more anxious he became.
"Actually, the Cryxie Empire might be exaggerating their victories to boost the morale of their citizens, while the Allied Forces might be downplaying the Empire's advances to reduce potential panic among their people," Lanchi explained. "Balancing the reports from both sides might give us a clearer picture of the actual situation."
Wars, especially after the initial rapid deployment of strategies, lightning strikes, and large-scale offensives, often settled into prolonged stalemates, attrition wars, and back-and-forth skirmishes. It could drag on for years, draining the resources and vitality of both the Cryxie Empire and the Allied Nations. In the meantime, if the vampire tribe continued to expand their influence within the Empire unnoticed, the opportunity for the Blood Moon Calamity to resurface would arrive.
"I will do everything in my power to stop this war. I cannot tolerate the suffering of countless lives any longer. Peace is the infinite responsibility we owe to all living beings. Only with peace can the world flourish and reveal its true beauty once more," Lanchi said resolutely, setting down the newspaper and clenching his fist.
"But we still have no leads on the vampires, meow?"
Cat Boss felt a chill as they seemed to be nonexistent within the Empire. Lanchi's investigations in the past few days had turned up nothing.
This only served to heighten their fears.
The capital of the Cryxie Empire, Brielda, was right under their noses, the very lair of the vampire tribe, yet they couldn't connect the dots.
"Actually, in the timeline that the Goddess of Fate showed me, the vampire tribe's invasion was still several months away, and by then, they had already gained enough confidence to step out of the shadows," Lanchi explained, stroking Cat Boss to reassure him. "But now, they've chosen to remain hidden, indicating that their infiltration of the Empire is not yet complete, and many high-ranking officials might still be unaware of their presence."
For now, it wasn't a significant issue if they couldn't find the vampires. As long as they steadily grew their influence within the Empire, that was all that mattered.
"In simple terms, if not for my interference, Hypolian would have been assassinated by the vampires, and they would have gained control of Duke Migaya much earlier, possibly even rescuing another troublesome vampire ancestor. Their rate of infiltration might have doubled," Lanchi continued his explanation.
His protection of Hypolian didn't affect the overall strength of the Cryxie Empire. The only impact it had was on the relative influence of the vampire tribe within the Empire.
Nonetheless, the vampires were extremely cautious.
Their choice of strategy suggested that they would only step into the light when their infiltration reached nearly 80% or even 90%. Even if their influence were at 50% or 60%, they would continue to lie low.
Unless they were certain of victory, they would never expose themselves, even biding their time for another opportunity, as they had all the time in the world.
Currently, the most important task for Lanchi was to discern which factions within the Empire had already fallen under the vampires' control and which ones were still free from their grasp.
To defeat the vampires, it would be best to borrow the strength of the Cryxie Empire itself.
Thus, out of necessity, he had to continue climbing the social ladder within the Empire.
"Then I can rest easy, as long as it's according to your plan," Cat Boss said, feeling relieved. Being on Lanchi's team kept his heart racing, but Lanchi's strength was undeniable.
In most versions of the story, siding with Lanchi was the obvious choice.
Lanchi put down the newspaper, donned his gray coat, and prepared to leave the dining table.
"Cat Boss, let's go."
Lanchi called out to Cat Boss as he headed out.
Cat Boss noticed that ever since Lanchi met his life mentor, his fashion sense had subtly changed, influenced by the other man's style.
Following a few steps behind Lanchi, Cat Boss spoke up, "Lanchi, you haven't forgotten your mission, have you?"
Seeing the deepening sense of purpose and responsibility in Lanchi's eyes ever since he arrived in the Empire, Cat Boss began to suspect that the young man was starting to think from the Empire's perspective.
Once Lanchi set his mind on something, he pursued it with the tenacity of a madman.
Initially, they had only planned to infiltrate the Resurrection Church, but in the end, he wholeheartedly helped the Papal Sect win everything.
One could say he was already a quasi-president.
"Of course not. I am fulfilling my mission at this very moment. A true ace spy must deceive everyone, be they friend or foe. Only in the moment of victory will I reveal my true identity to all," Lanchi replied firmly, turning back to face Cat Boss.
"Indeed... that's how an ace should play..."
Cat Boss pondered and agreed.
The more Lanchi acted like a loyal dog of the Empire, the safer they would be.
"Lanchi, you must become the most evil lapdog of the Empire. You are different from others, and you shouldn't waste your time on conventional paths. Go all out in deceiving the world, meow!"
The more Cat Boss thought about it, the more he felt he had made the right choice.
He was now a qualified Lanchi trainer, and with Hubu away, he could step on the gas a little!
(End of Chapter)
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