Witch, Fireball and the Evil God of Steam-Chapter 666 - 60: Visit from the Ancients

Several days later, Imperial Capital.

"A world with the Divine Tree at its core, under the Argos belief system's Summoner civilization?"

In the meeting room of the new cabinet, Ave held a feather pen, and the golden hair on her head swayed rhythmically. Having not seen it for a long time, Ethan felt her golden hair had the potential of a West Coast rapper, greeting him with an exaggerated style.

As soon as some returned to the Imperial Capital, Other Shore and Rowena were forcibly taken away by an angry group of subordinates. But upon thinking about it, it was understandable: one was the Knight Commander of the Imperial Army, and the other was the leader of the Astrologer's Guild, as well as the head of the "Root" organization.

A major department leader disappeared for over a month without a word; who could stand that?

Even Ethan's mailbox was nearly bursting, most of it being letters from the academy. He and Lindong received an equal amount of mail, and in the blink of an eye, the students' happy vacation was nearing its end. Professor Wabul was ambitious about launching a "Demon King and Guild-related course" before the new term, with B-level (recently promoted) investigator Su willing to serve as the teaching assistant. Professor Wabul wanted to hire the experienced Ethan as the course's professor.

But Ethan had disappeared.

Along with him, Lindong had also vanished.

During his absence, Old Ba dispatched his capable subordinate, Witch Nightmare, to visit multiple times, inviting Ethan to jointly discuss avant-garde film art, but she couldn't find him.

When Ave sent an invitation on behalf of the new cabinet, Ethan immediately bolted, handing over several piles of letters from the academy to Lindong for processing. His little scheme was instantly seen through by the experienced Lindong, who glared at him several times, scolding Ethan for picking up bureaucratic habits.

In human form, the yawn expression had more charm than the cat-like form, the fierce gaze seemingly warning him that there would be consequences upon his return.

However, Lindong still laid out the letters on the table from the mailbox.

Nevertheless, Ave found Ethan's storytelling fascinating, the rescue of a world on the verge of destruction, and the concept of introducing an anomaly coefficient; such instances were well-suited for inclusion in the "Imperial Truth".

Ave suddenly remembered something, saying, "By the way, there's something you might be interested in."

"Hmm?"

"Two days ago, a group of refugees arrived from Ximu Town."

Ximu Town, the place where dreams begin.

But Ethan didn't understand why he should be interested in a group of refugees. In fact, since the Empire's flourishing, refugees were countless. Until he left the Imperial Capital for the Canopy Plane, the new cabinet had already begun discussing new policies regarding refugee management.

On this continent, not everyone has escaped religious exploitation. Many kingdoms remain under Julius-style brainwashing, even after Julius's death. An organization titled the Pope Nation also declared condemnation of Ethan's blasphemous acts. The Pope Nation deemed Julius a martyr and declared God's fury would soon strike the Empire.

Ethan initially thought a grand Crusade was about to unfold, but after careful assessment of both sides' power evaluations, the Pope Nation's leaders "boldly" demanded the Empire pay a "penance fee" to purify their sins. After rejection by the new cabinet, the Pope Nation's leaders furiously announced they would permanently cease trade and religious exchanges with the Empire.

After the founder's death, the Imperial Military Industry didn't remain idle either.

An industry left by Rattlesnake in the Empire, while another part of Sincaro's believers transferred industries from the Empire to several surrounding small countries, aggravating a sweatshop plan.

Through the combined efforts of the Pope Nation and Imperial Military Industry, the Empire became a utopia to numerous people, with refugees pouring in. Conversely, the King of Gold's arrival temporarily eased the refugee issue, but after his death, the refugee issue resurfaced on the new cabinet's agenda.

This is a complex political event, creating a divide among cabinet members.

They saw in the refugees diligent and hopeful laborers eager for a new life in the Empire. Naturally, there were also many freeloaders, who after several job rejections turned to crime. Since the emergence of the refugee problem, the border's security environment visibly worsened.

After the Empire provided border cities with electromagnetic crossbows produced by Old Sen's Magic Technology Store, the security problem improved to some extent.

Ave noticed Ethan's troubled expression and said, "Don't worry, I'm not inviting you to discuss political issues."

She knew Ethan disliked politics, and although the new cabinet had repeatedly invited him, he declined each time. She said, "It's just that the identity of those refugees is somewhat special; they claim to bring the technology of ancient people."

"Ancient people?"

Ethan immediately became alert. These three words were almost tied to "Transmigrator" and "player," and before returning to the Imperial Capital he even inquired at the 003 Transit Hub about the Guild's headquarters movements. He received the news that the Guild's managers had not expressed opinions regarding the Crimson Queen's death.

In the report submitted by Ethan, the Crimson Queen died due to a personal vendetta with Old God Argos; it was naturally inconceivable for him to state that while executing his first mission as an investigator, he killed a Guild manager. That sounded too much like an Evil God.

"Where are they?"

For now, Ethan still had no certainty whether these self-proclaimed ancient technology bearers were newly arrived "players," still clueless to another world's situation. All his memories remained from drinking a little on the night after completing his project and returning home.

The scattered memories of Scarlet didn't directly indicate whether he arrived deliberately or some unforeseen incident forced him to enter this world. Nor could he pinpoint whether the company's technology level, after his "transmigration," welcomed innovation, or already reached a level allowing more "players" to enter this virtual world.

But no matter what, "players" are dangerous elements at any time.

Their behavior logic is unfathomable, and they might even suddenly go on a killing spree on a whim, because for them, the worst outcome is just experiencing a process of death and resurrection.

"We have already brought them to the Imperial Capital through the Teleportation Array of the Astrologer's Guild, and Round Table Knight Palandin is secretly monitoring their actions."

Ave said, "Before this, the masters of the Artisan Association have already had a meeting with them once. They were full of praise for the insights and knowledge provided by these refugees and strongly demanded to incorporate them into the Artisan Association."

When dealing with the issue of ancient people, Ave was especially careful, "There are two of them, like a couple, and I've arranged for them to stay at the mansion in the west district... Look, here is Palandin's address, and you can communicate with him for detailed information."

Palandin's monitoring location is right across from the mansion where the two are staying.

When Ethan entered, the room was filled with the aromas of goat milk, cheese fondue, fruit platter, and barbecue. Hearing the movement behind him, Palandin stared at Ethan for quite a while and instinctively handed him half a turkey leg.

"This was bought from the tavern on the south side of town, where their roast turkey is certified by the Other Shore."

Towards the young and promising knight from the Other Shore, Palandin harbored unusual feelings, especially during those days when he feigned illness and sat in a wheelchair. The Other Shore would almost daily take him out, introducing him to the changes in the Empire, making him feel like... a granddaughter he hadn't seen for many years.

Even though from a temporal perspective, his granddaughter had passed away hundreds of years ago.

The environment of the mansion was far from what Ethan imagined a surveillance site would be, and he even felt that Mr. Palandin had put on some weight due to the overly rich meals.

To this, Palandin's explanation was, "You can't just do nothing, right?"

Since these two ancient people arrived in the Imperial Capital, they have almost never left their residence except for their three meals a day. To better complete his work, Palandin even purchased the latest surveillance equipment from Old Sen Magical Technology Store at his own expense. The equipment, passionately developed by the intelligence master Rowena, requires only a small magic device to expose all of the target's secrets before your eyes.

The intelligence master Rowena recommended placing this small magical device in the monitored subject's bedroom, so that if they perform any "out of line" behavior, you would know immediately. 𝑓𝓇𝘦ℯ𝘸𝘦𝑏𝓃𝑜𝘷ℯ𝑙.𝑐𝑜𝓂

"Look, it's this."

Palandin showed Ethan a device that looked like a chestnut, along with an echo shell and a piece of parchment. After chanting a spell, the scene inside the ground mansion appeared on the parchment, and the conversation between the two could be heard clearly.

"Now, truly the younger generation surpasses us, who would've thought that girl Rowena could develop such convenient magical devices!"

Palandin sighed.

Under normal circumstances, Ethan would surely praise Rowena a few times.

But now, his face was stiff, and his eyelids twitched violently.

Because this little gadget looked somewhat familiar.

Why could Miss Rowena always appear on the scene the first time he and Lindong were preparing to be lovey-dovey?

Why does she always give the illusion of being ubiquitous when she plays the third wheel?

Why did he see Lindong crush a chestnut and then chase Rowena for several blocks one morning?

This incident even made it to the "Horned Owl Beast Daily" at that time.

Previously, Ethan sympathized with Rowena for always being bullied by the cat's hissing, but now it seems, being beaten was too light.

"It's been like this ever since they moved in."

Palandin spread his hands.

He knew he'd been eating a bit much lately, and his weight probably spiked several kilograms, but these two ancient people? Their behavior was in no way connected to danger, and they had amazing endurance, sitting at the table for hours each day, drawing things on parchment that he couldn't understand.

If he didn't eat something under such circumstances, Palandin didn't know how to pass the time at all.

"Are you saying they've been drawing all along?"

"Yes, apart from eating and sleeping, they're drawing on their parchments."

Palandin said, "I swear in the name of the Round Table Knight and roast turkey, they haven't done anything else."