The Path to Lordship Begins in the North

"Vital signs are normal."

"The magic response is normal."

"No erosion reaction."

A group of people withdrew from the black fog.

The group was quite diverse, including volunteers who came to participate in the experiment, death row inmates who were about to be executed, and nobles involved in the case who were told that participating in the investigation would reduce their sentences and even prevent their families from being implicated.

Different people were divided into different groups and equipped with different gear to explore the black fog.

After retreating to the Eastern Territory, the Demon Clan continued to shrink their territory, and their main base was located near the sea in the Eastern Territory, on the edge of the Black Mist. After all, although the Demon Clan was not affected by the Black Mist, the human nobles would...

As for the areas near the capital and the northern border, they were basically abandoned. Even so, due to the influence of the black mist, Linde found it difficult to directly reclaim these areas that had been eroded by the black mist and could only send people to explore them slowly.

Meanwhile, Flora was carefully inspecting the equipment on the centaurs that had been withdrawn.

Ordinary equipment is no match for the all-pervasive black mist. Even death row inmates fully covered in armor are still hopelessly transformed into monsters by the corrosive influence.

However, baptizing with holy water beforehand can still have a certain purification effect. At least for now, it seems that in the short term, wearing equipment baptized with holy water allows one to move freely through the black mist.

Another key point is a person's mental state. As Harold mentioned in the message he risked his life to deliver, the more afraid and desperate a person is, the less they perceive the possibility of survival, the more easily they are corrupted and turned into a monster.

Conversely, the battle-hardened soldiers and nuns who stepped into the black mist did not turn into monsters without being purified by holy water; not even the most basic signs of erosion appeared.

The nuns, especially those in the convent, wearing full protective gear, even observed the black mist actively moving away from them without being baptized with holy water.

However, whether it's the nuns or the prisoners, if they stay in the black fog for a long time, their mental state will be affected and will get worse and worse. Those with strong wills will be fine, but the mental state of those prisoners with no hope will deteriorate very quickly. Even if they are baptized with holy water, they will only go insane before they become monsters.

This finding made Linde ponder: the degree of black fog's erosion was indeed related to people's mental state.

The Lantern Dream suggests that a person's mind directly influences their dreams. Conversely, could we infer and determine the impact of the black mist on a person's mind by examining changes in dreams? And could this influence be completely resisted?

With Linde's approval, Lantern Dream began its research in this area.

On the other hand, there's the research on online dreams by Lantern Dream. Although it's nominally for studying how people affected by the black mist affect online dreams, to be honest, its true purpose is to study the deep dreams that Lantern Dream previously proposed, which are interconnected by all of humanity. It's a bit like using a false pretense to scam research funding.

"These are the results of this investigation, along with the report from Lantern Dreamland."

Lilith, looking exhausted, handed Lind the Lantern Dream and the church's latest research findings.

"Well, hard work."

Linde took it casually, only to find that Lilith hadn't left yet, and was staring straight at him with dark circles under her eyes.

"Brother, can I rest now?"

Perhaps in an effort to stabilize public sentiment, the Cult of Goddess swiftly held an election for a new pope, and Lilith was elected with a high number of votes, becoming the first female pope in history.

This was naturally good news for Lind. Lilith had completely shed her former identity as queen, transforming from a political figure into a religious one. Her status remained largely unchanged, and she had rightfully come under Lind's command.

But now there are too many religious matters. Lilith not only has to find a way to incorporate the huge Church of the Goddess into the Church of the North, but also has to find a way to ease and mend the relationship with the Lantern Dream.

Although, with Linde's assistance, the Lantern Dreamers are not opposed to returning to the family, the Goddess Cult may not be so willing.

“I didn’t arrange your vacation. Can’t you, Pope, even take a vacation yourself?” Linde said while flipping through church documents.

But Lilith simply lay down in front of Lind's desk and refused to leave. Lind had no choice but to say helplessly, "Alright, I'll find someone to hand over things to the church. You go and rest."

"Yay! I knew my brother was the best!"

After speaking, Lilith showed no signs of fatigue and skipped away from Linde's study, leaving Linde helplessly rubbing his head while looking at the investigation report.

Linde assigned Lilith so many tasks, precisely to consolidate Lilith's power and prestige within the religious sphere. Although this would lead to Lilith's growing reputation, greater reputation meant greater security. However, ever since Lilith connected with Linde, her external brain, she has simply started to slack off.

In its latest research report, Lantern Dreams tried to describe the current research progress in terms that Linde could understand. It can only be said that Lantern Dreams' research direction is correct, but its methods are becoming increasingly bizarre, because Lantern Dreams has not yet found a way to replace the brain servant in providing computing power, or rather, nothing else is as efficient as the brain servant.

There may be something that can replace the brain servant, such as the so-called "Holy Grail" held by the Tower, but obviously, that thing is not to be lent out.

Therefore, Lantern Dream has developed another method to extract computing power, which is to render the brain servant technology harmless, minimizing the impact and load on the brain, and providing computing power to the collective dream through a method of accumulating quantity. Not only that, the brain servants that provide computing power can also communicate or play in the collective dream organized by Lantern Dream, and use this to treat mental illnesses.

However, this requires Linde's support.

The report from Lantern Dream was very similar to the way Linde had seen the director describe the activity in glowing terms when he was trying to get funding for it in his previous life. However, in the end, Linde still agreed to it along with his previous research on deep dreams, provided that Lantern Dream guaranteed that the technology would be harmless and that the people from the Northern Research Institute would help Lantern Dream.

Deborah once again represented the Tower in the capital. At that moment, Bernice took over some of Lilith's work and reported to Lind on the latest research progress of the Lantern Dream. After Bernice finished her report, Deborah asked, "Your Excellency, may I take a look?"

"Are you interested in this?"

Linde waved the report in his hand and looked at Deborah.

Deborah then realized that she had shown too much interest, but she still reached out and took the report from Lind.

The more carefully Deborah studied it, the more silent she became.

The nuns had already reached the edge of the ocean of consciousness. If they were to dig deeper, they might be able to touch the ocean of consciousness itself. However, Deborah felt that it was too early for humans to come into contact with these secrets.

After a long silence, Deborah said, "Your Excellency, we need to meet with the person in charge of the Lantern Dream."

Just then, the researchers from the tower burst in and whispered something to Deborah. At the same time, the communicator on Lind's desk rang.

Lind looked up at Deborah after confirming the message on the radio and found that Deborah's expression was just as shocked as his own.

A giant dragon, a black dragon, flew over several small countries and then headed towards the eastern region controlled by the demons.