Chapter 527 |
Clark knew that he was already being roasted over the fire. Since there was no way to escape, he decided to make the fire burn even fiercer — to drag as many others down with him as possible. Of course, that would require the Anti-Mages not to be completely foolish.
Conversations like this were taking place in many of the Free Mage Towers. The backup plans they had casually kept long ago — uncertain if they’d ever be useful — had now turned into stubborn stains, gathering together and erupting in unison.
They all chose the same countermeasure: to throw out their own filth, and contaminate as many others as possible.
When the dirt grew thicker and more Super Dimensional Mages were dragged in, none of them would stand out anymore. The principle that “the law cannot punish everyone” might not strictly apply to mages — but it was enough to ease the pressure that was coming.
Clark understood that the current Holy Tower Faction was not the same as it had been in the past. At this point, he had no intention of using the Anti-Mages to divide the Academy Continent or destroy the unified academy system. He only wanted to survive this disaster.
Barely a month later, Clark met the representative of the Anti-Mages.
“Respected Super Dimensional Mage Clark, I am the representative of the Huntington family. My name is—”
Clark interrupted coldly, “I have no interest in your name. State your purpose.”
The Anti-Mage representative smiled obsequiously. “Resources, intelligence, and… some minor assistance.”
The resources the Anti-Mages dealt in — energy stones — were nearly worthless. The spell materials of ancient magic were no better than “weeds” in the present age. The only troublesome ones were human-based materials, but human lives were cheap — Clark didn’t care about that. War trends and academy responses were already semi-public knowledge. It was that final point that made his eyes narrow.
“‘Insignificant assistance?’”
The Anti-Mage representative nodded. “For instance… at a crucial moment, open the academy’s magic formation and disable its defensive systems.”
“You mongrel,” Clark said icily, glaring at him. “Do you know what you’re saying? Do you know what we paid to earn the right to embed personnel within the academies?”
The representative merely shrugged. “But you also know, my lord — even after all that cost, your gains have been… minimal, haven’t they?”
Clark felt only disappointment. Putting hope in these lightless vermin was foolish. He summoned his subordinate.
“You’re not qualified to negotiate with me,” he said coldly. “He will represent me when he meets your leader. In the meantime, think carefully about what you can offer. Do not attempt to threaten me. If this matter is exposed, I might survive — but all of you will die.”
Before the Anti-Mage envoy could reply, he was thrown into the lower levels of the tower. Then Clark turned to his subordinate.
“Benson, how’s the work progressing?”
Benson kept his head low. “Ancient magic is simple — enough to handle.”
Clark nodded. “If they behave, let them live for now. If not, eliminate them and let our own men take their place. Remember — when that happens, you have only one mission: make this incident as big as possible… and get caught.”
Benson sighed inwardly. Such was the misery of those within a tower — their lives and fates hung entirely upon their master’s whim. Though the tower master had never mistreated him, no one wished for such an assignment. Once captured alive by the Holy Tower, only death awaited.
Yet he couldn’t resist. “Yes, Tower Master.”
———
Though every mage possessed a personal chip, formal mages and above had full authority to block its data collection functions. Adam couldn’t forcefully override that without provoking immense backlash — a consequence far worse than the loss of an entire continent.
But that didn’t mean Adam had no way to gather intelligence. Exploration Robots — devices capable of operating even within the hostile environment of the Aetheric Void — found intelligence gathering in the Mage World trivial.
The only obstacle was the world’s permission hierarchy. But even that was no issue — the Guardian Sequence approved every one of Adam’s requests with a green light.
At that moment, Adam, Wendy, and Avril stood before a sealed container.
“I agree with the idea,” Wendy said, “but this time we’re facing other mages — not those native creatures of the other planes. I’m afraid we might be discovered.”
“After His Excellency Maxison returned from the Cataclysm Zone,” Adam explained, “he fused alchemy with Immortal Dao artifact principles and completely upgraded the Exploration Robots. Their technology already surpassed the current generation by an entire tier — and after the upgrade, they’re far ahead. Without understanding their algorithm, or directly absorbing them, even a True Spirit Mage can’t detect them. They now blend seamlessly into the environment, moving with natural phenomena and energy flows. They produce zero magical ripples, autonomously withdraw during meditation, and their core algorithms can ignore all spatial seals to self-destruct at any time. In short — they’re safe.”
Wendy still looked uneasy. “This is… pushing against the sacred boundary of a mage’s privacy.”
Avril added, “The World Guardian is willing to take full responsibility. If discovery becomes unavoidable, it can be attributed to His Excellency’s magic.”
Adam nodded, opened the container, and released countless Exploration Robots into the air.
To be honest, when he first learned of the Holy Tower’s decision, he had been equally shocked. This was bolder than any prior move — a sign that the Holy Tower had begun to actively strike back, effectively tearing apart the fragile balance.
For this purpose, the Holy Tower established a new, top-secret department — the Bureau of Supervision — with the highest confidentiality and authority level. It was jointly overseen by the Watchers, the Guardians, and the Mage Council. Any order required unanimous approval from all three parties; otherwise, it was invalid.
All data collected by the Exploration Robots would be stored in a hidden server — likewise accessible only by unanimous approval.
The Bureau’s functions and powers were so immense that even the True Spirit Mages had to place magical restraints upon themselves, to avoid burning the world they sought to protect.
And now, the Academy Continent was the Bureau of Supervision’s first — and perhaps only — test site.