Chapter 743: Elves
"Sister, sister, did you notice? There aren't any spirit-suppressing devices in this prison..." Even in the Geocentric Grand Prison, Yun Mei remained as casual as if she were in her own home, even having the presence of mind to look around.
"Prisoners can cultivate in this prison? That's not right..." Yun Ru instinctively tried to circulate her Spirit Energy, but was interrupted by a jolt of dread.
"Useless cripple, don't court death," a harsh voice suddenly warned.
"Esteemed Deputy Warden, may I ask why that is?" Although the appellation "useless cripple" was grating, Yun Ru still suppressed her anger and immediately put on a harmless, gentle facade.
She wasn't surprised that the other party knew what she intended to do. As Mi La had said, there was nothing in this prison that she couldn't see.
"Your wristbands can only isolate the passive mental pollution within the prison, but if you actively provoke them, not even a god could save you. At best, you'll end up like that girl; at worst... you wouldn't want to see it."
Following Mi La's words, both sisters looked towards the girl who had just been cruelly dealt with for arguing with the Warden. She still appeared to have normal movements and reactions, but the sparkle in her eyes had not returned, and her body bore several unknown black markings that, the longer one looked, seemed to form a grotesque face.
"I don't care if your crippled body can still mobilize Spirit Energy or not. Don't court death now. If you want to die, wait ten days; there will be plenty of opportunities for you to die then.
Anyone who tries to seek death within these ten days, I guarantee they'll neither live nor die."
According to the word Mi La had received, this batch of mundane prisoners was nothing short of a hot potato, implicated in a power struggle among major figures.
The execution in ten days would require her to personally escort them to the Execution Star. Just thinking about the journey, she knew it would be far from peaceful.
But there was nothing for it; that was simply her position...
The Warden never concerned himself with affairs, never even leaving the deepest level of the prison. If he had anything to say, he'd at most send a message to her. The two of them might not exchange more than a few words in a year.
Therefore, all substantial power within the prison rested with her, the Deputy Warden; not even the official seal was an exception.
Sometimes, she also wondered whether this Chief Warden was truly a Warden, or a prisoner suppressed in the deepest reaches of the prison.
Of course, Mi La knew even better that the Warden's existence was a secret among the Federation's upper echelons. If she didn't want to mysteriously "disappear" one day, she shouldn't probe too much.
"Elves disguised as humans?" Mi La manifested a phantom clone in the void, pointing her finger at one of the individuals.
A beam of white light struck the target directly.
"How did you find out?" After the white light vanished, a young man who had been completely inconspicuous suddenly had his ears become pointed.
"Someone told me to just try it casually when the chance arose. I didn't expect to actually guess correctly."
"..."
The man who had revealed his "Elven" identity gazed calmly back at the Deputy Warden.
"Never mind. Whoever wants to get involved in this mess can go ahead." Unexpectedly, after confirming the other party's Elven identity, Mi La didn't press further. She simply flicked her long hair, transforming into specks of starlight and vanishing.
"Brother Sanqi, I can't believe you're an Elf..."
"Is there a way to transform?"
"Are you a first-generation or second-generation Elf?"
...
After Mi La left, the questions from his fellow prisoners came one after another. Even the usually aloof Ye Lin couldn't help but cast a few more curious glances at this "Elf."
After all, "Elves" were quite special existences within the Federation.
On their identity documents, they were classified as human, and at least ancestrally, they were human. But strictly speaking, they should be considered modified humans.
Humanity's pursuit of power never ceased. Ever since the Spirit River Autumn, aside from mainstream cultivation, research into human body modification had surged like waves, especially within the Wizard faction, whose studies on bodily modification and sublimation had reached an almost divine level of skill.
Things like implanting chips in brains to enhance computing power, modifying nerve plexuses to increase reaction speed, and even writing new code into DNA—all could be achieved.
However, these modifications had two problems: first, money. The cost of hiring a Grand Wizard to perform a modification surgery was extraordinarily high; an ordinary person might not be able to gather enough even if they went bankrupt.
Second, success rate. The success rate of these surgeries rarely exceeded eighty percent. Once a surgery failed, at best, they would become useless cripples; at worst, they wouldn't even need cremation.
Although the Federation strictly prohibited forced human experimentation, even so, every year, many ordinary people who had nothing to lose and were willing to gamble their lives would come to the operating table, signing agreements to willingly become the Wizards' test subjects in exchange for a free modification opportunity.
As for Elves, their creation was led by the Wood-element Grand Wizard, the Ancient Tree of Life Green Wizard King. One of the most mature modification surgery systems under his guidance could achieve nearly industrialized, standardized production, ensuring that the initial qualities of the "Elves" generated were quite stable.
Currently, there are approximately one million "Elves" in the Federation. After modification, their initial average qualities are about three times that of ordinary people, and their baseline appearance score is eight out of ten.
Moreover, and most importantly, after undergoing the Elven modification surgery, the difficulty of cultivating Wood-element spells would significantly decrease, though the trade-off was that it would be harder to learn spells of other elements.
However, for those who originally had low aptitude and were slow to learn anything, this was undoubtedly a major benefit.
By willingly giving up other spells that they struggled to learn anyway, and focusing their attribute points on the Wood element, they might even have a chance to advance further.
"How did even Elves get involved and muddle the waters?" After seeing Sanqi reveal his identity, Yun Ru felt for the first time that things were spiraling out of control.
"Isn't it good to have Elves on our side? We'll have another ally." Her younger sister, Yun Mei, clearly didn't have so many ulterior motives. In her view, the ultimate goal of all the Mundane Empire's efforts was to incite a war to split the Federation, and the more people on their side, the better.
"What exactly do the Elves want? Is this the intention of individual Elves, or the Green Wizard King's personal allegiance?"
Everyone knew that "Elves" were almost entirely under the command of the Ancient Tree of Life Green Wizard King. Through the Elven modification surgeries, he had gathered a large number of people under his influence.
Some even maliciously speculated that the Green Wizard King had tampered with the modification surgeries, leaving a backdoor that could control all Elves, which was why so many Elves were willing to loyally follow him.
...
As a core member of the Mundane Empire, Yun Ru was well aware that the Mundane Empire also had the support of certain major figures behind it. Otherwise, a rebel organization without a True Immortal presiding over it would have long been wiped out by the Federation's Sunlight Senator using a Grand Curse Art.
The Mundane Empire, in the end, was merely a pawn in the struggles of the major figures. It was just that Yun Ru and a few others within it, unwilling to remain so, wanted to outwit those high above them for once.
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