The bishop is unfathomable.

Li Wei's shock was not over yet, because the introduction of the wandering ghost had only just begun.

It is now April 1828. You are a member of the Shadow Guard, a secret intelligence organization directly under the Censorate, even more covert than the Royal Gendarmerie.

[You have received a mission today. Escort the youngest daughter of the Marquis of Shulton to the Colossus Research Facility within the Valak Territory.]

But you know, this isn't your real mission.

The following is your task.

[Mission 1: I am the Shadow of the Empire]

Protect the research institute from destruction and ensure the smooth progress of the final stage of the Colossus research. This is a promotion mission; failure to do so will result in promotion failure.

[Task Two: Shadow Protector of the Tribunal (Optional)]

The higher the score (100-1000 points) is, the fewer civilians who die from swamp formation during the process of preventing the swamp phenomenon from occurring or resolving it as quickly as possible.

[Task 3: Bottom Line (Optional)]

[Do not use "last resort". (100 points)]

[Task 4: Removing Flesh to Treat Sores (Optional)]

Find the spy, or stop them from stealing the core data on the Titan research and taking them out of the research facility. (100-500 points)

Once Li Wei had fully received the instilled information, as well as some memories that were not dictated by the wandering ghost but were instilled into his mind in the form of temporary memories, the mission had already begun.

In fact, when Li Wei saw the tasks that needed to be completed and the optional tasks that could improve the scoring standards, he knew why Felicia had said that cheating would not get good rewards.

Because the difficulty of the task has increased.

Moreover, it has become even more enigmatic, failing to provide even the complete information.

He told himself his mission was to escort a young lady to the research institute, but his actual mission was to ensure the institute's safety.

However, if we only consider promotion... it is indeed not very difficult.

The immediate problem is still finding teammates.

Li Wei turned his head to look at a window in the hall. The face vaguely reflected in the window was not Li Wei himself, but a younger face that was colder, more ruthless, and seemed devoid of human warmth.

He had short, neat black hair, and wore a shirt and brown hunting jacket that had the style of a conservative aristocrat from sixty years ago.

If nothing unexpected happens, Felicia and Vera will likely transform into other people, but it's unclear whether their genders will change.

After taking a deep breath, Li Wei sat back down in his seat, following the few clues given in the mission.

Not long after, three people walked out from a door on one side of the hall.

Leading the group was the Marquis of Schulton, an elderly marquis with a hunched and thin body, leaning on a cane, who sat in the main seat with the help of his servants.

After he sat down, the two women who came out with him sat opposite Li Wei.

"Mr. Castle, I think you already know the details of the mission."

"Then, I entrust my daughter's safety entirely to you."

"Of course, I've also prepared some helpers for you."

As he spoke, Marquis Schulton turned his gaze to the strange-looking, black-haired girl with cat ears standing behind the sofa.

"This is Ivy, my daughter's personal bodyguard. Don't worry about her strength; she won't hold you back."

"There is also a direct steam train line between Shuton Territory and Varak Territory."

"Only the final leg of the journey to the research institute will require your escort."

"Thank you for your trouble," said the Marquis of Schulton, and then fell silent.

Li Wei, on the other hand, discerned the identities of the two people in front of him through their eyes, features, and most importantly, his intuition.

Felicia and Vera.

Fortunately, before the ceremony began, just in case, Li Wei had arranged a hand gesture to serve as a secret code for confirming identities.

After having this suspicion, Li Wei quietly made a gesture, and unsurprisingly received a response from the two of them.

Li Wei was happy to have found teammates.

But he soon realized something.

Three people... do they really have the same mission?

And what exactly does his so-called ultimate means refer to in his mission?

It seems I need to find a suitable time and place to share the information with Felicia and Vera.

……

……

Vera was not satisfied with the role assigned to her after this promotion.

Although her task was very simple, so simple that she could complete the most basic promotion task without even having to stay alive.

However, she only has one optional task where she can earn points to exchange for high-quality inherent traits.

The mission is called Survive.

As long as she survives until the mission ends, she will directly receive two thousand points.

But that's all.

Although she was nominally the youngest daughter of a marquis, a person of noble status.

But in reality, it was an experimental weapon secretly developed by the Alchemists' Guild of the Empire and the Royal Society.

Yes, humanoid weapons.

It's a one-time use item.

To put it simply, alchemists implanted a device in her body. Once she dies, this device will overload her body and then eliminate or banish all forces and beings that do not belong to the real world.

It is an indiscriminate attack against mythical beasts, demons, swamp-like phenomena, and even all superhumans who use psychic energy.

As a member of the Valak family, Vera naturally knew what this was. Wasn't it the psionic shielding device that was later installed on the Titans?

It's just that it's more powerful, more effective, and more expensive.

This promotion mission only requires her to arrive at the research institute, whether she arrives alive or dead.

She guessed that all of this was simply because the researchers studying the Titans needed to retrieve her as a key testing tool.

Calculating the timeline, the Colossus officially appeared on the battlefield only after the shielding field was implemented. It was then that the Colossus, fearless of powerful magical attacks, became an invincible war fortress on the battlefield.

Behind her, Felicia, who had seen Li Wei's gesture, also breathed a sigh of relief.

It's lucky that you were able to find all your teammates right at the start of the game.

She had also heard that the people who participated in the ceremony were scattered in several corners of a city at the beginning, and some of them did not even meet each other until the end of the ceremony.

Moreover, it is clear from their respective missions that the three of them should belong to the same side.

That's right, Felicia also has a mission. There's no reward for completing it, but there's a penalty for not completing it.

This is the hidden danger of frying fish.

Fortunately, she only had two tasks, and neither of them was too difficult.

The first task was to safely escort the Marquis and trainee inspector to the Giant Warrior Research Institute.

The second task is to prevent the phenomenon of swamp formation from occurring, or to resolve it as quickly as possible.

Moreover, completing the first task will exempt you from punishment. Completing the second task will not grant you the inherent traits, but it will still bring some small benefits, such as relaxation and mental well-being.

only……

Felicia recalled the true nature of the promotion ceremony: these seemingly role-playing game-like plots and processes were actually fragments and segments of past history.

In other words, as long as you have enough historical knowledge, you can actually find the speedrun strategies and the hidden risks.

Although Felicia was not a dedicated historian like Levi, she remembered one thing: the research on the Titans.

Such a powerful weapon, yet it doesn't even have the name of its creator. Even if it's the product of collaboration between alchemists, mechanics, and mages, there must be a few important figures who spearheaded it, right?

But there are no records of it at all.

It was as if this war fortress, which resembled a moving mountain, had appeared out of thin air.