Miss Wang Weina, even your cousin won't do!

Then came the second plot twist—the assassination of the King of the North.

Depending on whether Wayne was transported to another world, there are two timelines. One is without travel: Wayne assassinates the King of the North, ascends the throne, and becomes increasingly tyrannical due to his mastery of the powerful and convenient magic of divine mandate. Eventually, due to escalating conflicts among the nobles, Laterano's machinations, and his own self-destructive actions, he is sent to the guillotine. Subsequently, the nobles' power expands uncontrollably, the throne becomes vacant, royal power shifts to others, and Victoria is plunged into internal strife. Laterano successfully mentally controls Victoria. This leads to the main Ark worldline. (1091-1097)

As for the timeline that Wayne traveled through, needless to say, this book is about that happy ending!

It's worth mentioning that regarding whether Frederick III was Vina's father, I lean towards the conclusion that he was. However, he wasn't the emperor who was guillotined. After all, it seems somewhat improbable that an emperor who led Victoria to world domination and the annexation of Gaul would be guillotined. My inclination is that he was replaced. And the replacement, chronologically speaking, couldn't have been younger than Vina; otherwise, Vina would have been the one directly replaced. It's more likely that he was Frederick III's brother, or Vina's elder brother, or something similar.

When I started writing this book, I focused on the characters of the King of the North and Wayne during the gap between the Four Emperors' War and 1092. I filled in the gap without conflicting with the Yostars' storyline, and I'm quite satisfied with that.

As for the assassination of the King of the North, it was, like the assassination of President KR Kerensky, an inevitable event. His conflict with Wayne wasn't about Wayne's ideas, but rather his own low emotional intelligence as a ruthless leader. In the Happy End timeline, he was assassinated because he forced Wayne to become king; in the normal timeline, he was assassinated because Wayne wanted to seize power immediately. The reasons differ, but the result is the same: a harmonious father-son relationship is a characteristic of Terra, and this was something he had to experience.

That makes the timeline fit perfectly, and it brings everything back together, haha.

If you have any further questions, feel free to ask me. I'll try my best to ensure the plot framework isn't betrayed, hahaha.

Chapter 95 SWEEP: Looking at the household registration book, isn't it just you?

"Lord Ensiodis, the map of the surrounding area has been completed."

A heavily armored "Snow Demon" handed SilverAsh a map. SilverAsh accepted the map, went into the room, and handed it to Wayne, who was sitting in a chair.

Everyone from the Tower of Babel was present. Bozokasti stood guard at the entrance like a gatekeeper; Logos leaned against the fireplace, studying the Blood Demon's healing spells with Warfarin; Kroos was tinkering with her inventions at the table, trying to sell her so-called "fully automatic ice cream machine" to Surtr, but Surtr righteously refused this product she shouldn't have refused, explaining that she only liked artificial ice cream, and that machine-made ice cream had no flavor; Mudrock was idly working on his creations inside his armor. Ascalon leaned against the wall, her face obscured by a black hood, minimizing her presence. But no one present dared underestimate this S.W.E.E.P. assassin master; she had already proven with her strength the correctness of Wayne's push to build this purge agency within the Tower of Babel and to elevate Ascalon to power. (It seems someone has misunderstood. Ascalon is indeed a woman; my typo was simply a misspelling. Ascalon first appeared in Yostar's preview when W was implemented, where Hoshiguma questioned the decision to allow W to join Rhodes Island. Ascalon stated that she would keep an eye on her and would personally purge her if she disobeyed. Her most recent appearance was at the end of Chapter 9 during the Rhodes Island attack, where Hoshiguma complained that the Reunion remnants under Ascalon's command would never be so arrogant.)

Kal'tsit, Theresa, and Vayne sat on the north-facing balcony, with a soundproof wall created by Frostnova using ice magic behind them. Due to the limitations of the mine, there were no sofas in this makeshift meeting place, so the three of them had to sit on chairs. Kal'tsit sat on the left, Theresa on the right, and Vayne in the middle.

When SilverAsh entered the room, he was first subjected to the oppressive gaze of Patriot, and then to the magical markings of three powerful Originium casters: Logos, Warfarin, and Yelena. If the pale blue detection ring on his wrist flashed red, they could immediately unleash their spells to obliterate him. At that moment, SilverAsh was like a newbie among a group of veterans—weak, pitiful, and helpless. Finally, it was Theresia, with her mind-reading abilities, who was the first to step in and save the day.

"Don't be nervous, everyone. This is Mr. Bruce's helper, Mr. Ensiodis Shivaish. He and his mercenary group will cooperate with our operations in Londinium in the future and will be responsible for transporting the results of the ruins back to Victoria."

“Shivaash?” Ascalon and Bozokasti looked up simultaneously, glancing at SilverAsh. Ascalon spoke, “The Shivaash family, one of the three great families of Kjerag in the Snow Kingdom. People with such a background aren’t necessarily reliable.” She paused slightly, feigning a casual glance at Wayne’s expression, before continuing, “However, since it’s an order, S.W.E.E.P. will be responsible for keeping an eye on him.”

Warfarin was completely bewildered by the endless stream of technical jargon and magical theories from Logos. Hearing Ascalon's words, she was equally confused and subconsciously retorted, "Isn't S.W.E.E.P. just the one with the family register? Why do you have to emphasize the organization? Are you being arrogant?"

Ascalon turned her head to look at Warfarin, and it was obvious that Warfarin's already pale face had miraculously turned even paler.

"I was just kidding, hahaha."

"Alright, stop teasing Warfarin." Wayne reached out, stopping Ascalon from taking any further action. Ascalon snorted and obediently looked away, continuing to lean against the wall. Warfarin gave Wayne a grateful look, but she didn't expect him to continue: "Kal'tsit, how do vampires sleep?"

“Sleeping upside down,” Kal'tsit blurted out, then nodded knowingly and stood up. “I understand. Warfarin, let’s go out for a bit.”

Warfarin's joy turned to sorrow. Pointing at Kroos with a face full of grief and indignation, she cried out, "She's a Blood Demon too! Kroos, you're a Blood Demon too! Save me!"

To everyone's surprise, Kroos raised her head solemnly and righteously declared, "I am not a Blood Demon!"

She grabbed the small robotic bat floating beside her, swiped its screen, and then placed it in front of Warfarin, saying, "I'm a vampire! Warfarin, look, these ropes are all very pretty. Which one do you want? I can customize one for you with a cross, but of course, you'll have to pay 150% labor cost. Hurry, you only have 30 seconds left to buy."

"What kind of store is this? It only stays open for thirty seconds?" Warfarin actually managed to find the time to complain.

Kroos shook her head: "You have thirty seconds left before you're dragged out of the room."

"Kal'tsit, you can't do this! I didn't say your selfie looked like a family portrait. You can't behave so disrespectfully towards an elegant vampire. Your Highness Wayne, please do something about her. If you ever flirt with other girls, I'll apologize to Princess Theresa for you!"

"Drag them out!" Wayne and Theresa said in unison.

The red light in Patriot's eyes, which had been gleaming at the corners of his eyes, seemed to have curved into crescent shapes. He kindly stepped aside and opened the door for Kal'tsit. After the two left the room, he closed the door and said to the stunned SilverAsh:

"Don't be shy... This is... the Tower of Babel... Everyone... is a nice person. This kind of thing... was just a joke... that's all."

"Ughh ...

A scream, abruptly cut short, came from outside the door. SilverAsh shuddered, his eyes fixed on his nose, his heart pounding, and he nodded, saying:

"Haha, haha, that's a funny joke, haha..."

From that moment on, another shadow fell over the future president of Kalan Trading. So much so that even in the future, when discussing this matter, he would still instinctively feel a chill run down his spine at Wayne's jokes.

But all that is for later. At this moment, SilverAsh just wants to hand the things over to Wayne as soon as possible and leave this terrifying Babel Tower joke room: "Your Highness Wayne, here is the map you requested. The specific locations, population numbers, and general population types of the surrounding settlements have all been marked. The Snow Goblins have also marked the surrounding transportation routes in detail. If you want to drive those people out of the excavation site, these roads are the most suitable."

Wayne calmly took the map and quickly scanned it for information about the Carter's settlement.

"Rupert settlement".

"Carter's Settlement One, Carter's Settlement Two, Carter's Settlement Three."

"Cliffside settlements, mixed-habitation type."

"Ruined settlement. Mixed population, suspected of having followers of unknown religions."

"Hmm?" Wayne raised an eyebrow and asked SilverAsh for confirmation, "What are these 'unknown religious followers'?"

Chapter Ninety-Six: Edible Originium

Wayne has never been interested in prying into other people's religious beliefs. He also never restricts the religious beliefs of his subordinates. Ascalon is a devout follower of the Sarkaz absolution faith; Mostima, who seems unremarkable but is currently wandering around somewhere, is actually a devout Lateran believer who believes in "wine and meat pass through the intestines, but God remains in the heart"; and Surtr is a devout follower of the Ice Cream Cult, calling herself the Ice Cream Pope. Wayne must pay her a full amount of ice cream tribute every month to gain her protection, otherwise he'll face Surtr's angry "little fists pounding his chest" style of demanding unpaid wages. But does this matter to Wayne?

Of course, it's not important. Wayne is very tolerant; he's not particularly opposed to religion. After all, it's free, so he might as well believe a little. He's a complete pragmatist. Anyway, according to the teachings of the great raven goddess Ilsan the Dancer, even if you don't believe in God, God won't punish you. Wayne naturally adheres to the principle that the Dragon King is the king of incense when it rains, and the Dragon King dies when it doesn't, maintaining a calm attitude towards all people, whether they believe or not.

Of course, this is on the premise that you don't belong to a cult. Cults are absolutely unacceptable; Wayne would kill every single one of them, without exception.

According to SilverAsh's investigation, this mysterious religion lurking in the ruined settlement is quite interesting. Generally, even without a fixed religious leader, a religion should have a place for religious ceremonies and a set of rules and rituals; otherwise, it cannot be called a religion and can only be considered a form of mass hysteria. But this mysterious religion has no religious site whatsoever. Their members may pray anywhere without any warning. And the act of prayer is very simple…

“They often carry a small cloth bag on their person. During the ceremony, they would bow their heads, take out the bag, and chew and eat the contents.”

"Bowing down and closing their eyes to eat is their religious ritual."

The silver-gray color scheme is described as follows:

“My soldiers did not investigate further about that mysterious religion, only that they had many followers in that city. Several residents my soldiers encountered were followers of that religion. However, they were indifferent to outsiders and refused to communicate. We could not get specific information about the ruined settlement from them, and we could not estimate the exact number of people. Moreover, this was not the main task you assigned.”

My main task for you was to find the Carter's settlement.

Wayne suddenly realized what was happening and nodded nonchalantly.

Fortunately, SilverAsh was quick-witted enough not to reveal the main task directly, otherwise he probably wouldn't be able to walk out of this room standing up today.

However, this mysterious religion cannot simply be ignored. Especially after Wayne visited Rhine Labs, where he witnessed the "call" of Originium firsthand and learned about the Originium worship prevalent in Rembiton.

If this mysterious religion is indeed the Originium worship that Rhine Lab mentioned, then Vayne might be able to find Originium here again that she can "communicate" with. This could be Vayne's greatest chance to find a cure for Oripathy and to further explore the Empire of Consciousness!

"Send another team here to investigate. Make sure they find out what their beliefs are, what's in their bags, and if possible, bring back a physical sample. Of course, their safety is the top priority," Wayne ordered. "Report back to me immediately if you encounter any problems or make any discoveries."

SilverAsh didn't ask any further questions and nodded in agreement.

Night fell that day.

SilverAsh led his personal guards back to the mountain manor. Just as he was about to go to his room to rest, he was stopped by Nosis, who was guarding the door of his room.

Seeing Nosis's solemn expression, SilverAsh frowned, immediately realizing that something might be wrong in the camp, and said:

"Take me there."

But this time, Nosis shook his head:

"No need, Ensiodis, the problem has been resolved."

"Resolved? Then why do you look like that?" SilverAsh breathed a sigh of relief, took out his key and opened the door to the room. As he hung his coat and hat on the coat rack by the entrance, he asked, "I was only gone for an afternoon. What happened while you were guarding the camp? Tell me about it."

"I executed two mountain snow demons."

"Bang! Crash!" SilverAsh nearly knocked over the coat rack with a sudden pull, quickly righting it. Turning around, his previously relaxed face was now clouded with gloom, and he asked:

"What happened? Executing the Snow Demon? We recruited him with great difficulty, he was part of our future plans..."

“I know what you’re going to say, but I have to do it,” Nosis interrupted SilverAsh coldly. “But if I don’t, the trouble will be even bigger! Those two Snow Demons aren’t normal!”

"After returning from the investigation mission, they started acting strangely. This afternoon, during normal drills, they suddenly stopped and aimlessly walked up to our leader, asking such a ridiculous question as, 'Do Originium have souls?' After our leader reprimanded him, a few hours later, another soldier asked his captain the same question."

Nohis pushed up his glasses, his face grim and serious:

"The team leader reported this to me. After a brief investigation, I discovered that they had just completed a survey of the ruined settlement and might have been influenced by the religion mentioned in the local survey report. Out of caution, I isolated them in a room in the villa. I'm glad I made that decision decisively. Around six o'clock in the evening, the cook went to deliver food to the two of them. Because he was carrying plates in both hands, the cook chose to kick open the door to the room. He saw a shocking scene."

Nohis took a deep breath:

"Those two were eating Originium. I don't know where they got those Originium fragments, or how they bypassed quarantine to bring an entire bag of Originium into the camp. But they did it, and they were consuming it! Even though Oripathy had already caused acute crystallization due to their massive Originium intake, they didn't stop. The cook, terrified, ran away and spread the news throughout the camp. In the end, when I arrived after hearing the news, only two 'Crystallized People' who were dying from Originium infection remained. To prevent them from exploding after they died, I froze their bodies with ice and personally crushed them."

"After all, their purity is enough to fuel mobile cities, so there's no way to save them," Nosis concluded with a lame joke. But neither he nor SilverAsh could laugh.

"I'm going to find Mr. Wayne right away. You're coming with me!" SilverAsh grabbed the coat that had just been hung up, draped it over his shoulders, pulled Nosis's hand, and quickly left the camp.

He had to warn Wayne not to get involved with that mysterious religion. Or rather, that cult.

Tomorrow is my last exam!

The agonizing exam week is finally coming to an end. After the last exam tomorrow, the joyful winter vacation will begin!

Since the exam is tomorrow morning, there won't be any updates tonight. I'm going to sleep now after I finish reviewing.

Brothers, happy winter break! I'll be updating extra during winter break and trying to finish the series!

Pass every exam, pass every exam, pass every exam.

Chapter 97 Theresa's Thousand Layers of Schemes

As night falls, at the Rembitox Great Dividing Range Resort.

There were many rooms, and everyone could have their own, but Theresa and Wayne still slept together. After returning from Lungmen, Vina tacitly approved of this, and Kal'tsit was also a coward when facing Theresa. Although every time she saw Theresa carrying a pillow into Wayne's room, she would secretly glance at her a few more times with a disappointed expression until the door closed, but she never dared to go up and say a word.

Wayne said that Kal'tsit's actions made him lose the chance to say the famous line, "You've come at just the right time."

Sitting at the dressing table by the bed, Theresa rolled her long, wet hair, still damp from her shower, into a bun, wrapped it in a towel, and tied it around her head. Wearing only a nightgown, Theresa didn't look like an elder comparable in age to the rulers of some small countries. Her delicate skin still had a lingering rosy glow, and her exquisite face was without a single wrinkle. Even though she often stayed up late, she didn't have a single dark circle under her eyes. Such a physique would have made countless "fairies" in her previous life envious, forced to rely on the four great Asian sorceries to maintain their youthful appearance.

While drying her hair with a hairdryer, Theresa asked curiously:

"Mr. Bruce seems interested in the settlements near the Rembiton mine? Why?"

Wayne had anticipated that Theresa or Kal'tsit would raise this question, and confidently replied:

"Speaking of which, I haven't mentioned this to you yet. Before coming to Rembiton, didn't I take some time to visit New Wales?"

Theresa nodded; she knew about it. Theresa had originally planned to accompany Wayne to explore the rapidly developing city, but after the purge, there was simply too much to do in the palace. If she didn't help Vina with some of the burden and just abandoned the task, she might have to prepare to take over the throne when she returned.

Not wanting to see Vina collapse from exhaustion, and feeling guilty for never taking Vina along on her outings, and also for the sake of their Rembiton trip going smoothly, Theresa decided to stay in Londinium to keep Vina company while she worked overtime.

Wayne nodded approvingly: "Yes, yes, it's all thanks to Theresa giving up her rest time to work overtime with Vina that we were able to leave smoothly. I really can't imagine what I would do without Vina and you."

Theresa wore a pleased expression. She wasn't usually one to show her emotions so easily, but she knew that in front of Wayne, there was neither the need nor the ability to maintain a composed and unflappable monarchical persona. It was better to be a silly girl who wore her emotions on her sleeve. In fact, for someone of Theresa's status, such an opportunity to be completely unpretentious and show herself was a rare moment of relaxation.

"On my way to New Wales, I visited Rhine Life. My intention was to thank them for their help while I was in a coma and to inquire about the progress of Project Spark, but I encountered an unexpected incident along the way."

Seeing Wayne suddenly stop talking and become mysterious, Theresa blinked and asked curiously, "What unexpected thing happened?"