You are very strong, but my painting style is better than yours!

Moreover, this is a time when we need manpower. If either of these two people has a problem, wouldn't Team Thirteen suffer a huge loss for nothing?

Considering these two points, it becomes clear why Yamamoto was dissatisfied.

As the captains, the two didn't receive any real punishment. They only had to write a letter of apology for "disturbing the peace" (Iori even kindly wrote it for Zaraki). Other than that, everyone pretended that nothing had happened.

The only trouble for Iori came from Yamamoto. This time, he criticized Iori not as the Captain-Commander, but as his teacher, seriously instructing him to be more respectful in the future and not to disregard the rules just because he was young. If he wanted to protect the Seireitei, he had to set an example.

Otherwise, how could he entrust Iori with an even more important task?

—Yamamoto is not a good communicator, and he is reluctant to say things too bluntly, but the earnest expectation in his words really made Iori feel ashamed.

As for why only he was trained, while Genki was completely unaffected... it's mainly because it's meaningless.

Even if Kenki dared to agree, Iori and the others couldn't believe it at all.

Aside from this minor incident, Iori's vacation in Seireitei was quite leisurely.

The Gotei 13 are theoretically preparing for war, actively restoring their fighting strength while gathering intelligence. Countless people are waiting for the right opportunity to launch an expedition to Hueco Mundo and twist off the head of that traitor, Yashiro Tokinada, to use as a chamber pot!

However, Esdeath was in charge of intelligence work in Hueco Mundo, while Nel and Halibel were in charge of Las Noches. The so-called "Great Villain Tokinada" was a non-existent illusion...

In other words, when the "right time" comes depends entirely on Iori's decision!

He's not in a hurry at all.

As the saying goes, if you're going to put on a show, you have to go all the way. He's already had Szayelaporro lead a group of Hollows to establish a base outside Las Noches. When the time comes, he'll have Szayelaporro appear under the name of Toki no Naka de, and stage a couple of fake matches against Las Noches to generate some intelligence data to send back to Soul Society and appease the emotions of the Thirteen Divisions.

If it weren't for the fact that there were many ordinary members in the intelligence team who were unaware of the intricacies... they wouldn't even need to put on an act; they could just fabricate information, send it to Soul Society, and collect their salaries without actually working.

Who would have guessed that the top leader of the three forces—the intelligence team, Hueco Mundo, and Toki Beach—is actually the same person?

Iori didn't rush to the next world. Instead, he took advantage of his free time to return to Akame. One reason was that he had some things to explain, and the other was to pick up Akame, who was visiting her family.

Inside the palace, in the central hall where the Greater Grail was housed, Akame walked in with a smile on her face, clearly in a good mood. She was one of the few people with free access, and the attendants and technicians did not stop her, only informing her beforehand.

When Akame entered, the first thing she felt was a magical power so intense that it was almost tangible!

The earth's energy, gathered from all directions, is purified and transformed by a giant magic array buried deep beneath the palace, with this hall as its central hub, or more precisely, the Great Holy Grail in front of it.

Without deliberately creating such a superior environment, even the slightest emanation from the magic array circuit was enough to allow magic to exist here in the form of visible "light":

Golden veins, pulsating endlessly, seep from the ground to the surface, then climb all over the hall, even extending upwards along the pillars, until they converge again at the highest point of the dome, forming a slowly rotating "celestial body" that echoes the Greater Grail.

Upon seeing such an astonishing sight, Akame's mind was cleared of all distractions, leaving only amazement and a thrill.

"What...Iori? Sera?"

She then noticed that the master of the hall was not there, and looked around in surprise.

According to what Iori had told her before, he had important matters that required the power of the Greater Grail to complete, so he would be working hard here during this time... Where is he? He's not one to talk nonsense!

"Strange, where did everyone go...wait!"

Strangely enough, when Akame turned her head to look elsewhere, and then looked back, there were two figures in front of the Greater Grail. Needless to say, they were His Majesty the Holy King and his royal advisor.

"So you were all here. I thought..."

The voices grew softer and softer, because Akame's sharp eyes immediately noticed that the two looked rather unnatural. Their clothes seemed neat, but they were subtly out of sync, as if they had been hastily put on and hadn't had time to stretch and adjust them. You could see the wrinkles that weren't there normally.

sweat?

Akame saw the lingering blush on Sera's face, the sweat stains on Iori's neck, and most importantly, a faint, strange smell in the air—a sudden, inexplicable pang of pain shot through her heart.

She had already guessed, but still forced a smile and said, "I thought you had gone out. What were you doing just now?"

"Oh, we went in and checked the Greater Grail."

Iori breathed a sigh of relief. "I'll also replenish my magic power while I'm at it."

"Yes, yes, after all, the entire project will be completed soon, and the Greater Grail cannot be allowed to fail at this time."

Sera smiled, a hint of languor in her eyes. As she spoke, she combed her hair, covering a mark on her neck and collarbone with her beautiful silver hair.

"It was a spur-of-the-moment decision, and I completely forgot you were coming."

Was it just a whim...? Akame found these seemingly ordinary words incredibly jarring...

But she didn't reveal it: "Engineering? You mean?"

"A dragon vein!"

Mentioning this eased Sera's embarrassment slightly: "Are we ready so soon?"

"The main thing is the [Divine Vein Spirit Particle] that Iori brought back from another world. This thing is far more useful than we imagined."

When Iori went to Chaldea last time, he dealt with Angra Mainyu. Afterwards, Merlin used some things to compensate him, and this [Divine Vein Spirit] was the highlight of it.

As an important resource similar to Saint Quartz and Green Cube, [Divine Vein Particles] not only condense immense magical power but also possess an extremely precious divine quality. Formed deep within the ley lines of the Age of Gods, they are a crystallization of mystery and miracle, not a mass-produced product of machines.

After using the "Crown" to perform a series of complex calculations, Iori simulated and planned a network of ley lines covering the entire empire, and buried the vast majority of the [Divine Vein Spirits] deep beneath key nodes.

In order to be on the safe side, Iori did not assign these tasks to anyone else, but instead completed them alone with Sera. Only they knew exactly how to do them properly.

According to the plan, these [Divine Vein Spirits] will be transformed back into their original form under the influence of the magic array set up by Sera—earth vein spiritual energy with divinity, merging with the node and gradually attracting more essence to form a small earth vein.

The number of nodes buried and the estimated conversion time are all strictly planned. At the appropriate time, like dominoes, the immense divine power will flow through the entire network in one go!

This also triggers the power deep within the earth, forming a self-circulating ley line system!

If this project is successfully completed, what lies beneath Iori's feet will no longer be just one or two meager ley lines, but the very lifeblood of the entire continent!

This was very important to him, so he paid special attention to it and hadn't left the main hall these past few days... Of course, this didn't stop him from taking a break from his busy schedule to discuss life philosophies with the project leader and strengthen their relationship.

"At that time, it will generate unimaginable and enormous magical power, which is incomparable to any previous one."

After explaining the whole story to Akame, Iori smiled slightly: "So it's not just you, I also plan to bring Esdeath back, and take this opportunity to increase the 'scale' of the four of us as much as possible... By the way, it's a waste not to use it anyway, what do you think about using the Third Magic on Kurome?"

~~~~~

Chapter 329 was just part of my play.

Although it's not a high-energy world, Iori still needs to be very careful and prepare before entering "Undead Overlord".

The most important thing, of course, is personal ability:

He successfully cultivated continental-level ley lines in "Red Slayer," which, while not reaching deep into the Earth's core or spreading throughout the world, have at least taken deep root in the vast lands of the empire.

Once we enter a positive cycle, we'll eventually be able to bring the entire continent under our control!

The benefits he gained from this were considerable, most notably increasing his spiritual pressure limit from 4,200 to 4,500!

Don't be fooled by the fact that Iori had even greater improvements in the past; her "300 spiritual pressure limit" back then is completely different from what it is now!

Even if the spiritual pressure is the same unit, but comes from the captain and the seat commander respectively, can they be the same in terms of quality, even if the quantity is the same?

In actual use, the difference can be several times or even ten times!

Don't be fooled by the fact that this ley line network only gives Iori a 300-point increase in spiritual pressure. If it were when Iori was weaker in the past, it could probably have increased her spiritual pressure by 1000 points!

This also demonstrates the superiority of the "art style value":

One feature of the art style value is that it "automatically matches the current realm". The Qi Refining realm adds magic power, while the Golden Immortal realm adds immortal power.

Iori's ability to enhance himself through other means is diluted because his own strength is too great, but his art style value is truly effective, improving by the smallest amount, and it works regardless of his level!

This is why, even though Iori has many ways to improve her strength, she still puts so much effort into earning "art style".

Besides the most obvious increase in spiritual pressure, Iori can also vaguely sense events happening thousands of miles away by using the connection between the Greater Grail and the ley lines.

While it's impossible to monitor an individual like a satellite, by focusing one's mind intently, it's entirely possible to grasp celestial changes and population size at the village or town level, and even remotely utilize the power of the earth's veins to perform some "miracles."

However, for Iori, who possesses the [Dimensional Array] and can instantly travel to any part of the Empire, this ability is somewhat of a waste.

Of course, when he was away, Sera could do something similar, greatly enhancing the "royal family's" control over the empire—although no one would have dared to rebel anyway.

The rest is just lining up to get the fruit:

Fiery Dragon, Black Eyes, Beatrice, Granny Aizen, Alpha, Najenda, Elgar the Elf...

On this list of people who are either close to Iori or are considered high-quality tools, there are a few lucky ones who will receive the baptism of the [Third Heavenly Cup] and become immortal soul materialized bodies.

Because the overflow of magic power this time was far greater than last time, even if the maximum mana bar for Iori, Esdeath, and the others was increased, the remaining amount was still enough to perform three rituals.

After considering all aspects, Iori chose three people: Kurome, Flame Dragon, and Granny Aizen.

Now that he has the ability to protect himself, he is no longer in a hurry to expand his power, so this time he was mainly influenced by emotional factors.

Choosing Kurome (Black Eyes) is to increase Akame's (Red Eyes) favorability, and now her mental state is quite stable. Apart from being a sister-complex, she has no major problems, so it's time to add another target to my strategy.

If we bring Kurome to Soul Society as well, we'll have more opportunities to spend time together...

He made no attempt to conceal his motives, after all, Iori had always been honest about his desires.

The most important thing for a man is not to lie to himself!

Besides, I was doing it for their own good, so that the two sisters would still be a family even after they got married. It was a truly meritorious deed!

The reason for choosing the Flame Dragon is quite simple: to fulfill the promise.

I didn't originally intend to really fool it, but now that I have the time, I'll naturally add it to the list.

With its already formidable strength, this enhancement has brought its life form to near perfection, making it a near-perfect background character in "Shadow Reality." With it in charge, Iori won't have to worry about the organization's strength declining if he needs to summon the Elf Sword Saint or Alpha in the future.

Both of these individuals readily accepted the Third Law at Iori's suggestion; the only exception was Granny Aizen—

She refused.

The old woman had no obsession with immortality. The Soul Society was a place where the concept of time was very vague. She had lived for who knows how long and had long since become indifferent to worldly affairs. If it weren't for Iori and Yuuki, she probably would have passed away long ago.

She was just an ordinary soul, not a great person in life, with no ambitions whatsoever. After death, she lived a fairly peaceful life, and now her two "children" have grown up and no longer need her care... She really has no interest in immortality or the eternal motion of the soul.

After giving her hints, Iori saw her reaction and didn't press the issue, quietly changing the subject to something else.

From his perspective, he naturally hopes that the whole family can be together in harmony and happiness, but he will not distort his mother-in-law's thoughts. Since the old lady has made such a decision, he will gladly accept it... However, he must always be prepared in case his mother-in-law changes her mind.

As for the spare magic power, he converted it into green cubes (magic prisms) and stored it, following the Chaldea's method. Although the process resulted in some losses, it was not wasted.

"After our on-site investigation, we found that many dangerous species that were dormant had awakened, causing considerable chaos in the area. Fortunately, Your Majesty had given instructions in advance, and the newly established rapid support force, with the cooperation of the local garrison, successfully brought the situation under control."

In the Emperor's office, Najenda, dressed in a black military uniform, stood straight in the center of the room, reporting to Iori without looking to the side.

"Well done, you deserve praise."

Iori put down the report and nodded: "Of course, encouragement cannot just be lip service. The material rewards for soldiers and officers must also be in place. It can be drawn from the Ministry of Finance under the name of 'special military expenses.' I have already spoken to the Minister of Finance."

"I understand."

"In addition to allocating food and medicine, I will also ask the Minister of Religious Affairs (the leader of the Anning Dao sect) to organize a procession to appease the people and ensure that the resettlement of the victims is properly handled."

"Your Majesty has mercy!"

Najeta sighed, but quickly composed herself and continued, "Your Majesty, you need not worry. This incident only appears serious because it has occurred widely throughout the country, but in reality, it is not nearly as bad as it seems."

It is a common understanding among people to guard against dangerous species. This time, we suffered losses because their abnormal activities violated the laws of nature and caught us off guard.

But after you pacified the land and unified the world, the long-abandoned local armies underwent large-scale reorganization and refinement, and their combat power was significantly improved compared to the past, thus effectively suppressing the dangerous species...

Objectively speaking, even with this year's natural disaster, the losses suffered by the local people are far less than in the 'peaceful years' of the old empire!

"Is the difference really that big?"

Iori shook her head slightly. "Even so, we cannot be complacent just because we are stronger than the old empire. Since we have put on this crown, we must bear its weight... We must be more vigilant to prevent similar things from happening again, understand?"

"Yes!"

Najeta bowed her head in complete submission.

“Since it’s a nationwide chain of events, it’s definitely not just a problem with a single dangerous race. It’s something that they’ve sensed—some widespread change… Be careful, it’s not just ordinary dangerous species, there might even be super dangerous species being awakened.”

"Super dangerous species?!"

Najenda was startled, startled by Iori's speculation. "Those kinds of monsters can appear too?"

"We can only say that we need to take this possibility into account."

Iori glanced at the heroine with short silver-gray hair.

Najenda's panic was completely understandable, because each of the super dangerous species had the power to rival or even destroy an army. If they were to reappear now, having already disappeared from human-inhabited areas, their destructive power would be no less than that of a natural disaster.

The female minister herself had nothing to fear, but even though she had held a high position for so long, she still cared about the people, and her first thought was what should be done about the ordinary people.

"In that case, let's strike first."

"...Your Majesty, what do you mean?"

"I have authorized Akame to form an elite Teigu user-controlled extermination force to wipe out the super-dangerous species sleeping in various places."