"In one of the Shadow Worlds I entered, my objective was to act as the leader of the demon race and help them overcome a crisis. Spending time among them gave me a deep understanding of their culture and characteristics."
As a headmaster, guiding students when they lost their way was always his duty.
This had always been Lanqi's professional creed.
Had Lady Cloris approached him as a grand noble of the Imperial Capital to trade intelligence or negotiate a partnership, he might not have said much.
Instead, she had chosen to ask as a student seeking guidance.
So Lanqi gave her a straightforward answer.
"Is that so?"
It was an explanation that sounded casual, yet made surprising sense.
The only question was that absurd-sounding Shadow World... Just what kind of even more absurd history could have produced such a scenario?
Unfortunately, like an open-ended exam question laid out before them, Lanqi could only provide the answer; he could not pass off subjective deductions as hard evidence to convince everyone.
"I see. I would also like to ask for Mr. Luoqi's thoughts on the current situation of the Protos Empire," Lady Cloris continued.
She was certain the man before her possessed unique wisdom, talent, and charm, but those alone were not enough to earn her backing.
She, too, was gambling. To become someone capable of shaping events in times like these, vision and foresight were indispensable.
A person's answer to such a difficult, sweeping question laid bare their ambition and grasp of the grand scheme—and it would decide just how much she was willing to stake on Luoqi McCarthy.
Yet.
Faced with Cloris's inquiry, Lanqi showed not the slightest hint of trouble.
"The enemies on the surface are the Kingdom of Asethelan and the Northern Kingdoms," Lanqi said. "In truth, those willing to oppose you openly tend to be far less dangerous. If it came down to an all-out war, combining our might with the Resurrection Church would be enough to win."
He leaned back comfortably, fingers interlaced, making the office chair creak under his weight.
His knowledge of the Northern Continent's current state had mostly come from research he began after arriving in the Protos Empire. But more than that, it stemmed from his insight into the Northern Continent a year in the future, when war had already broken out.
"The crux of the matter is the Theocracy to the north. Their stance is currently ambiguous, and they treat the turmoil along the southern coast as though it has nothing to do with them. They have always appeared neutral, but in truth, they are far more dangerous than the Northern Kingdoms and the Kingdom of Asethelan combined. They are the true behemoth, waiting to reap the spoils while others fight.
"Even further north, whether you look at the domains of the ancient beings or the nations that fragmented from the old demonic territories, they are all exceptionally powerful as well. It's just that they are geographically too far from the Protos Empire, separated by natural disasters and harsh terrain, so they pose less of an immediate threat.
"If the demons threatening the empire's northern border were artificially created, then someone is definitely trying to incite a continental war. The real threat is this invisible hand. Some faction is pulling the strings behind the Northern Continent, aiming to grind down humanity and the other races until they can step forward with their strength intact to decide the final outcome."
Cloris nodded after listening. She clearly understood this already, or at least had deduced as much from her own intelligence, which aligned with his assessment.
"But isn't this merely a hypothesis? More akin to an imaginary enemy?" Cloris asked.
They had circled back to the core issue.
How to prove its existence and convince others.
"Human lifespans are too short, and using history to set boundaries on the future has its limitations," Lanqi continued. "If we don't look far enough ahead, we are very likely to face horrors beyond comprehension. In truth, we don't necessarily have to prove their existence. We only need to determine what is right and wrong.
"Personally, I believe that if the Protos Empire truly wants to conquer the Northern Continent, its entire line of thinking has been flawed from the start.
"To begin with, none of the northern nations have good relations with the Theocracy, that insular power ruled by religion. The Theocracy's very existence is suspicious. From day one, the empire should have pinned the blame on the Theocracy, bypassed the Northern Kingdoms, and launched a blitzkrieg against them. Drag them into the water first! That way, the empire could advance or retreat at will, with the Northern Kingdoms serving as a buffer zone in between.
"Right now, it's blatantly obvious that someone wants to needlessly deplete Protos's national strength, using it as a fuse to trigger even greater chaos."
He analyzed the situation with utter seriousness.
"Hold on, hold on. We cannot continue down this line of thought," Cloris said, raising a hand.
"..."
Even Sido, sitting on the sofa nearby, straightened up and stared at Lanqi.
*Wait, she wasn't asking how the Protos Empire should properly conquer the Northern Continent—you're being a little too extreme!*
Yet Cloris chuckled, clearly amused.
Lanqi's insights were undeniably different from what she had imagined.
Still, from another angle, he had indeed demonstrated that this war offered no benefit to the Protos Empire.
He saw through things with absolute clarity; his thought process was simply unlike ordinary people's.
"So does Headmaster Luoqi believe the Protos Empire has any real chance of unifying the Northern Continent?"
Before bringing this topic to a close, Cloris seemed eager to know his definitive answer.
"None whatsoever."
Lanqi closed his eyes and shook his head.
"And why is that?"
Cloris seemed particularly intrigued by Lanqi's final turn.
His previous words had been filled with conviction, yet his current conclusion contradicted them.
"Because I am an anti-war advocate, and I won't allow such a thing to happen."
When Lanqi opened his eyes once more, his emerald gaze remained as clear as still water, brimming with pure thoughtfulness and compassion—a saintly gaze reserved solely for the living beings and suffering before his eyes.
Even without words, he seemed to be telling Cloris:
What he desired was world peace.
Even if Cloris felt that this man's definition of peace was somewhat demonic, belonging firmly to the side of the bizarre.
"..."
She sank into thought, hesitating for a long time.
In truth, the answer she had envisioned was that the far north held far too many unknown variables. If the empire fought its way north, only for an ancient hero of a long-lived species—one who had lived for thousands or tens of thousands of years, whose very name was lost to history—to suddenly emerge, the entire tide could turn at a critical juncture.
Such beings truly existed on the Northern Continent.
Just like the Blood Clan, an ancient race of the Southern Continent.
There were no signs, nor any way to prove it, yet they existed nonetheless.
Yet for the current Northern Continent, these long-lived beings represented massive wild cards. The ones truly threatened by them were the figures pulling strings behind the scenes. That was why, before stepping onto the stage themselves, they would manipulate the board from the shadows as much as possible, forcing all the uncertain variables into the open first.
And yet, as things stood, this young man before her named Luoqi McCarthy...
His very existence...
...held no less potential for chaos than any ancient hero lurking in seclusion.
Chapter 302