In the room, only a single desk lamp cast a faint glow, illuminating the left side of Lanqi's face.
Seated behind the desk, he leaned back slightly with furrowed brows, rolling the unlit cigar in his hands as if to help focus his thoughts.
"Hyperion, where are you..."
Lanqi murmured to himself.
The Shadow World's briefing gave him no clues regarding Hyperion's whereabouts, and the world was far too vast. He felt as though he had no lead to track her down.
Starting out without Hyperion, left with only one man and one cat—this was already the second time it had happened.
To be honest, he really was not used to this feeling.
Back when he had landed in the Northern Continent's Protos Empire, he had felt thoroughly lonely.
Yet even though they were separated at sea back then, they could at least deduce that the other was either in the Protos Empire or the Kingdom of Asethelan. Hyperion also had the Poet of Great Love with her, so they were bound to find a way to reunite eventually.
In this setting's backstory, however, they had already been separated for over a decade, leaving them entirely without word of each other.
"The backstory..."
Lanqi seemed to realize something, suddenly looking up at the world map hanging on the wall.
For the "Miss Witch" of this era, if she wanted to flee the Blood Clan's hunt...
...the best option would be fleeing back to the Demon Realm.
In Purgatory Corridor Academy, the first Shadow World of the Blood Moon Cataclysm series, Lanqi had heard from the school administration that there was a North-South Treaty between the Blood Clan and the demon race, also known as the "Blood Clan and Demon Race Non-Interference Treaty."
In these chaotic times, the Blood Clan of the south held absolute dominion, and the monarchs of numerous human kingdoms were mere vassals to them. Meanwhile, the northern demons were relatively weak compared to the Blood Clan, surviving only by isolating themselves behind the natural glacial barrier of the far north.
In any matter between the Blood Clan and humans, the demon race had to maintain strict neutrality; this was the fundamental condition under which the Blood Clan refrained from attacking them.
However, back then, the Blood Clan had suspected the demons of secretly trying to upset this balance.
It all began when the Blood Clan discovered humans suspected of disguising themselves as demons, attempting to infiltrate the Demon Realm to steal demonic knowledge.
At first, the Demon Realm did not believe it. Usually, demons were the ones attempting to disguise themselves as humans; humans trying to pass as demons was unheard of.
Later, a Blood Clan Grand Duke used mind-control magic on the family member of a Horning Empire testing grounds researcher to pry out crucial intelligence. He learned that a few surviving members of the Horning Empire's secret units were highly likely to have been hiding in Purgatory Corridor Academy for a long time. That had led to the arrival of the Blood Clan's special investigator and the crisis at Purgatory Corridor Academy.
And it was against that very backdrop that Lanqi had first embarked on his path as headmaster.
Lanqi leafed through the documents and letters on the desk, quickly gaining a clearer picture of the current situation.
Apart from a clash between the demons and the Blood Clan several years ago, the Demon Realm could still be considered neutral ground for now.
"Lanqi, did you figure something out?"
Boss Cat anxiously observed Lanqi's expression, knowing he was thinking about Hyperion.
"If the ending of the previous story, Banquet of Sanctuary Villains, was changed, then Miss Witch would most likely have survived and returned to the Demon Realm. Hyperion was probably dropped right into the Demon Realm at the start of this Shadow World."
Lanqi felt he was beginning to pick up Hyperion's trail.
Although this deduction was only based on intelligence gathered in the first Shadow World, all three Shadow Worlds were inherently linked. The Child of the Sun from Banquet of Sanctuary Villains was almost certainly the Glow Demon from Purgatory Corridor Academy. The opportunity for the Child of the Sun and Miss Witch to get to know each other had likely been Purgatory Corridor Academy itself. After sharing adventures at the academy, when the Child of the Sun departed, he must have swept his half-demon classmate along with him.
Hearing Lanqi's words, Boss Cat was instantly relieved.
No matter what, they finally had a lead on Hyperion's whereabouts; Lanqi would eventually have his brakes back.
Besides, this time they would not run into Sigrid, so Lanqi had no accelerator to floor.
This time around, Boss Cat was determined to heed Hubao's instructions: if she was not around, it absolutely had to keep an eye on him.
Even if this opening gave a strong sense of déjà vu reminiscent of their Northern Continent trip, there was no way Side could play a part in this Shadow World, right?
The more Boss Cat thought about it, the more at ease it felt.
"By the way, meow, if you're the Prime Minister, what am I, meow?"
As a novice in Shadow Worlds, Boss Cat found everything around it delightfully novel.
"Obviously, you are the Prime Minister's contracted spirit,"
Lanqi scooped up Boss Cat, petting it as he spoke.
In truth, it was a backpack.
"Also, in this era, a talking cat might be viewed as an ominous creature—a powerful magical beast in disguise. Most of the time, if you want to come out, you'd better act like an ordinary cat,"
Lanqi cautioned.
"Meow, meow."
Boss Cat nodded its head.
Seeing Boss Cat behave so obediently, Lanqi turned his gaze back to the calendar and fell into deep thought.
From the looks of it, the Shadow Worlds of the Blood Moon Cataclysm formed a continuous series.
However, because the ending of the last Shadow World diverged from true history, this third Shadow World had deviated from real history as well.
Lanqi then looked down at the very bottom of the Shadow World prompts.
There was actually an indicator tracking the various metrics related to humanity's win rate against the Blood Clan in Mission Objective 2.
[Current Status of the Polant Empire]
[Public Sentiment: 132/1000 (The populace's approval rating and cohesion)]
[Parliament: 419/1000 (Approval rating among the Polant Empire's upper echelons)]
[Military Strength: 124/1000 (With the Horning Empire as reference)]
[Finances: 221/1000 (The Polant Empire's current productivity)]
[Diplomacy: 115/1000 (Diplomatic relations with the Demon Realm and neighboring kingdoms that have not yet surrendered)]
[Overall Win Rate: 0.0000%]
[Note: If any metric falls below 100, it will trigger irreversible consequences.]
"What kind of hell mode is this?"
Lanqi froze for a second after reading the figures clearly.
Earlier, when he saw that Mission Objective 2 required raising the win rate to 1%, it seemed simple enough.
Now it was clear that even shifting the fourth decimal digit might be an uphill battle; the Polant Empire could not put up a fight against the Horning Empire at all.
Just then, a knock sounded at the door.
"Come in."
Lanqi reined in his thoughts and looked toward the door.
He knew his hectic work as the new Prime Minister was about to begin.
The door slowly swung open, and his secretary entered carrying several urgent dispatches.
"Tonight, the Horning Empire began attacking the Kingdom of Bliss's northern border,"
the secretary said, unable to conceal the anxiety in his expression.
After reading the dispatch, Lanqi's expression turned even more solemn.
Once their neighbor, the Kingdom of Bliss, fell, their Polant Empire would likely be next.
Placing a hand on the desk, he rose to his feet and began instructing his secretary on his upcoming schedule.
By now, Lanqi had completely settled into his role, displaying the decisive resolve expected of a leader.
Chapter 532