Revive Rome: Wait! Why not make the empress fall in love with me first?
Chapter 236 - 34: Return

Chapter 236: Chapter 34: Return

The mutant event finally came to an end.

The source of the mutation was the "complex Mind Body thought network" comprised of multiple Heart Stealers, which had leaked from the seals recorded in the research institute’s ruins.

It possessed rudimentary intelligence—roughly equivalent to the intellectual level of an adolescent around fifteen or sixteen years old, which was not very smart.

However, it still caused a significant nuisance to everyone involved.

Upon sensing the presence of another personality within Medea, the Mind Body network set its sights on her. Because the main personality’s Mind Body and its connected Life Body and Spiritual Body were tightly intertwined, the connection to the secondary personality was slightly weaker.

Therefore, once it had accumulated enough power, the Mind Body network teleported the members of The Azure Longsword Mercenary Corps in, incidentally tore off a portion from Medusa’s Mind Body, with the plan to use it to supplement its Mind Body and boost its intelligence.

Then it was contaminated with Purgatory.

As one known as the daughter of Purgatory, the very existence of Medea and Medusa was constantly under the watchful eye of the Will of Purgatory, serving as an important link between Purgatory and the Main Plane—how could they possibly be devoured by mere Heart Stealers?

The result of the forced devouring was a reverse devouring, as this complex Mind Body thought network made up of numerous Heart Stealers was instantly flooded with a massive amount of alien energy by Purgatory, subsequently taking on the form of Medusa.

Thought processes were synchronized, Will assimilated, almost equivalent to being her clone.

If Medusa still harbored a male phobia towards Aske, then the Mind Body network, inheriting this trait, might hold great goodwill towards him.

However, contact with this man no longer brought her pain; therefore, the Mind Body network decided to eliminate this fellow who haunted Medea’s dreams—to some extent, this also indicated that deep within Medea’s heart, her inner Medusa maintained considerable hostility towards Aske.

Then Aske promptly blew it up, the entire process lasting less than five minutes. Even with the additional boost from Purgatory, the gap in strength between the two sides was still as vast as a chasm.

The above was all the information Medea obtained about the intelligence after reclaiming her fragmented Mind Body.

The swordsman of the Richartnal Knights, who had previously exited the hall, now returned.

And then they saw the hall in complete disarray, with signs of explosions and scorchings everywhere.

Aske was sitting on the floor, leaning against an office desk beside him, while Nora was treating his injuries nearby.

Medea meanwhile was picking up the translucent bodies of the Heart Stealers off the ground, crushing each one as she muttered something about "recovering her mind."

"What happened here...?" asked Hans.

"It’s been resolved," said Aske. "The mutant is no more."

The swordsman: ???

We’ve hardly done anything yet! We were outside for less than five minutes, and you’ve already resolved it?

Then everyone’s mind buzzed with the thought, damn, that’s our Chief!

Being the illegitimate child of a demigod teacher, no one would be surprised if he, say, pulled out a four-thousand-meter-long sword the next second, and cleaved the entire town in two, much less resolve the current mutation in minutes.

"Let’s go explore the last room," Aske said, leading the group deeper into the passage.

In the final hall of the ruins, the group suddenly saw countless cocoons made of slime, hanging from the ceiling.

Each semi-transparent cocoon was tightly wrapped by the slime, with the people inside already fallen into a coma, wearing expressions of utter horror, as if trapped in an endless nightmare of fear.

Just like the slumbering residents of the small town.

This was clearly also the handiwork of the Heart Stealers, whose purpose was more apparent: to provide the aforementioned "Medusa" with the painful energy needed by torturing through an endless nightmare.

The swordsmen began to rescue these victims, while Aske, with the two girls, quickly cleared out the last hall.

In a cabinet, the three found four vials of unblemished Spiritual Sequence Potion: two vials of Mind I and two vials of Mind II.

"It’s not exactly unlucky, nor is it very lucky," Aske commented.

An instance run might yield various rewards, with the worst being money, followed by Spiritual Material, which were relatively high in drop rate.

Next in line would be fully prepared Magic Potions or formulas, grabbing these was a small win. Of course, the best would be Extraordinary Items, but the odds were tiny, akin to something longed for but not sought after.

After securing the Magic Potion, the victims in the large hall were all rescued, and Aske even found two old acquaintances there: Andrea and Matthews, commanders of two Large Mercenary Groups who had also been caught up in the Mutant incident. They were now curled up in the slime like quails, their unconscious faces full of fright and agony.

It was clear that facing a Mutant, everyone was on equal ground, regardless of whether you were a high-powered Mercenary Corps Commander or a soldier without any background—if your mind wasn’t sharp, you were done for.

Transporting these victims out of the research facility posed another obstacle—the narrow iron gate that had been pried open. After much huffing and puffing from everyone, they finally managed to get everyone out.

"You’ve done very well," outside the iron gate, Richarter seemed to have fully recovered, propping himself up on his Longsword and addressing Aske.

What about us? The swordsmen’s eyes brimmed with tears. We tried hard too, teacher!

But it was true that Chief deserved the most credit for this mission, and nothing could be said about competing for glory, so everyone simply accepted this with sincere admiration.

Leaving the underground passage, the air cleared instantly. The fog that shrouded the small town had completely dissipated, evidently, with the ending of the Mutant event, everyone including the whole of Lunfield Town had returned to the real world of the Real Plane.

The town’s residents, who had been asleep in their homes, now woke up one after another, no longer under the Heart Stealer’s thought-control network. They wandered the streets in confusion.

It was time to meet up with the remaining girls. I should start by asking someone.

Aske did a round by the roadside and caught a guy who looked sneaky—clearly a mercenary.

Before Aske could even ask, the guy blurted out,

"Refund? That’s impossible, not in this lifetime. Don’t you get the principle of a completed transaction? Besides, even if this Mutant event is over, the passcodes you’ve bought could still be useful in similar future incidents. Without buying it, could you have come up with such a brilliant idea?"

Aske: ????

"Passcode?" Aske inquired, "What passcode?"

"Eh, you’re not here to return the product?" The guy was sharp, quickly letting go of Aske’s hand, "Then why are you holding on to me? Go, go, go! I’m very busy."

The guy ran off in a flash.

"What was that guy’s deal?" Hans asked.

"I have no idea," Aske sighed, "we’ll just have to take our time looking around the town."

"The Chief’s team is called The Azure Longsword, right?" Nuremberg said, "We can help ask around too."

After settling the victims in the nearest buildings, some of Richarter’s swordsmen stayed to watch over them, while the others dispersed to inquire about the location of The Azure Longsword Mercenary Corps.

Since the Mutant event was already over, everyone was fairly relaxed, considering it a break and a chance to take a stroll.

"Hey, you, the mercenary over there, have you come across a mercenary corps called ’The Azure Longsword’?"

"The Azure Longsword? Never heard of it. By the way, have you come across a mercenary corps called ’Iron Ship’?"

"Iron Ship?"

"Those scoundrels sold us a passcode, said it could deal with the clones infiltrating this Mutant incident. We had it for less than 10 minutes before the event ended! The fog’s gone too! We’re going to find the Iron Ship Mercenaries to get our money back!"

"......"

The swordsmen asked everywhere but couldn’t get any leads on The Azure Longsword Mercenary Corps, although the name Iron Ship did ring familiar.

Eventually, they learned there was a group of female mercenaries stationed in the central church in town. Considering the gender ratio within the mercenary industry, it was likely the girls, almost certainly.

So Aske, along with Richarter and others took their leave and hurriedly made their way to the town center with Medea and Nora in tow.