Revive Rome: Wait! Why not make the empress fall in love with me first?
Chapter 456 - 71 Mind Plague

Chapter 456: Chapter 71 Mind Plague

What does it feel like inside the Subconscious Ocean?

Aske, who had truly immersed himself in the Subconscious Ocean, could tell everyone that it was akin to a deep sleep, as if the dreamer were aware of being in a dream.

The three girls were not directly entering the Subconscious Ocean to search but were activating their own abilities: for Nora and Medea, it was like sliding the mouse in front of a computer screen, remotely checking one area after another. For Peggy, it was like being in a command center. Although she could not directly see the Subconscious Ocean, she was able to receive signals from the Mind Plague tadpoles.

Soon, they found the source of the dark tide.

"There it is!"

Mia was the first to Instant Step and rocketed away, speeding towards the pinpointed source of the dark tide.

Quickly, one of the courtesans from the Brothel was subdued by Mia, her wrist retorted, half-pulled and dragged over.

"Her?" Aske was somewhat surprised.

"Yes," all three girls nodded. As incredible as it seemed, this courtesan’s Mind Body was indeed the source that incited the recent conflict between the soldiers and the Blade Warrior.

"What... what do you want to do..." Surrounded by the girls holding Weapons, the heavily made-up courtesan couldn’t even stand steadily, her legs visibly trembling.

"Why would you do this?" Aske asked her seriously, but almost immediately sensed something was off, "Wait, are you an ordinary person?"

"I don’t know what you’re talking about..." The young miss from the Brothel shook her head in fear.

"Check her Mind Body," Aske said.

Medea walked over, looked directly into her eyes, and soon the courtesan’s Mind Body was brutally invaded. Her eyes rolled back, a guttural noise came from her throat, as if she were having a seizure.

After about ten seconds, she suddenly collapsed to the ground, falling into a coma.

"Did you find anything?" Aske asked when he saw Medea frown.

"Like the Prison Watcher Priest before, she’s been implanted with some kind of closed-loop thought," Medea answered, "And... this time the loop is even more complex. It can not only reside in her Mind Body but can also erupt at a certain moment, quickly infecting other Mind Bodies through the Subconscious Ocean."

"In layman’s terms, you should be familiar with a computer virus, right? This closed-loop thought is like a neatly packaged computer virus program, and this courtesan is just an infected host. She doesn’t know anything and has unwillingly spread the Mind Plague."

"So, what you’re saying is," Aske said gravely, "we can’t find the mastermind behind this?"

"Not necessarily," Medea replied with a cold smile. "This closed-loop thought resides in the shallow part of her Mind Body, and I can confirm she was infected today. So I carefully examined her memory just now, found all the clients she entertained today, and finally detected a certain client who had given her a peculiar sensation during their encounter."

"So who was it?"

"You would never guess who it is," Medea did not answer directly but mouthed the name.

Hedwig.

The Acid Erosion Dragon Hedwig? The Demigod from the Saxon Family?!

A long silence ensued.

"So... we’re going up against a Demigod, is that it?" Nora said in a low voice.

"We’re not exactly going against one, we’re just investigating," Aske said with a smile, "Great, I thought the trail had gone cold after the death of the Prison Watcher Priest."

Investigating a Demigod... This kind of task seems to be something only we would undertake. The girls thought to themselves; after all, the number of Demigods the Azure Longsword had become acquainted with, whether friend or foe, was already absurdly high.

Alright then, how shall we investigate?

"Seek out the Dragon of Imagination!" Aske stated as if it were the most natural thing in the world.

Could we actually approach and confront the Acid Erosion Dragon directly? We’d surely be sprayed to death with a gush of his acidic saliva!

At this moment, the Imaginary Dragon Bruno was conversing with two other Demigods in his own camp.

One was a Demigod from the Weiding Family, "Wilderness Bear" Maison, and the other was "War God" Leopold from the Carinthia Duchy, both Transcendents of the Physical Department.

"... Anyway, it’s really not convenient for me to step away right now, why don’t you go find the Duke of Chaos and have him use directional blasting to open a breach for you, or perhaps seek out the Sealing Furnace Fire, whose Teleportation ability is absolutely unique."

The Imaginary Dragon Bruno politely declined, but the other two Demigods were not discouraged and continued trying to persuade him to change his mind.

"Oh, it seems I have a few little visitors here." Bruno lifted the curtain at the entrance and signaled for his apprentice to bring in several people waiting outside, then turned to the others with a smile,

"Lords Wilderness Bear and War God, as it happens, I know a few youngsters who can take my place in resolving your issue."

"You mean that little Mercenary Group called The Azure Longsword?" Wilderness Bear Maison’s bushy beard bristled with surprise, "But aren’t their Levels under 15? Hmm, the girl’s Law does seem rather interesting..."

"It’s not just about Law, don’t forget what happened the last time they went into battle..." Bruno smiled mysteriously, prompting both the Wilderness Bear and War God to contemplate.

During the last battle, the Synthetic Human troops and drone swarms bombed the Emperor’s Alliance relentlessly, yet did not attack the small Mercenary Group, The Azure Longsword. The Demigods had noticed this too.

Everyone wanted to take advantage of this "unattackable" feature, yet also worried about any covert collusion with the Church Court, and after discussing it with the Emperor, they decided it was best to keep them sidelined for now, just in case they fell for the Church Court’s ruses.

Now that the Imaginary Dragon Bruno had brought it up again, both the Wilderness Bear and the War God began to ponder over it. After such prolonged isolation and observation, there had been no sign of anything unusual from the Mercenary Group.

Moreover, since the Imaginary Dragon could read minds, it meant that at the very least, The Azure Longsword was completely unaware of the affair. So perhaps they could be considered for use...

Following the apprentice’s lead, Aske entered the tent with Medea and Nora, surprised to find two Demigods there as well.

"You’ve come just in time. It’s boring staying around the camp without any tasks, isn’t it?" Bruno said with a smile, "As it happens, I have a task for you..."

Before he could finish, he received a Mind message from Medea and Nora that contained quite unexpected news.

"Let’s do this then," Bruno turned to the other two Demigods to discuss, "I’ll talk to them, and then get back to you with an answer."

Realizing they were being dismissed, the two Demigods took the hint. Given Bruno’s reputation as an amicable individual, they did not press further and nodded their understanding before departing.

"So, you didn’t bring that Nightingale with you?" Once the two Demigods had left, Bruno asked solemnly.

"Do I need to go and fetch her now?" Aske indicated he could bring her at that moment.

"No need," Bruno shook his head, "I’ll have someone arrange it."

"You three," he looked at them once more, "managed to uncover this, which is indeed more than I expected."

"Indeed, the bloodshed at the market today should betray traces of manipulation. But since this involves Mind Power, the Blade Warriors couldn’t detect it, so they came to me for help."

"Furthermore, I have already dredged and searched through the Super Self Consciousness of the deceased Prison Watcher Priest from the Subconscious Ocean. He too had been secretly infected by this Mind Plague while still alive. It’s unclear who the hidden hand is, but it is definitely not the Acid Erosion Dragon."

"You’re saying that Lord Acid Erosion Dragon is not the hidden hand either, but simply a carrier of the infection?" Nora asked in surprise. The ability to silently implant thoughts in the Mind Body of a Demigod was almost too...

"Correct," Bruno furrowed his brows and adopted a serious expression. "The Acid Erosion Dragon and I have had extensive dealings, and if he were the hidden hand, he couldn’t exist before me without slipping up."

"However, to infect him without his knowledge, turning him into a carrier for the plague thoughts, the hidden hand must possess a strength of at least Level 30 or higher. So, stop pursuing this matter. You don’t want to draw unwarranted danger upon yourselves." The Imaginary Dragon stood up, picked up a document from the table beside him, and tossed it to Aske.

"If you truly have nothing to do, consider this task offered by the two Demigods just now. It’s not as perilous and the reward is quite generous—it should suit your team well."