Chapter 394

Anser's figure flickered as he teleported into the Crystal Temple.

Although the temple was inverted, its gravity plane was at the bottom, so anyone inside couldn't actually tell.

After several days away, the Crystal Temple looked no different from before.

The next instant, Sakkors's spirit abruptly appeared beside him, wearing a rare look of excitement.

"Master, I've taken complete control of the temple. All of its features have been preserved..."

The demiplane had completely merged with the other plane, while all of the Crystal Temple's abilities—its Antimagic Field, Forcecage, self-cleaning, injury recovery, and complete isolation—had been perfectly preserved.

Its powerful divination wards had also been integrated with Holrewen, becoming an impregnable barrier protecting the Spirit Net's stronghold.

The Sehanine Moonbow Holy Symbol had been separated from the temple. It was still an Artifact, but now retained only three abilities: sensing Chosen, seizing divinity, and communicating with Sehanine Moonbow.

The Moonlight Mark, which had served as the credential for entering and leaving the temple, had been replaced by the Spirit Net Mark. Just like when the Paradise Mark had been modified before, access permissions were now controlled by Sakkors.

"The Moonlight Mark is anything but ordinary. It's given me a lot of ideas. I can upgrade the Spirit Net Marks of other members and even allow certain members to teleport into the temple, trade here, and communicate face-to-face..."

The temple's powerful isolation and defensive capabilities were what made this feasible. Professionals below the Legendary level would have virtually no ability to resist while inside.

If anyone caused trouble, Sakkors could imprison them with a thought.

"Now isn't the time!" Anser rejected the idea without hesitation.

He wasn't allowing anyone into Holrewen right now, and the Crystal Temple was no exception.

Putting himself in danger for a few Spirit Coins would be downright stupid.

He didn't even want the Crystal Temple's existence exposed, so he had no intention of letting anyone else enter for the time being.

"I understand." Sakkors naturally understood. He was merely proposing a new possibility.

"Things are going according to plan, and our security is now assured, but we still can't let our guard down. Our enemies are only getting stronger," Anser warned.

"Yes, I understand."

"Still, we need to keep developing. This is a golden opportunity, so we can't shrink back. Start by adding an image-sharing feature. That'll see plenty of use."

"Yes."

The Spirit Net's messaging system was still limited to text. Only certain paid news reports came with animations and images.

But text was nowhere near as intuitive as an image. Sometimes a single picture could replace a thousand words, conveying emotion while leaving an indescribable impact on whoever saw it.

The feature itself wasn't particularly complicated. Images were already a basic application of telepathy and fundamentally no different from news projections.

But images really did consume far more resources than text.

So naturally, they were going to charge for them!

Junior Members could send one image per day for free, Intermediate Members five, Senior Members ten, and Supreme Members twenty.

Anyone who wanted to send more would have to pay. The price would be the same as messages: one Spirit Coin for ten images.

The image feature might seem ordinary, but it was a tool no less useful than the spell services.

Whether asking for help, identifying someone, handling a mission, traveling, or coming across an unfamiliar book, members could take a picture and upload it to the Spirit Net.

The Spirit Net would even thoughtfully provide an album service, permanently storing those images free of charge for members to view.

"You can start working on a video feature too. It could record what's happening at the moment, or even share what certain people are seeing and hearing with large numbers of members in real time, like group telepathy..." Anser suggested.

Sakkors's eyes lit up as countless ideas flooded his mind.

Anser chuckled softly. With a single step, his body vanished from the Crystal Temple.

The Spirit Net had enormous potential, but they had to take things one step at a time. Capability was one thing; public acceptance was another.

Too much of a shock all at once might leave these natives completely bewildered. If their entire worldview collapsed and their minds became twisted as a result, that wouldn't do anyone any good.

Back at Fort Jacqueline, Anser let out a long breath, feeling as though a weight had finally been lifted from his shoulders.

'I was going stir-crazy. Let's go to Cormyr and take a look at those orcs.'

Once the thought occurred to him, he acted on it. After letting Iris know, he cast Teleport and traveled to Suzail, on the northern shore of the Dragonmere.

He had never actually been to Cormyr before, having only seen it once from afar.

Cormyr bordered the Dragonmere to the south, the Storm Horns to the north, and the Thunder Peaks to the east, beyond which lay the Vast Swamp and Sembia.

Its major forests included the King's Forest in the west, the Hullack Forest in the east, and the Hermit's Wood in the south.

Suzail, the capital of Cormyr, stood on the northern shore of the Dragonmere, not far from either the Storm Horns or the King's Forest.

Anser flew high into the sky and looked down. Lush greenery stretched across his entire field of vision.

'It really does live up to its name as the Forest Kingdom. Forests and mountains everywhere.'

Suzail was the heart of Cormyr. It covered a considerable area, with its permanent population remaining at well over a hundred thousand year-round.

Viewed from above, the entire city formed an irregular ring.

At its center lay the royal court district, dominated by Castle Obarskyr, the king's residence. A moat encircled the district, separating it from the rest of the city.

The most striking structure in the city was an imposing military fortress. Judging by the banners flying above it, this should be the famous Purple Dragon Keep, said to house more than two thousand soldiers of the Purple Dragons.

Anser swept his gaze around before turning his attention to the allied orc army surrounding the city.

The main force of the so-called orc alliance looked more like a horde of refugees. Aside from the hundred or so tents in the center that looked somewhat respectable, the rest varied wildly in size, were tattered and run-down, and lay scattered around in complete disorder.

Large numbers of goblins and gnolls were even sleeping directly on the ground, snoring away beneath trees and in whatever corners they could find.

'There certainly are a lot of them.'

Anser made a rough estimate. There were at least ten thousand in total.

'This shouldn't be enough to threaten Suzail.' He rubbed his chin.

If nothing else, a single charge by the Purple Dragons should be enough to scatter the allied orc army.

His gaze shifted southward. Seeing the bustling harbor, he silently shook his head.

The allied orc forces were all land-dwellers and had no ships. They might appear to have the city surrounded, but in reality, they couldn't impose any meaningful blockade on Suzail.

The Dragonmere connected to the Sea of Fallen Stars and supported thriving trade. As long as this lucrative trade route remained open, there was no way Suzail would lose a prolonged war.

'Smart move.' Anser largely agreed with their approach.

The lives of the allied orc troops were cheap. There was simply no point in meeting them head-on. Pulling back for the time being was nothing more than a way to minimize losses.

Besides, most of Cormyr's agriculture was concentrated in the east. Given the way the allied orc army operated, they would probably scatter before they even got there.

'This isn't nearly as serious as the Spirit Net news made it sound. Some members have picked up bad habits—they've learned to exaggerate everything just to drum up attention.' Anser tugged helplessly at the corner of his mouth.

With a sigh, he opened his dragonhide pouch and took out the Moonbow Holy Symbol.

The crescent pendant immediately began to glow faintly, and a mental projection entered his mind.

He closed his eyes. Within his perception, two points of light appeared—one pure white, the other blood-red, one near and one far.

One was inside the city. The other was in the military camp outside.

'Looks like there's a Chosen driving every orc war of conquest from behind the scenes.'

Anser slipped into the Ethereal Plane and silently drifted toward the outskirts of the city.

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