Chapter 511 - 499: That’s Right, I Really Want to Improve

Chapter 511: Chapter 499: That’s Right, I Really Want to Improve

Ten days after Allen escaped the X-7734 Plane.

On the seventeenth floor of the administrative building in the Great Library Plane.

"Come in."

Allen pushed open the door to Office 1701.

Eleanor Gray looked up from a pile of floating light screens. When she saw the visitor, her gaze narrowed slightly before she returned to her professional smile.

"Mr. Allen, your complexion... looks rather unique," she commented calmly.

The Allen before her retained his handsome appearance, complete with black hair, blue eyes, and meticulous attire. However, Eleanor sharply detected an inhuman perfection about him. He resembled a finely crafted statue, lacking the minute flaws expected of a living creature.

"I swapped to a temporary body. I accidentally lost the previous one." Allen sat down on the sofa, his tone flat.

Eleanor’s eye twitched. "A Second-level Wizard’s body, lost?" she thought.

"Some complications arose during the mission, so I’m here to look into something." Foregoing any pleasantries, Allen cut straight to the chase. "For mandatory mission BR-0931, I want to know its issuance process, and... who the original initiator was."

Eleanor’s smile faded slightly. She rested her crossed hands on the desk and leaned forward a bit. "Allen, I’m sorry for everything you encountered during the mission. But information regarding a mission’s initiator is highly classified."

Tapping a light screen with her fingertip, she pulled up a line of information. "Your clearance isn’t high enough."

"I see." Allen nodded, seemingly unsurprised by this outcome. He raised his gaze, his deep blue eyes quietly watching Eleanor. "Then, is a Morning Star Wizard’s clearance high enough?"

As his words fell, a majestic wave of Spiritual Power, like an invisible tsunami, instantly flooded the entire office. It carried no hostility whatsoever, yet it bore the vast, overbearing majesty of one looking down upon all living beings, making the very air turn thick and viscous.

The composure on Eleanor’s face vanished. "Morning Star? He advanced to a Morning Star Wizard? From Level 2 to Morning Star in less than forty years!" she thought in shock. Even though she was used to seeing geniuses, a stormy sea of astonishment raged in her heart at this moment.

Taking a deep breath, she forcibly suppressed her shock and re-evaluated the "investment piece" before her. "No, this is no longer an investment piece," she realized. "Now, this is a true player who has stepped up to the high-stakes table of the Wizarding World’s upper echelons."

"A Morning Star Wizard..." Eleanor paused after every word, her expression turning incredibly solemn. "Congratulations, Allen. But unfortunately, the answer is still no. It’s not enough."

She looked at Allen and explained, "Strength is strength, and clearance is clearance. The Association’s regulatory system has been unbreakable since its establishment in ancient times. You can rely on the strength of a Morning Star to make a Minister treat you with courtesy, but you cannot make him provide you with help. Unless..."

"Unless I become part of the upper echelons myself," Allen finished for her.

"Exactly."

Allen fell silent, leaning back against the sofa.

"I admit, I have no interest in the Association’s political games," he said frankly. "I joined the Association for knowledge and resources. Doing missions in exchange for Credit Points, nothing more. I have no intention of getting involved in any factional struggles."

Hearing this, Eleanor chuckled softly. "Allen, it seems I need to give you a makeup lesson on the common sense of an Advanced Wizard."

She stood up and walked to the huge floor-to-ceiling window, gazing out at the undulating Floating Island Group in the distance.

"What kind of state do you think the Wizarding World is in right now? Do you think everyone can freely pursue the halls of truth? Or that it’s still that magnificent age of Gold, full of Freedom and plundering, just like the ancient age of discovery?

"No.

"The Wizarding World is a cake that was completely carved up a long time ago. The Grand Library beneath our feet, the Seven Towers Alliance’s Panorama Corridor, the Molten Iron Mountain Range where you once fought... for every known large Plane, every inch of land, every mineral vein, and even every newly discovered Plane coordinate, there is an organization, a Wizard Clan, or a council standing behind it.

"The knowledge you desire is locked away in repositories; the rare materials you need are displayed in supply vaults. And what determines how much you can see and take isn’t just your strength, but your clearance. It’s your position."

Eleanor turned around, her gaze as sharp as a blade.

"Do you think pioneering a new Plane is still a free adventure? You’re wrong. That is a feast of partition for the higher tiers. And what determines whether you have the right to enter is your identity at the table!

"You, Allen Wesren, a top-tier War Alchemy Wizard, know better than anyone that wealth, resources, and territories can all be converted into true power.

"And the Association is one of the largest and most stable arks sailing through this universe. You can choose to continue standing by the tracks, watching us roar past, casually picking up whatever scraps we leave behind. Or..."

She walked over to Allen and leaned down, a hint of bewitching allure in her voice. "...you can buy a ticket, sit in first class, personally determine the course of this ship, and decide the ownership of the scenery along the way."

Allen looked up and met her eyes.

In Eleanor’s deep eyes, he saw an irrefutable reality. Without a high enough position, he wouldn’t even have the right to know.

Flashes of the political courses he had studied while living as a Prince in the mortal world crossed his mind. He loathed those things, yet he had to admit they were the most effective tools for protecting himself and achieving his goals. Wherever there were people, such machinations were inevitable; not even a Transcendent could entirely escape that cage.

If he wanted to build his own faction, a territory under his absolute control, and a massive industrial empire... he couldn’t stay out of it.

After a long while, Allen finally spoke. "High pay, little work, high clearance. Preferably a position that doesn’t require daily meetings. Is there such a thing?"

Eleanor was taken aback at first, but then she burst into a crisp, melodic laugh, the badge on her chest trembling gently.

"Hahaha... Allen, you’re really... far too practical." She straightened up, her eyes and brows brimming with amusement. "You’ve accurately summarized the dream job most people yearn for. With where you are now, you indeed have the qualifications to say such a thing."

"I understand." She returned to her desk, her fingers swiping rapidly across the light screen. "You need the authority to participate in Plane exploration decisions, without the burden of excessive daily administrative duties, and you must have access to core intelligence... In that case, becoming a Deputy Minister of one of the Association’s core departments suits you best.

"Currently, there are vacancies for Deputy Ministers in three departments."

Three lines of text appeared on the light screen:

[Plane Resource Integration Department]: Responsible for evaluating, dispatching, and integrating the resource output of developed Planes, as well as formulating annual quotas.

[Cross-Plane Trade Route Security Department]: Responsible for maintaining the security of major trade routes, eliminating looters, and providing armed escorts for Association merchant fleets.

[Anomaly Threat Response Department]: Responsible for investigating, evaluating, and handling non-traditional supernatural threats, such as high-dimensional contamination, memetic disasters, and unexpected events like contact with unknown civilizations.

Allen’s gaze locked onto the last line almost instantly.

Anomaly threats... The "Mechanical Realm"... The "Harvester"...

It was dedicated to handling threats outside the conventional Wizard system. Usually, it was a relaxed posting with very little to do; they might not even mobilize once every few years.

Allen needed this position. He had to uncover the mastermind behind this mission, and he also needed to grasp first-hand intelligence on the "Harvester" and the "Mechanical Realm." Sitting around and waiting for death wasn’t his style.

There was no better fit.

The Plane Resource Integration Department sounded the most lucrative, but it required handling hundreds of trade disputes daily and haggling with those ancient Wizard Clans, meaning the highest volume of administrative affairs.

The Cross-Plane Trade Route Security Department would definitely require constant business trips. He would have no time left to manage his own development.

"I’ll choose the third one."

"A wise choice." Eleanor wasn’t surprised in the slightest. "I will draft your application report right away. Applying for a Deputy Minister position with the strength of a Morning Star Wizard—the Association’s Supreme Council will have no reason to refuse. Of course, we still have to go through the necessary procedures."

"Also," Eleanor added, as if suddenly remembering something, "after becoming a Deputy Minister, aside from mission rewards and various benefits, you will also receive a base salary of five hundred Credit Points per year."

Allen’s expression didn’t change at all, but inwardly, he had already begun to complain. "Five hundred points a year? I used to risk my life, fighting tooth and nail doing missions, and I’d barely make over three hundred points in an exhausting year. These damned bureaucrats who just sit in their offices flapping their lips! Exploiters! ...Once I take office, I must definitely stand in their shoes to properly experience and criticize this system of Decay."

While these thoughts swirled in his mind, on the surface, Allen stood up gracefully and gave a slight nod. "Then, I’ll leave it to you, Lady Eleanor."