"Wow!"

Red Spirit nodded like crazy. Master's sister was sharp as a tack—seeing through everything despite the restrained aura.

"Holy shit!"

Iris was blown away.

Back at Rock Sand City, her brother's subordinate was just high-tier, even if peak high-tier. How long had it been for it to break through?

"Wow!"

Seeing the person in question, Red Spirit immediately whipped out parchment—master's orders to personally deliver it to master's sister.

"It's Carlos's letter!"

A flash of light and the parchment appeared in Iris's hands. She eagerly scanned it in a hurry.

"This... this is..."

Her pupils shrank, shock spreading across her face.

In the letter,

Carlos first roughly laid out his current insane strength, nothing like a month ago, now ruling Dark Mist First Layer like he owned the place.

"Taking over a month to break through 20 spirituality points to mid-tier isn't too crazy.

But what about Carlos's Dark Knights?

Another sublimation?

Jumping from mid-tier to high-tier just like that?

Over thirty of them?

Three retainers even advanced to Controller level???"

Way too much.

Simply off-the-wall ridiculous. Even legendary epics wouldn't dare write this kind of crap.

A mere mid-tier Death Herald with a whole army of high-tier skeleton warriors, plus three Controller-level subordinates—Iris felt like she was having a fever dream.

If everything was legit, Carlos alone would match a major city-state's heavy hitters.

Absolutely mind-blowing!

Based on Carlos's track record, this wasn't impossible. Hell, the Controller-level subordinate 'Red Spirit' was standing right in front of her.

"Incredible. Is this the power of the demigod mark?"

Iris was shaken to her core.

She kept reading, her expression gradually turning grim.

In one year, spirituality restrictions would get yanked away...

Dark Mist First Layer would make contact with the Material Realm...

Before the shit hit the fan, a wall spanning the ice plain had to be built...

She remembered Carlos wanting her to round up tons of mid-tier psionics early, putting out commissions—all prep work for now.

Iris's eyes showed uncertainty.

Not that she didn't trust her brother. Carlos's demigod prophecies had never been wrong.

But this prophecy wasn't like the previous ones she could handle.

Each one would affect all of humanity.

Normally she should report this.

But if she reported it, human leadership would definitely investigate the prophecy's source with a fine-tooth comb, using every trick in the book to test if it was real, not ruling out extreme measures.

Even without hurting Carlos, his freedom would definitely get locked down.

But not reporting...

Forget about future guilt if things really went down,

A wall spanning the entire ice plain would need human and material resources way beyond what the Valois clan could handle.

Iris thought long and hard before deciding.

"Need to report, but only to the High Priest."

Among human leadership, the High Priest who gave everything to Sacred Fire was wise, merciful, and fair, without a selfish bone in his body.

Could be said to be the most trustworthy person in the entire North, or even all human leadership.

Besides the High Priest, Iris wouldn't feel safe with other leaders, even her direct boss Commander Constance.

"Red Spirit, tell your master my exact words through soul link..."

"Wow?"

Dark Mist First Layer.

Carlos, remotely commanding Ginya, suddenly got Red Spirit's message.

"Red Spirit, tell sis not to sweat it. I plan to stay in Dark Mist First Layer until the mutation kicks off, so there's no 'examination' risk."

That said,

Carlos knew his word-of-mouth prophecies alone couldn't make human leadership totally buy in.

However, total belief wasn't necessary. The Valois clan's muscle plus some leadership backing would be enough for Carlos's starting plans.

As for which leader his sister handed prophecies to, he didn't give a damn.

Past life memories told him that despite different factions and constant backstabbing, human leadership was undoubtedly loyal to humanity.

"Getting in touch with the High Priest is fine. First send over the people you've rounded up."

Carlos kept talking, pushing his sister to first send out the first batch of psionics who'd taken the jobs.

After having Red Spirit pass along the message, he focused on Ginya...

...

"Master, Dotruu's king shot down the trade."

After getting Ginya's info, Carlos was kind of surprised.

Logically, Dotruu Kingdom had zero reason to refuse his trade.

With ruins still buried, at this point besides himself, nobody should know Ersbah ancient gold coins' real value.

"Why'd they refuse?"

"Master, Dotruu's king said their kingdom's new martial tournament is about to kick off.

Ersbah ancient gold coins got picked as part of the event prizes.

So..."

Ginya spilled everything she knew.

"Too damn convenient."

Carlos found it pretty interesting—trade goods immediately becoming event prizes.

"Master, should we now..."

Ginya wanted to go straight to ass-kicking. According to master's intel, this kingdom had no powerhouses capable of standing up to her.

"Ginya, when does the martial tournament start?"

"Tomorrow."

In the courtyard, Ginya's heart couldn't help getting pissed off. She caught master's drift.

"Go join the event."

Since things started tomorrow, a few more days didn't matter.

"Try not to cause a huge mess."

Carlos didn't forget to remind her—after all, this was a normal human nation.

"I get it, master."

Under master's orders, Ginya bottled up her inner violence.

"Of course, if they're being stupid, no need to keep taking it. Everything is for humanity."

Carlos's ice-cold voice came through completely via soul link to Ginya's mind.

She knew master's patience had limits, grinning:

"Master, these dumbass ants surely won't let you down."

"Hope so."

In the snow-white building, Carlos's eyes were stone cold. For humanity's future, hopefully these people had some brains.

...

While Ginya and Red Spirit's missions rolled forward normally according to Carlos's plans, the final retainer Purple Vortex finally reached its destination: Inco Mountains.

Through vision sharing, Carlos saw everything in front of Purple Vortex:

A sprawling mountain range wrapped in thick mist, with jagged black pines and cypresses barely visible.

"Even with the extra mist, this is definitely the right spot."

Carlos tapped into his memories.

Deep in Inco Mountains sat a cold bamboo forest. The bamboo was tough enough to craft all kinds of weapons and build bamboo houses, with tribes living there, getting by on this stuff.