100\% DROP RATE : Why is My Inventory Always so Full? Chapter 490 - Network

On the following day, two visitors came to Lucien, their request astonishing him far less than anticipated.

Reaper, ex-Assassin Chief, still slunk about like a shadow newly reacquainting itself with sunlight.

Eldran, the prior Magic Tower Master, strode beside him, bearing his years with the grace of one who had realized ages back that knowledge morphs into wisdom or toxin based on regret's resting place.

Once Lucien exited the small world, the pair had temporarily ditched their prior roles.

In Lootwell, they had taken up lives as plain farmers.

A first look deemed it ridiculous.

A second glance found it heartbreaking.

Yet the truest gaze revealed its essence to Lucien.

Penance.

Not owing to the past being entirely their wrongdoing, but since those steeped too long in gore and intrigue rarely welcome serenity without first toiling in basic work that rings true.

Luke and Cienna had conversed with them beforehand, stating outright that the old deeds—when mind control drove killings—weren't a burden to carry to the grave.

The old duo had paid heed.

Maybe not in one go.

Sufficiently, though, for the years-old tangle in their hearts to start coming undone.

In the expansive Big World territory, facing Lucien now, they appeared not sorrowful, but purposeful.

Lucien permitted their words.

Reaper stepped up first.

"Young Lord, we’ve been thinking," he said.

Eldran followed seamlessly.

"We want to build something useful."

Lucien reclined in his seat.

Then came their proposal.

They sought to form a Shadow Information Network.

Chosen folks from former assassin crews and magic tower groups would get trained into experts shuttling data swiftly inside and outside the territory.

Spies. Informants. Couriers. Scrying interpreters. Silent observers. Magical listening-point handlers.

Hidden lines. Fallback routes. Dead-drop zones. Escape paths. Safe houses. Map grids that extended beyond official roads. Regional familiarity deeper than simple charting.

Reaper addressed mobility.

"How many people here truly know how to disappear if they need to?" he asked. "How many know which valleys hide sound well, which roads are watched by bandits, which cities talk too much, which inns sell news faster than drink, which forest edges are good for evasion, and which are traps?"

Eldran discussed arcane frameworks.

"And how many know how to catch whispers without being seen catching them?" he added. "How many can set a harmless observation spell that looks like weather, or bind a report into an object simple enough that no one would think to inspect it?"

Lucien heard them out in silence.

These two possessed wits beyond what most had credited.

The scheme wasn't merely viable.

It proved indispensable.

Lucien had sensed the shortfall already. Lootwell sprawled too vastly. Data traveled like a frantic courier with burning lungs. Delays hobbled countless efforts. Solutions arrived too late for peak effect.

Then Eldran dropped the following remark.

"We also need communication."

This gave Lucien pause.

Eldran spotted it instantly and elaborated.

"The territory is too wide now. Even if reports are fast, they are still physical. A fast horse is still a horse. A quick airship is still distance. A relay of competent people is still delay."

Reaper nodded in agreement.

Lucien’s fingers rapped the armrest once.

The matter had irked him similarly.

He knew full well he couldn't mimic the Liberators’ communication setup as Seran wielded it. Seran’s Law of Reflection stood too niche, too profound, too outlandishly intricate. Lucien held the Law of Reflection as well, but Seran's construct from it achieved a whole other tier of polish.

Still, Lucien had a tool at his disposal too.

The Origin Core fragment.

He eyed the pair of elders with a subtle smile.

"You both chose a good moment."

Reaper kept his face grave.

Eldran appeared satisfied, however.

Lucien clasped his hands.

"The intelligence network is a good idea," he said. "We’ll do it."

The men stood straighter at once.

Lucien pressed ahead.

"You’ll need the right people. Not only the competent ones. The right ones. Discipline matters more than talent here. Silence matters more than excitement. Trainable instincts matter more than raw cleverness."

Reaper dipped his head once.

"We’ve already made a shortlist."

"Good."

Lucien’s gaze moved to Eldran.

"As for skills, I’ll help there. Some doors need to be built before your candidates walk through them."

Eldran grasped it immediately.

This implied Lucien wasn't merely endorsing the plan. He had started envisioning it through systemic frameworks.

The concept was now solidifying within his mind.

This tended to be the instant when impossible notions became viable in his presence.

After conversing further for a bit, Reaper and Eldran departed.

Lucien lingered in quiet stillness long after the door shut.

Next, he released a deliberate exhale.

Yes.

Skill doors and magic doors required fixed positioning immediately.

Overseeing all specialized training entries via his personal core or constant personal oversight had turned highly cumbersome.

He intended to integrate them directly into the vast training grounds.

His focus then shifted to the core underlying issue.

Communication.

Lucien stood, moved across the chamber, and retrieved his fused Origin Core fragment.

Its size now surpassed that of the remaining pieces.

Multiple fragments had been fused into it already, and each expansion intensified its inner strain into something weirder, vaster, and more encompassing.

He still lacked full insight into his seamless ability to unite the fragments.

Seran explained that he and other Liberators holding Origin Core fragments couldn't merge them as Lucien achieved. The parts rebelled. The framework failed to unify. The powers conflicted or stayed isolated.

Lucien's hypothesis stayed straightforward.

He figured his Law of Creation merged elements that diverged irreconcilably for others.

This surely played a role.

Slowly, he rotated the fragment between his fingers.

It throbbed once.

Like a pondering star.

Lucien grinned.

The Origin Core must function as the hub.

He delved into the concept with precise deliberation.

No communicator throughout the territory would attempt direct links to every other one.

That method would prove wasteful, shaky, and idiotic.

Rather, each communicator would route its transmission first to a singular central point.

The Origin Core fragment.

This fragment would serve as the territory's pulsing communication core.

A dispatch from Lootwell's distant edge would hit the Origin Core fragment initially. The fragment would identify the source. Decode the target. Categorize the transmission. Then propel it toward the right recipient.

Lucien's gaze intensified.

It paralleled contemporary networks at their essence, but with far smoother sophistication.

To put it plainly...

Envision a sprawling metropolis bursting with inhabitants.

Should each resident sprint individually to others for every exchange, utter mayhem would erupt.

Therefore, they deliver their note first to a unified dispatch center.

The center scans the recipient, confirms the path, and forwards via the swiftest proper channel.

The Origin Core fragment would embody that dispatch center.

Yet vastly superior.

For it transcended basic energy containment.

It discerned patterns. Verified identifiers. Organized currents. Transmuted power. Passed permissions. Sustained flow.

Far beyond a mere power reserve.

It embodied a portal.

A pivotal portal for channeled exchanges to traverse.

Lucien's mind accelerated.

Each communication tool across the territory demanded a tied emblem or matched relay, compact for transport or setup.

Such a relay would etch the user's mark. Encapsulate the content in a pure signal. Launch it across the network. The Origin Core fragment would seize it, analyze it, and direct it ahead.

With the recipient online, delivery struck instantly.

Absent that, the fragment buffered it in a standby realm until activation from the other end.

Lucien chuckled quietly to himself.

'This is getting fun.'

Deeper contemplation revealed endless applications.

Direct voice transmission. Emergency pulse alerts. Regional warning broadcasts. Command relays. Encrypted channels for Reaper and Eldran’s future intelligence branches. Restricted access tiers. Even map-linked distress beacons, if he wanted to be ambitious.

All this sprang from just one facet of the Origin Core fragment's capabilities.

This balance of awe and unease kept gripping him equally.

The established fragment functions were already ridiculously potent.

It recycled and transmuted energy. Assisted baptizing individuals and elevating mana vessels to divine vessels. Amid the Big World's plentiful ambient mana, smart oversight rendered it a near-infinite energy well.

And now—

server logic.

A central intelligence anchor that could receive, sort, hold, and redistribute structured flow.

That single trait could launch empires for most societies.

Lucien wouldn't settle for such limits.

Surface-level exploitation merely scratched it.

Far greater depths lay within the Origin Core fragment beyond his clear perception. Each probe with sharp focus unveiled inner vaults, sleeping privileges, sealed dominions, and faculties defying his present grasp.

It seemed like a whole cosmos squeezed into rigid order.

Lucien rotated it again and murmured, "I really need to dissect you."

The fragment replied with yet another subtle throb.

He regarded that as consent.

Shortly thereafter, Lucien summoned the individuals he required.

Since this communication network was destined to form, he insisted on having the sharpest minds present right from the outset.