Astral Apostle
chapter-233

Due to external pressure, the administrative efficiency of the Empire had increased greatly. Not long after, the establishment of the Royal Demon Hunter Army was put on the agenda. Nearly 200 hunters who were willing to listen to the command of the royal family were selected to join the Demon Hunter Army.

Keriber took over as the leader of the Royal Demon Hunters, while Jason took over as the new commander of the Imperial Hunters.

The other Imperial Hunters had no objections to such a change in personnel.

After frequently wrestling with Keriber these days, Jason had long proven his combat strength. Rumor had it that he had already entered the ranks of the strongest hunters, and was known as one of the three great warriors of the Empire, along with Keriber and Irene.

Although he did not have much experience, hunters respected the strong. Jason was one of the best among the Legendary Hunters and was even trusted by the royal family. Therefore, when it came to him taking over, everyone was convinced.

(TL Note: In case you’ve forgotten, Legendary Hunters are those who have undergone 4th Enhancement + slayed a fatal-risk mutant beast.)

Because Jason, who was in a state of placement, was silent and did not have much initiative, it was only when Zhou Jing routinely checked the recording during the preparatory period of his travel that he realized that Jason had taken over. Thus, he changed the target of his travel and projected himself on Jason.

He made some arrangements and promoted a few hunters to be his deputies as well as recruited some staff officers to help deal with the matters of the Empire’s hunters. He also personally reported to King Becky and took the opportunity to observe the changes in the palace.

Because of this, Zhou Jing realized that Becky’s complexion was not good, and the morale of the palace was low. Clearly, they were all badly battered by Bill’s escape and the independence of the tribes.

Becky didn’t have the energy to say anything else. He casually instructed him before letting him leave.

Zhou Jing swaggered out of the Golden Castle, and the guards bowed upon seeing him.

Seeing this, Zhou Jing sighed.

“According to the royal family, after Keriber has nurtured me for a few years, he would have let me take over as the commander of the Imperial Hunters. However, the current chaos has only led to Jason’s rapid rise to power. This is a chain reaction. Bill running away inadvertently helped Jason instead.”

This was a pleasant surprise and not part of the plan.

However, letting the Astral Apostles enter different industries or camps and make their own influence would bring benefits to each other. This was a thought that he had long had. This time, it happened to be effective.

He opened the interface and took a look. He had a new achievement after taking office.

[Triggered achievement [Imperial Hunter Commander]!]

[Obtained 2,000 Astral Points, 20 Information State Particles, 1x [Attribute Enhancement – Physical Fitness (Small)] ]

“Although Jason is already an Eternal Apostle and doesn’t have to fulfill the life objectives to clear the level, it’s also a good thing to earn some Information State Particles to replenish my inventory.”

Zhou Jing was secretly happy.

Although he had become the commander of the Imperial Hunters, he had yet to be conferred the title of the Empire’s Chief Hunter. Thus, Jason’s new life objective had yet to be achieved.

However, when Keriber slowly grew old, this title would eventually fall on him… as long as the Empire still existed.

The commander of the Imperial Hunters was quite the famous title. He had a huge force under him, and could be considered to have great authority and a high position.

However, Zhou Jing also understood that this authority was not that astonishing. This was because hunters had always been difficult to control. Having status did not mean that he could order the Empire’s hunters to do anything.

After all, authority came from obedience. He could only command the Empire’s hunters within the scope of the hunter’s authority, and it was very difficult to order the hunters around if he exceeded their authority and went against their will.

Fortunately, Zhou Jing did not have any thoughts of causing trouble for the time being. He did not intend to seek personal benefits. He just needed to do his duty as a commander.

Jason could be considered as serving in the Empire as a spy, but he was also working for the Empire at the same time. He did not need to deliberately help Roman or the tribal faction.

Although Bill was closer to Roman now, Zhou Jing was not prepared to stand on either side.

He was betting on both sides. If the Empire and the tribes wanted to fight, so be it. In any case, his two Astral Apostles had already taken up positions in both factions. Although they were not the leaders who made the decisions, they still had a certain amount of authority.

Therefore, it was not a loss for him to decide who would win or lose. For now, it was best to take advantage of the situation and earn some Information State Particles.

This was called hedging one’s bets!

As for the longer-term plan, Zhou Jing had yet to think of it. Right now, he was only focused on reaping benefits.

“Speaking of which, the situation has changed so much, but there’s still no sign of the lifeforms from the alternate dimension. Could this group of people have disappeared?”

When Zhou Jing thought of this, he could not help but suspect this scenario had likely happened.

While he was causing trouble, he had been paying attention to whether anyone suspected to be a lifeform from an alternate dimension had appeared. However, after so many projection cycles, he still did not discover any clues.

He could not help but wonder if the alternate dimension lifeforms had used some unknown method to leave this world.

Just as he was thinking, Zhou Jing suddenly heard someone shout “Jace” from behind.

Turning around, he realized that it was Irene with Princess Shuni beside her.

“Captain Irene, why are you looking for me?”

Zhou Jing asked while looking curiously at Shuni, who was smiling politely beside him.

Irene stepped forward and held out a knife. “This is the Miraculous Armament, named Howling Thunder. It can slash out lightning, which suits your current style.”

However, Zhou Jing did not reach out to take it.

“I already have the Raging Inferno. Why did you give me another blade?”

“You’re used to dual blades. Having this would complete your equipment set,” Irene said casually.

“It’s still a reward from the King this time? I don’t think I’ve made any contributions recently, right?”

Zhou Jing was a little puzzled. Ever since he chased after Bill last time, the King had been complaining about the Imperial Hunters, so he did not think that the King would suddenly reward him.

Irene shrugged and was forced to explain, “No, this is a personal gift from Princess Shuni. She wishes to congratulate you on becoming the commander of the Imperial Hunters.”

Zhou Jing was a little surprised and looked at Shuni in surprise.

Shuni seemed to be embarrassed as she smiled and said, “Commander Jace, I’ve always heard my father mention you. I know you’re the pillar of the Empire and want to get to know you. I hope you like this gift.”

“Uh… Since it’s a kind gesture from the princess, I’ll accept it. I like it very much.”

Zhou Jing felt strange as he took over Howling Thunder.

The last time he had interacted with the princess was a few months ago, using Bill’s body.

Now that he saw Shuni again, he did not expect her to have changed so much. She was not as introverted and shy as before.

Moreover, as a flower vase, the princess actually had the authority to mobilize the Miracle Armament and give it away. He did not know if she had gotten it from the King or if she had other connections.

The two of them chatted for a while and got to know each other. Finally, Shuni and Irene left together.

Looking at their backs, Zhou Jing’s heart skipped a beat.

From the conversation just now, he realized that Shuni and Irene were very close — a situation that had not existed a few months ago.

Speaking of which, Irene was Shuni’s aunt. Shuni seemed to be using this relationship to get close to Irene with a certain purpose.

“Looks like the recent changes have affected Shuni quite a bit… I hope she hasn’t turned too extreme.”

Zhou Jing thought to himself that the main reason was probably Bill’s escape from the marriage. He could not help but feel a little ashamed upon realizing this.

He pulled out Howling Thunder and tested it a little. The mechanism was similar to how Raging Inferno worked, but what was released was lightning instead of fire this time.

After the development of the V3 Mutant Blood Potion, he could release electricity himself, which coincided with Howling Thunder. However, the discharge of his Miraculous Armament did not consume physical strength. It was more or less helpful and could increase his output.

This time, Jason’s two blades were changed to become Miraculous Armament. With Howling Thunder and Raging Inferno, their combined lethality far exceeded ordinary weapons. It was a pleasant surprise.

Zhou Jing put away his two blades and composed himself.

No matter what Shuni’s intentions were, it would be a waste not to take the gift.

...

Because the various tribes had become independent one after another, the empire had split up. In addition, the two sides were in a stalemate and were urgently preparing for war. Now, everyone in the country was in danger and their nerves were tense.

As the atmosphere became more and more tense, the troops on both sides were mobilized more frequently, and more and more elites were promoted.

Jason had become the commander of the Imperial Hunters, and Bill had also become an advisor and head of pharmacology in Roman’s base. They each held some authority in the different factions they served.

The Terra Empire did not acknowledge the legitimacy of the tribe’s independence, but it did not immediately send troops to suppress the rebels either. As long as it did not relent, all the tribes would not dare to relax.

Wreathed in this atmosphere of impending disaster, the entire population of the Terra Empire was worried. They did not know when a war would break out or what the future situation would be like.

Zhou Jing was also observing the situation.

After settling the matter of Jason taking over as commander, he set up a placement plan. Then came another cycle of traveling to Bill’s side to practice sorcery.

It had been more than three months since Bill learned sorcery. With the help of the Accelerated Learning, he had already obtained seven sorcery points and had already unlocked the Tier 2 and 3 Gale Spirit skill tree.

His strength had improved greatly. His mental strength and energy attributes had reached more than 30 points, comparable to the cultivation of an ordinary sorcerer for several years.

However, he also encountered a bottleneck. Bill’s aptitude was limited to only activating up to Tier 3 in the skill tree. He could not unlock anything further.

However, there were a total of nine skills in Tier 3. To max out all of them required 27 sorcery points, so there was still a lot of room for enhancement. Zhou Jing was not in a hurry.

After ending his projection cycle, Zhou Jing returned to his main body.

He was already familiar with his daily return, but this time, the notification from the interface surprised him.

_____________________________

[The projection has ended!]

[Detected known Astral Disturbance, calibrating coordinates…]

[Warning! [Mutant Beast World] No. 001. The gravitational strength of the plane has fallen below the threshold of astral travel. Astral confluence has ended… Astral connection port has been closed. Time flow connection has ended… Detection complete. Current state: Placement not possible.]

[Time to next Astral Confluence: Unknown]

[Note: If there is an Astral Apostle that has been placed in an Astral Realm that cannot undergo placement, the Astral Apostle will continue to act in fixed placement mode and accumulate benefits. However, before the next intersection, the main body will lose most of its connection with the Apostle and will not be able to descend with its consciousness. The main body will not be able to change the placement plan, nor will it be able to perform operations on the Apostle. The Apostle’s file will not be updated in real time… Only if the Astral Apostle dies will it then return with information and benefits and update the records.]

[If the Astral Apostle that has been placed is an “Eternal Apostle”, you may consume a deployment chance to cause it to die and immediately retrieve it from the Astral Realm where the intersection has ended.]

_____________________________

“Huh? The astral confluence has ended?”

Zhou Jing was so surprised he exclaimed out loud. This was the first time he had triggered such a scenario.