"This..." Gaia glanced at Nini and pulled out another report.
"Nini had been trying to create Pollution through novels. Unfortunately... I mean, fortunately, she succeeded."
"Succeeded? Succeeded at what?" Theus froze.
"Yes. After the Banshees involved in the experiment read sufficiently wild unofficial histories, Pollution emerged from within them... Fortunately, Banshees cannot be eroded by Pollution."
Theus: "..."
"Wait, something's not right. Doesn't Cognitive Interference require many people to develop the same false perception at once? Nini, did you gather people to pass around your novels again?"
Then Theus realized something else was wrong. "Wait, simply altering history wouldn't cause Cognitive Interference. That's already been verified. Did you write false knowledge into the books?"
Theus's gaze turned stern. This was something he had explicitly forbidden.
He allowed Nini to write unofficial histories because they were safe enough. Widely spreading incorrect techniques and knowledge could indeed cause Cognitive Interference, but it would also bring immeasurable losses.
After all, novels were meant to spread. Once they were printed into books, Theus would no longer have any control over where they went.
Given Castel's literacy rate, the damage it caused would likely exceed the blow dealt to the Empire.
"She didn't." Gaia unusually spoke up to explain for Nini. "She used another method—writing the wildest possible unofficial history, so wild that it directly shattered the readers' worldview. That caused the Banshees who read it to waver in spirit, allowing the waters of the Sea of Unconsciousness to flood in."
Theus: "..."
Generally speaking, Transcendents without firm wills were easily eroded by the Sea of Unconsciousness, allowing Pollution to enter their bodies.
Castel Syndrome was actually an early manifestation of this. Being so shocked by Castel's creations that one's mind lost its guard could allow Pollution to enter the body if treatment was not