Macragge Truly Deserves Its Reputation as Ultramar's Foremost Stronghold

The warm air over Macragge's oceans cooled as it passed through the mountains. By the time it reached Macragge City beneath Mount Hera, it had become pleasantly cool.

Zhou Yun breathed in softly, feeling his lungs fill with fresh air.

He greatly enjoyed the sensation.

On the Golden Throne, he had long since lost the ability to breathe. His lungs had been scorched by the extreme heat into shriveled fragments, and the only thing he could draw into his body was searing thermal energy, as though he had taken a deep breath of lava.

The fetid air of the Hive City, mixed with the stench of ozone, garbage, and disinfectant, made one want to hold their breath until they died, let alone breathe deeply like this.

Caliban's air was of decent quality, at least, but it seemed to contain a malice beyond the material realm. Every breath sent a chill down one's spine.

Only Macragge's air made Zhou Yun feel refreshed and at ease.

Gazing at the snow-capped Crown of Hera piercing the clouds, as well as the cloud trails left by starships ascending at the far edge of the sky, Zhou Yun could not help opening his mouth.

"Macragge truly deserves its reputation as Ultramar's foremost stronghold!" he exclaimed.

"How is Macragge a stronghold?!" Tita could not help retorting from beside him.

Zhou Yun smiled. He noticed that Tita had not questioned the word Ultramar.

That was normal, because the concept of Ultramar had not been created by Guilliman in the future.

As early as the Golden Age, before humanity entered Old Night, the concept of Ultramar had already existed. The many worlds once belonging to the Ultramar Subsector had jointly established a trade network, with worlds depending on one another and prospering together.

Even now, the concept of Ultramar still existed, though it had weakened into nothing more than a loose alliance between Macragge and several nearby worlds.

After all, Warp engines had been completely lost on Macragge. Only the sublight engines of some starships could still function.

"Attention, citizens of Macragge. Please heed the Senate's latest resolution."

"By order of Consul Conor Guilliman, following a Senate vote, the new agricultural reform bill has been passed."

"Starting from the first day of March in the Macragge calendar, all self-cultivating farmers holding fewer than fifteen mu of land shall be exempt from taxes on agricultural products entering Macragge City."

Before Zhou Yun and Tita could reach the Grammar Academy,

A sphere with an old metal casing flew over their heads, continuously broadcasting the Senate's latest announcement as it flew. It appeared to be some kind of drone.

"They've completely abolished the city-entry tax for self-cultivating farmers. Those great landowners must be starting to panic," Tita said with a faint smile, happy that food prices would fall further.

Macragge was a mountainous planet, and most of its already scarce arable land was controlled by a tiny number of great landowning nobles. The far more numerous self-cultivating farmers could only cling to narrow, fragmented plots.

As a result, the prices of agricultural products in Macragge City had long remained high under the control of landowning nobles. Successive consuls of Macragge had not dared move against them lightly, because those nobles completely controlled the fragile supply of agricultural products.

But after Consul Conor took office, he strengthened trade between Macragge and other planets, making interplanetary trade the primary source of Macragge's agricultural products. No longer held hostage by the great landowning nobles, he was finally able to proceed with land reform.

Reducing taxes on the agricultural products of self-cultivating farmers was one part of that.

Clearly, Conor wanted to win over the vast number of self-cultivating farmers and have them join him in opposing the nobility.

"But the people who work the land the most and produce the most agricultural products are not self-cultivating farmers, but slaves." Part of the Scholar's memories stirred, and Zhou Yun spoke almost instinctively.

"We live in an age where trade can be conducted among the stars, yet slaves still labor on our lands... That is far too backward," Tita said sarcastically.

Zhou Yun shook his head. This was nothing.

If Tita knew that ten thousand years later, humanity's civilization ruled a million worlds, that Warp engines could cross the entire galaxy in mere decades, and that its military power could destroy planets and resist swarms from beyond the galaxy and daemons within the Warp—yet many humans lived worse lives than Macragge's slaves—who knew what expression she would wear.

"I'll go to the teachers' office first," Zhou Yun said to Tita as they entered beneath the colonnades of the Grammar Academy.

He truly intended to teach. It would help him recover more of the Scholar's memories and acquire more of the Scholar's skills.

He needed the Scholar's knowledge to help him deal with House Guilliman's recruitment of Marcus later on.

"No, you don't need to teach today. When I asked for leave for you yesterday, I already turned it down."

Tita reached for Zhou Yun's wrist and dragged him in another direction.

"You have another task today!"

Zhou Yun did not resist. His psychic intuition told him that the place Tita was taking him would bring gains.

Tita dragged Zhou Yun to the door of an office and raised her hand to knock.

"Come in." A somewhat aged voice came from within.

Tita pulled Zhou Yun inside and pushed open the door.

"Professor, I brought him! Please set him straight!"

With that, Tita shoved Zhou Yun into the room, slammed the door shut with a bang, and left on her own.

Zhou Yun turned his gaze directly ahead.

The first thing he noticed was a broad wooden desk, at least two meters long, piled high with all manner of strange and curious objects.

There was a brass eye pendant, an odd marble statue, parchment scrolls covered in complicated writing, gears made from unknown metal... These objects all seemed to be excavated artifacts, and some still had dirt on them.

Seated behind the desk was an old man who appeared to be in his fifties or sixties, with nearly shaved hair and a short gray-white beard.

The old man was holding and reading a clay tablet inscribed with cuneiform...

Zhou Yun remembered. This old man was his teacher, the chief instructor of the Grammar Academy and Macragge's renowned historical Scholar, Lucretius.

Lucretius withdrew his gaze from the clay tablet and smiled as he nodded to Zhou Yun.

"A new ruin has been discovered in the mountains near Odin City. This clay tablet came from there."

"I have not yet finished translating its contents, but from a preliminary look, it concerns the rule of the 'Warlock King' during Old Night."

"This may help us uncover the secret behind the decline of the 'Warlock King's' rule, and reveal how the War King replaced him."

As he spoke, Lucretius gestured for Zhou Yun to sit across from him.

"My child, Tita told me that you have been in much better condition these past two days, and that you have not gone to the casino again."

"That reassures me. You have always been a good student—sincere and diligent are your strengths. I had always hoped you could help me with some historical research."

"But something else Tita told me worries me. You have incurred a rather frightening debt, haven't you?"

Zhou Yun nodded slightly while discreetly observing his teacher.

"I see... My child, tell me according to your instincts."

"Do you feel that there was something unnatural about your downfall? Do you think some... indescribable force caused you to become addicted to gambling, even to the point of suicide?"