He looked at everyone and said:
"So far, Gray has three notable achievements:"
"First, it opened up contact with the emerging power of the Second Holy See and established trade routes."
"Secondly, they brought back a method for modifying mobile fortresses, allowing them to Drain some nutrients from the land after modification, thus slowing down the 'autophagy' phenomenon."
"The third is how to activate the ' Machine Spirit '."
"The first two achievements have already helped Gray pass the first two hurdles of the Grand Foundry Master selection, and the third hurdle is just around the corner. I believe it is necessary to fully support Gray, and the reasons are quite good—"
" Gray, as a plant-mechanical dual-attribute cyborg, must understand the benefits of such a transformation. Since we cannot change the social atmosphere of the Graycast Corridor, promoting the dual transformation of plants and machines is also a way to make the people there live better lives."
"Moreover, all plant components must be imported from the Second Holy See, which will further deepen the cooperation between the two sides and make the Alliance even more solid."
"Therefore, supporting Gray is our best option right now, and the rewards will be greater and more substantial than other plans."
[ Traditional Eccentric Wheel ] gave a long explanation of his analysis, showing that he had been seriously considering this issue throughout the journey.
Ed hadn't considered how the people in the Graycast Corridor were faring before, but [ Traditional Eccentric Wheel ]'s remarks gave him another reason to consider.
Therefore, from both a public and private perspective, whether from the perspective of power or the livelihood of ordinary people, helping Gray is a very good idea.
Ed put down the knight's sword he was maintaining, pondered for a moment, and asked:
"Is that what you all think too?"
The thoughts of the Soul Returner are actually quite similar, but they cannot express them as logically and persuasively as the [ Traditional Eccentric Wheel ].
So everyone then adopted a simple, honest expression of "Me too," nodding frantically like a group of taciturn generals.
"Okay, then it's settled."
Ed plunged his knight's sword into the ground and addressed the crowd:
"We will do everything we can to help Gray become Grand Foundry Master, but we shouldn't push him too hard. We just need to make sure he's safely escorted back to the Graycast Corridor. Whether he ultimately succeeds is none of our concern. I will assign you other tasks. Now, go and inform Gray."
"Yes!"
Having received Ed's permission, everyone agreed in unison and then happily left the Shattered Castle.
Walking on the open ground leading to the docked Antasia, the group couldn't help but imagine the future.
The first to start dreaming was [ the Shit Appraisal Master ]:
"Do you think Gray will give me the official position and title that I couldn't get from that old silver coin Hall last time, if he becomes the Grand Foundry Master?"
[ His Good Times Don't Last ] He immediately refuted his idea:
"Can you stop overthinking? Look at the lore. Graycast Corridor doesn't even have nobles; it's one of the most enlightened regimes in the world."
[ Shit Appraisal Master ] Still Stubborn:
"How about giving me a leisurely official position?"
Hearing his insistence, the others joined in the conversation, each offering their own commentary:
"Then let me ask you, do you understand machining?"
"I don't quite understand."
"Then it's probably hopeless. I'd think it's more reasonable that [ Traditional Eccentric Wheel ] ended up with a technical official position."
"Then I won't go."
"Go or not, it's up to you. In ancient times, this would be considered a meritorious act of supporting the emperor. If you don't go, plenty of others will."
Wow, what you said actually makes a lot of sense!
Although he might not become a high-ranking figure in the Graycast Corridor, [ the Shit Appraisal Master ] still showed great interest in the term "meritorious service in supporting the enthronement".
Meanwhile, [ Zhongde ] murmured softly:
"Let me think... A sudden upheaval in the country, exile abroad, and the supposedly dead heir apparent returns to inherit the throne—isn't this just like the script for Duke Huan of Qi?!"
He happily said to everyone:
"If Gray is Duke Huan of Qi, then we are Bao Shuya! We are the greatest heroes!"
Suddenly, [ Howling Pothos ] asked from the crowd:
"What happened to Bao Shuya in the end? I'm not very well-educated, can someone explain it to me?"
History enthusiast [ Great Wei Boxing Champion ] thought for a moment and said:
He refused to heed advice and died in despair.
Everyone paused in their tracks, especially [ Zhongde ], who glared angrily at [ the Great Wei Boxing Champion ]:
"Don't rub it in, brother. Just pretend my example wasn't good—if I remember correctly, Duke Wen of Jin was also in exile for a time, right? Did he have any capable men under his command?"
[ The Great Wei Boxing Champion ] said firmly:
Yes, Jie Zitui.
[ Howling Pothos ] was clearly not very familiar with this history, so he asked again:
What happened to Jie Zitui afterward?
[ The Great Wei Boxing Champion ] had something to say upon hearing this:
He who has rendered meritorious service will not be rewarded, but will instead live in seclusion until his death.
The group paused again, and [ Zhongde ] seemed to have a slightly flushed face for some reason.
"You're trying to sabotage me, aren't you? Don't worry, brothers, this kind of thing happens all the time. I remember Lü Buwei and Qin Shi Huang's father had a similar relationship, right?"
[ Howling Pothos ] once again acted as the question-asking tool, asking whether she genuinely didn't know or was feigning ignorance:
What happened to Lü Buwei afterward?
Having already teamed up twice, the [ Great Wei Boxing Champion ] blurted out:
He was driven to suicide.
The crowd paused again, all turning to look at [ Zhongde ], who had cited three bad examples.
As the saying goes, "Once is enough, twice is bad, but a third time is not." Will this guy actually be able to spit out anything useful?
At this moment, [ Zhongde ] was so flustered by the two of them talking in unison that he blushed and immediately rebuked them loudly:
"What are you all doing? What are you all doing!"
Everyone burst into laughter, but [ Zhongde ] still seemed to be blaming someone else, shouting:
"Give me the script!"
[ The Great Wei Boxing Champion ] approached [ Zhongde ], who had turned red, and patted him affectionately on the shoulder:
"Don't worry, brother, those are just isolated cases."
"Really? Do you have any stories with similar scripts but different endings that you could tell me about?"
"Not a buddy..."
"Do you have it?"
[ Zhongde ] grabbed [ the Great Wei Boxing Champion ] by the collar:
"Are we going to be purged in the future?"
[ The Great Wei Boxing Champion ] gently pushed his hand away and said:
"Don't worry, it's still uncertain whether this will work out. Only you would start dreaming about it so early."
"And who said that if we support Gray, we'll become your loyal subjects in those scripts?"
"Um?"
Zhongde frowned:
"You really have a better script..."
[ The Great Wei Boxing Champion ] chuckled:
"Brother, have you ever heard of the Weibo Headquarters Troops?"
"..."
Amidst laughter and cheerful conversation, the group arrived at the Antasia.
Gray immediately saw a group of more than a dozen Soul Returner coming to find him. Upon closer inspection, he saw that everyone had a smile on their face, except for one person who looked ashamed and indignant, and he didn't know what had happened.
Before he could ask a question, he noticed that the Soul Returner had stopped in their tracks all at once.
After some simple editing and revisions, Ed finally guided Noya to issue a reasonably acceptable mission announcement.