Let's rewind to a little over a month ago, the day the Holy City fell.
When Ed led his army and descended like a divine force, Sailesi knew that all was lost.
He immediately began to implement his pre-prepared plan ahead of schedule, releasing the deeply brainwashed Luorui'er, severing his extensive network of connections and handing it over to her, completely disguising her as another version of himself.
Finally, he took a few trusted confidants and escaped the Holy City amidst the chaos.
With Luorui'er as a stand-in and Samuer as a monster, this city won't be peaceful so easily.
Although he had human trafficking relationships with some people in the Empire, Sailesi did not choose to go directly south to the Empire.
He knew that Luxiusi's style of doing things was always to either remain still or, once he made a move, to eliminate all traces of the enemy. He was certain that Luxiusi's men had laid an ambush on the road to the Empire.
Having just lost its vast Root Network, this "cutting off the tail to survive" has truly dealt a heavy blow to its vitality.
Even setting aside the possibility of breaking through the blockade of Luxiusi's Pure Ones, there's no guarantee of a good outcome even if they safely reach the Southern Empire:
The imperial people have always been bullying the weak. If they see that I am much weaker than before, they are very likely to capture me and send me back to the Theocracy.
So Sailesi made up his mind almost without thinking—to go to the Skeleton Alliance, seeking continued protection and the possibility of a comeback.
The Skeleton Alliance and the Theocracy have little interaction and are not well-informed about each other's power systems. As long as I keep it well hidden, they will not know that my strength has been greatly diminished.
Moreover, compared to the other two cardinals, he had relatively close communication with the Skeleton Alliance.
Having conducted so many experiments, the resulting skeletons naturally needed to be disposed of.
The Skeleton Alliance had proactively approached them long ago to undertake this recycling business.
Thinking about it carefully, it's somewhat abstract:
The Base Body were bred and captured by the Empire and sent to the Theocracy to complete the Stained Ones experiments. After the experiments were completed, they were recycled by the Skeleton Alliance to be used as skeleton soldiers. The skeleton soldiers created were then used to attack the Empire.
After all this, the empire has ended up creating its own enemies...
Having evaded Luxiusi's men, Sailesi and his companions entered a vast desert land.
The scorching sun nearly baked them dry, but thankfully, those who followed Sailesi were no ordinary Stained Ones. They wrapped themselves tightly in fine tree bark and finally arrived safely at Sand Capital, located on the coast of the Floating Corpse Sea.
Having a precedent of cooperation, Sailesi was warmly welcomed by the Skeleton Council after explaining his purpose and verifying his identity.
Although the Skeleton Alliance had already begun fighting the Empire, and not all council members were located in Sand Capital, they even made a special long-distance communication to discuss the matter of Sailesi.
The lawmakers ultimately made a decision:
They do not intend to offer Sailesi political asylum, but the good news is that they welcome Sailesi to join the Skeleton Alliance, and even to become a member of the Skeleton Council.
Moreover, Sailesi must be completely open and honest, revealing all the information they want to know.
Looking at the skeletal councilor [ Crown ]'s translucent body and the Psionic Energy Manifestation aura hovering above his head, Sailesi couldn't help but fall into an inner struggle.
The Stained Ones Project was the culmination of most of his life's work. Although he knew from the moment the project began that it violated almost all doctrines, Sailesi still stubbornly pushed the project forward.
He could not resist the temptation to resurrect the Tree God, the Triple Crown belonging to the Holy See, the desire to become a true master of a god, or the possibility of gradually eroding and seizing that power for himself.
And so things came to this point.
There is no political asylum; it's simply a matter of joining or leaving.
Joining the Skeleton Alliance obviously has a prerequisite: one must become a skeleton.
In essence, it's no different from death.
At first, Sailesi was trying to convince himself to accept his fate of becoming a skeleton, but later Sailesi realized that he had already accepted this fate and was just making excuses for himself.
Realizing his own thoughts, Sailesi sighed and formally stated his intentions before [ The Crown ], confirming his desire to become a member of the Skeleton Alliance.
The message was relayed to every member of parliament, both in and out of Sand Capital Sand Capital, and all five members unanimously approved Sailesi's application to join, while also clarifying the criteria for Sailesi to become a member of parliament.
By assisting other councilors in completing a major operation, you can pass their test and officially enter the Skeleton Council.
Having received permission, Sailesi was led into a secret chamber in the Sand Capital, where [ the Crown ] walked in front of him, introducing the place as he went:
"Intelligent beings wishing to join the Skeleton Alliance must first shed all their flesh and blood, which will significantly reduce their strength."
Sailesi nodded; he roughly understood this, which explained his earlier concerns. His loyal men had already been taken away for "bone removal."
[ The Crown ] continued:
"But you are different, so we will use a secret technique to directly transform you into a skeletal form. This method will not only avoid the pain of bone removal, but will also not cause you to lose your symbiotic plant."
"After all, a weakling joining the council brings us no benefit, so once the transformation is complete, you must immediately begin operations with [ Giant Arms ]."
During their conversation, the two arrived at a secret chamber deep underground in the Sand Capital.
Mysterious runes were inscribed on numerous crystal clusters, constantly emitting an eerie light.
Skulls, spines, ribs, leg bones, finger bones... piles of fully crystallized bones were stacked on both sides of the tunnel. Even Sailesi, a man with blood on his hands, couldn't help but be surprised when he saw this scene.
"These are all..."
Sailesi couldn't help but ask [ the Crown ], and the Skull Councilor nodded:
"That's right, they were all failed experiments."
Sailesi stroked the crystallized bones and couldn't help but sigh:
"Such a large sample size is wonderful."
"If only I could have so much material..."
Clearly, Sailesi still showed no remorse at this point.
After a moment of reflection, Sailesi suddenly asked:
"I still have a lot of experimental knowledge in my mind, and if conditions permit in the future, I would like to continue to do some experiments."
"So, does becoming a skeleton affect the memories in the brain?"
The person walking in front, [ Crown ], paused for a moment upon hearing this, then turned to look at Sailesi and said:
"Of course, it has no impact."
He smiled and continued:
"Like me, before the Demonic Tide Descent, I was just the second son of a minor noble family. If it weren't for the Demonic Tide, I probably wouldn't have achieved anything in my life."
As he said this, [ the Crown ] performed a standard Tree Worship Church ritual:
"By the Tree God, I would not lie to you."