"But, Leoz is not part of it, right?" the Crown Prince said: "I admit what you say doesn't sound like a lie, but you still won't concede Leoz... perhaps concession is not the right word, you don't even want to sell information about Leoz."

"You could understand it that way."

Dialan said:

"We are classmates, friends, we could even have a closer relationship, but not in the way you think as secret lovers—simply put, I am indebted to him, and I wish to repay him, nothing more."

"The way you're drawing lines, someone who didn't know might think you're a corrupt official."

Mistofen teased:

"Prime Minister Dialan, there's no need to be so tense, though the Empire is keen on conquest, it wouldn't trouble a woman."

Dialan said:

"Your Highness the Crown Prince, in the Frost Plated, your words could be charged with gender discrimination."

"Why do you assume my gender?"

The Crown Prince smiled slightly:

"Come on, our Narrative Civilization is more inclusive and civilized than you imagine, hegemony is the way we are forced to survive, but only those who survive can talk about education and civilization, only then can thoughts become more diverse—isn't it?"

He glanced at his secretary Cynthia:

"Step out for a minute, we have some private matters to discuss."

Cynthia looked to Dialan: "Your Excellency the Prime Minister..."

"Don't worry." Dialan nodded: "The Empire is civilized."

"Understood." Cynthia nodded and turned to leave.

The door closed, and the Crown Prince Mistofen leaned back, pressing a hand on his knee, speaking in a deep voice:

"Ms. Dialan, you should understand a fundamental fact, legally, your country has already fallen, and your lands have been divided and devoured by those monsters. The existence of your current government is not because of the Empire's kindness, but because of Leoz Dominet's existence."

"Just now, your subordinate was here, and I was afraid of bruising your pride. Now I must speak candidly—the public in the Empire grows weary of sheltering distressed migrants and exile governments like yours. If not for the immense prestige of the Philosopher King, whom we use as authority to declare 'it's a strategic deployment consideration,' you would have been driven to the Azure Star by now."

"Moreover, Baizhu Star currently has no army, and Leoz is not in the Layer Abyss; do you think once on the Azure Star, the Common Destiny Body would still listen to an exiled prime minister like you?"

He stood up, hands clasped behind his back, pacing the room.

"Ms. Dialan, now it is the Empire asking you to act, there is no room for bargaining for you. For the Empire, the bloodlines of dragons and titans matter little, we have cloning companies and phantom beast enclosures; you are not as valuable as you imagine."

The Crown Prince's tone was not particularly aggressive, holding a businesslike demeanor throughout:

"If you thought I was speaking harshly before, now, I must speak even more so."

"Do not think my words are harsh, every word I say now is not idle. You are currently enfeebled and cannot provide wartime services; Baizhu Star has already fallen, your nationals and national resources can no longer be mobilized for you; you and your government, your sole purpose now is liaising with Leoz."

"I am not one with a fragile psyche; in fact, I simply fail to understand one thing."

Dialan spoke in a deep voice:

"Why does the Empire need Leoz? Even if Leoz has a great reputation, strong combat power, he has just reached Iota (9), currently perhaps at Kappa Rank (10), a common strong figure for the Empire; you have thousands of Underwater Abyss Bureau chiefs at roughly this level, ready to be deployed in the Layered Abyss Battlefield."

She looked at the Crown Prince's back and asked:

"So, why do you value Leoz so highly?"

"I am not obliged to answer your question."

"But if you answer, I might cooperate more with your actions."

Dialan said seriously:

"As the Crown Prince, you came personally to engage with me, an exiled prime minister, precisely showing your urgent desire for Leoz. Coupled with the three major Narratives waging war with the Evil God & Societal Allied Forces, and the sudden friendliness of the group towards our Baizhu Star previously—there is definitely something about Leoz you are eyeing, enough for the Narrative Civilization to personally intervene, right?"

"You should be thankful that it was the Empire that took you back."

The Crown Prince patted the back of his hand, saying:

"The Temple would freely torture or even use soul techniques for brainwashing, and the group's means are even crueler, but the Empire is a universal empire, we do not harm guests."

"Indeed that's so, but to the Empire, we're not really guests, more like spoils of war, aren't we?"

Dialan glanced at the cluttered and poor condition of the hospital room:

"To be precise, you snatched us away from the hands of other Narratives, didn't you."

"It seems you have some skills to become Prime Minister and nearly run for President; you're not the vase that outsiders claim relies on being Leoz's mistress."

The Crown Prince turned around, leaning against the window, asking:

"From the start, you've been trying to clarify your relationship with Leoz, but just now, I finally acknowledge your claim; you and Leoz are truly not in any intimate ambiguous relationship, but—this doesn't mean you can't bring Leoz to us."

"...Can you answer now?"

Dialan clutched the blanket tightly, saying:

"Leoz, what exactly is so vital about him to you that you must obtain him?"

The Crown Prince Mistofen gazed at Dialan, as if hearing something unbelievable, he paused, raised his hand, then lowered it again, finally saying with a tone tinged with pity:

"Suddenly, I realize, Prime Minister Dialan, you truly are quite pitiable; after all these years following Leoz, you actually know nothing about him."

"What do you mean by this?"

"The Empire's intelligence institutions may not match the group, but if it gets the Philosopher King to act personally, that's a different story."

The Crown Prince said:

"Leoz Dominet, original name Li Aozi, citizen of the Azure Star Frosted Republic, half of the Frost Plated Ethnicity and Outer World, graduated high school at 21, stayed unemployed at home for half a year due to job scarcity."

"Suddenly, one day, he seemed like a different person, burning banks, embezzling, fleeing smuggled, awakening as an Arcane User, starting to become a terrorist, much like most Arcane Awakeners."

"But soon, unimaginable changes appeared in him, more and more people began to follow him, emulate him, becoming his partners or subordinates."

"Hence, quietly, he became the [Sovereign] Pathway Pioneer of the Azure Star; from then on, every Arcane User emerging from here must draw upon and learn from Li Aozi, forever influenced by him."

"Do you know what this means to the Narrative Civilization?"

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