Chapter 33: Altering Cognition?
"Of course, you shouldn't get too ahead of yourself either, Najenda."
Prime Minister Honest let out a cold sneer. "I am merely the first player to be kicked out of the game by that entity, and your Revolutionary Army is the next target."
"If that entity can replace me so effortlessly, then replacing the Emperor would be just as simple."
"In fact, it could even replace the leader of your Revolutionary Army without breaking a steam."
"This entire world is nothing more than a plaything to that being."
"That entity only needs to snap its fingers, and your Revolutionary Army will instantly crumble into pieces."
Hearing these words from Prime Minister Honest, Najenda could not help but shudder violently.
A person who could alter the cognition of others—just how terrifying such an ability was, no one knew for sure.
However, based on what Prime Minister Honest had experienced, a glimpse of it could be seen.
Just yesterday, Honest was still the Prime Minister sitting in a high position of absolute power, yet today, he had already become a prisoner trapped inside a dungeon.
This treatment could not just be described as a drastic downfall; it was a total, absolute ruin.
Even someone like Great General Budo could have his cognition altered by that entity in an instant, so what about their Night Raid?
Would they also have their cognition altered the very first moment they laid eyes on that entity, causing them to view that person as the leader of the Revolutionary Army, the person closest to them?
And then, without even realizing it, become that entity's accomplices and the sword in that person's hand?
Something like this was not impossible; rather, it was highly probable.
Just thinking about this scenario was enough to give Najenda goosebumps.
"How could such an absurd ability possibly exist in this world?"
"Exactly, how could such an absurd ability possibly exist in this world?"
This question was not only something Najenda could not find an answer to, but even Prime Minister Honest himself could not wrap his head around it.
He looked at Najenda, whose facial expressions kept shifting rapidly, and a flash of satisfaction flickered in his eyes.
Just now, he had confirmed a few things.
First, the person who replaced him did not belong to Najenda's faction, nor did that person come from the Revolutionary Army.
Second, Najenda had successfully been planted with a seed of suspicion by him, turning the imposter who replaced him into a phantom enemy.
This meant the Revolutionary Army would most likely clash with that fake Prime Minister.
When that time came, both sides would definitely be locked in a fierce battle.
It was a pity that he himself would not live long enough to see that day arrive.
Thinking about this, Prime Minister Honest suddenly trembled violently as he realized one thing with absolute clarity.
He was very likely going to die!
But the problem was, he was not willing to die. He was completely, utterly unwilling to die.
He was the Prime Minister, the Prime Minister Honest who held immense power in the government. How could he possibly die in a place like this? This did not fit the grand finale of his life at all. He wanted to stay alive!
And then, he died.
Najenda could not possibly let this cunning, slippery man go free.
Not only did she kill him, but his head was also severed, brought back to the Night Raid headquarters, and placed right on top of the table.
The members of Night Raid sat in a circle around the table.
Lubbock looked at the Prime Minister's head and could not help but let out a deep sigh. "So this is the Prime Minister. I previously thought we would have to pour every ounce of our hard work into just trying to kill him. Now that he is dead like this, it really is far too merciful for him."
Akame, Sheele, Mine, and the others took turns nodding in agreement.
Looking at the things the Prime Minister had done, let alone dying once, even dying a hundred times would never be enough to pay for his crimes.
"The real Prime Minister is dead, but the fake Prime Minister is still alive, and this fake Prime Minister is far more dangerous than the real one."
Najenda shared the information she had obtained with everyone present in the room.
"Altering a person's cognition, is this for real?" Mine was so shocked that her twin tails stood on end. An absurd matter like this was simply too unbelievable.
Bulat spoke up, "All of this was spoken by the real Prime Minister himself right out of his own mouth, so it shouldn't be wrong. If it weren't for an absurd ability like this, the real Prime Minister wouldn't have fallen into his current miserable state."
Everyone looked at the severed head resting on the table, and then nodded in unison.
This truly carried an incredibly high level of persuasion.
If it weren't for such an absurd ability, how could the Prime Minister possibly be thrown out of his own manor by someone else?
And he wouldn't have been finished off by their BOSS so easily either.
Leone rested one of her hands on the table while using her other hand to prop up her chin, then asked, "What should we do now? The real Prime Minister is dead, our mission is complete, but now a fake Prime Minister who can alter cognition and is far more troublesome has appeared. Should we carry out an assassination against him?"
"Carry out an assassination? How are we even supposed to do that?"
Mine commented, "If you look at the other party even once, your cognition will be forcibly altered by him. When that time comes, you might end up viewing him as the BOSS. If that's the case, how are we supposed to assassinate him?"
"If that guy alters your cognition and makes you think he is your lover, you might just throw yourself right into his arms on the spot."
Leone, hearing these words, could not help but furrow her brows, and then she delivered a retort of her own.
"I don't have a lover."
Throughout her time growing up, not a single man had ever caught her eye.
Friends did not count.
As for the two male friends in Night Raid, one was Lubbock, who was whole-heartedly in love with the BOSS.
The other one was Bulat, who was a homosexual. No matter how one looked at it, he did not seem like someone she could start a romance with.
Besides, she also had no intention of entering a romantic relationship before the revolution achieved total victory.
Mine said calmly, "Even if you don't have a lover, so what? That man could make others view him as the real Prime Minister, so on what basis could he not make you view him as your lover?"
"Do not forget that man's ability, which is altering cognition."
Leone could no longer bring herself to smile.
She did not think Mine was joking, because something like that was indeed highly possible.
This matter of altering cognition was indeed a bit too ridiculous.
With an ability like this, it was completely unknown how one could even form a defense against it.
At this moment, Lubbock suddenly struck the table, letting out a sharp slamming sound that instantly startled everyone.
Seeing that everyone's eyes had focused entirely on him, Lubbock spoke:
"I feel like everyone seems to have fallen into a misunderstanding."
"Why must we carry out an assassination against this fake Prime Minister? We don't even know whether the other party is a good person or an evil person."
"Before assassinating the other party, shouldn't we first find out more about his personality?"
Hearing that, everyone suddenly realized the issue.
That was true. Even though they in Night Raid were assassins, they were not evil villains who mindlessly slaughtered innocent people. Instead, they were members of the Revolutionary Army whose goal was to purge the parasites clogging this country.
"Hearing what you just said, I also feel like I was a bit too extreme just now. This is mainly because this person's ability is truly far too easy to cause misunderstandings," Mine said after snapping back to her senses.
Hearing these words from Mine, everyone nodded in deep agreement.
This was mainly because this ability had to be described as what?
It was truly too twisted. A lot of evil intentions could be carried out openly with it, so everyone subconsciously assumed that this person was not a good guy.
Of course, there was also the influence of the situation caused by the real Prime Minister.
That guy called the real Prime Minister was indeed incredibly obnoxious, and even on the verge of his death, he still dug a trap for them.
If someone hadn't been thinking clearly, they would have almost fallen for his trick.
Najenda cast a praising gaze toward Lubbock, which made Lubbock feel unexpectedly overjoyed.
The BOSS looked at me, the BOSS looked at me!
He sat alone on his chair, grinning like an idiot with pure happiness.
Najenda felt quite helpless about this. She knew exactly what was going through Lubbock's mind, but the problem was she really had no intention of entering a romance before victory was achieved, so she could only let Lubbock down.
After that, everyone through a process of discussion decided to send one person to approach this fake Prime Minister.
At the same time, it was to test whether the other party was actually a good person or an evil person, and then they would hold another discussion based on the results obtained.
Regarding the person to be sent, Najenda already had her own thoughts.
...
On the other side, at this moment, Yumesaki had no idea that the people from Night Raid were planning something against him, and he knew even less that the Prime Minister was dead.
In fact, ever since he replaced the Prime Minister's position, he had never paid attention to that failed product ever again.
In Yumesaki's memory, without the identity of the Prime Minister, Honest was actually just a dog by the side of the road that would absolutely not be able to cause any major trouble whatsoever.
Even if the other party really could cause trouble, Yumesaki would not care either.
Because in this world, Yumesaki was essentially in an unrivaled state.
Even if all forty-eight Imperial Arms users combined into one, they would still be no match for him.
Just a mere Prime Minister was far from being worth making Yumesaki exert his thoughts and power.
The thing he wanted to do right now was actually very simple.
That was to eat, to try out the delicious food that served as the signature specialties of this world.
As the Prime Minister who held immense power in this imperial government, he truly possessed such a right. With just a single command, there would be countless people delivering delicious mountain and sea delicacies right before him.
Including several Danger Beasts.
These Danger Beasts, whether in terms of energy or taste, far surpassed regular food, thus becoming a cuisine highly favored by Yumesaki.
The officials situated below found out that Yumesaki had a preference for this, so they began to make their moves one after another.
Gathering personnel to go out and hunt Danger Beasts.
After Yumesaki found out about it, he felt quite at a loss for words.
Danger Beasts were called Danger Beasts precisely because this group of wild beasts was far too dangerous.
Ordinary people were completely no match for them.
If one did not make incredibly thorough preparations and then went out to hunt Danger Beasts recklessly, it would highly likely cause massive casualties.
Yumesaki could not possibly let others bear the burden of a ruined family just for a single bite of food for himself.
Having no other choice, Yumesaki was forced to issue an order that only permitted Imperial Arms users to go out and hunt Danger Beasts, and strictly forbade other ordinary soldiers from going out to hunt Danger Beasts.
Of course, if there really were experts who could hunt Danger Beasts, he would also not be stingy in granting rewards.
After this order was issued, within just a short span of a few days, a group of people had already delivered Danger Beasts before him.
Yumesaki, after hearing about this matter, specifically met several of these experts from among the populace.
However, after looking at them, Yumesaki instantly felt at a loss for words.
Weren't all these people members of Night Raid?
Leone, Sheele, as well as Tatsumi.
Yet in the very next second, Yumesaki discovered that Leone and Sheele were standing together, while Tatsumi stood completely alone on one side without any companions, looking as though they did not know each other at all.
Could it be that the current Tatsumi still hadn't joined Night Raid?
Yumesaki thought so, but a faint smile began to surface on his face.
"Gentlemen, ladies, please introduce yourselves one by one. What kind of people are you, and what sort of reward do you desire? You speak first."
As he spoke at the final part, Yumesaki pointed toward Tatsumi.
Tatsumi was stunned for a moment, then quickly said, "My name is Tatsumi. I want to save my village."
Yumesaki let out an oh, then asked, "What happened to your village?"
— — — — — — — — — — — — — — —
70 Power Stone = 1 Bonus Chapter (Up to 5 bonus chapters per week).
Full Novel Available!
All chapters are now complete and available in full on Patreon!
Join my Patreon to get access to more chapters from Webnovel here:
patreon.com/FaaanzKun