Rychard appeared back within a familiar space, his expression the mark of coldness. Every one of his features seemed to have been etched out of a slab of marble, remaining unmoving for several moments past what was natural.
It was only after half of an hour passed that he took his first breath, expelling all of the rage that had built up within him. Looking down at the map piece in his hand, he stored it within a hidden spatial compartment in his belt, his expression returning to a normal baseline as though nothing had happened.
After another deep breath, he steadied himself completely.
There were still a few years left. He already had a lead amongst all the other potential heirs and this would have just placed him far above them. But, since things had ended like this, he would have to find another way to end this competition for good.
He had still managed to gain the Fourth Dimensional layer. If he combined it with the Third Dimensional layer, should he be lucky enough, he might not have to worry about not having received the Fifth Dimensional layer.
'By now, the others should have found the stars I'm looking for. I'll complete the first two layers first before moving on with the next step of my plan.'
Rychard was about to make a move to communicate with his subordinates covertly, not wanting anyone to know that he had returned just yet, when he realized that he had actually already received a message. Toward this, he couldn't help but raise an eyebrow.
Anyone with the specifications of this talisman knew that he didn't want to be disturbed. The only reason they would dare to reach out to him anyway was if the matter was of the utmost importance.
As expected, Rychard had hardly begun reading into the specifics when his pupils constricted.
'A Unique Zone related to the Silver Empire?!'
Even for Rychard who had seen a lot of things in his life, such a thing couldn't help but make his heart skip a beat.
The truth was that Silver Empire Zones were not rare. It might have collapsed long ago, but its territory had been wide and expansive. The number of situations that would have occurred in such a large region to trigger the creation of a Zone into the future was enormous.
However, any Empire of that size, as a form of protection to themselves, would have numerous fail safes against the formation of Zones. Although they wouldn't be able to stop them from being formed, what they could do was twist and distort the connection, making whatever 'gains' one could make in their Zones bordering on useless.
One might wonder what the point of all of this was. But, the answer was plain as long as Leonel's experiences were taken into account.
When Leonel entered the Joan Zone, he had truly stepped foot into medieval France. If he had wanted, he could have learned what most historians would spend a lifetime unearthing just with a few moments of patience.
He was able to fight in wars they could only speculate about, meet Joan of Arc who they could only deify, and he had even shared a building with a King that had died centuries ago. If he had wanted, he could have learned even what underwear Joan wore on a daily basis, it was just that all of this information was meaningless to him as a person from the 25th Century.
However… What if the target in question was an almighty Empire who, at the height of their powers, ruled over several galaxies and stood atop Seventh Dimensional worlds? In that case, wouldn't a single Zone be a gateway to a wealth of information they could only dream about?
The concept was the same for Earth, honestly, depending on the situation. Some conspiracy theorists believed that things like the former Egyptian Empires were formed by aliens, some others even believed in lost cities of gold or mythical cities like Atlantis.
Wouldn't such pivotal events be stored in Zones as well? What sort of secrets might be hidden in the tale and legend of such events?
This ultimately led to a problem.
It was fine if an Empire was already destroyed. But, if these Zones were popping up erratically all over their Empire while they were still reigning, wouldn't these Zones also give their enemies a chance at their secrets?
One might say at this point that it wasn't like Zones were safe havens. After all, if Leonel had wanted to learn the secrets of the French, he would have still had to put his life on the line. This was even more so for an Empire like the Silver Empire.
However, think of this for a moment.
When an Empire is growing, they obviously start at the lowest levels. They might start as a Bronze Organization before becoming a Silver Organization and finally growing to a Gold Organization or Empire like the Silver Empire had.
What if the secret to your success had been with you since the very beginning? What if there was an ability you wanted to hide, a Lineage Factor you wanted to keep secret, an unworldly treasure you didn't want others to know of?
But, as you grow, wouldn't the enemies you had to face also grow stronger? If those enemies targeted Zones where you still had the strength of a Bronze Organization while they had the strength of a Gold one, wouldn't all your secrets be laid bare?
This was exactly why powerful organizations, families, Kingdoms and Empires all chose a completely different path.
By using an unfathomable amount of resources, they were able to distort what one would find in Zones. These distortions made it impossible to tell what was true and what wasn't, leaving their enemies with no information at all…
These Distorted Zones were useless for information and could only be used for training. Unless…
It became a Unique Zone.