As for how exactly he planned to fleece the authorities, it was actually quite simple.
He would let them discover the Golden Army.
Then, he would allow the authorities to reasonably transport the entire army out of the ruins.
And after that?
After that, the Empire would inevitably pour tremendous resources into researching it.
Soon enough, they would discover that the Golden Army was no ordinary artifact. It was an incredibly powerful Sealed Artifact created from the Mysticism of a Sequence Two existence.
That kind of discovery was enough to send the entire Empire into celebration.
But after the excitement faded, they would encounter a rather awkward problem.
No matter what they tried, they wouldn't be able to activate it.
Nor could they simply go ask the elves about it.
Doing so would immediately escalate into a serious diplomatic incident.
Thus, the Empire's greatest treasure would become nothing more than a spectacular decoration that could be admired but never used.
And who could possibly tolerate that?
That, naturally, would be the moment for Mozo to make his grand entrance.
According to the memories recorded in the Nameless Book, Mozo was more than ninety percent confident that he could successfully infiltrate the Imperial establishment and become a perfectly legitimate researcher assigned to the Golden Army project.
All he would need to do was occasionally hand over fragments of genuine or half-true knowledge to satisfy his superiors.
At the same time, he could openly reside near the Golden Army under the pretext of conducting research.
That would also grant him additional protection from the authorities.
In one move, he would go from being a poor university student to a highly valued government employee.
If he felt particularly ambitious, he could even use his research position as an excuse to have the Empire prepare the potion ingredients for his future advancements.
The more he thought about it, the more convinced Mozo became that he was a genius.
The only unfortunate party in all this would be the Empire.
At this rate, he would practically shear them bald.
Still, that wasn't really a problem.
After all, the wealth he had left behind for the Empire back in the day far exceeded anything he intended to take now.
Thinking about it that way, Mozo felt completely justified.
As for how he would actually execute the plan when the time came, that was a matter for the future.
For now, it was time to leave.
Suppressing the excitement bubbling within him, Mozo once again recited the ancient covenant.
A moment later, he was returned to the surface.
Back in the sewer where he had first entered, Mozo glanced around to ensure nobody was nearby before heading toward the exit in an excellent mood.
However, before he even reached the manhole, a strong smell of blood reached his nose.
His expression instantly changed.
Pressing himself against the wall, Mozo cautiously surveyed the area.
A large pool of dried blood lay ahead.
Following the trail upward, he spotted the corpse of an Imperial soldier collapsed beside the manhole cover, terror frozen across his face.
Mozo's pupils immediately contracted.
Something had gone wrong.
Was there a third party involved?
Had another faction been watching this place?
After observing for a while and confirming that the soldier had been dead for quite some time, Mozo first caught a rat and threw it forward, deliberately creating a considerable amount of noise.
He waited.
No one appeared.
Only then did he cautiously emerge from the manhole.
The first thing he saw were seven or eight more soldiers' corpses.
But what truly surprised him was the manner of their deaths.
Judging by their positions, it looked as though they had shot and killed one another.
Immediately, Mozo thought of World and Hanged Man inside the ruins.
They had appeared to have killed each other as well.
At the time, he had assumed they had fought over treasure.
Now, however, it seemed possible that another force had already been operating behind the scenes.
What were they trying to accomplish?
Were they local rogue Beyonders?
No.
That seemed unlikely.
No matter how reckless rogue Beyonders were, they generally didn't possess the courage to attack Imperial troops.
There was another problem.
These soldiers had been dead for quite some time.
They had died from gunfire.
And yet no nearby soldiers or Beyonders seemed to have noticed anything unusual.
Had something happened elsewhere as well?
Or had someone used supernatural abilities to conceal this location?
And if so...
Who?
At that moment, countless possibilities flashed through Mozo's mind.
There were simply too many suspects.
He couldn't narrow it down at all.
---
Meanwhile, in the sewer directly above the grand hall, someone had excavated a massive circular chamber.
A group of black-robed figures stood within it, their faces completely hidden.
After some time, two more robed individuals entered.
They nodded respectfully toward the leader.
"The soldiers have been dealt with and the scene has been disguised. But are we really not going to dispose of the bodies?"
The leader shook his head.
"As long as they don't get in our way later, that's enough."
"As for the corpses..."
He chuckled.
"They'll still be useful when we leave."
After speaking, he turned toward a black-robed figure standing apart from the others.
In front of that individual was a human-sized object concealed beneath a cloth covering.
Leaning unconscious against the nearby wall was a young girl.
If Mozo had been present, he would have recognized her immediately.
She was Windsor, the last of the Three Beauties of the Flower Court.
At the same time, she was also one of the highest-ranking nobles in all of Cromwell University.
The leader approached the isolated figure with obvious respect and lowered his head.
"Honored Master Craftsman Daedalus."
"I believe it is time to fulfill the agreement between you and His Majesty the Emperor."
Hearing those words, the black-robed figure slowly removed his hood.
Long elven ears emerged.
So did a flawless face whose beauty blurred the distinction between male and female.
"You needn't remind me."
"Your Emperor saved my daughter."
"And those people have indeed desecrated my King's treasury."
"I shall honor our original agreement."
After speaking, the elven master craftsman pulled away the cloth covering the object before him.
Beneath it stood an elven statue.
The statue wore a crown and rested both hands upon the pommel of a longsword.
It was a statue of the Sun King.
The black-robed leader stared in disbelief.
"This is what you were talking about?"
"A statue?"
"We went through all this trouble to smuggle in our secret weapon, and it's just a stone statue?"
Before he could finish speaking, the elven craftsman seized him by the throat and lifted him into the air.
The surrounding robed figures instinctively moved to intervene.
The leader quickly stopped them.
"Please forgive me, honored Master Craftsman Daedalus."
"I meant no disrespect toward your King."
"But as your ally, I require a reasonable explanation."
The elf snorted coldly and hurled him aside.
Then, with utmost care, he retrieved a silver crown from within his robes.
Holding it reverently in both hands, he said:
"This is a replica of my King's crown."
"It is the masterpiece of my life's work."
"It can only be used once."
"It cannot command the Great Army itself."
"But it is more than enough to send these blasphemers straight to hell."
With that, the elven master craftsman carefully removed the crown adorning the statue.
Then, with utmost solemnity, he placed the silver replica upon the statue's head.