Swear Fealty To Me, My Subjects!

Land of Lost Dreams

This eroded site, the most prestigious in the Hain Empire, holds a great secret.

In truth,

This brothel is controlled by a group of demons from the Psi Domain, servants of Olivia, the Evil Dragon,

Commonly referred to as The Phantom.

They follow the orders of the Supreme Being of the Spectral Domain, disguising themselves as humans, setting up establishments in the capitals of various nations, luring in local national dignitaries to corrupt and degrade them, and ultimately achieving their goal of controlling the country.

Using such methods, Olivia's glory has deeply rooted itself in various kingdoms across the land.

However, their efforts have been remarkably unsuccessful in the Hain Empire!

Though they had turned this brothel into a landmark of the Hain Empire and a famous attraction,

Still!

The truth was that these poor chimeras were far less glamorous than they seemed.

At that moment, behind the scenes of the Land of Lost Dreams, a group of chimeras had gathered.

Their leader, the Phantom Dragon, slammed the chalkboard in frustration:

"You're all failures! Look at your performance yesterday!"

The dragon chimera pointed at the board, at the long list of numbers.

"Revenue: 86 million gold coins!"

That's an astronomical amount of money!

To put it plainly, that sum of gold coins was enough to buy a small country—or even fund a coup to overthrow a medium-sized one!

But!

The chimeras weren't happy at all with such lucrative earnings.

Each of them hung their heads low, enduring the scolding of their leader.

"*The number of converts to the Dragon of **: thirty-six!

"And among those, how many are imperial dignitaries?"

"Zero! Absolutely zero!"

The Phantom Dragon Demon was on the verge of tears, furiously slamming the chalkboard: "What kind of cursed place is this? We've been working here for thirty years! And yet we haven't corrupted a single imperial official!"

Waaaahhhhhh!!!

The chimeras on stage began wiping away tears of anguish.

They sympathized with the dragon chimera who was leading them.

Damn it!

What kind of hellhole is this?!

After so many years of operating here, the only thing they had gained was money! Just gold coins!

Damn it!!!

What the hell do we even need this kind of junk for?

The chimeras were at the brink of despair, and the meeting had devolved into a massive crying session.

The chimeras wailed in sorrow.

This wasn't just the pain of one day—it was thirty years of pent-up grievances!

Was their goal in opening a brothel among humans simply to make money?

Of course not!

They were trying to spread doctrine and overthrow the state!

But!

Ever since the Phantoms arrived in the Hain Empire and spent vast sums of money building the original Land of Lost Dreams,

Thirty years had passed!

And yet, not a single imperial dignitary had ever visited their enchanted land of dreams!

And the reason for all this...

It all began with the twisted administrative system of the Hain Empire.

First Note:

The reason imperial dignitaries didn't patronize the Land of Lost Dreams boiled down to one simple fact:

They had no money!

The integrity of the officials in the Hain Empire was renowned worldwide, and at first glance, outsiders might think the Empire was some ideal nation founded by honest and upright people.

But that wasn't the case at all.

Corruption existed in the Empire—while not severe, it was definitely substantial!

It was as bad as in some other major nations if you wanted to talk about corruption.

So why were the imperial dignitaries always broke?

Because.

Within the administrative system of the Hain Empire, there was a group of giants who monopolized all bribe mechanisms, seized the side jobs of officials, and enjoyed the dividends of administration exclusively.

That's right!

The Royal Forbidden Army!

As the empire's most powerful war machine, this group of demigod Forbidden Soldiers wielded unprecedented authority.

And, due to their inherently greedy and self-serving nature,

They worked tirelessly to enrich themselves.

Corruption and bribery were just part of their natural behavior, and they despised sharing profits with other officials.

Damn it to hell!

From the very first day the Phantoms arrived in the Hain Empire, they were shocked to discover this!

The Forbidden Army had been hoarding all the dirty money for over a century!

Leaving the officials destitute!

There was no more oil to squeeze!

This was the cruel reality of the Hain Empire!

But, because of the Forbidden Army's unparalleled military status, no one could sanction this group of arrogant fools. It had led to a tradition in the empire's political arena, passed down from generation to generation.

By now,

Those willing to become officials of the Hain Empire were basically idealists.

This group of ambitious bureaucrats only cared about building the country for the benefit of the people. After work, they went home to spend time with their wives and children or worked overtime at their offices.

They had no interest in going out to indulge themselves—and no money to do so anyway.

In the end,

The only guests at the Land of Lost Dreams were the wealthy merchants of the Empire.

Thanks to the flourishing economy of the Hain Empire, the rich merchants of the imperial capital were incredibly wealthy, and their financial support kept the Land of Lost Dreams growing grander and grander.

To this day,

It's almost as tall as the palace itself!

But even so, it was useless! The objectives given by Lord Olivia hadn't made a shred of progress!

Would the chimeras manipulate this group of wealthy merchants to take control of the empire?

What a joke!

These merchants had money, but the moment they harbored rebellious thoughts, the Forbidden Army—equipped with eyes and ears everywhere—would gleefully raid their homes, confiscate their properties, and strip them bare to the bone.

With tears of humiliation, the Phantoms had endured the pain of operating in the Hain Empire for thirty years!

The backstage of the palace was now packed with useless yellow blocks of gold! There was hardly any room to live!

And yet! The mission was still a far-off dream!

The chimeras utterly despised this group of Forbidden Soldiers!

But!

They still had to pay enormous protection fees to the Forbidden Army every month!

Because their secret had long been discovered by the Forbidden Army.

Yet the Forbidden Army, driven by greed, willingly kept their secret and even covered for the chimeras!

The poor chimeras had to keep earning money just to pay them off!

"Lord Olivia above! That group of Forbidden Soldiers is utterly despicable!"

"Ooooh, I can't bear being bullied anymore…"

"At this rate, we'll never complete our mission!"

"I want to go home! I can't keep working here! I don't want to waste my youth in this place!"

"Uuuuuu! I never want to entertain another fat, vulgar pig again!"

The chimeras complained bitterly.

Even the Phantom Dragon Demon, their leader, wanted to throw in the towel at this point.

"One more year!"

The Phantom Dragon Demon wiped its tears and summoned the last of its resolve: "Sisters, we'll work for one more year, and if we still can't infiltrate the imperial bureaucracy, we're leaving!"

Waaaahhhh!!!

The chimeras nodded through their tears, deciding to endure one more year of futility.

However, at that moment,

The conference room door suddenly burst open.

A chimera on guard duty rushed in, brimming with excitement, practically shouting:

"Sisters! Good news! Guess who just arrived at the Land of Lost Dreams!"

"A guest... is it those rich merchants again…?"

The Phantoms sighed in disappointment. "What good news could there possibly be in this cursed place…?"

Probably just another one of those wealthy merchants who bring gold, worthless trinkets, and overpriced trash.

The chimeras didn't even bother listening anymore.

But today, something was different.

"No, no, no!"

The guard phantom exclaimed: "It's the Imperial Prince! Reinhein! He's come to our house to spend money!"

At this declaration,

The chimeras' eyes widened, their breath caught.

A sparkle appeared in their eyes.

W-what the hell?!

The Imperial Prince?!?!