Cerydra's "Characteristic Profile" was quickly distributed, and within days, nearly every Barbarian had one. After all, producing these profiles cost Okhema practically nothing—they could churn out as many as needed.
Upon seeing her portrait, the vast majority of Barbarians naturally reacted with confusion. Before the Falcon Clan's subjugation, the 200,000 Barbarians wondered, "When did Boss Imperator get so tall?"
Meanwhile, the 300,000 Barbarians from the Falcon Clan wondered, "Why is Boss Imperator so short? Only about 1.7 to 1.8 meters tall? That's a far cry from the 2.2-meter Giant we imagined!"
Regardless, once the physical evidence surfaced, the strange rumors vanished entirely, and construction in the Northern Territory proceeded steadily.
Neat rows of houses sprang up in orderly fashion, and the area planted with potatoes on the frozen land expanded rapidly. Looking out across the Northern Territory Empire, one could see half the land covered with identical brick houses, while the other half stretched out as lush green vegetable fields.
Many Falcon Clan Barbarians, initially filled with trepidation, remained uneasy even after joining the Northern Territory Empire. Their initial anxiety stemmed from fears of being mistreated as surrendered enemies, worrying they would go hungry, receive poor treatment, or be bullied by veteran members.
Now, however, their anxiety arose from the Imperator's exceptional generosity. They received abundant daily meals, thick winter clothing, and warm, comfortable brick housing. This fostered a sense of guilt, as they felt indebted to the Imperator and yearned to repay her kindness, finding the imbalance deeply unsettling.
Driven by this guilt, the Barbarians worked even harder, building houses with renewed fervor. The more houses they built, the more new Barbarians moved in. While the original group genuinely tried to repay the Imperator, the newly arrived Barbarians felt even greater guilt!
These simple-hearted Barbarians had unwittingly created a strange Guilt Cycle, leading everyone to work even harder. When Cerydra learned of this, she couldn't help but wear an utterly speechless expression.
It's no exaggeration to say that even the Okheman people couldn't match the Northern Barbarians' work ethic. After all, the Okhemans had numerous holidays and a two-day weekend every week. Their workday hours were fixed, and overtime was strictly prohibited under normal circumstances.
These Northern Barbarians were practically born with the Innate Body of a perfect worker. They worked tirelessly without demanding wages. If you gifted them to a company, they'd probably adore them, right? Then again, that might not work out. The barbarians were too simple-minded, currently only capable of building houses. Anything more complex would likely end in disaster.
If a project went wrong, an enraged manager might scold them, potentially provoking the hot-tempered barbarians to tear the manager in half with their bare hands.
In any case, because the Northern Territory Empire was at a critical stage of development, Cerydra decided to overlook this bizarre "Guilt Cycle" and let the barbarians work themselves to the bone.
About half a month passed when Cerydra suddenly received news: during Hysilens' battle with the "Northern Wolf God," the iceberg that had formed on the battlefield had been sampled. Hysilens had sent the samples back to Okhema for analysis, and the results were finally in.
The reason the research took so long wasn't because Melly was working on it herself. Instead, other scholars at Okhema were primarily involved. Melly had been preoccupied with another research project: in the battle at the Floating City during the war with the Arcane Federation, Hyacine had shattered several strange, Demigod-level "Magic Cubes" obtained from the Mother of Flesh.
These cubes were products of Magitech, and if thoroughly analyzed, they could advance Melly's achievements in Magitech Technology even further. Moreover, with the repaired "Magic Ship," she might even be able to pinpoint the "Origin World" from which these cubes originated.
Clearly, Melly had more pressing and time-consuming matters at hand, so Tribios didn't disturb her. Instead, she assigned the ice block research to other capable scholars. After all, Okhema had flourished for so long and housed many brilliant minds!
Getting back to the main point: regarding the peculiar ice block, at Tribios' suggestion, the Okheman scholars temporarily named it "Truefrost." This Truefrost was extraordinarily hard and constantly emanated an astonishingly intense cold. If crafted into weapons, they would essentially become permanently "ice-enchanted" weapons.
After extensive research, Okhema's scholars discovered that Truefrost contained vast quantities of the purest, most primal ice-attributed Magic Power, accompanied by trace amounts of divine power.
To illustrate, if Hysilens were to slumber in a lake for centuries or millennia, the water would undoubtedly transform. A single sip might grant robust health, longevity, or even extraordinary supernatural abilities.
Imagine becoming more attractive to fish, gaining the ability to breathe underwater, or even being highly sought after as a material for crafting Magic Items. Such a lake would inevitably earn epithets like "Mystic Immortal Lake" or "Divine Nectar Spring."
Truefrost follows the same principle. This suggests that a god must have resided on this ice mountain for an extraordinarily long time, fundamentally altering its nature. As for which god, the answer is almost self-evident.
Most likely, it was Half. This ice mountain is very likely Half's birthplace.
After reaching this conclusion, Cipher even brought Half to the site, but nothing strange happened. Half simply nestled in her arms, wriggling around, and didn't even try to run when she put him down. In the end, Cipher had to carry Half to the foot of the glacier and ask, "What do you think, Half? Does this place feel like home to you?"
At that point, Cipher would have taken any response from Half—a "woof" or even a "meow"—as confirmation. Instead, the silly dog tilted his head, stared at the glacier inches away, and then stuck out his tongue to lick it. Unsurprisingly, his tongue immediately froze solid. Cipher spent a considerable amount of time rescuing him.
In short, after roughly guessing the origin of the Truefrost, Cerydra began pondering whether these unique ice blocks could be used for anything. After all, Half himself was perfectly content in Cipher's arms and hadn't voiced any objections. Surely digging up some ice from his homeland's doorstep wouldn't be a problem?
The simplest application, of course, would be crafting weapons and ice-attribute magic items. With this, the Northern Territory would finally have its own specialty, proving they weren't entirely barren.
Before this, Okhema had been providing the Northern Territory with unconditional support for its development. With the discovery of Truefrost, the Northern Territory Empire could finally offer something in return.
However, the method of extracting this resource remained a significant challenge. First, the location was in the northernmost reaches of the Northern Territory, far from the empire's core, and extremely cold. Furthermore, Truefrost was incredibly hard. Either factor alone would make extraction anything but easy.
In the end, Cerydra selected a hundred exceptionally strong Barbarians and personally led them on the expedition. After stocking up on ample supplies, they set off on foot toward the Truefrost Mountain.
Hysilens' primary role was to guide the expedition and prevent unforeseen incidents. She would refrain from intervening directly, allowing the Barbarians to mine the Truefrost and return on their own. If the entire operation proceeded smoothly, additional personnel would be dispatched, and her constant supervision would no longer be necessary.
Meanwhile, Cerydra began working on another crucial task: converting the Falcon Clan to a new faith.
Normally, converting a Believer to a new faith is an exceedingly difficult task. For Believers, their faith is often more precious than life itself.
In Cerydra's past life, countless wars had erupted due to religious fervor, even when faith offered no tangible benefits, serving merely as spiritual anchors. In this world, however, faith truly granted tangible advantages and power, making its manipulation even more challenging.
Indeed, reality proved her fears were well-founded. Cerydra first approached a Barbarian from the Falcon Clan, questioning him privately, "If I asked you to abandon your faith in the Northern Wolf God and worship another deity instead..."
Before she could finish, the Barbarian's eyes widened. "Boss Imperator, absolutely not! Our faith in the Wolf God has been passed down from our ancestors! It cannot be broken!"
Cerydra countered, "Even if it means sacrificing a fellow clansman every day? Haven't you ever considered what would happen if your loved ones—your wife, your children—were chosen for the Blood Sacrifice next?"
The Barbarian fell silent for a moment, then lowered his head and replied, "In that case, please sacrifice me to the Wolf God first! The Wolf God prefers strong Barbarians over women and children anyway."
Cerydra stared, speechless.
Wait, I was just giving an example! Why is this guy already volunteering for death?
Cerydra asked, "Even so, you still refuse to abandon your faith in the Wolf God?"
The Barbarian replied without hesitation, "A tradition passed down through generations for so long cannot end with me! If it does, how could I face my ancestors in the afterlife?"
This wasn't difficult to understand. It was like inheriting a priceless family heirloom—a vase worth a fortune, meticulously cared for by your father, grandfather, and great-grandfather. Then, when it finally comes into your possession, you accidentally drop it and shatter it. The guilt you'd feel would be far more than just breaking a vase; you'd be betraying the centuries of effort and dedication poured into preserving it by your ancestors.
Realizing this, Cerydra massaged her temples, a look of frustration creeping across her face. This was becoming quite troublesome.
A harsh solution was always an option: extermination. Kill all those who refuse to renounce their faith. But unless absolutely necessary, such extreme measures were best avoided.
The Northern Territory Empire had painstakingly grown to half a million people. If she were to massacre over a hundred thousand in one fell swoop, wouldn't her victory over the Falcon Clan have been for nothing?
Yet, aside from brute force, what other way could she persuade these stubborn Barbarians?
Cerydra pondered briefly, and soon an idea began to form in her mind: deception.
Though these barbarians were stubborn, they were also foolish. After a pause, Cerydra said, "Actually, what I truly want to say is that your previous faith in the Wolf God was entirely misguided."
Hearing this, the barbarian couldn't help but wear a puzzled expression, muttering, "What?"
Cerydra crossed her legs, a slight smirk playing on her lips as she adopted an air of profound wisdom. "As you know, I am the God of Law, the fundamental logic governing this world's operations. All the rules of this realm are manifestations of my Authority."
"Uh... yeah," the barbarian nodded dazedly. He didn't fully understand, but it sounded very impressive. "So, Boss Imperator, you want us to worship you too? If it's just adding another god without abandoning our faith in the Wolf God, that's no problem..."
Cerydra's expression stiffened momentarily, but she pressed on, "No, my point is that my existence is as ancient as this world itself. In fact, I personally witnessed the first gust of icy wind, the first solid block of ice, and the first wild beast—the Northern Wolf God."
"In fact, not only do I know Him, we're quite close."
The barbarian's eyes widened. "R-really?"
Cerydra declared, "Absolutely! The Wolf God isn't the bloodthirsty, savage deity you imagine. On the contrary, He is remarkably gentle and kind."
The Barbarian looked puzzled. "But if that's true, why does the Wolf God's phantom appear in the sky after every Blood Sacrifice, and why does Boss Jones always gain benefits? If the Wolf God dislikes these sacrifices, why would He accept the offerings?"
Cerydra replied, "Who told you the Wolf God accepts your offerings? Don't you tie the sacrifices up and burn them yourselves? If He truly accepted them, shouldn't a wolf appear, snatch the sacrifice away, and carry it into the Ice Plains?"
The Barbarian paused, considering her words. "That... that makes sense, I guess. But what about that giant red wolf phantom?"
"That's... that's..." Cerydra's mind raced. She cleared her throat and declared, "That's a demon!"
The Barbarian blinked in confusion.
Cerydra continued, "Have you ever heard the saying: 'The Wolf God requires no worship, only proof'? When a Barbarian crosses the Great Ice Plains on foot and climbs the highest peak with their bare hands, they earn the Wolf God's recognition and gain Icefield Power—a special kind of Rage that greatly amplifies strength without sacrificing Reason!"
"Now compare that to the Falcon Clan's Bloodthirsty Rage. Minimal power boost, a mountain of side effects, and the user dies soon after!"
"The truth is, this Bloodthirsty Rage isn't a gift from the Wolf God at all. It's a demon's scheme!"