Watching Wayne's confident figure disappear at the far end of the hall, Terence looked at Todd with worry in his eyes: "Your Majesty, is this a good idea?"

Todd looked up from the report: "What do you mean?"

"If—and I mean if—Wayne truly unlocks the secrets of the soul, then Twilight City and the Church will be locked in an irreconcilable conflict." Terence looked at Todd and softly asked, "Your Majesty, are you ready?"

Todd folded the report neatly and handed it to Huggins, then said to Terrence, "Have you heard about the brilliant mathematician Hypatia?"

The latter nodded: "I've heard a little about it."

"Hypatia was a famous female mathematician in history. She could independently complete trigonometric measurements at the age of ten, and the works she wrote at the age of nineteen were unattainable for most people even after a lifetime of effort." Todd leaned back in his chair, his face calm, but a glint of fire shone in his eyes: "Such a talented woman was dragged into a church in broad daylight by the fanatics of the Church of Guterres. Before God, they tore off her clothes, plucked out her hair one by one, and used sharp seashells to cut off her muscles piece by piece. Finally, they threw Hypatia's still trembling body into the fire."

After Todd finished speaking, the hall became eerily quiet.

Harkins unconsciously clenched his fists, while Terence closed his eyes in pain.

Todd rose from his throne and walked toward the side door behind him: "Truth and superstition will eventually clash. Deliberate avoidance will only cause more and more comrades to leave in disappointment. Rather than waiting to die in silence, we should seek a way out through struggle."

With Wayne's report in hand, Huggins followed Todd, leaving Terence alone in the hall, lost in thought.

Walking along the palace corridor, Huggins secretly observed Todd's expression and thought to himself, "Your Majesty, if you give the order, the entire city of Muxi will fight for you to the last drop of blood."

Todd didn't stop: "The last drop of blood? If the war really comes to this, then I, the king, might as well find a rope and hang myself."

“What I want to see is a resounding, complete victory, not a Pyrrhic one with heavy losses.” Todd’s voice trailed off: “For that purpose, I must have some trump cards on hand.”

Huggins said, puzzled, "Your Majesty, I'm sorry, I didn't hear what you just said."

"It's alright. How's the repair of the laboratory underground in the palace?"

Huggins said, "The cracks and collapses in the room have been repaired and reinforced, all experimental materials have been replenished, and the equipment and instruments have been reconfigured."

"Hmm, how's the construction of the kingdom's ability bank going?"

"A talent database?" Huggins was a little surprised that the king would suddenly ask about this, but he still answered truthfully: "After counting all the registered alien species in Muxi City, there are currently 65 effective talents. The scholars of Muxi University have abandoned the talent classification method created by the church and reclassified and organized these talents."

Todd stopped and looked at Huggins with interest: "Look."

"The classification method of supernatural abilities used by the church is the Tarot classification method inherited from the time of Tarot. Specifically, supernatural abilities are divided into twenty-two categories according to the meaning of the Tarot cards. For example, the Tarot card 'The Sun' means supernatural abilities related to fire, and the Tarot card 'The Chariot' represents supernatural abilities related to mental enhancement. Then, according to the strength of the supernatural abilities, each category of supernatural abilities is labeled with a number."

Todd frowned and said, "That sounds complicated."

Huggins nodded in agreement: “It is indeed quite complicated. This classification is too abstract, has too many categories, and is difficult to summarize. Even the senior deacons in the Inquisition sometimes make mistakes in classifying supernatural abilities.”

Todd asked curiously, "So what methods do the scholars at Muxi University use to classify superpowers?"

"The aim of the new classification method is to be simple, easy to understand, and easy to remember." Huggins said to Todd while recalling the scholars' explanations: "Muxi University classifies all superpowers into five categories: protection, creation, shaping, transformation, and general. Based on these five categories of superpowers, the strength of the superpowers is distinguished by a number from 0 to 4."

Huggins spread his hands and said to Todd, "For example, my past ability was 'Weakness,' so it was classified as a Evocation type. Judging from the strength of my ability, it was probably at level 1."

Todd smiled and said, "This method sounds much simpler."

"That's right. Scholars also believe that as the number of superpowers continues to increase, the classification of superpowers may continue to increase, and the strength levels of superpowers will also expand upwards. But one thing will never change: try to help the public understand superpowers and get rid of the original narrow concept, so that ordinary people can live together more harmoniously with superpowers."

Upon hearing this, Todd suddenly remembered the important task he had been working on: "Harkins, make a copy of the ability storage facility in Twilight City and put it in my lab."

"The entire supernatural power storage facility? That could include a large number of bacterial culture dishes and parasite biological tanks. The current underground laboratory of the royal palace cannot hold that much stuff; it needs to be expanded and renovated."

"Then let's make the changes. We need to get this done as soon as possible."

"Yes, I understand."

——————————————

It was a week later when Todd stepped back into the newly renovated underground laboratory.

The original underground space was expanded to more than five times its original size. Structurally, three new rooms were added: the first room is a temperature-controlled storage room, mainly used to store containers for bacteria and parasites; the second room is Todd's living room, furnished with a single bed, bookshelves, tables and chairs; and the last room is a tool room, neatly stacked with various tools and instruments.

Huggins pointed to a bell-shaped object on the experimental table and said to Todd, "Your Majesty, this device was specially made by Twilight University. It utilizes the principles of echo and sand buckets. As long as you ring this device, the guards on the ground will hear your call and rush here immediately."

Todd, now dressed in a lab coat, said to Huggins, "Good, did you bring the things I told you to keep safe?"

Huggins took a heavy lead box from a guard, placed it on the table, took out a key from his waist, opened the lid, and presented the contents to the king: "Your Majesty, please see."

Looking at the perfectly preserved 'Amber Stone' in the box, Todd took a deep breath.

The Tyrant Virus, capable of upgrading and fusing genes, has become Todd's most important task: how to apply it to the kingdom's military and society.