Milton was definitely being deliberate, waiting until now to tell them.
...
"I know you all want to serve the Empire, but we need a buffer period inside the game."
"I need players who can clear the game, players with potential. I have no intention of turning that place into a bloody battlefield."
"There are only so many slots in the game. What good would it do to stuff ten thousand apprentices in there all at once?"
"They would just end up slaughtering one another, all for the Demons’ benefit."
As a seasoned and prudent politician, Milton was well aware of his sole current mission: to cultivate players who could clear the game as quickly as possible.
But this couldn’t be done blindly. It had to be handled with rhythm and restraint.
The players in the current round of the game were the ones most likely to succeed.
Only if they failed in this round of [Judgment] would Milton consider the new players from the next round.
According to Milton’s calculations, if the probability of clearing this round of the game was 50%...
...then the probability for the next two rounds would drop drastically, as the Demons were bound to start suppressing the players.
The success rate would only rise again once the players adapted to the Demons’ changes.
His earlier claim of clearing the game within three rounds was merely the most optimistic outcome.
But that’s what the Empire’s emissary liked to hear. Who starts a job by crying doom and gloom before any work has even begun?
As a competent politician, Milton had a deep understanding of human nature and knew exactly what his superiors wanted to hear.
For Milton, the most important thing was to maintain stability within the game.
He couldn’t let outside influences affect the players’ performance.
The upcoming phase—a major reshuffling of the players—would be Milton’s observation period.
If any players showed outstanding potential, he would increase his investment in them.
As for the players who had already become Apostles, it was natural to bet even more heavily on them.
Because the moment the Empire’s bounty appeared, the Apostle players who had already reached a compromise with the Demons lost all room to maneuver.
The stakes were simply too high; the mutual trust between them was gone.
...
"Milton, you’ve really got this all figured out, haven’t you?"
"But I don’t believe the current group of players in the game can clear it."
"Those good-for-nothings rely too much on the game’s power. How could they possibly defeat the Demons?"
"The only way is to send in enough elite apprentices and have them immediately advance to Transcendent the moment they become players."
"Dozens of players with the strength of Transcendents working together—that’s the greatest guarantee of success."
The ten Transcendents on the yacht all hailed from major powers in the surrounding Inner Worlds. Between them, they could easily gather several hundred elite apprentices.
Admittedly, their proposal was tempting, but the time wasn’t right. Milton filed it away as a backup plan.
If this round of the game couldn’t be cleared, the next one would naturally begin in "elite mode."
Milton had a comprehensive plan for the entire affair, striving to maximize the success rate of every single round.
...
"Gentlemen, the Demons are probably not in a very good mood right now. Are you still planning to go in there and hunt for treasure?"
Milton was merely informing these ten individuals about the Empire’s bounty; he had no intention of letting them tell him what to do.
These ten Transcendents were the very Treasure Hunters who had made a deal with the Demons to enter the island and search for the Divine Talisman and Longevity Cells.
"Why, you..."
Milton’s counter-question left the ten of them completely stunned.
It was true. They had previously cooperated with the Demons, trading a portion of their knowledge for a limited period of access.
But now, the Demons had become a hot commodity that everyone was drooling over, eager for a piece.
Could the Demons still trust them?
Would they still be allowed to enter the Lanyu Kingdom?
To say they hadn’t considered taking this chance to eliminate the Demons would be absolute nonsense.
That was a Hereditary Viscount title, after all. Who wouldn’t be tempted?
But now, even if the Demons did let them in, would they dare to go?
What if the Demons suddenly turned on them and used the game’s mechanics to kill them?
For a moment, they were truly caught between a rock and a hard place.
...
"Forget it. We’ve all coexisted peacefully for so many years, after all."
"For old times’ sake, I’ll give you a hand."
"These are temporary passes I received from the Empire’s emissary. They can’t grant you Superpowers, but they will allow you to bypass the game’s defense mechanisms."
Ten playing cards suddenly appeared in Milton’s hand. They looked perfectly ordinary, but the Transcendents facing him turned pale with shock.
"You... Your people can actually counterfeit the game’s Cards?"
"Can they really fool the game’s defense mechanisms?"
"If they really work, why doesn’t the Empire’s emissary just kill the Demons himself?"
Shock, confusion, and suspicion flickered in the eyes of the ten Treasure Hunters.
The game had been running for so many years. Why were these "passes" only appearing now?
"Sigh. I’m really just trying to help you!"
"These things are counterfeits, after all. They can only be used by Transcendents. An existence as powerful as the Empire’s emissary can’t possibly be concealed by them."
"You don’t really think the Empire issued this bounty on a whim from the emissary, do you?"
"I can tell you this unequivocally: the Empire has made a breakthrough in its research on the game and has decided to wrap things up!"
"If that weren’t the case, how could they possibly create these temporary game qualifications?"
Milton explained patiently, but the ten people opposite him knew his true purpose perfectly well. He just wanted them to be his guinea pigs.
This thing had definitely not been tested yet.
...
"You have to trust in the Empire’s power. Although this thing can only be used for a month, there will absolutely be no issues with its quality."