Madripoor Port is thriving, and Kosovia is following suit, replicating its success.
The difference is that Leon isn't overly concerned with Kosovia's progress. He's more focused on having Ophelia quickly absorb Baron Strucker's territory. The assets of a high-level HYDRA leader are vast, and it takes time to manage them.
After all, there are many HYDRA soldiers who were brainwashed by Strucker and need to be dealt with.
What truly occupies Leon's attention is that he is ready to officially begin training his Saint Seiya.
They are called Saint Seiya, but they are essentially just warriors without a Saint Cloth, who have yet to awaken their cosmos. The reason for the name is that they have been acknowledged by a Saint Cloth and have their own guardian constellation.
Those who wear the Hades Cloth are called Hades Saints, and those who wear the Light Cloth are Sky Saints. There isn't much difference between them; both are private armies established by powerful individuals. Leon is simply mimicking Athena's process, albeit a very simplified version.
Due to the preliminary preparations, Madripoor Port is full of people who are fanatically devoted to him, and the same is true of the orphans. The previous one hundred Black Widows who graduated and were injected with Super Serum are not enough.
He has selected six hundred children from Madripoor Port, aiming for a first batch of one thousand trainees. This group includes a few special individuals: his old father and mother, as well as Ophelia and Kaecilius.
There's no need to mention his parents; awakening the cosmos will raise their life level, and longevity will not be an issue.
For Lily and Dean, he wants the two of them to have a complete childhood and will consider this issue when they are eleven or twelve years old.
As for Ophelia and Kaecilius, both are unwaveringly loyal.
And he is not afraid of betrayal because his will cannot be undermined by one or two traitors. The result of betrayal would be a large number of Saints, loyal to Leon, hunting them down.
In reality, this so-called hidden danger isn't a concern at all. The only people he will select are those who are loyal and have no other ambitions.
Before that, Leon needs to solve Ophelia's problem first.
The tallest and most renowned temple in Madripoor Port.
Ophelia stood before Leon, a hint of trepidation and nervousness on her beautiful and charming face. After all, the contract she had was with a powerful, ancient evil god.
But to her surprise, the entire process was incredibly simple, without any dramatic scenes, pain, or backlash. With just a glance from Leon, she felt the contract with her was severed.
She had expected the ancient and powerful evil god to be furious, but the other party didn't make a sound.
This left Ophelia confused. There were also side effects: the contract's content was to keep her eternally young and delay aging. After it was severed, her body became extremely weak, as if she had aged decades in an instant, and the scar on her face, which had been healed, reappeared.
But under the healing of Leon's cosmos, the rapidly dying cells in her body were stimulated, split, and rejuvenated, restoring her to her original appearance.
Leon ignored Ophelia, who was puzzled by her relief.
"The contract issue is resolved. Now, your task is to build training bases all over the world—in primitive jungles, on islands, in the polar ice lands, and so on. These will be for this batch of trainees and for all future ones."
"I need you to be instructors to train warriors to awaken their cosmos for me."
Ophelia stood with her hands behind her back, her posture humble. She continued to listen, knowing there was more to come.
Sure enough, Leon took Ophelia to the top floor of the temple, saying, "I don't have much time to watch over these children. As instructors, I will give you some power and knowledge in advance."
He led her to the open-air platforms on the temple's top floor.
Kaecilius and the one hundred Black Widows who had graduated and been injected with the genetic serum stood in neat rows, awaiting his arrival. When he appeared with Ophelia, everyone dropped to one knee, clenched their right fists to their chests, and bowed their heads.
"Rise." Leon nodded.
As soon as the words were spoken, everyone immediately stood up.
"You have a new mission. You will be given my power and knowledge and will be scattered across the world to train my most loyal warriors. They will fight for this world and for a new tomorrow. Can you do this?"
There was no passion or emotion in his words, yet they carried Leon's supreme will, which could not be disobeyed.
"We obey your oracle."
The resounding shouts echoed across the open-air platforms. Everyone, including Kaecilius, wore fanatical expressions.
They had once had no future, numb like machines that only knew how to kill. They had lost the chance to live as complete women and had no hope, but this man in front of them had saved them, liberated them, and set them on a great path.
They knew very well that their bodies, souls, and everything they had would be dedicated to their god.
Oong~
Leon extended his hand and clenched his fist. Time around him seemed to slow down. One by one, hundreds of drops of blood, frozen by the frigid air, shot out like pellets and instantly sank into the hearts of everyone present.
At the same time, a memory that had not existed before emerged in their minds.
Ophelia, Kaecilius, and the Black Widows all stood in place, feeling a surging heat from their hearts, as if they were in a volcano, enduring endless pain and torment, which was destroying their will and souls.
"The blood containing my cosmos will improve and heal the defects in your bodies. It will not let you awaken the cosmos directly, but it can shorten the distance. I don't want my instructors to lose to a bunch of little kids."
(End of Chapter)
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