บท 145: Waiting

Hearing this conversation, the King of Lanthanor couldn't help but smile seeing that Eloise was carrying out his plan quite efficiently.

Under her outer visage of an adorable princess who hadn't had much opportunity to pursue what she wanted in life, Daneel had seen a dogged determination and staunch focus that was immeasurably valuable especially in situations like these.

Because these were only the beginning stages of the Network, Daneel's only instructions had been to make people addicted to the service.

Any product could be successful if it managed to first ingratiate itself into the hearts and minds of consumers; it had to become essential in their lives, so much so that the consumer would feel incomplete without satisfying this new need that would have been generated by the product.

Of course, back on Earth, such a phenomenon was visible with product areas rather than a single product.

For instance, the smartphone which was a relatively new invention had exploded in popularity soon after its introduction, leading to most of the world adopting it as an essential in their lives.

This had only been possible because the need to have the product, in this case, the smartphone had been born in many people both by seeing the product's usefulness and the hype surrounding it.

Because of the fierce spirit of innovation and competition on Earth, there were multiple brands which vied to fulfill this need in their own unique way. Although some succeeded way more than others, it was still an open market ripe with opportunity for new contenders to enter and try their luck.

Here in Angaria, Daneel had a different plan.

He had two unique things right now: the ability to mass produce trinkets at a low cost, and the broadcasting station which he and Ripley had built together.

In fact, the latter was simply a modification of a military trinket used to transmit information to multiple soldiers at once. Although they had managed to simplify it and make it so that it could be made and deployed much more easily, it was still something that could be copied once understood the concept behind it.

This left only the former: mass-production.

Daneel knew that although the other Kingdoms were only keeping an eye on him even though they probably knew he had something this valuable up his sleeve, he was safe because they assumed that the schematic for the communication trinket was the only one which could be mass produced in this way.

Although it was still quite important, it was clearly not valuable enough to start a war over.

Besides, being someone who had lived in the 21st Century of Earth, only he knew about the importance and potential the Network had.

Thus, his goal was to utilize this knowledge he had to take dominance over this market before anyone else realized the sheer significance that such a Network represented.

Seeing that everything was going well, Daneel decided to go back to the palace to resume his training after making sure that the bigger plan which depended on the success of the NOA was going well.

.....

Meanwhile, at a location near the Palace of Eldinor.

Two elves stood at guard in front of a large, circular shaft which seemed to lead into darkness.

Although both of the Elves had something to cover their faces with, their expressions were still morphed into those of disgust due to the rancid smell which still made its way in.

Hearing a gasping echoing inside the shaft, both of them turned around to see a man covered in feces and waste walking towards the entrance who was looking down to make sure that he wouldn't slip and fall due to all the slimy stuff accumulated on the surface of the shaft from decades of use.

"Olfax, you're out early today.", said one of the elves who was looking at the man with a strange expression on his face.

"Yes, luckily, the blockage wasn't very large."

Nodding, the elf waited till the man exited before taking out a stick shaped metal object from his clothes.

Gingerly running it over his clothes while making sure to not touch the filth, the elf nodded, taking out a yellow bag from his pocket and handing it over.

Grinning widely, the man who had just been called Olfax took the bag and opened it in front of them, not caring about the dirt that spread onto the shining golden coins inside.

After counting them out, he nodded at the elves before walking towards the exit.

This was the spy who had been activated when Daneel sent out the order to have the sleeping agents awake.

Once a week, he would come to this location to volunteer for a job that had to be manually done.

Due to a small problem which occurred during the reconstruction of the Eldinor palace, this opportunity had occurred using which Olfax entered the sewer system of the Palace to collect information. At a certain point where the old and new systems accumulated, there was a spot where sewage accumulated which if left unchecked could make both systems stop.

To this day, he thanked that architect who had made such a blunder which allowed him to do his duty for his home country.

Although there were plans to fix this problem, it would take extensive reconstruction which cost far more than paying someone like him to clear it once in a while.

Going to a nearby bathroom, he started to scrub himself fiercely until his skin became red due to the pressure.

This pain and disgust that he felt was nothing compared to the satisfaction which came from knowing that he was someone who was one of the reasons why millions of people could sleep calmly in their homes.

After scrubbing until he almost bled, Olfax took a bath and put on his regular clothes before heading to his home. From multiple times of going through this, it already felt that the smell had latched on to him permanently.

After reaching, he did the same routine as always.

Ensuring that no one had entered, he took out the coin to make the report as usual.

To his surprise, there was a message waiting for him which made him smile again.

"Initiate contact with the agencies which deliver news to the people in Eldinor. Find information on all of their crucial personnel, and look for vulnerabilities that can be exploited to take control of them. Good job, soldier. As the King, I speak on behalf of the nation when I say that Lanthanor thanks you for your work."

Towards the end of the message, Olfax's eyes opened wide hearing that the King himself was the one speaking to him.

Elation spread across his face realizing that his efforts had been noticed by the King himself.

Of course, along with the elation came a determination to carry out everything perfectly as per the King's orders.

All spies were trained with the important skill of worming their way into organizations in order to find hidden information about them which could be used for whatever purpose the government wished. In fact, Olfax had been someone who had topped his class in this particular aspect.

It was time to put all those skills to use.

.....

In the Energized Training Chamber underneath the King's Chambers in Lanthanor.

Daneel was sitting again holding a red gem in his hands.

Although he had put it away after seeing his training speed double, it had still been calling to him with the temptation to increase his training speed even further.

4 years wasn't a long time, it wasn't short either. What if just like with the case with the ex-ex-King of Lanthanor, things moved much faster than expected?

It would be foolish to not utilize everything in his grasp to gain power as fast as possible.

Thus, taking the decision, Daneel ordered the system to begin absorption and analysis.