The Lance Plane.
Inside the giant tal fortress, all of the machines humd as they ran at their highest efficiency.
A thousand ters underground, deep in the mines, hundreds of construction machines were hard at work in the lightless tunnels; there were no humans here at all. As such, there was no need for any illumination. All the machines were working in pitch-black darkness, moving the ores they had excavated into the elevators.
These newly excavated ores were mostly iron ores with high tal content. They first needed to be broken into pieces at the ore crushing workshop before being sent to the slting factory for preliminary tal slting. They would then have to be thrown into the refining workshop to be forged into tal ingots that were easier to store and transport.
The various tightly-connected workshops rang with the hum of machines as the conveyor belts moved without stopping. It was only when the one-ter-squared tal ingots weighing one ton arrived at the warehouse that this entirely automated process of excavation, slting, and forging was considered to be complete.
Ever since Brain Monster Gazlowe had started controlling the tal fortress and set down roots in Stonetalon Mountains, the excavation of resources and creation of magical machines had not stopped for a single mont. In just under five years, an extensive tal vein stretching for hundreds of kiloters had been exhausted. The foundations of the Stonetalon Mountains had been deprived, and severe sinkholes and earth collapses had happened in many areas.
On the other hand, Gazlowe had obtained as many as one hundred and ten thousand magical machine warrior prototypes.
Unfortunately, they were only prototypes and not combat units with activated intelligence modules. It wasn’t that Gazlowe didn’t want to activate all of them. Rather, the energy supply of the tal fortress couldn’t keep up.
The everyday activity of a magical machine warrior would exhaust a minimum of four to six magical energy batteries. This consumption would even double during combat instances. However, Gazlowe’s magic generator furnace could only generate a maximum of eight hundred magic energy batteries daily, even when running at full capacity.
Moreover, apart from the magic energy batteries, the tal fortress was also responsible for sustaining the functions of many other things. The creation of magical machines and the research workshops all demanded a large amount of energy. Given all these considerations, generating five hundred magic energy batteries was the limit of production for the magic generator furnace.
To ensure magic energy was conserved to the fullest extent, all magical machine warriors that walked off the conveyor belt were kept in their prototype state and remained unactivated. They were then moved into several emptied mountains and stored within. anwhile, the tal fortress could keep activated the bare minimum of one hundred and fifty magical machine warriors.
After all these years of accumulation, Gazlowe had finally managed to gather one million magic energy batteries. That ant Gazlowe, after so many years of hiding in silence, finally had the material foundation to erupt with an unstoppable force.
Just as Gazlowe was silently thinking about which nearby dragon lord to unleash his fury upon, a rare guest appeared at the tal fortress.
"O’ respected Lady Alice, welco to the tal fortress. How can I be of service?" Though Gazlowe was one entire grade above Alice, the brain monster knew his status and position very well. As such, he behaved extrely subservient and enthusiastic before this woman who was very likely to beco the spouse of his master.
Alice, who had beco pretty once again, was dressed in her purple starry robe and standing in the vast tal hall. There was nothing in sight aside from the platinum-white tal floor. Gazlowe’s magic generator furnace had already beco the magic energy source of the entire fortress, and it could not easily leave the power cabin. As such, Gazlowe could only communicate with Alice using ntal ssages.
In her hands, Alice held a mysterious staff that was significantly taller than herself. The lively magic fairy on her shoulder looked around and asked softly, "Sir Gazlowe, did you receive the warning alerts that ca from Fire Throne a while ago?"
A short mont later, Gazlowe’s unique ntal flux radiated through the tal hall.
"I have received the alerts and responded to the call for help. Two hundred magical machine warriors and twenty thousand magic energy batteries have been sent over to the tower."
"These are not enough to resolve the predicant that Fire Throne is currently in!" Alice replied firmly.
"That is not my problem, my lady!" Gazlowe chuckled coldly and said, "Master’s order before he left was for to protect this tal fortress and provide the Crimson Clan with a stable and safe outpost. Everything else happening in the World of Adepts is not within my administrative authority!"
"Fire Throne is vital to your master. It should not be lost to the hands of the enemy in this manner!"
"The answer is still the sa!" Gazlowe insisted, "This is not my problem. If you wish for to further contribute, you will need orders from my master."
Alice smiled.
Greem might always maintain a weak connection with her, but he was in a dangerous place right now. They couldn’t always communicate with each other. As such, Gazlowe’s insistence was really only an excuse.
It was clear that Gazlowe was already treating the entire tal fortress and everything within it as his personal property. He was not willing to offer them up to ’others’ apart from his master. Though he didn’t mind cooperating with the other adepts and the Crimson Clan, trying to have him mobilize his forces and resources was no more than a delusion.
Alice had prepared for such a situation.
"Sir Gazlowe, you intend to go down the path of ntal specialization, don’t you?! I wonder, what are your thoughts on the direction of your future advancent?"
The hall suddenly turned silent.
A short mont later, Gazlowe’s ntal flux appeared once again.
"I have heard that you are a great Witch of Fate! May I know what suggestions and guidance you have for my current developnt?" Surprisingly, the sowhat arrogant Third Grade brain monster beca exceedingly humble now.
"There’s not much in the way of suggestions or guidance. I am just curious and interested in your current state. Soone as smart and arrogant as yourself must have planned far ahead for your own life. However, I must remind you. Never, ever underestimate the importance of the developnt of your origin!"
The hall fell silent once again.
"You an to say that I have sowhat deviated from my origin now?"
Alice once again smiled casually.
"What do you think?"
"...I was originally a Duke of the Goblin Empire and found ways to transform myself into my current state to break free of the limitations of my lifespan. For this purpose, I have utterly given up on my identity as a goblin, and I regard myself as a brain monster. As such, my soul origin should be...Spirit!"
"As long as you understand!" Alice lightly grabbed Helen, who was darting about in front of her and placed the fairy on her shoulder before saying, "Your soul origin walks the path of ntal specialization. The trait manifested from that path is the ability to assimilate with tal that has been infested with your magical energy. This powerful ability is your greatest tool and has helped you create such a massive tal fortress. If you had no energy or resource limitations, you could easily build an entire capital of steel on your own."
Gazlowe felt no pleasure from Alice’s words of praise. He was wordlessly waiting for the turn in her voice.
As expected, Alice’s tone changed, and she started speaking the words he least wanted to hear.
"Unfortunately, such a powerful ability has also misguided you, causing you to forget your soul origin. Your origin is Spirit and ntal power, not the forging of magical machines. Creating so many magical machine warriors might give you the false illusion of becoming stronger, but I wish to ask you one more question. Has your power improved once since you chose to assimilate with the magic generator furnace?"
The tal hall was silent once again.
This ti, it was truly silent. Even the rumbling in the distance and the faint trembling of the ground stopped all of a sudden. This city forged purely out of tal had suddenly fallen into actual silence.
After a long, long ti...
Gazlowe’s ntal flux once again connected with Alice.
"It seems that I have wasted all these years in vain, exhausting all my energy on creating a aningless magical machine army. If I can’t find a developnt that truly suits , my journey of advancent will probably halt here at the Third Grade forever. This...this is sothing I...absolutely cannot tolerate."
"Your train of thought doesn’t always have to be this extre. Your current actions aren’t entirely wrong. At the very least, you can only have the chance to think about your future developnt if you can guarantee your safety at the mont. These last couple of years haven’t been wasted. You have managed to create a magical machine army to protect your safety. It will beco the foundation and body with which you will execute your will from now on. As long as you find the right direction, your progress forward will be much faster, especially with the help of these magical machines."
"But I am very confused. I really have no idea how a true brain monster is supposed to advance. Should I let my brain cells divide and increase in size, or should I find ways to devour the brains of other intelligent lifeforms? I am perplexed and very troubled."
"Perhaps I can provide you with a way to obtain knowledge on a suitable advancent thod for brain monsters."
"It that’s true..."
Gazlowe’s ntal flux suddenly intensified, and the entire tal fortress echoed with his ntal ’ssage’ that he had practically roared out loud. It was fortunate that Alice knew well enough to cut off their ntal connection. Otherwise, she would most definitely have been stunned by the ntal shockwave of a Third Grade brain monster.
"However, my information is never free. Let’s see how much you are willing to pay now!"
The hall filled with the whispers of Alice and Gazlowe, their voices slowly turning softer as they spoke.
Finally, the hall reverted to its daily ’calm’!
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