Richard swiftly acquired the location of Squad Thirteen from the logistics Wizard after leaving the room.
Squad Thirteen had already collected four Magic Support Vehicles from the armory, and they were now waiting for Richard's arrival on the outskirts of the Floating City Fortress.
"Captain, how do you feel about these Magic Support Vehicles during training? I feel like they are a bit unreliable," asked a mber of the squad, a nearly three-ter-tall giant wearing a white Wizard Robe, in a sowhat naive tone.
"These things can only shoot for thirty seconds, then they turn into nothing but a heap of tal," responded the Captain as he casually patted one of the Magic Support Vehicles. "These Vehicles are extre, I can't tell if they are good or bad. But compared to the Alchemy Weapons we usually use, they are indeed sowhat different. However, they are new weapons, and certainly have several flaws that need adjusting."
The Captain's words were reassuring, but his gaze towards the Magic Support Vehicles was full of distrust.
Beforehand, he had rely familiarized himself with the operation of the Magic Support Vehicles by testing them on enslaved monsters.
But speaking of real combat, this was his first ti.
"Captain, these Vehicles are favored by Master Vladimir, so there should be no problem with their quality or specification," said a Wizard in the team, whose body was largely transford into chanical parts. "We are just testing out what improvents these Vehicles might need.
Plus, the mission this ti is rely to rendezvous with an infiltrating Black Wizard returning from behind enemy lines, nothing perilous.
Even if sothing goes wrong, headquarters has allowed us to abandon the Vehicles."
The Captain glanced at the speaking alchemy Wizard, a newcor to the squad who was usually occupied with handling various perilous Shaping Spells and extrely dangerous Alchemy Weapons.
Even among Wizards, he was considered a risky individual.
Yet, after receiving training in the operation and maintenance of the Magic Support Vehicles, this perilous individual had grown quite fond of them.
This made the Captain even more uneasy about the Magic Support Vehicles.
Soon, the Captain saw a black-robed Wizard with a raven on his shoulder rapidly approaching the squad.
When the Wizard halted, the Captain was startled upon seeing his face.
"Are you... Master Richard?"
The black-robed Wizard smiled and extended his right hand.
"I presu you are Captain Iyad. I'm Richard, your technical consultant."
…
In the war in the Insect Nest World, Iyad had been part of the ground defense force during the decisive mont, and at that ti, the squad's Alchemy Wizard had just died, and Richard had helped him repair the Alchemy Magic Stone Cannon extensively.
"Hello, hello, I did not expect that you would be serving as the technical consultant from the Wizard Comrce."
Iyad and Richard shook hands, and the worries in his heart about the Magic Support Vehicles also vanished at that mont.
He had witnessed Richard's skills in repairing Magic Stone Cannons during the Insect Nest War—the craftsmanship, the speed, which would be highly ranked even within the legion.
With such a figure as a technical consultant, any problems that might occur with the Magic Support Vehicles could surely be quickly resolved.
"Let introduce you to my team," said Iyad, pointing at the giant Wizard. "This is Sampo, a Wizard who has undergone Physique Evolution."
"This is Damir, the Alchemy Wizard of our squad," Iyad pointed at the Wizard who was half-chanized.
"This is Savo, a Second Ring Shaping Wizard skilled in Shaping Magic."
A Wizard in a white robe, with a cold expression, nodded at Richard.
"These two are the Kor brothers; they are Undead Wizards, our team's scouts and dics."
One of the Kor brothers looked chubby and pale while the other was a skeleton shimring with red Soul Fire in its eye sockets.
Afterward, Iyad introduced the rest of the squad mbers to Richard.
The entire squad consisted of twenty people, a standard team of White Wizards. But with the operation of the Magic Support Vehicles considered, Richard felt the number was sowhat excessive.
The Magic Support Vehicles, according to Richard's design, did not have the capacity to transport troops. Each Vehicle had only two seats—one for the driver and one for the copilot.
This ant that out of the squad, only seven mbers could ride in the Vehicles; the remaining thirteen would have to fly on their own.
"It seems the headquarters has given us too few Vehicles," Richard said to Iyad with a smile. "With only four Vehicles, most of the team will have to fly outside."
"That's not a problem," Iyad replied casually. "Normally, we wouldn't have had these Magic Support Vehicles at all; we would have all had to fly there."
Seeing Iyad's indifference, Richard did not dwell on it further.
"Alright then. I'll inspect the Vehicles to see if there are any issues."
Richard approached a Magic Support Vehicle, and a small Alchemy Array appeared in his palm.
The Alchemy Array allowed Richard's spiritual power to enter the material to perform shaping, Engraving Runes, and other operations.
Using this, Alchemy Wizards can also inspect the structures of Alchemy Machines or Magic Equipnt.
Seeing Richard's maneuver, Damir's eyes lit up.
He spoke to Iyad through the ntal network, "Captain, this Master Richard is impressive! His Battlefield Alchemy skills are even more adept than mine; this thod of using an Alchemy Array to inspect the structure of Alchemy Weapons is sothing I've never seen before."
Iyad replied casually in the ntal network without changing his expression:
"What's so surprising about that? Last Plane War, Master Richard fought alongside us in the final battle when you weren't yet part of the legion. During the battle, he directly replaced Master Vladimir as our battlefield repair specialist, helping us fix the Magic Stone Cannons."
"That's incredible!"
Damir was startled. The alchemy wizards of the Clear Frost Number One Corps, except for the students who directly joined the corps, were all recruited by Vladimir.
These alchemy wizards, recruited from free wizards, all had to pass Vladimir's test.
Moreover, in order to win their hearts and minds, Vladimir always personally demonstrated once before letting them perform the test.
Thus, these alchemy wizards were completely convinced of Vladimir's abilities.
Being able to replace Vladimir as a battlefield repair technician, this Master Richard's alchemy skills must not be much inferior to Vladimir's.
"However, this master seems quite young."
Damir looked carefully at Richard. Richard's energetic and youthful aura clearly marked him as a young wizard.
A wizard so young, did he really possess such high skills?
Iyad glanced at the new alchemy wizard and replied via the spiritual network, "That's the most impressive part about Master Richard. In the Insect Nest World, he is actually a Black Wizard. His skills in repairing Magic Stone Cannons were all learned on-site from Master Vladimir."
"Learned on-site?"
Damir's pupils shook instantly.
Learning temporarily and yet able to replace Vladimir, what kind of genius was this?
At that mont, Richard had finished inspecting the four vehicles.
"There is no problem, let's set off."
With a wave of his hand, Iyad had several trained wizards get in the vehicles, preparing to head to the rendezvous point.
After boarding the vehicle, Richard sat in the co-driver's seat and casually asked Iyad:
"What's our mission this ti?"
"A small task, we're just going to pick soone up," Iyad responded, pressing his hand on the crystal ball used for control while briefing Richard about the mission.
"A Black Wizard was discovered by rrick's Shield not far behind the front lines, so he sent a request for support to the command center."
"rrick's Shield?" Richard asked puzzledly.
"You should know about the Three Great Empires, right? rrick's Shield is a specialized agency set up by the Morick Empire to handle our Black Wizards infiltrating their ranks. They've given us quite a bit of trouble over the years."
As he spoke, Iyad scoffed coldly, "These Fire Lizards truly are troubleso. Once we conquer this world, we must eradicate their kind."
Boom! Boom!
The Magic Support Vehicle's hybrid magic engine roared wildly.
"Master Richard, we are departing!"
...
Five days later, at the Morick Empire's frontline.
Three suns hung in the heavenly vault, adding fervor to the Red Sun World. The dried, red earth was sporadically dotted with crimson bushes.
Suddenly, as the three suns crossed the sky, the entire world darkened montarily.
All of a sudden, a mound rose from the red earth, and a Black Wizard erged from it, his whole body covered in red sand.
After surfacing, he quickly looked around and extended his spiritual power to survey his surroundings.
Confirming there were no Fire Lizards in ambush, he breathed a slight sigh of relief.
"I've been running for half a month, but I've finally shaken off those Fire Lizard bastards," cursed the Black Wizard. "It's embarrassing to be hunted down by these natives."
The Black Wizard took out a crystal ball and tapped it twice.
Soon, a wave of magic power transmitted from the crystal ball.
"Phew, the signal has been sent. I can finally return to the rear..."
Whoosh—Boom!
A magic barrier suddenly burst out from the Black Wizard's body, montarily slowing a fla spear thrown from behind.
Using that mont, he dodged the fiery spear in terror.
Ambush!
"Damn, he actually dodged it."
A hundred ters behind the Black Wizard, a Fire Lizard in red camouflage attire clicked his tongue in dissatisfaction.
With a wave of his hand, dozens of Fire Lizards in red camouflage rose from the ground and drew tal spears from beneath their camouflage.
These Fire Lizards appeared well-trained, their movents fluid and in unison.
The tal spears in their hands ignited into flas, transforming into a shower of fire that enveloped the Black Wizard in a mist of blood.
"A re One Ring Wizard thought he could escape from rrick's Shield?" sneered the first Fire Lizard to stand, a pair of dragon horns adorning his head, catching a hint of silver under the firelight.
Without waiting for orders, the other Fire Lizards began efficiently cleaning the battlefield and erasing traces of the battle. Then they retrieved a dummy-like object from the rear, placed it where the Black Wizard had died, and draped a black wizard robe over it.
"Lord, everything is ready," reported a Fire Lizard with black dragon horns.
The Silver Horned Fire Lizard waved his hand, "Good, continue in ambush, let's see what kind of fish this little shrimp has lured for us."
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