Chapter 109: Tentacles Extending into the Abyss

"Vilna."

Sakavi's voice turned toward the shadow standing quietly to the side, low and clear.

"Within three months, I want you to explore every corner of all ancient ruin groups on the west side of the Rift Stone Continent."

He paused slightly, letting the weight of the mission settle fully.

"The demons entrenched there are not low-level minor demons, but organized, high-level Abyssal legions with nests. More importantly, the knowledge buried beneath those ruins will drive every force crazy."

His gaze was as sharp as a blade.

"The coalition has not yet cast its eyes there, but time will not stand on our side. Soon, adventurer guilds smelling opportunities, magic organizations with their own agendas, and even the secret reconnaissance teams of our 'allies' will pounce on that ownerless land like vultures."

"Your mission is not just reconnaissance." Sakavi's claw tips traced in the air, as if outlining future defensive lines, "I want you to lock onto several key coordinates most suitable for establishing forward fortresses while figuring out the terrain, enemy situation, and value. When others are still assessing risks, our foundation must already be laid."

"I will execute this mission personally; I need Lady Tali's subordinates to cooperate with me; her Harpies, Gnolls, and Goblins are of great help to me."

Sakavi's voice was as deep as rolling thunder, with no trace of joking left in his dragon eyes, only the metallic solemnity of cooled lava.

"Sha Lu Te, you lead the Battle Axe, Fang, and Cast Iron three reorganized legions to advance eastward along the Broken Blade Canyon. The target is Rock Fortress; I want you to thoroughly control the entire canyon zone."

He paused slightly, letting the following warning seep into the air.

"The demons entrenched there are by no means a mob, but the main force that has been entrenched here in the Abyss for a long time, fierce and stubborn. You don't have much time; you must raise our flag at the highest point of Rock Fortress before the coalition's flank troops arrive and 'take over' that region."

Sakavi leaned forward slightly, his shadow falling like a curtain, his voice lowered to near a whisper, yet every word was like a quenched steel nail:

"Remember, from the moment you step out of here, everyone you see may be holding a poisoned dagger; every sound you hear may be hiding a twisted trap. The Abyss will counterattack, 'friends' in the coalition may also become vultures, and even..."

The golden light in his dragon eyes suddenly sharpened.

"Even if you receive any order in my name to turn back, retreat, or wait, it must be a fake letter carefully forged by the enemy. From the moment you set out, you are an isolated army. Your only proof is the battle axe in your hand and the legion behind you."

"Take Rock Fortress, control the canyon. Other than that, you have no way out, and no reinforcements."

Sha Lu Te stroked his chest with one hand and bowed. When he straightened up again, his gaze was already as heavy as iron casting.

"I have led troops until now, and the battle flag under my command has never retreated half a step." His voice was not high, but carried the certainty of a great axe splitting rock, "Rock Fortress and Broken Blade Canyon will surely be under my army's banner within two months; I swear by the God of War 'Felon'."

He lifted his eyes, and the cold light of a blade seemed to flash in the depths of his pupils.

"The coalition's flank abacus is loud, but they forgot one thing—" Sha Lu Te pulled a cold, hard arc at the corner of his mouth, "On the chessboard of the Rift Stone Continent, whoever places the piece first holds the initiative of life and death."

"I will let the bricks and stones of Rock Fortress remember our flag before they arrive." He gripped the axe handle tightly, his knuckles making a faint crisp sound, "The entire canyon will become an iron wall they can never touch."

Sakavi's voice turned toward the Druid on the side, solemn and carrying an indisputable weight of balance.

"Giske is a sharp claw and tooth, but too young. Once construction starts on the Dark Ridge Pass fortress, it will be like throwing a piece of fresh meat into a flock of vultures. The coalition's gaze will immediately become sharp and unkind; after all, there is far more than one family staring at this throat."

His dragon eyes flowed with insight into the complex situation.

"So, I need you to stay. Use your patience and wisdom like ancient roots to handle two things for me:"

"First, the sharp questions and secret tripping wires wrapped in diplomatic rhetoric that are bound to come. They dare not tear their faces openly, but will use rules, public opinion, and contracts to exert pressure. You handle them, making every punch they throw feel like hitting an ancient oak—powerful, but with nowhere to land."

"Second, and fundamentally, the purification and awakening of the land. Giske can build high walls, but only you can make the land inside the walls no longer erode us; what I want is not just holding a red-hot iron block."

"I will do this; I need you to transport purification materials in a short time. In addition, the shallows on the edge of the Poisonous Miasma Sea cannot accommodate large ships, and Norasien Port is currently not working either. This is very troublesome for our subsequent work. Do you have a contingency plan?"

"Shallows cannot accommodate large ships, but they can accommodate small boats; the port is not built, but it does not affect us establishing temporary transfer nodes. Use a group of flexible small boats to evacuate goods. Your purification materials will be delivered before next month."

…………

Just as Sakavi stepped into the main hall of Agrik Castle, a figure meticulously maintaining a High Elf illusion had already greeted him silently.

Livoge, or rather Mr. Melo, had a smile on his face that was just right, mixed with respect and a hint of credit-seeking, his molten-gold slit pupils shimmering with warm luster under the illusion, masking his triumphant mood.

"Grand Duke, may the Morning Star illuminate your return." He bowed slightly with the elegant etiquette of an elf, his voice light, "I have brought you a... gift that I think might relieve your pressure. This is perhaps the most pleasant news you have heard during this period."

He paused slightly, as if savoring the effect that the following words would bring.

"I just... secured a special fund for you from our dear 'partner,' the Golden Glory Temple." His smile deepened, "And, it is the kind without any additional interest. I think this should be able to slightly... relieve the urgent need for port reconstruction?"

Sakavi's footsteps stopped in front of the throne without turning around. His dragon tail drew a low dragging sound on the stone floor, his slit pupils squinting toward Melo in the dimness, the molten-gold halo containing no surprise, only a cold scrutiny that penetrated the appearance.

"The 'interest-free' gold coin in your claws..." His voice was like lava churning slowly, "What price is engraved on the other side?"

The smile on Melo's face faded by half, turning into a frankness of being seen through, mixed with admiration. He bowed slightly, his posture still elegant, but his voice lowered, becoming more solemn.

"Sure enough, nothing escapes your insight." He admitted straightforwardly, "Sanozhuo demanded that we now, immediately, use our own channels to send a group of their people into the Abyss Plane. As for how to send them specifically and where to send them, they seem... not to care."

He paused slightly, observing Sakavi's reaction, while his voice carried a hint of cold calculation belonging to a Green Dragon.

"So, I agreed without asking for instructions. I think letting the tentacles of the Golden Glory Temple reach into our territory early seems unfavorable to us, but in reality, as a Drow elf, Vilna has ten thousand ways to make them spin in place."

A low, near-satisfied resonance rolled from Sakavi's throat. He finally turned around completely, his molten-gold slit pupils landing on Melo, that gaze as if weighing the true weight of every decision.

"You didn't do badly." This simple recognition, spoken from the mouth of a Black Dragon, was already the highest praise.

"For the subsequent 'reception matters,' I will let Vilna arrange it personally. It is time for the distinguished guests of the Golden Glory Temple... to experience personally why even Abyssal Lords think twice when mentioning the banquet hall of the Drow elves."

His dragon snout parted slightly, revealing a line of bone-white sharp teeth; this was not a smile, but something colder.

"Then—" The Black Dragon's tone shifted abruptly, "Where are the materials I want?"

"Ah, regarding the material procurement... Grand Duke, I have to report an interesting discovery to you." He lowered his voice, with a gesture of sharing a secret.

"The Ashfire Brotherhood, yes, the branch that has always been at odds with the Golden Glory Temple—the price they offered is a full fifty percent lower than Sanozhuo's."

He paused slightly, letting this number settle in the air.

"Of course, the channels and methods they provide... are indeed a bit 'unconventional,' and may even touch certain 'gray areas.' But it cannot be denied."

Melo's fingertips elegantly traced an arc symbolizing savings, "This can save us a very considerable amount of gold coins; these funds are enough to support the comprehensive reconstruction of the East District of the port, the piers, and the shipyards."

He lifted his eyes, carefully capturing Sakavi's reaction, his tone respectful but hiding deep meaning: "I think limited funds should exert maximum effect. It's just that I don't know, Grand Duke, whether you... are willing to bear some extra, tiny 'risks' for such 'efficiency'?"

"Let me guess... " His voice was extremely low, like the friction of rocks deep in the earth's crust, "What you bought with my gold coins shouldn't be the kind of 'Dark Nightmare Mushroom Spores' that need to draw nutrients from desecrated corpses to grow, right?"

The dragon neck leaned forward slightly, his shadow covering the illusion that Volig meticulously maintained.

"Then, tell me, my 'shrewd and capable' Mr. Melo—"

Sakavi's tail rose dangerously, "In the process of transporting these 'affordable' materials, how flexible are your claws? And how many 'hardship fees' have you naturally slipped into the dimensional bag at your waist?"

"Grand Duke, you have really wronged me this time." His voice carried a sense of innocence of being questioned, yet did not lack the rigor of details.

"How would I dare to use those crude, unstable, and easily detected old-version spores to perfunctory you? I purchased the seventh-generation improved bacterial strain newly cultivated by 'Crimson Scholar' Lavage's laboratory."

He took half a step forward, his tone turning into a technical report:

"It can indeed be directly implanted into initially purified soil without relying on the corpses of complete intelligent creatures. But the cultivation conditions are still harsh."

"It needs regular watering with fresh blood, preferably blood from life-force-rich humanoid creatures or large wild beasts to activate its metabolism, and it will efficiently absorb and enrich the chaotic Abyssal elements in the soil during its growth process."

He paused slightly, his brows slightly furrowed, just right to reveal his frankness about technical difficulties.

"This is exactly its greatest value and risk: it can accelerate land purification, but the enriched chaotic elements will be temporarily stored inside the mushroom body, forming unstable 'Abyssal Crystal Cores'."

He paused slightly, "How to handle these crystal cores subsequently, to avoid secondary pollution or accidental explosions... does indeed require a set of additional, expensive refining processes."

"I admit, this plan is not perfect," Melo bowed slightly, his posture docile but his words clear, "but it is three times faster than the traditional purification method, and the cost is only half of the Golden Glory Temple's quote. I have kept magic contract records for the use of every gold coin, and there is absolutely no embezzlement."

"The wisdom of the Grand Duke is truly..." He inhaled slightly, as if sighing, or as if admiring, "Penetrating all fog."

He no longer tried to deny it completely, but elegantly spread his hands, making a "you caught me" gesture.

"Indeed, an attached 'Crystal Core Recovery and Processing Agreement'... is the premise for this transaction to be established."

"'Crimson Scholar's' laboratory needs these high-purity chaotic crystals as raw materials for further research, and we are able to dispose of these dangerous by-products at a price far lower than the market price."

"So the bad name is mine, and the money went into your pocket, right? My dear Mr. Melo."

"Misunderstanding! How about you take seventy percent of this money?"

"Fine!" ===== CHAPTER 110 =====