Chapter 172: Dead Root

The arrival of the Golden Legion was something Naimi Xisi had long foreseen; the Maztek continent is rich in resources, and the Am Empire will not be satisfied with only the tiny Payte region.

But the Niksalan are not comparable to the primitive civilizations of the Payte people.

Just the Huakeli Alliance alone boasts six pyramids, each requiring Legendary Level power to breach.

Not to mention the Kurtaka Kingdom that crushes the Alliance; who knows how strong they truly are.

Naimi Xisi had heard the Niksalan from Tikal City say that the Kurtaka Niksalan call their king the "Zarthek's mortal incarnation."

Regardless of the truth, in the eyes of those Kurtaka, that king's strength is surely far from ordinary.

"Boris has already sent several highly mobile operatives through the Death Mountains to explore the central region; soon a vanguard will set out to negotiate with a governmental organization called the Huakeli Alliance," Saifal said.

Naimi Xisi frowned; the Golden Legion actually intends to cooperate with the Alliance?

Nevertheless, it is indeed their best option; if the Golden Legion chose to wage war on the Alliance, they would then have to face the Kurtaka Kingdom alone.

"I know that Alliance; they worship a blood‑sacrificial evil god. Would the priests of the Heim Church agree to cooperate with them?" Naimi Xisi asked, puzzled.

When Saifal heard that they worshiped a blood‑sacrificial evil god, his face darkened; he sighed helplessly, "The Heim Church cannot control the Golden Legion. This is Boris's idea, and even Kodel did not object."

Naimi Xisi nodded, then asked, "So why have you summoned me this time?"

Saifal seemed to recall something, pulled out a black oily cloth, disregarding its grime, unfolded it, revealing a pliable black jelly‑like sphere inside.

"What is this?" Naimi Xisi frowned.

Saifal, excited, said, "I call it the Dead Root."

"It is a product I discovered while exploring the south, possessing extremely strong combustibility."

The old Mage, to prove his claim, levitated the jelly sphere with Mana and ignited it; fierce flames immediately burned its surface.

The sphere's volume shrank slowly during combustion, at a very slow rate; Naimi Xisi measured that at this pace the sphere could burn for at least a dozen hours.

The device seems extremely stable; the fire can only ignite the sphere's exterior, while the interior material insulates heat, and the amount of surface exposed to air determines the flame size.

Naimi Xisi, puzzled, asked, "What's so special about this? Are you trying to replace the Am Empire's steam‑engine fuel with it? Frankly, I think the firestones in current steam engines have no need for replacement."

The Am Empire possesses only a few steam engines; this contraption was actually first invented on the western coast.

However, unlike Earth, Frelen lacks abundant cheap and durable energy sources like oil, coal, or gas; most energy is condensed into various magical ores or gems.

Using those for steam‑engine power would be redundant.

Later, Am's great merchants struck a deal with dwarves, purchasing their firestones, a dwarf Magic Item that continuously provides flame, cheap to produce, its fire source drawn from extracted Magic Net Mana.

The only drawback is its very low power output.

But this still gives steam engines a use; after all, if one isn't enough, add several—quantity makes up for quality.

Most farmlands in the Am Empire have become large farms, relying on steam engines for pumping, well‑drilling, and the like.

Factories are even more so; parchment, metallurgy, etc., all use them, and a worker's annual salary can buy several firestones. In this situation, Naimi Xisi stopped following steam engines after learning of them, because he saw no chance of them rising in Frelen, mainly due to the lack of chemical fuels like oil and coal, while magical materials have far more precious and practical uses.

The Am Empire's ability to employ steam engines stems from its mature commercial‑factory model and the high cost of domestic labor.

Saifal laughed, "What if this thing is abundant, cheap, and easy to produce?"

Naimi Xisi raised an eyebrow; honestly, if a cheap fuel akin to oil appeared, he thought steam engines would still have development prospects.

"When I explored the south, I found a black oil pit; the black jelly spheres are produced there."

"My research shows those black oil pits contain massive concentrations of dead Mana, actually becoming a pollutant; this dead‑Mana pollutant transforms any creature within into a brand‑new form. I call those black oil pits—Nether Tide."

"You mean the Dead Root is formed from organisms that fell into the oil pits?" Naimi Xisi asked, surprised.

Saifal nodded proudly, "The reason it's called Dead Root is because they are generated from animal corpses in the Nether Tide."

"Corpses that fall into the Nether Tide swell rapidly within a dozen days, then transmute into Dead Root; a 100‑kilogram corpse can yield at least 150 kilograms of Dead Root."

"And ten grams of Dead Root can burn for an hour," Saifal stated word for word.

Naimi Xisi's pupils contracted; Saifal's description made him keenly realize that if this information is true, the fuel named Dead Root would become a resource of enormous influence!

!

Indeed, in Frelen, Mana is the cheapest and most widespread energy source.

The infinite Mana in the Magic Net surpasses the energy technology of previous‑world societies by countless levels.

However, Mana is also the most expensive energy.

Because those who wield it are the highest‑born people on the planet Toriel—Spellcasters.

How could lofty Mages possibly toil endlessly for the common folk?

Not to mention serving the common folk; it's already a mercy if they don't experiment on poor farmers.

This also leads to Frelen's grotesquely torn society.

On one hand, the top‑tier elites even roam freely in the Abyss (referring to top Legendary); on the other, villagers worry merely about filling their bellies.

Mages' society and ordinary people's society are separate.

One is a high civilization that applies shallow energy‑matter conversion technology, the other is a feudal civilization that has lingered in the medieval era for tens of thousands of years without progress.

Thus, Mana can never become a widely adopted energy choice in society, even if it might be the best one.

And that is why Dead Root is precious.

It will replace Mana, becoming an energy source that can spread among ordinary society, bringing astonishing change to mortal civilization in the future.

Dead Root and Nether Tide borrow from a part of Death Stranding

(End of chapter)