Chapter 290: Shield Plan (23)

Mei Da Xilin, Bu Ye Gong.

Empress Zhuo Ya is concentrating on reading the important documents submitted by the Central Secretariat.

"The Elven forces on the Dragon Archipelago have increased dramatically, and they are continuously conducting probing attacks; the defensive difficulty has risen sharply, requesting assistance."

The following is a detailed account of the archipelago's battle situation.

In the past three months, there have been two large‑scale naval battles, thirteen medium‑scale naval battles, and six Elven island‑raiding incursions.

The Radiant Legion suffered 2,282 fallen soldiers, including one major general, two colonels, and already 18 mid‑level and junior officers.

It lost two large warships, eight medium warships, and twenty‑five small warships, and 67 aircraft were shot down.

By contrast, the Elven Legion killed 54 sea dragons, 56 flying dragons, and 6,521 warriors, but lost a large Black Stone mining island.

At first glance, the Radiant Legion holds the advantage and the gains seem considerable, yet the losses have increased dramatically.

"Spies report that the Elves possess a Tree of Life; as long as the soul does not perish, fallen warriors can be reborn through the Tree, so actual casualties are certainly far fewer than the battle report indicates."

Warriors of the Radiant Empire truly die when they fall, and the damaged aircraft and warships are genuine gold‑and‑silver treasures.

Moreover, given the current trend, the Elven Legion will undoubtedly continue to reinforce its forces.

"The losses are too great; at this rate, the risk of ruling Dragon Island rises sharply, and mining costs will also increase dramatically."

"I must also reinforce my troops and increase firepower, aiming to annihilate the souls of the Elven warriors."

As long as an Elf's body—especially its head—is smashed, its soul will naturally shatter and cannot be reborn.

After reading the battle report, Zhuo Ya turned to the domestic situation.

"The main trunk of the Lightning Network has been completed, and the twentieth large Black Stone Power Plant has successfully connected to the network."

"Currently, we can generate 500,000 Mori power per day, at a cost of 10 Dela per unit of Mori power."

10 Dela is equivalent to 15 Klei in the Natural Empire, so this cost is indeed rather high.

According to Zhuo Ya, the market price for Lightning in the Natural Empire is 4 Klei per Mori, meaning the opponent's generation cost is less than one‑fifth of hers.

"It is always difficult at first; once the number of Black Stone Power Plants increases and the technology matures, generation costs will naturally decline gradually."

Zhuo Ya thought to herself and continued scrolling down.

"The Natural Empire states it is willing to sell Lightning at 1 Dela per Mori, with unlimited supply."

Zhuo Ya read with a dazed expression: "Domestic electricity costs 4 Klei, yet they sell it to me for only 1.5 Klei. Are they trying to wage a trade war and crush my Black Stone Power Plants?"

The price they offered is absurdly cheap, almost as if it were given away for free.

Because of the various conversion arrays, the abundant Lightning Power also means that all kinds of magical power are plentiful.

For example, the currently most important arcane energy can be massively converted from Lightning.

Thus, with lower electricity prices, the production costs of large transformation factories and large flour mills will drop significantly.

Since the other side is willing to give away electricity, Zhuo Ya is naturally willing to take it.

"Heh heh, whatever you send, I'll take. Who would complain about having too much power?"

She feels that Luosen must be subsidizing domestic power plants; otherwise the price couldn't be this low.

In a sense, their action is essentially sending her money.

"Since Lightning Power is so cheap, I'll develop all kinds of electricity‑using factories; I want to see how long you can keep sending it."

Zhuo Ya thought that and acted accordingly.

She decisively ordered the construction of three large shipyards dedicated to building warships.

She thought it still wasn't enough.

She then built large flour mills, large tank factories, large weapons factories, and various other factories that could boost war power, opening more than fifty in total.

The purpose was to ride on the Natural Empire's cheapness.

Of course, her own Black Stone Power Plants also had to be built, and as many as possible.

Otherwise, if all that Lightning Power relies on the Natural Empire, the Radiant Empire would have virtually no autonomy.

Then she continued to read the documents.

"The Natural Empire announces that the Heart of the Ocean Project has been a complete success and will establish large Ocean Power Plants nationwide to gradually replace the current Black Stone Power Plants." "Ocean Power Plant"

Zhuo Ya's brows tightened involuntarily, because she still hadn't figured out what exactly the 'Heart of the Ocean' was.

The mages of the Ministry of Magic have been researching how to 'boil water'.

They have been researching for over a year, made some discoveries, yet still haven't found a way to generate large‑scale power from seawater.

"What on earth is this thing doing?"

Extremely curious, she wanted to ask Luosen, but with unfinished state affairs she could only endure it forcibly.

She waited until evening, found some free time, and immediately said to the Luosen puppet in the small compartment, "Spend the night with me."

After a while she received a reply: "Tonight won't work; I've already made plans with someone. How about the night after tomorrow?"

Zhuo Ya instantly realized his appointment was pushed two days ahead, and felt a pang of wistfulness: "You really are a busy person."

Luosen replied immediately: "How about I come over in the late night?"

Zhuo Ya thought for a moment; she still had many affairs to handle in the early night, so the late night was fine, and she agreed: "Alright, but you must take a good shower and not bring other girls' perfume with you."

"Don't worry, absolutely not."

She waited patiently until the late night, and Luosen arrived right on time.

As usual, after a proper intimate session, Zhuo Ya asked, "Can you tell me now, what exactly is the Heart of the Ocean?"

Luosen chuckled and changed the subject: "I'll have the Foreign Minister deliver a marriage contract to you, how about that?"

Zhuo Ya was a bit dissatisfied: "You still can't tell me?"

This time, Luosen's mouth was tightly shut: "It's not that I don't want to tell you; the matter is extremely sensitive."

"You are too close to the Elves here; there are many Elven spies within the territory, and I fear the matter could be exposed."

Seeing Zhuo Ya still subconsciously pursing her lips, Luosen considered and offered a sweetener: "Darling, I will provide you with Endless Crystals of 10,000 Luosen capacity in unlimited quantity, how does that sound?"

Recently the war on the Dragon Archipelago has intensified, and many soldiers of the Radiant Empire have been killed; he naturally wants to offer some condolences.

In fact, this is called the Shield Plan, which is to strengthen the shield as much as possible, giving the Natural Empire enough time to develop.

Zhuo Ya was taken aback and said, "You're even willing to give something this good; is the Heart of the Ocean really that important?"

Luosen shrugged and said, "It's not entirely because the Heart of the Ocean is important; after all, we are allies."

He added, "By the way, if you need, our country can also build warships, tanks, aircraft, rapid‑fire cannons for you, all at cost price; as many as you want."

"If your nation is short of food or various small goods, just tell me, and I'll supply them to you at the lowest cost."

"In short, you need not worry about anything; just focus on confronting the Elves."

Zhuo Ya grew more astonished and said, "Why are you suddenly so generous?"

Even though she knows Luosen treats the Radiant Empire as a shield against the Elves, this level of support is so massive—doesn't he fear draining his own resources?

Luosen smiled, "Facing the Lord of Returning Truth, the destinies of our two nations are intertwined."

"The Radiant Empire is fighting the Elves on the front lines; the Natural Empire certainly cannot just watch."

"If it truly reaches a critical point, the Natural Empire's warships, aircraft, and cannons will certainly rush over to assist."

"Alright, your words truly comfort me. Though I know I shouldn't ask, I still want to know the secret of the Heart of the Ocean, even if it's only a superficial secret."

She clearly felt that the Heart of the Ocean must contain an incredibly astonishing treasure, certainly something capable of changing the world.

She was especially curious, wanting to know exactly what kind of thing it was.

Seeing her so persistent, Luosen couldn't help but shrug, "What a curious girl."

He thought for a moment and said, "I'll immediately send someone to Mei Da Xilin to deliver the marriage contract. If the engagement is established, I'll give you a tiny hint."

It's only a small hint; the real secret must be left for Zhuo Ya to guess herself.

"Alright!"

Zhuo Ya had already wanted to make this relationship public, to avoid the constant secrecy.

(End of chapter)