Chapter 66: The Three Aces Against the Thieves (First Edition Requested)

Morning.

Selena was awakened by the crisp chirping of snowball birds.

She opened her eyes and saw golden sunlight streaming through a narrow vertical window into the bedroom, forming a golden veil across the room—absolutely beautiful.

Instinctively she intended to wake Luosen, but found nothing, only then recalling the events of last night.

At ten o'clock last night, a Forest Spirit invaded; after a tense hour or so, it was reported that the Forest Spirits had been completely annihilated.

She then yawned, and Luosen asked her to return to the room to rest.

She tried to persist, but he said the night‑owl girl would age quickly, then told her to sleep first, promising to join after finishing his trivial tasks; with a mix of soft and hard arguments, and because she was indeed sleepy, she muddled back to the bedroom.

It now seemed her husband had been busy the entire night.

Grateful for his care yet worried about his health, she quickly got up, freshened up briefly, carried the breakfast, and headed straight to the underground alchemy chamber.

A magical barrier cloaked the entrance to the alchemy chamber, but that of course didn't stop Selena, just as the barrier she set up reserved a passage password specifically for Luosen.

Upon entering the basement, Selena immediately noticed a drastic change compared to last night.

There were many oddly shaped artisan puppets.

Some had rotating arms, some were flat platforms gliding smoothly on the ground, and others bore forms she had never seen.

These puppets were busily at work without pause.

Transporting materials, engraving runes, operating alchemical equipment, and so on.

Amid these artisan puppets, a humanoid skeleton was more than half finished, shaping at an astonishing speed.

But as a mage, Selena instantly saw that these flashy artisan puppets were not the key.

The crucial thing was in a corner of the room: a massive rectangular prism over 4 meters on each side and 3 meters high.

Its outer surface bore strange inscriptions she had never seen, resembling lightning runes yet with many unique variations.

Her husband stood at the edge of this odd prism, one hand clasped around his chest, the other propping his chin, deep in thought.

Hearing the movement, he turned, his face breaking into a gentle smile that felt very familiar to Selena.

"Good morning, my beautiful lady,"

His tone was cheerful, his complexion excellent, bearing no sign of staying up late.

Selena relaxed, handing over the breakfast: "How did the invading Forest Spirits fare?"

"Two hundred came, we killed about 180 on the spot, captured over twenty alive, none escaped."

"What about our warriors?"

"Five or six were wounded, none fell in battle."

"Oh—great."

Selena was pleased but also concerned: "Will such night raids happen often in the future?"

Luosen shook his head: "No, this is likely the final battle. If luck is bad, we might fight one more, but there will never be a third."

Seeing Selena's puzzled expression, he added another explanation.

"Last night we defeated a corps of the most battle‑hardened Forest Spirits. Their standing among the rebels is comparable to that of the Flame Corps to us."

"Defeating them establishes our prestige."

"Oh—got it."

Selena relaxed, turning to the prism: "Is this the lightning capacitor you mentioned? I think it should be called a Lightning House."

Luosen smiled: "Then let's call it Lightning House."

Selena walked around the Lightning House: "I see many light‑guiding runes—are they channeling sunlight from outside?"

"Yes."

"What is the efficiency of converting light power into lightning?"

Luosen squinted and smiled: "Roughly ten units of sunlight yield six units of lightning."

A 60% photo‑electric conversion rate would make Earth's scientists leap for joy, yet in this other world there's still room for improvement.

At Luosen's current research level, the limit should be about 91.5%.

Selena's eyes lit up: "That's really good."

She asked again: "How long to forge fifty combat puppets?"

"Together with these artisan puppets, we can finish them in seven days."

Luosen explained while eating breakfast.

After finishing, he clapped his hands and said, "Let's begin, madam. The next seven days will be our busiest; after that, there won't be much heavy work left."

Selena was startled: "You're a lord, how can you stay in the laboratory all the time?"

A lord is a figure watched by countless eyes; even a simple bout of diarrhea would become city‑wide gossip, let alone prolonged absence. Luosen simply clapped his hands: "Wake up."

In the room's corner, a curtain was lifted, and a person stepped out.

The person looked exactly like Luosen—it was Puppet No. 2.

It was Selena's first time seeing Puppet No. 2; she immediately approached to examine it closely.

A few minutes later she remarked, "It's very much like you, yet there's a faint sense of rigidity."

Luosen smiled: "Madam, as an Arcane Master you know me well, so you can easily spot the differences, but others wouldn't notice."

"That's true. But how does it cast spells? Is it the standard method from the 'Standard Arcane Puppet' manual?"

"Exactly, it uses internal crystal lattices to cast."

"I installed four types of crystal lattices—mind, swift wind, force, and arcane—a total of 58."

Thus this puppet can release 58 low‑level spells.

It's cumbersome, and recharging is troublesome; an obvious ultimate solution is to use 'Pure Mana Crystals.'

Whatever spell energy is needed, pure mana converts it in real time.

Unfortunately, this is a beautiful dream.

Because there is an iron law of magic that makes countless geniuses bow down, called the Supreme Law of Life.

But we need to check if it's considered a "technique" (like a cultivation law). It's a "iron law of magic". So it's a law of magic. I'd include.

That is, 'pure magical power cannot be stored in any non-living container outside the soul.' This is a clarification of the law, not a name.

So far, no exceptions have appeared.

Let's get back to the topic.

Selena listened, her face full of emotion: "Putting 58 low-level crystal lattices into such a tiny body is really hard on you."

Indeed, it's a bit troublesome.

Luosen controlled Puppet No. 2 as it walked toward the laboratory exit.

Next, I can remotely control him to handle affairs while I'm busy in the lab. After all, most of the time, the lord just needs to sit in the study and take a nap.

Also, 'laboratory' is generic.

Selena praised: "This idea is not bad."

She also devoted herself to helping Luosen continue to improve the Magic Method Laboratory.

The view returned to Puppet No. 2.

After leaving the underground laboratory, Luosen immediately grabbed five bottles of Dragon's Blessing and headed to Weige's potion room.

After last night's battle, the rebel army either was too scared to come, but if they did come, they would surely be fully prepared, with great numbers, and nine times out of ten it would be a major showdown!

As a lord, I certainly don't want to see the worst-case scenario; I'll do my best to avoid it, but I must prepare for the worst.

Soon they arrived at the site. Vika had already set up all the alchemy equipment and various materials.

Besides that, she recruited five young apprentices with a foundation in magic and clean backgrounds on the sea island to assist her.

When Luosen arrived, she was following his initial task assignment, researching an improved steel medicine.

Upon seeing Luosen, she turned her head and glanced, her gaze quickly falling on the clay jar.

After taking a careful look, she immediately handed her current work to a young female apprentice beside her.

Is this the Dragon's Blessing of the Forest Spirit Witchcraft Master?

Luosen handed over the potion: "It seems you already know quite a bit."

"This potion is strong; after drinking it, one gains limitless strength and a body as sturdy as steel, and I have not yet found a dispelling spell to remove its effect."

Vika's eyes instantly lit up with great interest: "Hmm~~ Even you can't dispel it? It seems this witchcraft potion really has something going on."

In her view, although Luosen's magical cultivation is not high, he is extremely knowledgeable.

She opened the medicine jar, gave it a light sniff, and then tested each magic potion reagent one by one.

After a moment's thought, she concluded: 'This is not a primitive tribe's potion, but the alchemy method of the ancient Seth Kingdom.'

Luosen's eyes flashed: 'The Seth Kingdom on Weilan Giant Island?'

He had always feared the Forest Spirit Witchcraft Master because the other party was an unknown hermit.

But if there is evidence to check, the threat level of the other side would instantly drop by an order of magnitude.

As long as you look up the relevant records of the ancient Seth Kingdom, you can grasp the context of its power.

And Laifu's database already has this data.

"We need to spend some time to examine it properly."

At that moment, Vika's voice came again.

That's right, it's the ancient kingdom destroyed by Saintess Weilan. According to our country's renowned naturalist Master Samira, when the kingdom fell, some Seth Kingdom scholars took their magical knowledge and fled by ship.

It seems some scholars fled to White Sturgeon Island.

Luosen was very pleased: "This news is very good."

This is the benefit of cooperation and exchange: being able to borrow others' knowledge to fill one's own blind spots.

Vika then carefully poured out a little potion, mixed it with some new test reagents, and after testing, arrived at a second conclusion.

"The potion contains a very powerful ingredient, which is a kind of blood. I don't yet know what animal's blood it is; I need time to investigate."

Luosen immediately set aside the remaining four bottles of potion: "These can be your test samples."

Vika happily nodded and then gave Luosen an idea.

"Actually, the method of crafting this potion is clumsy, greatly wasting the power in the blood."

"I know a magic potion formula that can be made from ordinary materials to produce an effect similar to it, or even stronger."

This is Levinde's court secret potion, called the Hero's Hymn.

This is also a very good solution.

Luosen immediately asked: "What is the output?"

"Given the current situation, about one liter per day, which can fill 50 bottles."

"Are there any side effects?"

"One dose lasts an hour, but causes weakness for ten days, so it can only be used in a desperate effort."

"Understood."

Luosen thought for a moment and said: "Then let's quickly prepare a batch, as many as possible, at least 200 bottles."

This potion is enough to become his trump card for defeating the rebel army.

"No problem."

Unexpectedly obtaining a new trump card, Luosen was very pleased.

Just as he was about to leave, he heard Vika say.

Lord, if we are to prepare the Hero's Hymn, the work on improving the steel medicine will have to be delayed.

"It's fine; for now, the hero potion is more important."

Luosen is not disappointed at all; he now thinks this court magic potion master is a real treasure.

After leaving Weige's alchemy room, I immediately went to Kao mages' forging room and found that the progress of the Lightning Torrent Crossbow was also very good.

Roughly estimated, after half a month, the first batch of finished products will appear.

This Lightning Torrent Crossbow is his second trump card.

After a few words of encouragement, he finally went to Alonso's forging room.

Alonso likewise recruited several local island apprentices as assistants; when Luosen arrived, he was carefully debugging various forging equipment.

Upon seeing Luosen, he beamed: "Lord, this is the best alchemy equipment I've ever used, its performance is remarkably good."

Seeing his pleasure, Luosen also felt quite happy; after exchanging a few pleasantries, he got to the point.

"I have an urgent task to deal with the rebel threat."

Alonso immediately became serious.

"Please give your orders, Lord."

Whoosh~

Luosen handed over the transmutation forging manual for the Intermediate Lightning Talisman.

"I will provide you with sufficient materials, hoping to quickly craft a batch of induction-type defensive talismans."

After Alonso received the forging manual and quickly skimmed it, he smiled: "Using the Transformation Technique to craft them, the difficulty is low. I can produce at least 30 talismans a day."

He has been studying Transmutation Alchemy during this period, and has become quite proficient in the transmutation forging techniques for some low- to mid-grade magical devices, gaining some insights.

"But charging the talismans will require help from other mages."

"Don't worry about charging, I have a way. I need a batch of such talismans, the more the better, at least no fewer than 300."

"This is the main business; Alonso immediately promised: 'I'll get them done as soon as possible.'"

"Excellent, tell me any requirements and I'll do my best to satisfy them."

Alonso shrugged: "Apprentice~ I need a batch of smart and capable apprentices, preferably with a forging foundation, able to jump right in and help me work."

"Alright, I'll go recruit in Shire County."

Alonso grinned: "Um~ we need commoners, because they're smart and diligent."

"No problem."

"Thus, the third trump card is also ready."

After leaving the forging room, Luosen went to find the Knight Commander KodeLin.

More precisely, to see the Forest Spirit prisoners of war.

These captives, he has great use for them.

PS: Chapter 30 'The Instructor's Final Lesson' details supplement side story, obtainable in the group after adding chapters.

(End of chapter)