Chapter 202: The Returnee

The giant's dining hall gradually became the giant's town; the construction crew's efficiency was quite high. When the noble mages began laying the foundation, the efficiency naturally could not be slow.

The most straightforward method was turning stone to mud combined with the Stone Wall spell, quickly establishing fences and spires.

When spellcasters or crossbowmen enter within, it is enough to deter most lawless elements.

And this was merely a transitional item before the Mage Tower was truly built.

A mage with preparation and one without are two different levels of strength; a mage with a Mage Tower and one without are two different dimensions.

Once the Mage Tower is truly established, it will allow Archmages to perform strategic spellcasting within it.

Supported by the relevant Mage Tower architecture, under conditions of nearly infinite mana, it can deploy super-turrets equipped with various strategic-level metamagic enhancements.

The range of strategic magic can cover the entire "New Construction District"; this area will gain the defensive strength of a fortress. Even if a beast tide strikes, magic raining from the sky can easily destroy most invading creatures.

"That also means that once this underground district is established, it will become the starting point and safe zone for underground exploration."

This seems like a good thing, but someone immediately panicked on the spot.

"Senior Brother Li En, I have a commission that I'm afraid must be handled as soon as possible." On Di Meng's side, he was somewhat at a loss.

This newly built front-line fortress is a good thing for others, but for him, it is not necessarily so.

"You mean the matter of the passage? That is indeed somewhat urgent."

Previously, the passage in the Dock District also led to a certain place within the underground ruins, and even mechanical steamships were built.

And if the spatial transfer passage here stabilizes, then the value of other passages will drop significantly; for Di Meng, who invested heavily, this is naturally very urgent.

The small amount of industry in the Dock District now cannot withstand any turmoil.

Li En fell silent; he truly did not expect that a grain of sand from the progress of the era, falling on his side, would truly become a mountain, and that the industry he had just invested in might be completely ruined by a slight carelessness.

That would mean a significant number of jobs; the logistics shops and dried food stores here were all set up, yet you tell me the "railway line" changes its route; it would be strange if we didn't lose everything.

"Don't panic. It should not be the worst-case scenario. It might even be a good thing."

Li En thought for a moment, then smiled and comforted Di Meng.

On one hand, he had entered that passage himself, arrived at the other side of the Dark River via steamship, but simply did not delve deeper.

Judging from the sensation of the boat traveling diagonally downward and the soil quality of the walls on that shore, it should be much deeper than this side.

On the other hand, there was something even more convincing.

"We haven't encountered cultists, have we? I inquired, and no Beast Cult was seen near these shallow layers; they must be in the deeper depths, and that passage should lead to their original area of activity."

Li En's words were very practical; he patted Di Meng's shoulder, knowing that anxiety leads to confusion.

"From a broad perspective, the Mirror Demon will accelerate exploration work; deeper passages will actually be more valuable. Didn't we previously feel the danger level was too high to develop? With development, our passages will become more valuable."

Di Meng nodded; he also hoped for this, but...

"It would be best to..."

"Mm, we will start preparing after we return; indeed, we cannot delay. Let's set up a 'Search Marker' guide item here."

"Uh, that's a bit expensive, isn't it?"

"It's worth it. I'll ask Miss Shaliman to borrow one; she should have a Third-Ring mage over there."

"Search Mark" counts as a rather useless Third-Ring Conjuration spell; he first developed it, and it was actually an "anti-thief magic."

It places a semi-permanent mark on your personal items; once lost, you can activate the mark to sense and locate its position.

The reason it is useless is that, as a price for being semi-permanent, the mark's sensing ability is very weak.

This also means its detectable range is not long; perhaps only three or four kilometers at most.

A weak mark can also very easily be affected or blocked for various reasons.

Old thieves can place several low-level Magical items together to interfere with your sensing.

Similar spells of higher rings do exist, but as a permanent "state change," the consumption is simply too great, making it even less cost-effective.

Its effect in anti-thief matters is subtle, but underground explorers have found another use for it.

That is, dropping items bearing the mark in a maze or underground ruin; when you want to return after walking a certain distance, it can provide guidance.

"Buy a few more; pay from our funds; this is normal business expenditure." Di Meng was very open-minded; this was official business on his side, and there was no reason for his senior brother to suffer a loss.

Di Meng also understood on the spot what Li En meant: drop the items at this front-line base, then enter from the Dock District passage, and use the coordinate guidance to go upward. This might find a connecting path, allowing one to determine the height and location of the Dock District passage from a side angle.

If it really is not far from here, that passage also has a new development path.

An unexpected development accelerated everyone's progress; before the storm truly hits oneself, no one can ensure whether this is a good thing or a bad thing.

"Let's set off. After we return, we will make preparations and set out within three days."

Li En made a promise; this matter indeed cannot be delayed.

While the Royal Family invests massive manpower and funds in development, our side has only this small estate; we must find a way to integrate into their grand trend to avoid our own investment going to waste.

On Li En's side, he could also relax a little.

"The Snake's Pact" still presses upon him; staying underground actually leaves no options.

Acting according to the choice given by the Snake always feels like a trap; should I simply choose the one that is least selectable?

"Ah, sunlight, truly comfortable."

Even if one can only see comfortable sunlight for two days, it still makes one feel comfortable from the bottom of the heart.

After all, most life forms are creatures that long for sunlight.

"That is not necessarily so; some life forms die upon seeing light, and for some life forms, the night is their day."

The snake, which had wandered off somewhere, suddenly appeared on Li En's shoulder again.

It lay listlessly on Li En, yet Li En was surprised that he did not smell any alcohol.

"Where did you go messing around?"

"It's too painful; being a teacher is too painful; being a fool's teacher is too painful; being a slacker fool's teacher is truly hell; I want to die; ah, I am already dead; why must I suffer this torment even after death!"

The snake rolled around on Li En's head, coiling around his neck, nearly knocking him directly to the ground.

To make a snake become like this, Li En was even somewhat curious about what kind of divine person the new junior brother and junior sister actually were.

But after rolling once, the snake glanced at Li En. He sighed; why did this person look dead again?

Other heroic souls could just slack off, but when it came to him, he still had to act as a nanny to ensure his survival.

"How about letting him die? After all, counting the karmic cause and effect, it's Li Ensu's fault anyway."

The snake wanted to slack off and run away. But thinking of the gift he had just delivered and those headache-inducing prodigy disciples, he sighed and said.

"Li En, you must strive to stay alive." For the first time, the snake felt a bit of sympathy for Li Ensu. How did this Li Ensu end up shouldering the massive blame that once belonged to the Thousand-Faced Dragon?

"I suggest you accelerate the awakening of the Dragon Vein, the sooner the better." Given Li En's current state, death was certain.

The opponents they might encounter this time were quite troublesome; even the snake himself did not want to face such trouble. After all, no one wants to encounter one of their physiological natural enemies.

These words, coming out of nowhere, made Li En frown.

He naturally wanted to further awaken the Dragon Vein, but could such a thing be rushed?

"Awaken the Dragon Wings as soon as possible, at least upgrade the Dragon Eye by one tier, otherwise you... tsk tsk tsk, anyway, do your best, just stay alive."

The snake's words made Li En uneasy, but just as he wanted to ask something else, the snake vanished without a trace.

"Damn riddler."

While Li En was complaining about the snake's riddles, a black shadow was speeding over mountains and the horizon.

It was a shadow spreading wings, a black giant beast like a cloud; they were coming very fast.

Yet, though it was a massive shadow large enough to block out the sun, the farmlands and homestays along its path felt nothing, as if the shadow in the sky did not exist.

Meanwhile, another caravan heading to the same destination as them was still ahead of them.

They were on the main road to Radiant City, with vehicles and personnel stretching far along the mountainside.

Such a scale, visible from end to end, looked less like a caravan and more like a marching army.

The massive caravan carried supplies and a large number of knightly guards. On top of one of the largest luxury carriages sat the white lion emblem bearing the Crown.

In this kingdom, only two people could use this emblem; one of them was already in Radiant City.

"Going on one trip like this netted several gold coins; being an adventurer is quite profitable." Yet Li En himself was still happily counting the spoils of his first adventure.

(End of this chapter)