Chapter 48: Malena's Request

After Ninglu ordered Szczesny to reorganize the Fourth Regiment, he avoided everyone's gaze and returned to the "Kingdom of Disorder."

He confirmed once again that the ink sac of the Rodent Octopus was not among the Potion Materials already unlocked on the Blasphemous Slate.

The Potion Formulas for Sequence 9 and Sequence 8 had all been unlocked, but for the Sequence 7 Potion Formula, only the "Briber" and the adjacent path's "Inquisitor" could be viewed.

Ninglu placed the ink sac alone in a palace on the first layer of Real Space and fell into thought, based on his knowledge of Potion Materials.

【Higher-level Potion Materials generally contain higher Spirituality, and the difficulty of collecting them is also higher.

The Dark Night Fragment of the Fulao is clearly harder to obtain than the lung sac of a Lung Spider.

The ink sac of the Rodent Octopus contains more Spirituality and is also harder to obtain; it should be a mid-sequence Potion Material, and it is also the first mid-sequence material I have obtained.】

Beyonders of Sequence 9, Sequence 8, and Sequence 7 belong to the low sequences, while Sequence 6 and Sequence 5 are mid-sequences.

Ninglu stared at the ink sac and analyzed it further.

【The materials required for Potion Formulas seem to contain a certain internal logic.

The "Barbarian" requires the arm of an Ogryn, which is the most obvious; the Gavel required by the "Arbiter" is also related to this; the Siren Stone required by the "Sailor" is also related to water.

Those that are not obvious are merely implicit internal logic that I have yet to discover; as for the source of the Spirituality within the Potion Materials, its origin cannot yet be determined.】

He turned and walked out of the palace: 【Based on this inference, the ink sac comes from the ocean and should be a Potion Material for the "Tyrant" path where the "Sailor" is located.】

After Ninglu returned to the real world, he summoned everyone to hear a briefing.

"My King, a total of one hundred and seventeen veterans have died, along with twenty-seven recruits."

Szczesny reported first, feeling depressed; his regiment had suffered heavy losses due to a sea monster, leaving him feeling incredibly frustrated and wishing he could tear it into eight pieces, but he had been stopped by that Nü-Shaman.

Just then, Malena stepped forward.

"I have a suggestion that can allow you to win the loyalty of the Sicilians in a short time."

"Oh," Ninglu became interested upon hearing this, "speak."

"Zhangya has caused countless deaths among the Sicilians. If you send Trinio to carry a part of its limbs and go to the various tribes to proclaim your battle achievements, you will win their loyalty."

"In the Coral Sea, there is no second Rodent Octopus with such a massive body."

"Since that is the case, then follow your suggestion and give it a try."

Ninglu accepted Malena's suggestion; to him, the loss was nothing more than a bit less meat.

"My Lord, I request to execute this personally."

Upon hearing this, Szczesny immediately made the request, and his slight annoyance toward the Nü-Shaman vanished along with it.

"I leave it to you."

After Ninglu granted Szczesny's request, he immediately went to the seaside to dismember Zhangya.

The tentacles were cut off one by one, and the head was also divided into seven different parts.

Malena's suggestion was effective; after the Fourth Regiment killed the Floating Wave invaders of the various islands, when the Trinio brought out Zhangya's limbs and recounted the story of Ninglu descending from the sky to kill the overlord of the Coral Sea, the various Sicilian tribes gladly joined.

The Sea Guards one after another requested to join under Ninglu's command, and the Fourth Regiment continued to execute the selection standards previously set by Szczesny.

Two stellar days later, the Fourth Regiment was back to full strength.

After Szczesny reported to Ninglu, he received orders to continue recruiting Sea Guards with no upper limit.

Just as the conquest of the Cradle of the Sea was advancing rapidly, Ninglu received a communication message from Luoxiji.

"King Ninglu, a riot has broken out in Vostonia, and mutants from over thirteen Hive Cities have launched attacks on the Hive Cities."

"The Lukebo and Teziwoke that you control have also experienced riots."

Ninglu frowned slightly; there had been no signs of any mutant riots when he left, and he intuitively felt that there seemed to be forces pushing this from behind the scenes.

"What is the scale of the riots?"

"Unfortunately, there is no detailed intelligence at the moment; I suggest you return to Vostonia immediately."

Ninglu fell into deep thought upon hearing this.

【The Fulao of the Cradle of the Sea have mostly been cleared out, and the remaining few Xenos are enough for the Warriors led by Szczesny to handle.】

His black eyes shone; he realized this was an opportunity.

【The mutant riots are also a good opportunity for me to conquer Vostonia.】

Thinking of this, he immediately made a decision.

Three stellar hours later, Ninglu summoned everyone for a meeting, and after hearing their reports on progress, he issued orders.

"Szczesny, you are temporarily responsible for commanding all armed forces in the Cradle of the Sea; your mission is to continue conquering all Sicilian tribes and kill all invading Xenos."

"My Lord, I will certainly complete your mission."

"Among the tasks I previously entrusted to you, do you have any talent among your subordinates?"

Szczesny was prepared, "My Lord, those iron Warriors have had their minds twisted by that Mad King; they are qualified Warriors, but not talents capable of handling things alone."

"Among the recruits I have enlisted locally, Jorginho is a talent; he participated in the battles for five islands during the conquest and single-handedly persuaded three Sicilian tribes to pledge loyalty to you."

"Since that is the case, have him follow me back to Vostonia after the meeting."

During the conquest, Ninglu had collected Potion Materials including Siren Stone and rapeseed, which could cultivate "Sailors" and "Cultivators."

But he would not just find anyone and let them become a Beyonder; assessment was necessary.

Ninglu already had a preliminary plan for this; he could not oversee every Beyonder throughout the process, especially after he returned to the Imperium.

He decided to establish a recommendation mechanism, where Beyonders he personally cultivated would recommend talents to him, and then he would keep these people by his side for final observation.

"Vieri, your mission is to rebuild Trani and restore food supply capabilities as soon as possible."

"As you command, my King."

Vieri accepted the order respectfully; upon learning that Ninglu had slain Zhangya, his slight dissatisfaction at being forced to submit also vanished completely, and he submitted from the heart to the god-like giant.

"Malena..."

Ninglu looked at the Shaman, and before he could speak, she spoke first.

"I want to accompany you to Vostonia."

Ninglu did not expect Malena to make such a request, so he asked curiously.

"Why do you have this request?"

Malena's tea-brown pupils shimmered with light, and a look of longing appeared on her face.

"I have long had the thought of heading to the sea of stars to see the world outside."

"Now, there is finally an opportunity, and I wish to follow you and serve you."

Ninglu nodded slightly; Malena was a powerful psyker, even stronger than Thierry. Taking her by his side would mean having a capable subordinate, and without her, a Shaman of such high prestige, in the Cradle of the Sea, Szczesny would also be better able to control this world for him.

Thinking of this, he spoke.

"Very well, you shall leave with me."

After Ninglu returned to the Piszczek with Malena, Jorginho, and other subordinates, he ordered the ship to set sail, then returned to his quarters to enter the "Kingdom of Disorder" to concoct the "Knower" Potion.

Because several members of the Legion have asked when Ninglu will return, I am hereby providing an explanation.

First, I did not force the return timeline to coincide with the launch timeline, although the initial subscription numbers would be better if I did.

Second, specifically regarding the plot of the first volume, there are still 12 plot points left to write; once finished, he will return to the Imperium and begin the second volume, "Great Crusade."

Note: Not every plot point can be finished within a single chapter.

Let me share my thoughts. Ninglu does not possess a cheat (the Potion system and Primarch status) to obtain everything while lying down; he will build a small kingdom on the level of a Rogue Trader dynasty before returning to the Imperium.

GW has no clear definition of a Rogue Trader dynasty; most of the Agamemnus Dynasty's assets are concentrated on one ship, yet it is still called a dynasty.

My definition is possessing a powerful fleet and a self-sustaining world system.

A self-sustaining world system is composed of an Administrative Planet, an Agricultural World, an Industrial World, and at least one Economic World capable of creating immense economic value.

Vostonia is an Administrative Planet and an Industrial World; the Cradle of the Sea is an Agricultural World; afterwards, there will be Warp travel to occupy an Economic World in another star system.

I do not want to rely on my Primarch sons to accomplish this; that would be too easy and lack personal effort.

Of course, after returning, I will dispatch the Legion to conquer a large number of worlds.

Those who understand the circumstances of the Primarchs' returns should know that no Primarch has achieved this, including Guilliman and Dorn.

Finally, I know most readers hope for a return as soon as possible; I will appropriately speed up the pacing, but I must still finish the necessary plot points listed in my outline.

It is estimated that the first volume will have a total of seventy chapters, and the launch will be after the return.

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(End of this chapter)