Age of Adepts c1-1513

by Zhen De Lao Lang, 真的老狼

  Greem gave this some thought. Soon he had obtained the internal information about the clan and replied to the old goblin decisively.

  “From the day after tomorrow onwards, I will assign a hundred adept apprentices from the clan to you. The number of adepts will also be increased, and I will have them cooperate with your work.”

  The surrounding goblins immediately let out a wave of cheers!

  Chapter 894 - Goblin Faction

  “Secondly, we have an urgent lack of various gemstone resources here.”

  “The Goblin Plane, as you know, produces very, very few magical gemstones. Even if we occasionally find some gemstones, the quality is often inferior. Therefore…”

  Greem fell silent for a moment when he heard old Gonga’s complaints.

  He knew of all these situations. Gargamel and Meryl had reported these things to him as well.

  However, considering that the Goblin Plane had not been the primary concern of the Crimson Clan in the past, the portion of resources allocated to the City of Machines was the smallest of them all.

  Right now, with the sudden supply of Queyras alloys he had obtained, the goblin faction would indisputably rise to the same level of the adept and vampire factions. An appropriate shift in resource allocation was necessary!

  Now that he had made up his mind, Greem gave his promise without any hesitation.

  “From now on, the City of Machines will do a count of all goblins who are advanced technicians or engineers. Their basic treatment will be the same as adept apprentices. Those who are individually chosen to join magic energy workgroups will be treated the same as official adepts. Go down and perfect the few main magical machine plans and give me a list of resources you need. I will inform Gargamel to prioritize the resource requirements here.”

  “This…this…” Old Gonga couldn’t help but start choking up with tears as he mumbled.

  In the past, the goblins had always been relegated to an inferior, subordinate position within the Crimson Clan. Apart from Duke Tigule and Sage Snorlax, they had no voice in most clan matters.

  Now, the Crimson Clan leader had personally conferred high-grade goblins the same status as adepts and apprentices. How could that not cause the old goblin to break into tears of joy?

  “Alright, don’t get so emotional yet,” Greem interrupted Gonga’s crying and frowned as he said, “You said you have three problems, what’s the last one?”

  Gonga hastily wiped away his tears and pulled his green hair behind his ears before confidently speaking, “I shall venture to ask you, clan leader, for a bit of Queyras alloy. This special magical metal is a key material in our construction of space furnaces and magic generator furnaces. I wish to organize a group of goblins to do in-depth research on Queyras alloy and see if we can find a similar replacement! This way, your development will no longer be limited by the amount of Queyras alloy.”

  Greem glanced at the old goblin and the other green goblins around him in shock.

  They barely reached his waist in height, but their confidence and ‘wild’ tone forced Greem to assess them in a new light.

  Greem had already analyzed the special effects of Queyras alloy thoroughly through the use of the Chip. Trying to create a similar magical alloy by modulating metal proportions was going to be very difficult.

  However, the old goblin’s suggestion was truly one that favored the clan’s long term interests!

  As such, after some slight thought, Greem opened his mouth and said, “Queyras metal is a magical metal. The goblin laboratories of your City of Machines lack the appropriate equipment to analyze and break down the metal. Since you lot intend to do this, then Iet the laboratory be at White Tower! You will select a group of experienced veteran engineers to stay at White Tower. I will especially provide you with an exclusive alchemy lab there.”

  The goblins immediately broke out into cheers.

  Only Wind Adept Deserra put on a faint smile. Clearly, he understood Greem’s intentions.

  For a long time to come, Queyras alloy would become the essential adept resource of the Crimson Clan. Many core operations of the clan would have to revolve around Queyras alloy.

  Under such circumstances, there was no way that Greem, as the leader of the clan, could hand over such an important strategic resource to a group of goblins whose loyalty and trustworthiness could not be guaranteed. The reason Greem set their lab in White Tower back in the World of Adepts was to keep these high-level goblins under the eyes of the clan.

  This way, any results that they successfully obtained through their research would rapidly fall into the hands of the clan. That would keep them from making any demands from the clan higher-ups just by virtue of holding important research results in their hands.

  That was why Greem seemed like he was thinking out of consideration for the goblins, but in truth, he was putting a nail into the board for the goblins’ future development.

  Of course, this was no conspiracy of any sort. Rather, it was a bold and brazen open conspiracy!

  Naturally, with the pure and straightforward minds of the goblins, there was no way they would understand the profound implications behind Greem’s plans. Instead, they were all moved beyond words by the bright future that Greem had promised them.

  After solving the difficulties of the goblins, Greem prepared to leave the Goblin Plane. However, he received a request for an audience from Goblin Princess Vanessa.

  It left him no choice but to stay for a while longer.

  He met Vanessa in a hall on the upper levels of the adept’s tower.

  It had been a while since they had met, and the princess’ appearance had changed tremendously. A strange mental flux had also appeared around her.

  Judging from this trend, this development…

  Greem was slightly stunned. Did she intend to walk the path of a mechanical adept?

  As expected, some of the books that Greem had people send over to the Goblin Plane had indeed attracted the interest of Princess Vanessa. In her current condition, it seemed like going down the path of a mechanical adept was her only choice.

  There were no issues with having a person’s soul injected into an alchemical golem. However, if this were to remain the case for extended periods, problems would arise.

  Without the nourishment of blood, flesh, and the aura of life, Princess Vanessa’s soul would only grow weaker and weaker, less and less active. If she refused to be turned into an undead creature and remained in her artificial body, the wilting of her soul was an inevitability!

  If she could successfully advance through the path of a mechanical adept, she could at least retain the condition of her soul, ensuring that it was nourished by magical energy. That would help her break free of her current awkward state of being neither goblin nor golem.

  However, it was apparent that the weak-magic environment of the Goblin Plane was ill-suited for a goblin who intended to walk the path of a mechanical adept. Thus, Vanessa requested that Greem allow her to enter the White Tower for studies.

  Greem gave the request some thought and secretly asked Deserra some questions, before finally agreeing to Vanessa’s request.

  The White Tower of the present now had two goblins who had advanced past the threshold of adept and had become official adepts registered under the Crimson Clan. As long as they were prevented from assembling and forming a faction of their own, they were no big threat.

  Meryl managed the White Tower. She was more than capable of keeping a few goblin adepts under her thumb. As such, Greem wasn’t particularly concerned about the matter.

  After watching Princess Vanessa leave in high spirits, Greem had a simple conversation with Deserra, who was stationed in the Goblin Plane, and confirmed that the rule over the Goblin Plane was still stable and facing no problems.

  With this in mind, Greem finally prepared to leave for the Tower of Fate in the World of Adepts.

  The war between the Fate and Coldwinter Witches had just concluded there. Alice had al
ready asked for him to attend the celebratory banquet of the Fate Witches several times.

  However, just as he arrived in the upper level of the tower and was about to use the teleportation array there to return to the World of Adepts, white light shimmered around the array. A short moment later, a dense and massive body appeared before him.

  It was Gru– Gazlowe’s Split-Off Brain Gru!

  Greem couldn’t help but be momentarily stunned when he saw the squirming squid-like brain inside Gru’s five-meter tall metal body.

  “What are you here in the Goblin Plane for?”

  Of course, Greem was curious. After all, Gru was the only clone of Gazlowe; he could almost fully represent the brain monster. The expansion in Lance meant that this period should be when Gru was the busiest. Why would he have the time to come over to the Goblin Plane?

  Gru’s squid-like brain immediately squeezed out a humanoid smile when he saw Greem.

  “My Lord, I specially came here to the Goblin Plane to invite you.”

  “Invite me?” Greem was even more confused now.

  “Yes! We heard that you have been busy working over here in the Goblin Plane. My original self has a lot of things he wishes to talk about with you! That’s why he had me specially make the trip to bring you over!”

  Greem vaguely understood what was happening when he saw the squid brain’s fawning smile.

  Another trouble brought about by the Queyras alloy.

  That brain monster had fairly sharp ears and nose didn’t he?!

  Greem hadn’t even told Gargamel about the newly acquired Queyras alloy. He had only revealed a little about the new supply, yet Gazlowe had already heard of it in Lance.

  Not a bad job of gathering information!

  Greem smiled and casually said, “Let’s go then. I was just wondering how the development of Lance was going!”

  The two of them did not stay for much longer. They teleported directly into the Capital of Eternity in Lance.

  …………

  Lance, the Capital of Eternity.

  Once again emerging from the array, Gru led Greem through a series of suspended corridors, steel towers, and winding stairs. It took them an hour of walking to reach the core hall of the steel tower where Gazlowe resided.

  It had only been a short while since Greem had seen this place, but a few more Second Grade magical machine warriors could be seen near the hall.

  However, compared to an official Second Grade like Tigule, the magical machine warriors created by Gazlowe could only demonstrate power comparable to Second Grade within the range of his control. If they were to leave the steel tower and lose the endless magic energy supply from Gazlowe, their power would drop below Second Grade.

  It couldn’t be helped! The brain monster did not have that much Queyras alloy to forge magic energy cores for every one of them!

  As such, they could only reside in the steel tower, serving as Gru and Gazlowe’s guards and keeping the Lance natives living in the Capital of Eternity in check.

  Gazlowe’s vast and massive spiritual will immediately fell upon Greem the moment he stepped into the hall.

  However, unlike the tension from last time, Gazlowe appeared to be very careful and gentle this time, like an obedient little child!

  Chapter 895 - Haggling

  “Speak. Why did you want to meet me?” Greem asked unamusedly.

  “My lord, I heard you promised the goblins on Goblin Plane some Queyras alloy?” The air in the steel hall vibrated slightly. Gazlowe had to create a voice by vibrating the air with his mental powers to accommodate Greem.

  “News spreads fast for you!” Greem smiled faintly, “It hasn’t been long since I said those words in the Goblin Plane and you’ve already heard them here in Lance!”

  “Of course. The Goblin Plane was my homeworld, after all. I still have some connections there.” The brain monster chuckled.

  “I warn you, the priority of your current development is Lance. You must defend this forward outpost with your life. The dragons must not expel you from this plane. You had best not interfere with whatever is happening over at the Goblin Plane and affect the clan’s development.” The brain monster’s performance in recent years had been excellent, but Greem couldn’t help but remind him to stay in line again.

  Gazlowe feared the strong but went after the weak. If Greem didn’t keep a tight grip over him, it was very likely that it would result in backlash from him.

  As for loyalty? Greem wasn’t as foolish as to believe in the loyalty of a Third Grade brain monster!

  He and Gazlowe might appear to be master and subordinate, but they were, in truth, more like allies. Gazlowe had long since been capable of wiping away the brand that he had placed in his soul in the past.

  If it weren’t for some tricks Greem had left in the ultra-magic generator furnace and Gazlowe’s lack of confidence in surviving the backlash from the Crimson Clan, he would have broken free of Greem’s soul bindings a long time ago!

  As such, Greem had to be extremely careful and cautious whenever he dealt with this Third Grade brain monster who was flying higher and higher, always at risk of snapping off the strings that kept him bound.

  “Understood! Don’t worry, my lord. The dragons have tried many times already. They might be able to damage my Capital of Eternity badly, but removing it entirely is no more than a fantasy. If they dare to come again, I will make them regret it!”

  “Good.”

  “My lord, you see…the development of the Capital of Eternity has reached a bottleneck. In the short term, the dragons won’t be able to break into the capital, but neither will we be able to break out; the main problem being Queyras alloy! My lord, don’t you think you should assign a bit of Queyras alloy to the Capital of Eternity as well?” The brain monster probed cautiously.

  Greem laughed coldly and said, “Those goblins made a promise to me. They will make me a magical machine golem dragon with Fourth Grade powers within one or two years. That is why I was willing to provide them with Queyras alloy. What about you? What can you give me? You do not intend to take away such a treasure from me with nothing in return, do you?”

  Greem’s tone might not be friendly, but Gazlowe was suddenly excited.

  He was petrified that Greem only had that much Queyras alloy in his hands. If that were the case, he would never have been able to obtain a single scrap of Queyras alloy even if he were to be unbelievably persuasive. After all, the value of a Fourth Grade golem dragon was shockingly high. He could not provide anything of equal value to pry the Queyras alloy from the hands of the goblins.

  “My lord, I can provide you with yet another magical machine army, consisting of a thousand magical machines.”

  “I have no need for a magical machine army for the moment. The development of the Crimson Clan is fairly stable, and we have no urgent pressure of war. Keep the magical machines for yourself!”

  “My lord, I can help you attack dragon lords.”

  “Truly, with the magical machine army you currently possess, it should be no problem for you to conquer a few dragon territories. However,” Greem couldn’t help but narrow his eyes and smile, “How many dragons can you catch for me?”

  “…” Gazlowe fell into an awkward silence.

  It couldn’t be helped. That was where his power was most lacking!

  The tens of thousands of magical machine soldiers were like a flood of steel, capable of razing the lands and dens of any dragon lord below Fourth Grade. However, Gazlowe could not capture any of the dragons. He was utterly helpless in that regard.

  He might be Third Grade himself, but he was not skilled at battle.

  Even with his mental powers as means of offense, his cowardly personality meant that he was unwilling to set foot on the battlefield unless absolutely necessary. Meanwhile, of the many machines he had created, none could take to the skies.

  However, which dragon lord of Lance couldn’t fly?

  The dragons wouldn’t just be waiting
to die in their dens when they see the unstoppable magical machine army coming for them. They would probably have packed their bags and fled before the army even reached their homes.

  That was why it was easy for the magical machine army to defeat a dragon lord, but capturing them as they flew freely in the skies was nothing short of fantasy.

  If Greem were willing to provide him with some magic generator furnaces, he would be able to create a fleet of flying ships, and the problem would be solved!

  That was why Gazlowe couldn’t help but want to request for an advance payment of Queyras alloy, even if he knew it was a bit embarrassing to do so.

  Seeing that Gazlowe had fallen completely silent, Greem shifted the topic of conversation.

  “Where’s Thunder Dragon Arms? What has he been doing during these past few years?”

  The one who replied to his question was Gru.

  “Lord Arms has taken up residence in a wide territory a hundred and fifty kilometers to the southwest of the Capital of Eternity. He’s living the good life there! The female dragon’s mating with him once again.”

  “Mm, have him watch out and be careful! At this moment, most of the dragon lords of Lance probably already know of his connection to us. Make sure he doesn’t get lured into a trap of the dragons.” Greem frowned as he said.

  “I will ensure the safety of Lord Arms’ territory!” Gru still had a fawning expression on his brain-face, “My lord, I heard you already have lands in both the Central and Northern Regions of the World of Adepts. You must be lacking a large aerial force right now. Why not you let me forge an undefeatable aerial fleet for you!?”

  “Oh? What do you mean, specifically?” Gru’s proposition piqued Greem’s interest.

  “We of the Capital of Eternity are swimming in metals, but lack magic generator furnaces. If you can provide us with two magic generator furnaces, we will create a Sky Patrol Mothership for you, free of cost. Don’t you forget, the magical machine blueprints in the hands of the little goblins all came from my original self while he was still a goblin.”