Chapter 28: The Sunken Land
2015-07-27
Author: Floating Tower
Conceal the investiture, but display the military strength loudly.
Concealing the investiture is to avoid attracting too much attention from other Deity Churches and to imply that as a newly ascended deity, one does not possess great ambitions. This is quite important because Soren’s investiture prayer is to be performed by a Mind Sorcerer, and within the Vampire Son’s investiture prayer, there are elements of hunting and fear, along with a blood-red moon, making it rather ostentatious. Currently, Soren only plans to use a Half-Elf divine profession for his investiture, which does not conflict with other deities. To avoid attracting too much hostility from other deities, Soren must remain as low-profile as possible before the Saint’s Cataclysm erupts.
Once all those deities descend and begin fighting amongst themselves, Soren can expand from the Half-Elf divine profession in any direction he chooses.
However, in the current situation, adding too many domain divine professions could lead to some deities coveting his power to act directly against him when the Saint’s Cataclysm occurs, such as an existence like the Lord of Shadows. Divine professions can evolve from domain powers; since Soren possesses powers of fear, he can serve as a source of power for other deities who mastery in fear. Including words like ‘hunting’, ‘night’, ‘fear’, and ‘shadows’ in his investiture prayer would be akin to courting death.
As for the military display, that is straightforward.
While the investiture can be low-key, showing strength must be ostentatious!
This means that during his investiture, Soren aims to flex his muscles to those watching him secretly from the Southern Coast and other continents, signalling that he is not to be trifled with; anyone wishing to act against him should weigh their capabilities. The real military display will not just consist of a few pirates parading around. Soren, Gloria, and the Fallen Witch will stand as legendary figures on stage.
At the same time, Soren will invite the Princess of Arendelle and the Eye of the North from the Northern Witch Council.
He will also invite the powerful monks controlling the Eastern Seas.
A military display is never just a one-person show; Soren’s elite must be showcased, high-end combat power must shine, and powerful allies need to be invited to lend their support.
Only then can true intimidation of potential enemies be achieved!
………………
Since Soren has provided the general guidelines, other matters can be completely handed over to the Mind Sorcerer.
About five days later.
Soren led the fleet back to the Overseas Islands, and Modo City had become livelier than before. Standing on the mast, one could see Modo City, which had been expanded to more than double its previous size. The city’s layout was established according to modern standards, from the underground drainage systems to the distribution across various areas, with a rough model conceived even before the city’s establishment. Soren could not have invested so much effort merely to create a village; the final form of Modo City is a large city capable of accommodating two hundred thousand inhabitants. Eventually, with further expansion, Modo City and Modo Harbor will connect together.
However, that should be a long time away.
For now, it is better that Modo City and Modo Harbor remain separate, as Soren needs to maintain the atmosphere within the city.
Over twenty thousand newcomers.
Modo City instantly became crowded, and there were basically no issues with food supplies; Soren had begun stockpiling long ago. Although he has the ability to easily feed all the Half-Elf refugees, he chose not to distribute it casually but instead required all civilians to work in exchange. This is a process of equivalent exchange; the Half-Elf civilians generally possess skills, and even those without particular skills can engage in logging or land cultivation.
In Modo City, anything one does, as long as one is willing to work, can lead to filling their stomachs and gradually accumulating a small fortune.
“My Lord.”
The Mind Sorcerer approached Soren from behind. She slightly bowed and said, “The design plan for the temple has been completed, located near the central square. If we want to finish before the military display, a large labor force will be needed, and the financial requirement will be significant. There are no issues on the Priest’s side. Once everyone arrives in Modo City, we can begin preparation for the daily prayer rituals.”
The temple is the most basic necessity.
Most priests have only just arrived in Modo, and the formal daily prayers will take time to establish.
Soren turned and glanced at her, slowly saying, “I will assemble a military force for you. The City Hall will allocate three hundred thousand Gind for this purpose; you may decide how to use it.”
Soren is quite wealthy now.
The exact amount is difficult to calculate because much of it is in real estate, but as the cultivated farmland and constructed houses are sold, his liquid assets have been increasing rapidly. Soren has never intended to grant lands directly; military merits can be part of the exchange for land, but most pirates have exchanged their private money along with military merits to obtain dozens of acres of land. Currently, only about one-third of the land outside Modo City remains under Soren’s control, with some wasteland bought up by the pirates below.
In the past, these guys only spent money on food, drink, gambling, and killing; now that they are starting to settle down, it can be considered a good thing.
“Understood.” The Mind Sorcerer smiled and nodded.
Soren glanced at her, stood up, and walked towards Modo City, where secretive gazes multiplied once again. After all, Modo Harbor is a transit port, and Modo City is Soren’s private domain; the merchant caravans passing through are infiltrated with too many eyes from various factions, and Soren’s every move stirs their interest. Everything happening with the Half-Elves is likely already known to them, and for the rise of a new god, many factions have fallen silent.
It’s not that they do not want to act, but they do not dare to.
Even the Duchess of Red Dragon from the Rosad Duchy has recently become compliant, and other factions are naturally watching the changes with caution!
After a long time, Soren finally gained new legendary status.
“The Battle of Leaffall City [Epic Combat]: In mid-May of the New Crescent Era 1676, you intervened in the war between the Half-Orcs and Half-Elves near Leaffall City. In this war, you defeated the armies of Half-Orc Chief Eugene twice, alleviating the crisis in Leaffall City. The King of Werewolves, Yenogu, also suffered a setback at your hands. While this significantly boosted your reputation, it also brought new dangers. [Legendary Status +8]”
………………
8 points of legendary status.
After everything that happened in Leaffall City, Soren’s legendary status finally reached 100 points.
100 points of legendary status is an important watershed, as in this case, Soren’s name has likely spread throughout the continent. From now on, the difficulty of gaining legendary status will increase dramatically, and to continue raising it, he may need to involve matters beyond the planes. The higher the legendary status, the greater the difficulty of further increases; eventually, it might require his existence to be known throughout the entire multiverse. However, the current legendary status Soren possesses can barely meet the standard for investiture, at least much higher than when the Vampire Son was around.
With the Mind Sorcerer, Die, present, many matters can be resolved with just a few instructions.
First, he checked on Vivian; the divine power within the little girl is growing stronger. With the Demon Son of Fear having died several times, as the Saint’s Cataclysm approaches, the time for the resurrection of the Demon God of Fear is drawing near. Soren does not know how much longer she needs to slumber, but judging by the fluctuations of Vivian’s divine power, nearly half of the Demon Son of Fear’s power is likely converging towards her.
There is little Soren can do now.
But if he achieves investiture, there will be many things he can do!
The power of the deities allows him to confront the Demon God of Fear directly, and he could even personally venture into the Bottomless Abyss to bring an end to it!
Nightfall.
Soren arrived at Gloria’s laboratory, where the Tower Spirit’s research was continuing, and Gisz Silver Blade seemed to be nearing success.
Gloria had told him that they were just a little bit away from completion.
Soren did not see the Fallen Witch; she must still be in the Shadow Plane studying that Wizard Tower, as they still couldn’t open the semi-plane of the Wizard Tower from the outside. Perhaps after Soren’s investiture, he could leverage the power of the deities to find an opportunity. After all, the abilities from the Arcane Empire era far surpass theirs, making some things difficult for them to decipher.
He only stayed in Modo City for a day.
The next day, Soren led the fleet to set sail deep into the Overseas Islands.
The news blockade was very strict.
No one knew where Soren planned to go, but seeing the military’s large-scale mobilization still made many feel uneasy; all the forces near the Southern Coast were on high alert.
In the distance lies the endless sea!
Soren followed the remembered route for three days until he finally arrived at a dangerous sea area.
The blessing of the Ocean Goddess has failed!
From this point on, the Ocean Goddess’s blessing cannot dispel those deep-sea monsters, as they have all been altered by the energy radiation emanating from the seabed. Even the Ocean Goddess finds it difficult to control these mutated sea creatures.
This is the Sunken Land.
The destruction of the Arcane Empire created the terrifying Death Desert and caused a landmass to completely sink to the seabed.
Here, the energy radiation is ever-present.
It is one of the most frightening areas of energy radiation pollution in the Material Plane, the other being deep in the Death Desert.
These energy radiations are more severe than nuclear pollution; nature has spent thousands of years without being able to repair it.
The fleet continues to advance.
When a black strait appeared within Soren’s line of sight, a smile appeared on his lips, for he had finally found the correct route to Treasure Island.
Pass through here and sail for another day, and he would reach the legendary Treasure Island.
………………(To Be Continued…)
