**Chapter 57: Stirring All Parties**
2016-03-31
Author: Floating Tower
(The reason for the lack of updates is that I went to a wellness retreat to relax. 233…)
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Sunlight poured down on the tranquil city of Modo.
Jack greeted his sister early in the morning and then packed his things to report to the military camp. He was now a mid-level officer in the city of Modo, and his promotion speed far surpassed that of his colleagues, partly due to his inherent strength. However, another reason was his little nephew, who at just a year and a half old had been taken as a disciple by a bishop of Modo City and almost certainly would one day occupy one of the twelve seats within the Half-Elf Church.
Under the High Priest, the Half-Elf Church has twelve seats divided among the Central Zone, the Judgment Department, and the Bishopric.
It was almost certain that Jack’s nephew would be one of the future archbishops!
His little nephew spent most of his time receiving the glorious baptism from My Lord Soren in the temple, with the archbishop conducting special prayer ceremonies for him. On Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays he spent time in the temple, while on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays, he stayed at home being raised by his sister. During the large prayer service on Sundays, Jack’s nephew almost always made an appearance, and many people in Modo City already knew he was one of the archbishop’s heirs. The little guy was remarkably precocious, and sometimes Jack felt a strange unease when looking into his eyes.
Especially when he looked at Jack and his sister, Jack often felt a bit guilty.
Recently, his sister had been urging him to find a girl to marry, even citing the romance between a Drow instructor and a half-elf girl, but Jack had always deflected by saying he was too busy with work.
Modo City was always busy.
The city hall had many matters to address, and the entire city operated like a high-speed machine. Part of the orders came from the highest levels of Modo City, namely from the great Lord Soren. The other part of the orders came from the city council. After spending a long time in the new system, the officials had finally begun to adapt; they not only executed orders but also learned to think and issue policies in the way that Lord Soren did.
For example, the recent trade reform in Modo City was initiated by the council itself before being reported to the higher-ups for confirmation.
As usual, the first place Jack rushed to was the military camp. Recently, there were plans for an expedition from Modo City, and many officers were eager to join. Jack was one of the young ones who volunteered for the mission.
Even though Lord Soren was a Pirate King, he was not an ordinary one. He had almost single-handedly established a kingdom in the Overseas Islands. Thus, the military in Modo City was divided into two factions: one was the old-school Pirate Leaders faction, who had been assigned various sea territories under Soren’s management, and the other was the officer faction of Modo City, which comprised more elite and young recruits. Like many of his colleagues, Jack hoped to achieve a status comparable to that of the other Pirate Leaders.
In Modo City, the simplest and most direct way to rise in status was to achieve military merit!
As Jack approached the military camp, he suddenly heard a chorus of gasps around him, followed by a commotion. He could faintly hear the sounds of guards quickly assembling.
“What happened?”
Jack saw others looking up in shock at the sky and quickly followed suit. What he saw made him gasp in surprise.
A gigantic tower was hovering above Modo City.
A massive shadow almost completely enveloped the central square, accompanied by a sharp alarm sound. The guards of Modo City quickly assembled. Yet even though they had seen many strange things, many still felt shocked and a bit fearful when a floating tower appeared over their city. This was a wizard’s tower; who knows the level of destructive power it could wield? The material plane had revered spellcasters for thousands of years, and ordinary soldiers felt a little intimidated just by seeing this arcane tower.
“Prepare for battle!”
“Quickly send someone to notify Lady Gloria! An unknown tower suddenly appeared over Modo City! Send the message up immediately!”
A bearded officer rushed out, cursing. Though there was a hint of fear in his eyes, he still rallied the soldiers.
At that moment, the figure of the High Priest appeared, followed by Gloria hovering in the air.
“The situation is even better than we expected.”
Gloria looked down at the somewhat panicked residents of Modo City and said slowly, “It succeeded on the first attempt.”
“Mother.”
“You’re going to move the tower to the south of Modo City.”
Having said that, Gloria slowly lowered in altitude and addressed the astonished onlookers in a gentle voice: “This is the tower belonging to Modo City, and it has only just been completed today. You need not panic; you all may retreat.”
Modo City?
A wizard’s tower of Modo City?!
When did Modo City get a wizard tower?!
Jack’s mind was momentarily unable to keep up, but he quickly realized that he was unaware of the upper-level news in Modo City; he had no idea when the city had built a tower. But soon a look of excitement and joy appeared on his face. After all, this was a tower! A wizard’s tower had incredible combat power. With the acquisition of a wizard tower, Modo City had almost transformed from secure to unassailable, and he wouldn’t have to worry much about the demon legion returning.
Moreover!
This was a flying wizard’s tower!
They had never even heard of such a thing; if a wizard tower could fly, how many other powerful secrets did the upper echelons of Modo City still hold?
The crowd erupted into excitement.
Many were looking up at the flying tower in the sky with expressions of excitement, curiosity, and awe; the wizard tower was slowly flying, gradually approaching the southern part of Modo City.
Meanwhile, other forces secretly lurking in Modo City—whether friendly, observing, or with ill intentions—were now displaying expressions of fright!
A wizard’s tower.
It alone was not enough to scare them, as there were numerous legendary spellcasters with towers in the material plane. However, no one had ever possessed a flying floating tower until now.
A floating city!?
Quick-witted minds immediately thought of this. Did Modo City have some mastery over the technologies of floating cities?
Temple of Wealth.
A tall priestess was immediately awakened; she had always been responsible for managing the temple in Modo Harbor. When the floating tower appeared, she was stirred. However, upon seeing the floating tower with her own eyes, there was still a hint of uncontrollable terror on her face as she swiftly said, “Send the news back to the City of Wealth immediately.”
“Modo City must have mastered some cutting-edge alchemy from the Arcane Empire era.”
“Report to the archbishop.”
“We must establish a more solid alliance with Modo City before others do.”
Golem Legion.
With both the floating tower and Modo City’s most critical components in place, who knows when the entire Modo City would float into the air.
If that were the case, Modo City could leap to become the most powerful force in the material plane.
Not only the Temple of Wealth was filled with astonishment; the Ocean Temple’s reaction was similar, quickly reporting to the church’s higher-ups. Other forces reacted swiftly, especially the members of the Northern Witch Council. Those witches who had not fully joined Modo City felt regret, but they quickly sent the news back to the North. Those who had joined Modo City were incredibly excited, realizing that the city now had a floating tower, which surely meant that the upper echelons possessed even more top-tier knowledge.
And all this knowledge was potentially accessible to them.
The most rapid response to the sudden appearance of the floating tower came from three places: the Northern Witch Council, the Wizard Alliance, and finally, Arendelle.
Soren almost received a magical message from Arendelle on the same day.
The eldest princess left him a message.
—“I will arrive tomorrow.”
Regarding the research progress in Modo City, Soren had not revealed much, but the eldest princess knew a bit of internal information, as their relationship remained somewhat close.
Arendelle had powerful Ice Witches and had established several wizard towers.
The appearance of the floating tower presented knowledge that was hard for the eldest princess to resist. She was extremely eager to obtain other secrets and utilize them to enhance Arendelle’s overall strength.
Of course.
There’s no such thing as a free lunch.
Although Soren had a close relationship with Princess Anna and considerable friendship with the eldest princess, acquiring such top-tier knowledge would undoubtedly come at a cost.
Winds of change were stirring.
Soren had long anticipated the occurrence of the floating tower.
The eldest princess and the Eye of the North were among the first to notify him to return for a visit, and representatives from the City of Wizards arrived in Modo City the following day.
They too were eager to obtain internal knowledge about the floating tower.
However, such top-tier alchemical knowledge could not be handed out freely; these individuals would have to pay the corresponding price.
“What do you think?”
Soren glanced at Gloria and then at the Fallen Witch, saying, “The emergence of the floating tower has startled them. We cannot reject everything; how should we handle it specifically?”
Gloria pondered for a moment, then decisively sold out the Northern Witch Council, saying, “The Northern Witch Council possesses fragments of Gisz Silver Blade. They can be used to complete your artifact.”
“There are also some knowledge regarding the Maze and energy transmission, which are part of the exchange conditions.”
“I’m not quite clear on the Wizard Alliance.”
“But the energy shielding technology they possess must be surrendered! … Arcane Golem Puppets and Arcane Guardians have combat power far exceeding that of Golem Puppets!… They must present these items in exchange for knowledge of the floating tower!…”
“And also.”
“Regarding that dimensional fortress, both my mother and I are very interested in it. The City of Wizards must grant us the right to explore it.”
“As for the eldest princess.”
At this point, Gloria glanced at Soren and said, “I don’t want to get involved in her matter; you can handle it as you see fit.”
Hearing Gloria’s words, Soren immediately felt a hint of awkwardness on his face.
………………(To Be Continued ~^~)
