**Chapter 32: The Visitor!**
2016-08-23
Author: Floating Tower
(The recent heavy rain caused flooding in my hometown. I filmed a short clip of someone fishing in the street and will post it on the public WeChat account tomorrow. By the way, I also caught a three-pound grass carp right at my doorstep. Oops!…)
————————————
The deeper we went underground, the more dwarf bodies we encountered.
However, the general casualty ratio remained at about ten to one; ten dwarf warriors’ lives could be traded for one mid-tier demon’s life. The demons invading this place did not seem to have any low-level cannon fodder, all were elite troops that had formally participated in the Blood War. Their efficiency in slaughtering these dwarves was remarkably effective, with the only significant casualties for the demon legion occurring near the temple area.
This was the place dedicated to the chief god of the dwarven pantheon, Moradin.
The divine power and faith brilliance that once enveloped the temple had dissipated. The demon legion had somehow corrupted this temple, completely destroying its connection with the deities.
During the Saint’s Cataclysm, the temple’s defenses were astonishing!
However, most of the gods had suffered severe losses, and the temple could only retain a small amount of its original power. No deity would risk descending in an avatar to guard the temple.
The temple mainly worshipped the dwarven deity Moradin.
In addition, there were two other deities worshipped in the temple: one was Dumathoin, the Exploration God of Dwarves, and the other was Veghadin, the God of Theft.
Both of these deities possessed Medium Divine Power.
The former’s exploration primarily focused on treasures, minerals, and artifacts, holding widespread faith among dwarves and miners. The latter governed Wealth, Luck, and Opportunity among dwarves, with domains extending over Dwarves, Luck, Trade, and Trickery.
Clearly, as the God of Theft, Veghadin had a much more fulfilling role, as Wealth and Luck were two critical divine professions.
Typically, there would be a treasure vault beneath Veghadin’s temple, but Soren noticed that one of the secret rooms had already been opened. The demons seemed to know this too; after capturing this dwarven fortress, they took back most of the spoils that were valuable to them. Unlike demons from other planes, those from the first and second layers of the Hell of Bartok often dealt with merchants from other planes, making them care about gold and silver coins, realizing these could be used to procure supplies from planar merchants.
The multiverse has many planes.
In the Hell of Bartok, human planar merchants are frequently seen, though not from the material plane; they are mostly from semi-planes or special places like the City of Imprints.
Demons are willing to deal with any race or creature as long as there is profit to be made!
Beneath the dwarven fortress was a massive forge. Soren sensed the aura of a planar rift from here, no wonder the dwarves were caught off guard; the demons must have emerged suddenly from the flames near the forge. Many demons are immune to fire damage, making a surprise attack on a dwarven fortress from here quite difficult to withstand. However, this also proved one point: this batch of demons had conducted research before launching their attack; they were well aware of the fortress’s structure and intelligence.
This was different from other demon lords, clearly the work of Bael!
“Time is running out.”
After walking around in this area strewn with corpses, Gloria’s expression was not good. The witches were somewhat sheltered, and she obviously hadn’t seen such a common scene of corpses and blood among melee professionists. The duration of the illusion spell was not long, and it was nearing the point of failure.
Soren observed the surroundings and nodded, “Let’s cancel the spell and go back.”
“There is no longer anything of value here.”
As the spell was dispelled, both their figures vanished from the spot.
The next moment.
Soren’s figure stepped out from his study, while Gloria, looking serious, emerged from the laboratory into the study.
“I have something to discuss with you.”
Gloria walked to Soren’s side and said seriously, “What I saw today was really…”
“If Modo City were to be assaulted like this and we happened to be absent, Modo City’s defensive capabilities would not stand a chance against such an attack.”
“I’ve been thinking about testing the defenses of the Maze.”
“Then arrange for the steel golems to be stationed in some locations. These golems will not activate during normal times, but once the city is attacked, the Maze will trigger the defense system, and the steel golems will immediately charge into battle.”
Activating the device.
Just like what Soren found in the Arcane Ruins, activating the alarm mechanism would automatically trigger defensive measures, and the Golem Legion would appear to eliminate intruders.
This is a relatively subtle application, and it also needs to be added to the Maze.
Soren nodded, “That’s acceptable. The production of steel golems will increase significantly over time, and then we can test Modo City’s defense system.”
“Okay,” Gloria nodded and then added, “By the way.”
“My mother wants to conduct a large-scale experiment in a few days, and may need your help to ensure safety.”
A large-scale experiment?
It won’t be research on elemental fission, will it?
Soren slightly changed expression at her words, but Gloria seemed to understand his thoughts and lightly brushed her long hair, “Don’t worry. It’s not about elemental fission research yet; the information we currently have isn’t at the experimental level.”
“What my mother wants to do is lift the Floating Tower and then directly teleport it to the Astral Realm.”
“This is a very important experiment.”
“If successful, we can travel back and forth to the Astral Realm at any time via the Arcane Tower and use the Floating Tower’s capabilities to collect Astral Sand.”
“The Floating Ring and other materials require some substances from the Astral Realm.”
“If the Arcane Tower can travel freely to the Astral Realm, we could attempt to construct it into a small fortress, similar to the Iron Fortress of the Gisz floating in the Astral Realm.”
So that’s how it is.
Soren thought this idea was quite excellent. The resources of the Astral Realm are vast; although he could easily travel back and forth himself, it would be quite troublesome to collect solely by personal strength. If the Arcane Tower could also teleport to the Astral Realm, it would essentially serve as a small base, facilitating Modo City’s resource reserves and even leveraging the Arcane Tower to trace meteor showers in the Astral Realm.
Perhaps.
They might even discover a completely diamondized meteor.
“That’s fine.” Soren immediately nodded, “Let me know when you conduct the teleportation experiment.”
“By the way.”
“Is Modo City’s current energy supply sufficient to maintain the Floating Tower’s back and forth to the Astral Realm?”
This aspect of research was handled by Gloria and the Fallen Witch, and Soren wasn’t particularly well-informed about it.
Gloria thought for a moment and softly said, “Currently, it should be a bit tight, but according to the original plan, Modo City’s demand for resources from the Astral Realm will increase more and more, so the Astral teleportation experiment has been expedited.”
“I understand.” Soren nodded.
The two then discussed some other matters, and Gloria returned to her laboratory.
Soren also planned to head to the temple.
However!
Just then, he suddenly sensed a ripple of divine power, surprisingly located near the lord’s mansion, with an avatar of a deity, or potentially even the true body, audaciously sneaking around his stronghold!
“Who is it!?”
Soren abruptly stopped, then immediately vanished from the spot.
Based on the fluctuations of divine power, the opponent’s divine level was significantly lower than Soren’s, likely a deity of Weak Divine Power or Lesser Divine Power.
As a true god of the Lawful Evil Faction, Soren had few allies.
Moreover, the vast majority of them would not arrive uninvited; most of Soren’s connections were of Medium Divine Power or above, such as the Ocean Goddess, Goddess of Wealth, Agricultural Goddess, and so on.
Soren hardly interacted with weak deities!
This true god that had quietly entered Modo City was unknown to be benevolent or malevolent, but judging from its stealthy approach to Soren’s lair, it was likely pursuing some nefarious purpose, right?
He was keen to find out who was sneaking into Modo City!
………………(To be continued ~^~)
