Chapter 162: Modo Harbor
Time quietly passed for three days.
Soren was busy analyzing the spell model of ‘Mayoufu Meteor,’ while Gloria had been setting up magic circles to seal all shadow rifts. Interdimensional incursions could easily lead to accidents. Whether it was a conflict of planar rules causing mutations or creatures from the Shadow Plane sneaking into the Material Plane, it would be quite troublesome. Thus, for Gloria, before unraveling the mysteries of the Shadow Plane, she had to ensure her own movement was unrestricted. As a legitimate wizard, she would certainly leave herself a safe escape route.
Soren’s reckless behavior of diving in to explore was still characteristic of a standard wanderer.
Last night.
Gloria came to stay overnight with Soren and happened to mention Vivian.
The little girl had recently been asking her many questions about the soul realm and even inquired about where the soul would return after death if reincarnation was not involved, and how long a pure soul could exist. The final destination of a living being’s soul after death and the laws governing soul existence and transformation were topics that even Gloria found difficult to answer. After all, she had only just touched upon the Legendary Domain as a wizard. She might have mastered the technique of embedding soul fragments into construct life, but she could not explain much regarding the deeper knowledge of souls.
Vivian diligently recorded everything and then asked her some questions about Legendary Spells.
At this point, Gloria seriously informed Soren that the little girl seemed to have inquired about the Legendary Spell [Wish Spell]. This spell is considered taboo among wizards because it can theoretically fulfill most wishes but comes at a severe price. The Wish Spell can resurrect the dead, increase one’s power, enhance attributes, and even grant immortality. Theoretically, this Legendary Spell can fulfill most mortal desires, but the costs involved are hard to articulate.
Soren fell silent upon hearing this.
However, he did not say much more and merely sighed softly.
The Wish Spell is one of the hardest Legendary Spells to master; even just memorizing it is daunting, let alone meeting the conditions for casting it.
This spell ultimately summons an Elemental Titan!
The effect is somewhat akin to Aladdin’s magic lamp, possibly summoning a Wind Titan or a Earth Titan, or even awakening the oldest Elemental Deities.
Currently, there are very few people in the world who can cast this Legendary Spell.
…………
A day passed in the blink of an eye.
Soren’s analysis of the spell model for ‘Mayoufu Meteor’ finally got on track, nearing a 45% completion rate. As the progress increased, he mastered it at a faster pace, estimating he wouldn’t be long before he could memorize it. However, on this day, the fleet of the Church of Wealth finally reached Modo Harbor, bringing with it many personnel and supplies.
Modo.
This is the name Gloria chose, derived from the divination of the Northern Witch, and it carries a special meaning.
She conducted a brief divination for the place and ultimately decided on this name. Soren, not caring much for these matters, simply named the place ‘Modo.’
The Church of Wealth formed a massive fleet.
With ample financial resources, they directly used ocean-going vessels for transport. When Soren arrived at Modo Harbor, he saw teams of emaciated slaves being escorted down. These were slaves from the mines, as the Church of Wealth secretly controlled many mining operations, all of which required a large number of slaves, and the likelihood of death for slaves working in the mines was exceedingly high. The Church of Wealth secretly controlled a significant number of slave trades. Money is, of course, not clean; otherwise, they wouldn’t be collaborating with Soren, the Pirate Leader.
The slaves brought over by the Church of Wealth were in disarray. Most were human, but there were other races as well.
Soren even spotted a few Grey Dwarves.
These were top-quality slaves; having been controlled by Spirit Sucking Monsters for a long time, they are considered durable slaves and are favored in many slave mines.
“Your Grace.”
The Half-Elf First Mate ran over after receiving these slaves, saying, “I’ve completed the tally. A total of 632 slaves were brought over, with humans making up the majority and a few from other races. There are 32 infected with diseases, and some died on the way here and were simply tossed into the sea. Should I go arrange for their accommodation now?”
“Mm.” Soren nodded slightly, not particularly sympathetic towards those slaves.
Such slaves are seen everywhere in the world. The institution of slavery is deeply entrenched and even supported by many churches; many past notions have become completely meaningless.
Soon the slaves were escorted to Modo City.
Then, a resplendent Golden Priestess appeared before Soren. For some reason, he always felt that this woman was too conspicuous; perhaps it was her garish golden outfit that made Soren feel a bit itching to touch. Everyone knows a wanderer’s habits; seeing such ostentation makes it hard to resist the urge to have a sneak peek and swipe something valuable. Even if the jewelry on this woman wasn’t extraordinary, it was probably worth over fifty or sixty thousand Ginds.
High-level priests tend to be quite wealthy, and the priests of the Goddess of Wealth are even richer!
“Your Grace.”
The Golden Priestess approached Soren with a beaming smile and gestured towards the harbor, saying, “Then we will start ahead of time.”
Rumbling!
A deep rumble echoed from the harbor, immediately attracting many people’s attention.
They then saw several ocean-going vessels lowering their decks, followed by the heavy opening of hold doors, letting out some large Puppet Golems.
Most of them were Clay Golems and Stone Golems.
These golems stood about three meters tall and marched into the harbor with heavy footsteps, then advanced under the control of a Third Tier Wizard, quickly reaching near the land promised to the Temple of Wealth by Soren.
Rumbling!
The crashing sounds of collapse followed, along with flattened stones. Over a dozen Puppet Golems rolled through, reminiscent of massive road rollers. The Stone Golems were responsible for breaking rocks, while the Clay Golems slightly deformed their bodies, working like small excavators, quickly leveling that area of land.
Golem craftsmanship.
Soren looked on in surprise, snapping back to his senses after a moment; the scene before him was quite impactful. Compared to primitive manual labor, the work of these golems seemed to embody the difference between modern technology and ancient civilization. However, this method consumes a lot of resources; without an Element Pool from a Wizard Tower to recharge the Puppet Golems, such massive energy consumption must be compensated with money. This difference is much like comparing the fuel consumption of a motorcycle to that of a tank.
The working efficiency of Puppet Golems is very high!
They must be specially designed golems, originally not meant for battle. In a very short time, the golems leveled the land and began to set the foundation. A large stone that required two adult men to move could be easily held by a Clay Golem as it walked swiftly, while Stone Golems could lift and carry several tons of heavy stones with ease. Their efficiency likely surpasses that of excavators and cranes since the latter still require humans to operate, whereas the golems can just move the materials away themselves.
“Your Grace.”
The Golden Priestess’s expression was somewhat smug as she proudly said, “The strength of the Church of Wealth will absolutely not disappoint you. At this rate, the harbor will be completed in no more than half a month.”
Soren remained silent.
The scene before him gave him the feeling of being left behind in time; while he was still relying on manual labor, others were already starting to give him the half-mechanical illusion.
Golems.
Soren gazed at these golems, lost in thought.
Gloria’s golems couldn’t be taken out; they belonged to the Witch Council’s wealth, and she only brought along a Clay Golem for cleaning duties.
However, Soren thought of something else.
— [War of the Golems]!
This was a deeply memorable major event for Soren, and it made the world aware of the terrifying power of the Legendary Sword Saint.
The War of the Golems had yet to break out.
If no one triggered the red alert within the ruins or if someone preemptively canceled the combat orders of the Golem Legion, would the War of the Golems still ultimately break out?
If that Golem Legion was not destroyed, how much combat power could they unleash?
You must know.
It was once assessed that their combat power equaled that of a principality’s main army. If the red alert of the Golem Legion hadn’t triggered a rampage, the many Legendary powerhouses would not have had to intervene, including the Legendary Sword Saint appearing on the battlefield of the War of the Golems. It seemed that at the end, the golems were given a command to destroy everything, but before the command took effect, they were buried and sealed within the ruins. Later, some ventured into the ruins and discovered bones of both undead and demons at great cost.
Some speculated this was due to a terrifying undead plague outbreak or a demon invasion here, which is why the Golem Legion received orders to destroy everything in the end.
If someone could alter that command, perhaps everything would have turned out differently!
Soren fell into deep contemplation.
The [War of the Golems] was a Legendary-level battle, with numerous Legendary powerhouses appearing, and the exploration difficulty of the ruins was on par with desert aberrations; without a Legendary team going in, it was possible one would not even know how they died. (Note: Most ruins related to the Arcane Empire are of Legendary-level challenge difficulty.)
The difficulty might not be significantly lower than the Wizard Towers of the Shadow Plane now!
…………
(PS: A chapter today. Tomorrow it will be almost finished. A surprise at the end of the month.) (To be continued ~^~)
