novelIrene's Suggestion (2)
| ← Ch.0372 | Ch.0374 → |
Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
"Your suggestion? What I'm trying to say is, if you cannot withstand the roar of the deep sea, do not revolve an idea around the pale earth." Saleen continued to shake his head. His strength had improved enormously but he positioned himself accordingly. He could deal with anyone below the level of a sorcerer easily, but he would rather make a detour if it was anyone above that.
The sorcerers from Sregl Island might have had methods of encircling and annihilating the pale earth, but as for himself, even if he brought the three kings, he might not win.
The pale earth was a type of giant bear in the ice field, about ten meters long and a grade-9 magic beast. Its primary magic was the terrifying deep sea roar. When it raged, the attack range of its level-9 magic was greater than five hundred meters.
Five hundred meters was referring to its strongest attack range. Even if magic depletion was taken into consideration, the pale earth could still attack its target from one mile away. It could be said that it was the strongest magic beast on land. Saleen's Quickcloud spell was at its peak, but his flying speed was at about one hundred and twenty miles per hour. In terms of seconds, it would be about thirty meters per second.
In other words, if Saleen were to get close to the pale earth, attack it with the crystal finger, and it did not die, Saleen would need thirty seconds to escape the pale earth's attack range.
Thirty seconds? The magic beast's magic was nearly instant. Even if Saleen had level-8 magic like mirror magic, he would still be killed by the pale earth.
If Saleen did not use the crystal finger, he did not have any other magic that could harm the grade-9 magic beast.
"The magic nucleus of the pale earth can be traded for a magic cannon at Alchemy City." Irene tossed out some bait.
"Magic cannon? I already have one. Give me twenty years' time and I can duplicate the magic array inside." Saleen smiled and shattered Irene's dream entirely.
Saleen has a magic cannon! Irene reevaluated the relationship between her and Saleen. She did not know much about Saleen, and Aini was not willing to give her any information privately. She had not known that in addition to Bitter Water Prefecture, Saleen was also supported by Sregl Island.
Magic cannons and magic stone artillery were entirely different in character. The magic cannon represented the most powerful magic in existence. If Saleen's city had more than four magic cannons, his enemies with giant siege machinery, such as war puppets, would be rendered useless.
Not being able to use giant siege machinery, the attacker would need to pay a grievous price to pound the city wall.
"Our main target is the red phosphorous prawns and the magic beasts above the ice, specifically those that are grade-8 and below. We still stay away from any grade-9 magic beasts." Saleen did not speak to just Irene, but to everyone there. He had fought against the tiago and knew that when there was a certain difference in power, any and all tactics would not work.
The best way to kill a grade-9 magic beast was to launch a siege. Among the attackers, there needed to be at least two sorcerers and one golden grand swordmaster to ensure their safety.
There were a lot of silver grand swordmasters on land, but there were hardly any golden grand swordmasters. Plus, when a golden grand swordmaster's swordcraft reached that level, his existence was like that of a sorcerer. Besides the terrifying attack range, they could also fly. Saleen did not think that he would be able to gather any golden grand swordmasters, so he had never thought about killing a grade-9 magic beast.
If all the mages from Sregl Island came, they might be able to use a enormous magic array to kill the pale earth easily, but he did not stand a chance by himself.
But, Saleen had heard some useful information, which was that the grade-9 magic nucleus could be traded for a magic cannon. Saleen had gotten grade-9 magic nuclei in Raphael's magic tower and was persuaded when he heard that. He planned to trade these magic nuclei for magic cannons, but then thought, The mages in Alchemy City are not stupid. Why would they make a deal that would lose them money?
The grade-9 magic nuclei must have had some special uses whose value overtook the magic cannon itself.
"Then what do we do now?" Aini saw that Saleen was not willing to hunt in a way that would endanger them, and with the ship crawling slowly at the bottom of the sea, he felt upset. He had wanted to listen to Irene's suggestion at first, but his summoned creatures included the floral death creature, which was useful when hunting on land but weakened tremendously underwater.
Saleen took a glance at Aini and thought, Aini is not cunning enough. Irene was unhappy with Sika, that was why she brought up the idea. If I were to hunt for the pale earth, Sika as a warrior would have had to protect me. The first one to get hurt would have been her.
The daughter from a noble family is so petty, wanting to hurt Sika. Hmph. I will not share any benefits with you in the future, Saleen thought. Although he did not dislike Irene that much, she had cast herself away from his core interests.
It was not that Aini was not smart enough, but he was like the past Saleen who had put all of his wisdom into practicing magic, so he did not have much perception towards matters between the two sexes. Hence, he had not thought about this. Saleen had only become more sensitive after what had happened between him and Sika.
If Irene's level were to be higher, she could have been a threat and Saleen would have needed to rid of her. But, Irene's power was too low and the way he looked at Irene was just like a sorcerer looking at Saleen. In his eyes, she was insignificant. Even Sika could kill Irene easily. Thus, Saleen did not show that he was upset.
"The map in the magic compass is incomplete, I am drawing the map." Saleen replied. Irene had only drawn a map of the area above the water, but Saleen's pan's turtle alchemical boat was searching underwater. So, the magic compass formed an underwater topographic map. Plus, the map that Irene had drawn in the past had a lot of empty areas, which were areas that Irene's ship could not reach.
Saleen's goal was simple. He wanted to scan the border of the oceanic ice block before entering. The ship was moving slowing at the bottom of the sea so that no magic beasts would attack them and he could fill in the remainder of the map at east. With a complete map, it would be safer for his own sailing crews to enter and exit the oceanic ice block in the future.
Irene did not know that Saleen had put his guard up against her. From what she had seen, Sika was merely someone Saleen was using. However, she did not know that to Saleen, Sika was the closest family he had in the world. Saleen had seen through her selfish calculations and she would never make much progress in the future.
On the contrary, if she had not had some value, Saleen would have fallen out with her.
Saleen did not notice that his character was slowly changing. In the past, it would have been impossible for him to hide this in his heart. If Lex had been here, she could have seen this clearly, and she might have thought that Saleen had improved and now knew how to deal with things accordingly.
Saleen needed a huge number of magic nuclei. In addition to the city, he needed to reopen a pathway to the hell of god's punishment. The expense of an interdimension teleportation portal was terrifying. Lex's years of savings had almost been finished because of one transmission.
They would spend the most magic nuclei the first time, when they were looking for coordinates. But even if the coordinates could be fixed, the expenses would not be lessened much. Saleen could not count on Lex to give away all she had. For the first transmission, most of those who entered the hell of god's punishment would probably be the mages from Sregl Island. He would have to bear the expenses by himself.
Sregl Island was rich but Saleen did not want to rely on his teacher. Only if he was rich and powerful would his teacher be able to provide him with more support. Saleen clearly knew where his future was and he would not never live off of charity.
After dinner, the mages wanted to rest and as the ship was crawling on the bottom of the sea, there was no need for them to operate it. Saleen went back to Sika's room and Nailisi trailed behind, but Saleen did not chase her out.
Nailisi thought for a while and asked, "Master, that Irene was trying to hurt Sister Sika. You are just going to let her be?"
Saleen did not answer but Sika answered, "Forget it. She's not Saleen's friend nor his underling. She's merely a partner. Plus, Saleen still needs her investments and he needs to take advantage of her reputation to attract more of the business families."
Nailisi and Saleen looked at Sika at the same time while Sika lied down on the bed and said, "Don't think I don't know anything. You two, spit it out. What is it?"
Saleen was looking at Sika in a new light. At first, he had been worried that Sika was no schemer and was easily cheated. Is it possible that Sika's brain was amended after becoming a priest?
"Saleen, why are you looking at me like that? How do you think I got you thousands of Caucasians?"
"I'm just... very happy." Saleen smiled. Sika is simply not calculative. It's not that she didn't know. That's great. I can worry less in the future. Plus, most people would be fooled by Sika's appearance, just like Daniel, who looked sincere and honest but was a ruthless death mage.
If he and Lex had not known how to deal with Daniel, it would have been hard to bring that fellow under control. If Saleen were him, he could not guarantee that he would still be alive, being chased by the Holy See for twenty thousand miles. Daniel had only been a grade-3 mage back then.
"Master, are you really not going to punish her?" Nailisi asked in annoyance.
"Nailisi, what do you consider punishment?" Saleen asked seriously.
"Of course to kill her and take all her money."
"Then who would do business with me in the future? Nailisi, I am a businessman, not a pirate."
"Anyway, we can't just let it slip." Nailisi was eager to see the world in disorder.
"At most, the ships I sell to her will be filled with magic defects. When she does something she shouldn't, I will sink them all." Saleen smiled and pushed Nailisi out of the room. Then, he locked the door and casted a mute enchantment. Just as he had finished doing those things, Sika pulled him to the bed from behind and said, "Why are you in such a hurry? We have so much time on the ship."
"Sika, it's not like that... I! Mm..." Saleen was pressed down by Sika and she sealed his lips with hers.
After a while, Sika let go of Saleen and asked, "Mm? What did you want to tell me?"
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