Chapter 154: Visiting and Profiting from System Segregation

Above Lake U City, two figures flew slowly across the sky.

Looking down on the bustling city below, where golems, humans, vampires, and sphinxes coexisted harmoniously, the Traveler couldn't help but feel a sense of admiration.

For any third-level wizard apprentice, establishing control over a city-state in the underground world after decades of planning wasn't difficult. 

But developing a powerful force that spanned three city-states, like Sunan had, was quite rare. 

Not to mention, Sunan had the backing of the Starlight Duchy.

The more the Traveler interacted with Sunan, the more he sensed Sunan's unfathomable depth.

This was why he accepted Sunan's invitation to visit Lake U City.

"I didn't expect even sphinxes and vampires to become your vassals," the Traveler remarked in admiration.

Sunan caught the underlying implication and asked in surprise, "You've been here before?"

The Traveler nodded, "I visited eight years ago. I wanted to sneak into Lake U City for a look, but the sphinxes' guard was too tight, and with soul-hunting sentries, I had to give up. I didn't expect you'd conquer Matu and Orson as well."

As he spoke, the Traveler's gaze swept over the stone golems patrolling the streets below.

Flying from the city gate, he noticed that most of Lake U City's garrison and patrol forces consisted of various golem constructs.

Among them were legendary-level golems!

Sphinxes, vampires, and other slave races comprised only a small portion.

It was clear that Sunan had conquered Lake U, Matu, and Orson with the powerful golem army.

Night Owl wasn't wrong—Sunan's resources were indeed astonishingly vast.

Ordinary third-level wizard apprentices couldn't muster such a large-scale golem army.

What puzzled him more was that the materials for legendary-level constructs were extremely rare. The availability alone of medium and small-sized soul crystals could stump many apprentices.

Where did Sunan obtain so many to craft legendary-level constructs?

The Traveler was baffled.

Just then, Sunan spoke.

"We've arrived."

The two descended gently to the ground, where Karolaina and the Red Widow awaited at the palace entrance.

"Master, welcome back," the two women greeted in unison.

The Traveler watched this, inwardly impressed.

Sunan indeed had quite the fortune and flair.

Whether sphinxes or vampires, both were notoriously cunning.

Without some ability, a wizard apprentice couldn't subdue these races, let alone bring them under his command.

"It's late today. Rest for a few days, and we'll talk more later," Sunan said.

The Traveler nodded, "Thank you."

"No problem," Sunan smiled, then instructed Karolaina, "Arrange the best room for the Traveler."

"Yes, Master," Karolaina replied respectfully, then bowed slightly to the Traveler, "Please follow me, Traveler."

Once the Traveler left, Sunan entered the palace, asking without looking back, "What's the progress on the exploration activities while I was away?"

The Red Widow followed closely, smiling, "Thanks to your foresight, involving Lord Xieman, Lord Cole, and the knight guard in the exploration has accelerated progress significantly."

"The swamp east of the Star Alliance is now cleared of subterranean toads and slimes, and the exploration team is venturing deeper."

"The northern area has been fully surveyed, with four beholder tribes identified within a fifty-kilometer radius. We've eliminated two, and the remaining two will soon follow."

"The iron vein discovered to the west is under development, and we've found two new veins—a medium-sized copper mine and a small tungsten mine. We're clearing surrounding monsters and expect to start mining in a month."

Sunan nodded in satisfaction.

Judging by the Red Widow's tone, the newly formed knight guard was performing well.

It's reasonable, considering the knight guard's equipment far surpassed that of the underground natives.

The magic constructs aside, they were equipped with enchanted weapons and armor.

Additionally, they carried various potions.

Any knight from the guard could face a grand knight on even footing.

With such a unit led by Xieman and Cole, they feared nothing short of legendary creatures.

Even against legendary beasts, with rune stones in hand, escape wouldn't be hard.

Seeing Sunan's approval, the Red Widow smiled brightly, "Also, Master, five days ago, I led a team to eliminate the minotaur tribe to the south. Their gold mine is now ours."

"It's a medium-sized gold mine, expected to yield over 300,000 gold coins in profit!"

"Excellent," Sunan's smile deepened.

With a medium-sized gold mine and the clay golems' efficient extraction, he wouldn't worry about funds for the next half-year.

He could stockpile some magical mithril and craft more adamantine golems.

Having killed Black Hand and Bloodmouth, along with Ugo, three Immortal members had died by his hand.

Although they might not know he killed Black Hand and Bloodmouth, if they found out, even with their loose organization, they would inevitably become enemies.

He needed to prepare, amassing more strength.

With dozens of adamantine golems, he could walk unchallenged across the Starlight Continent, rendering the Immortals insignificant.

"Continue the exploration, find more veins, and gather intelligence on surrounding forces," Sunan instructed.

So far, the Star Alliance's external exploration and expansion had encountered only small tribes, insignificant in strength.

But with the exploration range nearing 200 kilometers, encountering other city-states was imminent.

By then, expanding territory would likely lead to war, and the Star Alliance must prepare.

Part of why Sunan invited the Traveler to Lake U City was to gather intelligence on underground forces.

The Traveler had long adventured and explored the southeastern continent's underground world and might know more than him.

"How is Shimmering City?" Sunan asked next.

"The detailed report is on the desk."

They arrived at the study, and Sunan entered, sitting behind the desk where a report awaited.

After reaching an agreement with Ke Yi on system segregation, Sunan began implementation.

By the time he left for Ryan City, the segregation had been underway for some time, settling into a routine.

The report on the desk was the financial report for the past six months.

The report showed that after implementing system segregation, the base's profits increased by nearly half.

The bulk came from the procurement of constructs like Blackrock Panthers, clay and stone golems, and materials like potions, enchanted weapons, and dragon blood fruit, accounting for over 80% of profits.

The remaining less than 20% came from the procurement of various metal ores mined from the underground world.

Sunan wasn't surprised by the results.

Previously, the base's benefit to the army far exceeded the army's benefit to the base.

One could even say that part of the profits from mining underground veins subsidized the Starlight Duchy.

This support allowed the duchy to recover quickly in the years following the war.

Because the initial capital accumulation heavily relied on the territory, Sunan tacitly allowed this arrangement.

Now that they were separated, the base no longer subsidized the duchy, and profits naturally soared.

"As long as the Starlight Duchy remains strong, the base's procurement profits will continue to grow."

After reviewing the report, Sunan left the study, heading to the laboratory.

He took out gems and silver, spending half an hour setting up an array, then infused it with mental power to activate it.

As light filled the room, countless rays emerged, intertwining to form a four-to-five-meter-tall portal.

"Done."

Sunan clapped his hands, satisfied with the portal.

With it, he could access Dragon Forest from Base 2 at any time.

He planned to set up a similar portal at Base 1 for easy access.

He could even enter Dragon Forest from the Base 2 portal and exit through the Base 1 portal, achieving long-distance teleportation between the bases.

This would save considerable travel time.

With the portal in place, Sunan summoned the Hidden Dragon via their contract.

Unexpectedly, Amy came along as well.

"Meow, what's this?"

Amy's eyes widened as she curiously examined the portal.

"Go in and see."

Sunan smiled, leading the way through the portal.

Amy urged the Hidden Dragon to follow.

The portal led to the common area on the first floor of the Dragon Bone Tower. Sunan then took Amy and the Hidden Dragon to Zone 1.

Upon seeing the spectacular forest of towering trees, Amy was utterly stunned.

"Meow! This is... an ecological park!"

Now it was Sunan's turn to be surprised.

"You've seen an ecological park before?"

"Of course, meow!" Amy raised her head proudly, "My master had an ecological park, filled with all sorts of strange creatures, but I haven't seen it since I woke up."

Sunan pondered; it seemed Amy's master's ecological park had been relocated.

Unlike Dragon Forest, which remained on the Starlight Continent.

"Meow, Sunan, did you gain control of this ecological park?"

Amy suddenly remembered Sunan's casual teleportation and realized.

"Yes, I'm the master here now."

"That's amazing! How did you do it, meow?" Amy asked curiously.

"It's a long story; I'll tell you on the way."

Sunan led the way, flying forward, with the Hidden Dragon following.

As they traveled, he recounted the events, leaving Amy wide-eyed in surprise.

"Meow, you have the best luck!" Amy marveled.

Having experienced the wizarding golden age a thousand years ago with a powerful master, Amy knew much more than many wizard apprentices, understanding the immense value of a large ecological park.

Even a half-abandoned park was worth more than the entire Starlight Duchy!

Then, as if a thought struck, Amy excitedly tapped the Hidden Dragon's back with her paw, exclaiming:

"Meow, big guy, you're in luck!"

"Roar?" The Hidden Dragon responded with a puzzled growl.

Sunan chuckled.

That was why he brought the Hidden Dragon here.

Though Zone 2 of Dragon Forest was abandoned, Zone 1 still housed numerous sub-dragons, including high-tier ones.

They could provide ample dragon's blood to rapidly enhance the Hidden Dragon's bloodline concentration.

Sunan's target was high-tier sub-dragons like the Multi-Necked Dragon and the Tyrant Dragon.

Reaching the lake where the Traveler had fought Black Hand and Bloodmouth, Sunan expanded his mental perception and quickly located his target.

A flash of silver light, and countless metallic spikes formed, splitting the air as they plunged into the water.

The lake surface erupted violently, exploding with a thunderous roar.

Amidst the flying spray, over a dozen serpent heads emerged, roaring thunderously in anger, echoing over the lake.

Blood poured from a wound on one serpent neck, staining the water red.

Sunan immediately cast Mage Hand to draw the blood into a prepared vial.

"Roar!"

Realizing Sunan was the one who injured it, the Multi-Necked Dragon roared in fury, its many heads converging to bite down fiercely.

Unflinching, Sunan summoned the metal storm.

The man and beast clashed fiercely over the lake.

After seven or eight minutes, having collected enough blood, Sunan withdrew without hesitation. The Multi-Necked Dragon, unable to pursue, could only roar in frustrated rage.

Rejoining Amy and the Hidden Dragon, who had watched from afar, they returned to Base 2.

Sunan immediately took the Hidden Dragon to the laboratory for a bloodline purification procedure.

In terms of strength, the Multi-Necked Dragon neared a fourth-circle legend, while the Hidden Dragon wasn't yet at the third-circle.

The former's bloodline concentration vastly exceeded the latter's.

Thus, after fusing the purified dragon's blood from the Multi-Necked Dragon, the Hidden Dragon's bloodline concentration soared by 0.36%.

Previously, it would have taken two to three months to achieve such growth through its own blood extraction.

"High-tier dragon's blood is indeed more effective."

Sunan nodded in satisfaction.

Until the Hidden Dragon's bloodline exceeded that of high-tier sub-dragons like the Multi-Necked and Tyrant Dragons, its bloodline concentration would increase rapidly.

By the time the growth slowed, the Hidden Dragon would likely have reached the fourth-circle legend.

By then, he'd have another powerful asset!

Afterward, even if the growth slowed, with ample high-tier dragon's blood, he wouldn't need to worry about the Hidden Dragon's endurance during blood extraction. The growth rate wouldn't be slower than before.

The Hidden Dragon's evolution into a pure-blooded dragon was only a matter of time!

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