Chapter 306 - 285: The Greatly Useful Leviathan Egg
The onlookers, of course, hadn’t come to see Da Fei show off "national secrets." Seeing that the gathering didn’t lead to any revelations, most of them dispersed with a chorus of boos, while a small part still doggedly followed. But even that small part consisted of dozens or hundreds of people, and Da Fei was starting to lose patience.
Being a celebrity is genuinely exhausting. Da Fei said to Da Bing and the other two, "You guys go to the dock and supervise the workers unloading the cargo. I’ll go take care of some things in the capital."
Da Bing immediately understood, "Brother Fei, take your time with your tasks, we’ll handle things here. We absolutely won’t let anyone have an opportunity to interfere."
Da Fei nodded in satisfaction, "Good, I’m off."
As for how to handle this batch of goods, Da Fei had already made plans while at sea, to hand it all over to Deirdre to sell and let her consume all the tens of millions of Gold Coins in Experience from selling the goods. This method of leveling up the Vice Hero was what they call "privately feeding."
Da Fei went straight to the Teleportation Array and teleported to Farolan City, the capital. As the scene changed, Da Fei suddenly realized in his haste, he had actually forgotten to leave Selvia and the other Vice Heroes at Elorin’s—damn, this was going to cost nearly a thousand in teleportation fees—wait? Wait a minute? Where’s Catherine? Why didn’t she follow along?
Could it be that something about Desolate Island is about to trigger a plot event?
At this time, seeing Da Fei appear at the Teleportation Array, players from around began to crowd over. Ah, the information age, where news spreads fast. Without much thought, Da Fei directly headed for the World Tree Square Teleportation Array.
Seeing Da Fei appear, the guards at the Teleportation Array saluted, "Mr. Da Fei, may I ask what brings you here?"
Isn’t that obvious? Da Fei found the option to teleport to Radiant City and selected it! Humph, this is a teleportation destination that only yours truly can use!
In a flash of green light, the scene dimmed, and Da Fei appeared underground after a long absence.
Nearly 4 months had gone by, and the whole Radiant City had changed drastically. Looking around, what used to be a barren island in the lake had completely turned into a stone city. Of course, it was just a stone city, with nothing but a sparse couple of houses apart from the watchtowers on the city walls encircling the island, leaving it empty. Outside the protective moat, the city walls had been repaired, and the Flying, which had been missing for so long, was quietly moored at the docks outside the wall.
My Flying! My beloved Deirdre! Da Fei’s emotions surged with excitement.
Right then, a group of NPC officers emerged from those two houses, the Kingdom Advisors under Da Fei’s command.
"Lord, welcome back!"
Da Fei hurriedly greeted them with a chuckle, "Hello, everyone! Hello! You’ve all worked hard while I was away!"
The Economic Advisor reported, "Lord, the initial infrastructure of Radiant City has been completed. It has consumed a budget of 4.45 million Gold Coins from the Kingdom. This budget is something that you need to repay slowly, sir."
Da Fei nodded understandingly. Only 4.45 million? A drop in the bucket compared to the near hundred-million income from this haul!
The Population Advisor said, "Lord, the World Tree is still in a dormant state. Before the pollution in the Pool of Radiance is restored, all Flower Demon barracks are still unable to produce population."
Da Fei asked in surprise, "It’s been 4 months, is there any improvement in purifying the Pool of Radiance?"
The Environmental City Advisor sighed, "It’s quite slow, after all, the original plan was for it to improve over the course of a few years."
Da Fei’s brows furrowed, when would his Flying be able to make a name for itself?
The Military Advisor spoke seriously, "Lord, the Demons have started to massively gather at the edge of the Pool of Radiance again and have rebuilt the Lava Rock Factory. Although there’s no sign of them laying siege yet, with our World Tree dormant and without any barriers, we must upgrade the Military Teleportation Array as soon as possible. The upgrade requires a budget of about 10 million Gold Coins. This sum, no matter what, must be secured early. Otherwise, once the situation becomes critical and out of control in war, the Kingdom will deem that you lack the ability to manage the territory and will take back the lands of Radiant City, causing your city-building mission to fail, and you will lose your Lordship!"
Da Fei tensed up and hastily said, "No problem, money’s not an issue, I have ample funds upon my return!"
The Economic Advisor offered a wry smile, "As long as there’s money, everything is negotiable. Mainly, the Kingdom has used the budget for the New World, and really can’t subsidize any more. It all relies on the Lord himself to raise the funds."
Psh! Just 10 million Gold Coins, enough to scare me to death? Compared to my near hundred-million income—damn! That’s like cutting off one of my fingers! This is just the upgrade cost, not even the usage fee!
The more Da Fei thought about it, the more painful it became, so he asked again, "After I upgrade the Teleportation Array, the Kingdom will send troops to protect me, right? I don’t really have any soldiers!"
The Military Advisor smiled, "Of course the Kingdom will do all it can to send troops because this territory also belongs to the Kingdom."
The Economic Advisor added, "However, I suggest that if the Lord can defend on his own, do so, as the Kingdom’s garrison’s military expenses are also borne by the Lord, and the price is only a little cheaper than hiring mercenaries. In fact, the daily expenses of the 50 Experience Tree Demons that the Kingdom forcibly teleported down for city-building last time is 5000 Gold Coins a day, and this expense is still hanging under the Lord’s bill. So right now, Radiant City has a total debt of 5 million Gold Coins!"
—Ah choo! Da Fei sprayed out a mouthful of blood! 5000 a day, over a hundred days in 4 months is 500 thousand Gold Coins! For an average player, that’s certain bankruptcy! But come on, this was forced upon by the Kingdom, this is forceful buying and selling! But thinking about it, those Tree Demons are elites that even money can’t buy! The Kingdom is actually quite benevolent, huh? If these Tree Demons are elites among the Level 6 creatures, then their combat power, combined with my massive Flower Demons, would indeed be extremely powerful huh? I would be willing to spend that money! Your typical Tycoon, even if they want to, can’t even afford to hire them.
Da Fei hurriedly asked, "What about these Tree Demons? Has the Kingdom withdrawn them?"
The military advisor laughed, "Without the Teleportation Array, we cannot retreat. Anyway, we’re charged for the Tree Demons by the day, so to prevent them from idling, we’ve transported them into the Nasir Ancient Tree Space in batches. Didn’t Mr. Da Fei mention that the Ancient Tree Space has remnants of the Nasir Ancient Tree? The lords of the Construction Department have already gone there to start work, striving to find a way to transport the remnants of the tree here."
Da Fei instantly became solemn with respect, "I only mentioned it in passing before, I didn’t expect the lords to take it so seriously!"
The advisors all laughed heartily, "Since the construction here will be finished in three months, everyone wanted to find something to do to save some money for you, Lord!"
Da Fei was moved and said, "Everyone is so dedicated, having your support is simply wonderful. I’ll be relying on everyone’s care even more in the future!"
The advisors smiled, "It’s all for the Kingdom!"
Da Fei remembered something and took out the biggest gain from the North Pole, the Leviathan Egg!
The advisors were all shocked, "What is this?"
Da Fei laughed heartily, "This is the egg of the legendary eighth-level creature, the Leviathan. It’s said to require energy-rich water to hatch, and our Pool of Radiance is filled with Light Energy. So I had the idea to incubate the egg in the lake. Once it grows, it will be a powerful aid in defending the city!"
"An eighth-level creature?" The advisors clicked their tongues in amazement as they began tapping and touching the huge, black egg as big as a water tank.
Da Fei asked with a smile, "What do you all think?"
The military advisor shook his head and sighed, "Since it’s Lord’s wish, of course we should support it. However, this egg seems to be wild and untamed. Once it hatches, whether it is friend or foe is hard to say!"
Da Fei’s heart skipped a beat; indeed, the egg had a red name associated with it! It’s red because the way I obtained it clearly wasn’t entirely proper! If it still has a red name after hatching, wouldn’t that be troublesome?
Da Fei asked urgently, "Is there a way to tame it?"
The advisors fell silent.
Eventually, the population advisor sighed, "Legend has it that Leviathans are ferocious, fire-breathing beasts of the sea, possessing water, fire, and earth attributes. They are known as the demons of the sea. I find it hard to believe it would grow by absorbing the Light Energy of the Pool of Radiance."
Da Fei was startled, "You mean, it won’t hatch here?"
The population advisor shook his head and sighed, "This egg doesn’t look like it’s from a Bright Creature at all. I’m not very optimistic about it."
The environmental advisor laughed, "Why not try and see if it works? If it’s not a Bright Creature it might be better, could be greatly useful! Let’s do an experiment! Please, Lord, soak the egg in the lake water!"
Oh? Greatly useful? Da Fei was pleased, "Alright! Let’s give it a try!"
The crowd escorted Da Fei out of the city gate to the dock. Da Fei soaked the egg in the water, and the officers, crouching or lying, stared intently at the submerged egg.
Of course, Da Fei couldn’t discern anything specific, and waited quietly, not even daring to let out a breath. Soon, tiny bubbles formed on the black eggshell.
The advisors were immediately astounded!
Da Fei asked anxiously, "How is it? How is it?"
The environmental advisor jubilantly said, "Congratulations, Lord! Although the egg may not be able to absorb the Light Energy of the pool for now, it is thirsting for the Dark Energy that pollutes the Radiant Pool. Meaning, it’s a magical water purifier. With it, the purification of the Pool of Radiance will be significantly accelerated!"
Da Fei suddenly understood, "So this is the great use!" Then he said joyfully, "Let it help purify the Pool of Radiance then!"
The military advisor said, "However, we can’t tame this egg just yet. If it’s to hatch, it’s better to place it in the waters outside the defensive lake walls, so if it ever loses control, it won’t pose a threat to our city."
Da Fei nodded, "That makes sense!"
The military advisor smiled, "With the Leviathan’s brutality, as long as it can’t threaten us, it will naturally cause trouble for the demons on the lake shore. This also serves to indirectly help us defend the city!"
Da Fei forced a smile, "I hope so. But I still wish we could tame it."
The advisors said, "Let’s get through the current difficulties first, we can plan for the future later."
Da Fei sighed, "That’s all we can do."
Thus, accompanied by the advisors, Da Fei took a light boat out of the protective lake walls and placed the precious egg at the bottom of the Pool of Radiance with great care. Anyway, this was another load off his mind. (To be continued. If you like this work, you are welcome to come to Qidian (qidian.com) to vote for recommendation tickets and monthly tickets. Your support is my greatest motivation. Mobile users please go to m.qidian.com to read.)