"Something better?"
He had initially thought this was just an excuse from the Slime Majesty, but when Samuel took a lump of gel from Yano's hand, his eyes flew wide open.
He saw it.
Not with his eyes, but with his mind.
The blueprints were as if shoved directly into his skull, unfurling one after another.
Overall structural diagrams, cross-sectional views... each one was drawn with meticulous care, lines neat and tidy, annotations clear.
Those lines spun, combined, and decomposed in his mind, like a swarm of tamed fireflies, flying past his vision in orderly formation.
A Floating Fortress.
A magical fortress over a hundred meters in diameter!
Even though it incorporated at least three runic systems he had never encountered before, he was certain this fortress was ingeniously designed, absolutely not a fabricated work.
If this thing could truly fly...
He could hardly imagine what changes it would bring to the current war between the main nations.
And it only required one million gold coins.
If he were willing to pile 1.6 million gold coins on a battlefield, a golem giant could wipe out a regiment of heavy cavalry.
But that was all.
What could a Floating Fortress do?
It could smash open enemy city walls from the sky, burn down entire military camps from above, cut off supply lines from the heavens.
It wouldn't even need to open fire; just hovering over the enemy's head would be enough to keep those below from sleeping.
He lowered his head, looking at the unfurled golem giant blueprint on the table.
The lines he had spent countless late nights, who knows how many sheets of paper to draw, now looked like a child's scribbles.
It could only run; swinging its fists like an Extraordinary professional was already its limit.
It couldn't fly, couldn't swim, couldn't teleport, couldn't turn invisible.
Spending 1.6 million gold coins to build an iron lump one size bigger than an Extraordinary professional.
What kind of garbage had he been designing?
Samuel sighed.
"His Majesty is right," his voice was somewhat hoarse as he weakly released his grip. "Indeed, my design is outdated."
He picked up the blueprint from the table, rolled it up, and stuffed it back into his robe's pocket. Then he stood there, looking at the gel in his hand, falling into silence.
He was thinking of the Dawnlands.
He had imagined many times what returning would be like.
Bringing the complete golem giant blueprints, walking into the Grand Mage Council, spreading the blueprints before those old fellows, watching their expressions shift from arrogance to astonishment.
He would stand there, explaining the design rationale for each component, the reasoning behind every material choice, the data records from each debugging session, all in a calm tone.
After finishing, he would gather the blueprints, nod at those old fellows, then turn and leave, leaving them sitting there, looking at each other, speechless.
He had imagined this for fifteen years.
Now he knew, even if he actually built the golem giant, brought it back to the Dawnlands, and spread it on that council's table, those old fellows would only glance at it, just a glance.
And in reality, the legendary mage behind the Slime Kingdom had just casually tossed out a blueprint, enough to suffocate him under its weight.
His previous thoughts were completely a joke.
He still wanted to astonish the mages of the Dawnlands, but in truth, he had been treading water for decades, wasting half a lifetime.
But just as he was beginning to feel lost, Chen Yu's soft, sticky voice reached him.
"In fact, your magical technique isn't wrong, but the direction is mistaken."
Samuel looked up at the slime squatting on the tabletop.
"Direction?" Samuel seized the key point, his voice carrying an urgency he himself hadn't noticed. "May I ask, Your Majesty, what direction?"
"Golems are expensive to build, high in cost, but why must we always try to create low-cost golems?"
Samuel was taken aback.
"Because if the cost is high, mass production is impossible; without mass production, there's no strategic value. That's the most basic..."
"That's the most basic common sense," Chen Yu took over his words. "But some golems don't need mass production."
He bounced up from the tabletop.
"Let me ask you, even if you reduced your golem's cost, made it as cheap as an Extraordinary cavalryman, what could it do? Could it do anything better than cavalry?"
Samuel opened his mouth.
"It could—"
"It could tank, it could fight, it could charge, but cavalry can do that too. Cavalry even runs faster than it and doesn't need its core debugged every three months."
Samuel closed his mouth.
"Even if your golem restored the original power of giants, so what? If giants were truly that powerful, they wouldn't have vanished from the continent."
"Your direction is wrong, not wrong because it's too expensive, but wrong because the imaginative space is too small."
Samuel's throat moved.
"Your Majesty means... build more powerful golems?"
Chen Yu's body swayed, swaying with pleasure.
"Exactly. If you're going to build, build the most powerful kind. The kind that can knock down epic creatures with one punch, the kind that can shake city walls to collapse with one kick."
"This kind of golem, forget one million gold coins, even if it cost ten million, the Kingdom would grit its teeth and build it."
"This is no longer something money can measure. Build just one, and the entire continent will know the name Samuel."
"And why limit yourself to imitating giants? Add wings to fly through the sky, equip alchemical cannons to attack enemies from range. Make it as expensive as it needs to be, until even legends want to flee at the sight of the golem."
"Think it over properly yourself. Come find me when you've figured it out."
He bounced onto Yano's shoulder and settled there.
"Leaving now, no need to see us off."
"Goodbye."
Yano waved farewell, turned, pushed open the hall's door, and left.
Samuel stood beside the round table, looking at that closed door, looking for a long time.
Legendary, flight, swift travel, the entire continent will know Samuel...
He murmured, chewing over these words in his mouth, until night fell and his apprentice came over worriedly to check on him, only then did he snap back to reality.
Recalling the words and knowledge in his mind, he faintly felt a door in his mind slowly opening towards him.
But this door was thick, heavy, and the light seeping through the crack was dazzling, stinging his eyes until they ached.
He didn't know what was behind the door, but he knew if he didn't push it open before that light extinguished, he would regret it for a lifetime.
Early morning the next day, Misty Bay Harbor docks.
A thin layer of fog rose over the sea, blurring the distant lighthouse into a gray-white shadow.
Yano and Galvin stood outside the carriage, seeing Chen Yu off.
"Your Majesty, safe journey."
Chen Yu looked at them through the carriage window.
"Keep an eye on the opposition within the Merchant Alliance, don't let them stir up trouble. I'll leave the work here to you."
"Understood," Galvin performed a serious Knight's Salute.
Yano waved goodbye to him. "Boss, please tell Lola I'm safe for me, say I won't be back for now, and tell her not to worry."
Chen Yu nodded by wobbling his gel, then looked at Nolan standing not far away.
"Get in the carriage. The journey will take several days."
This Ranger from the Merchant Alliance was also following him back to the Slime Kingdom this time, nominally to attend Winterhold Academy for further studies, tour the Slime Kingdom to broaden his horizons, and understand the true face of the Slime Kingdom.
In reality, it was to keep him under surveillance.
After all, this was a level 11 Ranger. With the Merchant Alliance so far away, if he wanted to do something, Galvin and Yano couldn't stop him at all.
Nolan was clearly aware of his intentions, but to be honest, he was genuinely interested in the Slime Kingdom's landscape, wanting to know what this mysterious magical creature kingdom was really like.
"Yes, Your Majesty."
He nodded, picked up his leather suitcase, walked to the carriage, pulled open the door, and climbed in.
"Let's go," Chen Yu said.
The coachman woke from his doze, flicked the reins, the horses stepped forward, the wheels rolled over the stone floor, making rumbling sounds.
Not far away, Little Ka also flapped his wings and took flight, escorting the departing convoy.
Under the watchful eyes of Yano and Galvin, the carriage passed through the dock district and gradually disappeared at the end of the street.
The convoy passed through the harbor square, through the city gate that hadn't been repaired yet, and turned onto the gravel road heading west.
The convoy traveled for three days.
The first two days' journey was relatively smooth. On the afternoon of the third day, the wind shifted, and a blizzard began.
But this couldn't stop the convoy's eager desire to return, all because in the dozen or so large carts covered tightly with oilcloth behind the convoy, three million gold coins lay quietly.
This was a number enough to drive any kingdom mad.
It even required Chen Yu himself and Nolan to escort it together to ensure its safety.
If Count Bran were here, even if a blizzard came, he would sleep on the pile of gold coins, glaring fiercely at anyone daring to pass by the carriage.
However, for this journey, Little Ka was also following. Many merchant caravans, before they could even get close, were scared off by the flying giant dragon, not daring to approach at all.
On the evening of the fourth day, the convoy finally saw the outline of Gold Lionheart Fortress, then entered the Dark Realm.
After that, the journey was smooth and unobstructed. They passed through mountains, traversed the canyon where the battle had once taken place, and arrived at Blackrock Bastion and Darkness City, places Nolan had never seen before.
This city that seemed to grow out of mushrooms indeed gave him a sense of novelty.
It made him feel as if he had stumbled into a city depicted in a fairy tale.
But the carriage didn't stop. They continued onward, passed through the Fissure, and finally reached Winterhold.
Nolan leaned his head out of the carriage window, braving the fierce wind, looking at that city.
In the distance.
He could see a frosty city ablaze with lights standing on the snow plain. Even from such a great distance, seeing those orange-yellow lights made him feel as if he had returned to a warm fireplace.
The carriage passed through the city gate and stopped in the academy's greenhouse. Nolan got out of the carriage with his leather suitcase, officially moved into the academy, and was to begin several months of study here.
Before leaving, Chen Yu also chatted with Olivia, the silver dragon lady, about the Kingdom's recent developments, and after asking her to help keep an eye on Nolan, he rode Little Ka and flew towards the nearest Fissure.
"Let's go, we're going home."
"Daidai!"
...
That night, Chen Yu squatted on the throne in the palace, feeling this chair had never been so comfortable before.
Not because the chair's cushion had been replaced with a new one, but because he was now a rich slime.
A rich slime finds any chair comfortable.
That day, the members of Little Flower's decision-making group had already assembled.
Little Flower sat at the head of the long table, reviewing and tallying reports with the scholars, and verifying the count of gold coins.
"Brother, it's accurate, no errors."
Chen Yu slumped in his seat, suddenly asking, "Little Flower, shouldn't we do something proper now?"
Little Flower tilted her head, looking at him.
"What proper thing?"
"Of course, do what a rich slime should do."
Chen Yu bounced up from his seat, bounced over to the large map hanging on the wall, squatted there, picked up a branch, and pointed at the mineral deposit markings scattered throughout the Dark Realm and the south.
"These mines we couldn't afford to excavate before. Now we have money. Send people to check mines all over the country. Expand those that can be expanded, open those that can be opened."
"Roads need to be built too. The roads from the mines to the smelting areas, all paved with the best roads, the kind that carriages can travel on even on rainy days."
Chen Yu thought for a moment.
"Hmm... and education. Winterhold's academy is built, but it's not enough. Darkness City needs one built too, and Slime City needs one as well."
"Craftsman Academy, Mage Academy, Administration Academy, build them separately, each needs one."
Little Flower's head was filled with doubt.
"Mage Academy? Do we have that many mages?"
Chen Yu put his hands on his hips.
"We don't have them now, but we will in the future. First, set up the framework. If there aren't enough teachers, hire them from outside."
"Those mages disbanded from the Merchant Alliance, accept any willing to come. Ask Samuel too, see if any of his apprentices are willing to teach."
He thought for a bit, then added another sentence.
"Excellent treatment, food and accommodation provided, annual holidays."
Little Flower listened while swaying her body, as if taking notes.
"And the Magic Workshop, the smelting area needs expansion too. Build another area next to it specifically for enchanting and alchemy..."
Chen Yu chattered on about many things, then the slime scholars of the decision-making group were responsible for recording them, conducting budget calculations, estimating how many gold coins would be needed.
Little Flower pulled her body back from the parchment.
"Brother, should we issue orders for these matters?"
"Issue them, issue them tomorrow, start working the day after."
Little Flower nodded by wobbling her gel, then buried herself in the documents, calculating seriously.
The pens in the hands of the surrounding slime scholars never stopped either.
Chen Yu listened to the rustling sound of pen tips scratching across paper. For some reason, he felt exceptionally tired today and, without realizing it, fell asleep.
In his dream, he saw a Moss Monster running naked in a swamp.
When that Moss Monster saw him, it didn't run, didn't attack, just tilted its head looking at him, making hissing sounds, as if saying something.
Chen Yu thought it was probably saying, "You've finally come."
He felt this Moss Monster was right, so he swallowed it in one gulp.
The moment he swallowed it, he felt something inside his body shatter.
Heavy, dense mental power poured out from that opening, flooding into every inch of his gel, stretching the gel tighter and denser.
He was glowing, shining so brightly it was as if someone had stuffed a little sun into his body.
Light shone out from his body, illuminating the walls of the ruins, illuminating the collapsed beams and broken tiles, illuminating the Moss Monster squatting beside him, holding a pitchfork, looking at him with ill intent...
Wait, where did this Moss Monster come from?
The dream abruptly shattered, and he woke from his slumber.
The morning sunlight lazily spilled into the hall, shining on him. It was already the next day.
He instinctively looked at his gel body.
Huh?
How did he break through just from sleeping?