Chapter 182: Preparations before Departure

Zyrus didn’t bother with the price and bought all of the available stock. The scammer probably discovered them in dwarven ruins or bought them from bandits. Either way, he finished the deal before someone who knew the truth could intervene. The cost for creating the docks and reception area wouldn’t exceed 1000 gold. The true pitfall of money was in the commercial area where he planned to build a market, a hotel chain, and an auction house. As for the development of other shops, he could lease the land by using the contribution points.

The main construction would be done with trees transported from the other islands. Zyrus also bought Crepe Myrtle, Ornamental Cherry trees, and Amur Maple at the cost of 1750 gold. They were the standard modified trees that could grow in the short span of a year. Apart from being beautiful and filtering the air with mana, they didn’t have any other functions.

Nonetheless, they were considered ‘Luxury goods.’ He had hard time finding a good deal as the high-end market was already run by knowledgeable players and even shrewder administrators.

Even the administrators didn’t know the full extent of the arcanists' experiments. Only the valuable experiments were recorded within the system as 'achievements'.

But how many failures were needed for that? As someone who once stood at the apex of arcana, he was among the few who was well aware of the thousands of failed experiments.

[Papaya feed x 1 ton]

[Animal feed enriched with mana and nutrition]

[Cost: 1 S]

Judging from the fact that even the seller didn’t bother with exaggerating the product, it was apparent how mediocre it was. Zyrus was perhaps the first player who ordered it in thousands of tons.

Next up, he purchased an equal amount of cadmium and lead which cost him about 5000 gold. The remaining funds were barely enough to buy some unique decorative items. It might seem like a useless squandering of money, but Zyrus knew that sometimes, it was better to give a good show to both one’s followers and enemies. This island would play a core role in establishing their faction’s image as ‘Rich Merchants.’

The reason he bought papaya feed was related to a failed experiment. Someone accidentally mixed papaya into a fertilizer, and it led to a mutation in lignin production. The entire research lab was filled with plants and trees that became ‘muscular’ with thick carcasses made with hardened lignin. Apart from being an infamous rookie mistake, it didn’t have any other contribution.

On the other hand, cadmium and lead had once caused a catastrophe in the elven kingdom. Heavy metals like them were toxic to the forest. They caused overproduction of reactive oxygen species inside the plants and created hundreds of uncontrolled mutations. This became one more reason for the metal-loving dwarves and the forest-loving elves to be at odds.

The result he envisioned was enough to give him an achievement.

…

10 days passed by as everyone maintained their hectic yet enjoyable lifestyle. Kyle and Strongfist were sparring against one another as long as the sun was up.

Ria meditated at the center of the island and observed the players. Her task was to use clairvoyance as long as she could. Shi kun also used a similar method to attune himself with the earth element. Instead of sitting all day inside a tent, he was buried from head to toe under the sandy ground.

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Jacob and Druv were paired up to aid one another. One used fireballs to get used to the fire attribute while the other used his defense and water attribute to control the area. Since their abilities countered one another, they grew by leaps and bounds as they learned their own strengths and weaknesses.

Lauren’s training was the most unique. She did nothing but dodge others' attacks all day. Fireballs, swords, fists…she was like a fly buzzing around the two training grounds. Of course, compared to a fly, her steps were more like a miniature hurricane.

While they were doing their own stuff, Zyrus didn’t idle around either. Bringing the island he envisioned into reality was no small task, yet it was unwise to spend all his time doing just that.

Thus, starting from the past week, he decided to prepare the players for the next voyage. The essence of his lectures in the past days could be summarized into this:

The entirety of this sea region was influenced by the lunar cycle. An upward and downward current was formed on the days of the new moon and full moon.

The ones who followed him into the lair of Nidhogg were familiar with these currents that appeared with no rhyme or reason. Their next destination was precisely one such location.

Last five islands of the Pisces archipelago were arranged in a pentagon. What made them special was the fact that they were high up in the sky. Different from the floating islands, the reason they were high above was related to the ocean.

The waters of the third zone didn’t behave according to laws of gravity. There was an additional layer of ocean that ‘hung’ above the surface of the sea. It was almost as if the entire zone was sandwiched between two blue canvases.

Such things were better to be felt with one’s own senses. Except for giving them a brief overview, Zyrus didn’t speak much about the topic.

The main focus was on the inhabitants of these islands. Today, Zyrus was about to tell the players about the threats they’d face later this year.

“I’m sure you already remember the names and terrains of the five islands. Just to be certain, please reiterate them.”

He was like a middle school teacher who always told interesting stories. Considering the mental age difference between them, it wasn’t far off either.

“Mudao, the island representing wood element.”

“Huodao, the island representing fire element.”

“Jindao, the island representing metal element.”

“Fengdao, the island representing wind element.”

“Shuidao, the island representing water element.”

The players’ answer echoed across the whole island. Since it was impossible for everyone to be free at the same time, Zyrus used the call and broadcasting functions to talk with everyone. With their high intelligence the players had no difficulty in listening to him while doing their tasks.

“Correct. There are many lifeforms unique to each island, but I’ll go into detail when we reach there. What you need to know right now are two things: All of them possess high affinity with a specific attribute, and they have the power to turn into ‘elemental form’.”

Zyrus then explained what elemental form was and answered their questions. To put it simply, elemental form allowed one to turn a part of their body into a particular element.

The higher their level of existence, the more they could convert. Not only did it give the monsters high offensive powers, it also improved their survivability as they could ignore any non-attribute attack by turning into elemental form.

“One last thing, all of the monsters would have a level of 50. Just that isn’t enough of a concern. The problem is, they would be the absolute best among the lv 50. Our sole hope of victory lies with our numbers,” Zyrus ended the speech on a heavy note and left for the watchtower.

Starting from next week, he would divide the players once again according to the collected data. It was impossible to subdue anyone on the last five islands. Before he invaded the Kyros continent in the throne wars, his troops would remain the same.

Resources and his cube’s mission weren’t the only reason he chose this place as the target of his flag march. Leaving his grand plans for the future aside, one important reason for selecting this place was due to its training value.

The monsters on the last 5 islands were similar to Pugalo. Even if the system restricted their level to 50, their combat instincts and bloodline purity weren’t affected. Sufficient preparation was required before his army set off to conquer the last target.

Collecting materials for altar and ship enhancement, scheduling drills after reassigning troops, building more weapons of war… time passed by as everyone improved in all aspects.

Finally, the day of the summer solstice had arrived. Today was the day when they would set sail to the third zone. Before that though, Zyrus had something important to do. Under the clear skies he stood at the tallest cliff, gazing down on the churning ocean.

It was time to have a meeting with Marquis Wu.