Chapter 217: Spell Turret Type II and Mana Engine New Type Puppet!
Everyone was curious upon hearing this.
Fleming couldn’t contain his excitement and was the first to step forward to open the cabin door.
With a hiss, the metal door slid open, revealing the interior of the cabin.
In the spacious hall, rows of enormous puppets were neatly arranged in a square formation, standing still and displaying a rhythmic beauty.
These puppets resembled metal octopuses, their bloated bodies surrounded by more than ten long, coiled tentacles. The ends of these tentacles were sharp and cone-shaped, gleaming with a chilling, icy glint that resembled blades.
“An octopus-shaped puppet, huh?”
Sheman found it both surprising and logical.
There were octopus-type sea monsters within the Rainbow Sea, and the octopus form was well-suited for underwater movement. Moreover, those tentacles appeared to possess considerable attack power.
It could be said that the octopus design was one of the best for both underwater mobility and offensive capability.
“The other two secondary magic ships also have the same number of puppets.”
In total, there were one thousand five hundred Octopus Puppets and thirty elite Octopus Puppets.
Sheman nodded inwardly.
This number was ample for the current stage.
Once the three artificial islands were completed, golem factories could be established, allowing the production line for the Octopus Puppets to be moved to the islands. This local mass production of puppets would resolve the issue of troop strength.
“Now that the reinforcements have arrived, there’s no time to waste. We will set off for the artificial island today.”
Inside the Wizard Tower, in the Plantation.
Su Nan used Mage Hand to manipulate a special liquid formed from the fusion of rare metals and gemstones, carefully drawing the final stroke on the ground.
As the lines connected to form a closed loop, the entire magic array suddenly flashed with a silvery light, exuding an indescribable, strange aura.
“Done!”
Su Nan breathed a long sigh of relief, a hint of a smile appearing on his face.
The Plantation formation was complete; all that was left was to plant the Magic Plant.
In terms of the growing environment, the concentration of Energy Particles was higher here, and the Wizard Tower of the Magic Array was situated within the Plantation, which was obviously superior to that of Dragon Forest Sector 2.
The only advantage of the latter was its vast area.
"Rare Magic Plants can be transferred to the Plantation, while the relatively low-value ones can be placed in Dragon Forest Sector 2."
Su Nan turned and waved to Tiya, who was wandering not far away.
"Tiya."
Upon hearing Su Nan's call, the elegant and beautiful Fairy Queen flew over with a joyful expression.
"Su Nan, are you finished working?"
"Yes, the Magic Array is already set up. It will be nearly complete after the Magic Plants are transplanted."
With a gentle touch, Su Nan extended a finger and stroked Tiya's delicate face, eliciting an expression of delight from her.
"Tiya, I need you to summon another batch of your people."
"No problem," Tiya replied happily. "Many of my people want to come here."
Most Fairies desired a flower garden they could manage themselves, and the Plantation conveniently fulfilled this wish.
Additionally, Su Nan was very generous, offering many rewards, so the Fairies enjoyed living here, which made their kin back home quite envious.
After spending some time with Tiya, Su Nan left the Plantation and returned to the control center.
"1, scan the current state of the Wizard Tower."
[Receiving command, beginning scan.]
[Scanning… Scan complete.]
A three-dimensional panoramic model immediately appeared before his eyes.
[8939: Starlight]
[Level: Small (Construction progress 37.22%)]
[Current remaining Energy: 93.82%]
[Intelligent assistant Life: Tower Spirit 1]
[Facilities: Elemental Pool (Small/Strengthened), Central Crystal Energy Transmission System, Living Area, Warehouse Area (Construction progress 76.22%), Laboratory Area, Training Area (Construction progress 46.91%), Meditation Area, Planting Area]
[Servants: Clay Golem × 130]
[Protective device: Mystic Lock Defense Energy Field (Small)]
[Combat devices: None]
"The progress is going smoothly," Su Nan nodded to himself.
The Mystic Lock Defense Energy Field had also been produced, so now he could consider creating a few more for synthesis.
The Elemental Pool remained at a +1 enhancement state and could continue to be synthesized as well.
The progress on the Space project was only half completed, with many areas still needing improvement.
It's worth mentioning that Su Nan recently produced the Spell Turret.
The first batch of practice pieces had been used to equip the Magic Ship. He planned to synthesize the later produced ones before equipping them onto the Wizard Tower.
"Starlight Continent's current state simply can't gather enough resources to manufacture the Plasma Cannon and Pulse Cannon; even if they were produced, the Small Element Pool couldn't support the energy consumption of these two weapons," Su Nan shook his head.
Not to mention the Pulse Cannon, even the lower-tier Plasma Cannon consumed a massive amount of energy.
He estimated that even a +1 enhanced Elemental Pool would only provide enough energy for two shots from the Plasma Cannon.
For the Small Wizard Tower, the levels of the Plasma Cannon and Pulse Cannon were too high; those were meant for the Medium and Large Wizard Towers.
At most, the Small Wizard Tower could be equipped with a Disintegration Cannon.
However, although it couldn't wield the Plasma Cannon and Pulse Cannon, it was still feasible to enhance the power of the Spell Turret and Disintegration Cannon through synthesis.
While it was true that energy consumption would skyrocket with the increase in firepower, this issue could be addressed by enhancing the Elemental Pool as well.
After conducting multiple experiments and firepower tests, Su Nan finally settled on synthesizing five Spell Turrets.
The Spell Turrets created from this quantity possessed power roughly seven to eight times that of the original.
Su Nan had Secret Puppet Girl assist with testing; as a result, one shot severely damaged her.
If it weren't for the magic core offsetting most of the blast's power, Secret Puppet Girl would likely have been reduced to a pile of scrap metal.
"This power is almost on par with that of the Disintegration Cannon!" Su Nan exclaimed in admiration.
Even a Level 1 Gaseous Wizard, if struck by several beams from the Spell Turret, would either be severely injured or face death.
However, the cost of this significant increase in power was a surge in energy consumption, reaching about four times the original amount.
Su Nan estimated that only by strengthening the Elemental Pool to nearly a Medium level could it sustain the consumption of using the Spell Turret as a regular weapon.
Fortunately, he intended to do this, which is why he limited the number of syntheses to five.
While further strengthening the Spell Turret would undeniably enhance its power, it would no longer serve its purpose as a standard weapon.
As for high-tier weapons, he planned to enhance the Disintegration Cannon.
"Since it's a brand new version, let's call it Spell Turret Type II."
Su Nan decided to equip the Wizard Tower with one hundred Spell Turret Type IIs to start, with the possibility of increasing that number depending on the situation.
Each unit cost more than fifteen million Gold Coins.
However, the benefits were clear; the firepower of the Starlight Wizard Tower was significantly greater than that of most Small Wizard Towers.
If equipped with a synthesized and strengthened Disintegration Cannon, its firepower would likely rival that of a Medium Wizard Tower.
"After arranging the Spell Turrets, I’ll shift my focus to the Disintegration Cannon."
"And there’s also the Golem Legion; the issue of the high-level puppet remains unresolved."
The high-level puppet blueprints Su Nan currently possessed were for the Mithril Golem and the Secret Puppet.
The former could be advanced to Third Circle Legend status, making it suitable as the primary puppet for the Wizard Tower's Golem Legion, without concerns about sourcing Magic Mithril.
The challenge lay with the latter.
Typically, a Small Wizard Tower would be equipped with high-level puppets at the Formal Wizard level as their final combat tier.
In other words, this type of puppet must achieve at least the combat strength of a Level 1 Gaseous Wizard.
The Secret Puppet Girl undoubtedly met this requirement exceptionally well.
However, the issue was the refining cost of the Secret Puppet was exorbitantly high.
The cost of a single Secret Puppet reached 480,000 Gold Coins, meaning that equipping one hundred would cost nearly 50 million Gold Coins.
The key challenge was that even if Su Nan were willing to spend the money, he lacked the necessary materials.
Refining a Secret Puppet required a substantial amount of Mithril, and the current Mithril production of the Star Alliance was primarily allocated for the construction of Wizard Towers. It was foreseeable that there wouldn’t be enough Mithril for mass-producing Secret Puppets for the next hundred years.
Of course, he could also choose to wait a hundred years until after the Wizard Tower was built to accumulate sufficient Mithril for refining the Secret Puppet.
"But considering Mithril's wide range of uses as a material, using it for mass refining Secret Puppets would be a waste. It would be better to find a way to acquire the Wizard Level Puppet design and refine it manually. As for the materials, we can attempt to synthesize them or search for substitutes. Regardless, the most crucial component, the Soul Crystal, isn't a problem at all." "There are quite a few issues to address." Su Nan rubbed his temples. Building a Wizard Tower in a world beset by Elemental Deserts and plane blockades is indeed a tiring endeavor, both mentally and physically. However, the benefits of having a fully operational Wizard Tower far outweigh these challenges. Leaving the control center, Su Nan returned to his study. He had been so focused on constructing the Wizard Tower for the past few months that he hadn't had a chance to review the reports. Although the Star Alliance and the Prosperous Star Empire likely had nothing significant happening, he was curious about the situation at Rainbow Sea. Just as he entered his study, Su Nan suddenly sensed a powerful energy fluctuation erupting. "That direction… it's Starlight Academy!" In an instant, Su Nan vanished, reappearing above Starlight Academy. The students’ power levels were too low for them to detect the energy fluctuation; the academy remained peaceful as ever. Soon after, Scepter, Rose, Fakado, and another Mentor arrived at Su Nan's side. Scepter and Rose explained that Starlight Academy had recently recruited three more Level Three Wizard Apprentices to serve as Mentors. With the addition of Sheman and Coley, who had already accepted the invitation to become Mentors, the number of Mentors at Starlight Academy had reached double digits, significantly alleviating the teacher shortage. "It must be Traveler," said Scepter. "He’s been in seclusion for several years. It's about time he emerged." Rose added, "It seems his semi-elementalization modification was a success." Sure enough, not long after, a figure shot into the sky, rapidly approaching them. It was Traveler, whom they hadn't seen in a long time. Compared to his state before seclusion, Traveler's aura was much calmer, yet it also radiated a vibrant, burgeoning life force, reminiscent of a forest coming to life. When he stopped and hovered in the air, he seemed to subtly blend into the surrounding heavens and earth, a clear sign of successful semi-elementalization.
"Moreover, judging by the aura, Traveler had clearly chosen the Wood element.
"Congratulations," Su Nan said with a slight smile.
The others then stepped forward to offer their congratulations as well.
Traveler, his face radiant with joy, thanked each of them individually.
After exchanging a few pleasantries, Fakado and the others bid farewell and left, leaving only Su Nan, Rose, and Scepter, who were more familiar with Traveler, behind.
"How does it feel?" Rose asked, her eyes shining with curiosity.
She intended to follow the path of Semi-Elementalization as well, and Traveler's experience might offer her valuable insights.
Traveler was open and honest, saying, "It's great. My perception and control of plant-based Energy Particles have improved significantly, and while the exact increase in lifespan is still unclear, it’s definitely around forty or fifty years."
Among the various paths of Semi-Elementalization, the Wood element provided the greatest increase in lifespan due to its inherent nature.
However, the choice of path had to align with one’s own Physique; otherwise, the chances of failure were extremely high. Otherwise, most Wizard Apprentices would likely choose the Wood element.
Traveler was fortunate that his Physique matched the Wood element.
"However, after Semi-Elementalization, I sense a kind of constraint, as if taking another step forward would reach some sort of limit," Traveler said, a slight frown crossing his face.
"That's the constraint imposed by the Starlight Continent environment," Su Nan explained, referring to the upper limit of Energy Particle concentration.
Hearing this, the three of them finally understood.
"No wonder the Wizards from a thousand years ago all left; it truly is unbearable to stay here."
"Not only that, but in this environment, Wizard cultivation would also be much less effective."
Rose couldn’t help but glance at Su Nan.
She was currently unable to discern Su Nan's level of power, nor did she know what stage he had actually reached.
Until now, Su Nan had always given her the impression of being profoundly mysterious, and his actions were consistently unexpected.
Perhaps Su Nan had found a way to overcome the harsh environment of the Starlight Continent—who knew?
After chatting a little longer, Su Nan returned to the Wizard Tower.
Following Traveler's successful Semi-Elementalization, Rose was clearly eager to try as well.
It was likely that it wouldn't be long before she began her own closed-door training.
And she would most likely choose the Wood element too.
In fact, the Semi-Elementalization process for Wizard Apprentices was barely affected compared to that of Elemental Knights."
After all, the Wizard Apprentice's Meditation absorption had no restrictions on the type of Energy Particles.
In contrast, the Elemental Knight could only absorb specific types of Energy Particles to enhance its power, which meant its requirements for the upper limit of Energy Particle concentration were higher. This made it more vulnerable to the energy concentration limits of the Starlight Continent.
This was also why Su Nan advised Ke Yi to pursue the Bloodline Knight path.
Back in the study, Su Nan sat down to read the reports.
The reports from the Prosperous Star Empire primarily focused on the progress of the ongoing reforms.
Due to a lack of Magic Stone Mines, Su Nan had dismissed the idea of promoting Magic Technology. However, the concept of popularizing Sub-mana technology powered by Sub Magestone had recently emerged.
Magic Stone was the only material that could synthesize it, but any second-level Wizard Apprentice could create Sub Magestone.
Although the supply was insufficient to meet the entire continent's needs, small-scale production was still feasible.
Therefore, he sent the design schematics of Magic Technology to Starlight Academy, requesting them to develop corresponding Sub-mana technology based on it.
Since it was backward compatible, the research progressed quite quickly.
Just three months ago, a Mana Engine powered by Sub Magestone was developed.
This Mana Engine was somewhat similar to an internal combustion engine, but it had a higher energy utilization rate and could be applied in various production areas.
However, due to the scarcity of Sub Magestone, the Mana Engine was currently only promoted and used within the capital region of the Empire.
That said, it was still a promising start.
As the number of Wizard Apprentices at Starlight Academy increased, the output of Sub Magestone would also grow year by year, driving the gradual popularization of Sub-mana technology, expanding its application scope, and leading to the creation of more sub-mana products.
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