Chapter 1175

Chapter 1150 Antoine, Destroyed by an Ancient Planet

In the Cloudweed Wetlands, within the largest library of the Rose Council, seven gears float behind Solas. Engaging these suspended gears are three cams and four linkages. These structures do not touch; they are separated by space, connected only by spirituality.

As

this middle-aged wizard wearing a monocle moves, the complex, contactless textile-like magical artifact behind him moves with him, gears meshing, cams rotating, and linkages moving.

Standing on a wooden ladder, Solas holds a dusty magic book in his left hand and a Ganoderma lucidum plant in his right, watching the video circulating wildly among the third-ring wizards. It shows Mike, a second-ring wizard from Kungudin College in the Golden Crown Mountain region, unintentionally sealing one head of the world lord of the Venomous World, the Purple-Spotted Eight-Headed Serpent, using wizard shoes from the Augustus Shop Alliance.

Seeing this, the wizard Soras smiled and said to the witch beside him, whose robes radiated a deep blue magical glow, “Applying the mystical meaning of magical plants to the field of wizard shoes. What a brilliant idea! What do you think? As my first student, the senior sister of my lineage… Mrs. Cloto.”

Cloto, the Sun Ring Wizard, said, “Teacher, Argos is utterly useless. He went to Soras Barefoot, wasting your resources in securing this opportunity for him. And now, Augustus has launched such a product. This is a huge blow to our alliance of shops.” “If you ask

me,” she said, “let Argos step down.”

“Change to a more capable commander. I don’t want to lose to those Red Dragon Cultists.”

Wizard Solas smiled, handing his spellbook to Clotho; Sun Ring, then flipping through the images on the Ganoderma lucidum plant with his left hand, reading a recent article in the Third Ring, Third District Journal written by the Dean of Kungudin, a Third Ring Wizard. It described how Wizard Mike calculated the spirit field of a mountain range in the Venom World, and how the Third Ring Dean, after analyzing numerous spirit fields, determined that three of them indicated they were not naturally occurring.

He believed the Venom World was likely altered by some powerful external force, otherwise its spirit field wouldn’t be like that.

He constructed a model: an entity with a magical pressure approximately 1.5 times that of the Venom World collided with it from the void at an extremely high speed, and the Purple-Spotted Eight-Headed Serpent was merely a fragment ejected from this massive impact.

However, lacking direct evidence, the post could only be published in Zone 3. Of course, this third-ring wizard wouldn’t be content with that.

He wanted it at least published in Zone 2.

Therefore, the headmaster prepared to find wizards from Kungudin Academy to explore the Venomous World. He also issued a public selection notice to several local shops that made deep exploration gear, including wizard shoes. However, unlike a group purchase, this was a bounty system, with wizards from Kungudin Academy leading other wizards seeking the bounty into the Venomous World.

During this process, Kungudin Academy would award evaluation points, and the best-performing wizard would receive corresponding rewards and a series of orders from Kungudin Academy.

Wizard Solas scanned the article and message. “Kunguding Academy… this wizarding academy from the Nine Plains Mountains in the Northern Boundary; the Wizarding Lands, does have some skill. No wonder the White Wizarding Association of Cloud Marsh Wetlands spent a fortune to invite them. I’ve read his article; posting it in District 3 is indeed a bit stifling. If better evidence could be obtained, it could be posted in a higher district. I’m also very curious why the Venomous World is so special.”

“Clotto, don’t rush.”

“Give Argos a chance. I believe he’ll handle this.”

Wizard Solas said to Clotto, “Besides, I want you to contact your junior, Diablo. I want to hold a small wizard robe design competition within our academy. Since all my students have studied textiles, regardless of their specialization in floral studies or breeding, I hope everyone will participate in this wizard robe design competition. For wizards who have absolutely no interest in textiles, then let’s use floral studies to embellish their robes.”

“I hope all my students will participate in this internal competition. The competition will last for three months.”

“I hope that for the next three months, all of you can focus your attention on designing wizard robes. This can be done in teams or individually. My Soras Wardrobe; Shop Alliance will select the top three as the most popular wizard robes for mass production in the second half of this year, and will offer a hefty licensing fee.”

“Clotto, Diablo, I hope all of you will participate. However, if anyone is currently very busy, then that’s fine. It’s entirely voluntary.”

Clotto bowed to Wizard Soras, then her thoughts drifted.

‘Is the teacher holding a design competition at this time to gather the strength of all the wizards in our academy to enhance Soras Wardrobe? But Soras Wardrobe shouldn’t have many competitors. So this seems more like concentrating the energy of wizards from our lineage on a single competition.'”

Why?

Clotho the Sunshade’s eyes flickered, but unable to fathom the thoughts of this third-ring wizard, she quickly stopped thinking about it.

Professor Soras was a very protective wizard.

Several wizards from the Red Dragon lineage had provoked their lineage, and Professor Soras was clearly furious, especially about Lady Fiona and that Trajan wizard.

That Trajan wizard had even caused the Soras lineage’s original wool-producing regions to lose a large number of orders by finding a new, high-quality wool-producing colony.

Professor Soras must be filled with rage.

Clotho the Sunshade thought, this must be a step before the next move.

…

Rose Council, Lana Alvarez the Sunshade raised an eyebrow after seeing the video.

“I knew Locke; Augustine was destined for greatness. My intuition was right. When he consulted me about the Ecological Corridor, he dared to write to a complete stranger, a Sun Ring Witch. I was amazed by his courage.” “

However, I don’t know what the high-ring wizards here think about the Red Dragon lineage. This situation will only get more complicated. Solas Lightfoot must be having a terrible headache right now.”

Lana the Witch laughed, thinking to herself.

She wondered how Solas’s students would handle this.

In the same office, her student, Wizard Bill, trembled with fear. He stole a glance at Lana; Sun Ring.

“Oh no. Why is Teacher’s mood so volatile today? According to my previous observations, if she’s too happy in the morning, her mood will turn gloomy in the afternoon. I’m doomed. She’s already used up her good mood for the day. To balance things out, I’m definitely going to get a dressing down today.” “…

Golden

Crown Mountain, Little Peach Mountain. The dwarf giant, Wizard Ratchet, paid for his return to Cloud Marsh Wetlands. When the Void Battleship landed on Little Peach Mountain, Locke saw the wolf giant waiting to greet him, along with an unexpected wizard—Antoine.

Antoine had his hands in the pockets of his wizard’s robe. Locke walked up to him and asked curiously, “What happened that made someone like you come to greet me?”

Antoine smiled and said, “I’ve been providing you with hadron plants as agreed. However, after seeing that recently viral video, the Senate has a different opinion. They think our current cooperation is progressing too slowly.”

Locke realized that the other party was referring to Wizard Mike wearing the Starry Golden Pineapple and venturing into the Venom universe.

Antoine tossed Locke an astral ring.

“Here you go. This contains all the hadron plants I recently obtained on the ancient planet, along with stones and some water from that planet. I used a special protective magic to seal them in this ring, so they won’t be contaminated by external substances. Locke, the Senate sent me to ask you a question: with your current technology, can you develop better wizard shoes?”

Locke looked at Antoine curiously and asked, “So soon?”

Antoine nodded. He had already raised his right hand during their previous conversation, displaying a magic ring with a silencing function. He had activated a soundproofing magic array; it was a high-level soundproofing magic ring, so only he and Locke could hear each other’s conversation. The wolf giant standing to the side, who had been preparing to welcome Locke, was completely unable to hear their exchange.

Locke asked Antoine, “Is it because the Senate thinks that I possess the hadron bottle breeding technology and works like the Starry Golden Dragon Claw, and wants to accelerate the exploration of the ancient planet, or has something else happened?”

“Have wizards from other academies discovered the ancient planet?”

Antoine shook his head. “No, not at all. Only we know the void coordinates of the ancient planet, and the teleportation channel from the Siming Waters to the ancient planet has collapsed on its own. Although it’s not impossible to rebuild it, the Senate has also sent wave magic wizards to build a laboratory there, preemptively occupying the area and preventing surrounding wizards from approaching.”

“So, it’s true that the old men in the Senate got anxious as soon as they saw you cultivate the Starry Golden Dragon Claw and possess the Hadron Bottle. They couldn’t wait to establish more research bases on the ancient planet. But there were other objective reasons as well.”

Antoine pursed his lips, somewhat embarrassed, and said, “The local forces on the ancient planet discovered the existence of the wizards. It started when one of the wave magic wizards in my team was searched by a soldier from the local forces. That soldier, following local custom, tried to harass strangers in a tavern, checking their identities and extorting money from them. My subordinate was too arrogant and suddenly retaliated, killing the soldier.” “

This triggered a major conflict.”

“As you know, in that special environment where magic is forcibly absent, the power of many spells is limited. My subordinate was killed by dozens of natives who came to reinforce us, but his experimental notes and magical artifacts were found on him. This attracted the attention of the mainstream powers on the ancient planet. The kings of those kingdoms discovered us and united to launch an attack on our forward base and the tribe of my wife from that world,” Antoine

said. “But because the ancient planet and the wizarding world are so far apart, the Senate only had time to build a resource replenishment station in a medium-sized world along the fixed route. Therefore, the resources we could carry at one time were limited. Not to mention, due to the special environment of the ancient planet, most powerful spell models and most magical resources were unusable.”

“I suffered many defeats in that world. If it weren’t for a princess on the enemy side who flirted with me and seemed to be interested in me, I might already be a prisoner of the natives of that world.”

“The Senate previously came up with a solution, which was to try to enhance the basic physical abilities of our wizards. But this idea is currently not very reliable.”

Locke, leading the wolf giant, walked and talked with Antoine as they descended Little Peach Mountain and headed towards the main mountain of Golden Crown Mountain.

Locke asked, “Is it because the organisms of the ancient planet had incredibly powerful physical abilities?”

Antoine replied, “Yes. You can imagine an organism whose entire body is composed of hadrons, that eats and drinks substances made of hadrons. If placed in another world, it would be a monster. I tried it before. I put a rat from the ancient planet into a pile of hadrons, took it out of that world, and then threw it into the lava of a volcano in another world. I saw the rat sink to the bottom, but it started swimming at the bottom of the lava. It kept howling, but as it adapted to the environment, it lived in the lava.” “

Then I threw the carcass of a deer captured from the ancient planet into a black hole. The deer actually withstood the gravitational pull of the small black hole for several hours, and after decomposing into particles, it formed a phenomenon I named a hadron cloud. If it weren’t for the confidentiality agreement, I suspect this phenomenon could be published in a second-tier journal.”

“Even the most powerful spells at the Star Ring level would be suppressed to their lowest possible level on the ancient planet. However, the humans of the ancient planet could continuously improve their combat power by diligently honing their skills.”

Antoine said, “From this, I’ve come to a rather exaggerated guess: the ancient planet was essentially a sealed-off group of monsters.”

“I can use hadrons to bring out animals or their corpses intact, but I can’t use the same method to bring out intelligent beings inside. Perhaps intelligent beings are more fragile, or perhaps there’s another reason.”

“As for developing hadrons, we have indeed achieved some results through wave theory, successfully extracting hadrons and integrating them into our spell models, producing some decent power. However, because our identities were suddenly exposed, we prematurely engaged in battle with the mainstream indigenous forces of that world.”

“So, the Senate is actually somewhat caught off guard,”

Antoine said. “Our developed hadron wave theory magic has only been deduced to the 0.5 level. Other high-level hadron magic doesn’t have a system; they’re just individual spell models developed by individual wizards based on their talents.” “

The fully formed hadron wave theory magic system only reaches the 0.5 level.”

“If we had another ten years, and another war of this magnitude happened, perhaps the outcome would be different,”

Antoine said, looking at Locke. “But we are indeed suffering defeat after defeat, and we even risk being driven off the ancient planet. I don’t know why most of the forces on the planet have suddenly united to target us.” “

It just so happens that some high-ranking members of the Senate have seen your breeding work. They believe that if you focus all your energy on developing hadron plants, we can obtain a batch of powerful magical plant equipment, which will allow us to suppress the resistance forces of the ancient planet’s natives.”

Locke frowned. “No, the focus now is not on resolving the united attack by the forces of the ancient planet against you. It’s on why they suddenly united to attack you. I know the ancient planet… you mentioned to me before that they have a common aversion to outsiders and have some connection with the divine forces.”

“But that doesn’t fully explain why this situation has occurred just because some magical artifacts from the wizarding world have been exposed. Do they know your identities?”

Wizard Antoine shook his head. “I don’t know. This malice seems to have no root cause.”

Wizard Antoine pondered for a moment, then continued to shake his head. “This is one of the situations I don’t understand right now. It’s like… it’s like the way they see us is different from how we see ourselves. Even when I try to negotiate with them and offer them a cooperative solution that benefits them, they don’t even consider it and just try to destroy us.” “

I haven’t found any trace of magic in that world. The wizarding world should never have touched that area in the past. Besides, there’s no trace of any other civilizations that have been there.” “

But Locke, you’re right. This hostility, this instantaneous alliance, represents a level of organization that is seriously different from the administrative and technological level represented by the scattered kingdoms of the ancient planet. So you’re right, there must be something hidden behind this joint strangulation.”

Antoine said, “I’m even a little worried now that the ancient planet might be an experiment conducted by one of the three great gods, or some kind of secret weapon against our wizarding world? The three great gods—the Persepolis, the Builders, and the New Gods—all have long and ancient histories and profound foundations.” “

So that possibility also exists.”

Antoine patted Locke’s shoulder with his left hand. “The Senate wants me to discuss with you whether you can focus your attention and energy on developing the Hadron Magic Plant. If so, the Senate will provide you with special funding.” “

The Senate believes that if we successfully explore the ancient planet, we can strengthen Mount Golden Crown. This will benefit everyone on Mount Golden Crown. Perhaps, in the future, you can more easily hold a high position on Mount Golden Crown.” “

Besides, I personally would like to request your help.”

Antoine smiled wryly. “Those people on the ancient planet were truly ruthless. They beat me so badly I was completely disoriented. I dare say I might be the most miserable wizard explorer in history.”

The wolf giant followed behind Antoine and Locke. He could only see Lord Antoine giving Locke a wry smile, his face full of melancholy, but he couldn’t hear a sound from their lips.

The wolf giant wondered what Lord Antoine and Locke were discussing.

Locke glanced at Antoine and said, “Developing hadron plants is also one of my goals. However… Antoine, I really can’t dedicate all my energy to this. You know I have my own things to do. And from my observation, if I suddenly relax and do other things, my rivals will take advantage of the situation.”

Antoine the wizard paused, then gave a wry smile. “I see. That makes sense.”

“After all, you do have your own things to do.” “

Although I haven’t been in the wizarding world recently, I’ve heard a lot. The Truth-Revealing Competition, and the conflict between the Red Dragon School and the Rose School, have intensified further.”

Locke looked at Antoine the wizard, knowing he had indeed suffered a great loss on the ancient planet recently, almost losing all his confidence.

The once high-spirited Antoine thought everyone in the world was merely his foil, that the sun, moon, mountains, and rivers existed only for him. But after his trip to the ancient planet, he was beaten into submission, stammering and hesitant. Locke was curious about what kind of hidden power the ancient planet held.

Locke said to Antoine, “If their attack becomes too intense, we might as well temporarily withdraw from that world.”

“If we withdraw from that world, the joint operation against the wizards will automatically end, right?”

“Anyway, only Golden Crown Mountain possesses the void coordinates, and the enemy lacks void travel technology, so we can build a base in near-Earth

void orbit.” Antoine shook his head. “The gravity of the ancient planet is too great; the cost of building a near-Earth void orbit base could be hundreds of times the normal cost. There’s also a very important personal reason.”

Antoine hesitated. “We wizards can leave, but my wife will perish with her tribe. If possible, I hope to help her protect her tribe.”

Locke looked at Antoine with surprise.

Antoine was known for his numerous lovers in the wizarding world; legends of his various romantic affairs still circulated in the Golden Crown Mountain region.

It was hard to believe such words came from Antoine’s mouth.

Antoine said to Locke, “During this time, I shared a deep bond with that native woman on the ancient planet. I’ve never felt so helpless; many times I was about to give up, but she encouraged me. Although our lifestyles differ, in my eyes, she was more of a primitive and backward native.” “

She wouldn’t even touch water.”

“Simply because her tribe has a custom of never touching water.”

Antoine snapped his fingers near his ear. “But after spending so much time together, I gradually discovered her unique strengths. I saw many beautiful qualities in her, qualities similar to those of an excellent wizard in my eyes. I wanted to teach her magic, but she didn’t know why she couldn’t learn it.”

Locke said, “Hammonic absorbs the concentration gradient of magical tides. Her entire body is made of hadron, so she can basically say goodbye to magic.”

Antoine nodded and said, “It was after that failed attempt to teach her magic that I suddenly realized something. What is civilization? What is progress? What is backwardness? What is barbarism?”

“I deceived her and her tribe, used her and her tribe, and brought them annihilation. But even when faced with a global encirclement, they didn’t abandon us, only because of our alliance. As her wife, she didn’t accept the demands of the local forces to betray me and hand me over. And in my team at the time, someone suggested that we hand over that tribe as a scapegoat.”

Antoine looked at Locke and said, “I was thinking, if a group can’t learn magic, are they backward and barbaric? Obviously not, their bodies are just made of hadron, so they are naturally unable to learn magic. Then, is a group backward and barbaric just because their lifestyle is different from others? Obviously not.”

Antoine said, “Therefore, I was thinking about what truly determines the difference between barbarians and civilized people.”

Locke nodded. “So you want to try and save your wife’s tribe?”

“Alright. Antoine, are you confident you can do it?”

Antoine gave a wry smile. “I used to be ambitious, thinking I could move the whole world. But now I realize my own vulnerability.”

“I really don’t have confidence. The fighting power of those natives on the ancient planet is definitely extraordinary. Without support, I’m not confident I can hold that stronghold. Especially after I suffered a crushing defeat and only managed to escape by luck.” “

The Senate is working hard to research hadron wave magic. But it will take at least a year to advance to the first level. That’s why I want your help, Locke.”

Locke thought for a moment. If it weren’t for the Argos incident, he might actually have helped Antoine.

Because researching hadron plants would also be very beneficial to him.

But to be honest, the sale of hadron plants is restricted.

Although the Senate is applying for the relevant qualifications and establishing related void navigation equipment, and is striving to increase the exploration of the ancient planet—because according to wizarding law, once the exploration rate exceeds 80%, other wizarding forces cannot enter the area—establishing relevant void navigation facilities can ensure that other wizarding forces cannot actually enter that world.

Once the Senate achieves 80% exploration, it can immediately announce a series of discoveries related to the hadron.

In any case, this thing can’t really block much information over time.

However, during this period, the hadron-infused magical plants he cultivates will still be unable to be sold normally due to the Senate’s intervention.

Magical plants that directly use the hadron will definitely not be sold; only magical plants cultivated using hadron bottles, those that indirectly utilize the hadron, can be sold.

In other words, the commercialization of his current research results in the hadron field will be affected.

This makes further in-depth research on hadron magical plants less attractive.

Besides, Locke had already sensed Solas’s intense hostility towards him. He now not only had to complete Ekaterina’s mission and realize his ambitions in the wizard robe and magic shield markets, but he also needed to deal with Solas’s powerful counterattacks.

In this situation, he needed to make a choice: whether to be distracted by researching the Senate at this crucial moment.

After a brief moment of thought, Locke decided against it.

“If I’m distracted at this time, I’m likely to encounter a series of business failures. The hadron plant will inevitably take up a lot of my energy, but won’t provide me with sufficient commercial value.” “

Unless the Senate agrees to lift the restrictions on hadron.” Locke pondered.

But he did indeed need the hadron plant research materials provided by the Senate. If he couldn’t reach an agreement with them, it would be understandable that they would stop their support at such a difficult time.

Locke pondered for a moment, then said to Antoine, “Actually, your base is lacking support right now, isn’t it? The magical artifacts and equipment you have are hardly effective on this ancient planet. So the fastest way to help you isn’t by researching hadron plants, but by something that can directly provide assistance.”

Antoine asked in confusion, “What is that?”

Locke replied, “A magical potion that, after being ingested, allows wizards of the second ring or higher to exert their power for a short period of time.”

Antoine’s expression became excited. “Is this achievable?”

Locke said, “Yes. I spent some time in the Rainswamp conducting in-depth research on hadron plants. I discovered that hadron can enhance magical plants and potions. I can use hadron plants to enhance this blue potion, the [Illusion Potion]. The effect of the Illusion Potion is to create a temporary illusionary field, within which a favorable planar principle is generated. I think you can purchase this potion first. Because even the original version of the potion can be helpful to you.”

“The Illusion Potion is not a three-limited potion. My Gungnir has the relevant qualifications, so I can produce a large quantity of this potion for you.”

“Of course, there are some technical difficulties. I still need to consult my potion master, Queen Neptune. Anyway, she recently asked me for a favor, and I just mentioned it to her. I’m confident I can improve the Illusion Potion formula so that your second-circle wizards’ ultimate magic can be fully utilized temporarily on the ancient planet.”

Antoine excitedly placed his hands on Locke’s shoulders.

“Thanks, my good brother. I hadn’t noticed before that the Disillusionment Potion could help me in the common second-level potion sequence. That’s great, I’ll go and buy a batch of Disillusionment Potion and send it to the ancient planet. With this, we can temporarily save the tribe. My good brother, I’ll also provide you with hadron plants every month for your research.”

Antoine breathed a sigh of relief. “Thanks to you. I thought we could only retreat temporarily according to the Senate’s advice,”

Locke said. “It’s nothing. Even if I hadn’t mentioned it, I think a wizard in the Senate would have figured it out sooner or later.”

Antoine said, “It’s possible they would have thought of it, but that would likely have happened after we temporarily retreated from the ancient planet. Time is the biggest deciding factor. Locke, thank you. I owe you a favor this time. My request earlier was indeed a bit presumptuous. I also need your help in developing the Illusion Potion.”

Antoine pondered, “I’ll officially place an order with your Gungnir in a few days. After all, it’s a relatively common potion, so even if I place an order, it won’t arouse any suspicion.”

Antoine raised his palm, and his magic ring flashed with a magical light, dispelling the soundproof barrier.

He waved to Locke and hurriedly left. The wolf giant watched Antoine leave quickly and asked curiously, “Teacher, what did this gentleman want with you? He looked so miserable.”

Locke sighed. “Exploring the void is indeed not easy.”

“He was beaten up several times by the local natives.”

The wolf giant, who had been marveling at the power and advancement of the wizarding civilization, now covered his mouth slightly. How could there possibly be any local natives who could beat up wizards?

…

In the Rose Council District, at the Solas Barefoot Headquarters building, Argos entered the common office of the second-circle designers. He saw many second-circle wizards working at their workstations. He smiled, then held up a document in his hand, exchanging glances with several second-circle wizard designers to observe their personalities.

He had a habit of giving people small requests while working, observing their reactions to judge their personalities.

During this time, he had figured out the basic personalities of the wizards here and established basic relationships.

He had built relatively close relationships with some wizards, forming his so-called inner circle. He then used this inner circle to entice those outside or on the periphery, making them constantly strive and work hard to enter it.

He would also occasionally release useful information, or semi-true information, useful for their personal advancement or finding research materials and directions, to the outer edges of this so-called circle, making these wizards even more curious and eager to enter his circle.

Argos wizards are adept at manipulating the minds of wizards by establishing inner circles, especially second-circle wizards. After all, those without forging are the most eager to enter these circles.

“You’ve all seen it lately, right? That so-called super-hot second-circle wizard shoes from Augustus. Wizards are talking about them like they’re divine.”

“It’s like the future of wizard shoes.”

“That’s ridiculous.”

“I believe it.”

Argos leaned against the glass partition of his workstation. “I believe the abilities of you designers far surpass those of the designer of that so-called foolish new wizard shoes. This is a bounty issued by Quentin Academy. What a cunning academy, trying to get multiple benefits from one project. However, this truly showcases the level of technology that Solas’s Lightfoot can achieve.”

“Whoever makes the best wizard shoes and gets into the top three of Quentin Academy’s procurement will receive a formal teaching position, or a promotion from their current position.” “

Besides that, there’s a large reward in magic stones. If they get into the top three, I’ll personally sponsor them with a million magic stones; if they get first place, I’ll personally give them ten million magic stones.”

At their workstations, the second-circle designers became serious.

Money was actually a minor matter.

Because this group included Star Ring wizards, and even a few Moon Ring wizards, they wouldn’t care about this small amount of money. However, the promotion was certainly attractive, not to mention the order bonuses and the recognition from Kungudin Academy, which would greatly benefit their future development.

Argos wanted to hand the documents to these wizards. Some reached out to take them, but he deliberately didn’t give them to them. Instead, he gave them to an ordinary second-ring wizard who had been very attentive and respectful to him on his first day there. This wizard was very young, had great potential, and possessed a talent for magic shoemaking.

Argos exchanged a glance with this young second-ring wizard, [Oc], and nodded gently, encouraging the unforged wizard. Then he put down the documents and headed to his office,

leaving a group of wizards still brainstorming and looking at Oc with envy, considering him one of the core figures in Argos’s circle.

They somewhat regretted not learning from him and making friends with Mr. Argos earlier.

However, it wasn’t too late now; if they could perform well in this matter and gain the attention of that wizard, they could succeed.

Inside the office, Wizard Argos smirked as he sat in his chair, saying, “Indeed, unforged wizards are the easiest to influence. Therefore, they are also the easiest to manipulate covertly. Unforged wizards have nothing of their own; they are the most vain among those in the second ring stage, and the most eager to reach the top of a system.” “

By using them to form a core circle, I can make this so-called circle operate automatically. The pseudo-forged wizards, though skeptical, will believe in the existence of this ‘circle.'”

“Once the pseudo-forged wizards see this ‘circle’ reach a certain size, they will also want to occupy a place within it. However, the circle I’ve created shouldn’t be able to accommodate true pseudo-forged wizards.”

Wizards who rely on their own pseudo-forging are masters at creating their own circles.

Argos the Wizard pondered, “Give these wizards a good boost. Unleash all the technical reserves of Solas’s Barefoot and Melochy’s Magic Step; they should be able to create something that redefines what constitutes excellent wizard shoes at each stage. Give them a good boost, and pigs will fly.”

“I’ll make Solas’s Barefoot get back up where he fell.”

Argos’s gaze sharpened as he looked at the illusion he’d played almost a hundred times. “Now I just don’t know Aura’s attitude, the Resource Integration Management Committee…”

…

Cloud Marsh Wetlands, Root Crown Royal Court Branch. Locke received 150 million magic stones from Arthas because Wizard Lachi had completed the order. Adding to his 80 million in savings and the 100 million gold elixir he’d earned, he now carried a staggering 330 million.

Today was the day he’d agreed to meet the Sea Queen at the Twelve Zodiacs.

Locke pondered how to complete his mission at the Twelve Zodiacs gathering.

At the same time, he glanced at the two astral rings given to him by the wizard Trajan and the witch Scarlett, which also contained magical plant materials for developing wizard shoes.

Neptune stepped out of the office and said to Locke, “Locke, get ready. The show is about to begin.”