In the castle courtroom.
Maximus sat on the throne, waiting for his ministers to speak and report on what had happened in the past two months while he was away.
“Your Majesty, first, our monthly profits have reached a staggering amount of 5 million gold coins,” Tristan said excitedly.
However, Maximus, upon hearing this, simply raised his eyebrows.
The 10 million gold he had when he came to the arcane continent became 400 billion gold in just two months after his return.
So, 5 million was merely peanuts to him, and he didn’t care much about it.
“Did the other kingdoms react or do something about the Atheria Pavillion?” That was what he wanted to know.
Tristan’s face turned ugly.
Dolan, noticing that Tristan was unable to speak, so said, “Your Majesty, some kings had violent reactions to the Aetheria Pavilion. Some of them even forcefully took control and stole the pavilion’s products.”
Maximus, with a dark expression, continued to listen.
“Fortunately, before your majesty left, you left us with a mechanical weapon capable of killing a Tier 4 Sky Knight,” Dolan sighed in relief as he spoke.
“Then after one of the kings took control of the pavilion, Phantom Group publicly assassinate that king.”
“After that, most of them became docile and easier to talk to,” Dolan finished his narration.𝞸𝓥xt.𝒪𝑚
“Good,” Maximus smiled, praising his foresight.
Before leaving, he was worried that something like this might happen, so he left a Type C mechanical weapon capable of killing a Tier 4 Sky Knight.
“What happened to that kingdom?” Maximus became curious about what his ministers would do without him.
“We received compensation from that kingdom’s royal family. As for others, we left it as it is, not making any hasty decisions without your approval,” Dolan said.
Although their decision was somewhat pragmatic, Maximus understood.
For them, land and physical wealth were important, but for him, the common people were more important than all of Sunburnt Plateau.
There are countless lands the size of the Sunburnt Plateau could be found on the scattered land of the cursed continent.
However, finding people was hard, as most of the land was infested by beast creatures.
Moreover, all of his plans required the common people as a foundation.
Otherwise, why not just abandon Sunburnt Plateau?
You know the kingdom’s monthly profits are not even a fraction of what could he earn in a day in Arcane continent.
…
“Your Majesty, where did you acquire that mechanical weapon the Phantom Group used?” Landon asked.
Being the youngest among them and lacking knowledge.
Landon felt comfortable asking sensitive questions without realizing anything wrong with his question.
He only believed that knowing the source of their Majesty’s mechanical weapon would enable them to obtain or purchase more, as the weapon was truly remarkable.
Landon thought that a few more of them could conquer the entire Sunburnt Plateau without much effort.
Upon hearing the question, Maximus nearly laughed.
Fortunately, he already had an excuse prepared.
While he could have chosen to maintain an air of mystery about it, he knew that it would raise doubts sooner or later.
“It’s from my teacher,” he began.
“A few years ago, when we were attacked by cultists, my teacher happened to pass by and saved me. Otherwise, how could the guards save me when my father, a Tier 3 Earth Knight, couldn’t do anything about it?”
“You may have also noticed my rapid progress in strength, going from an apprentice mage to a nascent mage in just a few years.” Maximus carefully explained his excuses, wanting to avoid endless questions.
“Oh, is Your Majesty’s teacher still here? By the way, How powerful is Your Majesty’s teacher?” Landon asked eagerly.
Although Maximus was slightly annoyed by Landon’s incessant questioning, he brushed it off as it is a rare opportunity to solidify the peculiar actions and progress he did after transmigrating.
“No, my teacher is already in the arcane continent,” Maximus replied.
“My teacher is a Tier 5 Mystic Mage and also a Tier 5 Alchemist,” he said calmly.
This statement excited his ministers, even though they didn’t fully grasp the concept of a Tier 5 mage or what an alchemist is.
They had common sense, and the fact that their Majesty, who was just a Tier 3 nascent mage, could defeat a Tier 4 Sky Knight, led them to imagine the power of a Tier 5 mage.
Merely the thought of it overwhelmed them, knowing that they had solid support behind them.
The reason they hadn’t hastily conquered the entire Sunburnt Plateau was due to rumors that some of the other factions had backers from elsewhere.
They didn’t know who had such support, so they dared not act rashly.
…
“What about the progress of the army?” Maximus inquired.
After he conquered the Faerie Kingdom and the army continued to expand, incorporating defeated soldiers into its ranks.
Thus Maximus was unaware of its current status.
“As per your instructions, Your Majesty, we have selected the most elite soldiers,” General Smith began.
“After a thorough screening of past soldiers and newly recruited ones, we now have a total of 30,000 soldiers,” General Smith stated proudly, standing tall with his back straight.
“Good,” Maximus expressed his satisfaction.
During this time, elite soldiers were indispensable.
Although Maximus could single-handedly dominate the entire Sunburnt Plateau due to his immense wealth of billions of gold coins.
He knew that he couldn’t sustain it once he left for the arcane continent without a capable group of army.
…
“What about the construction of the Moonlight Kingdom?” Maximus inquired.
“We are making significant progress. Although we don’t have magic materials yet, the common materials required to build the kingdom, according to your Majesty’s blueprint, are abundant,” Doran explained.
“For the common materials that are not within our kingdom’s territory, we have purchased them at cheap prices from the surrounding kingdoms.”
“This is also one of the reasons the neighboring kingdoms didn’t resist much regarding the Aetheria Pavilion, as we bought a vast amount of materials from them.”
Maximus nodded in acknowledgment.
When he flew back to the Sunburnt Plateau, he noticed that the Moonlight Kingdom was already taking shape, requiring only the final touches to activate the natural formation array.
He thinks, that after a few more months the kingdom’s architecture and facilities will be completed.
Having a bunch of strong and full people truly do magic in doing construction.
Of course, the fast progress also had to do with the system mall items.
Like the alchemy item that can automatically break rocks into a suitable size building block.
Or the alchemy item that quickly dries cement-like substance that sticks building block together.
Moreover, to have a budget to do all of this, we can’t forget about the contribution of the surrounding kingdom without money he can’t buy any of these alchemy items.
“Good. Furthermore, I plan to expand the blueprint to accommodate the entire population of Sunburnt Plateau,” Maximus declared.
His ministers were somewhat puzzled by what their Majesty meant.
The entire population?
How big of an area is that?
Why would it need to be that big?
While some had already deduced the meaning behind the statement, they remained curious.
Maximus, observing the varied expressions of his ministers, continued, “That’s right, I am planning to conquer the entire land.”
This statement caused an explosion of excitement in the court.
Thoughts raced through their minds, wondering if their Majesty truly intended to bring the entire Sunburnt Plateau under his rule.
“Are there any questions?” Maximus inquired.
The crowd of ministers paused for a moment, contemplating.
“How do we plan to achieve that, Your Majesty? Did your Majesty’s teacher leave more mechanical weapons for us to use?” Landon asked eagerly, hoping to try a mechanical weapon for himself.
“Of course not. How could I use weapons to violently eliminate my opposition?” Maximus denied.
Although he could single-handedly kill all the rulers in Sunburnt Plateau without any trouble, he was concerned about their potential backers.
He also believed the rumors that most of the forces had backers supporting them.
He believed that many kings and rulers in Sunburnt Plateau originated from other regions in the cursed continent or even the arcane continent.
As for the naturally promoted individuals in Sunburnt Plateau, most of them eventually left for other places.
Unless they retired here, no sane individuals would stay on this barren plateau to rule the land.
As for why would most kings and rulers who possess the strength of Tier 4 Sky Knights stay in this desolate region?
Most of them were here for unique resources or to scout for potential talent to recruit into their forces.
Thus, he couldn’t simply kill them.
Killing one or two might go unnoticed, but if he were to eliminate them all, he could become a target.
For now, he wanted to remain calm, proceed cautiously, and accumulate wealth.
“How, then, does Your Majesty plan to rule the entire plateau?” Landon asked, puzzled.
Without the mechanical weapons, he couldn’t fathom any other means his majesty could control the entire plateau.
Do you just talk to them peacefully?
Without his majesty’s teacher deterrent it would just be a joke, Landon thought
“Of course, I will persuade them peacefully,” Maximus smiled.
“I possess a cloned personal token from my teacher, imbued with his mana and spiritual signature.”
“I’m sure the rulers of the surrounding kingdoms will understand my difficulty that they will have to move to another place,” Maximus said jokingly.
Landon, on the other hand, was shocked. ‘Did he just predict His Majesty’s thinking.’
‘Did I unlock my hidden talent?’ Landon thought excitedly.