Chapter 60: Base Construction
Chapter 60: Base Construction
"Speed up, we need to get everything to the site before dark."
In the city of Flash, a convoy of wagons rolled slowly along the cobblestone streets, the sound of their wheels rumbling in unison. The residents along the route stepped aside, aware of the fully armed soldiers accompanying the convoy. The leading men wore full suits of armor, clearly knights.
"Flash is truly a magnificent city. Blackstone, on the other hand, is just too remote."
Gadon grinned as he took in the sights lining the streets. The architecture of Flash was Romanesque, exuding a sense of grandeur and solemnity. The roads were smooth cobblestone, flanked by well-tended flowers and trees. The ground was clean and orderly, with a complete sewer system, and the houses were more exquisite and uniform compared to those in Blackstone.
Compared to Flash, Blackstone seemed almost rural.
"When we first followed Lord Koy to Blackstone, who would have thought we'd return to Flash so soon?" one of the knights mused, his face filled with nostalgia.
The others nodded in agreement.
"Who would have thought? I thought we'd spend the rest of our lives in Blackstone."
"Indeed, I still sometimes wonder if this is all a dream."
"It's all thanks to Lord Koy and Lord Su Nan. But why is Lord Su Nan moving outside the city? Could it be that—"
The knight was cut off by a kick from Gadon.
"Speak sense, or I'll give you a beating!"
"The brothers have a good relationship, and besides, Lord Su Nan shows no interest in titles. He's destined to become a wizard!"
"But why not stay in the city? The countryside is so desolate, and the inner fortress is much more comfortable," another knight asked, puzzled.
Gadon shrugged. "I heard that Lord Su Nan plans to build a base outside the city, including a magical plant garden and a puppet factory. He needs a large area of land, so he chose a spot outside the city. We're here to deliver the materials for the base."
Seeing the others still somewhat confused, Gadon waved his hand impatiently.
"Just do as Lord Su Nan says."
The others nodded in agreement. The plans of such a powerful figure were not for them to question; they just needed to follow orders.
The convoy continued through the city, passing through the gates and heading north for about four or five kilometers until they reached a cleared and leveled plot of land. Workers were bustling about, the sharp sounds of iron picks striking rock filling the air.
Gadon quickly found Su Nan, who was surveying the area on a hill, seemingly looking for something.
"Lord Su Nan, Lord Koy sent me to deliver the materials."
Su Nan nodded and called over a steward to take charge of the delivery. He then handed Gadon a list.
"These are the materials needed for the next phase. Please give this to my brother."
"Yes, my lord."
Gadon accepted the list with a serious nod, glancing at it curiously. Crystals, brass, silver, clay... He could understand the first few items, but what was the clay for? Making pottery?
Gadon kept his questions to himself, took the list, and bid Su Nan farewell before leaving.
Once Gadon was gone, Su Nan resumed his survey of the area.
After taking control of Flash, he had immediately begun his plans to establish his own base. He approached Koy and secured a plot of land on a plain just outside the city, where he intended to build his base.
A competent wizard must have a territory of their own to focus on cultivation and the study of knowledge, while also developing their resources.
That's why many wizards build their own wizard towers.
A few powerful True Spirit Wizards even go to the extreme of constructing floating cities, which require an immense amount of resources.
Unfortunately, neither a floating city nor a wizard tower is within Su Nan's reach at the moment.
His only option is to settle for a regular base.
A complete base must include a meditation area, a spell training area, a laboratory, a living quarter, a potion-making area, a magical plant garden, a magic item workshop, a puppet factory, and storage facilities.
Building all these facilities requires a vast area, even larger than a typical village.
The cost is measured in tens of thousands of gold coins.
Fortunately, Su Nan has been making potions in his spare time and selling them through the Firefox Guild.
The advance payments he received are enough to cover the initial construction of the base.
Currently, he is surveying the location of a ley line node.
In any world, there are natural magical energy lines running underground.
These lines are known as ley line nodes, elemental veins, or magic nodes, among other names.
The name is just a label.
Essentially, ley line nodes are points where natural energies converge. By setting up a large magic array at a ley line node, a stable supply of magical energy can be provided, significantly reducing the energy consumption.
Otherwise, relying solely on magic stones to power the magical plant garden, the magic item workshop, and the puppet factory would drain the entire revenue of the Flash domain and still fall short.
The only issue is that the Starlight Continent is currently elementally impoverished, and the magical energy provided by ley line nodes has drastically decreased.
A single ley line node can probably only support the daily operations and maintenance of the base. If he wants to use devices like a magic crystal forge, he will need to supplement with magic stones.
Therefore, before the base is fully constructed, he must stockpile a batch of magic stones.
Once he confirmed the location of the ley line node, Su Nan let out a long breath and turned to look at the busy workers below.
"Relying solely on human labor to build the base is inefficient. It would be best to manufacture a batch of Clay Golems to act as workers."
Clay Golems possess the strength of nearly a ton and are highly efficient workers.
In many large-scale projects, a single Clay Golem can handle the work equivalent to hundreds of human workers.
The key is that Clay Golems don't need rest or food; they just require a steady supply of energy and regular maintenance to function indefinitely.
For this reason, many wizards prefer to use Clay Golems as laborers or servants.
"Clay Golems require simple materials, consume little energy, and are easy to maintain, making them the best choice for labor."
"Having ten Clay Golems would multiply the base's construction efficiency and save a significant amount of labor costs."
"Additionally, the magical plant garden and the magic item workshop will need specialized personnel to maintain. They must be literate and have a basic understanding of magical botany or enchanting, which will require training from scratch."
Cultivation, learning spells, building the base, making potions, crafting golems, and training personnel—Su Nan suddenly realized he had a lot on his plate.
"There's a lot to do from here on out."
(End of Chapter)
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