Chapter 60: The Prodigious Alchemist 8

“There is no other choice.”

“We can only defend the city and send our high-level professionals out to request reinforcements.”

“Could we try breaking through one side of the kobold army?”

“Foolish!”

“The kobolds are not like ordinary enemies.”

“If we could defeat one side of them, Muan City would never have been pushed into this situation in the first place.”

“You...”

The discussion quickly became chaotic.

Everyone expressed their own opinions.

Some suggested destroying the bridges around the city.

Others remained silent, their eyes constantly moving.

From their expressions alone, it was obvious that they were thinking of something selfish.

“City Lord.”

Kent suddenly spoke.

“How strong is the kobold leader?”

Everyone looked at him.

The City Lord frowned slightly.

“Level Five.”

His answer was cold and direct.

“Then... is the kobold leader different from ordinary kobolds?”

“Of course.”

The City Lord looked at Kent.

“The leader is much larger.”

“An ordinary kobold weighs only several dozen kilograms.”

“But their leader weighs more than one hundred kilograms.”

Kent nodded.

“And if the leader dies...”

“Will the kobolds continue attacking?”

The City Lord thought for a moment.

“No.”

“Once the kobold leader dies, the tribe will immediately enter a struggle for leadership.”

“However, this situation rarely happens.”

“The leader is always surrounded by large numbers of kobold warriors and mages.”

“Killing one is extremely difficult.”

Kent’s eyes suddenly brightened.

“I understand.”

“City Lord...”

“I have a way to kill the kobold leader.”

The moment those words left his mouth...

Everyone’s expression changed.

Some looked at him with disbelief.

Some showed obvious contempt.

Others looked at him with a trace of expectation.

The City Lord and Dex, however, looked at him strangely.

After all...

The surrounding people were all high-level professionals.

None of them had found a solution.

And now a Level-Two mage was saying that he could solve the problem?

Normally, such words would have been treated as arrogance.

A person making such a claim would have been thrown out immediately.

It was practically an insult to the strength and experience of everyone present.

But no one mocked Kent.

Because everyone still remembered...

This was the same person who had created the legendary bread tree.

“Cough.”

The City Lord waited for a moment.

Seeing that everyone remained silent, lost in thought, he finally cleared his throat.

“Then... tell us.”

“What is your method?”

However, his tone was cautious.

He was clearly not completely convinced.

Kent felt somewhat frustrated.

Originally, he had planned to create some suspense.

Perhaps he could make everyone realize the value of his idea first.

But apparently...

No one really believed him.

Feeling slightly annoyed, Kent answered reluctantly.

“I do have a method.”

“But I am worried that we may not have enough materials.”

The City Lord observed him carefully.

Kent did not look like someone making empty boasts.

So he immediately asked:

“What materials do you need?”

“Tell me.”

“Elemental magic crystal powder of every type.”

“Refined iron.”

“Obsidian powder.”

“And some ordinary beast leather.”

“Not magical beast leather.”

Everyone became curious.

Kent began explaining.

What he planned to create was a new type of weapon.

A modified version of the energy mine.

The original design was simple.

It used a metal spike placed between two different elemental crystal powders.

When activated, the spike would pierce the barrier separating the two energy sources.

Then the opposing elemental forces would collide.

The resulting energy reaction would create an explosion.

However, that design had a weakness.

It could be triggered too easily.

So Kent planned to add a new mechanism.

A pressure spring.

The metal spike would be covered by a spring structure.

If the pressure was not enough, the spike would not move.

The barrier between the elemental powders would remain intact.

Only when the pressure exceeded the preset limit would the spike break through.

Then...

The two opposing elemental energies would collide.

And the explosion would occur.

The reason Kent had confidence in this plan was simple.

The underground passages were narrow.

The difference in weight between ordinary kobold warriors and the kobold leader was enormous.

Normal kobolds weighed only several dozen kilograms.

But the leader weighed more than one hundred kilograms.

This created the perfect condition for his design.

A normal kobold could walk across safely.

But the moment the massive kobold leader stepped on the device...

The pressure would trigger the mechanism.

And the explosion would occur.

Kent looked at the gathered experts.

For the first time, he realized something.

The greatest advantage of an alchemist was not overwhelming strength.

It was finding a way to defeat enemies who seemed impossible to defeat.

The City Lord answered without hesitation.

“Magic crystals are not a problem.”

“We have plenty of them here.”

“Fire-element, water-element, and earth-element crystals are the most common.”

“As for refined iron...”

“There is iron everywhere around the lava regions.”

Kent’s eyes immediately brightened.

“Then I also need skilled blacksmiths.”

“The more, the better.”

Kent was extremely excited.

On the surface, magical crystals were extremely rare resources.

But in the Underdark...

He suspected they were far more abundant.

There were several reasons.

First, the underground environment was naturally more suitable for the formation of such resources.

Second, the population here was much smaller.

On the surface, magical crystals had always been in short supply.

The number of mages was constantly increasing, which pushed the price of magical materials higher and higher.

Demand had always exceeded supply.

But the situation in the Underdark was completely different.

The total population was much smaller.

There were fewer mages.

As a result, the supply of magical crystals exceeded demand.

Many resources that were precious on the surface had become ordinary materials here.

The people around Kent became curious.

What exactly could he create?

Magic crystal powder?

That was something almost everywhere underground.

Refined iron?

You could probably pick up an ordinary stone near the lava fields and find traces of iron ore.

Everyone wondered why Kent seemed so confident.

Finally, the City Lord asked directly.

“Kent...”

“What exactly are you trying to create?”

The meaning behind his words was obvious.

Everyone wanted an answer.

“I apologize, Your Excellency.”

“But there is still one important issue I have not solved.”

Kent shook his head.

“I need some more time.”

“Once the weapon prototype is completed, I will show everyone.”

The truth was that Kent had not yet calculated the exact pressure limit of the spring mechanism.

This was a complicated problem.

The hardness and flexibility of refined iron mattered.

Different batches of metal had different properties.

A single batch of refined iron was not identical in every piece.

And the metal processing technology of this world was still far behind Earth’s industrial standards.

So for Kent...

This was not an easy task.

The City Lord nearly lost his temper after hearing that.

He had placed great hope in Kent.

Everyone else around him, however, was smiling.

Clearly, they found Kent’s answer amusing.

One Level-Eight Magic Archer even laughed.

“Little Kent...”

“Perhaps you should just go home.”

“Your level is simply too low.”

Kent rolled his eyes at the dark elf.

This female dark elf had an impressive figure.

Her beautiful face was hidden behind a metallic mask.

According to legend, that mask was an ultimate alchemy creation.

It could conceal the wearer’s aura and greatly increase perception.

It was a unique piece of equipment used by Magic Archers.

Among dark elves, Magic Archers were extremely rare.

In the entire Muan City, only two people possessed such masks.

And both were female.

Her words were not entirely unreasonable.

An Level-Eight professional speaking this way to a Level-Two mage could even be considered polite.

But Kent was accustomed to the relatively equal social relationships of Earth.

Hearing someone casually dismiss him because of his level immediately irritated him.

So he answered coldly.

“With your ability?”

“How about we compare?”

“Let’s see who can kill more kobolds.”

The dark elf smiled.

“Fine.”

“If you lose...”

“Hand over the bread tree.”

“How about that?”

“By the way, my name is Darkya.”

She spoke confidently.

The reason was obvious.

Kent owned thirty percent of the bread tree.

And that thirty percent represented an unimaginable fortune.

Mithril.

Adamantine.

Countless treasures.

The dark elves had been thinking about that share from the very beginning.

However, they had no choice.

There was only one bread tree seed.

And the Water of Life...

Although precious, was still available.

The moment Kent heard her words, his expression changed.

She actually wanted the bread tree?

Did she really understand what that three percent—or rather, that thirty percent—represented?

How much mithril?

How much adamantine?

And she thought an ordinary bet was enough?

Kent looked at her sarcastically.

“What do you have that is worth the same as the bread tree?”

“Your strength as an Level-Eight Magic Archer?”

Darkya’s expression immediately changed.

“You don’t know what’s good for you.”

“A Level-Two mage?”

“An almost useless existence?”

“You really think you can defeat me?”

She was angry.

Because Kent’s words had hit the truth.

No one understood the value of the bread tree better than the dark elves.

But knowing the truth did not mean they wanted to hear someone say it aloud.

Kent was no longer angry.

Instead, he smiled faintly.

“Fine.”

“I’ll be generous.”

“I’ll use the bread tree as the wager.”

“If I lose, I will give it to you according to your terms.”

“But if I win...”

His eyes narrowed.

“You will become my servant.”

“You will listen to my orders.”

“Whatever I ask you to do...”

“You will do it.”

“How about that?”

“Fine.”

“I accept.”

Darkya looked at Kent coldly.

“Let me see what ability a mere Level-Two mage like you actually has.”

She was clearly angry.

The reason was obvious.

When Kent mentioned making her his servant, his eyes had repeatedly wandered over her.

It was impossible not to misunderstand his intentions.

For dark elves, relationships with outsiders were strictly forbidden.

So in Darkya’s opinion...

This human was clearly not thinking about anything proper.

The moment Kent heard that she agreed, he immediately turned around and left.

There was no time to waste.

Even if the City Lord did not send people to help him, he still had Kobi and Hark’s brothers.

That was enough.

As he passed by Darkya, Kent suddenly lowered his voice.

“Beautiful lady...”

“Prepare yourself.”

“And make sure you wash yourself properly.”

“Wash very carefully.”

Then he walked away without looking back.

Darkya was stunned.

At first, she did not understand what he meant.

Wash myself?

I wash every day.

Then suddenly...

She understood.

Her expression changed instantly.

“Kent!”

She almost rushed after him.

But after taking two steps, she stopped.

If she went to confront him...

What would she say?

How could she explain it?

In the end, she could only stand there angrily and curse him silently in her heart.

Kent walked away while thinking carefully.

The most important thing now was simple.

He needed Kobi and the others to manufacture the components of the energy mines.

As for himself...

He had to calculate the diameter and strength of the springs.

He had not gone far when Dex and Tanis arrived.

Kent only smiled at them.

There was no time for unnecessary conversation.

He returned directly to the alchemy laboratory.

The metal components of the mines were handed over to Dex and Tanis.

The task of processing animal hides into glue was given to Kobi.

The job of grinding obsidian into powder was assigned to Hark’s three brothers.

For them, it was also a form of training.

As for Kent...

He personally entered the workshop.

The most important part of the entire weapon was the spring.

He needed to test the toughness and strength of refined iron.

Then he would personally create the springs using the magic furnace.

After all...

Every batch of refined iron was different.

The quality, hardness, and flexibility could not be perfectly controlled with the current technology of this world.

The spring mechanism was the core of the entire design.

A small mistake could ruin everything.

Three days later...

Kent finally completed one thousand springs.

The reason he could not make more was simple.

The fire-element magic crystals used to power the magic furnace had been completely exhausted.

During those three days, Darkya had also collected more than five hundred special arrows used by Magic Archers.

And the components forged by Dex and Tanis had already reached one thousand pieces a day earlier.

Everyone looked strangely at the materials in front of them.

There were hundreds of strange iron objects that looked almost like small bottles.

There were also iron spikes with caps on top.

A pile of obsidian powder.

And a large container of prepared leather glue.

No one understood what these things were supposed to become.

Darkya had been watching Kent’s work the entire time.

In the end, she was disappointed.

Everything looked like a pile of worthless materials randomly assembled together.

Her own Magic Archer arrows were completely different.

Each arrow contained mithril-inscribed formations.

The five hundred arrows alone had consumed nearly two kilograms of mithril.

That amount of mithril was already an astonishing fortune.

But Kent...

The magic crystal powder he used came from the smallest magical crystals.

The cheapest kind.

The animal leather?

Ordinary leather.

The obsidian?

To the people of the Underdark, it was almost as common as ordinary stone.

From Darkya’s perspective...

Kent’s so-called weapon was nothing more than a collection of cheap materials.

As time passed, more and more people learned the true situation.

Nearly six hundred thousand kobolds had surrounded Muan City.

Among them were countless powerful kobold warriors.

And a massive number of kobold mages.

According to the latest information...

The kobolds would launch their full-scale assault in two days.

The entire area around Muan City became a scene of frantic preparation.

Everyone was moving.

Everyone was working.

The first step was reinforcing the underground passages.

Walls were built.

Defensive positions were constructed.

The narrow tunnels were transformed into fortifications.

The final battle was approaching.

And no one knew...

Whether Muan City would still exist after it began.