Chapter 2100: Path to Rank Six Mechanic

Sein spent a total of five years in Steel City.

During that time, he held dozens of discussions with several Rank Four mechanics about the modifications to his space fortresses.

Naturally, those discussions also involved the blueprints Sein had drawn up and some of his ideas for the combined fortress.

At first, the mechanics of Steel City were skeptical that Sein could actually control something so massive.

Their doubts quickly faded, however, when Sein showed them recordings of his battles in the Divine Descendants Star Domain and demonstrated the true nature of his mechanical fusion with Fermera, the eight-winged angel.

The Steel City mechanics were stunned.

The magnificent and mysterious law energy revealed by the Magic Cube during the demonstration naturally did not escape the eyes of these highly accomplished mechanics.

The Rank Four mechanics were certainly envious that Sein possessed a world-class secret treasure.

More importantly, though, their interest in his combined fortress experiment quickly grew.

Their willingness to participate in such a project during the ongoing Clash of Civilizations was not simply because of the magicoins Sein was offering.

Taking part in such an advanced experiment would also benefit their own research immensely.

Since Sein had already signed several substantial contracts with Steel City, his cooperation with these law-wielding mechanics went remarkably smoothly.

Aside from Babbage, Sein also became quite familiar with several of the Rank Four mechanics involved in his project.

As a result, Steel City offered him some of its most favorable rates.

By the final estimate, Sein would be able to save roughly ten percent of his total expenses there.

Milena also benefited from accompanying Sein on this trip.

Through Sein’s introduction, Master Babbage recommended a Wind God-series space fortress to the Rank Five Moon Tiger.

Although this particular model was not widely sold throughout Magus World, it was actually one of the most commonly ordered war platforms in the Grand Elven World, one of the Magus Alliance’s large-sized member planes.

Even the exterior design of this series’ fortresses had undergone numerous revisions over the years to better suit the elves’ preferences.

Those elves were simply too particular, especially when it came to aesthetics.

Steel City had always favored a rugged style, placing far more emphasis on practicality and durability than appearance. Because of that, meeting the elves’ particular demands had been quite a challenge at first.

A space fortress capable of satisfying the elves would naturally be more than enough for Milena.

Besides, when Milena eventually took her fortress onto the battlefield, she would most likely need the assistance of elves to operate it anyway.

“I’ve seen this series of space fortresses before while fighting on the front lines of the Clash of Civilizations,” Milena said. “But if I remember correctly, they were usually used by Rank Six elven deities.”

Babbage nodded. “Space fortresses exported to members of the Magus Alliance naturally cost two or three times more than what Magus World powerhouses would pay. Besides, the Wind God series isn’t some obsolete model we’re trying to get rid of. Strictly speaking, it wasn’t even supposed to be exported to the Magus Alliance.”

“With the Clash of Civilizations becoming increasingly intense, and considering the close ties between our Magus World and several major alliance planes such as the Grand Elven World, some of those restrictions have gradually been relaxed. Under Lady Bev’s guidance, Steel City has also made many policy changes over the past ten thousand years.”

Babbage then turned to Milena with a smile.

“Come to think of it, Lady Milena, you’re one of the very few magic beast kings who have ever come to Steel City specifically to order a space fortress. If you know any other magic beast kings with similar needs, perhaps you could introduce them to us. I can offer all of you a discount.”

Thanks to Sein’s connections, Milena had already saved at least two or three million magicoins on her custom-built space fortress.

At the same time, Master Babbage seemed to have spotted a new business opportunity through her.

For years, the main customers purchasing space fortresses had always been the knights and mages of Magus World. In recent years, even the sea races had begun placing more orders.

Yet few seemed to have paid much attention to the sizable population of magic beast kings, leaving them a largely untapped market.

Steel City’s development had long lagged behind that of the Capiche Business Alliance.

Unlike the Capiche Business Alliance, Steel City had no way of controlling the economic lifeline of the Magus Alliance, much less that of the entire Magus Civilization.

If Steel City wanted to catch up, it had to look for opportunities elsewhere.

And the customer groups long overlooked by the Capiche Business Alliance were precisely the ones Steel City could target.

Combined with its lower production costs, this strategy had already allowed Steel City to claim a considerable share of the Magus Alliance market.

In response to Babbage’s goodwill, Milena, still in her human form, smiled.

“All right. If I come across any other magic beast kings who are interested, I’ll introduce them to you, Master.”

“Thank you,” Babbage replied with a nod.

***

After spending several years in Steel City and finalizing the modifications and arrangements for his space fortresses, Sein set off for the Capiche Business Alliance.

This time, Milena did not accompany him.

The period Milena had been granted to rest and recuperate in Magus World was extremely limited, nowhere near the several centuries Sein had been given.

Now that she had finalized the purchase of her space fortress, Milena planned to return to her magic beast forest to recover. It would not be long, however, before she had to return to the front lines.

Before they parted ways, Sein told Milena that he looked forward to fighting alongside her again when that time came.

As for Steel City, the mechanics there estimated that it would take at least another thirty years to complete all the modifications Sein had requested for his space fortresses.

And that was assuming everything went smoothly.

If they encountered experimental difficulties along the way, or if Sein came up with new modifications or decided to incorporate additional technical concepts, the project would inevitably take even longer.

In short, this was the kind of project that could burn through money at an alarming rate.

But for the path to Rank Six mechanics that Sein had discovered, every magicoin was worth spending!

When Sein eventually advanced to Rank Six, he would not only deepen his mastery of pyro elemental power and undergo the fundamental transformation that came with reaching Rank Six, but his accomplishments in mechanics would also rise to Rank Six.

At that point, with both paths reaching such heights, Sein would be far more powerful than an ordinary Rank Six mage.

As for just how powerful the gigantic form created by combining multiple space fortresses would actually be... Well, the sheer scale of the project and the complexity of the data involved made it impossible to calculate precisely for now.

In the end, the battlefield itself would probably provide the best answer.

Even Sein could not say for certain whether he would truly be capable of controlling such a massive cluster of space fortresses.

But that uncertainty was precisely what made the pursuit of truth so fascinating.

Whether he succeeded or failed, Sein was willing to try!

***

Sein arrived alone at the Capiche Business Alliance and soon met with the mages he had contacted in advance to discuss the modifications to his other two space fortresses.

Compared with the four being built in Steel City, the two Sein had commissioned from the Capiche Business Alliance had even stricter requirements in terms of performance and capabilities.

After all, these two fortresses would serve as the main hubs of Sein’s future fortress cluster and its gigantic mechanical form.

At the same time, they needed exceptional coordination capabilities to regulate the flow of energy and law power between themselves and the other four space fortresses.

Naturally, this made the manufacturing and modification requirements for these two fortresses considerably more complex.

And, of course, more expensive too.