Chapter 282 - 276: Unlocked Precious Resources
Chapter 282: Chapter 276: Unlocked Precious Resources
Allen’s brow was furrowed as he stared at the crystalline remains scattering across the wasteland.
The path of that Lion-Eagle Winged Beast’s surprise attack had been too precise. It had completely ignored the outer positions and decoys, heading straight for the Magma Lake Workshop. ’It must have been a Black Wizard’s will controlling it from behind the scenes.’
But there was no way to verify that now.
"Flame Fiends, increase patrols around the Magma Lake Workshop," Allen ordered.
[Command confirmed.]
The Flame Fiends couldn’t fly, making them helpless against Flying Magical Beasts, and the Freedom Gundam squadron was now down to just seven units.
Two were guarding the main workshop, while five were out on patrol, taking down the tougher targets.
Moreover, there was currently no spare production capacity or time to replace their losses. The formation of the Sixth Legion had already taken up all available resources.
’The situation is looking dire.’
Just then, Jarvis suddenly received a top-priority communication.
[Fortress-wide broadcast signal received. Sender: Mercer Iron Star.]
The projection on the sand table automatically switched.
It was no longer a local map of Zone 18; a full view of the entire Molten Iron Mountain Range plane appeared.
The colors red, orange, and yellow intertwined on the sand table.
The western front was marked yellow, meaning the pressure was still within a manageable range.
Large areas of the eastern and northern fronts were marked orange, indicating that the defensive lines were under high-intensity assault and that fierce battles were underway.
On the southern defensive zone, two blood-red skull icons were starkly displayed.
"This is a status report on the entire theater of war." Master Mercer did not appear; his voice echoed through the empty room.
"The Morning Star-level target on the western front, the ’Rock Armor Earth Dragon Emperor,’ has been eliminated. This is the only good news for now."
Mercer paused for a moment.
"My Celestial Vault Weapon Platform was exposed after the attack. The enemy’s reaction speed exceeded our estimates. Abyssal black fog has appeared in the skies above the Morning Star-level Magical Beasts on the other three fronts. This fog has extremely strong energy absorption and dissipation properties. Our aerial strike capabilities have been nullified."
Allen was astonished. ’The Son of the Abyss’s response is too fast.’
’The Master’s space-based weapon could instantly kill a Morning Star-level Magical Beast, yet the enemy came up with a countermeasure in such a short time.’
’This isn’t just a contest of strength, but a battle of strategic wits. It seems the Master has one less ace up his sleeve.’
"The southern defensive line has been breached."
Mercer’s voice continued, "The Iron Star Seventh Legion suffered heavy losses in an interception battle. The fortress has already dispatched the Iron Star Second Legion to plug the gap on the southern front. But before the Second Legion could arrive, the workshops in Zones 12 and 13 on the southern front were destroyed directly by Morning Star-level Magical Beasts. The stationed Wizards are confirmed killed in action."
Killed in action.
Two Alchemy Wizards, along with their territories, had been wiped from existence by the beast tide’s assault.
Allen stared at the two red skulls on the sand table.
The collapse of the southern front meant the fortress’s support forces were tied down, and the orange areas on the eastern and northern fronts were continuously expanding.
The situation was deteriorating at a visible rate.
"I have already purged the enemies who infiltrated the fortress, but the enemy keeps raising the stakes. The war has entered its second phase."
Mercer’s tone shifted to one of cold decisiveness. "The fortress will now open the military supply depot and the rare resource exchange."
"There are no merit-point restrictions, no prerequisites. All participating Wizards can use Magic Stones for direct purchases."
"Survive. That is your only mission."
The communication cut off.
Immediately following, two data lists were received.
Allen first opened the [Fortress Military Supply Depot].
A dense list of materials scrolled down like a waterfall: high-quality Mithril, Astral Gold, rare coatings... all of them high-grade materials rarely seen on the market.
They were even marked with a special wartime discount of 30% off, but unfortunately, he could only use a very small fraction of them.
"Jarvis, search for the high-grade materials needed to build a Freedom Gundam."
[Search complete. The depot has sufficient stock.]
Allen glanced at the price. ’It really is cheap.’
But he could only close the interface.
Large Golems couldn’t be built in a short time. The workshop’s production lines were already overloaded, and with Golems in short supply on the front lines, the production of conventional Golems could not be halted.
Buying these materials now would only tie up precious funds without any immediate conversion into combat power.
He took a deep breath and opened the [Rare Resource Exchange].
’This is the real treasure trove.’
"Jarvis, perform a global search. Sort by price, high to low."
[Command confirmed. 2,117 items found.]
The very first item at the top of the list completely shattered Allen’s perception of things.
[Demi-plane Fragment ×12. Price range: 30 million to 150 million Magic Stones.]
Allen’s breath caught for a moment.
’So expensive!’
’Demi-plane fragments!’
That was a strategic resource used to construct Wizard Towers and establish personal dimensions. Even Second-level Wizards would fight to the death over something like this.
He glanced at his account balance.
He had less than 20 million right now.
Even if he liquidated all his assets, he couldn’t afford even the cheapest fragment.
He continued to scroll down.
[High-Grade Pure Soul (Suitable for crafting advanced Control Cores). Price: 8 million Magic Stones.]
[Eternal Alloy Smelting Formula. Price: 4.5 million Magic Stones.]
[’Destroyer’ Golem Blueprints (Specialized against Elemental Creatures). Price: 12 million Magic Stones.]
Ninety percent of the items were beyond his financial means, and also beyond his current ability to use them.
"Filter again." Allen quickly adjusted his thinking. "Condition one: price under two million Magic Stones. Condition two: can be immediately converted into current combat power or survivability. Condition three: helpful for breaking through the bottleneck to become a Second-level Wizard."
The massive list instantly shrank, leaving only a dozen or so items.
Allen’s gaze swept over them quickly. He finally locked onto two of them.
The first item.
[Spring of the Astral World.]
[Effect: Comprehensively increases total Spiritual Power. For one month after consumption, Meditation efficiency is increased by 300%.]
[Price: 750,000 Magic Stones per serving.]
Allen’s eyes lit up.
Master Mercer had offered this item at the internal trade fair he hosted last time. Back then, Allen didn’t have any wondrous items of equivalent value to trade for it.
Now it was in the exchange, with a clearly marked price.
’A 300% increase in Meditation efficiency. Lasting for one month.’
Allen quickly ran a model in his head.
"Jarvis, import the data for the Spring of the Astral World into my Meditation progress model."
[Calculating.]
[With the boost from the Deep Sea Echo Conch, the time required to inscribe the remaining fourteen Runes on the fifth Core Matrix will be reduced from eight months to two months and ten days.]
That timeline cut it right to the edge of Zone 18’s maximum stress limit.
As long as he could advance to Second-level Wizard before the defensive line collapsed, he would unlock the Golem projection spell. The entire war situation could be turned around.
’Buy it.’
’I have to buy it.’
Allen added it to his cart.
He looked at the second item.
[Wailing Wall Protective Talisman.]
[Effect: Passive trigger. Can block a single-target magical attack or physical strike of the Second-level Wizard class.]
[Price: 1.7 million Magic Stones.]
’A life-saving artifact.’
A Black Wizard’s attack could come at any moment; the Second-level Wizards who had been killed were a grim warning. Allen was confident in his own firepower, but his physical body was still his weak point.
’This 1.7 million Magic Stones was buying a life.’
He added it to the cart.
The two items totaled 2.45 million Low-Level Magic Stones.
Allen paid directly.
[Supplies will be sent via Teleportation Array and are expected to arrive at the Zone 18 receiving point in half an hour.]
Having spent over two million, Allen’s heart settled considerably.
With these two items, he now had a glimmer of hope for breaking the stalemate in this meat-grinder of a Plane War.
Allen stood up, ready to head to the receiving point to wait for his supplies.
Just then, the communication channel chimed again.
[Private communication request received. Sender: Victor Iron Flame.]