Steampunk Era: Mad Abield
Chapter 360 - 243: I Have a Dream (2)

Chapter 360: Chapter 243: I Have a Dream (2)

Malin had a brief meeting in the side hall with the Archbishop of the Church of Justice and the hastily convened Archbishop of the Goddess of Harvest Church.

Having shared his thoughts with the two, the Archbishop of the Church of Justice naturally agreed. Given the favor Malin had received, he felt that even bestowing the title of Saint Heir wouldn’t be an exaggeration. After all, having lived so many years, he had never seen a record in the Church of any righteous individual possessing two World Tree Saplings.

Nevertheless, he ultimately abandoned the idea because of Malin’s identity as an apprentice of the Goddess of Harvest Church.

Meanwhile, the Archbishop of the Goddess of Harvest Church also had no objections to Malin’s ideas. On the contrary, he was quite intrigued by Malin’s concept for agricultural armor—considering an armor that only required arcane activation to perform a variety of strenuous tasks, including plowing, and without the possibility of injury to its mechanical body was immensely satisfying.

Thus, with no objections, Malin and the two Archbishops left the side room and headed towards another side hall designated as the conference room.

All the attendees were already seated on sofas and chairs, waiting for today’s host, Malin, to take the stage.

The two bishops took their seats on the side, while Malin went up to the small podium on one side and wrote the word "Cooperation" on the blackboard prepared by the Church.

"I believe you are all familiar with my philosophy, so I will not waste time with insincere pleasantries. Today I am here to discuss some matters regarding cooperation," Malin looked at everyone below the podium. The average age of these distinguished gentlemen and nobles was probably old enough to be Malin’s grandfathers.

Yet here they were today, each one representing their respective organizations, kingdoms, and races behind them.

"I understand cooperation, but how do we ensure it is not disturbed?" The master of the Dwarves’ workshop was the first to speak up, "I trust you, Mr. Malin, but not everyone here warrants the same trust as you, so what measures do you have in place to guarantee cooperation?"

"On that matter, I believe the Lord of Justice should be able to vouch for me," said Malin with a smile.

Some people looked surprised, some looked puzzled, and one or two individuals from unknown origins even scoffed at the suggestion.

But in the next second, everyone fell silent, looking at the side hall’s doors being pushed open with a mix of astonishment and fear.

A young man with an ordinary appearance and a plain smile, dressed in the most ordinary clothes, stood outside the door looking at Malin. The longsword in his hands was dripping with blood, and he was also holding the head of a Demon that appeared particularly fierce: "Next time you have me brought out, give me a heads-up so I can tell you to pick another time to call for me... However, considering that a child like you still trusts me, this head is yours now."

Having said that, the individual threw the head in front of Malin and turned to look at everyone present whether they were seated or standing, "Malin is not wrong. His opinions are my opinions, his ideas are my viewpoints, so the oaths you make today, I shall record them in full on the Supreme Monolith. Any betrayer, I will make them understand just how merciless and unyielding justice can be towards frauds."

After his speech, the individual walked through a portal and disappeared. Malin glanced at it, noting the scene on the other side of the portal seemed somewhat twisted, suggesting it was not a scene from this plane of existence.

As he thought this, Malin saw a very familiar-looking red-skinned gnome peeking out from the portal, waving at him with a grin, "We meet again, lovely child. I have high hopes for you. Should you one day find it difficult to get by in the mortal world, come and be my champion."

"Get inside. With your head out here, I have to expend so much effort to erase your influence," the young man reached out and dragged the gnome back through the portal, which then dissipated.

The Archbishop of the Lord of Justice was left wiping the beads of sweat off his forehead furiously, the gnome looked dumbfounded next to the half-human, the elves exchanged terrified glances among themselves, while Malin seemed to understand what lay opposite the portal—though only generally, as he truly couldn’t pinpoint which layer of Hell it was.

"I have no further objections," the Dwarf took a couple of breaths, then patted his chest, "Next time, please do not call for that Lord. His fondness for expeditions is quite... heart-stopping, to say the least."

"We elves absolutely trust you, so we also feel there is no need to summon him," the Elven ambassador was quite flustered, looking at Malin with a face that had narrowly escaped calamity, "If that individual had come out even halfway, it would have been an actual Evil God invasion."

The gnome and half-human unanimously declared that what Malin said was law here. Either a gnome or a half-human would follow Malin’s commands—any dissenters would be fought to the death.

Therefore, Malin looked toward Earl Roben, who gave Malin a wry smile, "The Sydney Union is willing to cooperate with everyone here, contributing a certain percentage of research funds and materials."

"Well then, it seems that no one should doubt the possibility of cooperation any longer," Malin nodded with a smile and then took out the document in his hand to start explaining in detail—firstly, workshops and organizations including those of the elves, dwarves, and half-humans would each contribute a certain number of craftsmen to join the research lab to be established in the capital of the Sydney Union.

These elite craftsmen would begin researching the armor, and all their written findings would be compiled and delivered on a weekly basis to everyone.

It was agreed to establish the research institute within the Sydney Union. Although the Dwarves were somewhat discontented, they eventually didn’t reject such a choice—partial to the fact that Malin had summoned both the Lord of Justice and that other individual, which was a decidedly better option than setting up on Eternal Night Island.

The gnome and half-human associations had no other choice, and they too were quite fond of this location—at least, the city was one of the few bustling metropolises in the Western Human World, with many fairies and dwarf goblins running shops here, making it indeed the most suitable place in terms of needed materials.

So everyone quickly reached an agreement on the location. However, when it came to deciding on personnel, it naturally became a focus of contention between the two sides, with every organization trying to get their people in. The situation was so tense that Malin thought they might start fighting right there and then. Eventually, Malin modified the architectural plans for the research institute, adding an extra floor above ground and two below, which finally met the basic requirements of all parties.

In the process, he even had to threaten a few people, like the one who, as long as Malin agreed, was willing to introduce his daughter to him ... the Dwarf workshop master.

Malin immediately refused.

What’s with you Dwarves anyway.