This Lich Requests More Remuneration
Chapter 563 - 502: He’s a Genius at Making Money

Chapter 563: Chapter 502: He’s a Genius at Making Money

In the Royal Palace of Ryan, Ange Watson once again came to this desolate place alone.

He wasn’t sure if it was an illusion, but he always felt that each time he visited the palace, it seemed colder than before.

Though it should be a place bathed in Holy Light, the warmth of the morning could not be felt.

"It must be because there have been too many deaths in the Imperial Family,"

Ange Watson comforted himself, thinking that even though the bodies had all been dealt with, rumors about the impurity of the palace persisted. With so many deaths, even the Holy Light couldn’t dispel all the grievances at once.

However, Ange Watson thought this was a good thing.

For years, the emperors of Laine had been mere puppet breeders, but now, at last, there was a true Emperor, and the Laine that he ruled was slowly recovering from its crisis of division.

Ange Watson was also confident that given more time, Laine would return to its most glorious days.

Entering the empty hall, the young emperor still sat alone on the throne, appearing somewhat lonely. When he saw Ange Watson arrive, the emperor put down the thick ancient book he held in his hand.

Ange Watson couldn’t help but glance at the cover only to see the title, "Prophet Mage Introduction."

Your Majesty is reading such magical literature now?

The young emperor didn’t conceal anything, casually placing the book down before eagerly saying, "Ange, you’re finally back. How’s the situation on the island?"

Ange Watson hurriedly reported.

"Your Majesty, the construction of various facilities on the island has begun, and I estimate it will be complete within a month. That Lich has deliberately chosen to hold the meeting two months later, which I believe indicates he has ulterior motives.

"I’ve detected traces of a large Magic Array on the island, but I have been unable to identify the specific type. When I asked the Lich, he claimed it was for defensive purposes during the meeting to prevent conflict. However, I am certain it’s not as simple as he says."

The young emperor chuckled.

"How could that Lich be simple? I’m not surprised by such tactics at all, but what I’m more interested in is something else. Ange, I’ve heard that the Lich has recently been holding an auction on that island, what’s the situation there?"

On hearing the emperor’s question, Ange Watson grew even more excited.

"Your Majesty, the auction was truly extravagant, with billions of Gold Coins going into his pocket. I had no idea that he really captured all the overseas Giant Dragons, making those Advanced Magical Equipment highly coveted. The Lich is doing it on purpose, he wants to increase the pressure on us."

Ange Watson was a man with much experience, and those pieces of Advanced Magical Equipment being sent to the Orc side would significantly enhance the combat power of Orc Legendary warriors. Especially that "Crimson Wedding," a Two-Handed Axe crafted specifically for Orcs—if it fell into the hands of the Orc King, Ange Watson would genuinely worry whether he could defend the city.

The Silvermoon Knight alone could once dictate the outcome of wars. Although the Orc King wasn’t as formidable as the Silvermoon Knight, with that axe, he could reach a level of destructive power close to that of the Silvermoon Knight.

The young emperor didn’t seem to mind that and only asked with a smile, "Tell me the truth, how much did you spend? I recall authorizing a budget of fifty million Gold Coins for you before you left."

Ange Watson bashfully lowered his head and said softly, "Your Majesty... about those fifty million Gold Coins..."

"You spent it all?"

Ange Watson nodded but seemed to have something difficult to express.

The young emperor suddenly asked in surprise, "It wasn’t enough?"

Ange Watson knelt down, apologizing sincerely, "Don’t worry, Your Majesty. I borrowed forty million Gold Coins from the Lich in the name of the Watson family without touching the wealth of Laine. It was to prevent the Orcs from obtaining that batch of Magic Equipment,"

The young emperor’s hands trembled, for the entire Laine Empire, this sum was no trifle. Although Laine had been waging wars and incurred many unnecessary losses which affected its economy, people weren’t going without food. However, spending over a hundred million in just a few days was genuinely upsetting.

The notion of borrowing in the name of the Watson family was nonsensical, for James Watson couldn’t sell himself for that much money. Ultimately, the Laine Empire would have to cover the debt; otherwise, the Lich would dare to swallow the previous deposits and still sell the equipment to the Orcs.

The young emperor massaged his temples, grateful that it was only a matter of spending money to solve the problem and fearful of anything else.

And just as this thought arose, Ange Watson spoke up, "Your Majesty, there’s a minor episode related to Laine."

The young emperor’s fingers trembled with apprehension. Isn’t this enough?

"Ange, just say everything you have to say at once."

After a moment’s hesitation, Ange Watson said, "It’s like this, Your Majesty. There was a damned Love Vampire on the island, signing copies of his work, with content that’s quite indecent."

"Signing copies?"

The young emperor was puzzled—though it was strange for a Vampire to sell books, how did this relate to Laine?

Wait, a Dwarf Vampire? That sounded very odd.

"Your Majesty, that damned Vampire was selling... a forbidden novel about fantasizing over the Laine Imperial Family, and he was loudly peddling it in front of everyone. I had no choice but to spend the money to buy all his books."

The Young Emperor closed his eyes in despair; it was such a waste of money. What did the chaos within the Royal Family of Laine have to do with him? However, he couldn’t say this out loud, and surely Ange Watson couldn’t ignore the issue either.

"Let it go, don’t mind such slander." The Young Emperor changed the subject, "Did all the Kingdoms bleed money at the auction, or was it just us who spent a lot?"

Ange Watson sighed in relief, it seemed the Emperor wasn’t dwelling on the issue of him spending money carelessly.

"Your Majesty, it wasn’t just us. Even the Druids from the Emerald Dream Forest took a loss, and they were forced to."

The Young Emperor was stunned for a moment. Weren’t the other Kingdoms invited by the Lich to support him? Why would he trick his guests?

"What happened, what did that Lich do?"

Ange Watson explained, "The Lich found many special species overseas, like Deep Sea Cannibal Fish, Evil Vultur es, and Highly Poisonous Plants. He said he wanted to transplant them to the continent, planning to sell them to the Dwarf Kingdom’s Alchemist Association for research. The members of the Alchemist Association immediately expressed their desire to domesticate these species. The Druids panicked then.

"The Emerald Dream Forest doesn’t allow such destruction of the environment, so they had no choice but to pay a huge price to buy these foreign species and then release them back into the wild."

The Young Emperor could imagine the expressions on the faces of those Grand Druids— the Lich simply captured some overseas animals and plants at random, and the Alchemist Association must have been collaborating with him in a ploy. Such low-cost items had cost the Druids a significant amount of money... The Young Emperor couldn’t help but reflect, "He’s a genius at making money! I want to crack his skull open to study his Soul!"

After receiving a warning from that mysterious person, the Young Emperor also believed he had no essential conflict with the Lich. Isn’t he just looking to make money? With Laine’s help, he could only make more.

It was time to have a good talk with the Lich, and perhaps it was a good choice to invite him to Laine for a chat in advance. Laine could definitely offer a tempting deal.

While thinking about how many days in advance to meet the Lich, Ange Watson reported again, "Your Majesty, please take a look at this, our Magic Mirror has been successfully developed."

Ange Watson presented two palm-sized metal mirrors.

The Young Emperor hastened to take one of them and quickly found the familiar operation button. Once turned on, the two Magic Mirrors began to transmit images.

The voice and the images were in sync; there was no lag or blur.

The Young Emperor excitedly said, "It’s identical!"

Ange Watson also said with excitement, "Yes, it is the same in terms of functionality."

The Young Emperor caressed the two mirrors and asked, "Has its security and confidentiality been tested?"

"According to the tests, whether it’s the Lich’s Magic Mirrors or those manufactured by the Alchemist Association, they cannot be connected to each other. They are also not affected by remote control, so theoretically, they cannot be detected or manipulated from afar."

This was the new type of Magic Mirror that the skilled craftsmen of Laine had spent a lot of time and effort researching. They had dismantled three mirrors to explore their workings and even sent spies discreetly to the Alchemist Association to steal the Magic Mirror manufacturing technology.

War brought out the mighty force of Laine, and these once-overlooked Alchemists finally had a breakthrough under the care of the Holy Light, mastering the manufacturing method of the Magic Mirror completely.

The device was so ingenious yet so simple.

From then on, Laine no longer had to worry about the Lich turning off all rights to use the Magic Mirrors. These were Magic Mirrors that belonged entirely to Laine.

"Your Majesty, I’ve kept some of the delegation members on the island in the name of safety supervision. We can contact them anytime using this."

"Good job, let me try it."

The Young Emperor turned on the remote communication, and soon a person from Laine appeared on the mirror. As the person was about to kneel in salute, the Young Emperor said, "Don’t move around, keep quiet, take the Magic Mirror and walk around the island. I want to have a look at the traces of the Magic Array on the island."

Those entrusted by Ange Watson were no ordinary people. They instantly understood the Emperor’s intentions.

A sheer veil covered the mirror, making the images somewhat hazy, yet still clear enough to see if one looked closely.

As the view shifted, the Young Emperor saw everything along the way.

There were construction sites bustling with people, grand exhibition stands, and Magic Arrays spread throughout the small island.

The Young Emperor watched for a while, then frowned.

Why did the patterns of this Magic Array look so odd? They didn’t seem like present-day spell structures, but rather like some kind of ancient magic.

Typically, spell structures are constantly optimized; the same magical effects would definitely be more efficient and better with modern spells, only "Forbidden Techniques" that were banned from research for various reasons would remain unchanged because no one improved them.

What was this Magic Array? The Young Emperor faintly felt that he had seen it somewhere before.

Maybe he could find some clues in the book collection of the Ryan Royalty?