Inside the royal palace of Narona City, capital of the Fein Deluo Principality.
A blue-haired, green-eyed man with a hooked nose and a bear-like build sat in the seat of honor, his gaze filled with icy majesty. This blue-haired, green-eyed man was the current Grand Duke Fein Deluo.
This generation's Grand Duke Fein Deluo was one of the most outstanding grand dukes in the history of the Fein Deluo Principality. Under his leadership, the entire principality had flourished, becoming several times more prosperous than before.
Under Grand Duke Fein Deluo's gaze, the ministers below all felt uneasy, their hearts trembling with fear. Grand Duke Fein Deluo was clear in his rewards and punishments. His rewards were always lavish, but his punishments were also unbearably severe.
Grand Duke Fein Deluo spoke in a deep voice, enunciating every word: "I want to know the origins of Steel Lord Yang Ye!"
All the ministers present lowered their heads, not daring to meet Grand Duke Fein Deluo's eyes. Yang Feng had only emerged less than half a year ago, and none of these ministers had previously paid attention to a remote corner like Red Leaf Town. No one had imagined that in less than three months, even Black City would fall.
Grand Duke Fein Deluo's gaze swept around before settling on a middle-aged man whose hair had already begun to turn gray. That middle-aged man was Achilles, the Minister of Defense of the Fein Deluo Principality.
Achilles said slowly, "Your Majesty, according to our intelligence, Zhao Jiang of Red Leaf Town suddenly seized Black Rock Town more than two months ago. The force under his command was Steel Lord Yang Ye's Mechanical Puppet Legion. Immediately afterward, Giant Stone City sent troops to suppress the rebels, only to be defeated by Steel Lord Yang Ye's Mechanical Puppet Legion. Then Steel Lord Yang Ye's Mechanical Puppet Legion launched another surprise attack on Black City and killed Master Boni. According to my conjecture, Zhao Jiang may have obtained the ruins of the Sixth Dynasty and acquired the Sixth Dynasty's Mechanical Puppet Legion."
"The Sixth Dynasty!"
"Those Mechanical Puppet Legions were products of the Sixth Dynasty?"
"The Sixth Dynasty's Mechanical Puppet Legion was a terrifying existence capable of slaughtering gods! If that truly is the Sixth Dynasty's Mechanical Puppet Legion, how could we possibly stop them?"
"..."
At the mention of the Sixth Dynasty, every minister's face instantly turned deathly pale, and they began discussing it among themselves.
Among the eight great Warlock Dynasties, the Second Warlock Dynasty had been a dynasty filled with all manner of forbidden experiments. The Sixth Dynasty, meanwhile, had been a dynasty devoted to refining all kinds of secret treasures. The Sixth Dynasty was also known as the Secret Treasure Dynasty. Mechanical Puppets were powerful combat weapons developed by the Secret Treasure Dynasty. During the Sixth Dynasty, its Mechanical Puppet Legion had campaigned across countless planes, directly conquering many of them and slaughtering an unknown number of gods and demons from those planes.
The Sixth Dynasty's greatest masterpiece, the Mechanical Puppet King Arcant, had been one of the strongest beings in combat. Later, for some unknown reason, tempted by demons, Arcant led one-third of the Mechanical Puppet Legion under his command in rebellion against the Sixth Dynasty, ultimately bringing about the dynasty's destruction.
After the Sixth Dynasty's destruction, Arcant drifted to a powerful Prime Material Plane, seized it, and became its ruler. That Prime Material Plane was now called the Plane of Machine and an Apple. It was also one of the strongest and most terrifying planes known to humanity.
Many demons and gods had gone to the Plane of Machine and an Apple, intending to hunt down the legendary Arcant, whose strength was said to have greatly declined. Yet every powerful being from other planes who entered that plane became a specimen, hung before the Gate of Machines. As time passed, no powerful being dared venture into the Plane of Machine and an Apple again.
The Sixth Dynasty's Mechanical Puppet Legion was just that savage and powerful. If even a single soldier-grade puppet from the Sixth Dynasty's strongest Mechanical Puppet Legion had been sent to the Durando Subcontinent back then, it could have swept across the entire Durando Subcontinent with no one able to oppose it.
Achilles said in a grave voice, "There is no need for everyone to panic. Even if he obtained the Sixth Dynasty's Mechanical Puppet Legion, that legion no longer possesses much power. According to the intelligence we have obtained, those Mechanical Puppets currently possess only Knight-level combat strength. Moreover, most are melee-type Mechanical Puppets. They should be defective products; otherwise, he would not have obtained them so easily. As long as we deploy the Blood Bat Battle Knight Order, we can easily annihilate them."
"The Blood Bat Battle Knight Order! If it's them, they should be able to wipe out those Mechanical Puppets!"
"If they're only Knight-level puppets, there is nothing to worry about at all!"
"They're all antiques from hundreds of thousands of years ago! They shouldn't have much strength left."
"..."
Only then did the ministers of the Fein Deluo Principality look somewhat better, continually consoling themselves. If it had been the Sixth Dynasty's elite Mechanical Puppet Legion, capable of slaughtering demons and killing gods, they would have been utterly powerless to resist. But against a few defective products, they still had confidence that they could put up some resistance.
Grand Duke Fein Deluo said slowly, "Serpent Demon Eye and White Bear Tooth have also agreed to ally with us and destroy Yang Ye together. I need authorization from the council to mobilize 100,000 Magic Stones as military expenditure."
Magic Stones were energy crystals possessing mysterious power. A standard Magic Stone was roughly the size of an adult's index-finger knuckle in diameter. These treasures were used in alchemy, puppet studies, and various rituals. Magic Stones were also a unit of measurement in the Warlock World. One Magic Stone was worth around 100 Gold Coins, equivalent to 200,000 Copper Coins. One hundred thousand Magic Stones thus amounted to 10 million Gold Coins, or 2 billion Copper Coins. Even Grand Duke Fein Deluo required the council's authorization to mobilize such an enormous sum.
"Agreed!"
"Your Majesty, I will certainly do everything in my power to ensure this proposal passes in the Upper Council!"
"..."
The ministers all voiced their support.
One day later, the Upper Council of Fein Deluo convened in secret and swiftly passed the proposal to mobilize 100,000 Magic Stones.
Three days later.
The Blood Dragon Mountain Range was a vast range roughly a hundred kilometers north of the Fein Deluo Capital, blanketed by endless forests. The Blood Dragon Mountain Range belonged entirely to the Fein Deluo Family. Apart from those recognized by the Fein Deluo Family, anyone who entered the Blood Dragon Mountain Range would be executed on the spot.
The Blood Dragon Mountain Range was exceedingly rich in resources, bringing immense wealth to the Fein Deluo Family every year.
Deep within the Blood Dragon Mountain Range, in a valley encircled by mountain peaks hundreds of meters tall, caves of every size covered the landscape. From time to time, enormous bats with wingspans reaching ten meters flew out of those caves, their entire bodies as red as though drenched in blood, sharp fangs protruding from their mouths.
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