Black Dragon City's Explosive Growth

Rein had discussed Black Dragon City with Cavo when they were in Black Wind Territory, but since Cavo's stance was uncertain at the time, many strategic secrets were not discussed in detail.

Now there's no such concern.

Cavo agreed to join City of Radiance, becoming an ally on the same side.

The two chatted as they walked toward the inner city.

This is the biggest secret of Black Dragon City —the mechanical airship manufacturing workshop.

Cavo: "The alien race Beyond the Mist? The war that destroyed the Monkell Civilization?"

Yes, it's a long story.

Rein: "We have not only confirmed that there is Sixth-tier Extraordinary above the fifth rank, but I also have several sixth-rank Gene Potion brought from the outer world of the mist."

"A sixth-tier magic potion?!"

When Cavo heard this, an incredulous look appeared on his face.

Although he knew that Rein wouldn't say anything irrelevant, reason told him that it was unlikely.

For over a century, he has collected ancient historical materials from all over the world, solving one mystery after another. It can be said that there is no one in the world who understands ancient history better than him.

Nearly 100,000 years have passed since the fall of the Monkell Civilization, and the path to Transcendent has been severed. Although he deduced that there were higher paths beyond the Fifth-tier Extraordinary, he had already touched upon a higher level of power.

Is a finished "Tier 6 Magic Potion" possible?

This was something that Master Cavo never expected.

In the instant he was stunned, Rein had already handed him a potion.

Master Cavo looked at the green potion with an extremely complex expression on his face.

After all, the Transcendent paths above the fifth rank have been cut off, and no one in this world has ever been heard of being able to refine a finished sixth-rank magic potion.

The source of the finished drug can only be from "Beyond the Mist"!

At this moment, Rein added, "Aren't people curious about how Black Dragon City managed to build such a large city 'overnight'? Actually, the most important reason is that we found the ruins of a Mechanical City."

He paused, then gave Cavo a mysterious smile and asked, "Master Cavo, can you imagine that there are actually Mechanical City flying in the sky?"

"A flying Mechanical City?"

Before Cavo could even process the shock of the sixth-tier potion, a flying Mechanical City appeared.

He pondered for a moment and said, "If it's modern steam technology, we should be able to create flying Steam Machinery in a few decades. But for Mechanical City, that's probably difficult."

A place that can be named "city" must be a behemoth; making it take flight is no easy feat.

Before he could finish speaking, something suddenly occurred to him. Looking at the closed factory in front of him, he showed a shocked expression. "Could this be..."

Rein nodded, his words ringing out firmly. "Yes! We have discovered the ruins of a Flying Mechanical City!"

Just then, the two arrived at the entrance to the airship workshop. The steel gate, made of rivets and sheet metal, was protected by a magical barrier, preventing anyone from sensing what was inside.

At this moment, seeing Rein approaching, the High-tier Extraordinary being on guard opened a small door.

Rein gestured to Cavo beside him, saying, "Master Cavo, please come in."

Cavo had a vague feeling that he was about to see something that would redefine his understanding of the world. He slowly exhaled and followed Rein inside.

"This"

He had prepared himself to be shocked, but when Cavo saw the enormous machine in the workshop, even this legendary mage, hailed as the most learned man of his time, still showed an unprecedented astonishment.

This was even more unexpected than seeing the Evil God's Will descend upon him!

Although the descent of the evil god was sudden, it was something within our understanding.

But the steel behemoth before him revealed a completely new world to him.

Without tracks, wheels, or any ground-based mobile equipment capable of levitation and shock absorption, this steel monster in front of us doesn't look like a typical Mechanical City at all.

Is it really a flying Mechanical City?

Cavo frowned.

He was overwhelmed by what he saw.

Inside the workshop, hundreds of mechanics were busy at work.

This is no ordinary machine shop. Every mechanic wears a Mechanical Skeleton equipped with various tools, allowing them to easily move steel parts weighing several tons or even tens of tons. Large, intricately designed Mechanical Arm and hoisting equipment are ubiquitous throughout the workshop.

This is a highly mechanized workshop, where the power of machinery is fully demonstrated.

Cavo was the one who built City of Radiance. Although he was a mage, he was very familiar with the construction process of the Mechanical City.

With just one glance, he knew that the technology in this workshop was at least twenty years ahead of its time.

"It's simply unbelievable!"

Cavo looked at everything before him, and Whitebeard twitched involuntarily.

For so many years, his state of mind had never fluctuated so violently.

It turns out that Black Dragon City has such a strong technological foundation!

This level of technology is even better than that of Omar, which is known as the "holy land of Steam Machinery". How did they manage to do it?

At that moment, Cavo's gaze fell upon the steel furnace emitting green flames, which was smelting a metal that looked quite unusual.

"Angelas Black Iron?"

With his vast knowledge, how could he not recognize this metal that required special alchemical methods to smelt?

But then I wondered if I had misread it.

After all, this extremely rare metal, which even he only had a fist-sized piece of, was actually everywhere here.

A random piece of iron at your feet could be the kind of divine blood black iron worth a million times more than gold?

"Yes," Rein said. "We discovered an Angelas Black Iron mine in the basin. So, we plan to use it to build the main armor of the Mechanical City."

"."

Upon hearing this, Cavo's eyebrow twitched violently.

Hearing this, one feels as if they're hearing someone say, "I plan to use gemstones to pave a road connecting the capitals of the two great empires."

It gives off the feeling of being incredibly wealthy!

Based on the current market price of [Angelas Black Iron], the amount consumed by this steel behemoth is enough to buy most of the Sid or Omar Empire. (The larger the quantity, the lower the price.)

Furthermore, the Mechanical Skeleton worn by ordinary craftsmen here all use "Eight-cylinder Power Boiler"?

Aren't the best power boilers on the market only four-cylinder?

Even for the military, it seems that six-cylinder engines are still in the experimental stage.

So this is an eight-cylinder engine?

After the initial shock, Cavo regained his composure.

He also realized that there must be a top-level mechanic in Black Dragon City who far surpassed Omar's "Grand Mechanical Master".

Seeing this, the old mage finally understood that Black Dragon City's strength and resources far exceeded the world's imagination.

They thought they could be invincible with just the "Wyvern Legion," but little did they know that they also possessed a level of technology that was beyond the imagination of the world.

Cavo's cloudy eyes held a smile as he exclaimed, "Lord Rein, you have truly surprised this old man. With such mechanical combat power, Black Dragon City is already at the pinnacle of the world."

Rein smiled and said, "Master Cavo, our goal in Black Dragon City has never been to become the Third Reich. The world Beyond the Mist is what we truly seek."

He paused, then pointed to the unfinished mechanical structure before him and continued, "This is a Steam Airship that came from Beyond the Mist. It crashed here, and we modified it. Eventually, we decided to step out of the mist and see the world outside."

After listening to Rein's story, Cavo laughed and joked, "The old man's perspective is too narrow."

At that moment, a sharpness, unseen for many years, flashed in the old mage's cloudy eyes, like the lightning before a spring thunderclap.

He let out a slight sigh of relief and then slowly said, "Could we leave one more spot in this Mechanical City? It doesn't need to be too big, just big enough for my 'Valenda's Order Shackles'."

Upon hearing this, a look of delight flashed across Rein, and he immediately replied, "Of course!"

He had heard from Bazel that the Central Library of City of Radiance was a sacred artifact nurtured for a thousand years by the legendary lineage of "Order Sequence" of Cavo, and its name was "The Valenda's Order Shackles".

But the Master Cavo before us is his true form!

News of Master Cavo's arrival in Black Dragon City quickly spread throughout the city and across both empires.

A group of highly skilled magic instructors arrived at the Black Dragon Academy, bringing with them a complete magic training system. This provided a learning path for children in Black Dragon City who possessed magical talent and wished to learn magic.

The Black Dragon Academy boasts the largest and most beautiful building in the city.

Popularizing education is also one of the key "New Deal" of Black Dragon City!

One of the principles that Rein adhered to when the city was first established was that "education" must be a top priority in the development of the territory.

Having traveled through time, he knew very well that "education" was the cornerstone of revitalizing Black Dragon City and promoting social progress, and that only education could ensure Black Dragon City's long-term stability and prosperity.

Because of the large amount of funding allocated, the academy quickly became famous throughout the entire human territory.

The academy boasts world-class expertise in mechanics, mages, warriors, potions, medicine, and military affairs.

Even cultural, economic, and architectural colleges have been established one after another.

The academy not only recruits students, but also top talents from all walks of life to serve as mentors.

Master craftsmen who had no standing in other noble territories could earn a well-paid job here, relying on their skills. If they were willing to share their techniques, they could pass on their skills to others, gain respect, and even obtain permanent residency.

In a very short period of time, this "talent settlement policy" has brought a large number of talents to Black Dragon City.

However, due to the limited enrollment capacity of the academy at the moment, Black Dragon Academy is currently only open to the children of "permanent residents". Other temporary residents who wish to study at the academy must undergo an extremely rigorous talent selection process.

Although it was harsh, it was still a huge surprise for ordinary people.

Because this is the only way for ordinary people to systematically learn knowledge!

In fact, "academies" are not a new concept; both empires have Royal Academy.

However, those academies only admit nobles.

"Knowledge" was also one of the means by which nobles enslaved commoners.

To prevent the breakdown of social classes, the Royal Academy only admitted nobles, regardless of the talent of commoners. This outdated educational philosophy was highly beneficial for maintaining class stability, but had extremely limited impact on social progress.

The emergence of the "Black Dragon Academy" broke the monopoly on knowledge.

On the other hand, the territory's economy also experienced explosive growth.

In other territories, 99% of the wealth is in the hands of the 1% of noble lords.

Aside from essential daily necessities, buying even a few pieces of fruit was a luxury for ordinary people; they simply had no purchasing power, and the trade economy was stagnant.

But in Black Dragon City, the booming economy is like a snowball, growing bigger and bigger!

Everyone in the city can earn money through their own labor. Because of the low tax rate, they have more money to spare. With money in their pockets, they will spend it, which stimulates production, which in turn generates profits, and profits further stimulate consumption, creating a virtuous cycle.

Consumption means the availability of goods and services.

The "commercial taxes" (taxes on the exploitation of farmers and the hunting tax) that were once looked down upon by nobles in other territories have also generated a huge amount of tax revenue for Black Dragon City.

The various merchant guilds, large and small, would bring specialties from all over the two empires: fine wines, textiles, cigarettes, sugar, grains, and various basic materials.

Resources that require intensive labor production are largely dependent on imports.

While bringing goods, the merchant guild also takes away some high-level materials, finished machinery, potions, and high-level minerals from Black Dragon City.

It appears that the volume of imports is much larger than the volume of exports, yet the "trade surplus" is enormous!

Before the two great empires could react, a massive amount of wealth poured into Black Dragon City.

As a result, the extremely low agricultural and hunting taxes did not lead to a financial stalemate in the territory; on the contrary, due to the massive circulation of wealth, the territory's finances accumulated more and more.

Everyone knows that Black Dragon City is very wealthy, but they don't know exactly how wealthy.

Among the high-ranking officials of the two empires, some far-sighted individuals saw that this "trade deficit" was not right and tried to change the situation.

It's easy to think about, but impossible to actually do!

With a profit margin of 300%, businessmen dare to trample on all laws.

Moreover, the profits from trading with "Black Dragon City" are far more than three times, or even five or ten times!

The newly built city requires a large amount of materials, and the influx of refugees requires a large amount of resources.

With high profits and ever-increasing demand, the goods circulating in this Black Dragon City are equivalent to the combined demand of many large territories of the two great empires.

Those aristocratic merchants didn't care about trade surpluses or deficits; they were content as long as they made a fortune.

Even if there are explicit policies prohibiting it, some private chambers of commerce, such as the "Sunflower Merchant Guild" with official backing, will still have people with connections leading the way in "smuggling".

In just a few months, Black Dragon City's reputation as a "City of Free Trade," "Entertainment Capital," "Capital of High-Tech Products," "City of Freedom," and "City of Miracles" spread throughout all human territories.

The elites of the Established Nobles also considered imitating Black Dragon City by lowering tax rates to attract merchants and stimulate consumption.

That's simply not realistic!

The social system dictated the route to Black Dragon City, which was impossible to imitate!

Nobles are unlikely to relinquish their existing rights and give benefits to commoners.

Just as Ymir's attempt to "reform" Omar was met with strong resistance from the Established Nobles, any policy that dared to touch the interests of the nobility was resisted before it could even be implemented.

All sorts of "New Deal" instantly became a joke.

It also boosted the rapid development of Black Dragon City.

The rise of Black Dragon City caught both the Omar and Sid Empires off guard.

The Established Nobles originally thought that Black Dragon City would be "the second City of Radiance".

Unexpectedly, in terms of influence and potential future troubles, Black Dragon City is ten times, even a hundred times, greater than City of Radiance!

If City of Radiance was merely "plucking feathers" from the two great empires, then Black Dragon City was directly "sucking marrow and breaking bones," severing their foundation!

That so-called "equality for all" policy was a heavy slap in the face to the Established Nobles and to this era.

In this era, everyone is "rotten," and ordinary people have no choice.

But then a "good" option suddenly appeared, and everyone flocked to it.

The two empires could only watch helplessly as their population and wealth dwindled.

Because Black Dragon City's advantageous geographical location makes it impossible to conquer by force.

Moreover, this new city is no pushover!

Now everyone knows that there are more than ten known "legendary" powerhouses in the city: Master Cavo Grand Scholar, Bazel the White Wolf, Kanosa the Vajra Rakshasa Canossa, Guy of Sword of Justice, as well as Mafat of the Kolman Tribe and several elders.

In terms of the number of top-tier experts alone, the two great empires combined cannot match Black Dragon City.

And there's the invincible Wyvern Legion.

That's the "invincible legion" that thwarts any conspiracy or trickery in its infancy!

In just a few months, the population of Black Dragon City has reached tens of millions and continues to surge.

The resources brought by refugees, merchants, and hunters enabled the construction of large steel mills, forging plants, and machinery factories of all sizes, which sprang up and expanded the territory.

The two empires had no choice but to tighten their borders.

Keep the city away from the Alkolon Mountain Range, then enclose the territory, send troops to patrol the border, and prohibit all population migration.

Of course, this also gave rise to an increasingly developed "smuggling" industry, but that's another story.

Black Dragon City's development momentum is growing stronger every day. Both empires are eyeing this "fat piece of meat" and naturally haven't given up on trying to get their hands on it.

On this day, Black Dragon City welcomed a special delegation: the official diplomatic mission of the Oma Royal Family.

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