The End, Preparing to Return to Xiahui Territory! (22)

Viscount Grant knew that Ian was the true Maze Lord, while that Steel-Armored Shark in the sea was merely Ian's animal companion.

Over this recent period, Sha Sha's frantic ship-ramming to stop Nauman City's exploration teams from inspecting the Labyrinth had indeed bought Harrison Port considerable time. It had also made many adventurers intending to explore the South Sea Grand Labyrinth act more cautiously.

That was a good thing—despite being the local lord, Viscount Grant knew next to nothing about the Great Labyrinth. If he wanted to profit from it, he needed to gain more information.

And Hua An and Frost Butterfly, acting on Ian's behalf, had entered into a partnership with him.

As the local lord, Viscount Grant provided every convenience for Frost Butterfly and Hua An's operations. He had even made up Hua An's operating funds on Paradise Township's behalf, leaving the Fairy lady deeply moved.

In return, the Fairy team representing Ian provided the viscount with complete maps of all the South Sea Grand Labyrinth's "ordinary areas."

These ordinary areas referred to everywhere outside the South Sea Grand Labyrinth's core ecosystem and Redwood Base's important zones. The maps also marked a great number of magical beast nests, which greatly satisfied Viscount Grant.

Now that they had maps, the next step was to lift the restrictions and let adventurers enter to fill in the gaps and exterminate magical beasts.

On the Terra Continent, due to various technologies and relics from before Skyfall, human society possessed quite a bit of "surplus population and surplus military force." Most of these people came from veterans who had retired after wars and declining Ascendant families. They were not needed in daily life, but at critical moments, these forces could provide considerable help to human society.

Whether resisting natural disasters, helping disaster victims relocate, hunting magical beasts, or opening up new territory, these were all tasks that regular troops found difficult to mobilize for.

Not to mention Labyrinth exploration. If formally organized soldiers were sent on exploration missions, setting aside compensation for casualties, many small and medium-sized Labyrinths simply were not valuable enough to justify it.

And this ambiguous field was precisely where adventurers came in.

Although the South Sea Grand Labyrinth was valuable enough for the Empire to dispatch professional exploration teams, it was simply too distant and remote, and Harrison Port's local forces could not fully control it. Thus, if they wanted to develop the Labyrinth's resources as quickly as possible, the participation of independent adventurers was essential.

Around this summer, restrictions on the South Sea Grand Labyrinth would be lifted, welcoming countless adventurers to explore it.

And Frost Butterfly was preparing for exactly this.

"Father said that they can take all those surface-level Pre-Epoch Civilization relics. Those automatic sweeping robots, intelligent handcarts, and Pre-Epoch Civilization kinetic weapons all have value, but not much. We need to offer a little bait and attract as many people as possible."

Recalling the plan Ian had taught her, Frost Butterfly's will flowed ever more smoothly through the telepathic call. "What we need to do is guide these adventurers to obtain treasure while also having them use force to control the overgrowth of magical beasts within the Labyrinth!"

The South Sea Grand Labyrinth had now fully activated and become the core of the Nature Psionics field in the surrounding seas. The number of magical beasts was increasing almost every day.

For now, Sha Sha could still rely on the might of a Second Energy Level Steel-Armored Shark to keep some magical beasts from acting recklessly. But in a few months, or perhaps one or two years, when new Second Energy Level magical beasts were born, things would become troublesome.

These uncontrolled magical beasts would not only threaten people, but also damage some of the precious historical relics and records within the Labyrinth. Ian would not allow that.

So rather than letting these magical beasts grow unchecked, it was better to have adventurers exterminate them and maintain the basic ecosystem!

That was what the Hot Water Fairies needed to do—they would guide adventurers toward magical beast nests containing treasure through all sorts of hints and disturbances whenever the adventurers did not know where to go, such as throwing stones, squirting water, and making loud noises. They would have these outsiders help the Maze Lord—and janitor—clean up the Labyrinth's trash.

"Sha Sha, you can't ram ships lately either!"

After briefing the Hot Water Fairies, Frost Butterfly reminded their most important general. "Father said so! He said you've already done very well, but you can't ram just anyone from now on... Those people are our helpers, and our source of income!"

"After some time, an alchemy pharmacy from Xiahui Territory will open a little shop at sea near Odell Reef... It will specifically provide potion services for these Labyrinth adventurers!"

"Ooh..." (listless...)

Sha Sha could not muster any energy without ships to ram, but Frost Butterfly—or rather, Ian behind Frost Butterfly—had anticipated this long ago, so she added, "But next! Sha Sha, you also need to start getting used to controlling the Crystal Dragon avatar!"

"It'll be fine. Once the Crystal Dragon avatar grows up, you can use the Crystal Dragon's body to ram ships in other seas!"

"Ooh!" (full of energy!)

Just as Frost Butterfly successfully seized control of the situation and had all the Hot Water Fairies and Sha Sha wrapped around her little finger—

Ian stood invisibly nearby, RUAing a sea urchin-shaped Hot Water Fairy in his hand—the spines were soft—and watched the scene with satisfaction. "Both Frost Butterfly and Sha Sha have improved. Very good."

To be honest, when Ian had first heard Sha Sha say, "The Hot Water Fairies look delicious!" he had found it rather strange. Fairies were made entirely of inorganic matter, so how could they possibly look delicious? Yet he had not expected every one of them to resemble seafood. They really did look delicious.

And for some reason, the seafood these Hot Water Fairies mimicked was all incredibly plump. Coupled with their soft feel, they truly made one want to squeeze them again and again.

Of course, he could not squeeze them for too long. When the sea urchin Fairy in Ian's hand had been RUAed until its eyes turned into spirals, the youth reluctantly let it go—stress balls needed moderation too, or the stress ball itself would become stressed.

Honestly, Frost Butterfly and the Hot Water Fairies were far more capable than Ian had imagined. He had originally thought he would need to come supervise the Labyrinth from time to time, or use his Labyrinth authority to possess Sha Sha and conduct inspections. But now it seemed they could handle everything perfectly well.

As expected of Fairies. They looked as though they were fooling around, but they were actually working seriously.

But then again, when Fairies worked seriously... were they actually fooling around?

That remained an unsolved mystery.

Once the grand banquet ended, all the Hot Water Fairies left the cabin brimming with energy and headed to the various waterways assigned to them to begin tidying up. Ian revealed himself at that moment.

"Ian, you're here?" "Father—"

Hua An and Frost Butterfly happily came up to greet him. The former had long known Ian was hiding nearby, while the latter thought Ian had happened to arrive just then. "We were holding a grand banquet just now. Frost Butterfly was so cool!"

"Yes, especially cool! My gallant little Fairy."

Ian tapped the Ice Fairy's little head with a finger, then asked Frost Butterfly about her recent circumstances and whether she needed any Ascendant materials to upgrade her body. After receiving a few requests, Ian nodded. "No problem. I'll have someone deliver all the materials next time."

Then the youth turned to the black-haired Fairy lady. "Miss Hua An, do you need anything..."

"No need, no need! Fairyland will provide for me!"

Hua An shook the parasol in her hand and politely declined Ian's kindness. "And the Great Labyrinth's construction is going so well that Bo Tai, who came to inspect it, gave me an outstanding rating! Now I can go back to Paradise Township and collect my bonus!"

As she said this, Hua An wore a blissful expression, swaying back and forth in the seawater as though she had completely fallen into a wonderful fantasy.

"I see." Ian was not surprised. He nodded. "Then when will you return to Paradise Township?"

"Probably around this time."

After thinking about it, Hua An said with some uncertainty, "Next, my teacher, Mentor Gan Song, will come to the Southern Ridge to inspect the construction of the new Fairy nest here in my place. At that time, she will also register Frost Butterfly in our branch's Fairy lineage records... The old lady will help me look after this place, and she'll probably teach Frost Butterfly a thing or two as well."

"That would be best!" Ian also remembered Hua An's mentor, that white-haired Fairy lady, very clearly... Her Soul Light Body could actually guide Ian's own Soul Light Body into manifesting spontaneously. That was equivalent to helping Ascendants stuck at the peak of the Second Energy Level break through to the Third Energy Level. A Fairy like that was undoubtedly the highest caliber of teacher.

Although it was impossible to get funding from her, every Fairy who had met Mentor Gan Song acknowledged her professional ability when speaking of her!

"But wouldn't Frost Butterfly be too busy that way?"

Hua An reached out and touched Frost Butterfly's little face. She sounded somewhat uncertain. "I think having a mentor's guidance is good for growth, but Frost Butterfly is only one year old... A happy childhood is very necessary for a Fairy!"

"Mm... That's true."

Ian had never raised a child either, so he fell into thought. He simply placed the little Fairy on his shoulder. "Frost Butterfly, what do you plan to do? Rest for a while and play, or..."

"Huh?"

Frost Butterfly's large eyes filled with confusion. She looked around and saw that quite a few Hot Water Fairies had not yet left, so she asked in puzzlement, "Father, haven't I been playing all along?"

"Recently, we've had a banquet every few days. Frost Butterfly has been so happy!"

"...I see." Ian and Hua An nodded together. Indeed, Frost Butterfly was basically the children's leader now. Calling it play was not wrong.

It seemed there was no need to worry about that at all.

After resolving matters related to the South Sea Grand Labyrinth and the Fairies, Ian truly had nothing left to do around Harrison Port.

After Elan awakened his Psionics, Ian had Elan try possessing the little Crystal Dragon for the second time, and the result confirmed Ian's guess: Elan, while possessing the little Crystal Dragon, could also use Thought Writing. This proved that Ian's ability to use Psionics through the little Crystal Dragon's body was not an isolated case.

Moreover, with Thought Writing, Elan could communicate with the pirate captain Andor.

Although the little Crystal Dragon needed long periods of rest to grow and could not act frequently, Ian believed that with repeated possessions, both Sha Sha and Elan could learn some of the little Crystal Dragon's innate Origin Matter abilities.

Green Pupil would also occasionally log in on its own and control the Crystal Dragon avatar to act on the other side of the world. Whenever the researchers at the Atlan Breeding Grounds wanted to examine the Crystal Dragon avatar, it would log in and use its authentic Crystal Dragon movements to prove that its avatar was healthy and perfectly normal.

As for why Green Pupil did not use its own body and instead controlled its avatar... the answer was simple.

For the moment, the Empire could provide the Crystal Dragon with more resources than the South Sea Grand Labyrinth could. This way, the avatar would grow faster than its main body and encounter situations its main body could not encounter yet, providing experience for Green Pupil's own advancement.

If Ian relied on foresight to test and correct mistakes, then Green Pupil used its own avatar to seek out possibilities along the path of growth!

After learning this, Ian strongly approved of Green Pupil's idea. As expected of the Crystal Dragon he had hatched. Freely using the Empire's resources to fatten itself up—its proficiency was almost catching up to his own!

Ian even taught Green Pupil a few tricks, such as pretending to have no appetite and being unable to eat. That would make the Breeding Grounds nervous and bring out more precious ingredients for it to eat...

Occasionally performing a little better, showing an affectionate disposition toward humans, and acting cute with the researchers would also earn it better treatment.

And also, and also...

After hearing all this, Green Pupil's tiny eyes held immense confusion—it simply could not understand how Ian, a human, had learned these methods.

Ian's answer was: watch more cats.

A few more days passed.

Once Viscount Grant had taken care of Little Comete and registered Elan on the Empire's list of Psionics users, Ian finished all his work in Harrison Port and prepared to return to Xiahui Territory.

Having obtained the secret of the Radiance of Tarnish Steel, he could hardly wait to perfect the Steel Lord.