"This isn't a request. It's an order from His Majesty. You must finish the designs as soon as possible. The factories are waiting to start work and mass-produce these things."
Seeing the researchers' reactions, the Sharkman snorted and said, "Also, this time, the Sea God will send priests to help and teach you the new technologies you need."
They were called priests, but they were really technicians. Poseidon couldn't teach these people personally. A god couldn't get too close to his worshippers, or he would lose his authority.
The most obvious example was the Star God. Pepper had been quite wary of the deity at first, but after spending more time together, the Star God had become an easily fooled idiot in her eyes.
There was no helping it. Pepper had already seen right through the Star God. Gods needed an air of mystery.
"The Sea God will send priests to teach us?"
The researchers were overjoyed and readily agreed to all the previous demands. Highly satisfied, the Sharkman set them a schedule for completing their tasks, then left the laboratory to report back to the Shark King.
This was a major war, after all. There were countless preparations to make on every front, and the entire Ocean Empire sprang into action.
Andrew didn't leave. He stayed in the laboratory, recording their research while looking for ways to steal some of the crystals.
Of course, Andrew wouldn't steal whole crystals. That would be too easy to notice. He generally stole scraps and offcuts. He had to admit, the crystals came in a remarkable variety of types and uses.
The crystals could serve not only as energy sources, but also control creatures, store memories, enable flight, strengthen bodies, increase speed, and more. In short, they had all sorts of functions, and