Old Mage

After the Blast Furnace was perfected, the large-scale steel refining plan was also successful. Steel was produced in a continuous stream every day. Jiang Chuan had already begun to focus on the construction of Machine Tools. With Machine Tools, Steam Engines could be mass-produced quickly, bringing another windfall from Demacia.

After Jiang Chuan finished the design drawings for the Machine Tool mechanism, he gave them to Nova. Nova could manufacture these things entirely on his own.

Jiang Chuan sat in his office, leisurely drinking tea. Laurie entered and said, "Guild Master, I've almost finished recruiting personnel. I've also found a few blacksmiths who worked as apprentices before. Blacksmithing is no problem at all."

Jiang Chuan nodded. "How is the casino doing?"

Laurie took out a small booklet and said, "There are no major issues with the casino, but business isn't great. Not many people are coming."

Jiang Chuan looked at the booklet, which detailed the casino's profits, losses, and other data. The casino hadn't made or lost money in the past few days. When they took over the casino, Jiang Chuan had specifically instructed them not to damage any of the facilities.

Jiang Chuan stood up and looked out the window at the busy people on the small island, asking Laurie, "How much money do we have left?"

Laurie recalled for a moment and replied, "Guild Master, we have about two hundred thousand Gold Coins in our warehouse. As for other materials, they are too numerous and are still being sorted."

Jiang Chuan said, "Take out one hundred thousand Gold Coins to build up the island. In three months, I want the island to become a fortress. This is our base camp, and it must be built like a fortress, capable of withstanding Soul Night head-on at the very least."

Laurie pondered, "Guild Master, you know the dangers of Soul Night. We can only pray inside our houses and can't do anything else."

Jiang Chuan chuckled, "That's not necessarily true!"

Soul Night was the work of those fellows from the Shadow Isles. As undead creatures, they feared sunlight and fire by nature. Except for the extremely powerful undead, like Hecarim and Thresh. Last time he went to Demacia, Jiang Chuan discussed the plan for the Magic Resist Wall with Gaster. Although it wasn't successful, they managed to secure the purchase of Sunstone. While Sunstone wasn't as good as the Magic Resist Wall, it still had some magic resistance effect. Sunstone was another type of stone in Demacia, besides Magic Resist Stone, that had magic resistance. It would become scorching hot and emit light after absorbing magic, which was enough to deal with the creatures from the Shadow Isles. Moreover, Jiang Chuan planned to surround the entire island with Sunstone. Since undead creatures couldn't fly very high, a city wall would be sufficient.

Jiang Chuan said to Laurie, "Although one hundred thousand Gold Coins is a lot, it's necessary to build this island into a fortress. The houses on the island will be built according to the blueprints I gave you. Everyone will live in the Residential Area uniformly. The west side of the island is near the sea; build the Industrial Zone there. The Industrial Zone doesn't need to be built like the houses in the Residential Area. By the way, what is our current source of fresh water?"

Laurie replied, "The current source of fresh water on the island mainly relies on desalinating seawater. There is also a well on the island that provides fresh water directly."

Jiang Chuan said calmly, "Good. From now on, all fresh water extraction will be done in one place. After the fresh water is extracted, it will be stored together. I will have the Blast Furnace make a large water tower."

After Laurie noted this down, he said, "Guild Master, it will likely take two to three years to complete these projects. I've never heard of this method of building houses. Judging from the blueprints, these houses in the Residential Area are six stories high. How can a house be built so tall?"

Jiang Chuan laughed, "Build it according to the method I wrote. Six stories is just the beginning. Once you're proficient with this method, building thirty stories won't be difficult."

Laurie took the design blueprints Jiang Chuan gave him and recorded Jiang Chuan's requirements.

Since they had decided to develop the affairs of the Dark Sea Throne, the base camp had to be built to be impregnable. Turning Bloodfang Island into a self-sufficient fortress was not a simple task. Fresh water extraction and food acquisition were both difficult. Fresh water could be obtained by extracting seawater, but growing food on the island would be very challenging. The island's climate was not suitable for growing crops. Jiang Chuan decided to introduce fruits to be planted on the island, such as Coconuts, Mangoes, and Pineapples, which were suitable for planting on the island.

Edmund knocked and entered, saying, "Guild Master, there's a strange person on the island."

Jiang Chuan stopped what he was doing and asked, "A strange person?"

Edmund said, "He appeared on the island suddenly, like a mage."

Jiang Chuan was curious, "Take me to see him."

Jiang Chuan had always been extremely interested in the mages of this world. Although there were magic-using heroes in the game, to systematically understand mages, one had to start from the most basic mages.

Jiang Chuan arrived at the reception room and saw a person with purple skin, carrying a scroll on his back, sitting there calmly drinking tea.

Ryze stood up and bowed, saying, "I apologize for disturbing you. I sensed an unusual power on your island during my teleportation, and out of curiosity, I came to visit."

It was impossible for Jiang Chuan not to recognize the mage before him. In the game's background story, Ryze was a great mage who protected the five World Runes of Runeterra, which were the game players' Keystone Runes: Precision, Resolve, Domination, Sorcery, and Inspiration!

Jiang Chuan had been pondering. Since he could use Summoner Spells, he should definitely be able to use the rune and item systems as well. However, so far, Jiang Chuan hadn't found a way to use them.

Jiang Chuan smiled and said, "Master, you are too kind. Allow me to give you a tour of the island first. That way, you can find the power you are looking for."

Ryze put down his teacup and smiled, "Thank you."

Jiang Chuan led Ryze out of the reception room to tour the island. Jiang Chuan brought Ryze to the highest mountain on the island. Looking at the clouds in the sky, he said to Ryze, "Ryze? Are you looking for World Runes in Bilgewater?"

Ryze stroked the scroll on his back without speaking. News of the World Runes was not common knowledge. Very few people in this world knew about the World Runes; at least, Ryze knew very few. How could someone from an ordinary island in Bilgewater know about World Runes? Moreover, the strange and powerful energy Ryze had sensed came from the man before him. A seemingly ordinary person with no trace of magical fluctuations in his body. The only thing different about him was his eyes, which always revealed a different kind of light: wise, brave, and lonely.

Jiang Chuan smiled and said, "Is this your first time in Bilgewater?"

Ryze smiled, "Yes, my first time."

Jiang Chuan smiled. That meant Ryze had not yet obtained the rune of the Precision system. Miss Fortune was the main figure who obtained the Precision Rune.

Jiang Chuan looked at Ryze and smiled, "You're looking for me, aren't you?"

Ryze smiled, "I sensed a marvelous and powerful energy within you, an energy that surprised me."

Jiang Chuan sat down cross-legged and said, "I am just an ordinary person."

Ryze said in a deep voice, "Any powerful force requires a high price. I am not here to take your energy."

Jiang Chuan smiled, "I have no doubt about that, and I'm not afraid of you taking it. You once had the opportunity to obtain the power to destroy the world. I don't think you would covet my insignificant power."

Ryze stroked the scroll, as if the scroll on his back was the most important thing in the world. Ryze looked at Jiang Chuan and smiled, "You are a very peculiar person. May I know your name?"

Jiang Chuan smiled, "You can call me Roland. I'm very curious about how you use Arcane power."

Ryze stood up, adjusted himself, and cast his magic, saying, "Like this."

As soon as Ryze finished speaking, he teleported away and vanished.

Jiang Chuan's face turned dark. "Is he using his ultimate to travel?"