Overtime

After Iris hurriedly completed her task, she rushed to the Mage Tower Mage Tower to undergo its inspection.

Even though her ID card allows unlimited entry and exit to the Mage Tower, she still has to undergo a check according to regulations before she can enter the Mage Tower.

Of course, given her status as Fourth Order Mage, she would definitely receive some preferential treatment in the testing process, one of which was the shortened testing time.

It only took Iris about fifteen minutes to get from the entrance of the Mage Tower to the Propulsion Department of the Floating City on the second basement level.

Upon arriving, her face was filled with shock and helplessness, wondering what Fran was up to now...

In her field of vision, the mages inside the department were no longer working on that wall, but had gathered together, and Fran's figure was vaguely visible in the crowd.

She stormed up, only stopping when she heard a questioning remark.

"What exactly are you doing all this time? Why hasn't one of the walls been inspected in almost a hundred years? I'm telling you, you're damaging the Alliance's property..."

The mages who had gathered around had various expressions, but most of them looked rather grim.

Some had faint smiles on their faces, but only the corners of their mouths were upturned; the rest of their faces were droopy.

Some of them had worried expressions on their faces, as if they were concerned about something happening.

After hearing the details of Fran's speech, Iris stood on the periphery of the crowd, listening attentively without disturbing the conversation.

"Fine, I don't care how you've done things before, but you must give me a concrete plan by tomorrow... I'm emphasizing again, this is an order from the School. If they find out how you usually treat such important work..."

"Then you can wait and see what they have to say to those special Investigator..."

"Now, get to work! You all need to have at least one-third of the inspection work completed by tomorrow morning."

"Get to work now..."

Half of the mages, their faces dark, picked up the tools and forms, boarded the flying device, and headed towards the wall they were to inspect.

After the mages left, Iris curiously picked up a neatly stacked form and saw the various indicators and area types on it, as well as the inspector's number and the specific inspection time.

Seeing this, Iris couldn't help but ask a question.

How did you get them to cooperate?

Fran smiled and replied.

"That's because I'm harder to fool than you."

Iris blinked, not taking that explanation seriously, because she also saw something else, titled [Propulsion Department Magic Inscription].

The contents were a copy of the nearby Magic Inscription, followed by lengthy textual analyses. Iris could only understand some of it, but upon seeing this, she understood why the mages had listened to Fran and begun their investigation.

Because the handwriting on it was Fran's, and she still vividly remembered Fran's Paper on the Territory Mage.

"You know Magic Inscription?"

Fran nodded, immediately agreeing.

This made Iris say with amusement:

"I remember this is knowledge that the Construct School specifically requested not to be leaked, right? Even with the Northern Lands Society, I didn't allow related Paper to be published because of the Construct School ' attitude..."

Fran answered confidently:

"Here, I'm carrying special identification; who knows if my School is the Construct School?"

Iris did not refute this; she did not know what methods Fran had used to obtain the knowledge of Magic Inscription from the Construct School.

However, Fran's knowledge of Magic Inscription is highly advantageous for her in carrying out this work.

Previously, she was let off easy by these mages because she didn't understand Magic Inscription. But now, with Fran, who knows Magic Inscription, Iris finally has a tool to work with...

However, given that Fran's acquisition of knowledge from other School was somewhat inappropriate, she still offered a reminder:

"Fran, let it go this time, but next time you must abide by the Alliance's rules and not try to pry into the knowledge of other School..."

Fran's ability to use Magic Inscription was somewhat unexpected for Iris, but also within her expectations.

After all, Fran's desire to learn about other School of thought was already evident when she was at the Northern Lands Society.

She had never seen a new School that broke away from the Elemental School, so why would she buy a large number of alchemical tools and purchase a large number of Paper related to the Alchemy School from the Mana Communication System?

Even at the very end, he demanded an alchemical artifact from Iris, which was the alchemical artifact necessary to activate [Heart of Quicksand].

If Fran were to follow Harbos's example from his youth and craft equipment to fund her magical research, Iris could understand. But Alchemy seems to be closely related to Fran's School, doesn't it?

"But since you understand Magic Inscription, do you know their maximum efficiency?"

Iris suddenly asked.

Faced with this question, Fran hesitated for a moment before finally offering her understanding.

"This kind of inspection work is just a bit tedious, but it's actually not difficult. According to my division of areas, each person should have at least half an hour to inspect one area, but I gave them extra time and required them to finish within an hour."

Although when Fran was in Antir, she could get the workers to work two or three hours extra after dark.

However, that was due to the time schedule in Antir, Antir the nights are quite long, taking up at least 14 hours a day, which is why Fran made the workers work this way.

Even these working conditions are relatively good for those workers.

Before she came to Antir, these workers were truly at the mercy of the weather; a single natural disaster could cause many to starve to death, and there were also problems with illness and war.

After Fran arrived, she gave the workers the best treatment she could offer: fixed portions of food, increased medical supplies, and a well-planned living area.

However, when it came to the Propulsion Department, it was clear that Fran's management methods in Antir could not be applied.

The mages here are all skilled workers, and are inherently of higher status.

Moreover, the Alliance's system is very well-established. The Alliance has a very comprehensive approach to the division of work and responsibilities, and even Fran doesn't have much power.

That's why Fran made such a conservative plan, which Iris didn't think was appropriate.

A glint of light flashed in Iris's eyes. She said nothing, but instead made a request to Fran.

"Could you help me outline the work I'll be doing next, including the information you can't find in the Profile...?"

"Originally, I couldn't show it to you, but given the conditions required for the current work, I can slightly change the rules."

Fran took the top-secret document again, flipped to the blacked-out section she had seen before, and continued reading.

Now she could see more details, as well as Iris's mission objective.

"After the Propulsion Department conducts maintenance, it is required that the Floating City be able to reach a speed of 60 kilometers per hour and maintain this speed for more than three days."

"It also requires the ability to accelerate and decelerate under complex conditions, with the hypothetical environment being Floating Isle facing the Cult of the Sky Dragon."

"The enemy's strength is approximately three Fourth Order Profession Holder and about a dozen Third Order Professional. The number of Profession of other Order is negligible. Please prepare accordingly for counter-interference..."

From this top-secret message, Fran gleaned many important pieces of information, such as the fact that the Alchemy School seemed to have been prepared from the beginning to clash with the Cult of the Sky Dragon.

Fran didn't know why she was doing this, nor did she know whether the Alchemy School had obtained the approval of the Alliance Council.

Finally, Fran looked at the final date for Iris to finish her work, which was exactly three days after the Gold Alchemy Award ended and twenty-four days before the Amber Law Award was presented.

Seeing this, Fran looked at Iris with some concern and slowly asked:

"Society President, after this deadline, are we going to join forces with Number Nine Floating City to fight the Cult of the Sky Dragon?"

She had to ask Iris what her plans were, otherwise wouldn't this just be creating trouble for no reason?

What benefits would I get from fighting the Cult of the Sky Dragon at the Northern Lands Society, and from Iris?

"Of course not. We came in the same way we left. What right does the Alchemy School have to stop me from leaving the Floating City using my own methods?"

However, Iris knew what Fran was truly worried about, and she slowly explained to Fran:

"I'm currently in charge of the Propulsion Department, and I might be kept behind to fight the Cult of the Sky Dragon."

"But you don't need to worry about that. The Alchemy School will concentrate its efforts. The Legendary who gave you the evaluation last time will be here, as will our Alchemy School's Chief, who is also a Legendary..."

"Plus, our Alchemy School has a double-digit number of Fourth Order Mage, what are you still worried about? Do you think we can encounter the Sky Dragon in its true form in the Material Realm?"

Fran felt relieved when she heard Iris recount the earlier information, but her pupils constricted slightly when she heard Iris's last sentence.

"Didn't Iris know that we would encounter the Sky Dragon? Did the Alchemy School know that we might encounter the Sky Dragon on this trip?"

"And that device you asked me to make to detect the existence of Deity, was it originally intended for the Sky Dragon? Or was it originally meant to find other Deity?"

Fran couldn't bring herself to ask Iris these questions; she could only keep them to herself for the time being, waiting for Iris to reveal more information she could grasp for various reasons.

After receiving the work list written by Fran, Iris smiled as she looked at its contents.

"External engine detection, pre-start detection..."

She beckoned the monks over and then announced her arrangements.

"Those remaining here need to speed up their checks on each area, completing one area in a maximum of 35 minutes... Two people, we're going out to check the Floating City's external engines..."

Her arrangements left the monks, who had been working for almost two days, pale and lifeless.