This had once been a deserted island. Dense jungle spread along the ridge down to the shore, where the salt-laden water poisoned it, causing it to wither and die. The Emperor's arrival changed everything completely. The wild primeval forest and the dead woods along the coast were burned to ash, nourishing the barren gravelly soil. Hard rock was softened by spells into tillable earth. Toxic substances in the seawater were filtered away, and even the weather over the island and its surrounding waters was altered by an unseen force. The sunlight was never too harsh, the waves never too turbulent. Even marine predators and venomous creatures were driven away from these waters. Countless coral polyps rapidly grew and multiplied across the shallow seabed, forming an entire stretch of brilliantly colored reef.
The castle atop the island, the roads, the underground hangars and warehouses, and all other infrastructure had been shaped by his magic. Using reinforced concrete transported through portals, he had built them intermittently during his own leisure time over the course of half a year. Salomon had even found the time to melt local sand into glass, color and shape it with spells, then have invisible forces condense it into Gothic rose windows before setting them into enormous gilded frames.
This was a survival contingency plan. There were many similar bases, each with different defenses and a distinctive climate selected by him. Laura Croft could not possibly have failed to notice the island's unique climate, but compared with the spectacle of cherry, lemon, peach, and fig trees all bearing fruit at once, the portal connecting Oxfordshire and the island interested her far more. Now, part of this contingency plan had been put to use, freeing him to deal with the possible outbreak of nuclear war and the watchful Extra-dimensional