What Kind of Monster Is This?!

"Yes, my lord. He brought a crate of samples. We inspected them, and they differ from those made by Lady Hedy and the kingdom," the attendant said, bowing as he quickly explained the situation.

"I should go meet this Viscount Rost now. You two may continue studying the Ray Guns here, or go to the dining hall for a meal."

After a brief moment of thought, Bellion gave his instructions and left the meeting room.

"Wilton, aren't you curious about Viscount Rost?"

"Aren't you curious too? But Lord Bellion would never let us meet the viscount." Wilton shook his head, speaking with great certainty.

They were indeed the kingdom's foundation, but for the kingdom, one should never put all one's eggs in the same basket. That was the mark of sound decision-making.

Letting them meet directly was not a good choice...

"All these Mana Bombs were produced by your workshop?" Several minutes later, Bellion stared at everything before him in utter disbelief. "May I ask how many bombs your workshop can produce each day?"

He could clearly tell that these Mana Bombs were far superior to the kingdom-made ones overseen by the two major associations. More terrifying still, every single Mana Bomb was incredibly standardized, as though they had all been made by the same mage. Every rune stroke was identical... yet he knew perfectly well that it was absolutely impossible for one person to have produced them all!

How had this been done?!

Viscount Rost's standing in his mind instantly rose several levels!

He felt that this matter was anything but simple...

"At present, we can produce around seven hundred a day. However, more than a dozen families, including Count Vilan Wells, have already decided to invest. Conservatively speaking, daily production can be raised to five thousand."

"Seven hundred?! Five thousand!!! Where did you get so many mages?!"

Even Bellion, who was temporarily managing the Dawn Kingdom on the king's behalf, could not help crying out upon hearing that.

According to the Royal Mage Association's reports, producing Mana Bombs required at least Low-Order Mages. To rescue the Northlands, they had gathered nearly every mage in the royal capital and hired large numbers of mage Apprentices to handle the charging. Only then had they created the previous miracle...

Viscount Rost's territory was right near the royal capital. Where had he found so many mages?

Producing seven hundred a day would require at least a hundred full-fledged mages, along with thousands, perhaps tens of thousands, of mage Apprentices, wouldn't it?!

Even deploying Legendary Mages could not replace that many people.

"That is our secret, Lord Bellion. Even if you are the Hand of the Kingdom, we cannot possibly tell you everything." Viscount Rost smiled. "My main purpose in coming here is to find out exactly how many Mana Bombs the kingdom needs."

"At least a million Mana Bombs need to be stockpiled—perhaps even more! Just produce them at full capacity. No matter how many you make, the kingdom will buy them!" Only after an unknown amount of time did Bellion recover from his shock, his face immediately filling with delight.

With so many Mana Bombs, forget the Tiele Chiefdom—even against the Graycastle Empire, he would dare to put up a fight!

"Of course, the price must be reasonable. You are not our only option," Bellion hurriedly added, apparently realizing that he had seemed far too pleased.

"Naturally." The smile on Viscount Rost's face grew even brighter. "We are very confident in our output and... our prices."

How could traditional mages compare with their assembly-line production and Self-Charging Magic Arrays?

The costs were simply not on the same level!

He had no fear whatsoever of fair competition.

With the matter settled, Rost was about to take his leave when Bellion stopped him. "Since your workshop can produce Mana Bombs on such a large scale, may I ask what thoughts you have regarding Ray Guns?"

"Ray Guns?!" Rost was visibly taken aback.

This was the first time he had shown confusion since arriving at the castle.

"It seems you have not yet had the chance to visit Lady Hedy's shop. Not long ago, the Technology God bestowed another large number of magical creations, the most novel among them being Ray Guns in two forms. The kingdom intends to manufacture them in bulk..."

Bellion did not need to say any more. Rost already understood what he meant. "We will consider it. But before that, I may need to visit Lady Hedy's shop."

"Although all of the kingdom's border troops, and even the private forces of every noble, require large numbers of Ray Guns, I must still remind you that only technology you have mastered is a source of wealth." Bellion gave Rost a meaningful look.

Vaguely, he seemed to have guessed how Rost Territory produced its Mana Bombs, but there was no need to say it aloud. As long as they could produce enough, that was all that mattered.

The situation at the border was tense now. The more Mana Bombs they had, the better!

His final remark was merely a reminder: if they could also supply Ray Guns, that would be even better.

Rumor had it that Viscount Rost was a follower of the Technology God, and the Technology God was the source of all this!

Night quietly fell.

The bright moon cast down a faint silvery glow.

Destructive Fist Eddie and his group had already spent most of the day exploring the mountains near the royal capital.

Even now, Destructive Fist Eddie was still agonizing over whether he had been tricked. Had he spent too much? He had actually spent more than three hundred Gold Shields in that little shop!

He was practically going mad!

The shadows of trees cast all manner of savage patterns over the ground, making the entire mountain range seem somewhat gloomy and terrifying.

"Boss, how about we find a place to rest for the night and continue tomorrow? It's too dark to search properly."

"What do you know? Ruins are easier to find at night!" Destructive Fist Eddie snorted, not slowing his pace in the slightest.

It was this guy's loose tongue that had kept him agonizing over it for so long.

"They're finally here!" Not far from them, two figures wrapped themselves in thick black robes, their faces hidden as well. When they saw Destructive Fist Eddie's group, they could barely conceal their excitement.

"Old Ghost, are you sure the information you got is accurate?"

"Of course. That Destructive Fist Eddie really does have giant bloodline, and he has become a mage Apprentice." The man called Old Ghost snorted. "This is already the fifth adventurer group we have lured here. If it fails again, don't blame us for preparing inferior bloodlines. Time is running out. We must quickly form a fighting force!"

"This time will definitely succeed. My little darling is almost done evolving." As sinister laughter rang out, the entire forest began to grow strange.

Destructive Fist Eddie abruptly stopped. "Careful, there's danger!"

"Whooo... whooo..."

The moment his words fell, an extremely heavy sound of breathing entered their ears.

Even that breathing sounded almost deafening.

Suddenly, a huge, twisted humanoid figure appeared in their sight.

It was a colossal monster ten meters tall, its body covered in horrifying stitched wounds, as though it had been randomly pieced together.

The monster looked horribly distorted, as if even walking upright was difficult for it. Yet with a casual swing of its enormous arm, the surrounding trees toppled one after another!

"Gasp—what kind of monster is this?! How could there be a monster like this near the Dawn Kingdom's capital?!" Destructive Fist Eddie could not help sucking in a sharp breath.