A Day in Ringwraith City

"Boom!!!"

An explosion was heard.

A massive shockwave and a flash of light appeared simultaneously, causing even the normally solid steel ground to tremble slightly.

"Failed again."

Yi Aier pouted, staring disapprovingly at the wreckage before her. In the explosion just now, the sample she had painstakingly created had once again lost control and detonated automatically. This was already the hundreds of times she had failed in the past few days.

"Sister Nia, let's try a different method. Master's method is too difficult. We've tried so many times, but we haven't made any progress."

"Don't rush, Yi Aier, take your time."

Nia, standing to the side, remained calm. Her personality was very similar to Li Lin's, so she naturally took Li Lin's place, who was not in the city, and became the most important supervisor.

"Li Lin said that this kind of automatic explosive device is very difficult to control. It will probably take us some time to fully understand its structure..." Then, Nia turned around and looked at the ball of light slowly gathering in front of her. The place that was originally empty slowly took on a human shape as the ball of light condensed. Finally, the figure of an old mage was completely revealed in front of Nia.

What's the problem?

"It's probably because of a conflict regarding teleportation magic."

The old monk frowned, carefully recalling the scene just now, and then answered solemnly.

"As you know, Lady Nia, locating teleportation spells takes time... and we still haven't mastered the sensitivity of the trigger device the Arcane Mage mentioned. I believe the explosion just now was due to the trigger being too sensitive, causing the magic circle to loosen. Perhaps we'll need some more time to figure out this."

The old mage before me was one of the members responsible for researching the new weapon. In fact, he and his men should have perished in the explosion just now. Fortunately, this was the Ringwraith City, and these Imperial mages had died a thousand years ago. The reason they were able to preserve their physical forms was because of Li Lin's barrier. Therefore, even if their bodies were destroyed by some accident, they could simply be reassembled.

This greatly improved the efficiency of weapon development. After all, the research of magical weapons was a very rigorous and dangerous matter for Imperial mages. If they had followed the usual procedures, these mages would probably still be discussing it on paper by now. In fact, mages had to be careful during the research of such dangerous items. After all, they only had one life, and death meant the end. Although the research was important, it was not to the point of risking their lives.

Now that their greatest burden has been removed, these mages' enthusiasm has surged several times over. Previously, their caution stemmed mostly from fear of injury or death, but now they were already dead. Even if they were destroyed again, it would only be a matter of changing forms. Thus, their research fervor was pushed to an unprecedented level. They no longer simply hid in the back as before, but instead lay prone in front of those dangerous structures, witnessing firsthand how they mutated, failed, and then exploded—after all, even if they were blown away, they would only need a few dozen seconds to revive. Such a valuable research opportunity was absolutely not to be missed.

It was precisely because of these mages' "selfless" (this is not a metaphor) research spirit that Li Lin's pre-departure ideas had been largely researched and finalized. Although materials were a bit of a challenge, Li Lin had already ordered these former citizens to plunder everything usable in the capital before destroying Capital of the Magic Empire. Although a thousand years had passed and everything had turned to dust, fortunately, there were still many magical metals and other usable items. Items that could maintain their quality over such a long period were naturally top-quality, making them perfect for research.

During this period, most of Li Lin's ideas had been put into practice by the mages, who were equally excited about this method of application and their enthusiasm was no less than that of Li Lin himself. Even the satellite system he later conceived for defending the country had begun to take shape.

However, the core missile design remains stuck at the most critical point.

During the Magic Empire era, similar spell-launching devices existed. The difference was that those devices condensed the entire spell before releasing it. In Li Lin's current view, such designs required too much energy, and to ensure the spell's success, only mages with exceptionally high magical skills could operate them. Furthermore, their range was insufficient. Missiles, on the other hand, did not have these problems. As long as the spell was pre-loaded, it could be launched very easily and cause considerable damage.

However, it also has many problems.

Li Lin had no intention of using a launch-type firing method. First, this world lacked gunpowder, and even if it did, he wouldn't understand how to manufacture a launching device. Although he had lived on Earth for over twenty years, he had only disguised himself as an ordinary person there. Even if he could find some missile manufacturing information through the internet, he couldn't possibly obtain those military secrets. Furthermore, Earth's power system was completely different from this one; things like electronic ignition and aiming calculations required a lot of basic research infrastructure to achieve results. With his current manpower, he simply didn't have the time or the ability to start from scratch. Using magic to solve these problems became Li Lin's only option.

In the final discussion with Nia, Li Lin decided to use teleportation as the primary method: using magical coordinates placed inside the satellite to determine the location, then the mage would use a launcher with a fixed teleportation spell to teleport the missile to the area below the satellite, after which the missile would strike the ground and explode.

The problem of power is actually the easiest to solve. The civilization of the Magic Empire is ancient and profound, and its methods of constructing magic arrays are as numerous as the stars in the sky. This can be seen from the fact that they were able to continuously inscribe twenty Chain Fireball magic arrays inside a missile. You must know that on the current continent, let alone Chain Fireball Spell, even attaching some of the most basic spells to weapons is quite difficult. Nia previously made some low-level magical weapons as payment for the mercenaries in order to find out Capital of the Magic Empire, and she was able to obtain their unwavering loyalty in return. This shows how low the level of magical civilization has fallen on the current continent.

Regarding the power source, the mages adopted Li Lin's idea, combining a delaying spell with Gale Spell. This way, once the missile appeared in space after teleportation, the delayed Gale Spell would immediately take effect, propelling the missile toward the target location. As for the angle and direction, that was no longer an issue.

However, progress on the triggering device has been slow.

A missile must explode upon hitting its target to achieve its most effective destructive power. Li Lin isn't planning on developing graphite bombs or biological weapons; if the missile explodes in mid-air, it's like giving others a free fireworks display—completely meaningless. Furthermore, since distance and altitude aren't fixed, delay arrays are ineffective. Manual remote control is also impossible; ultimately, they'll have to revert to trigger-based methods.

However, magic is different from technology. The mages tried many methods but failed to make any breakthroughs. Fortunately, they have now found a relatively feasible method, and if they continue their research, they should be able to achieve results in the near future.

"Our magical materials are very limited, so please be mindful of that."

Nia flipped through the documents in her hand, glancing at the recent consumption figures, and couldn't help but frown. To ensure the mass production of this weapon, Li Lin had selected many materials currently available on the continent. However, the existence of the Ringwraith City was still a secret, making it impossible to openly trade with others; they could only utilize the existing materials, naturally dwindling with each use. Even Arcane Mage couldn't conjure them out of thin air.

"Of course, we will be careful, Lady Nia."

The old master gave a slight bow, then quickly left to return to his intense research.

Just then, a lazy voice came over.

"Hey, you two workaholics, still busy? Want to take a break and have a drink with me?"

A slender, delicate figure leaned against the magic cannon barrel beside her. Kalin shook the bottle of wine in her hand and spoke to the two of them.

"I don't have time to waste on someone as lowly as you."

Yi Aier glared resentfully at the elf who was pouring wine into her mouth, and snorted coldly.

"Well then, I must continue to supervise their experiments. Excuse me, Sister Nia."

As if deliberately speaking to Kalin, Yi Aier loudly bid farewell, then turned and walked towards the pile of wreckage still emitting wisps of smoke.

"Honestly, she's still the same willful little girl as before. I really don't know what she's been up to all these years while she was locked up in the Mages' Association."

Watching the pair of golden ponytails sway and disappear from her sight, Kalin let out a bitter laugh, then looked at Nia and shook the bottle of wine in her hand.

"How come it's like a book? Nia? Want to grab a drink?"

"I still need to check on the students at the college; it's not a good time for me to drink."

Like Li Lin, although she didn't explicitly refuse, she made her thoughts clear and simple. What Nia said was also true; in the current Ringwraith City, besides the Imperial mages who were themselves souls, there were only Dark Elf, elves, and students from the City of a Thousand Towers. The elves, having been "given" to Li Lin by their goddess as a gift, were unlikely to return to their Land of Elves. Therefore, while most elves participated in crop cultivation, some requested to enter the academy to learn the magic of the Magic Empire.

Li Lin naturally agreed to this request. Of course, he also guessed that these elves were different from those in the Land of Elves. Having lived in the human world, they deeply understood things that ordinary elves had not. To gain respect, one could not rely solely on asking and begging; only by possessing power could one achieve the most direct and obvious result. While elves had their own unique strengths in combat, these strengths were far from sufficient when facing humans. Otherwise, elves would not have been so weak as to be overwhelmed by humans and sold into slavery.

Improving combat techniques in a short period of time is extremely difficult for elves. However, learning magic is different. Elves are born with a keen sense of magic. Although there are some elves like Ailinna whose aptitude is not particularly outstanding, in general, elves' talent in magic is much higher than that of humans.

However, even so, during the Magic Empire era, there were very few elven mages, with only one becoming Arcane Mage. This can only be attributed to the fact that the elves' indifferent nature and slow-paced lifestyle were simply unsuitable for magical research. They could spend decades researching a low-level spell, and then spend decades researching another... Humans don't have that much time to waste, except, of course, liches.

However, it seems that both humans and elves, when driven to a desperate situation, will try to change.

Initially, some small-scale conflicts broke out between the elves and the students of the City of a Thousand Towers. After all, most of the students in the City of a Thousand Towers were of mixed blood, and many of them looked like ordinary humans, which made them disliked by the elves. However, Nia had already joined forces with the imperial mages to begin a subtle brainwashing education of these students. They cleverly guided the conversation during lessons, making them realize that their common enemy was the humans of the Five-Nation Alliance. This was also the foundation that Nia and Li Lin were laying for the future. Although their goal was to eventually destroy the Five-Nation Alliance, it was not to kill all humans. In order to prevent future problems, some preventative measures had to be completed as soon as possible. In any case, the business of selling elves was mostly carried out by the Five-Nation Alliance. The other border countries were oppressed by the Five-Nation Alliance and had no mood, strength, or time to engage in these "high-end commodity transactions." Therefore, shifting the target of hatred was not very difficult. Since the Five-Nation Alliance wanted to demonize the Magic Empire, Li Lin could naturally demonize the Five-Nation Alliance in return.

"You really only think about work all day long."

Looking at Nia, Kalin sighed helplessly, then her expression suddenly turned serious. Kalin then jumped down from the cannon and went to Nia's side.

"Nia, do you really believe that Your Excellency's plan can succeed this time?"

"?"

"As for me... I don't really care. These things are quite troublesome and boring. Look at you guys, you're all so busy these days that we never even see each other... It's really pointless. But..."

"But?"

"No matter what, I can't forgive those guys from the Five-Nation Alliance."

Kalin shook the bottle of liquor in her hand, a cold glint flashing in her eyes.

"That's right, we are the Seven Ring Spirit Envoys, your weapons. Facing enemies, we must naturally fight. This is the destiny of weapons, and we are not human; we have no choice. But... I really want to do it this time, regardless of success or failure. What did our empire do wrong? We didn't expand outwards, nor did we wage war against anyone. What do those chaotic things on the continent have to do with our country? Why are we treated this way? It's unfair... I really want to say that, but what's the point? Our existence as weapons is to harm others, whether they are good or bad. War is the same. We have been defeated before, but that doesn't mean we won't." Let's start over. I still remember the proprietress of that tavern I used to love going to... I think I went there for about fifty years, watching her get married, have children, and then she promised me that even if she died, I could still buy the drinks I wanted there. But sadly, the tavern is gone, the proprietress is dead, and the drinks I wanted are gone too... For that reason alone, I won't let those guys who destroyed my peaceful life get away with it. I don't care if hundreds or thousands of years have passed, those bastards deserve to die, I won't let a single one of them go. Destroying our lives and then living happily ever after, I won't be happy with that ending. Even if they were all dead, it would be much better than this situation."

"Snap."

The bottle shattered. Kalin looked helplessly at the shards in her hand and the water stains on the ground, and shrugged in resignation.

"What a pity, this bottle of wine was stored in the tower's magical ice cellar for a thousand years, the last time that proprietress sold it to me... It seems I'll never be able to drink it again."

As she spoke, she turned around and waved to Nia.

"Well then, I'll go check on Suoxiate. I heard she seems quite happy these past few days. Does she really find it satisfying to discipline those two poor little bastards?"

I advise you not to go.

"Hmm? Why?"

"I just heard that she seems to have started using a whip. You should know that when Suoxiate is in the zone, she doesn't like to be disturbed."

"... Then I'll go back to the Garden of Verdure for a drink."

Watching Kalin's figure gradually disappear into the distance, Nia sighed softly. Then, she began to review the documents in her hands again.

"The academy's progress is going relatively smoothly, however, there's still no significant progress regarding food reserves..."

"Lady Nia."

Just then, a magical orb of light floated over from afar and stopped beside Nia.

"We have obtained the latest intelligence."

"Oh?"

Nia reached out and took the ball of light with some surprise, then her gaze fell on the information inside.

"This is..."

An unusual magical fluctuation was generated.

The space was trembling, and Nia, sensing this, changed her expression slightly before disappearing into thin air.

When she reappeared, the portal had already completed its teleportation, and Li Lin and Angela were already standing in front of Nia.

"You're back, Li Lin. And Miss Angela, you must be tired from your journey. How did the negotiations with the elves go?"

"There have been some results... I'll let you know later. Why do you seem so nervous? Is something wrong?"

"It's not really a problem."

As she spoke, Nia reached out and handed the intelligence report to Li Lin.

"The Five-Nation Alliance has already responded to our previous attacks."