Industrial Revolution of the Mage Lords

Chapter 274 Technology Outsourcing Business

Three days later, in a mountain valley about half a day's journey from Alayeh.

The shield Fran McCaughlin received an important temporary assignment and arrived here secretly with a team of core members of the Ministry of Magical Affairs.

This is the largest magic stone vein independently controlled by the Federation besides the Xieyue Mountain mining area. It has a history of about 30 years since its discovery and mining.

Before this, almost all the high-level magic stones produced in the southern continent were firmly controlled by the dwarves of the Southern Hills. The Federation had considered starting a war to seize them, but human spellcasters simply did not have the same affinity for magical minerals as the burrow dwarves, and were unable to accurately explore the location of the veins from hundreds of meters deep in the dark underground, not to mention that the dwarves had developed mineral mining technology for hundreds of years.

But this vein of minerals is completely different. The storage location of high-level ore is extremely shallow, and some branches are even directly exposed on the surface. After the Federation sent a mage regiment to eliminate the large number of companion monsters entrenched in the surroundings, it was natural for them to take it into their possession.

This also completely broke the dwarfs' monopoly on magic stone ore, allowing the Federation to control the internal magic stone transactions targeting human spellcasters. It can be said that the importance of this vein is self-evident.

Before coming here, Fadun was only told by Chief Dawson that the Federation had reached a "technical outsourcing service" with the forum agent Mr. Kel'Thuzad, and asked him to be responsible for cooperating in receiving the magic technicians sent by the other party. All other details were kept secret.

But he had a vague feeling in his heart that this matter might be closely related to the mysterious disappearance of the First Chief, His Excellency Sarath, some time ago.

For the core members of the Federation, the Chief's disappearance was no longer an absolute secret that could be fully controlled by a few senior leaders. Several small internal groups, including Fadun himself, had already discussed the matter privately and expressed their opinions on it.

Some people believe that Lord Salas suffered from the aftereffects of the magic pattern damage caused by a previous research accident, and had to use his disappearance as an excuse to secretly retreat and seek treatment.

Some people also think that due to the current bad situation with the church, the Chief may have encountered a series of secret attacks by the other party, who sent a large number of demon slayers. This kind of secret battle involving legendary spellcasters cannot be completely resolved overnight.

But Fadun believes that no matter what the truth is, if the Chief does not show up to stabilize the internal people's hearts, if time drags on for a little longer, those double-faced people in the Federation who have always been on the fence will probably start to criticize the Federation's situation and claim that the legend has fallen unexpectedly.

……

After seeing the people walking down from the continental teleportation array in the mining area, Fadun finally confirmed that the purpose of this cooperation was not simple.

"Mr. Kel'Thuzad? You came in person?"

Seeing that it was the familiar Mr. Fadun who greeted him, Harvey controlled the soul puppet and forced a stiff smile on his pale face.

"Mr. McClean, long time no see."

There were many other members of the Federation present, so Fadun didn't want to act too familiar with him, lest they expose their close personal relationship. So, he put on a serious face and said businesslike, "The special order issued by both Lords Dawson and Gallagher requires us to fully cooperate with you in this joint experiment. Please feel free to ask for anything you need."

He saw that the other party had brought only a dozen people this time, most of whom were strong and muscular. They were obviously the followers of the mage who had awakened the power of blood. They should be the personal guards responsible for the daily safety of Mr. Kel'Thuzad himself, and also responsible for transporting the large number of heavy solid wooden boxes he brought.

It seemed that the task of coordinating the experiment would ultimately fall to the Ministry of Magical Affairs' spellcasters. Harvey, dressed in a dark hooded robe, smiled faintly and whispered to the Shield, "Then let's not waste any time and begin the experiment right away."

Before Fadun could ask what kind of experiment was going to be conducted, he heard Harvey add in a faint voice.

"Next, please ask Mr. McCaughlin to arrange for the mine to be cleared and all relevant personnel and spellcasters to leave..."

A mid-level spellcaster standing beside the magic shield immediately stepped forward and questioned with some dissatisfaction, "Mr. Kel'Thuzad, even if the experiment doesn't require our cooperation, this is after all a mining area controlled by the Federation. You're trying to drive us away as soon as you arrive. Isn't that a bit disrespectful to the Federation?"

As he took the lead, other younger spellcasters immediately responded. As the leading large organization in the magic world of the Southern Continent, the Federation's internal system consisted of elite spellcasters trained by major wizard families and spellcaster academies.

They have always been the ones who discriminated against and looked down on others, and have never been ignored and despised like they are today.

Fadun had just taken over the position of deputy director of the affairs department not long ago. He was able to quickly rise to his current position thanks to the fact that he and several chiefs were members of the forum. He had not even sorted out the complicated factional connections within the affairs department, and was unable to suppress this group of arrogant federation elites.

Harvey, however, didn't care. He glanced around at the group of indignant spellcasters before him, chuckled, and asked, "Everyone, didn't you all understand the specific details of the cooperation agreement mentioned in this mission in advance?"

The guard pulled a thin stack of paper from his briefcase and handed it to Harvey, who picked it up and shook it gently. "So-called technical outsourcing means that the magical knowledge and experimental technology required for this experiment are not currently available to the Federation. Therefore, there is no point in you staying here. It would be better to save your energy and go to a station outside the mining area to rest, right?"

"You! This is a naked provocation. I absolutely will not accept such an insult! I want to fight you in a magic battle..."

Before a young spellcaster could finish his words, he was immediately hit in the face by a spell from the magic shield. It turned out to be a palm-sized ice spider web that stuck directly to his mouth.

Everyone then realized that their new supervisor, Mr. McCaughlin, who usually had a stern face but a gentle attitude, was actually a high-level spellcaster. Although he was a research-type mage who was not good at actual combat, he was still a high-level spellcaster, much stronger than their group of mid-level spellcasters who had just been transferred back from the Evil Moon Mountains.

"Shut up! Do not be rude to Mr. Kel'Thuzad!" Shield shouted in a rare outburst. "Everyone, follow the Chief's orders and evacuate the mining area with me!"

The new supervisor made his position clear and spoke directly, and everyone had no choice but to shut up in disappointment, but they still glared at Harvey with hostility.

"and many more!"

Harvey suddenly called out to everyone who was about to leave.

"Since everyone is concerned about the technical difficulty of this experiment, why not have Mr. McCaughlin and this gentleman who first raised the objection stay and observe as witnesses?"

(End of this chapter)