Industrial Revolution of the Mage Lords

Chapter 498 Frankness

Garrett was not blindfolded again. Instead, at Harvey's invitation, he followed him from the castle hall straight underground and entered the laboratory that was rumored to be the most important for spellcasters.

A piece of rough leather that had been neatly cut and flattened was placed on a metal table. Various medicine bottles and jars were stacked on the laboratory cart next to it. A man in a light robe was busy working with his head down.

An alchemist... but he wasn't wearing the standard robes of the Exploration Society. It seemed he was the personal alchemist of the Northern Lord.

Could it be that their powerful magic weapons were created in this laboratory by this unremarkable alchemist?

Garrett looked at the other man a few more times without any expression, and memorized his figure and appearance firmly in his mind.

"Priest, look at this piece of leather...what does it look like?" Harvey asked softly, pointing to the strange object on the table.

Garrett came back to his senses, lowered his head and carefully observed it for a moment, then mused, "Although it's cut into a human shape, I'm 100% sure it's not human skin, or even the hide of a humanoid creature like a dwarf or elf. It must have come from some magical creature... I guess it was used in sacrificial ceremonies for some primitive deity?"

Harvey curled his lips, certain that the church had no idea about the true situation of the Lizardmen.

He turned his head and signaled to his personal guards with his eyes. The two of them immediately understood and came to the corner of the wall. They directly lifted the tarpaulin covering the outside of a huge glass jar - revealing the true body of the demon lizard man in a frozen state.

"God is above! What is this...what is this?" Garrett cried out in disbelief, staggering to the glass jar. He pressed his face against the glass wall as hard as he could, staring intently at the lizard man frozen inside with wide eyes.

Harvey keenly noticed that his face was clearly shocked, but he showed no fear at all.

He coughed lightly, stepped forward, and whispered, "This is what you call a powerful alien enemy... an intelligent creature we named the Demon Lizardman after we captured it."

"Have they already appeared in the southern border?"

Harvey shook his head and said frankly, "We found traces deep in the wilderness. The population size is unknown... but right now, it's likely only a small number of pioneers active."

Garrett struggled to tear his gaze away from the frozen lizardman and muttered hoarsely, "How could it be in the wasteland... The Divine Revelation Secret Book clearly... clearly predicted that [disaster will originate from the deep sea]!"

Harvey chuckled and said, "It seems that due to the excessive secrecy and deliberate concealment of your historical heritage, a lot of key information has been lost. In fact, deep in the northern wilderness, there is also a vast icy sea that is comparable to the southern seas."

The old priest took a deep breath and whispered, "We've sent people to explore the north of the wasteland many times in the past, but apart from the widespread evil orc tribes and scattered demon settlements, we've found nothing... Is it because we haven't traveled far enough?"

Harvey shrugged, choosing not to reveal the specific location of the frozen sea. Instead, he changed the subject and said, "Now you should understand why I don't need to worry about keeping secrets and forming alliances, right?"

Garrett lowered his eyes and said dejectedly, "Indeed, I was too blindly skeptical and arrogant."

He paused, raised his hands, clasped them together at his chest, and bowed slightly to Harvey in an odd gesture. "Before I came, Your Majesty told me... If the Northern Lords choose to ally with the Church, then we will do our utmost to help you replace the Union's supreme position and influence in the magic world..."

Harvey was a little surprised, "What if I refuse the alliance?"

The old priest lowered his head and said in an extremely firm tone, "If you refuse... Your Holiness the Pope implores you to send troops to Goris and directly occupy the Holy City!"

"What? The Pope wants us to send troops to wipe out his lair?" Reiner was extremely shocked, and his tone became full of emotion. "There are only two possibilities: a trap or the Pope has gone crazy!"

Asdalen pondered for a moment and cautiously speculated, "Perhaps there is another possibility... The Pope has lost absolute control over the Holy City and has become a puppet in name only."

Harvey nodded in agreement. "That's a very plausible guess. In fact, there have been rumors in the magic world that the Vatican has been dominated by the witch-hunting Divine Punishment faction in recent years."

"That wouldn't mean inviting a wolf into the house and using the power of a spellcaster to help them win the internal struggle, right?"

"I suspect the one who conveyed the alliance signal to the City Lord wasn't the Thirteenth we're familiar with..."

Arturo's family had battled wits and courage with the church for generations, and he understood some of the church's secrets and traditions better than anyone else. Seeing the confusion on everyone's faces, he continued to explain, "In the past, our understanding of the Vatican was limited to the fact that each pope, upon ascending the throne, was regarded as the incarnation of God. The new pope's origins and name were erased from all records, and he was referred to simply by his reign title."

Asdalen nodded and said, "Yes, in the era when I lived in the past, the Pope was still called the XIth."

Reiner muttered, "That was three or four hundred years ago. Even if they've lived through twelve generations in between, their lifespans are still far too long. Surely every Pope has the blood of the elven race, which is renowned for its longevity?"

Egno rolled his eyes and grumbled, "Absolutely impossible! The elves believe in primitive gods who are the embodiment of nature. There's no way they would convert to the God of Light, let alone join the Church!"

Harvey shook his head and sighed, "It's a pity that after delivering the Pope's message, Priest Garrett told me that due to his special status as a secret praying person, he would enter a state of absolute silence... and would never communicate with me again. Otherwise, I could have found a way to understand the meaning of this shocking request made by the Pope."

……

There's no point in thinking too much. Harvey has more important things to consider right now. The question of whether the church is an enemy or a friend... can be put aside for now and considered in depth after he's done with his work.

At present, the crisis in Saint Valen has been resolved. There is no need to worry that the chaos in the central southern border will affect the development and expansion of his sphere of influence. The Ice Sea Exploration Base has basically been completed. A permanent outpost firmly nailed to the forefront of alien invasion can slightly alleviate Harvey's anxiety about unknown enemies.

The most important thing next is undoubtedly to absorb the recent rapid increase in foreign migrant population, while increasing production and development efforts to make full preparations to fight the enemy.

The population that can be migrated and absorbed in Saint Valen has reached its upper limit. Forcing people who are unwilling to leave their homeland to migrate north is not the best option... Therefore, Harvey immediately proposed the idea of population plundering to the neighboring countries.

"Sir, the population of Spark City and its surrounding areas is now approaching 80,000. Looking around the southern border countries, there has never been a city of such a large scale and population. Just being able to sustain all these people is already a miracle... If this expansion continues without limit, I'm worried that the city will get out of control!"

"Since the Church has proactively extended an olive branch to us, it will inevitably make certain concessions over a long period of time..." Harvey said solemnly. "This will also directly lead to changes in the political situation in the southern border, and conflicts and wars between nobles and royal families will become more frequent. This is a good opportunity for us to absorb population and expand rapidly."

From the perspective of a city and a territory, unlimited population expansion will indeed cause many problems - but if you change your perspective and regard it as a country with a highly concentrated population distribution, all this seems natural.

Therefore, Harvey felt that it was time to change his identity and officially declare himself the supreme ruler of Spark City and the Principality of Saint Valen... In this way, he could legitimately join the power struggle among secular nobles and become a "great white shark" who takes it all.

(End of this chapter)