Industrial Revolution of the Mage Lords

Chapter 545 No. Haiyongkou
A whole week after the release of the highest alert regulations, the entire power system of Spark City was extremely busy. The heads of the military were running back and forth between various administrative departments almost every day, coordinating the operation of this huge war machine.

Late at night on the weekend, Harvey, who had just returned to the castle after inspecting the progress of the alchemy beast experiment at the Academy of Magical Sciences, was pulled into the office to continue staying up late - a new piece of information from the Ice Sea Exploration Base was clearly laid out in front of everyone.

One hundred and sixty miles northwest of the exploration base, at a natural sea estuary marked "No. 13", traces of a huge deep-sea floating island of the Lizardmen appeared, similar to the Great Rift of Isengard.

Judging from the external appearance of this huge "floating island" that can freely dive in the deep sea, it is very likely that it completed the process of breaking through the ice and floating up at the same time as Isengard's "Floating Island No. 1" a week ago.

In a monitoring area so far away from the exploration base, it is difficult for ordinary army mobile sentries to stay near the sea mouth to provide warnings at all times. It is only by relying on the floating airships also used for long-distance exploration around the base that they can observe the Demon Lizardman Fortress that has broken through the ice and floated up by the strong reflection of the moonlight on the ice after nightfall.

It is also officially named "Floating Island No. 2".

"So our predictions were correct." Harvey took a sip of tea and looked around at everyone. "The Ice Sea Base and the Isengard Rift were both among the main directions chosen by the Lizardmen to attack southward..."

"Three days ago, His Excellency Gallagher, the head of the Federation, also sent us the results of their exploration north of the Western Territory," Asdaren said calmly. "Their high-level battle mages advanced a full two thousand miles north of the Demonic Front's center and found no signs of a Lizardman invasion. Instead, the Demonic outposts along the way, originally manned by a large number of soldiers, are gradually withdrawing..."

Pierce's expression hardened as he said decisively, "If the demonic forces' retreat wasn't caused by the Union's advance, then it only means they've also encountered a problem in their rear that requires manpower to resolve!"

This can also indirectly confirm that the demons may have already had combat contact with the demon lizard people.

"The Chief also said that going further north would be the limit of the airship's return journey. Unless we can send more mana fuel, the battle mages will have no choice but to rely on flight spells to cross the demon-infested wasteland."

Harvey laughed helplessly, thinking that this legendary chief who was born as a battle mage would never miss a chance to take advantage of him.

"Let them stop here." Harvey waved his hand and said casually, "We have a large and powerful demon tribe to defend the western line. There is no need to worry too much about the situation right now."

He then pointed at the map spread out on the long table and asked in a deep voice, "Right now, we need to make a decision. If we want to take the initiative instead of passively defend, should we choose the Isengard Rift or the Thirteenth Sea Outfall next to the Ice Sea Base?"

All the officials fell silent upon hearing this.

Logically speaking, the Ice Sea Base is nearly seven thousand miles away from Spark City. Even the long-distance teleportation of the planetary-level energy-gathering array requires a second transfer through the snow-capped mountain settlements of the wasteland refugees. It is obviously the main attack location with the greatest strategic depth advantage... Although the thousands of small evil orc settlements along the way cannot help delay or resist the offensive, it is unrealistic for the Demon Lizardmen to land at the No. 13 sea swell and cross the vast wasteland directly to Spark City.

The need to resupply Blackwater weapons means they cannot go too far from the "Floating Island Fortress".

But a question lingered in everyone's mind: what if a massive underground river tributary existed beneath the Thirteenth Sea Swell, flowing directly through the wasteland, then piercing through the rock formations to surface at any underground lake close to Spark City? Harvey suddenly had a thought and was the first to speak: "The floating island fortress at the Thirteenth Sea Swell might not be able to cross the underground river... From the intelligence we've received, it's clear that Floating Island No. 2 is several times larger than Floating Island No. 1 in the Isengard Rift!"

Reiner and the others reacted immediately, took out the magic stones that were sent back by the scouts responsible for observation and vigilance in the two places, and activated them directly in front of everyone.

"That's right! We didn't even notice such important intelligence details at the beginning!" Pierce slapped his forehead in sudden realization.

Isengard's Floating Island No. 1 was indeed enormous, but it was obviously much smaller than the floating island that Chief Dawson saw in his sea of consciousness, which blocked out the sky, and the Floating Island No. 2 that appeared at the mouth of the No. 13 sea surge, which looked like a small island... Duncan, who had personally visited the demon battlefield in the Evil Moon Mountains in the past, could even assert that Floating Island No. 1 was not as large as the demon's front-line central fortress.

Chris exclaimed in surprise, "Then the truth has basically surfaced! Floating Island No. 2 at the mouth of the sea is actually the alien race's true main stronghold, and Island No. 1, which first appeared in the Great Rift of Isengard, is actually just an auxiliary vehicle used to shuttle through the underground river. The mystery lies above! How did they build such a huge submarine vehicle? This floating island alone is probably enough to accommodate nearly ten thousand demon lizardmen combat units, right?"

Harvey closed his eyes and pondered for a moment before saying in a deep voice, "I'm afraid it's more than that. If these alien monsters don't need to carry large amounts of food and supplies, and if we don't consider the internal space of the war vehicles... just transporting Blackwater supplies and combat personnel, they could cram at least 20,000 to 30,000 people onto this floating island."

Everyone gasped in unison.

The next second, Asdalen quickly calculated the enemy's currently exposed troop strength and decisively said, "If your Majesty's estimate is correct, they have at least 100,000 troops stored on the second main island near the Ice Sea Base, and nearly 30,000 at the Isengard Rift!"

This number far exceeds the entire population of Spark City, the great city in the north... and it is only the first batch of combat units of the Lizardmen that can be detected.

Thinking of this, Harvey couldn't help but sigh in his heart. Fortunately, there were demons in the west who were able to block the main force of the invading Lizardmen from the south for humans... Otherwise, with enemies on three sides, such a huge alien enemy would cross the Divine Ridge Mountains at the same time, and the human race, which was still in a state of disunity, would be completely unable to stop it. The entire southern border countries would definitely be completely plunged into the quagmire of war, and countless people would be killed and injured.

Even though there are many extraordinary spellcasters among the human race in the southern border, the individual abilities are as insignificant as a drop in the ocean in the face of this clan-destroying war.

"Reiner, how have the people in the city reacted to this incident recently?" Harvey suddenly changed the subject and asked, "Has anyone shown fear or panic? Are there any inappropriate rumors or hearsay among the people?"

Reiner was stunned. Wasn't this the responsibility of Asdalen's secret police? Why was he suddenly being questioned? Fortunately, the ever-cautious and responsible Chief Administrative Officer was always keeping an eye on public opinion. He quickly stood up and replied, "Since your public speech, City Hall has indeed received many inquiries from the public... However, most of them were basic questions, such as curiosity about the enemy's specific situation and their current location."

After the Propaganda Department's newspaper was officially published, most of the questions were made public through official channels. Even the dissected lizard-man captives were reshaped after being made into specimens and placed on the first floor of the Municipal Hall for public display. Ninety percent of the people who watched them only commented that their appearance was ugly and terrifying, but other than that, they did not panic or fear.

Minister of Construction Haru emerged from the crowd of officials and quietly reported to Harvey, "Your Majesty, as long as you and the Northern Army are around, everyone isn't afraid. On the contrary, their fighting spirit is high... Many of the temporary workers the Ministry of Construction recently recruited have resigned and are planning to enlist in the reserve militia!"

(End of this chapter)