Industrial Revolution of the Mage Lords

Chapter 575 Modification Genius
Harvey woke up from a short sleep, feeling indescribable aches and pains all over his body... He came to his senses and realized that he had spent the second half of the night lying on the recliner in the office. The whole day of meetings had made him exhausted, and he didn't even have the strength to get up and return to the bedroom.

As a research mage who had not undergone flesh and blood transformation, Harvey's common problem of weak body gradually made it difficult for him to cope with the heavy government affairs. This had made him think of soul transformation more than once. Fortunately, his love for delicious food and fine wine always suppressed this impulse at the critical moment.

I believe that the people of Spark City should also hope that their emperor can still appear in the public eye as a human being with flesh and blood, rather than a cold metal statue sitting high on the throne.

While he was daydreaming, the guard came in to report to him that the Chief of Defense Forces, Karan Nelson, had urgent matters to report to him.

This is a very rare situation... Generally speaking, apart from being responsible for the daily work of city defense, the defense forces rarely encounter any emergencies that require them to make decisions. These city defense soldiers who were screened out from the Northern Army because of their slightly substandard quality are actually not bad in essence. Compared with the Northern elite who are responsible for external combat missions, they just lack some practical experience.

Of course, he always believed that the defense force had no actual combat experience, which also meant that the city did not have to endure the baptism of war. To some extent, this was actually a good thing. The soldiers' lack of experience could be compensated by frequent exercises. Moreover, they had several rounds of overseas deployment missions every year, so they would not be completely useless after all.

"Let him in." Harvey nodded and gave the order while reading the remaining unprocessed bulletins from yesterday.

"Your Majesty! Keiran Nelson greets you!" A rough voice sounded in Harvey's ears, making him subconsciously raise his head and look carefully at the middle-aged officer in front of him who looked obviously a half-orc.

Harvey seemed to have some impression of him. This was a half-orc who was taken in during the pioneering period. Because a militia soldier who rescued him was unfortunately sacrificed because of him and accidentally died at the hands of the pursuing evil orcs, after joining the territory, he stubbornly chose to name himself after the other party's surname.

He is a guy with quite a genuine temperament.

"Well, what do you need to report?... Let me make it clear first, if you're asking for additional funding for the defense forces, I won't allow it. Going beyond the military and finance ministries to seek connections with the emperor will land you in a military court."

Harvey winked at the Orc Colonel with a teasing expression.

Nelson's approachable attitude actually made him feel more relaxed. He was so nervous and sweaty during his first meeting with the Emperor that he bowed and said, "It's not a funding issue! Your Majesty, I've received reports from the public... that they've discovered suspected alien enemy activity in the area around Great Bear Lake northwest of the capital..."

"What?" Harvey slammed his hand on the table and stood up, frowning in surprise. "There are traces of Lizardmen activity in the northwest of the capital? And they were discovered by ordinary people? Colonel Nelson, you're just spreading this absurd rumor to me without any verification?"

Thanks to the strong military strength of the North and its record of not being defeated in many southern countries for many years, the local people have always had blind confidence. Even when Harvey personally delivered a speech on the highest alert, they were not afraid of the impending alien invasion. There were even many people who mistakenly captured some large lizards as imaginary enemies when they went out hunting on holidays and took them to the city hall to seek credit, which made the officials laugh and cry.

Nelson didn't care about Harvey's scolding. He handed the package in his hand to the guard and presented it to Harvey. It was a bundle of shrub roots that seemed to have been burned by flames but not completely carbonized and scorched. What was suspicious was that most of them had a layer of dark sticky substance on their surface. The familiar iron smell wafted into Harvey's nose, making him nervous immediately.

"Blackwater..." he demanded hurriedly. "What is Great Bear Lake? I've never heard of it. How far is it from the capital? Who first discovered it?" "Great Bear Lake is eight hundred miles from the capital. It's a vast, natural lake in the wilderness. The first to discover it... was a civilian hunting team. They just returned at dawn today and immediately passed the information to the defense forces upon arriving at the city gate."

Eight hundred miles away? The exploration department of Spark City has only mapped less than five hundred miles of the area surrounding the capital.

Harvey frowned again, incredulous. "How could a civilian hunting team possibly reach such a distant place? Without weapons, if they ventured more than a hundred miles from the capital, they'd be attacked by roaming evil orc tribes. Don't tell me there are bloodline warriors and spellcasters among the civilian hunting teams."

Even if there were, these scattered extraordinary people would not be able to easily escape from the hands of the demon lizardmen who often act collectively in the numbers of dozens or even hundreds... let alone have the opportunity to return to Xinghuo City to report the news.

Nelson wiped the sweat from his forehead as he faced the emperor's questioning. He explained timidly, "The hunting team doesn't have magical weapons, but many locals have been able to acquire alchemical vehicles discarded by the military in recent years with their privileges... The round trip of several hundred miles shouldn't be a problem."

But second-hand vehicles discarded by the army alone are not enough to keep one safe in the dangerous wasteland. Harvey has heard that local people like to recycle alchemical creations discarded by the army and government agencies. Those defective products with destroyed soul cores are also made of refined steel and magic metals, and are completely worthy of being melted down and modified for use.

His attitude towards this has always been tacit approval.

Without the blessing of liquid magic energy, these alchemical vehicles rely solely on magic stones for power, and their speed in the wilderness is not much faster than that of a cattle and horse trailer.

Something's wrong! Harvey narrowed his eyes, looked directly at Nelson and asked, "Does this hunting team you're talking about still have alchemical beasts from the military and government departments?"

Nelson's heart skipped a beat, and he lowered his head and confessed honestly, "Yes... yes, some soul cores were not completely destroyed. They modified the engineered alchemy beasts into semi-armored alchemy beasts with both offensive and defensive capabilities..."

Oh? There are actually people in the capital who aren't employed in the alchemy lab who have the ability and skills to modify alchemy beasts?
Before Harvey could ask again, the half-orc colonel tumbled to his knees and confessed everything in a terrified manner, "Your Majesty, please forgive my sins. It was me... I used my connections to get Larry an Alchemy Beast that had been discarded by the Ministry of Construction, and had him modify it for hunting. Larry also led the hunting team... But what they saw and heard at Great Bear Lake was absolutely true. I couldn't in good conscience conceal such important military intelligence. I chose not to report it to you just to protect Larry!"

He was quite clear about public and private matters, but reselling the city hall's discarded alchemical artifacts was indeed a bit out of line. Even if it wasn't for personal gain, it was a serious violation of the kingdom's laws.

Harvey snorted coldly and said calmly, "Who is that alchemy beast modification genius you mentioned... Larry?"

"He...he is my only son."

(End of this chapter)