What's wrong with me, a mage, loving to farm?

Chapter 402. The Pearl of a Legendary Monster, the Arrogance of Choosing an Emperor

The tiny jelly and tiramisu looked up blankly at their creator, their little eyes filled with trust and affection.

"...What can they do?" Kroya was taken aback by the look in her eyes, then shook her head and said, "Actually, the things inside aren't difficult to deal with, as long as I spend some time on them."

"And then what? How much energy do you have?" Mia reached out and tapped Chloe's head. "All you have to do is assign the right tasks to the right people."

"Besides, these little guys are the same as those things."

He reached out and poked a small tiramisu, then said to it, "I need your help. There are many disobedient children inside that you need to eat."

Little Tiramisu's spirits visibly lifted.

Immediately after Miya pointed to the golden space, it actually grabbed a small fork and leaped straight in with a menacing air.

"Aaaaaaah!"

You can also hear small roars.

Logically speaking, a little guy with such weak magic power, not even reaching the level of a second-level magical beast, should have been torn to shreds in less than 0.1 seconds when faced with a bunch of strange golden monsters inside.

But the truth is that when it charged forward with that little fork, a level 13 or so golden monster was startled and retreated while roaring.

"Hmm?" Kroya stared at the tiramisu, which seemed to be getting stronger and stronger, with more... finger biscuits and cheese growing on its body, and cocoa powder covering the sky.

And so it relentlessly attacked the level 13 golden monster, which soon covered its head with two strange tentacles, cowering on the ground and trembling, the golden patterns on its body rapidly fading.

On the contrary, tiramisu has become increasingly popular.

Finally, it killed the golden monster, returned satisfied, and presented a small piece of gold to Mia with a finger biscuit.

"Thanks to you so much."

"You're great, and you're very strong."

"I look forward to your future growth. Keep it up, little one."

Miya gently stroked it for a while, then pointed to the distance and let it go play with its friends.

After it happily hopped away, Miya explained to Kroa, "This is the peculiar law of golden creations: love for it will make it stronger and give it flesh and blood."

"Those abandoned creations have fallen to such a state because they lack love, so love is a very magical thing."

He placed the Philosopher's Stone into Chloe's hand.

"Alright, I've said everything I needed to tell you. I have another engagement to attend, so I'll be leaving now."

After saying this, He opened a portal and disappeared.

Only Chloe remained, staring blankly at the jelly.

"Do you... love me?"

This is truly a wondrous power, but the question is, can he really "love" these creations?

……

After a period of time.

The little jelly was sitting on his shoulder.

Not far from him were a group of various shellfish that had shrunk in size but were still as huge as mountains—ordinary seashells, snails, conches, clams… and some strange-looking magical beasts that were also inextricably linked to shellfish.

They are all legendary overlords of this sea area.

Kroya had originally planned to visit each of them individually, but after the Silver Sea Pearl died, they quickly sent a message of submission through the stone tablets left by the Merfolk.

Then they all came over.

Kroa glanced at them, and the eldest of them, a silver nautilus, the first to speak, was the first to do so:

"Powerful mage, we are willing to admit our mistake."

"You redeemed our mother, enabling her to let go of everything and walk into the tranquil embrace of death."

"This is my apology."

It extended and retracted its tentacles to deliver a smooth, round bead.

It was a silver bead about the size of a head, shimmering with watery ripples. It was a very pure, clear, and bright light, so much so that Chloe felt as if even the rare darkness within her heart had been revealed.

Hmm... I thought nautiluses were closer to octopuses, right? How come they're classified as mollusks? Is it just because of their shells?

After a moment of doubt, he stared at the bead.

Based on his knowledge of magic, this should be a legendary magical artifact, or a bead nurtured by a legendary nautilus for countless years, containing a pure water world.

But the problem is, aren't you a cephalopod? Why are you trying to steal the pearl oyster's job? Do you really think you can produce pearls just by having a shell?

"Apologetic?" Kroya smiled slightly. "You're not apologetic, you're surrendering because you no longer have anyone to protect you and feel powerless to resist."

Upon hearing this, several shellfish around turned red at a visible speed, seemingly becoming agitated, but they immediately calmed down at the slightest movement of the silver nautilus.

The nautilus's wise, aged voice carried a hint of helplessness: "You're right. We all yearn for freedom and don't want to be controlled anymore—we originally intended to detonate the ocean's magical nodes."

"But you have helped our mother to be freed, so we are willing to continue to help you, to help you manage this ocean, and to give you its infinite gifts."

Kroa's expression remained unchanged. She tilted her head slightly and swallowed the jelly that Jelly had offered her. Only after eating it did she speak: "Without its protection and that of the snow dolphins, you couldn't have detonated the ocean's magic node. Did you really think the merfolk had no backup plan?"

He took out a crystal-clear stone slab, on which was marked a map of the sea area that changed in real time, including magic nodes.

Each node contains the hidden power of a illusory god.

The difference in their status was an insurmountable chasm for these sea monsters; they could never perish together.

As the dominant species of the ocean and the leading race in marine animal husbandry, if the mermaids were truly so at ease with these marine monsters, they wouldn't have invited Kroa to explore the area.

He placed the crystal slab in front of him.

"From beginning to end, you had no chance at all."

"Rather than saying you're surrendering to me, it's more accurate to say it's a very rational decision. If you don't surrender, when I come knocking on your door, you'll face..."

The monk smiled slightly.

All around, rainbow-colored grasses swayed in the breeze, sunlight streamed through the grass, and the air was filled with the delicate fragrance of grass and flowers.

Bright and magnificent light replaced the mysterious scenery of the ocean, illuminating this seabed like a dream.

All the magical beasts felt immense pressure.

As marine creatures living in the deep sea, they don't really like seeing sunlight and prefer moonlight. Suddenly being on a sunlit grassy field is like being placed on a barbecue grill.

What shocked them even more was that the power of the ocean had also been cut off—they didn't even know when it had happened, and this was already the case.

"I don't want to say anything more."

Kroya slowly stood up: "You all just do your jobs for me honestly."

"Pay your protection money now."

He held the pearl the nautilus had given him in his hand. "You're all mollusks, so you should all produce pearls, right? Give them all to me!"

This is blatant robbery.

But it doesn't matter. You can't use a conciliatory approach to deal with these legendary magical beasts. I have the ability and the skill to suppress them. If they are smart enough, they should know what the right path is.

Under his watchful gaze, seventeen legendary magical beasts successively sent over the "pearls" they had conceived. These pearls, some large and some small, were the essence of the ocean and magic.

No monsters attempted to provoke him.

This bored Kroya; he really wanted to taste what a legendary magical beast was like, but alas.

It's worth mentioning that among these beads is a legendary Larimar pearl, a deep blue pearl imprinted with the "natural magic" of this sea area—the ebb and flow of the tides, the movement of the seawater, the shifting of magical power...

He took a deep look at the most inconspicuous seashell. This one was the most well-hidden, its magic extremely restrained, yet more profound than that of the nautilus.

Perhaps sensing Kroya's gaze, the seashell shrank back, perfectly demonstrating what it means to be timid and hesitant—and it acted very convincingly.

"Now I'm going to assign you a task."

Kroya withdrew his gaze and revealed what he had already planned: to completely transform this place into a training ground for the apprentices.

During this exploration, he discovered something very ominous: perhaps because of the power of Eden, they were working so hard that they didn't care about their own lives at all.

This made him somewhat worried.

Although the light of Eden hangs high in the astral plane and should theoretically be able to manifest anywhere, there are always unexpected events. What if the light of Eden is too late or powerless to help?

He felt that sometimes giving too much security wasn't a good thing... At least before they found a connection between themselves and the "death" of the astral plane, and opened a back door, they should have a basic sense of fear.

That's why he decided to let the legendary monsters teach those overly "unruly" apprentices a lesson, even though it would damage his "omnipotent" image in their eyes.

But it's better than him dying before you can save him.

He will acknowledge his shortcomings and continue to improve until he can truly make Eden shine in every corner of the astral plane. At that time, the apprentices can do whatever they want.

……

After making these arrangements, he returned to the pioneering base.

King Atreus and King Tiria were soaking in a hot spring. The water of the hot spring seeped out from the stamens of clusters of pale blue flowers, passed through some complex magical runes and magical plants, and finally gathered here.

This is an imitation of the composition of the fountain of life.

The spring water that eventually converges not only has extremely strong healing and restorative effects on the spirit, but also carries the combined magic of various magical plants, making it his unique formula.

It's highly unlikely that there's another one like it in the entire astral plane.

As for the results...

You could tell just by looking at the expressions of the two potential emperors, especially King Atreus, who waved his hand generously as soon as he saw Kroya arrive: "Can we have a sip of this hot spring at the Golden Laurel Palace? I'll pay whatever it takes."

"Two hundred thousand magic crystals."

"If you want the deluxe version, I can continue to modify it."

Without hesitation, Atreus agreed immediately: "Five bites first, I'll give you the million magic crystals later."

As soon as he finished speaking, Tiria chimed in, "Then I'll take ten, but they have to be on Imperial territory. I can cover the cost of the teleportation portal."

Wow, these two are really rich and powerful.

He got three million magic crystals in one go.

Thinking this, he blinked and a slight smile appeared on his lips: "I got some good stuff this time, would you like to take a look?"

When he was collecting protection money earlier, he had some special pearls that he didn't need right now, and there were quite a few of them. He wanted to find a buyer—weren't these two the best buyers?

"Okay." Atreus leaned against the wall of the hot spring made of elven jade, revealing the dense scars on his body. Even his strong muscles could not hide the gruesome nature of those scars.

Some of these locations are even in vital areas.

"Once you bring it out, even if we don't need it, we can find someone to buy it for you."

Tiria nodded in agreement: "What you can offer is definitely good stuff. As long as it's good stuff, you don't have to worry about it not selling."

"Then I'd like to thank you both in advance."

"Aren't you going to soak in the hot springs?" Atreus asked, raising a glass of mead. "Ah, it's so relaxing, even more comfortable than the hot springs in the palace."

"OK."

Hearing his words, Kroya slowly stepped forward, and his robe quickly transformed into a bath towel. The mage's figure was not weak; although it did not have the obvious muscles of a warrior like Atrei, it was well-proportioned and just right.

The misty steam from the hot spring gathered on his chest, flowing down his fair skin, over his well-proportioned abdominal muscles, and finally into the hot spring, creating ripples.

"Wow!" Tiria's eyes lit up. "Your changing process is quite unique. Why didn't you change all your clothes?"

Some people, when showing off, will change their clothes in a fraction of a second. To outsiders, that speed is just a blink of an eye, but true experts can see it clearly.

"Tsk," Atreus scoffed, "Don't your knights train like this every day? Haven't you had enough?"

"Splash!"

His answer was a sudden splash of boiling water, which seemed to possess a magical power.

Tiria smiled gently and looked at a tray that Kroya had taken out, on which were five gleaming, round beads.

"Huh?"

She immediately pointed to one of the black pearls: "I want this one! Is that time magic? Name your price, and I'll give it to you right now!"

King Atreus's expression immediately changed, and he straightened up: "That won't do! We'll have a bidding process. You want it, and I want it too!"

The two emperors had their eyes on the pearls produced by the direct descendants of the Silver Sea Pearl Shell, a legendary shell of the same species. These pearls, imbued with the magic of moonlight and time, were powerful treasures capable of slowing the passage of time within a small area.

The atmosphere suddenly became tense.

They wouldn't give up, and there was only one left.

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(End of this chapter)