Chapter 343: The Sungold Upheaval
"Oh?" Leon paused at those words, stopping in his tracks and looking at Caron with a hint of curiosity.
Although this was Leon's first time at Mercury Tower, both Sylas and Caron were quite familiar with him. Leon had heard plenty about Mercury Tower's situation. He knew well that the Alchemical Golem Legion had conquered the surface world of the Sungold Plane decades ago. Now, with the help of the Forest Elves, they were steadily devouring the underground. The resistance from the subterranean elves was fierce, but their fate was already sealed; it was only a matter of time before they were wiped out...
In other words, Mercury Tower had already secured victory in the Sungold Plane.
Given the situation, why would they still need Nolan to oversee things?
Could something have gone wrong?
"It's nothing, just a minor issue..." Caron smiled and shook his head, but the forced smile revealed a heavy, troubled emotion.
"Heh..." Since Caron was unwilling to elaborate, Leon didn't press further. He simply smiled and shifted the topic to his own purpose: "By the way, Caron, I've come to ask Mercury Tower for a favor..."
"Oh?"
"Here's the thing, Caron. I've recently acquired a batch of quality magical materials, but if I handle them myself, it'll take at least half a year. That's why I thought of Mercury Tower. Would it be possible for the Tower to process these materials for me? As for payment, rest assured—I'll pay thirty percent above market price. My only requirement is that the alchemist handling them must be at least at Grandmaster level..."
"Grandmaster level..." Caron had mentally prepared himself, but even so, he couldn't help but gasp in astonishment at the demand. If every magical material required a Grandmaster to handle, their value must be truly extraordinary.
Wait a minute—magical materials...
"Leon, how do you plan to process these magical materials?"
"Uh..." Leon rubbed his nose and said nothing.
"So it really was you..." Caron was speechless. He'd heard the rumors that this young mage was one of the richest men in the eastern kingdom, but he'd never imagined Leon's wealth was this staggering. Thirty or forty million gold coins spent in a single auction—such a fortune could easily shake the magical materials market even in Auckland...
"Alright, the magical materials you bought yesterday do require a master alchemist. Come, let's head to my alchemy lab—let me see for myself. I've never seen a Starstone that big..."
As the future master of Mercury Tower, Caron's status there was nearly equal to Nolan's. His alchemy lab, like Nolan's, was at the very top of the Tower—not only a symbol of rank, but also equipped with the kingdom's most advanced alchemical tools.
Even Leon, with all his experience, was left wide-eyed upon entering Caron's lab. By comparison, the alchemy lab at the Gilded Rose was positively rudimentary.
"This is truly extravagant..." Even Caron, who had seen it all, couldn't help but marvel at the batch of magical materials Leon brought.
No wonder it cost thirty or forty million gold coins...
Utterly staggering...
The Starstone worth twenty million gold coins was impressive enough, but the other six magical materials were all masterpieces. Any one of them could drive alchemists mad with envy. Caron spent ages examining them, reluctant to let go.
"So, Leon, how do you plan to process these magical materials?"
"I've already worked out the details," Leon replied, pulling a thick stack of draft papers from his pocket. They were covered with dense diagrams and symbols—just looking at them would make most alchemists dizzy.
Even Caron, after taking the stack, grew more and more serious as he looked through it...
It took Caron half an hour just to finish reading through the papers.
"Leon..." Caron finally spoke, sounding a bit exasperated. "Are you trying to round up every Grandmaster in Mercury Tower for this?"
When Leon first mentioned needing a master, Caron thought he could just assign one to handle everything, or do it himself if necessary.
But now, seeing the stack of drafts...
Caron realized his earlier assumptions had been far too simplistic...
As soon as Caron saw the stack of drafts, he realized the magical materials were just part of it—the real challenge was the processing plan. The methods were so complex that Caron was left in awe. Take the Dark Venom Python skin, for example: normally, it doesn't require intricate treatment. Its natural properties make it ideal for armor, and over-processing can ruin its innate patterns.
But this plan was different...
This young mage actually proposed extracting the dark spell patterns from the python skin itself...
When Caron first saw that requirement, he couldn't believe his eyes—how could that be possible?
(This section is not part of the novel's story and can be skipped.)
But as he kept reading, Caron found that the proposal wasn't just wishful thinking. The young mage had laid out a workable method—though the difficulty would be immense...
Caron estimated that even if he handled it himself and followed the instructions to the letter, it would take him two months. For the other masters at Mercury Tower, it would take even longer.
If just one piece of Dark Venom Python skin was this complicated, the remaining five magical materials would surely be no easier. Caron knew now that the young mage really did intend to recruit every master at Mercury Tower...
"There's no other way, Caron. In all of Auckland, only Mercury Tower has the resources to handle something like this. If you won't help, I'll just have to stare at this pile of magical materials and do nothing..."
"Leon..." Caron ignored Leon's flattery and looked genuinely troubled. "It's not that I don't want to help, but your requirements are so demanding. To meet them, the whole Mercury Tower would have to put everything else aside for two months or more. That might have been fine before, but now..."
"What's happening now?"
"To be honest with you, Leon, Mercury Tower is facing big trouble in the Sungold Plane. Look, even the Grandmaster has gone over..."
"Really in trouble?"
"Yes..." Now that things had reached this point, Caron stopped trying to hide it and gave a bitter smile. "The situation in the Sungold Plane is a mess. The Forest Elves broke the alliance and detained four of our Alchemical Golem Legions. The subterranean elves have gone mad, launching desperate attacks on the surface. It's as if the whole plane suddenly united in rebellion against us outsiders. In just one month, we've lost hundreds of golems, seven Grandmaster Alchemists, and even Sylas West, whom you met before, was seriously injured last week..."
"That's really bad..." Leon couldn't help but shake his head after hearing this. Originally, Mercury Tower's colonization of the Sungold Plane was almost complete. If they could ally with the Forest Elves and keep wearing down the subterranean elves, in less than ten years, they'd have the whole plane under control.
The Sungold Plane isn't just any plane...
It's a place that rivals the Norland World, rich in resources and vast. If Mercury Tower could fully conquer the Sungold Plane, their power would leap forward. At that point, not just the Kingdom of Andalusia—even in the whole Norland World, they'd be considered a top force.
The Sungold Plane is just too important to Mercury Tower...
So important that Mercury Tower would do anything for it!
"Leon, how about this..." Caron, reluctant to refuse outright, offered a compromise: "There are about six or seven Grandmasters left in Mercury Tower. I'll have them start on the simpler magical materials for you. Of course, time will be tight—I estimate one piece will take about a month to finish..."
"It really is tight," Leon nodded. He'd originally planned to rely on Mercury Tower's masters to finish processing all the magical materials within two months. That way, both the Doombringer Staff and the Arcane Wheel could be completed at about the same time.
With those two true spirit artifacts in hand, he should have enough confidence to venture into the Auridge Mountains.
But now, it looked like the completion of the Doombringer Staff would be pushed back quite a while...
Never mind—better to finish the Arcane Wheel first.
"Alright, Caron, we'll do it your way. By the way, could I borrow your alchemy lab for a few days? Since I've got time to spare, I'd like to use it to work on the Starstone..."
"No problem. All the alchemical tools here are yours to use. If you need anything, just let someone tell me. I'll go arrange for those magical materials to be processed right away..."