Chapter 1341
Leon pondered the connections behind all this and suddenly realized that the troublemakers this time probably weren't competitors at all—they'd come solely to make trouble for him. If it really was that Rockmaster, or if there was a hidden force behind him, their goal was likely to take Leon out, or at least keep him from developing in the Odin Kingdom.
Thinking about it this way, everything the other side did suddenly made perfect sense. They were never Gilded Rose's competitors—they only wanted destruction, with no intention of gaining any benefit...
Once Leon figured this out, he felt a headache coming on. He wasn't afraid of competitors using dirty tricks, but he dreaded dealing with lunatics like this—people who hurt others for no gain, pure sabotage. And up to now, he still hadn't discovered who they actually were. That was the deadliest part.
Unable to figure out who it was, Leon simply stopped thinking about it. He retrieved over twenty alchemical golems he'd made earlier from the subspace.
Most of these alchemical golems weren't humanoid. Some looked like giant insects, others like various magical beasts. Only a few resembled humans. After all, at the same level, humanoid golems often weren't as strong as beast-shaped or insect-shaped ones.
Especially the giant insect golems—given the right energy system and weaponry, they could carry more armaments than humanoid golems of the same rank, and pack a stronger punch.
Leon took out the newly crafted alchemical golems and handed them to Farrow.
"These are all prototypes from my golem experiments. Each one is level forty. Aside from not being sentient, their combat power is absolutely on par with a Sky Rank level one fighter. Distribute them to protect the material transports—we can't afford to run out of raw materials."
Raw materials have been scarce lately. Transfer some supplies from the Blazeforge Realm to the Odin Kingdom to keep the Gilded Rose running. Also, some herbal sources in the Andalusia Kingdom should be able to supplement our stock.
Let's leave it at this for now. We'll deal with the mastermind once they're found.
With these twenty-plus alchemical golems, at least the merchant convoys are safe for now. Even the strongest factions have limited Sky Rank fighters—they can't all be sent to target the Gilded Rose's material convoys.
Occasionally, one or two might be sent to raid the Gilded Rose's convoys, but that's as far as they'll go. With these golems guarding them, the convoys' safety is at least temporarily assured.
This era could be considered the beginning of the Great Plane Colonization Age—the start of Northend World's colonization of endless planes.
In this age, all powerful factions are pursuing the conquest of individual planes. Few strong fighters remain in the Northend World, and colonizing planes is no easy feat—especially now, when mages rely solely on their own power to conquer, making progress painfully slow.
Conquering a plane takes decades at the very least. For planes with strong natives, spending centuries is perfectly normal.
And once conquered, most are treated as resource bases, which must be guarded. The personnel stationed there also need to be rotated regularly.
After all, mages of the Northend World bear its life imprint, making them fundamentally different from those of other planes. The stronger they are, the deeper their connection to Northend World. Sky Rank fighters can fight elsewhere, but can't stay in other planes for long periods.
As a result, every faction is always short of Sky Rank mages. Unless Northend World's overall strength and alchemical technology make a breakthrough, this shortage can't be avoided.
Those seemingly idle Sky Rank mages in the Merlin Family's ancestral lands were actually returning from other planes. After guarding another plane for a time, they must spend a period back in Northend World.