Chapter 1025: First Sanctuary-realm
If the one that was attacked was just an ordinary mine, it might not be a big deal. However, the mine that was attacked and looted was a Tera Mine that had hundreds of tons of Tera ore stored in the warehouse at the time of the attack.
During the attack this time, the Tower of Dusk’s direct losses amounted to billions of gold coins. Moreover, with the situation where there was no market for the Tera Mine, one might not be able to buy hundreds of tons of Tera ore even if they could afford to offer billions of gold coins.
Not long ago, the Tower of Dusk had just established their might and asserted dominance using some brutal and bloody means. If someone dared to attack the Tower of Dusk under such circumstances, that would be an insult to the Tower of Dusk. Hence, after the news got out, there was a huge uproar in the Tower of Dusk, and the other forces of the Breezy Plains were frightened too.
“Tell us about the situation. The defense system of the mine may not be foolproof, but others would have to pay a huge price for forcing their way in. That’s making me suspect that those of you who are responsible for the security of the mine have neglected your duties, whether you were AWOL or you’ve colluded with the enemies. If you choose to own up, I will consider giving you a lighter punishment,” Alan said to the few guards in a hall of the Tower of Dusk who were responsible for the security of the mine and were fortunate to have survived.
The guards did not belong to the Tower of Dusk. Due to the fact that the Tower of Dusk was doing badly in the past three years, they were forced to stay in the headquarters, while the management team of the mine and other industries have long been replaced by others. Some of the guards were from other forces, and were merely left behind by the Tower of Dusk during the handover in order not to affect the production of the mine.
Initially, the Tower of Dusk was ready to send a team of mages to take over the security management of the mine; unexpectedly, something like that cropped up halfway. Under such circumstances, those who did not belong to the Tower of Dusk were naturally the prime suspects.
“I’ve been wronged, Master Alan. We’re dying to become members of the Tower of Dusk. How could we possibly collude with the other forces? This time, the other party was really too strong. Their battleship and cannons alone directly exterminated hundreds of our guards. Later, they rushed into the mine, and since they were all Legendary powerhouses, we were not their match at all!” said that guard, who was pouring out his woes while telling Alan honestly about the attack that they suffered.
The battleship was like a fortress on the sea, and all of their enemies were Legendary powerhouses! When Alan heard the news, he couldn’t help but look at Gavin and Master Basel. Although they were all silent, they understood what each other meant through the gazes in their eyes.
The Gilded Kingdom which had thousands of islands was the only kingdom which could have such a massive and powerful battleship. They were the only ones who could have such a powerful team that consisted entirely of Legendary powerhouses as well.
These days, Alan and the others might have put aside the matters regarding the Illuminati and the Gilded Kingdom, but they continued to have people collect information about the Illuminati and the Gilded Kingdom from all sources. Although they did not manage to collect much information, they were no longer as clueless about the Gilded Kingdom and the Illuminati as they used to be.
The Gilded Kingdom was far away from the mainland, and controlled thousands of islands as well as a sea region of an unimaginable size. Naturally, they could exert the power of the sea. They seemed to have conducted extensive research on alchemy, just like the Rotterdam Kingdom. However, the Rotterdam Kingdom used alchemy to build the Alchemy Colossuses, while the Gilded Kingdom used alchemy for their battleships.
With the powerful battleships that had been refined with alchemy, the Gilded Kingdom had absolute dominance over the sea, and their powerful naval fleet spanned across the boundless sea. Although the Felan Kingdom and the Ledin Kingdom were the hegemons of the mainland, no one would dare to provoke the Gilded Kingdom when at sea.
Hence, when they heard about the fortress-like battleship on the sea from the guards, Alan and the others immediately thought of the Gilded Kingdom. Other than the Gilded Kingdom, there would probably be no other nation or force that would be able to command such a powerful battleship. Who else could it be other than the Gilded Kingdom?
However, so what if they knew that it was the Gilded Kingdom? They couldn’t possibly start a war with the Gilded Kingdom. If a war were to break out, the Tower of Dusk wouldn’t be afraid of the Gilded Kingdom’s battleships, because they had a Sky Castle. However, the Gilded Kingdom might very likely be supported by the Illuminati that had a heritage of numerous years. If the Illuminati were as strong as the Brilliance Shrine, the Tower of Dusk would be in trouble.
Most importantly, Lin Li who could control the Sky Castle was now still in seclusion in the library, and Alan and the others did not want to disturb him at this moment. Hence, they had no choice but to let the Gilded Kingdom off for the time being. Anyway, they could not resume production in a short period of time, so they might as well just leave it alone for now.
In the end, the invasion of the mine might have caused the forces of Breezy Plains to get into an uproar, but the members of Tower of Dusk acted like nothing had happened, and did not do anything at all.
How could Lin Li, who had just asserted dominance with some cruel means, be bullied to the point of not reacting? The Tower of Dusk’s inaction made many forces of the Breezy Plains confused. However, when they heard that a battleship of the Gilded Kingdom was the one that attacked the Tower of Dusk’s mine, some of the forces couldn’t help but gloat at them.
However, it didn’t end there. Soon after the Tower of Dusk’s mine was attacked, another piece of news was spread from the Felan Kingdom. An important port of the Felan Kingdom had also been attacked by the Gilded Kingdom, and nearly 100 merchant ships that had docked at the port were sunk. The warehouses in the port were also ruined because of the artillery fire.
It got extremely lively in the Felan Kingdom. Rumor had it that the king of the Felan Kingdom was so infuriated that he smashed his crown after hearing the news because one of the merchant ships docked in the port was carrying a large amount of treasures tributed to him by several castellans of cities in the south. Besides, the king of the Felan Kingdom wouldn’t be willing to take it lying down even without the loss of tributes. It was a clear provocation. Was the Gilded Kingdom thinking of starting a war with the Felan Kingdom!?
However, there was no way the king of the Felan Kingdom could vent his anger. With the sub-par navy of the kingdom, they would be courting death if they started a war with the Gilded Kingdom. However, the Felan Kingdom was not completely at a loss for what to do, either. The king actually went straight to the Alanna Guild of Magic in hopes that the Guild of Magic would step out to help him resolve the issue.
Although the Guild of Magic was not under the rule of the Felan Kingdom’s royal family, the Guild of Magic was responsible for ensuring the safety of the leaders of the Felan Kingdom. Hence, the Guild of Magic was responsible for the matter of the Felan Kingdom’s port being attacked, and there was no excuse for them to ignore it.
Therefore, at the request of the royal family of the Felan Kingdom, the Alanna Guild of Magic had no choice but to take over this matter. However, the Alanna Guild of Magic did not intervene immediately. Instead, after some investigation, they sent Macklin to go to the Tower of Dusk, clearly planning to let Lin Li, a Sanctuary powerhouse, help them resolve the problems at hand.
Actually, President Aldwin was not to be blamed for not being responsible enough. The Endless Ocean was the world of the Gilded Kingdom, and without a powerful battleship, even a Legendary powerhouse would seem like an insignificant small fry there. A slight careless mistake would cause them to die without even getting to fight the battleships of the Gilded Kingdom. Only a Sanctuary powerhouse who had mastered the World Laws would have the power to deal with the Might of Nature in the vast ocean.
However, the three Arbitrators of the Supreme Council, who had stopped paying attention to the world for a long time, would not step in despite knowing about this matter. After all, in the opinion of the three Arbitrators, the people from the Felan Kingdom and the Gilded Kingdom were all insignificant, and they felt that it was not worth their while to intervene in something that was akin to a fight between mobs.
Hence, Aldwin thought of Lin Li. After all, Lin Li had just stepped into the Sanctuary-realm, and he did not see them as nobodies.
When Macklin arrived at the Tower of Dusk, half a month had passed since the Tower of Dusk’s mine was attacked. However, Lin Li still did not come out of the library. Although Macklin was on good terms with Lin Li, Lin Li was ultimately a Sanctuary powerhouse. If Lin Li was free, it would be easy to talk to him about it, but now it was inappropriate for him to disturb Lin Li because of this matter. He could only wait at the side for Lin Li to come out on his own while discussing with Gavin and the others everything that happened lately.
Initially, Macklin was not too confident about being able to invite Lin Li. After all, the attack on the port of the Felan Kingdom was not quite related to Lin Li. However, after having a chat with Gavin and the others, he learned that a mine of the Tower of Dusk had been attacked by the Gilded Kingdom’s battleship too. Despite knowing that feeling such emotions was a little unethical, Macklin still couldn’t help but be somewhat elated.
Damn it, the people of the Gilded Kingdom are really silly. Of all people, they had to provoke this ruthless kid! Once this kid Felic comes out, those guys are going to have a hard time! Macklin understood Lin Li rather well, and he knew that Lin Li was very cautious and protective of his people. Yet, the people of the Gilded Kingdom dared to touch the Tower of Dusk’s assets. They truly had a death wish.
After knowing that the Gilded Kingdom had touched the mine of the Tower of Dusk, Macklin did not panic. He simply waited calmly at the Tower of Dusk for Lin Li to come out.
However, while Macklin was waiting for Lin Li to come out, there was a sudden influx of guests in the Tower of Dusk again. Besides, the reason that those people came was surprisingly to seek help from the Tower of Dusk too—they had continuously been attacked by an unknown force in this period of time.
Many of the guests were ready to see the Tower of Dusk become a laughing stock, but no one thought that they would encounter the same thing. The Tower of Dusk was extremely wealthy, and they would not be affected by the loss of billions of gold coins’ worth of Tera ore and the temporary closure of the Tera Mine. However, the losses were unbearable for the smaller forces, as those losses were just like daggers to their hearts. After thinking about it, they realized that Lin Li, the president of the Tower of Dusk, was the only one who could stand up for them.
Initially, only the leaders of a few smaller forces were there to seek help from the Tower of Dusk, and most of them owned only one or two mines. However, the unknown force seemed to have gradually become bolder as they attacked more and more powerful forces. Soon, even the Mithril Alliance showed up at the Tower of Dusk. A few major families of the alliance had been attacked too.
After the Mithril Alliance, the Glittergold Trade Union, the Blood Moon Clan, the Caesar Family, and other top forces also sent people to the Tower of Dusk. Although those top forces might not be afraid of the unknown force, they could not take care of every industry, after all. The unknown force was coming and going like the wind such that they could not catch them at all.
In fact, the top forces were now encountering the same issues as the Tower of Dusk. Although they were extremely powerful, they had many businesses, and even the strongest force could be attacked by smaller forces when split up. If they concentrated on a single business, it would be akin to giving up on the others. After all, no one knew which industry the enemy would attack.
The reason that no one dared to touch the businesses of the major forces was that they had a great deterrent effect on other small forces, just like the Tower of Dusk before they asserted dominance. Actually, all top forces had established their authority using the lives of the enemies before. However, the unknown force that had suddenly appeared was clearly not a force from the Breezy Plains. Even if the Mithril Alliance wanted to take revenge, there was nothing they could do.
Of course, the Mithril Alliance and the other forces were not there to seek help from Lin Li, but rather wanted to join forces with him to nab the unknown force. Under the influence of the magic tides, the strength of the few major forces naturally increased, but most importantly, they now had Sanctuary powerhouses too.
Elvis of the Mithril Alliance, who had long since stepped into the peak of the Legendary-realm, had been in seclusion to break through to the Sanctuary-realm. If everything had developed as per normal, Elvis would have no hopes of entering the Sanctuary-realm, but he encountered the largest magic tides in history, which allowed him to break through the bottleneck. A year ago, he had successfully entered the Sanctuary-realm.
However, due to the magic tides. Elvis’ strength would probably stagnate at level-25 from now on—unless he encountered another wave of magic tides that were more intense than this one. That would give him a slim chance of breaking through.
Master Thomas, the first president of the Glittergold Trade Union, also relied on the magic tides to successfully break through the bottleneck of the peak of the Legendary-realm, thus becoming the first Sanctuary powerhouse of the Glittergold Trade Union. As for the top forces like the Caesar Family and the Blood Moon Clan, their Legendary powerhouses who had been stuck at the peak of the Legendary-realm had also stepped into the Sanctuary-realm within this short period of time.