"Of course not. There's no way the entire other world is filled with places like this," Muria immediately dismissed the ancient golden dragon's overly optimistic fantasy about other worlds. Common sense dictated that even in Erathia, such resource-rich locations were exceedingly rare, let alone in a medium-sized world that was far inferior to Erathia. "This place is unique, probably the only one of its kind in the entire world."
"Then we are truly fortunate!" The ancient golden dragon nodded in agreement with Muria's assessment. Indeed, in this entire world, a location with such a dense concentration of resources might only exist beneath their feet.
"Fortunate?" Muria's expression turned a bit peculiar.
"Of course, we are, my lord," Giovanni, the ancient golden dragon, gestured with a claw at the crater-filled, cracked earth beneath them. "All these resources were buried deep underground. If we hadn't landed here, creating all these craters and cracks, we might never have discovered them."
"You're mistaken; this has nothing to do with luck," Muria shook his head, not attributing their discovery to mere fortune. He had already decided, regardless of whether there were resources here, that he would have his expeditionary force from Erathia build a city in this location. With the mountain giants present, these deep-buried resources would have been discovered eventually.
"Enough talk, let's start using these resources to build the city!" Muria didn't want to argue further with the ancient golden dragon. The facts were clear. This was the second "coincidence" he had experienced since arriving in the Shadowed Wasteland, but he didn't believe it was merely coincidence. Muria felt it was more like this world was favoring him.
The Shadowed Wasteland seemed to treat Muria, the third Titan to descend upon it, as if he were its favored son, granting him whatever he needed and providing all sorts of conveniences. So far, everything that had happened had worked to his advantage.
"My lord, I'd like to use these resources to build a mage tower," Giovanni eagerly requested. As a dragon mage, it was only natural for him to want to construct a tower upon seeing so many raw materials. If there were more resources, he might even consider building a city—one that could fly in the sky.
"Fine, but don't waste anything, and no embezzling," Muria agreed after considering the resources they had discovered so far. It wasn't time yet to send these resources back to Synapus.
The resource survey only lasted for three days before Muria ordered it to stop. Most of the manpower from the expeditionary force was then redirected to construction. However, the resource exploration didn't completely halt. Muria assigned a team of 150 mountain giants to continue deep underground.
Above ground, the cratered and cracked land was being massively leveled. The cracks were filled in, and large areas were turned into flat, barren plains. In Muria's plan, this place would become a grand magitech city.
Manufacturing plants, extraordinary metal refineries, elemental power stations, weapon factories, combat laboratories, weather controllers, gryphon fortresses, roc nests, giant battle forts... One after another, buildings with various functions sprang up like mushrooms after a rain on the flattened land, towering and imposing.
As the city, which Muria named the City of the Void, began to take shape, he returned to the Flamewheel Tribe. But upon his return, eight Shadowed Wasteland natives approached him with inquiries.
"Lord Muria, where did you go? After you left, the ground shook several times. Do you know what happened?"
"How is the foundation you were building?" Muria didn't answer their questions but instead inquired about the progress of the city's construction.
Seeing Muria's calm demeanor, the natives of the Shadowed Wasteland answered him truthfully. Thanks to strictly following Muria's instructions, the foundation of the city they were building had been laid very solidly. The earthquakes had caused almost no damage to it.
"Good, very good," Muria nodded in satisfaction, hearing that the foundation had held up well. "I know the cause of the tremors. It was my legion's arrival that caused them. You don't need to worry."
Muria explained with a smile, revealing the cause of the continuous earthquakes. As expected, this elicited shocked expressions from the Shadowed Wasteland natives.
"Your legion caused the tremors?" The Flamewheel Tribe's strongest hunter, Gu, was visibly stunned. He couldn't imagine what kind of legion could cause such violent and prolonged earthquakes just by arriving.
"Where is this legion of yours?" A Shadowed Wasteland priest, who had submitted to Muria after witnessing his Titan form, asked cautiously, his face full of respect.
"Oh, there are too many of them, so I had them stay at their landing site to gather materials and build a city. I didn't bring them here," Muria explained with a smile, enjoying the reactions of these natives.
Hearing Muria's response, the Shadowed Wasteland natives exchanged glances. To be honest, although they had witnessed Muria's awe-inspiring Titan form, they still harbored some doubts because Muria hadn't displayed the overwhelming power that Titans were known for. He still showed caution towards the Nine Phoenix Dynasty of the Shadowed Wasteland.
"The power they wield is far beyond what you possess. That's why I didn't have them come and mix with you. However, if you wish to see them, you can form a group and go visit," Muria added, noticing that some of the Shadowed Wasteland natives still seemed skeptical. "After you return, you can act as guides and bring your descendants and promising youths from your tribe to see it as well. It will broaden your horizons beyond this tiny region."
...
"Ah Chai, we've been selected to visit the City of the Void. Just don't wet your pants in fear when you see the wonders there and embarrass the Flamewheel Tribe," a young man with a winged serpent tattoo on his shoulder teased another youth in the group, who had a steel-jawed tyrannosaurus tattoo on his shoulder.
"You should be the one worried, Hei Zhen. Don't gape in shock when you see the City of the Void. Lord Muria said its sights would be beyond our imagination. Don't disgrace the Shadowed Wasteland," Ah Chai retorted, not backing down.
The two young men bickered all the way, exchanging barbs, while the other natives watched without intervening. They were accustomed to the banter between these two.
"Stop arguing. We can already see the City of the Void," an older Shadowed Wasteland native with a good-natured smile pointed out, interrupting the boys.
At his words, the two youths turned their heads and looked in the direction he was pointing. They could see the edge of a grand architectural complex looming at the continent's end.
"Is that the City of the Void? It's so tall!" Though still far from the city, the youths could already see a towering spire in the city, drawing in elemental energy from all directions and forming a brilliant elemental vortex at its peak.
"That's not the City of the Void. It's just one building within it. According to the city's residents, it's a mage tower, meant for the wisest of beings to live in," Gu, who had accompanied the group as a guide, explained with a smile.
"Just one building? It must be the grandest one, right? It's so tall, and it's for the wisest beings? Could our tribe's priests live there?" Hei Zhen asked, his youthful innocence showing.
"Haha!" Gu laughed awkwardly. He had seen the powerful beings who inhabited the mage towers, and comparing them to his tribe's priests was an insult to those beings.
As the group neared the City of the Void, more and more of its grand structures came into view, overwhelming the senses of the young Shadowed Wasteland natives.
For these youths, whose civilization was still in its primitive stages, the advanced magitech of the City of the Void was nothing short of breathtaking, filling them with a deep sense of awe and a growing sense of inadequacy.
As the group entered the city, even Hei Zhen and Ah Chai fell silent, their eyes glued to every building, afraid to miss a single detail. The more they saw, the wider their eyes grew, until their mouths hung open in disbelief.
Seeing their stunned expressions, the older Shadowed Wasteland natives said nothing. They themselves had reacted much the same way when they first visited the City of the Void during its construction.
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