Chapter 665.5: The "Transformation" of Bay Territory
The influx of fire elements and energy made the entire fire-element energy pool come alive.
The array operated smoothly, steadily accumulating and releasing energy. Matthew confirmed it had been successfully built.
To prepare for possible unexpected visitors, Matthew placed many books around the fire-element array.
Among them were numerous books and booklets introducing the development of Bay Territory.
There were also many scrolls and materials about fire-element magic.
This was usually a pointless effort, but if something unexpected came of it, Bay Territory would strike it rich.
The magic channels connected to the array quickly began transmitting energy outward.
The frontier city under expansion finally received the long-awaited "energy."
The first batch of engineering golems that had run out of energy immediately began recharging.
Following that, the second batch of golems was mobilized—accompanied by a large number of Bay Territory soldiers.
Moving in units, they escorted the civil engineers as they advanced.
Massive trees were chopped down.
Dense and dangerous undergrowth was burned away.
All the mutated monsters were wiped out.
Especially the ground-covered piles of fallen leaves, which were given special attention by giant bulldozer golems.
Huge bundles of plant fibers were ignited by flames.
Thick smoke rose into the sky, forming dark gray clouds that covered the heavens.
The movements of Bay Territory attracted the attention of the Evil Shadow Spirits who had been focused on Yaya and Yaya-01. After careful thought, they ultimately didn't launch an attack.
One reason was that they probably couldn't win.
Another reason—they were curious what Bay Territory was really up to.
"Setting fires? Just this method?"
"Ha, Bay Territory doesn't seem very smart..."
"If that's all they're doing, then we really don't need to worry."
"Let them burn all they want. We'll recover in just a few days."
"This so-called defense line of theirs won't last at all in my opinion."
"They've only burned a bit. It won't make much difference."
"There's just a few scattered cities in that big open space."
"That's not the issue—where did they get so many people?"
"They must have used spells..."
"Spells..."
"..."
At the mention of spells, all the Evil Shadow Spirits fell silent.
They tried not to think about those terrifying memories and resumed discussing Bay Territory's situation.
"There may not be many of them, but they pose a real threat. Should we prioritize eliminating them?"
"No rush. Let's clear out the rest of the Catachans first."
"We know them well—and how dangerous they've become."
"If the Catachans survive this phase..."
"..."
The Evil Shadow Spirits were well aware of how tough the Catachans were.
They'd spent thousands of years trying to exterminate them.
They couldn't afford to miss this opportunity!
They quickly made up their minds.
Stick to the original plan!
First wipe out the Catachans, then focus their strength on driving out Bay Territory.
After all, the methods Bay Territory had used so far weren't enough to pose a real threat.
The Evil Shadow Spirits, now stuck in a dilemma, didn't realize they had already missed the best chance to drive out Bay Territory.
Whoosh!
Blazing flames lit up the pitch-black night sky.
Hundreds of kilometers of fire surrounded the area controlled by Bay Territory.
The overwhelming spectacle prompted different reactions among nearby Catachan tribes.
"Why is Bay Territory being so bold? Don't they fear the green tide?"
"Are the people of Bay Territory insane?"
"What kind of fire are they using? How can it burn the jungle?"
"They really have this many people? Where did they all come from?"
"With Bay Territory drawing attention, we might be able to relax a bit."
"Quick, contact Bay Territory. We should establish closer cooperation."
"..."
Bay Territory soldiers stationed in various tribes got busy.
They received messages from headquarters with special tasks and rewards.
"Can we really sell these things?"
"The prices seem a bit high!"
"That's not really a problem. Catachans don't know the value—just don't rip them off."
"True. The key is how we pitch the stuff."
"I've got it. Let our people use it first."
"Smart. Rikard more magical footage and data—Catachans will be eager to pay."
"The territory went all out this time! Even gave us portable teleportation circles..."
"Guys, now's our chance to strike it rich. Don't let it slip by."
"Definitely. Let's first show the Catachans, so the pitch won't be awkward..."
"We can't just sit around either. I've got an idea..."
"What is it? Just say it—territory will probably approve."
"Our sales skills are average. But the territory's staff are pros!"
"Hey! That's a good point!"
"I'll report it right away. But I'm warning you—the staff will take a cut."
"True, but overall, we'll earn more..."
"No one minds that..."
"Yeah, we'd love for them to come!"
"Hurry it up!"
"..."
Taking advantage of the Catachans' interest and available resources, Bay Territory's soldiers sprang into action.
While they worked...
The expanding frontier city of Bay Territory began to reveal its terrifying full-scale construction capability.
The massive bulldozers stopped advancing outward.
Instead, they began aggressively developing the flanks of the pioneer city.
Ka! Ka! Ka!
With no mutated monsters protecting them, the dangerous flora were no match for reinforced truck shovels and well-trained soldiers.
The vegetation was ripped out and piled up.
Before they could merge into mutated plant masses—
Several barrels of blazing oil were dumped on them.
Whoosh!
The flames quickly consumed the twisted bodies, reducing them to blackened charcoal and heaps of ash.
Ash wiped his goggles clean and bellowed loudly:
"Hurry up with the ash processing! This stuff is prime fertilizer—perfect for growing magical plants."
The adventurers behind him didn't rush out immediately but cautiously scanned with detectors.
Their caution was warranted.
A not-fully-burned thornweed suddenly burst from the ashes, writhing violently.
If its thorns pierced you—
You'd need to gouge out a chunk of flesh and use a high-grade antidote potion.
If it struck your torso or head, you'd likely die.
Of course, if detected early, thornweeds posed no threat.
Caught by a huge mechanical arm, it would be tossed into a blazing fire pit by goblin engineers without hesitation.
Soon after, it would be utterly incinerated.
These adventurers were all seasoned veterans of the Catachan jungle.
Bay Territory wouldn't send rookies unfamiliar with its dangers—doing so would be sending them to die.
Following the cleanup crew came the teams building magic channels and one-sided city walls.
They operated massive automated construction golems, slowly but steadily advancing.
Laura stared at the machines, her mind struggling to grasp it all.
Not that Laura was ignorant—
She just couldn't figure it out.
This 30-meter-tall, 30-meter-wide steel behemoth—
How exactly did it even move?
And how did it leave behind a towering stone wall as it moved?
If Laura entered the automated construction golem, many of her doubts would be cleared.
Operated by 30 goblin engineers, this massive golem—
Was the latest product of the mechanical golem research institute built by Macaron and the goblins.
It had a fierce name: the "Mechanical Roadmaster."
But in truth, the Roadmaster wasn't great in combat.
It only had 8 flamethrowers on its edges, 4 automatic magic turrets on top, and 8 magic cannons on each of its four faces.
Fortunately, the Roadmaster excelled at its real job.
It first cast "Mud to Stone" on the ground beneath it.
Then cranes embedded in the ground lifted the stone blocks into its belly.
Strong adamantine-infused hydraulic pincers crushed the blocks down.
Once reduced in size, the rubble was fed into high-temperature elemental furnaces.
Disinfected + deactivated + calcined.
It became one of the raw materials for magical cement.
Then it was fed into the magical cement production equipment.
In just 30 seconds—
It became part of the magical cement, flowing through pipes into pre-laid steel-framed foundations and wall molds.
Soon, the cement would rapidly solidify.
And 8-meter-high walls would rise from nothing.
In front of the walls—
An 8-meter-deep trench had already been dug.
This complex process was all contained inside the Roadmaster's massive body.
Vast resource reserves, powerful processing capabilities, imaginative structural design, rigorous mechanics, and a stable energy supply—
All contributed to the Roadmaster's terrifying capabilities.
"The Roadmaster won't stop until the construction task is complete."
"It can cover 10 kilometers per hour—8 more hours and we're done."
"Another Roadmaster is building from the opposite direction toward us."
Macaron, smiling, explained to the curious Alice.
Alice brought her elite adventuring team and spent 20 million gold to buy 7 golem-armored trucks to take on this construction escort mission.
If they completed it smoothly—
They'd recoup nearly a fifth of their truck investment.
Besides the 1 million gold reward from the territory, the true profit would come from spoils gathered in the Catachan jungle.
Of course, common targets weren't worth the effort. Only high-value mutated plants like brainworms, mutating man-eating grass, and giant spitting cacti were on their radar.
Even if luck wasn't great and they found none of those—
The burned remains of Catachan flora could still bring in over 500,000 gold.
For Alice's well-prepared and powerful team—
Catachan was paved with gold!
In the second half of the night, unnoticed by the Evil Shadow Spirits—
Bay Territory linked all 15 outer cities together.
They also decided to build 13 new cities between them to strengthen interconnection.
When the sun rose again—
Over a dozen brand-new cities stood along the arc-shaped wall built by Bay Territory.
The Evil Shadow Spirits, having failed to catch or block Yaya, couldn't help but feel relief about last night's choice.
Thankfully, they hadn't provoked Bay Territory and had instead focused on surrounding the Catachans.
Otherwise, if Bay Territory got mad and helped the Catachans build cities and defenses, they'd be in big trouble.
The Evil Shadow Spirits overestimated the Catachans and underestimated Bay Territory.
Most Catachan tribes would never agree to let Bay Territory build walls and defenses for them.
They'd rather abandon their homes and sacred grounds and fully join Bay Territory.
Bay Territory had the capacity to support the blocked-off tribes—
But they would never help without reason!
Because Bay Territory always followed Matthew's core principle—
"Give a peck of rice, earn gratitude. Give a bushel, breed resentment."
"Do favors for favors. Trade for major help."
"We never do charity, and we don't save people who want to die."
Bay Territory was building walls and defenses in empty cities at full tilt.
They had never pinned their hopes on the dwindling Catachans!
This was their war against the entire Catachan demi-plane!