End of the Magic Era

They were all adept at what they did, and they simply lacked direction. Pinocchio, for example, would be one of the best Artisans even thousands of years later in terms of theoretical research. His progress was only slow because he had been on the wrong track. He spent 99% of his time on wrong ideas. Now that Lin Yun had given him the right idea to work on, the other party would accomplish something very soon.

Leaving the Raging Flame Plane, Lin Yun entered the puppet plane. He arrived at the safest place that the Starry Sky College had found earlier. Around him were tall mountains that were puppet graveyards. The mountains were piled up on the parts of abandoned puppets. Those parts were all from low-level alchemy puppets, and were made of magic iron or similar materials.

Lin Yun flew to the top of an enormous mountain that was more than a kilometer tall. A tornado arose, pushing the parts forming the mountain into a vortex in the sky. In half an hour, the mountain that was thousands of meters in diameter at the base had vanished.

Lin Yun didn't stay. He returned to the Raging Flame Plane, and found a room whose space had been expanded to a dozen square kilometers on The Intrepid. He then threw the wasted parts he collected into the room. Those parts weren't of a high quality, but should suffice as the main materials of the magic battleship.

After everything was done, Lin Yun returned to Noscent. Hardly had he returned when he received the bad news that three material suppliers of the Odin Kingdom terminated their cooperation with the Gilded Rose.

The Gilded Rose was short of several materials. The stock was only enough for a couple of months at best.

"Sir Merlin, those three families are almost our closest partners so far, yet they've violated the contract at the same time. This is highly unusual. When some partners quit before, those three families expressly stated that they would continue cooperating with the Gilded Rose, and wouldn't concede.

"I've sent representatives to the three families. However, their family leaders are very firm. They would rather give us a huge compensation than cooperate with us…

"That's very strange. I've investigated with the Gilded Rose's connections. It seems that the three family leaders made the decision out of the blue. The people in their family who tried to stop them have been locked up…"

Faleau worriedly reported the problem to Lin Yun.

Lin Yun frowned too. The Gilded Rose's material supply had always been a major weakness. However, he didn't expect that anyone would take advantage of it so blatantly. Earlier, his convoys and his material suppliers were attacked. After the 20 level-40 alchemy puppets were deployed as bodyguards, nobody died in the attacks anymore, but those people still kept harassing and annoying him like bugs. At this moment, they were up to something else.

Those three material suppliers had signed the harshest contracts with the Gilded Rose. If they violated the contracts, they would have to compensate the Gilded Rose with 100 times more purple gold.

The Gilded Rose was already their biggest partner in the north of the Odin Kingdom. It had the greatest demand for materials, and gave them nearly twice as much profit as other alchemy stores did. However, if they violated the contracts, they would compensate with 100 times of the Gilded Rose's loss, which would mean a net profit of at least 20 years. Unless their family leaders were crazy, they shouldn't have done such a thing.

"How is the investigation on the Ring of Roses going? Do they play a part in this?"

He suspected that it was the Ring of Roses' doing last time. Now that this weird thing had happened again, Lin Yun became even more certain. Only the Ring of Roses would do such a weird thing, which agreed with their style. However, he didn't know when he offended this organization from the south of the Odin Kingdom. The Gilded Rose's business was not in conflict with the Ring of Roses', either…

Did they have to keep hurting his interests without getting anything in return? Even if someone hired them to deal with the Gilded Rose, were they so ruthless as to shake the foundation of the Ring of Roses for the task?

Lin Yun was slightly puzzled, but wasn't truly bothered. With the materials from the Andlusa Kingdom and the Raging Flame Plane, and those already in stock, the Gilded Rose could endure for at least half a year, by conservative estimation.

Half a year should be enough for the first magic battleship to be made. The main purpose of the magic battleships was defense, not to conquer any plane. He could conquer the resourceful plane he found earlier even without the magic battleship. There weren't many powerful creatures in that plane, and there were a lot of resources. The Gilded Rose would remain unaffected in half a year.

Lin Yun didn't bother to consider it any longer. After the two consecutive material supply problems, Lin Yun had decided to completely abandon the material supply in the Odin Kingdom. After the resources were yielded from the new plane, the materials in the Odin Kingdom wouldn't be necessary.

The Gilded Rose didn't panic. It didn't even send more representatives. When the deadline of compensation as stipulated on the contract arrived, someone else panicked first.

In a common noble's manor, Neo was standing still with a bitter face. Emmy, who was enshrouded in gray mist, stared at him coldly from a chair.

"Neo, I hope you can give me an explanation. How have you been doing your intelligence job?

"Didn't you say that if we attacked the Gilded Rose's convoys and disrupted their material supply, Mafa Merlin would surely take action? What now?

"What have we seen? Mafa Merlin hasn't shown up yet. He doesn't seem to even care. The 20 level-40 alchemy puppets have killed more than 20 Archmages, 35 Sword Saints, and even a couple of stronger specialists!

"We've lost half of our people in the north. Even a lot of seeds under our control have been lost too. If things go unchanged, you'll have to explain it to the headquarters by yourself.

"Now that I've personally taken action, and controlled the three family leaders, we're likely to be exposed very soon, yet Mafa Merlin is still not reacting at all. Is your intelligence trustworthy at all?

"Damn you, if Mafa Merlin had been killed earlier, we wouldn't have been caught in such trouble at all!"

Emmy's voice sounded like a freezing wind. Strange magic waves were spreading around her. Neo stood there bitterly, and couldn't say anything. He was very puzzled too.

Mafa Merlin was supposed to be a very bad-tempered guy. When someone attacked the Gilded Rose, and its guards couldn't deal with them, he always finished off the attackers on his own. This time, the Gilded Rose's convoys and material suppliers were attacked, and three of its best partners violated the contracts.

However, Mafa Merlin didn't react at all. He didn't seem to care. That was quite unexpected. Didn't his profile say that he was bad-tempered? Why was he not responding at all?

Neo certainly didn't see this coming. That guy obviously couldn't stand any loss. Why did he become so patient this time? Damn it…

Neo was quite frustrated too. He had made the perfect plan to lure Lin Yun out, but it didn't work at all. The man who was allegedly short-tempered didn't react at all after he was attacked several times. That was highly unusual…

"Madam Emmy, we'll simply invite Mafa Merlin for negotiation in the name of the three family leaders. Then, we'll set up an ambush and kill him.

"Tomorrow is the deadline of the three families' contracts. They might be getting out of control. We'd better invite Mafa Merlin's enemies as well in the name of the three families.

"When Mafa Merlin comes, we'll attack him. He'll surely die as long as you personally take action. Mafa Merlin's enemies will also have to help us kill him because if Mafa Merlin survives, he will definitely retaliate against them later.

"Besides, Mafa Merlin doesn't know who we are. Just let the idiots of the three families and Mafa Merlin's enemies take the blame!"

Wreathed in the gray mist, Emmy nodded.

"Alright, invite Mafa Merlin for negotiation in the name of the three stupid family leaders. I'll make arrangements. There are more important things in the headquarters right now. We don't have more time for Mafa Merlin. Since those idiots cannot kill him, we will have to do it in person. Neo, you will clean up the traces.

"No sign of the Ring of Roses must be left behind. If you screw up again, you know the consequences."

After she said that, the gray mist around Emmy suddenly became darker. In no more than a second, she was completely covered by the mist. Then, the mist gradually dispersed, and she was nowhere to be seen again.

Neo wiped his cold sweat, and made preparations in a rush.

In no more than an hour, an invitation had been delivered to Lin Yun.

Looking at the invitation, Lin Yun put on a mysterious smile.

Faleau smiled coldly.

"Sir Merlin, tomorrow will be the deadline on our contract. If they don't compensate for violating the contracts after tomorrow, they will learn a lesson about the power of our contracts.

"They've sent an invitation, and invited you for the negotiation. It seems that they don't intend to compensate. They must have thought that we would negotiate with them the moment they cut our supply, but we didn't, so they panicked.

"They're inviting you to negotiations certainly because they want more. Those bloody leeches. The Gilded Rose is already offering them the highest price, yet they're still unsatisfied. They try to extort us in such a way…"

Faleau hadn't fully vented his fury yet, but Lin Yun simply shook his hands with a smile.

"No need to worry, Faleau. If they want to negotiate with me, I'll just go there. As it happens, I want to see what more tricks they have. Do those stupid rats really think I've gotten meek?

"Now that they're finally jumping out, let's find out who they are exactly."

Faleau was slightly confused, but Lin Yun didn't explain. When the Gilded Rose's convoys were attacked again, the people of the Lodney Family and the Roosevelt Business Alliance all stated that it wasn't done by them. They clearly knew who did it, although they didn't say it explicitly.

What the Lodney Family said was believable. The culprit instigated the Lodney Family at first, and then the Roosevelt Business Alliance. They had nobody else to instigate, so they had to take action in person.

Remembering the ambush he endured outside of Neverwinter City when he just left the Sky City's airship and landed in the Odin Kingdom, he realized that they had to have hated him very much, and that it didn't make sense that they stopped after the failed assassination.

Both the Lodney Family and the Roosevelt Business Alliance had been motivated by them. They couldn't have persuaded the Lodney Family or the Roosevelt Business Alliance because they were diplomatic, or because they threatened the targets. The family had existed for countless years, and the business alliance was founded even before the Sten Kingdom. How could they have been convinced so easily?

Lin Yun recalled the information about the Ring of Roses, which was a weird organization. Selling intelligence was not an easy business. It was very difficult to acquire intelligence from a mage, but the Ring of Roses was capable of doing that. The occasional traces it left behind were weird too.

Lin Yun dragged Lord Shawn out of his Demiplane, and Lord Shawn was still yelling with utmost contempt.

"Idiots, idiots. It has only been several days since Lord Shawn taught you a lesson, yet you seem to have forgotten—"

Lord Shawn hadn't finished yelling yet, when it noticed that the atmosphere was different. It turned around and saw Lin Yun. Immediately, it spoke in an unhappy tone.

"Merlin, what's the matter? I'm scolding those stupid laborers. They're truly terrible. Even the orc laborers are better than them. As mages, they build crooked buildings. Damn it, I'm infuriated. Send me back. I'll let them know how pathetic they'll be if they violate Lord Shawn's orders!"

Lin Yun remained casual, and didn't say anything. He simply gazed at Lord Shawn. The latter was rather crept out, and finally sat down a few minutes later.

"Sir Merlin, is there anything I can help you with? I'm very busy, you know. Those laborers haven't been half as hardworking as before ever since you lifted their seals. They secretly meditate every day, and only spend half of their time working. I have to supervise them…"

Lord Shawn was so scared to see Lin Yun's solemnity that it rolled its eyes quickly and almost cried.

Damn it, I'm getting too cocky. I knew that I'd be stuck with Merlin, even though I'm no longer a Magic Tool Incarnation. He must be thinking of a way to torture me. Xiuban has gotten a lot more obedient. He has no reason to beat Xiuban, so he'll slap me…

While Lord Shawn was feeling uneasy, it heard the sound of flapping wings, and Xiusi flew in through the window proudly.

"Sir Merlin, Sir Merlin, I saw everything. There were so many idiots in the place you mentioned. There was also an annoying woman. She almost saw me. But I was very clever, and she didn't catch me…"

Lin Yun nodded, and threw a piece of pastry to Xiusi. Immediately, Xiusi's grim owl face put on a big smile. It hugged the small plate with its wings, and wobbled out.

"Lord Shawn, go out with me tomorrow. I may have something fun for you."

Relieved, Lord Shawn quickly nodded.

Lin Yun wore a smile, and didn't say anything.

Xiusi had been quite obedient. It was unable to beat Pabiete after advancing into the Heaven Rank, which was a major stimulus for it. It had been busy training and sleeping every day. Xiusi, on the other hand, was just a stupid bird who would do anything for sweet food.

Lord Shawn was getting cocky. It probably would forget who it was without being taught a lesson…

Lin Yun didn't say anything, but Lord Shawn was already scared. It became much more obedient.

There was a manor 50 kilometers away from Neverwinter City. That was a very short distance for mages. The top experts of the Starry Sky College could attack freely over such a distance. Even if the attacks wouldn't be as powerful as when they personally showed up, they could still kill anyone whose level wasn't high enough. So, they didn't have to show up in person.

However, none of those experts would pay attention to anything outside of Neverwinter City. They never bothered to intervene even if they saw anything.

This manor belonged to one of the three material supplier families. There were all sorts of herbs and magic plants in a radius of 10 kilometers. Even the guards were treants raised by the Wood Elves. They could improve the garden's environment and keep the flow of mana.

The Gilded Rose cooperated with this family because their plantation was very close to Neverwinter City, and transportation was not a problem. Also, the short distance between them could ensure cooperation.

Lin Yun had never been to this manor before. On the two sides of the road were treants almost 30 meters tall. Those treants were rooted here, and guarded the place day and night. There was a mist in the garden, mixed with fragrance and the smell of mana.