Chapter 59: Assembly Completed

This time, Aresia brought back three level 7 sea creatures, seven level 6 sea creatures, and sixteen level 5 sea creatures, along with various magical materials found only in the depths of the sea.

The harvest this time was abundant, and she had gathered enough beast blood materials. She had also found a good amount of other materials. Only three spatial materials for the long-distance teleportation array were still missing. Aresia decided to spend another night searching the sea for the other 3 missing materials and temporarily refrain from hunting sea creatures.

It wasn’t that she didn’t want to hunt more, but the sea creatures in the depths of the sea seemed to grow larger. Generally, the higher their level, the bigger they were. The Emperor Eel, with its hundred-meter-long body, was considered small for a level 7 magical beast. There were even sea creatures at levels 5 and 6 that were larger than it.

These sea creatures were stored in the spatial ring. Although Aresia’s ring had enough space, it had already been occupied by about half of its capacity. She decided to clear out the space before doing anything else.

—Let’s expand the space and have someone collect the spatial stones when we return.

By the time she returned, it was already morning. She removed her disguise and changed back into her clothes. Aresia continued to work on the remaining materials in the laboratory. The laboratory’s space was not sufficient to hold the sea creatures she brought back. Although she temporarily expanded the laboratory using spatial magic, it was futile as long as there was a chance of someone coming to find her.

Aresia decided to wait until she had gathered all the materials needed for the teleportation array before dealing with them during a secluded night.

During breakfast, Luna brought a few servants to attend to Aresia’s needs, including washing up and escorting her to the dining hall. Aresia declined their invitation and requested that they bring breakfast directly to her.

There were no other arrangements for the day, so Aresia stayed in the laboratory. In the evening, she made another trip to the sea. Although it was more challenging to gather the necessary spatial materials than hunting sea creatures, at least she didn’t need to search for a specific target among them.

Aresia had a good understanding of the living habits of the pearl nautilus, a type of shellfish that produced space-class materials. If she found them, she could obtain two pieces of spatial material at once.

Although pearl nautiluses were sea creatures, they were delicate and small in size. They were no larger than a palm and had almost no offensive capabilities. Instead, they were skilled at using illusion magic to deceive enemies. They were also adept at hiding, making them difficult to find.

During a previous shortage of materials, Aresia had specifically searched for these shellfish. She had gained some knowledge about their habits and knew where to find them.

It took her two nights to locate the pearl nautiluses. Luckily, she encountered them during their breeding season, and they had gathered in one place. Aresia managed to collect ten pearl nautiluses at once. While it was challenging, she didn’t mind giving them the time to propagate. After they finished their breeding, the fertilized eggs would drift away with the seawater. That way, she could acquire all the pearl nautiluses at once.

With the additional spatial material she found during this period, Aresia finally gathered all the materials needed for the teleportation array.

During this time, progress was swift for the others as well. The castle had some idle mages and other professionals, so they were assigned to help with the material processing. With more hands, the speed increased significantly. Every day, a considerable amount of materials was sent over. It wouldn’t be long before they had enough for the base.

Charlie’s progress was particularly fast. He first recruited several workers from nearby farmers. After observing their performance during the trial period, he offered them regular employment with decent wages. Those who had passed the trial period wouldn’t be discouraged. They were eager to work for the lord and earn more than they could by toiling on the farm. Upon hearing this news, almost every household signed up.

The number of applicants reached several hundred. Following Aresia’s advice, Charlie selected thirty people from the more challenging, struggling farming families. He informed the remaining applicants that they would continue to recruit more people. This time, no one felt discouraged from not being chosen.

During the recruitment process, Charlie forgot to mention that he had invited a few reputable building material merchants from the city. Two of them specialized in selling magical building materials. Coincidentally, their designs for six buildings were complete. Aresia selected two complete sets of plans and tasked one merchant with renovating the Mage Tower and the other with constructing the Alchemy Workshop. They would negotiate with Charlie based on the requirements from the plans.

“Have the mages been hired?”

“Yes, Miss. Besides the few mages from the castle, I have also hired some people from the city.”

Not all mages are suitable for construction work. Most of the recent graduates from the Rogest Mage Guild are young and have low magic levels, with limited skills. They take on such jobs as a way to earn money while continuing their magical studies. Besides finding a mage to apprentice under, they can also spend money to attend mage guild classes.

However, the fees for mage guild classes are not low. The more skilled a mage is in a particular magic, the higher the reward for their work. Working for wealthy individuals to construct buildings is one way for them to earn a substantial income, as these jobs are not dangerous and the rewards are high.

Charlie specifically sought out mages from the Rogest Mage Guild. It wasn’t difficult to find them since they charged separate fees for this type of work.

As there were idle mages in the castle helping Aresia with the materials, she didn’t need to bring back the mages who were currently off duty.

Not all tasks required mages to complete. Some miscellaneous work could be done by ordinary workers.

Aresia accepted the recommendations of two architects and hired professional construction teams to work with them.

The work progressed quickly in both places. Charlie assigned supervisors to oversee the construction.

For the alchemy workshop, workers had already been recruited, and Aresia had modified the mechanical arms back to the assembly line requirements. They just needed to find a suitable location for assembling the complete production line.

It was not difficult to find a suitable location. The production line took up only twenty square meters of space. Though its height was 3.5 meters, there were many banquet halls in the castle that were much taller, with heights exceeding ten meters. Aresia had one of these halls emptied of its tables and chairs to make room for the complete production line, which fit comfortably.

Since Charlie was already busy contacting several merchants to purchase raw materials, Aresia patted his shoulder and comforted him, saying, “You’ve worked hard during this period. If you’re too busy, let others take care of it.”

Charlie, however, didn’t think he was being forced. He replied, “It’s my honor to serve you. Please don’t worry. I have many helpers.”

In reality, he wasn’t the type to personally take care of everything. The construction work at the castle alone kept him busy.

After confirming that he was not being burdened, Aresia let him continue his work.

The servants cleared out one of the banquet halls. Aresia brought over the entire assembly line, but it hadn’t been assembled yet. The parts were dismantled and spread out on the floor. Assembling the line would take some time and effort. She didn’t want to wait, so she called for Charlie, who happened to be passing by, and said, “Could you please ask if there are any alchemists who are willing to help? We need someone who is familiar with this machine and can handle basic maintenance.”

In general, alchemists were stubborn and less willing to cooperate compared to mages. It was unlikely that they would be interested in this type of work. Aresia didn’t want to waste time trying to convince them.