The wizard era begins with the alchemist wizard

Chapter 882 The Unpredictable Natural Federation

The Mother World of the Dark Horde.

The sky, devoid of day and night cycles, is covered with dark clouds, shrouding the world in darkness.

But this darkness had no effect on the native creatures of this world.

Hordes of undead walked across the gray plains, pale soul fires burning in their eye sockets. As the breeze blew, these soul fires drifted with the wind, and the sparks they stirred up transformed into ghostly blue flames in the air.

A desolate flute melody echoed across the plains. Behind the horde of undead, two creatures, almost as long and thin as gauntlets, were playing bone flutes made from leg bones.

To the sound of the flute, they walked slowly, like shepherds tending their flocks.

Within the Natural Federation, the Youha race is arguably the largest race. However, few people know that the Youha race's mother world is actually a small world that isn't even a medium-sized world.

In this small world, which the Netherworld is called the Underworld by the Netherworld Clan, there are no living beings in the conventional sense.

The dense decay radiation lingers eternally on this land, and only the blasphemous undead can survive in this decay radiation.

Although the Ghost Clan does not admit it, anyone who has studied Ghost Clan creatures knows that they are undead.

The typical Haunted Creepers are quite tall, humanoid, with adults typically standing around two and a half meters tall. They have enormous, blood-red claws growing from the ends of their limbs.

Their bodies looked extremely thin, almost like skeletons, and their skin was incredibly pale. From a distance, they looked just like skeletons—hence their name.

However, their strength is not weak; in fact, it can be described as strong.

Even without embarking on the path of evolution, an adult Haunted Creeper possesses enough power to easily kill a tiger or a brown bear.

And when they embark on the path of evolution, their strength and speed allow them to easily crush creatures of the same level—except for tree spirits.

Of course, the Haunted Clan also has its flaws.

The Youha race has very low innate intelligence. Even adult Youha race members have an intelligence equivalent to that of a fifteen-year-old human.

They can only reproduce naturally through the bone pits in the underworld.

However, these flaws only exist among ordinary people and in times of peace.

The Dark Horde, having embarked on the path of evolution, have had their intellectual deficiencies compensated for. Furthermore, their ability to acquire the memories and skills of other creatures by devouring corpses and souls has made them the most successful race in this era of war.

On the plains where the dead graze, a massive stone Gothic cathedral stands on the horizon.

The Haunted Horde do not practice religion, but they greatly admire these dark and ornate buildings. Almost all of the Haunted Horde's high-ranking members have their own churches.

Inside the church, a "priest" dressed in a black robe is praying before a statue of a deity.

Suddenly, a message came from the void, and then the priest opened his eyes.

His brows furrowed slightly, his bloodshot eyes filled with doubt.

"Convene a federal meeting... Old Tree, what are you up to?"

The "priest" who was praying was none other than Youming, the Limitless Ruler of the Youhai Clan.

Three days ago, he received news that a ruler from an alien civilization had descended upon the Natural Federation and met with the Great World Tree. And now, before that ruler has even left, the Great World Tree has convened a federation meeting.

What did they learn from that ruler?
Youming didn't understand, but his intuition told him that this meeting was far more than just a simple one.

dong dong dong.

Suddenly, there was a knock on the church door.

Youming didn't turn around, but said in his hoarse, strange voice, "Come in, Yuka."

Squeak!

A rough, unsettling sound came from the hinges of the main door, and then Yuka, whom Lar had met at Carlo's place (the Alchemist Saint), slowly walked into the church.

He walked behind Youming and said in a very respectful voice, "Grandpa, the Machine Race and the Tide Spirit Race are up to something again. We were attacked in the Federation World's settlement area, and they seem to be trying to use public opinion to make us give up the attack."

"Public opinion?" Youming's face showed a hint of helplessness. "I really shouldn't have let you stay in the legion all this time."

Don't just look at the surface of things; look deeper. Do you think I, or any other ruler, care about the opinions of those below me?

A hint of embarrassment flashed across Yuka's face.

"Sorry, Grandpa."

Youming continued, "These opinions are just an attitude. Mechanical and Xiling are saying that if war breaks out again, they will not participate. After all, the Federation has been established for so many years and has deeply penetrated people's hearts. If they rashly leave the Federation, it will inevitably cause great turmoil. Creating some trouble in advance is a way of taking preventative measures."

As he spoke, a mocking smile appeared on Youming's face.

"...However, a paper tiger can't scare people."

Yuka was puzzled. Just now, Xiling had said it was a machine, but how did it suddenly become a paper tiger?
“Yuka, remember this: the Federation was never formed voluntarily. It was created to fight against the Cursed Demon Empire,” Youming said slowly.

"As long as the Cursed Demon Empire exists, the worst outcome for the Federation will be annihilation, not collapse."

Without the Federation, none of our five races, except for the Old Tree, can survive. Therefore, the Machines and the Tide Spirits will never allow the Federation to fall apart.

“But… what if they find another civilization?” Yuka asked hesitantly.

"That foreign ruler, I feel he..."

“Child, this is a gamble,” Youming interrupted. “The Natural Federation is a special entity. Compared to other civilizations, we are just a bunch of pitiful creatures huddling together for warmth. Other civilizations are too powerful. If they want to unite with other civilizations, they will inevitably risk being swallowed up by them.”

We need to strike a balance, a balance that allows the natural federation to continue to exist.

We have run out of room to expand. If we want to develop, we only have two options: war and the surrender of benefits by other civilizations.

certainly……"

A strange light flashed in Youming's eyes.

"War is also a good option."

Yuka nodded as if she understood, then suddenly changed the subject and said somewhat shyly, "Grandpa, do you have any small items here that you don't like?"

"Hmm? That little Tree Spirit doesn't want the World Tree branch anymore?"

“Hmm.” Yuka nodded, then said somewhat indignantly, “That herbalist saint has such strange taste. He wouldn’t even listen to me when I offered him a branch of a level six World Tree, but he treated a tree shepherd like a treasure when he got some random thing, and even came out to ask to see the owner of that thing.”

Youming ignored Yuka's complaints. The Spirit Medicine Saint was a figure among the world's rulers, but in Youming's eyes, he was just a junior with some ability.

"That's how it is when you ask someone for a favor. Go to the warehouse later and take a look. If you see something you like, just take it."

After saying this, a dimensional gate woven from tree roots appeared before Youming.

……

The Machine Race's Mother World.

On the vast steel plain, countless cold-colored giant buildings stand, from which the constant rumble of machinery never ceases.

In the center of this vast plain, there is a small building that looks like a handicraft workshop.

Inside the building, an old, somewhat rusty-looking robot was talking to a creature resembling a spirit octopus.

“Mechanical Head, you’re very well-informed. What exactly is Old Tree planning by suddenly convening a Federation meeting this time?” the Tide Spirit said.

The old robot, whom he called the Mechanical Head, shook his rusty head.

"There's no news, but I suspect this meeting might be related to that guy Youming visiting him a while ago."

"That Youming fellow is incorrigible; he wants to start another war as soon as the first one ended. He's a real scoundrel."

"Yes, what a despicable wretch," sighed the Tide Spirit. "Isn't peace good?"

“I have a feeling that something’s wrong with him this time,” the old machine man suddenly said. “It’s not unusual for the Dark Horde to like war, but he’s in a bit too much of a hurry this time.”

The war has just ended, and he wants to restart it? This is highly unusual. I've heard that the Dark Ones seem to be hiding something in their mother world…”

The Xiling Clan was taken aback upon hearing this, and suddenly slapped the old machine man on the head with a soft thud.

"Mechanical head, are you monitoring the Underworld!?"

The old machine slapped away the tentacles of the Tide Spirit Clan.

"Don't put it so harshly. It's not like the Youhai Clan doesn't use puppets. It's perfectly reasonable for us to find some information when we were retrieving the puppets."

"Hey, you son of a bitch, I'm going to throw away all our clan's puppets when I get back! You old bastard, you're too cunning."

The old machine glanced at the Tide Spirit Clan, calmly took out a red-hot metal ingot from the furnace beside him, and shaped it into the form of a gear with his hand.

"Don't talk like you don't know. No puppet has ever entered your holy land."

"You fucking were spying on us!" the Xiling clan continued to roar.

"This is called an accidental discovery."

The old machine quenched the gears with oil and then stuffed them into his body.

The next moment, a dimensional gate woven from tree roots appeared before them.

"Let's go, it's time for the meeting."

……

The Federal Conference is not convened within the natural federal dimension, but rather in a neutral federal world.

These regions within the Federation world are divided among five races and do not belong to any one race.

At the heart of the Federation world, the Great World Tree and Richard stood in front of the conference hall doors, chatting casually.

"Honestly, is it a bit inappropriate for an outsider like me to participate in this meeting?"

Richard scratched his head, and a piercing cutting sound rang out as the crystals collided—out of caution, Richard did not come in his true form, but instead used the Overlord puppet as his body.

The Great World Tree glanced at him and replied, "You're the main character at this meeting. If you don't come, how am I supposed to persuade that stubborn mule?"

"Stubborn donkey?"

A dimensional portal suddenly opened in front of the two, and a ghostly figure emerged from it, a gauntlet-like figure with a terrifying smile on its face.

"Old tree, who are you talking about?"

(End of this chapter)