The wizard era begins with the alchemist wizard

Chapter 885 Silent Pollution

“Things unearthed from the ruins of an ancient civilization… we can’t just say things like that,” Richard said thoughtfully.

At this critical juncture, if the Youhai Clan is labeled with such a accusation, then they can basically be judged as traitors.

It's truly absurd that a race possessing the power to break through limits would become a dog for civilization devourers.

“I can assure you that this news is true. Youming even had Yougui personally watch over that thing,” the Mechanical Clan Chief said earnestly. “However… no one knows what that thing actually is except for Youming and Yougui.”

Perhaps that thing was just a highly advanced machine from a previous civilization.

Richard nodded slightly: "Possibly."

But while he said that, he was secretly having some doubts.

When the Hearthkin civilization made its sacrifice, it must have deliberately destroyed information about previous civilizations. Otherwise, there's no reason why dragons couldn't have created a civilization.

In other words, these relics are either unknown to the Ruins people or deemed unimportant and unlikely to affect the development of civilization.

In this situation, it's highly unlikely that there's something that would make even the ruler act secretly.

"Moreover, the actions of the Netherworld this time are somewhat strange," the chieftain of the Mechanical Race added. "It is common knowledge within the Federation that the Netherworld race is warlike, but this time the Netherworld is acting too hastily."

The war had only just ended, and decades had passed before they were already clamoring to reignite the flames of war.

Connecting this to what you said, the Netherworld is highly suspicious.

Richard remained silent, simply keeping the news of the Machine Clan Chief in his heart.

"Any other news on this?" Richard asked.

The mechanical race warrior shook his head slightly and removed the dimensional barrier.

"That's all for now. That's all I can do. The future of the Federation rests entirely on your shoulders."

Richard let out a sigh of relief and suddenly changed the subject.

"This matter is not urgent. I have heard that you have made great achievements in mechanics, energy cycles, and rule construction. And I happen to have some research in these areas as well."

We feel an instant connection today; let's exchange ideas and grow together.

The chieftain of the mechanical race was taken aback for a moment, then laughed and said, "Very well, I also want to see the wizard's skills."

……

The Mother World of the Dark Horde.

Youming sat before the statue of the god, praying as usual.

But this time, a nauseating murmur suddenly echoed through the church.

Before the Netherworld, the marble statue of the god suddenly changed its appearance. Its face became incredibly ferocious, and its once smooth lines were now filled with discordant straight lines.

The whispers echoing in the church came from this statue.

Youming opened his eyes, his expression calm and composed.

Clearly, this is not the first time this has happened.

Suddenly, a blood-red mist emanated from his body. Within the thick fog, he appeared as a demon king emerging from hell, ferocious and terrifying.

"Ghost, you're always so unreliable..."

As he spoke, the scene in the church suddenly changed. The once dark and magnificent church instantly became ugly and grotesque. Black veins, like blood vessels, grew in the church walls, and where the idol was placed, a hideous black monster was imprisoned in a cage with blood and white bones, firmly trapped in place.

Beside him, the Ghost Lord, who looked almost exactly like him, was struggling to hold on.

Black veins, just like those on the wall, have appeared on his body.

Youming ignored Yougui, his blood-red eyes fixed on the statue not far away.

"You've already been reduced to livestock for power extraction, yet you can still cause such a commotion. It seems you must have some connection with the monster the wizard mentioned."

As they spoke, the crimson mist had already enveloped the entire church.

The crimson mist collided with the black veins, producing a sizzling sound like corrosion. Under the erosion of the crimson mist, the black veins on the wall gradually faded, and eventually, the entire church returned to normal.

The ghost opened its eyes at that moment, and the black veins on its body had disappeared.

"I have failed in my duty, clan leader," he whispered to Youming.

Youming glanced at him but didn't criticize him.

"This thing is inherently strange; your momentary oversight is nothing serious. How well has the power been extracted from it?"

"It's still the same. Without the stimulation of war, this thing remains in a half-dead state."

Upon hearing this, Youming nodded, a hint of greed in his eyes as he looked at the skeleton cage.

"This is really a good thing. We've been using it as a battery for so many years, and it's still in this condition."

The ghost was silent, its eyes filled only with reverence for the underworld.

This thing is even more ferocious than a typical ruler of endless dimensions, and its bizarre abilities could even affect rulers of civilizations like them.

But this very being was sealed away by the Netherworld and became nourishment for the mother world of the Netherworld Clan.

The craters of corpses necessary for the birth of the Netherworld race are a drain on the world. Throughout history, the Netherworld's mother world has periodically entered a period of decline.

In each era of Dharma Decline, the Netherworld race needs a massive amount of demonic essence to maintain the Corpse Pit in order to reproduce. Otherwise, the Corpse Pit will disappear due to the Dharma Decline.

But since that thing was sealed, the Corpse Pit no longer needs the world's support.

Even the expansion of the world has resumed. This is incredibly good news for the Haunted Race, whose mother world is a small world.

“Be careful lately,” Youming suddenly said. “This thing has a very unusual origin. I suspect it’s part of the body of some terrifying being. We absolutely cannot underestimate it just because it’s sealed.”

Also...has this thing been more active lately than before?

The ghost was taken aback, and after thinking carefully for a while, it frowned and said:

"In terms of activity level, this thing has indeed been more active recently than before. However, after I increased the extraction power, its activity level dropped back down."

"You increased the extraction power?" Youming frowned immediately. "Why didn't you tell me about this!"

The ghost was somewhat frightened, not knowing why the underworld had suddenly become angry.

“Chief, I only increased the power a little bit, which is within the normal adjustment range. We did the same thing when its activity decreased before.”

Youming paused for a moment, then said seriously, "...Next time something like this happens, you must report it to me immediately."

"Yes, patriarch."

……

Time flies, and before we know it, it's time for the start of the Grand Machinery Festival.

On this day, the Machine Race from all over the Federation will gather in the Machine Race's mother world to hold a huge carnival that spans the entire world.

The carnival will last for seven days, during which the mechanical race will abandon their work and devote themselves entirely to the entertainment.

Even during wartime, the Grand Mechanics Festival never stopped, only the number of participants decreased.

Standing in front of the Machine Clan Chief's workshop, Richard observed the Machine Clan members returning from various parts of the Natural Federation. Suddenly, he asked the Machine Clan Chief beside him, "What is your Great Machine Festival for?"

"What are we celebrating?" the chieftain of the Machine Race replied with a laugh. "We don't celebrate anything. The Great Machine Festival is held only once every five years. This day is meant to be a day for the Machine Race, who are engaged in eternal labor, to relax."

Friend, although I may look like a machine, I am still a living being.

Every living thing needs rest.

Richard was taken aback. He hadn't expected that this holiday would be meaningless... No, rest itself is meaningful.

"Haha, I was being narrow-minded. Holidays are for people to relax."

Amidst his laughter, Richard suddenly emanated a surge of energy.

Immediately afterwards, the alchemical golems scattered throughout the world began to move.

During these two months, Richard exchanged alchemical techniques with the chieftain of the Machine Clan and also produced a large number of alchemical golems.

These puppets are not physically strong, only at the level of a third-tier native creature. However, they all possess the ability to detect the contamination by the civilization devourers.

As soon as there is contamination from civilization devourers nearby, they will immediately locate the source of the contamination and then transmit the information to the Mother Nest—that is, Richard's Overlord puppet.

The mechanical race chieftain sensed the energy fluctuations, and his expression immediately turned serious.

A fluctuation of dimensional power emanated from him, and outside the world, a massive astral warship, almost blotting out the sky, began its operation.

These warships are dimensional creations of the Mechanical Race chieftain, and they will completely seal off the Mechanical Race's mother world during this period.

Even a fly or a piece of iron filings cannot escape this world.

Richard walked up to the chieftain of the Machine Clan and patted him on the shoulder with a smile.

"Machine, don't panic. My puppets haven't detected a single Corruptor so far. Given this probability, even if there really is a Corruptor..."

Richard's smile suddenly froze before he could finish speaking.

Just a moment ago, more than one in ten thousand of his alchemical golems sounded an alarm. And that percentage is still rising.

Richard's expression turned serious.

"Goodness, this is a big problem."

Noticing the odd expression on Richard's face, the mechanical patriarch's heart sank to the bottom.

After these days of conversation, he realized that the alchemist in front of him was definitely not an ordinary person, and what he said was not a joke.

In other words, the monster's contamination is absolutely real.

"Is it serious?" the mechanical race chieftain couldn't help but ask.

Richard paused for a moment, then shook his head slightly.

"It's not just serious, it's that something is very wrong. There are too many contaminated people. With this many contaminated people, your Natural Federation should have been occupied by the Civilization Devourers long ago."

The Machine Race is the most widely distributed of the five races, second only to the Tree Spirits.

Except for certain special worlds, almost every world has the presence of mechanical races.

They are the perfect factory owners, the perfect workers, and the perfect engineers. Other races need the Machine Race to help them develop local resources.

Richard switched his view to the puppet's perspective, where the reveling crowd was constantly twisting and turning.

One part after another fell off them and was then haphazardly reattached to their bodies—this was quite normal at the Great Machinery Festival.

Seeing this, Richard had a sudden inspiration.

"No! Someone is deliberately spreading pollution!"

(End of this chapter)