The Magic Empire for 20,000 years

Chapter 275 Resources and Warning Zones
"The Iron Lake Forge is currently the largest forge in the Abyss of the Empire."

"Most of the humans working here are mid-level production mages. In addition, many low-level spellcasters also leave the core security zone from time to time to come here to do some simple work."

The mage girl pointed to a mold filled with molten iron in the distance:
"Being attached to a natural lake like the Iron Lake makes the manufacture of many steel-based magical items and constructs much easier."

"The molten iron extracted from the molten iron lake is itself the highest quality super steel, allowing us to break free from our dependence on the super materials of the Elf Kingdom."

"For example, here, parts for the Iron Golem are being manufactured."

The molten iron in the mold gradually cooled and took shape, becoming a component resembling an arm. Before it had fully cooled, it was picked up by a demon with fire resistance and carried onto the enchanting circle.

On the magic circle, rings of gray runes lit up, and surging, dazzling purple energy poured into the massive, heavy steel arm, giving it supernatural toughness and magic resistance.

Antonio stared at the scene with great interest, his eyes glued to it.

“Mr. Antonio, when you came in from outside just now, you should have seen a huge arcane energy tower.”

"That energy tower constantly draws power from the ley lines of the abyss to keep these enchanted magic arrays running."

"With this large forge built upon the natural molten iron lake and the energy of the abyss, the manufacturing cost of steel golems and various metal magical weapons and armor has been reduced by more than half!"

Costs halved!

Antonio was very sensitive to these cost-related news items, and then asked:

"However, we have relatively few combat professionals in Eldoron, so the demand for forging various magical weapons and armor doesn't seem to be high?"

The mage girl nodded:
"That's right. So the golems produced at the base are generally for their own use. The enchanted weapons and armor produced are sold to the Elven Royal Court, but the demand from the elves is limited."

Antonio is a businessman whose industries are closely linked to trade between the two countries. Naturally, he could also sense that in the past year or two, the number of magical weapons and armor exported to the Elven Kingdom had increased.

Correspondingly, prices have also dropped significantly.

I've heard that the dwarf kingdom in the south is most interested in weapon and armor forging...

If Eldoron were to establish trade relations with the Southern Dwarf Kingdom in the future...

They even directly invited dwarven artisans to collaborate at the Iron Lake base...

There are plenty of business opportunities here...

Antonio's mind raced.

"Next, Mr. Antonio, I'll take you to see the [Resources and Warning Zone] on the outer ring."

Afterwards, the mage girl in charge of receiving them led Antonio to the edge of the Central Industrial Zone.

Beyond the massive, heavy iron gate and steel fence lies a vast wilderness.

"It's probably more dangerous outside, isn't it? Is it alright for us to go out?" Antonio asked cautiously.

"It's alright. In fact, Eldoron possesses absolute military power in the first layer of the Abyss. Ordinary secondary lords wouldn't dare to offend us."

“Usually we need to be wary of enemies, which are large, unintelligent abyssal monsters in the wild,” the mage girl said.

They walked out of the heavily reinforced steel gates and entered this outer "resource and restricted zone".

Compared to the core security zone and the Central Industrial Zone, this area is far more vast and desolate, with jagged, twisted hills. The blood-red sun shines on the earth, and a fierce wind howls through the land.

"This is what the bottomless abyss truly looks like..."

"What we saw before was the appearance of civilization after it had been modified by the Imperial Production Mages..."

Antonio couldn't help but sigh as he looked at the relatively wild restricted area.

A magnificent steel fortress, like a crouching steel behemoth, appeared utterly indestructible. Human professionals could be faintly seen coming and going from it.

Beside it stood watchtowers built of stone, each topped with a tireless skeleton archer, constantly on guard against any external threats.

Each golem and zombie stood motionless like a steadfast sentinel, guarding its position, only transforming into terrifying killing machines when the war truly began. A legion of nearly a thousand demons was stationed on the outer perimeter, protecting the entire Abyss base.

Compared to constructs and undead, they were much noisier, constantly chattering.

Every now and then, a few green Quassa demons would fly in from afar, acting as scouts to report on the movements of large abyssal beasts and other secondary lord legions.

In addition, many demons were going in and out of a mine, carrying large chunks of ore and pushing them in carts to the Central Industrial Area.

The female mage explained:
"Here stands the demon legion, subservient to Eldoron, and they submit to the Balrog Lord Ratu and other powerful demons under the control of the empire."

"As beings from another world, demons do not need to eat or sleep, and can guard this place for a long time."

"This is the rear of the Imperial Abyss colonies, so there aren't many demon troops stationed here. More demon troops are on the front lines, expanding Eldoron's territory."

"During non-combat periods, they are responsible for mining, extracting unique abyssal minerals such as [Abyssal Amethyst] and [Abyssal Blood Refined Steel]."

"When the war begins, we will intentionally send the less obedient and unruly demons to the front as cannon fodder. After doing this many times, what remains are the more obedient demons. Heh, even among demons, there are relatively obedient individuals."

Looking at those hideous and terrifying demons, Antonio seemed to imagine the magnificent scene of this demon army marching out in a mighty force and starting a war.

It's unbelievable that these inherently chaotic and evil creatures have become servants of a magical empire...

Antonio sighed inwardly, then suddenly noticed something and pointed to a deep, enclosed pit:

"what is that?"

The bottomless, pitch-black pit was surrounded by a fence, and a group of undead soldiers armed with cold iron weapons, as well as two golems made of demonic flesh and blood, stood guard nearby.

"What is this big pit?" Antonio asked, puzzled.

"This is a deep pit leading to another level of the abyss," the mage girl explained.

"In Pazunia, the first level of the abyss, the ground is covered with large pits that lead to different levels of the abyss."

"Some pits are two-way, while others are one-way."

"Whenever a territory in the abyss is taken control of, or a large pit is controlled, a special team will be dispatched with magical pets and prophetic magic effects such as the [Spying Eye] and [Arcane Eye] to enter these pits and investigate the situation. They will mark the abyss level that each pit leads to, and whether it is a one-way or two-way portal."

"According to His Majesty Elion, these portals leading to other abyssal levels have immense hidden value, and it is essential to ensure that they remain under Eldoron's control."

Antonio, who had been in business for many years, was well aware of the value of portals and teleportation arrays.

The Abyss Rift itself is a giant portal leading to the abyss.

It was through this portal that Eldoron was able to expand its territory in the bottomless abyss.

"It seems that the future empire will not only control the first layer, but will also embark on a path of conquest towards the deeper and more distant layers of the abyss..."

Antonio exclaimed.

As a seasoned businessman, an idea immediately came to his mind:
In the material world, teleportation arrays that connect various places, including Eldoron and the Elven Kingdom, have enormous commercial value.

These teleportation arrays are enough to create an entire thriving commercial district.

In other words, Eldoron did not charge for using these teleportation arrays; otherwise, just collecting "tolls" would have been an enormous source of revenue.

Do these portals leading to different levels of the abyss have the same value?
In the future, is it possible that Eldoron might attract other forces and travelers who want to travel to different levels of the abyss, charging them "tolls" or leasing the right to use these portals to certain forces?
As a businessman, one might also take the initiative to contract out a portion of the business and extract corresponding profits from it.

"But what power would need these portals that connect to other levels of the Abyss?" Antonio wondered.

Just as Antonio was pondering this, he suddenly saw a powerful and imposing procession marching past.

It was a mixed force consisting of a dozen or so humans, dozens of undead soldiers, two clay golems, and two demons bound by a pact, heading towards the distant wilderness.

(End of this chapter)