Necromancer, summoning 055? What the heck?

Chapter 510 Engagement Exhibition: Congratulations from All Directions
Autumn in Hanhai City is the most pleasant season of the year.

For this remote border town, located in a saline-alkali desert and having been tormented by successive pioneering lords, the word "pleasant" had never existed in the past.

If I had to say something, I would say it's "easy to kill people".

The story of "viewing plum blossoms in the snow" is still remembered by some elderly people in the desert.

Snow is the white frost of salt flats, plum blossoms are the stains of blood.

It can be said that before it became part of the Vast Ocean Territory, the Saltwater Beach was an absolute dead end of civilization and a land of tyranny.

Now, the situation has changed dramatically.

Although no city walls have been built yet, the area centered around the Lord's Mansion of Hanhai has been transformed into a grand city with its buildings, green trees, rice paddies, and factories.

The improved poplar trees outside the city are beginning to turn yellow, and from a distance, they look like a burning golden flame, stretching from the western horizon of the city all the way to the eastern sea.

A cool breeze from the northern wilderness passes through Qishan Pass and travels south along the newly built road, bringing exceptional freshness to this rapidly changing city.

When the wind blows, the forest rustles and whispers, like thousands of troops waving their battle flags.

Of course, the pleasantness of autumn is just an objective assessment. If you ask locals about their subjective feelings on when Hanhai City is most comfortable, the answer will almost certainly be—

When the lord was in the Vast Sea, the Vast Sea was a paradise on earth.

Now that the lord has returned to the Vast Ocean, the Vast Ocean has become more lively than ever before.

Chen Mo, Chairman of the Summer Moon Alliance and Lord of the Vast Ocean, has finally extended an invitation to the entire continent.

He's getting engaged!
This idea, of course, came from Ma Tianheng, the old man.

"We can postpone the wedding, but let's have the engagement ceremony first, I need it!"

Chen Mo's face darkened: "Useful? What do you want to do with me?"

"It's okay to accept money for engagements. We've been a bit tight on finances lately, and we've borrowed too much money from Wangyue Golden Pavilion. We need to accept some gifts to recoup some losses!"

"Also, I'm planning to organize an exhibition while I'm at it!"

Ma Tianheng pulled out a thick stack of documents and spread them on the table. Chen Mo glanced at them; at the very top was a striking headline—

Preparation Plan for the Engagement Ceremony of Lord Chen Mo of the Vast Ocean and Princess Liushuang of the Silver Moon (Third Draft, Sixth Edition)

"Let's talk about the engagement first. The plan has been revised repeatedly, but this version is finally almost done!"

"The engagement ceremony will be held in the square in front of the City Lord's Mansion. The venue is quite good and can accommodate 6,000 people at the same time. If the number of people exceeds the limit, I will build some more stands."

"Hurry up and sign the document, I'll arrange for the foreign affairs department to extend an invitation!"

Chen Mo: "Where would we need such a large venue?"

Old Ma plopped down opposite Chen Mo and pushed the documents toward Chen Mo again: "This time I invited a lot of people, even the orcs. For such a big event as our Han Hai, every single force in the entire Starry Sky has to come and offer tribute!"

Chen Mo was somewhat speechless: "We're fighting the orcs like this, and they're going to come?"

"That depends on how you invite them. If I invite them, they will definitely come. Otherwise, our war will have been fought for nothing!"

"Furthermore, I have verified the bloodline. Princess Liushuang is from a prominent clan with a clear lineage among the orcs. Inviting her clan in Liushuang's name this time is a way of giving them a chance to catch their breath. They are just reckless, not stupid."

Chen Mo reluctantly took the pen, signed it first, and then looked at it: "Fine, you've arranged everything, what can I do?"

What are the plans for the future?

"We'll talk about the rest later." Old Ma stood up, patted the dust off his clothes, and said, "Once you've got engaged, you can get married later. There'll be plenty of time to think about it."

"By the way, regarding the return gifts, here are the standards I've drafted. This involves the fiscal budget, so you'll need to sign off on it separately."

"A return gift? How much?"

“No money!” Ma Tianheng smiled slightly. “In return, I’ll give you a ticket to the first Commodity Expo on the Starry Continent.”

Okay, I knew it...

Old Ma's brain is really something—

It works so well!

Sigrún has taught at the Iceland University of the Arts as a part-time lecturer since and was Dean of the Department of Fine Art from -. In – she held a research position at Reykjavík Art Museum focusing on the role of women in Icelandic art. She studied fine art at the Icelandic College of Arts and Crafts and at Pratt Institute, New York, and holds BA and MA degrees in art history and philosophy from the University of Iceland. Sigrún lives and works in Iceland.

When Han Hai's announcement spread far and wide, the entire Starry Continent was in an uproar.

Chen Mo and Liu Shuang's engagement was something everyone had expected; it was just a matter of time. In fact, it happened much later than most forces had anticipated.

The fact that the young couple only made their official announcement today is unbelievable to many people.

It's worth noting that the experiences of these two individuals are truly fascinating.

The story of this young couple's past has long been compiled into hundreds of different poems by bards from all over the world, and is known to everyone.

Those wandering singers, in taverns, squares, beside carriages, and in camps, would almost always include this piece in their performances. So much so that the old site of the Six-Leaf Forest has now become a legendary place that many adventurers from across the continent must visit at least once in their lifetime.

They stepped over the charred remains of the fence and listened to the singers chanting amidst the overgrown weeds: a young necromancer, a beautiful elven princess, eternal love, and a heart-wrenching story.

The wild grass was already above knee-high, and when the wind blew, it stirred up layers of green waves, creating a stunningly beautiful scene.

What adventurers on the continent talk about most is that it was in this small camp that the three giants of the Vast Ocean Territory emerged: Chen Mo, Liu Shuang, and Kaga, along with dozens of high-ranking centaur generals from the Vast Ocean Field Army and the National Defense Army.

Many professionals come here with a sense of pilgrimage, hoping to absorb some of the "noble atmosphere" of the place.

Finally, this magical place was destroyed, becoming ruins, adding a touch of tragic beauty and destiny to the story.

Now, the male and female protagonists in this story are finally going to live happily ever after.

As for why this particular time, the bards have provided a clear answer.

According to their legend, the young Lord Chen Mo once made a promise with the girl that he would marry her by stepping over the bones of all his enemies.

Come, look up!

The Black Crow Castle, which once bullied Chen Mo, has been reduced to shoveled land by Mirror Lake;
The Green Pine Kingdom, which once hunted down the male and female protagonists, has vanished into the dust of history.
Xi Yue, who once aided and abetted the tyrant, is now facing the emperor's disappearance and the devastation of the nation.

Even the orcish empire, which sent wolf riders south to capture the young princess, is now cowering in the cold winds of the north...

Looking down across the vast wilderness, all enemies were now corpses, drifting downstream. What a legend this was!
It has to be said that, after being spread by this group of wandering singers, this story has indeed gained a lot of goodwill.

Even the most recent victims of the war, the remnants of the Green Pine Kingdom whose bones were broken by the hammer, and the orc forces whose bodies were partially paralyzed by the bomb, couldn't help but feel a little admiration for the young couple.

Han Hai's previous image of waging wars everywhere and engaging in militarism has been completely cleansed by this wave of propaganda, making it appear noble, virtuous, and beautiful.

Without a doubt, the stories mentioned above originated from Hanhai's publicity department, and the overall outline and publicity strategy were naturally the work of Lao Ma.

Chen Mo, who was instantly packaged into a national idol, could only sigh deeply that the capable are capable of anything, and the all-around warrior is too unreasonable.

However, the above is not all of Lao Ma's plan.

For an engagement ceremony like this, unless someone is completely brain-dead, most people would at least show their support after receiving an invitation.

Taking advantage of the opportunity to invite representatives from various countries to the Han Hai to attend the lord's engagement ceremony, Old Ma organized a meeting.

The first commodity fair on the Starry Continent was later simply referred to as the first "Star Fair".

According to the official announcement from the Han Hai, because of the lord's decisive and prudent actions, which moved the gods above and protected his people below, he received the blessing of the god of industry, the mechanical lord, and a batch of "magical gifts from a distant world" for Han Hai.

Its efficiency is miraculous, and its craftsmanship is ingenious. Among them are devices that can enable real-time communication across thousands of miles.

With the aim of fostering friendly exchanges and building harmony with other countries, these items will be exhibited at the trade fair and available for purchase or pre-order from various countries.

This time, even their enemies have no choice but to come. Even if Han Hai doesn't sell to them, they still need to find out what's going on.

Soon, replies from all sides poured into the Han Hai City Council like snowflakes, and envoys from various countries and forces of all sizes embarked on their journeys to Han Hai. The first to arrive in Han Hai was the delegation from the Qi Yue Dynasty.

This was completely unexpected. You see, in terms of state relations, the relationship between the Qiyue Dynasty and the Hanhai was not exactly close, but at least completely unrelated.

Judging from the level of the representatives of various forces in Hanhai City, the person Qiyue placed here was just a tiny field operative.

As for past personal relationships... well, there's no personal relationship between the two sides. Chen Mo has neither friends nor enemies in Qiyue, while Liu Shuang has both friends and enemies in Qiyue.

They cancel each other out, which is roughly equivalent to having no personal relationship.

In terms of distance, apart from the sky that is separated by mountains, there is almost no place farther from the political center of Qiyue than the vast sea.

So, why was Qiyue the first to arrive at the Vast Ocean?

It was just a coincidence.

The great victories of the Vast Ocean against the Green Pine and the Orcs had a profound impact on the Qiyue Dynasty.

For a long time, the Jade Kingdom, a vassal state of Qiyue, was constantly battered by Green Pine and Orcs. It was only thanks to the support of the Qiyue Dynasty that Jade Kingdom was spared many times.

Based on the enemy's strength, Qiyue can determine the approximate level of strength of the enemy's enemy, namely, Han Hai.

The fatal flaw is that during the Qingfeng Mountain Netherworld invasion of the "Eternal Swamp" launched by the orcs and coordinated by the Twilight Tower, certain family forces of Qiyue were involved, and Han Hai obtained concrete evidence of their involvement.

There are letters, videos, witnesses, and physical evidence... it's irrefutable.

A review of Qiyue's court revealed that those who followed the Tower of Twilight were nothing but a bunch of worthless scoundrels. Only Qiyue was a respectable great power. This was truly shameful!

After an emergency discussion, Qiyue decided to send a delegation to clarify the matter.

Although we at Qiyue don't like Hanhai, we need to make our words clear and not escalate individual actions to the level of the nation.

Despite still harboring an inescapable arrogance, he unexpectedly found himself at this grand event.

What else is there to say? Let's go with the flow and go directly to their door to offer our congratulations.

The gifts were readily available: various local specialties, rare materials, exotic flowers and stones, and magical items from the upper reaches of the Fantasy Flame River, filling three large carts.

The councilor in charge of receiving them was quite indignant: "A bunch of junk, not even a single silver coin!"

However, Chen Mo was quite satisfied because the relationship was not harmonious enough, and Qiyue had always been a blind spot for him in procurement, and he simply could not come into contact with many rare categories.

This time, we can greatly expand the database of Dongxia.

Following closely behind was the Misty Moon Divine Court.

Upon receiving the news, the Divine Court attached great importance to it. In particular, after hearing that the special envoy from Qiyue had arrived ahead of time, the Divine Court once again used the Silver Pegasus mount to carry the archbishop from the Divine Court's main hall directly to the Vast Sea.

That's right, this time it's not the representatives from the Holy City below, but from the central authority of the Divine Court.

Archbishop Somerfield was an old man in his sixties. At his age, among the old guard of the priesthood, he was considered a true "youngster." Although he was slightly hunched over, he was still quite vigorous and walked with a brisk pace.

Every day that the old man came, he kept observing around, observing the world of the Vast Ocean, which was called "the Lost Ones" by the Divine Court.

Indeed, for a theocratic state like the Divine Court, there must be an explanation for not believing in gods and not venerating the Seven-Eyed God.

If the Divine Court can eliminate the opponent, then without a doubt, it is an evil "heretic".

If they can't beat or defeat them, they will be called "lost souls." It's not that they don't believe in God, but that they haven't found the path to faith in God.

The gifts sent by the Divine Court this time were imbued with religious significance in every aspect.

For example, the "Seven-Eyed Sacred Statue" at the top of the list is about three feet tall and is carved from a single piece of volcanic white crystal. It is clear and flawless and is said to have been soaked in holy water and blessed by divine messengers. Every part of it contains sacred light.

Another example is "a lamp that burns eternally with divine fire," which is said to be made from the ever-burning divine fire in the temple of the holy city, requiring no additional fuel and "eternally inextinguishable."

In addition, there are holy scrolls, holy oil, holy water, holy incense, holy salt...

Various items related to the word "saint" were piled up into a small mountain.

The Divine Court cannot afford to let its old rival, Qiyue, outdo it.

Later that evening, delegations from other factions also arrived.

The most eye-catching of them all is, of course, the Sky Empire.

They arrived last, but with the largest entourage.

The team alone had more than 600 members, and when the large group marched into the vast sea, it even activated the patrol alarms on the city's outskirts.

Grand Secretary Chen Qingyan, an old acquaintance of Chen Mo, personally led a team to the scene and was warmly welcomed by Chen Mo.

After meeting, Chen Mo looked around for a while before asking, "His Highness the Crown Prince didn't come? I remember he said he was going to visit me in Han Hai last time?"

"He can't come!"

Chen Qingyan seemed completely unconcerned about exposing his shortcomings: "Last time I returned to the capital, His Majesty the Emperor was deeply angered by the Crown Prince's recklessness and ignorance, so he severely reprimanded him and ordered him to reflect on his actions behind closed doors. He won't be able to come out for a while."

Indeed, times have changed.

The Sky Dome made the grandest gesture, and its gifts were naturally the most substantial—a full twenty large cartloads of presents, fully expressing the Vast Ocean's respect. As Old Ma remarked when reviewing the list, it truly lived up to the grandeur of a great nation.

However, if they sent twenty cars for the engagement, wouldn't they need two hundred cars for the wedding?

If you and Princess Liushuang have another child every year, and then the gifts you receive will be enough to support half of the Hanhai!
The gifts from the heavens are numerous and substantial, but some of them are merely self-serving pronouncements.

For example, the improved "Universal Flywheel" has achieved a technological leap by incorporating the differential engine technology provided by Hanhai.

It seems... we've really led them astray, haven't we?

Besides the three major powers mentioned above, other countries and forces also arrived just in time, each offering their congratulatory gifts.

As members of the alliance, the various factions of Xiyue jointly presented a "locomotive" made of pure gold.

The thing was incredibly lifelike: it had a chimney, wheels, a driver's cab, and even the hooks connecting the carriages. Although it was smaller than the real thing, only about a third the size of a real locomotive, it still represented the emptying of the gold reserves accumulated by the various tribes of Xiyue over countless years.

Some people felt sorry for the loss and couldn't bear to part with it, but Elder Zegen of Xiyue singled them out and gave them a good scolding.

"In the last battle of Dragonback River, some of you led the retreat, causing a complete rout of the army and shaking the formation. This resulted in heavy casualties for the Silver Moon Guard, and General Jelly was seriously injured. You don't think that's all over now, do you?"

"That person calls Princess Liushuang 'elder sister.' Who knows when this knife will fall on Xiyue's head?"

"Look at the fate of the Green Pine? Look at the end of the Orcs?"

"We're all still relying on the lord to make money, and you don't even have this much sincerity in apologizing. You might as well just disband the tribe and find a place in the countryside to live a life of ease and wait to die!"

Thus, this pure gold locomotive came into being. The inscription on it was specially studied by someone fluent in Dongxia script. On the left is inscribed "Leading All Races" and on the right is inscribed "Blessing All Living Beings".

This thing was carried to the foot of Hanhai City, dazzling people's eyes, and also carrying a profound meaning.

The gift from the elves was personally delivered by Elder Aiona. It was a crown woven from silver moon branches, said to be naturally formed and only grows once every thousand years. It was nourished by the Silver Moon Holy Spring, absorbing the essence of the sun and moon and gathering the spiritual energy of mountains and rivers, making it a sacred artifact of the elven race.

Um, one of the sacred artifacts.

As for its effects, it is said to be able to preserve youth and beauty, ward off evil spirits, and calm the mind...

Without a doubt, this is a great gift for Liu Shuang.

As for the remaining Silver and Mirror Lake, with whom they had a good relationship, and Froststorm and the Orcs, with whom they had no relationship, they all sent envoys or representatives of considerable importance to present congratulatory gifts that were presentable in appearance.

At this time and in this situation, no matter how unwilling one is, one must at least not become a laughing stock.

The formal engagement ceremony is still some time away. In the meantime, envoys from various countries can use the admission tickets provided by Han Hai to visit the first-ever trade fair held on the Starry Continent since its founding.

(End of this chapter)