710 Vertical Alliance, Trend Part 2 (1/2)

Even if this suggestion did not tempt Saleen, it would have tempted the noble families around him. Gathering their armies at Huoxing City was only an opportunity. Whether anything would come out of it would still have to depend on Holy Rock City. Since Lex had decided to rebuild the city, there was no need to worry about Holy Rock City anymore.

In the end, Saleen still managed to convince Lex to invest in a fleet.

The reason was simple. There was a gigantic lake separating Qin, Cloudflow, and Titan. This lake was close to one-thousand miles wide and was practically an ocean.

If a fleet patrolled this lake actively, all the cities around the lake could be potential targets.

Lex occupied some lands near Luolan where the lake was only a few hundred miles behind. It would be a good location to launch attacks on Cloudflow or the south of Qin in future.

Lex knew what Saleen wanted; the real diagram of the Grukos family's diving combat vessel and more mages.

”Alright, alright,” Lex said to Saleen helplessly, ”I will give you the diagram and you will help me build a fleet. I will provide the money and the mages. I will send over five-hundred low-level mages and one-thousand high-level apprentices to Metatrin to help out in your alchemy factories. You have to deliver the fleet by next spring.”

”So many!” Saleen was shocked.

”Father left them for me, why do you think I have the determination to enter Luolan? This will not affect the development of Bitter Water Prefecture. After they follow you…”

Saleen smiled and said, ”I will not treat them badly. I know how you usually treat your mages.”

”That's good. Gather the materials you need quickly. As big as the lake may be, it will never be as dangerous as the ocean. There is still a fleet from Cloudflow on the lake so my vessels must be the best.”

”Don't worry. I will send a skeletal warship over as well. Warships are easily longer than one-hundred yards. I will not be able to send them over in one piece.”

”I will be advancing into a sorcerer very soon. I will then be able to make full use of God's ring. A hundred yard long warship is nothing. As long as I have sufficient mental strength, I will be able to store it.”

Saleen then realized that Lex's abilities were way above his expectations. He had no idea what else Emperor Chanake left behind for her before his death.

Being born into a good family would really make things so much easier compared to being poor.

The only thing that Emperor Chanake would never expect was that Lex would build up a country and expand her armies by ten times so quickly. She did not lack money, materials, or mages. She only lacked armor, weapons, and arrows; all of which could be obtained easily.

Based on Lex's status, these items could be purchased legally. Lex urgently needed to obtain these items within a month and could not seek help from Holy Rock City, so she came to Saleen for help.

What Saleen could not figure out was why Lex would lack magic nuclei.

After the military issues had been discussed, agricultural issues were next. Lex did not hide the fact that she wanted to take over Phoenix for its land. The land in Metatrin was fertile, but the window for farming was short. A change in weather could easily cause countless seeds to go to waste. This was why Saleen only dared to grow vegetables.

Green vegetables could be harvested within one to two months, but grain was a different case. He would not be able to hasten the process.

The weather in Bitter Water Prefecture was not any better. It was close to mountains and the soil was barren. Even the underground water was mostly bitter. If not for the snow accumulated on the high mountains that provided freshwater, Bitter Water Prefecture would not have been able to sustain its population of one-million.

Conquering half of Phoenix would solve the problem of lack of grain for both Saleen and Lex.

Lex's purpose for fighting in Luolan was to quickly develop an elite army. Her main priority was still Phoenix. If she could choose to ignore Holy Rock City's reaction, she would have deployed troops at the border and built a pass opposite of Guderian City to completely seal off the route towards Qin.

Saleen had struggled for close to two years, but still had yet to develop such an ability to see the bigger picture. Being aware of the global trends had long been an ability that the royal family felt confident in. It was due to pure luck that Saleen managed to control the resources in oceanic ice block for the time-being. If not for the enormous number of magic nuclei provided by the oceanic ice block, Saleen would not have been able to support so many armies.

Lex eventually left. Within these short two days, she and Saleen exchanged thousands of opinions and made many decisions together. It was fortunate that both of them were also mages and could use magic to boost their memories.

Both of them even shared the same thought that Nicholas would escort Lex on her journey back.

The strongest person that Saleen could deploy was Nicholas. Nicholas had no choice but to accept Saleen's order. He really did not wish to get any closer to the Holy See's army for fear that he would be found out and by then, who knew what kind of people the Holy See would send to deal with him?

After a thorough discussion with Lex, Saleen had finally understood the direction he should be taking. Huoxing City was more important than he thought. Lex left behind a lot of gold coins for Saleen to hire manpower for the building of the city.

Saleen had a plan. Since Huoxing City, Cexing City, and Tuxing City were originally cities that had been militarized, they would form an important gate on Phoenix's north-south tunnel after they had been rebuilt.

Huoxing City would have to undergo expansion in order to fit two-hundred-thousand men and one-hundred-thousand soldiers. The cities on both sides would also have to be expanded in order to fit more than forty-thousand men. These three cities would split Phoenix up so that the northern lands could be reclaimed for agriculture. Once the crops had been harvested, they would be kept for their own use instead of being sold.

After ten years, he would have the means to feed armies made of millions.