Chapter 260 – Eastern Conquest Plan 1 (1/2)

[… Honestly, I am interested. However, when I think of how and why my father died, I’m not sure that I’d want to risk my life for it.]

After the death of Emperor Tiberius, Eleanora seemed to have undergone many changes, both in her heart and mind.

Woohyuk decided to console her as much as possible.

“I don’t want to see you getting hurt. At such a young age, governing an entire Empire will certainly not be easy. So, accept Hwarin’s help and grow, but for the time being, forget about the Divine Thrones,” he suggested.

[If you say so, I’ll follow what you say. I’m living to be with you.]

After Emperor Tiberius’ death, the only person that Eleonora could fully trust was Woohyuk.

Woohyuk nodded his head and immediately ended the video call.

‘I feel a little dirty. Something feels wrong or misplaced.’

Tiberius was a greedy and cunning opponent who he had to eliminate sometime in the future.

However, in the case of Eleanora, although she was wild, she was not a villain or politically ambitious.

Thus, Woohyuk felt a sense of guilt for using her as he did.

‘But it can’t be helped. If we start arguing and fighting, the Eastern Conquest expedition plan will become a pipe dream.’

The best-case scenario for Woohyuk was for Eleanora to become a strong enough Empress to defend the Holy Aperian Empire from foreign attacks.

There was no need for him to place her on a Divine Throne seat, nor did he think it would be a good idea.

Placing her on a Divine Throne seat only increased the risk that Eleanora would one day turn into an enemy, especially if his love potion lost its effectiveness once she became a god.

Woohyuk decided to leave for the Eastern Conquest before Hwarin could further convince Eleanora.

“This conquest war will be quite long. Make sure you all are ready,” Woohyuk said aloud.

“…”

Those gathered at the meeting place looked at each other’s faces with nervous expressions.

An Eastern Conquest…

In terms of scale, it would be like a world war.

“Any questions?” Woohyuk followed up.

“Master, when the expedition is over, how about taking the women from the east as prisoners? I’ll build a wonderful palace on this Heavenly Island…”

Bam!

Woohyuk’s fierce fist strike squarely punched Roan in the stomach while he was mid-sentence.

“Don’t say useless things. One more time and I’ll have Helena castrate you,” he warned.

“R-Roan doesn’t want to be castrated! My poor family jewels…” Roan cried out while trembling with fear.

“He’s still better than nothing.”

During the battle against the ancient demon Lucifer, the two Homunculus were damaged and incapacitated.

Woohyuk had them recover and fixed in Inotia, leaving the repairs to Aris.

He did this because they would be a net positive in terms of combat force.

“Asura, this is the new Ishvar Calvary Unit. What do you think? Do you like it?” Aris asked.

While Woohyuk was dealing with Roan, Aris appeared with the Ishvar Calvary Unit.

Woohyuk’s expression darkened.

“Isn’t that the unit who answered 1+1 equals 3 last time?”

“Ha… ha… At that time, there was a little problem with its calculation artificial intelligence (AI)…”

Aris was a bit too greedy on the first prototype, putting a plethora of functions and abilities into it. She had packed so many functions into the first prototype that she overlooked a minor defect.

“Alright, let’s say that’s what happened. Anyway, tell me, what can this guy do?” he asked, still a bit skeptical.

“Since we’ve mass-produced 100 units, we can entrust Inotia’s defense to these units. They can even save lives in the event of a disaster,” Aris stated with pride.

It seemed like a fairly useful invention.

When Aris finished proudly explaining all the details of the Ishvar Calvary Unit’s specs, Woohyuk nodded.

“Okay. Start on-site deployment today.”

“Ye-ess~! Then I’ll get back to the factory and produce some other useful units!”

Aris seemed to be having a lot of fun researching, studying, and producing magically engineered prototypes these days.

When she disappeared, Cadiz walked up to Woohyuk’s and stated, “Lord, I produced the amount of Adamante you ordered.”

“... Lead the way.”

Woohyuk followed Cadiz with runesmith Dexter and Irene following closely behind.

When they arrived at their destination, Dexter saw Adamante piled up high in a large warehouse. Dexter couldn’t help his jaw from dropping in amazement, stuttering, “T-T-This, this i-is…”

“It is the magic metal called Adamante. It is immutable like gold but malleable and firm enough to make various equipment. It’s also light in weight,” Woohyuk explained.

It was the perfect material for Dexter, who was currently focusing on developing his blacksmith skills.

As Dexter constantly exclaimed and bounced around with joy, Irene asked Woohyuk, “But why did you bring me? I don’t have any knowledge about alchemy or production.”

“Ah, I called you for a different purpose…”

Woohyuk pulled out Verserios and cut Cadiz’s neck.

Ahhhhhhhhh!

His blood spurted out like a fountain. Cadiz’s headless body rolled on the floor.

“Uh… why…?” Irene asked.

“Eat his heart,” Woohyuk stated flatly.

To complete the Death Alchemist quest, Cadiz had to eventually die.

Woohyuk had waited until he accrued an appropriate amount of Adamante. In other words, he made the decision that he had accumulated enough golden eggs as insurance before breaking the belly of the goose that laid the golden eggs.

Of course, now that there would be a new goose, so there was nothing for him to lose.

Pluck. Munch. Munch.

Irene took out Cadiz’s heart and started to chew on it as if it was a delicious treat.

Dexter’s face turned blue as he watched the scene unfold.

“Lord, that beautiful silver-haired woman… what is her identity?”

“… Let’s just say that she loves people’s hearts.”

Woohyuk didn’t want to marginalize his colleagues, especially in front of other colleagues. He also didn’t want it to be known widely that Irene was a chimera.

Of course, there were already quite a few people who knew the secret.

Soon after Irene ended her snack, Woohyuk had her perform the Death Alchemy.

“The recipe is already pre-set. You just need to follow the process,” Woohyuk instructed.

“I’ll try.”

Irene put the alchemy tools in front of her and began to move busily.

Meanwhile, Woohyuk checked the system messages that appeared in front of him.

[Legendary Quest: ‘Death Alchemist’ has been completed.]