Chapter 460 The Various Constructs (1/2)

Rhode had completed the Castel Plateau Ruins Mission after receiving the phylactery. Apart from receiving a huge amount of EXP as a reward, he also received the Fantasy Key and the Construct Guards Defense Formation. The reason why Rhode chose this mission was to obtain the Construct Guards Defense Formation. After all, these lifeless, aggressive Constructs would be the best choice to defend the Fortress in the upcoming war. If not, he wouldn't have wasted the precious second opportunity to unlock Gillian's seal. However, Rhode realized that this reward was somewhat different from what he expected.

Rhode thought that this Construct Guards Defense Formation would simply expand the available features in the guild's Construction System. This way, he just needed to spend some money to put everything into place. However, the reward he received was presented in the form of a blueprint which contained a series of production workflows for the Constructs. In that moment, Rhode finally realized the meaning of this reward — Although he had unspoken criticism about how illogical the guild Construction System could be to even build high-rise buildings, systems were after all systems and Rhode couldn't grumble to the Game Masters directly. Fortunately, he was somewhat experienced in this aspect. In the game, it was always a necessity to pass these blueprints to the Alchemist players of the Production subclass to manage. Therefore, Rhode thought of Lapis as soon as he received this blueprint.

”Construct Guards?” Lapis widened her eyes in astonishment before taking the blueprint.

The young lady leaned on the doorframe and examined the details carefully. At this moment, Lapis finally presented herself as the descendant of the Behermes Family's and the panicky, timid little girl had vanished away in the blink of an eye. Lapis scanned the blueprint with her utmost attention, at the same time, mumbling softly while her eyes were full of brilliant wisdom and seriousness.

Rhode, Marlene, and Christie stood by the side silently and observed Lapis's right hand wandering along the strange patterns and complicated equations on the blueprint. The young lady's eyes shifted in rows accurately from left to right accurately as though she were scanning everything into her brain.

Until a few moments later, Lapis shut her eyes and let out a long breath. Then, she lifted her head. As soon as Rhode came into view, her steady calmness disappeared instantly and the young lady with her usual reserved personality returned abruptly. ”Ah, sorry, Sir Rhode, I accidentally…”

”No, it's fine.” Rhode gestured and interrupted Lapis' apologies. Then, he gazed at Lapis sternly and said, ”What do you think about this Construct Defense Formation?”

”It is really comprehensive. Although some aspects may be a little complicated, it is still very valuable,” explained Lapis.

”Good,” Rhode nodded in satisfaction at Lapis's answer. ”So then, Lapis. From now on, I hope you can focus on creating these Construct Guards. The more the better. Are there any problems? If you need any materials, I can get Marlene to provide you with them. Of course, I hope we can use cheaper materials as far as possible considering our budget.”

”This…” Lapis tilted her head and considered carefully. Then, the young lady lifted her head hesitantly with a difficult expression. ”S-Sorry… Sir Rhode, I don't think I can manage…”

”Hmm?” Rhode stared blankly as this was the last answer he expected from Lapis. What's going on? Aren't the Construct Guards made by Alchemists? Furthermore, Lapis's abilities are more than enough for this task, so why can't she manage it? ”What's wrong? What are the difficulties?”

”This… This… This…” Lapis stuttered under Rhode's concerned gaze. She lowered her head helplessly and shut her eyes before finally giving an explanation. ”I can't cast metal, not to mention magical metal…”

”…” Rhode was speechless.

A scientist who could build nuclear reactors on their own didn't necessarily mean that they could build an intercontinental nuclear warhead by himself. This was the problem that Rhode was currently facing.

Facing Lapis' sullen expression, Rhode gaped and realized that he had made a big mistake. After all, in the game, the casting of magical metal wasn't difficult for Alchemists with the Production subclass. Besides, there would always be a group of such players in every guild. Therefore, Rhode just needed to hand out the blueprint and his men would figure out ways to accomplish it. But now, there was no person with this capability in Starlight. Furthermore, NPCs who could cast magical metal were extremely rare, which was also the reason why a large number of craftsmen players could survive in the game. ”How much manpower do you need?”

”This… If we need to constantly produce the Construct Guards as per your instructions, we will need at least 50 craftsmen to cast the equipment and components because there are a total of 150 production workflows. Also, they must be extremely skillful because the internal compositions of the Construct Guards are highly complex and a single mistake will put all the effort to waste,” explained Lapis.

”I see…” Rhode gave up on this idea even though he had some craftsmen on hand. During those days when Rhode first arrived at Deep Stone City, he had received a magic craftsman shop from the Keller Family. At the same time, he had gotten three to four craftsmen who could produce magical weapons. However, Rhode knew that their skills weren't wonderful and if it weren't for the special forging table that they had in the shop, perhaps they couldn't even forge a proper magical weapon. Therefore, it was rather far-fetched to rely on these craftsmen to produce a proper Construct Guard. Furthermore, Rhode needed at least 50 of them.

”Are there no other ways?” It seemed that Rhode could forget about producing the ideal Construct Guards troop for the time being. However, he was still not resigned to give up because this felt as though he had won the top lottery prize but couldn't use the money won. What was the point of having this blueprint in the first place?

”Hmm…” Lapis puckered her brows with a sullen face. After a few moments of pondering, she said, ”there is indeed another way…”

”Oh? What about it?” Rhode asked in a curious tone.

”It's like this, Sir Rhode.” Lapis flipped through the blueprint and pointed to one of the pages diligently. ”To be honest, Sir Rhode, it is unlikely to produce proper Construct Guards with our current manpower and financial status. But we can build similar and simpler Constructs instead… For example, the Gargoyle…”

”Oh?” Rhode was instantly reminded of the trouble that Matt, Lize, and himself had faced before leaving the Twilight Forest. Strictly speaking, the Gargoyle was indeed a kind of Construct. However, Rhode had forgotten about this matter entirely. ”Is it similar to the Gargoyle?”

”Yes, Sir Rhode.” Lapis nodded with all her might. ”An alternative would be the Stone Constructs which are much simpler to produce and require less skillful craftsmen. The craftsmen can carve according to the blueprint that I have drafted whileI can handle the Stone Constructs's internal circuits and activation of their cores by myself. But the flaw of these Stone Constructs is also rather apparent because they are only capable of executing a single operation at once. Also, they are much weaker compared to Constructs that are made of metal…”

”What about the cores?” Rhode frowned because he was clear about how difficult it was to get his hands on man-made Soul Cores with their sky-high prices.