Global Game: Developing a Knight Clan-Chapter 90 - 89: Dragon of Space and Steel, Space Travel
Space pulsed, rippling like water.
The Rock Steel Giant Dragon rose to a half-upright posture, its head held high. Visually, its total height had just surpassed thirty meters.
It was as tall as a ten-story residential building.
Under the Sun’s brilliance, the Giant Dragon’s scales shimmered with a rocky-gray metallic luster.
Its draconic wings unfurled like magnified bat wings, their edges as sharp as blades, glinting with a cold light.
Beneath the Giant Dragon, the forms of the humans were truly minuscule.
Even though the Giant Dragon was only at Tier Six, its strength had already entered the latter half of the tier. 𝐟𝗿𝐞𝚎𝚠𝐞𝚋𝕟𝐨𝚟𝐞𝕝.𝕔𝕠𝚖
Furthermore, the awakened Spatial Attribute within its body and the faint ripples of a Pseudo-God’s aura left the Bishops utterly shocked.
The two High Tier Bishops, in particular, felt a visceral palpitation, as if they were about to be crushed and devoured by this terrifying, high-level creature in the very next moment.
As all the humans present looked up at the Rock Steel Giant Dragon, they could all see the space around it pulsating, rippling like the surface of water.
The effect was so peculiar that some even mistook it for a refractive phenomenon caused by water vapor.
[Role: Dragon of Space and Steel (Adolescent Stage)] (Clan Totem, Clan Sacred Beast)
[Tier: Tier Six]
[Growth Level: 75%]
[Body Type: Approx. 58.4 meters]
[Bloodline:
1. Dark Night Crow Bloodline (High Tier); (Obtained by materializing the potion in its mouth and swallowing it immediately upon reaching Tier Six)
2. Gale Cyan Dragon Bloodline (Saint Tier); (The Stormy Leopard underwent Dragon God Ascension, becoming the draconic ’Hurricane Cyan Dragon’ Bloodline.)
3. Rock Steel Giant Dragon Bloodline (Saint Tier);
4. Thin Space Dragon Bloodline (Divine Tier)]
[Potential: ★★★★★]
[Elemental Affinity: Space (Primary), Earth (Secondary), Wind, Dark] (Four Attributes)
[Skills: 1. Frenzy, 2. Earth Spike Technique, 3. Hurricane Technique, 4. Darkness Technique, 5. Charm, 6. Steel Armor, 7. Giant Dragon Trample, 8. Dragon Might, 9. Dragon’s Breath, 10. Massive Resistance Boost, 11. Gravity Domain, 12. Space Travel (Weak Rule), 13. Dragon God Ascension (Weak Rule).]
The promotion to Tier Six brought Lince an unimaginably huge increase in power.
He now had as many as thirteen Skills.
Although the Bloodline with the Power of Space had now become his primary Attribute, Lince’s character had been an Earth Attribute Rock Steel Giant Dragon from the very beginning, so he still retained its physical characteristics.
Thus, a growth trend had formed with Space as the primary and Earth as the secondary attribute.
Moreover, at Tier Five, Lince had chosen a growth path focused on gigantic size for his Giant Dragon. As a result, the dominant characteristics of the Rock Steel Giant Dragon were the most obvious at present.
As for the Spatial Attribute, although it was primary, it was nearly attribute-less, which meant its external manifestation was more subtle.
In Lince’s view, the most important power gained from this promotion was undoubtedly the new Weak Rule Skill that had suddenly appeared: [Space Travel].
[Space Travel:
"1. Contractual Blessing: Ignore spatial barriers and perform ultra-long-distance Space Travel across all major world maps in the game, using a Blood Covenant target as an anchor. Limited to three uses per day."
"2. Conventional Travel: Within a single map in reality or the Game World, the Player can perform targeted, anchored spatial jumps to any visible location in the Earth Realm. Can even carry additional personnel. However, there are limitations, and the Magic Power consumption is enormous. The Player is advised to explore the ratio of consumption to travel distance on their own."]
For Lince at his current stage, this skill was undoubtedly a true Divine Technique.
With this skill, Lince could rush to the side of his Blood Covenant targets the instant they were in danger, ensuring their safety.
The most important of these, of course, was guaranteeing York’s safety.
As Lince’s number one ’Pet,’ York’s importance was beyond question.
Secondly, this so-called Weak Rule Space Travel Skill also had an extra blessing in the Game World, allowing Lince to jump across ’maps’ in a timely manner.
For example, the unknown world where the second wave of Players had already started the game.
In short, the appearance of this skill was, without a doubt, another extreme boost to Lince’s power.
After quickly familiarizing himself with his Tier Six power, Lince finally turned his attention to the tiny crowd before him.
For the five newly arrived Bishops, it was merely a matter of repeating the same speech he had given to the current Pope Tyr.
During the process, Lince even borrowed power from the pages of the Book of Truth to directly seal the five Bishops’ powers.
After feeling their Magic Power being sealed away and the powerlessness of a common person, the expressions of the five Bishops on this trip changed completely as they looked at Lince again!
"Our Lord’s power! It truly is Our Lord’s power!"
"Our Lord actually lent such power to the esteemed Your Majesty! We no longer have any reason to doubt!"
"However, esteemed Your Majesty, I wonder if you and Our Lord have any plans for your descent into this world that require the cooperation of us mortals? If so, please, Your Majesty, bestow upon us an Oracle! We, the Believers in Truth, will defend Our Lord’s path of truth and glory to the death!"
Among the five Bishops, one was now staring at the Giant Dragon with an incredibly fanatical gaze.
It was as if he was about to participate in a grand, world-shaking event, like something out of an ancient myth.
The mere thought of his name being sung for generations to come was enough to make this Bishop tremble with an excitement he could barely contain.
As soon as this Bishop finished speaking, even Bishop Aemon, who had maintained a solemn expression until now, looked at Lince with a gaze full of reverence and anticipation.
Faced with these ’lovable’ fellows...
Lince chuckled lightly and said:
"There are things you can do, but not right now."
"For now, your main task is to appease the Believers in Truth."
"The subsequent expansion of the Viscount’s Domain, and the later establishment of your Truth Church here... isn’t that enough to keep you mortal believers of Truth busy?"
"For now, just wait."
Of course, Lince had his own uses for these guys.
However, for the time being, he needed them to settle down first.
The construction of the Swamp Territory, and even the subsequent construction for the Truth Church’s settlement, were all major projects. If possible, Lince even needed them to work with York to make the Swamp Territory as impenetrable as an iron bucket.
At the very least, it needed the ability to resist all external prying and conspiracies.
This way, after a year or two of developing the Swamp Territory, he wouldn’t have to worry about trouble brewing behind his back when he went to pioneer the second map.
Lince had only one requirement for York and these Bishops at this stage!
Expand the Swamp Territory’s domain as much as possible, regardless of the cost.
Refugees, Peasant Slaves, whatever—take in as many as you can find.
As a short-term goal, Lince wanted York to increase the population of the Swamp Territory to at least two hundred thousand people!
Two hundred thousand people?
’Is he kidding? How many people does the entire Silver Lion Duchy even have?’
’Something like three million four hundred thousand, right? And after that last war, the losses must have been enormous.’
Besides, compared to other Baron’s Domains, York already thought having five thousand people in the Swamp Territory was a lot.
Little did he know that in the Eagle Kingdom, a typical Baron’s Domain would have a population of just over a thousand at most.
A Viscount’s Domain was considered well-populated with ten thousand people. Even for some long-established Viscount Clans, a population exceeding fifty thousand was considered very impressive.
Therefore, a population of two hundred thousand was truly immense pressure for York.
Not to mention anything else, just feeding and housing two hundred thousand people would require a vast amount of arable land.
Furthermore, the comings and goings of a transient population would lead to a terrifying consumption of resources.
In York’s eyes, Lince’s demand for two hundred thousand people was the standard for a Count’s or even a Marquis’s domain.
However, this didn’t mean Lince hadn’t done the math himself.
One had to remember that the Swamp Territory now had the Truth Church moving in.
Once the Truth Church’s cathedral was completed, it would definitely attract a large population of pilgrims and residents.
And while the Swamp Territory was currently lacking in supplies and arable land...
...one couldn’t forget the endless stream of support from the Truth Church!
In short, there would be no lack of money or appeal to the Commoners.
What York needed to do next was simply to reclaim the wilderness!
Yes, a massive amount of it!
Lince indicated to York that he could start developing the land to the west and south of the Swamp Territory.
The west had flat terrain and a large river; further expansion in that direction would also bring them adjacent to the grasslands of the Wilderness.
The south faced the Western Realm of the Silver Lion Duchy, with a buffer zone of about thirty-some kilometers in between.
This meant that for the upcoming expansion of the Swamp Territory, its current city would mark the border with the Western Realm.
Then, employing a strategy of westward expansion, they would reclaim a strip of land over thirty kilometers wide and of theoretically infinite length. The territory would take the shape of an irregular rectangle!
As for how large the area should be, Lince calculated that to support a population of two hundred thousand with abundant resources, based on the standards of this world, they would need at least 1,500 to 2,000 square kilometers to ensure the entire territory had room to spare.
’He’s really planning to expand the Swamp Territory to the standard of a Marquis’s domain?’
York was already dumbfounded, and the other Bishops, who had been listening silently to the conversation between Lince and York, were also incomparably astonished.
Was it a large area?
Lince didn’t think so at all!
This amount of land was only about the size of a ’regular county’ in the real world. In fact, a region that size back in Lince’s hometown could support five to six hundred thousand people.
Besides, beneath the Demon Beast Mountain Range, Lince’s sphere of influence as the Master of the Demon Dragon already exceeded two hundred thousand square kilometers.
But even these two hundred thousand square kilometers were far from the full extent of the Wilderness that bordered the lands of the Human Race.
One could only imagine how low the productivity of this world was!
Despite the existence of Extraordinary Power, an equivalent area of land, even fertile land, could support three to five times fewer people than in reality.
In less fertile regions, the gap would be even greater—ten, or even twenty times.
Lince could only sigh at this.
’This world possesses Extraordinary Power but doesn’t use it for the people’s livelihood,’ he mused. ’It fits the characteristics of a slave-owning civilization quite well.’
’People can’t be allowed to eat their fill. Slaves are meant to be exploited. How could the Extraordinary Power possessed by the high and mighty lords of the Nobility be used on lowly mud?’
’Farming is the business of slaves and Commoners. The noble lords have far too many other things to consider.’
In any case, after explaining everything, Lince also upgraded York’s Oracle Badge and bestowed upon him three Limit-Breaking Potions for the time being.
With that, the group finally set off on their return journey, completely satisfied.
