Under the leadership of Princess Akala, the Fire Lizards on the island gradually signed contracts. However, a small portion of the Fire Lizards chose to die rather than sign; most of these ended up in Ulysses' belly, while a few became specimens for Richard.
With Richard's overwhelming force, the entire New World quickly became his territory.
This island was not small; if it weren't for the Fire Lizards overlooking the environment of the Lava Sea, this island could truly allow them to develop and grow.
"Princess Akala, you have crossed the Lava Sea to come here; you must have brought quite a few treasures with you."
As Richard walked on the island, Ulysses on his shoulder was using an energy barrier, leisurely slurping the brain of a Fire Lizard.
Watching this scene, Akala felt a mix of sorrow and anger but could only silently observe.
She understood better than the other Fire Lizards the might of her father; even though the black crow before her seemed severely injured, as long as it wished, there would be no chance of survival for the Fire Lizards on the island.
"Indeed, we have brought some things," Akala replied as calmly as possible. "The storeroom is this way; please follow me."
Richard smiled slightly at her: "Thank you, Your Highness."
In the center of the island stood a solitary peak, not very high, only about one or two hundred meters. Atop this peak was a massive dragon nest, which housed the skeleton of a giant dragon.
This skeleton had been eroded over the years by the Foehn Wind and Fire Elemental Storms over the Lava Sea, with most of it crystallized by elemental forces; the entire skeleton had lost its value even for resurrection by a necromancer.
Beneath this dragon nest, the Fire Lizards had excavated a storeroom within the mountain to store the precious items they had brought from the mainland.
Akala opened a stone door and led Richard into the storeroom.
Inside the storeroom, the piles of treasures Richard had imagined were nowhere to be found; instead, there were stacks of stone tablets, images, and sculptures—artistic items.
These might be rare treasures for Wizards studying Fire Lizard culture and history, but to Richard, they were worthless.
"Is this all you brought?" Richard asked, somewhat incredulous.
Akala replied calmly, "Lord Richard, these may seem worthless to you, but to us, they are treasures worth their weight in gold.
They are our history, our civilization.
We fled from the mainland not to retaliate but to preserve our race and our civilization.
Most of what you desire has been consumed on the battlefield."
Richard rubbed his temples.
Indeed, with the Fire Lizards facing extinction, it made no sense for them to leave behind any treasures unused.
But Richard noticed that Akala used the term "most."
"Most, so there are still some things you brought with you."
Akala nodded: "Please follow me this way."
The treasure vault in this mountain had more than one level. At the end of the storeroom, there was a downward passage. After walking down the passage for a long time, Richard arrived at an artificial Magma Lake.
In the Magma Lake, three giant eggs, each about the height of a person, floated on the surface.
Akala introduced, "My lord, these are the eggs of the volcanic turtle. They are one of the most precious treasures we brought from the mainland."
The volcanic turtle was the giant war beast used by the Fire Lizards in battle, which performed remarkably on the battlefield. Wizards had long sought to capture two live ones for research.
Unfortunately, even until the decisive battle, Wizards had still not managed to obtain a living volcanic turtle.
There were many dead volcanic turtles, but this type of giant war beast had to be alive to hold any value.
Once dead, the giant war beast would lose its energy cycle, and its body structure would collapse instantly; its internal organs would turn into a puddle of mush under the force of gravity in a very short time.
"Very good, very good."
Richard's eyes lit up at the sight of the volcanic turtle eggs; these were indeed valuable items. If they could be cultivated, they would fetch a high price.
Even without cultivation, the eggs alone could be sold for a good amount.
"However, why are these eggs soaking in magma? Is it to maintain their vitality?"
Akala nodded: "Yes, my lord. The volcanic turtle eggs must be soaked in magma to maintain their vitality; once removed from the magma, the eggs will lose their viability within three hours."
Richard nodded and then asked, "Are there any other items? I remember your Dragon Curse Warlocks seemed to have a technology for modifying Fire Lizard warriors; didn't you bring that over?"
"The Dragon Curse Holy Coffin is this way; please follow me."
Crossing the magma pool, the passage turned a corner and led to a very bright stone chamber. The walls of the chamber were embedded with several large glowing gemstones.
In the center of the chamber, Richard saw a crystal coffin quietly resting. At first glance, Richard was certain this was a creation of the precursors.
But before Richard could feel ecstatic, he quickly noticed that the crystal coffin had many tiny cracks, which, upon closer inspection, covered the entire coffin.
"What happened to this? Was it damaged?"
Akala explained, "My lord, each time the holy coffin is used, it develops more cracks.
Once the usage reaches between three thousand seven hundred to three thousand nine hundred times, the holy coffin will shatter into crystal dust.
This one is currently the least used among the remaining holy coffins."
Richard approached the crystal coffin and gently touched it.
[Material: Broken Crystal Coffin]
[Extractable Information: Dragon Curse Warlock Modification Technology]
[Extraction Cost: 250 Mental Power]
Seeing the information provided by the Miracle Furnace, Richard felt a slight sense of relief.
Not bad; although this item is broken, the technology inside remains intact.
"I'll take this coffin with me."
Akala lowered her head beside him, her voice calm: "We have chosen to follow you, my lord; these items naturally belong to you."
Richard stored the crystal coffin in the Secret Realm: "Is there anything else?"
"My lord, the rest are just some materials; they are in another warehouse."
Upon hearing that it was materials, Richard immediately lost interest.
The Crimson Sun World did not have any particularly scarce materials; as long as Richard was willing to spend money, he could obtain any materials he wanted.
"Then let's forget it; let's head back up."
Back on the surface, Richard made some arrangements for the entire New World island.
A large portion of the personnel on New World Island were technicians, and Richard arranged all those skilled in alchemy into the Fire Lizard alchemy workshop in the Secret Realm.
The remaining Fire Lizards, those with strong combat abilities, were organized by Richard into a hunting fleet specifically for hunting Flame Behemoths.
These Flame Behemoths could not only provide extra food for the Fire Lizards but could also be used as experimental materials for Richard.
With the Dragon Beast Knight he planned, he was now also qualified to form it.
As for the remaining technicians, those who could farm were assigned positions as agricultural technology advisors; once they returned to the mainland, they would be responsible for the miners' food.
As for those artists, sculptors, teachers, writers, ancient text researchers, and other seemingly useless technicians, Richard had not yet assigned them any specific positions.
Their current duty was simply to survive.
Once the Fire Lizard eggs hatched, these individuals would all become teachers.
In terms of passing on Fire Lizard civilization, these people would still be useful.
However, the content they would teach would certainly be modified to some extent by Richard.
After arranging all the personnel, Richard set off to return to the mainland.
...
Two months later, Richard returned to the mainland.
The war was nearing its end, and many Wizards had already left the Crimson Sun World to return to the Wizarding World.
However, Richard was in no hurry to go back; he went to Floating City and found an acquaintance—Wizard Gano, who had helped him obtain the mine.
"Advisor Richard, you finally made it; you were the last one we were waiting for."
In Floating City, Gano saw Richard's arrival and immediately greeted him warmly.
Having received such a good specimen from Richard, Gano naturally treated him well.
"Sorry, sorry, I've been delayed by some matters," Richard said as he stepped forward to shake Gano's hand, his face showing an apologetic expression. "I apologize for delaying the master's return to the Wizarding World."
As he spoke, Richard handed Gano a bag of Magic Essence.
Gano weighed it in his hand and understood that Richard likely had something to discuss. He casually accepted the bag of Magic Essence and then invited Richard to sit.
Once settled, Gano smiled and asked, "Advisor Richard, which piece of land are you interested in?"
The permanent land promised to Richard by the command center had yet to be fulfilled, and Gano had been lingering in the Crimson Sun World for this reason.
Richard smiled: "It's a pleasure to talk with you, master, but before that, I would like to ask you something."
"Hmm? What is it?"
Richard took out a map of the Crimson Sun World and placed it in front of Gano.
"I would like to ask, master, can I choose a territory in the sea?"
Gano was taken aback: "In the sea? What do you want the sea for? There's nothing in the Lava Sea except for Flame Behemoths..."
Before he could finish his sentence, Gano suddenly stopped. His eyes sharpened, and he spoke:
"You found an island in the sea, didn't you, Advisor Richard?"
Richard did not hide it and nodded straightforwardly.
"Indeed. What does the master want to do?"
"What to do..."
Gano furrowed his brow, looking at the Lava Sea at the edge of the Crimson Sun World, his mind racing. Finally, he uttered a word:
"Not enough."
"Not enough?"
Richard was taken aback, then quickly realized that Gano was referring to insufficient funds.
The money he provided was not enough to facilitate this matter.
"Master, that island has no resources," Richard explained. "If you don't believe me, I can take you to see it."
"No resources?" Gano looked at Richard, somewhat astonished. "If there are no resources, what do you want it for?"
Richard smiled: "I just think that island is isolated in the sea, making it very suitable as an experimental site. Additionally, the Flame Behemoths in the Lava Sea are also somewhat useful to me; there are more Flame Behemoths to be found overseas."
Richard's explanation was reasonable, but Gano clearly could not take Richard's word alone.
"I need to go see it."
Richard did not object and marked the location of New World Island on the map:
"Right here; feel free to go, master."
Seeing the marked location, Gano was once again taken aback.
"That's so far away; how did you discover this place?"
Richard casually replied, "Some Fire Lizard nobles knew about this place. After Minal was sealed, they used it as a refuge and fled here.
I happened to obtain some information and found this place."
Richard's explanation was quite simplistic, and Gano knew there were certainly many things hidden beneath the surface. However, since this was Richard's hard-earned spoils, he did not press the issue.
Gano looked at the location on the map, hesitated for a moment, then took out a Soul Contract.
"Brother Richard, I won't go to the place, but you must sign this contract. If the master discovers any resources on that island in the future, I will have an explanation."
Richard smiled as he took the contract:
"I certainly won't make it difficult for the master."
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