Chapter 175: Wind of Civilization
Kyle Lak Orazen’s current job could be referred to as an Emperor. He was the ruler of a great empire which consisted of two continents and was the one that the gods paid most attention to.
There was no need to speculate how he appeared to ordinary people. Although some said he was merely a pawn in the gods' war, he unified a continent before the age of twenty, had a direct hand in strategizing for many wars, and was an advisor to General Vasen, who led the army himself. Moreover, he discovered a new continent and expanded settlements. He also took on the trials of the gods, formed an expedition team, and ultimately succeeded.
Even on the western and eastern continents, where cross-continental exchanges had started, the name of the great empire of Black Scale was being known. While traders crossing the ocean boasted about their countries being great nations, none of them could compare to Black Scale. As much as the apostle Lakrak had laid the groundwork, Kyle’s accomplishments that turned Black Scale into a great empire were just as notable.
On the other hand, there were those who felt regret because many believed that this young emperor wouldn't be able to make any more significant achievements. However, Kyle's history had only just begun.
In Sung-Woon’s eyes, if Kyle had been born in a more advanced civilization, he would have become a scholar. Not an ordinary one, but one of the few giants seen through civilization, who could unravel discoveries and inventions spanning perhaps centuries—all by himself.
‘But Kyle was born in this era.’
And that was why Kyle could accomplish even greater things. Kyle started out not as an ordinary person, but as a king capable of commanding people and utilizing resources as he wished. Moreover, he received the favor of the gods and the blessings of his ancestors. When he slept, sages from the past whispered secrets to him, and when he looked up at the night sky, Night Sky showed revelations to him with the stars.
Kyle went beyond simply following the will of god. He understood God's will and found intentions that even God themself could not fully understand, and he tried to find ways to easily fulfill God's will. This is why he supported the creation of steam engines as a scientist, designed automated looms as an engineer, and envisioned the future that these machines could create with the perspective of a futurologist. Even though the future hadn't arrived yet, Kyle could sketch it on a blank piece of paper.
‘In the end, the machines will change everything.’
So it was only natural that Kyle would provide full support to manufacture numerous machines, including the steam engines and looms he had invented.
During the age of adventure on the fourth continent, numerous factories were established on the third continent. Under the emperor’s command, schools were built in each region to foster scholars, traders built factories, and technicians who learned about the machines were treated well. Additionally, to prevent overcrowding in the cities, limitations were placed on the number of factories in each region even at the cost of efficiency, and excessive wealth was taxed and used to support the areas that produced less wealth.
In order to compensate for the lacking labor force, the nobles of each region began to cater to minority species rather than oppressing them. To coax those species to their side, priests of the Pantheon went to the regions of the third continent where civilization hadn’t reached. The priests shared stories about how the gods of the Pantheon had once fought with differing intentions but eventually united under a single purpose, and about the history they achieved by coming together. So those who had rejected civilization over several generations came out of the forests, joining hands with the priests.
Waterwheels generating power, including the four waterwheels in Automation, became relics of the past, and a tremendous amount of coal was consumed. The Kobold miners’ eyes widened at the substantial amount of money offered by the emperor, and to earn more money, they found and unfolded the maps their ancestors had charted and hidden.
The Elves made good use of their meticulousness and unique intelligence. Behind the massive production process was numbers. Administrative and accounting tasks that would give other species headaches matched the conscientious nature of Elves.
Ogres transported cargo by ships and carriages at the harbor and factories. Centaur porters were always popular among traders because frankly speaking, hiring a centaur was more cost-effective than hiring horses and coachmen.
Halfling thieves were also around, but someone realized that their small physique was advantageous for navigating between densely packed machines, and that they were dexterous enough to fix machines that often broke down little by little.
The meticulousness of Nixes differed from the Elves’. They discovered errors in the printing of newspapers and occasionally found traces of misdeed that greedy rich people left in account books.
When threats arose, it was the Orcs who were willing to risk their lives and act as reporters.
The winds stirred by the third continent did not end there. The massive wind of revolution that overturned the entire industry continued into the fourth continent. And the era of adventure was said to continue, but that was from the perspective of the third continent.
Various minority species, including Pangolins and Rakshasas, quickly accepted the astounding knowledge and values they had first discovered in their generations. Factories began to be built, and even in Vaseniol, which was located deep within the fourth continent, a factory was established.
At first, it was just a simple happening. As a newly constructed city, Vaseniol had many inadequacies, and the transportation system through Helix Wings and Wyverns had its flaws. The Helix Wings frequently broke, and the Wyverns were curious and often refused to listen to their riders.
Meanwhile, the factory owner from the days of the expedition team faced a disruption in coal supply. Having goods to deliver, they sought out the nearest all-round problem solver—the Wizard, Mazdari. The factory owner was an acquaintance of Mazdari, and Mazdari showed scholarly interest in whether his magic could replace coal. Mazdari used the rotation magic that he had used to save Vasen from falling more than ten years ago.
During that time, Mazdari had absorbed knowledge of the new continent, and it was something beyond simple technique that young Mazdari had shown until now. Over time, his project independently developed into arcane power rather than steam engine.
As the two axes that make up civilization complemented each other, the wind brought by Kyle turned into a storm that couldn't be simply described as fierce. Machines completely overturned the continent and all life on it. During the time when such a storm was raging, the age of adventure that had peaked for about 20 years slowly faded away…
***
Sung-Woon saw what the adventurers, who had reached the southern end of the fourth continent, had discovered. There was a city there. Residents there had built a civilization of a small port city, but the surprising thing was that the name these people used to refer to themselves was familiar. The city belonged to the Danly Union Empire. Until now, other adventurers that weren’t from the third continent had been spotted occasionally, and their country of origin was a mystery. Now, however, the answer was revealed.
Sung-Woon got a Whisper Conversation request, and he accepted it as a video chat.
Then a grating voice was heard.
"It's been a really long time, Nebula."
Sung-Woon checked the avatar of his conversation partner. They wore a steel horned helmet while their red eyes glowed from the inside. Even if Sung-Woon wanted to forget about this player, it was hard to do so due to their memorable appearance. This was the 2nd ranking player of The Lost World, someone who could be considered Sung-Woon’s rival before they came to this planet and the first player that Sung-Woon had defeated a long time ago—Hegemonia. Sung-Woon knew Hegemonia well.
Sung-Woon slightly tilted his head and said, “Who are you again?”
Hegemonia seemed annoyed and said, “Are you joking?”
“Isn’t it reasonable to forget someone after about 150 years?”
“You do remember. No, we even contacted each other from time to time.”
“I think we did.”
“Just say you remember already. I need to get my revenge after 150 years.”
Sung-Woon thought to himself.
‘Then wouldn’t it be better for me to not remember you?’
Hegemonia then said, “No, forget it. It doesn’t matter if you don’t remember.”
"You're going to do whatever you want anyway..."
As Sung-Woon talked back, he noticed Hegemonia looking behind him. Sung-Woon was on the podium in the conference room, and the other players were sitting behind him.
"Looks like you've added some odds and ends to your side during this period. Did you lack strength?"
"Odds and ends? That's a bit harsh. Those odds and ends listening might be offended."
Crampus muttered, "You're the worst one."
Sung-Woon ignored the voice murmuring behind him and said, “Are you alone?"
"Of course. I don't need any teams. I've taken down five players so far."
Then Hegemonia pulled out five vassal statues from his inventory and held them up.
"Five?"
Sung-Woon glanced behind him and then looked at Hegemonia again.
"I have seven plus an evil god, making that eight. I won."
Hegemonia threw his hands.
“Numbers don’t matter!”
Another muttering came from behind Sung-Woon.
"Wait, did this guy just treat us as trophies right now?"
“Well, it wouldn’t be the first time.”
Crampus and Lunda made their comments one after the other.
Despite the annoyance coming at Sung-Woon from both the front and behind, Sung-Woon remained calm.
Sung-Woon said, "Anyway, if you came here to brag, you've picked the wrong person. If it's just for joking around...that’s not that bad."
Hegemonia replied, “No! I would win if I fought against you guys anyway, so I requested this chat to give you one last chance.”
"For what reason are you so confident?"
Hegemonia, who was punching the air in anger, suddenly calmed down as if nothing had happened. They crossed their arms and said, “I have War.”
Even Sung-Woon, at this point, couldn't help but be a bit surprised. More accurately, it was the feeling he would get when he faced someone with a strong Unique Domain while playing The Lost World.
‘How unlucky.’
Although he hadn’t confirmed it himself, if Hegemonia had a Unique Domain with a high win rate like War, there was a chance that Hegemonia hadn’t lost any games since their clash, because that was exactly the case with Sung-Woon. However, Sung-Woon calmly looked over the powers he possessed. There was no reason to give up.
Sung-Woon said, "First, a question."
"Ask away."
"I have a guess, but how did you appear in the southern part of the fourth continent?"
Hegemonia replied, “I occupied the northern part of the second continent. The planet is round, isn’t it? You understand what that means, right? The north ocean route taken from the second continent is probably the quickest route to the fourth continent. Like this..."
Hegemonia easily created the map of the Lost World and drew the shortest path that connected each continent. It was just as Hegemonia said.
Sung-Woon snapped his fingers.
“Oh, so that means..." Sung-Woon replied, "If we destroy you, then the path to not only the second continent, but also the path to the first continent would open up."
Sparks ignited in the corner of Hegemonia's eyes.
"That is, if you can."
***
83 years after the war between the Black Scale Empire and the Danly Union Empire broke out on the fourth continent…the two countries were still at war.
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