Looking at his old friend in the wheelchair, Jolod fell silent for a moment and sighed.
Leo's current condition was already one of exhaustion; his soul structure had undergone irreversible collapse. Moreover, this collapse had reflected onto his physical body through their connection.
The alchemical machines were not even treating Leo; their purpose was to anesthetize his senses, preventing him from feeling the pain of his body's breakdown.
Jolod took the spatial beacon and handed over a bag of Magic Essence, then slowly spoke.
"Old friend, is there anything you need my help with?"
Leo pondered for a moment and calmly replied, "…I don't need your help with anything. I still have a student who isn't dead. If I die, he will come to collect my body and inherit this Wizard Tower."
Jolod nodded, "It's good to have someone to collect the body; remember to have your student give me the address of the grave."
Leo picked up the Magic Book again and flipped to the page he had been reading before.
"I will. But don't pour wine in front of my tombstone; I hate alcohol."
Jolod turned to leave.
"I'll remember."
After leaving the Wizard Tower, Jolod's mood noticeably darkened. He handed two spatial beacons to Richard and said in a somewhat subdued voice:
"The spatial beacon is crucial for the teleportation array. With the beacon, setting up the teleportation array isn't difficult… Are you even listening?"
Richard, lost in thought, suddenly snapped back to reality: "Oh, oh, I know, I've studied the structure of teleportation arrays."
Richard looked at the spatial beacon in his hand.
At that moment, a piece of information began to materialize before Richard's eyes.
[Material: Premium Ultra-Long-Distance Teleportation Array Spatial Beacon]
[Extractable Information: Ultra-Long-Distance Teleportation Array Blueprint]
[Extraction Cost: 50 Mental Power]
[Extractable Skill: Spatial Beacon Crafting]
[Extraction Cost: 20 Mental Power]
"Is it really a premium one?"
Richard glanced at the nearby Wizard Tower, surprised that Master Leo was on the verge of death yet still possessed such exquisite alchemical skills.
"This money was well spent."
Richard stuffed the beacon into his pocket, using his Wizard robe to shield Jolod's view as he extracted the information and skill.
After the extraction, a smile involuntarily crept onto Richard's lips.
"With this, we won't have to rely on others for the teleportation array in the future."
Seeing Richard suddenly smile, Jolod couldn't help but ask, "What are you smiling about?"
"Nothing, just thinking of some happy things."
...
The two spent over half a month returning to the Tower of Truth.
Once on the residential level, they parted ways; Richard went to find a merchant guild to purchase teleportation array installation services, while Jolod went to handle the procedures for entering the Crimson Sun World.
Finding teleportation array installation services wasn't difficult; Richard quickly located a guild that could provide ultra-long-distance teleportation array setups.
Inside the shop, a mechanical clerk placed a crystal ball in front of Richard and respectfully asked, "Master, which installation service do you require?"
Within the crystal ball, the guild presented three plans. The first plan required no involvement from the customer; they only needed to provide the address and Magic Essence, and the guild would establish the teleportation array according to the specified requirements.
This plan was very hassle-free, but the only drawback was its high cost.
The spatial beacons for the teleportation array were quite valuable. Jolod had managed to buy a set of beacons at cost price, spending two thousand Magic Essence.
However, for the Wizard Chamber of Commerce, a set of spatial beacons for such an ultra-long-distance teleportation array cost five thousand Magic Essence.
Looking at the Wizard Chamber of Commerce's plan, Richard couldn't help but feel fortunate that he had managed to buy two beacons at cost price.
The second plan involved the guild providing the spatial beacons, but the Wizard would not set up the teleportation array themselves.
This plan was slightly less expensive than the first, but the bulk of the cost still lay in purchasing the spatial beacons.
Richard shifted his gaze to the third option, which was the least expensive, requiring only five hundred Magic Essence.
This plan required the customer to provide the spatial beacons, and then personnel from the Wizard Chamber of Commerce would come to set it up.
Below this option, the Wizard Chamber of Commerce added a disclaimer—since the spatial beacons were provided by the customer, any teleportation accidents caused by the spatial beacons would not be the responsibility of the Wizard Chamber of Commerce.
The core component of the teleportation array was the spatial beacon, so the disclaimer from the Wizard Chamber of Commerce was entirely reasonable.
"I choose option three."
The mechanical clerk retrieved the crystal ball and bowed to Richard, saying, "Very well, please wait a moment."
Soon, a first-ring Wizard approached Richard.
"You are the master who purchased the installation service for option three, right? I am Gavin, pleased to serve you."
Gavin appeared to be human, but behind him, four mechanical tentacles were constantly writhing.
"Yes, is there a problem with choosing option three?" Richard asked, puzzled.
Gavin shook his head, "Of course not, but I must remind you that the spatial beacons for option three are not provided by our guild. If there are any issues with the spatial beacons, we will not be responsible."
Richard nodded and took out the two spatial beacons from his pocket.
Upon seeing the beacons, Gavin's mechanical tentacles suddenly froze.
"How about these two beacons?"
Gavin took the beacons and examined them for a moment before respectfully saying:
"Master's craftsmanship is truly remarkable; these two beacons are definitely premium quality. I will draft the contract for you right away."
Before long, the contract was signed.
Richard handed over five hundred Magic Essence to the guild and then led Gavin to the Frost Wizard Academy's outpost.
Here, there was a portal leading to the Crimson Sun World.
...
The Crimson Sun World remained calm and peaceful. Although the Fire Lizard King Minal was on the verge of breaking free, the Frost Grand Wizard had already set up a massive Magic Array around him.
Even if he broke free now, he wouldn't cause much trouble.
Thanks to Richard bringing in agricultural experts, several farms had sprung up around the mine to cultivate various fruits and vegetables for the Fire Lizard's daily diet.
The agricultural experts who had returned to the continent had accepted their fate, and under their management, the grain production was thriving, and the workers in the mine had also become more amiable.
People always respect those who are capable.
Looking at the scenery of the Crimson Sun World, Jolod pinched his nose.
"Why does a world biased towards fire elements look like this?"
Richard chuckled; he had heard similar complaints before.
Richard took Jolod and Gavin to the mine, where Gavin began to carefully survey the area with his instruments.
The location for the teleportation array setup was also significant.
After several days of investigation, Gavin selected a spot. According to him, there was a small geological node beneath this location, and setting up the teleportation array above it would allow for its use without any energy consumption.
However, this spot was somewhat far from the mine, a good ten kilometers away.
Jolod frowned at the location Gavin had chosen.
"Richard, did you also acquire a mine?"
"No. But I secured a piece of land in the Crimson Sun World."
"Land!"
Jolod and Gavin looked at Richard in surprise. Such land grants were not casually given by Great Wizards. A Wizard had to make significant contributions in war to be rewarded with land by a Great Wizard.
Richard casually replied, "Just lucky, let's set it up here."
However, despite Richard's nonchalant tone, neither Jolod nor Gavin took his words seriously.
Luck is often a humble expression of the strong.
Seeing Richard make a decision, Jolod did not refute him.
Gavin wasted no time, immediately pulling out various materials from his Magic Pocket to begin setting up the teleportation array.
Of course, Gavin did not allow anyone else to see this process.
Richard and Jolod could only temporarily step aside.
The two went to the mine, where the supervisor, Heskhan, immediately approached them.
"Master Richard."
Richard introduced Jolod, "This is the supervisor of the mine, Heskhan. He manages the mine quite well."
Jolod nodded; managing natives with natives was a common strategy for Wizards.
Then, Richard explained to Jolod the rules he had set for the mine. However, the more Jolod listened, the deeper his frown became.
After Richard finished speaking, Jolod fell silent for a moment before saying:
"Your management approach… is quite innovative. Is there any research behind this?"
An eight-hour workday, group competition, extra rewards for increased output… they even had some freedom!
The rules Richard had set seemed to Jolod to be beyond mere kindness; they were practically welfare. Even a Wizard's alchemical factory wouldn't have such lenient work regulations.
Yet these rules were also very systematic, not at all like something hastily decided.
So Jolod did not immediately question it.
After all, his student's thinking had always been different from that of ordinary Wizards; some of his experiences might very well be wrong in Richard's context.
"These rules are meant to stimulate their productivity," Richard explained. "I observed that a purely enslaved Fire Lizard needs a supervisor watching them constantly to avoid obvious laziness. That's too wasteful for us."
"Wasteful?" Jolod asked, somewhat confused.
Wasn't this phenomenon quite normal? Slaves needed to be driven with whips to work.
"Teacher, we don't have many slaves," Richard clarified. "To many Wizards, slaves are consumables, and that's because they have enough financial resources to treat slaves as such.
But our finances aren't that robust; it would be a shame to throw all the Magic Essence we earn into slave labor.
So I set these rules, giving them a few small benefits, allowing them to work harder for us.
Compared to the benefits they bring us, what we give is merely a drop in the bucket.
The return on investment is quite astonishing."
Seeing Jolod still looking puzzled, Richard didn't elaborate further, realizing that explaining this to Wizards still stuck in the slave-owner mindset would be like casting pearls before swine.
He chose a more direct explanation—he took Jolod to the warehouse.
The sight of the warehouse filled with Red Sun Gold-Vein Stone instantly dissolved Jolod's doubts.
As long as the output was high, the odd rules could be overlooked; Jolod was a pragmatist.
After spending three days at the mine, Gavin finally completed the setup of the teleportation array. Looking at the circular teleportation array covering over three hundred square meters, with a spatial beacon floating at its center, Richard nodded in satisfaction.
"Very good, now let's head to the other side."
Saying this, Richard took out a map and marked a point on it.
"This is the place we need to go."
"Isn't this the Lava Sea?" Gavin asked, puzzled.
Richard smiled, "You'll know once we get there."
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