Lord of the Truth

Chapter 2408 Preparing for the promised day

Ten Years Later—Year 765 Since the Founding

Northern Region of Nihari—

Whoosh Zara landed atop a vast stretch of solid, perfectly leveled ground that appeared to have been constructed from an alloy of extraordinarily high-strength metals, then, without wasting even a moment standing there, she began making her way forward with quick, distinctly masculine strides, her brows slightly furrowed as she moved directly toward her destination.

Her short blond hair and stunning white-and-green robe naturally drew the eye wherever she passed. In an area almost entirely filled with workers, engineers, and people practicing all manner of demanding and rough professions, nearly everyone instinctively cast a quick glance toward His Majesty's only daughter when she passed nearby, only to hurriedly lower their gazes and return to whatever work was in their hands, afraid that someone might notice them stealing glances at her instead of concentrating on their duties.

"What exactly is going on here?" Zara finally spoke when she noticed a gathering of several high-ranking individuals ahead, immediately directing her steps toward them. "Why isn't the upgrade proceeding according to the timeline we agreed upon?!"

"Your Highness!"

"Your Highness."

Everyone present immediately turned around upon hearing her voice and bowed without delay, their expressions clearly showing a mixture of worry and exhaustion that they couldn't completely conceal.

"Your Highness, I'm afraid we'll have to adjust the timeline slightly." Among those present, one person finally stepped forward and spoke seriously. "I objected to this schedule from the very beginning because I believed it was too demanding, and now we're beginning to see its problems manifest before us in reality."

"My Lady." One of the women present immediately gave that person a harsh look after hearing his words, then turned her attention back toward Zara and continued in a calmer tone, "We've already successfully upgraded nine of the old-generation Crucibles of Greed, so the work hasn't stopped and there is no need for you to worry. Nothing happening here warrants you abandoning your important research work and personally coming all the way down to the operational zone."

"What else am I supposed to do when I suddenly hear that only nine Greed Crucibles have been upgraded when thirteen should have been completely finished by now according to the schedule?!" Zara pointed toward the vast grounds where the Crucibles of Greed were located, clearly dissatisfied with the difference between the actual progress and what had originally been agreed upon.

The number of Crucibles had continued to rise steadily ever since His Majesty reached his agreement with the Soul Society and established a dedicated and completely secret contracting network specifically for acquiring what they needed.

Within only a few short decades, the number of Crucibles of Greed had surged tremendously until they possessed thirty-five entire Crucibles!!

However, after reaching that impressive number, the available supply of the materials required to create more Crucibles began declining drastically throughout the entire universe, and no matter how they searched, they couldn't find any additional quantities worth purchasing. Even those who still possessed small amounts began demanding enormous sums in exchange for them, so Headquarters eventually stopped purchasing at such unreasonable prices and instead began making preparations for extensive mining operations to search for those materials themselves.

But Zara hadn't simply accepted the situation and left matters as they were...

With the assistance of one of the specialized departments of Sky Opening City, they had managed to develop a new method capable of increasing the operating efficiency of every Crucible they possessed, with the greatest improvement naturally appearing in the older generations, allowing those Crucibles to produce an entire Nota-4 armada in only eleven months.

Such an upgrade might not sound particularly astonishing when considering a single Crucible in isolation, but when the same improvement was applied across all thirty-five Crucibles of Greed operating together, the accumulated effect became absolutely tremendous.

Especially since the Crucibles didn't merely replicate armadas, but were also responsible for producing epic equipment, talismans, curses, cargo vessels, special-forces vessels, and many other crucial products required by an empire whose territory and needs were expanding at an insane pace!

There were even five Crucibles of Greed specifically dedicated to producing artificial ports for the imps to live upon outside the shell, continuously providing the structures required for their existence there!!

"Your Highness, this is precisely why I'm asking that we reconsider the timeline instead of continuing to force ourselves to follow it!" The elderly man who had spoken first returned to the discussion with a serious expression. "Please take into consideration that upgrading the Crucibles isn't the only thing we're working on inside Nihari right now, and the numbers of Soul Masters and skilled craftsmen available to us aren't unlimited no matter how much we need them. We have to properly allocate and employ the manpower we currently have in our hands!"

Everyone lowered their heads wearily upon hearing those words, clearly understanding exactly what he was referring to...

Upgrading the Crucibles was undoubtedly one of the highest and most important priorities before them at the moment, but there were other priorities as well that were no less important and demanded just as much manpower and attention. In fact, considering what was approaching, it could even be said that some of those matters were more important.

Preparing for the coronation ceremony!!

According to the information they had received, His Majesty would be crowned in eighty-five years, and the coronation itself would take place on the surface of Nihari in a grand celebration destined to become the focus of the entire universe in every possible sense of the word, an event that countless eyes would undoubtedly be watching. Alongside all of that, they also had to prepare a magnificent and equally impressive wedding ceremony for His Highness Richard.

How many people would ultimately attend those events, and just how important, powerful, and influential would those guests be when measured on the scale of the entire universe?

Was Nihari, in its current state and with its current facilities, truly worthy of hosting an event of such unprecedented magnitude?

The answer was simply no.

Even while they were standing here talking about the matter, the entire central region was already undergoing comprehensive development and reconstruction, while an enormous palace was being constructed there to become the residence of His Majesty, Behemoth Robin Burton, a palace sufficiently grand and imposing to be worthy of the coming coronation.

The vast region surrounding that palace was also being developed and reorganized to include dedicated landing grounds for important figures, enormous gardens covering vast areas, artificial seas, and luxurious resorts intended specifically to receive and accommodate His Majesty's guests throughout their stay...

At the same time, a tremendous number of arrays were being designed, purchased, transported, and buried throughout the region to oversee and support every conceivable aspect, while a completely secure area was being established for the Behemoth's children and grandchildren, along with another area located slightly farther away that would be designated for the entire Burton family, including their residences, academies, and everything else associated with them...

Simply put, the entire central region was being comprehensively reorganized and rebuilt from the ground up, an enormous area large enough to swallow fifteen planets the size of Jura, all of it being transformed into a single Imperial Palace and the countless facilities and territories attached to it.

The northern region hadn't escaped this enormous wave of development either, for that region was the true arm of the Empire, the place where all its industries and innovations were concentrated. Every secret belonging to the Empire could be found somewhere within that region, and there was absolutely no possibility of allowing any of those secrets to leak after the upgrades were completed, or during the coronation itself, simply because one of the countless visitors managed to glimpse something they weren't supposed to see.

For that reason, numerous arrays were currently being designed and constructed throughout the region with the goal of making it completely secure, even against the slightest contact from the spiritual sense of any intruder. At the same time, several defensive locations were being established and filled with Imperial Guards and Royal Soul Masters, and naturally, every part of this enormous undertaking required tremendous concentration, manpower, and an equally tremendous budget.

Of course, despite the tremendous importance of the central and northern regions, they couldn't simply forget about the rest of the planet either...

The planet had already been incorporated some time ago into First Marshal Caesar's Empire of Tomorrow Plan and had undergone tremendous development as a result, but even after everything that had already been accomplished, it still required considerably more development... The eastern and southern regions designated for the population were currently undergoing a massive renaissance on every level, and according to the established timeline, by the day of the coronation there wouldn't be a single dilapidated house or impoverished family left anywhere within them.

Even the western region, the area specifically designated for experiments and destruction and therefore hardly a place anyone had previously cared about beautifying, had begun undergoing development so that it too would present a sufficiently respectable appearance when the time finally came!

And all of this tremendous amount of work was happening on Nihari alone...

That was without even taking into consideration the cross-planetary arrays currently being planted throughout every planet within Nihari's inner rings, enormous arrays comparable in scale to those used by the late Darvion during his battle against Lord Hedrick ten years ago!

"We can put our own problems aside for the moment. After all, we have the best Soul Masters and the best builders available to us, and if our current numbers aren't sufficient, we can always train more." One of those present furrowed his brows slightly as he considered the larger problem. "But what about Headquarters? What about their ability to continuously provide all the construction materials we require and distribute them to every location according to the required deadlines?" Then he released a weary sigh. "...I saw Lady Emily screaming just a few days ago."

Rustle Rustle

"...?" Everyone turned toward Zara with confused expressions when they noticed the sound coming from her direction. "My Lady?"

At that very moment, she was calmly rolling up her sleeves as though she had already reached her decision.

"The timeline must be fulfilled exactly as planned. We don't have enough time to revise it, nor do we have the luxury of changing our plans whenever difficulties appear. Everything must be absolutely perfect for the coronation, and throughout that entire period we must also remain strong enough to maintain our continuous expansion without allowing it to slow down. We have no choice but to find a way to balance both needs."

Then she gathered her short hair and tied it up above her head before turning and heading directly toward the Crucible area. "...I'll work on upgrading them myself. You lot focus on another task!"