"Moreover, our trip there isn't purely for leisure. As you've seen from the intelligence on Siesta, it's one of the few cities that doesn't discriminate against the infected. We can take this opportunity to discuss some cooperation with the city's mayor."
Seeing that Talulah and FrostNova were still reluctant to go, Daniel Davis quickly found a reason they couldn't refuse. Strictly speaking, it wasn't just an excuse—he genuinely wanted to discuss cooperation with Siesta.
As a famous tourist city, Siesta attracted an astonishing number of visitors every year, especially during the annual Obsidian Festival, when the city was packed with tourists.
If they could establish a partnership with Siesta, Chernobog's future products would have a ready market. Daniel Davis had his own plans for Chernobog's development.
Even though he allowed capital to enter Chernobog, it had to be under his control. Otherwise, he'd rather not have it at all. He didn't want Chernobog to end up like Lungmen, held hostage by capital.
Wei Yenwu's decision to clear out the slums was largely due to pressure from capital. After years of development, many industries in Lungmen had become entrenched. To grow further, there were only two options: expand Lungmen as a mobile city by adding more modules or find new ways to develop.
However, expanding Lungmen was a difficult task. After years of development, Lungmen was already quite large. Making it any bigger would affect its mobility, posing a significant risk during natural disasters. This was a lesson learned from history.
In Terra, natural disasters were the greatest enemy. Every year, multiple mobile cities were destroyed by them. Franka's hometown had been wiped out by a natural disaster.
Originally, Franka's family had been part of the local nobility, and Franka herself had been a young lady who practiced noble swordsmanship. However, after her hometown was destroyed and her parents died in the disaster, Franka had to become a mercenary to make a living. Her mother, who had taken care of her, had become ill from overwork. Fortunately, Franka and her mother had been in the outskirts of the city when the disaster struck, which saved them.
Even with disaster messengers, mobile cities could still be hit by natural disasters. Disaster messengers' predictions weren't 100% accurate. Larger cities with multiple disaster messengers could make more informed decisions, but smaller mobile cities might only have one or two messengers.
Some smaller mobile cities were lucky to have even one disaster messenger. Additionally, people often took risks, especially when it came to interests like crops planted outside the city nearing harvest.
If they left, the crops would be destroyed. Many small mobile cities were destroyed due to such gambles.
Although there were technologies for growing crops on mobile cities, this was only feasible for larger cities. Smaller mobile cities had limited space and couldn't grow much food.
The Wolumonde incident was a result of such circumstances. Only large mobile cities like Lungmen wouldn't take risks when facing natural disasters. Even if it turned out to be a false alarm, Wei Yenwu wouldn't gamble with the city's safety.
Given the state of Terra, Daniel Davis' plan for Chernobog's development focused on food production. This was something only he could achieve, as no one else could expand space using the Undetectable Extension Charm. With this ability, space for planting wouldn't be an issue.
If he wanted, he could make Rhodes Island as large as Lungmen without any problems. With such vast space, they could grow anything and replicate the success of the Harry Potter world, becoming Terra's largest food supplier.
Having traveled to so many worlds and become the emperor of Great Tang, Daniel Davis had always prioritized food security. Other issues could be managed, but food self-sufficiency was non-negotiable. Before his transmigration, he had been frustrated by people who suggested relying on food imports. Such people were either foolish or malicious—or both.
Talulah, FrostNova, and Patriot fully supported Daniel Davis' plan. As infected individuals, they understood the hardships of resource scarcity all too well.
"Alright."
Hearing Daniel Davis' plan to cooperate with Siesta, Talulah and FrostNova finally stopped objecting to the trip. After all, it would benefit Chernobog.
"The Obsidian Festival? Let Amiya and the others accompany you."
After finalizing the list of Reunion Movement members going to Siesta, Daniel Davis went to Rhodes Island to invite Amiya, Kal'tsit, and the others. Kal'tsit declined, citing her busy schedule, but she agreed to let Amiya, the Doctor, and others take a break.
The Doctor had been working non-stop since waking up and definitely needed a rest. Of course, this was also because the Doctor had lost her memories, which made Kal'tsit more willing to let her go.
"By the way, since you're here, there's a patient who needs your attention." Kal'tsit led Daniel Davis to a ward in Rhodes Island's medical department, where they heard a loud, brash voice.
"Stay away! I don't want to eat that stuff!"
The voice sounded arrogant, but there was a hint of nervousness in it. When Daniel Davis entered the room, he saw Hibiscus, with her short purple hair, holding a bowl of nutritional food and approaching a young girl with short golden hair.
"No, this is for your health. You have to finish it today. Ifrit, Silence said you have to listen to me before she left."
Despite the girl's obvious reluctance, Hibiscus didn't back down. She even picked up a spoon and started feeding her.
"Silence, I know."
At the mention of Silence, the golden-haired girl, though still unwilling, obediently started eating the nutritional food.
"Hibiscus' talent is truly something else."
Daniel Davis had heard about Hibiscus' nutritional meals for a long time. Out of curiosity, he tried a bite and immediately decided he would never have a second bite.
Despite using normal ingredients—some of which could easily be made into decent dishes—Hibiscus somehow managed to create something almost universally unpalatable. It was baffling.
"Dr. Kal'tsit, Mr. Shen." Seeing the girl obediently eating her nutritional food, Hibiscus smiled and greeted Kal'tsit and Daniel Davis.
"Ifrit, the little fire dragon. I didn't expect her to be a Sarkaz."
From Hibiscus' address, Daniel Davis immediately realized who the golden-haired girl was. She was the six-star Caster he had always wanted but never managed to pull, alongside Eyjafjalla. Back then, he hadn't noticed that Ifrit was also a Sarkaz.
"A human pillar in Terra? It seems there are quite a few such beings in this world. Are they considered giant beasts?" Ifrit's ability to become the "little fire dragon" was due to her Originium Arts. However, it was unclear whether this power was her own or came from the monster inside her.
"Dr. Kal'tsit." After finally finishing Hibiscus' nutritional meal, Ifrit obediently greeted Kal'tsit. In Rhodes Island, Kal'tsit was one of the few people Ifrit didn't dare to act arrogantly in front of.
Even in front of the Doctor or Amiya, Ifrit would boldly refer to herself as "this great one."
"Who's he?" After greeting Kal'tsit, Ifrit immediately turned her curious gaze to Daniel Davis.
"Someone who can solve the problem inside you." Kal'tsit briefly explained Ifrit's situation.
"What do you want me to do? Eliminate the monster inside her?"
Ifrit's situation was somewhat similar to Talulah's. However, due to Rhine Lab's experiments, the monster inside Ifrit had come under her control. Strictly speaking, Ifrit was the little fire dragon, and the monster was the flame spirit.
Rhine Lab was indeed impressive, achieving something like this. Although Daniel Davis disliked Rhine Lab for their inhumane experiments, he had to admit their technological prowess in certain areas surpassed even Rhodes Island.
Rhine Lab was also home to many talented individuals. The famous Saria had once been the head of their security department.
One of their directors had even demonstrated the ability to remotely control an avatar.
"Not for now. This requires her guardian's consent. Her Oripathy is very severe." Kal'tsit shook her head.
With Silence and Saria absent, Kal'tsit couldn't make decisions on their behalf. While she believed eliminating the monster would be best for Ifrit, she couldn't overstep.
"The latest novel is first published on 69shuba!"
"Can you really eliminate the monster inside me?" Ifrit looked at Daniel Davis with excitement. If it weren't for Kal'tsit's endorsement, she wouldn't have believed it. As she spoke, flames erupted from her body. Just as she was about to panic, Daniel Davis waved his hand, extinguishing the flames.
"If you want, I can eliminate it. But let's take a look at your Oripathy first."
Ifrit's body was covered in Originium crystals—her arms, legs, abdomen, and back. This was just the surface; her blood was also filled with Originium crystals. As a Sarkaz, she could withstand such severe infection without showing much distress. For other races, this level of infection would be life-threatening.
Sarkaz had a high tolerance for infection, but this also meant they had a high adaptability to Oripathy. Patriot was a prime example.
"No problem." Daniel Davis nodded slightly.
"Hibiscus, leave this to me for now." Kal'tsit dismissed Hibiscus. The fewer people who knew about Daniel Davis' abilities, the better. It wasn't that Kal'tsit didn't trust Hibiscus, but there was no need to expand the circle of those in the know.
"Sleep for a while." Daniel Davis put Ifrit to sleep and began removing the Originium crystals from her body. Once he was done, he woke her up.
"How did you do this?" Ifrit looked at her smooth arms and felt her lighter body, utterly shocked.
As an infected individual surrounded by medical staff, Ifrit knew all too well what Oripathy was like. She had become a test subject for Rhine Lab under the guise of Oripathy treatment.
"You don't need to know. By the way, do you want to meet the monster inside you?" Ifrit was even younger than Amiya. At such a young age, she had to endure the pain of Oripathy and Rhine Lab's experiments. Her habit of calling herself "this great one" was likely a form of self-protection.
"Can I?"
"Of course." Daniel Davis took out a feather and turned to Kal'tsit. "Would you like to join us?"
"Sure." Kal'tsit nodded.
"Who dares enter this great one's domain? Haha, you're asking for death!"
As soon as Daniel Davis entered Ifrit's consciousness using the Feather of Truth, he saw a flame monster with horns on its head swinging a fiery claw at him.
"Is this how you greet guests?" Daniel Davis punched the flame claw, causing it to shatter. Before the flame monster could react, Daniel Davis' fist continued forward, striking its chest and sending it flying dozens of meters. Its body disintegrated mid-air.
"So Ifrit's catchphrase comes from him." With this thought, Daniel Davis formed hand seals, summoning golden chains that bound the flame monster as it reformed. Only then did he allow Kal'tsit and Ifrit's consciousness to appear.
"So you're the one who's been talking in my head all this time?" Ifrit stared at the bound flame monster for a moment before stepping forward and shouting.
"Do you think I wanted to? I was just sleeping, and when I woke up, I was inside you. I'll kill those bastards someday."
The flame monster's words sounded aggrieved, and rightly so. Ifrit had been discovered by Rhine Lab in an ancient ruin, and they had immediately started experimenting on her.
While Rhodes Island sought to cure Oripathy, Rhine Lab aimed to use Originium to create more powerful weapons. If Ifrit fully mastered the flame monster's power, she would become a formidable force on the battlefield, surpassing even ordinary Internal Guards.
This was similar to the tailed beasts in the Naruto world.
"Can we not eliminate it?" Ifrit turned to Daniel Davis.
"Of course. But in exchange, you'll need to lend her your full power."
Ifrit's attitude gave Daniel Davis an idea: turning her into a true human pillar.
______
(≧◡≦) ♡ Support me and read 20 chapters ahead – patreon.com/Mutter
For every 50 Power Stones, one extra chapter will be released on Saturday.