After a long silence, Azima took a deep breath, pointed to Roland's desk and said, "There's a stone made of the same material in your drawer."

"Correct." Roland returned Azima a satisfied smile and put the other box on the desk. "But I'm a bit curious. Why did you call it 'a stone made of the same material' instead of 'an identical one'?"

"Because... the reactions were different. Although they're both source materials, the reaction of the first one is stronger." Azima then described what she had seen.

"Can you locate more pieces?"

"Please let me try."

Azima concentrated her mind and found the green light. Due to the blinding interference of the previous two stones, she had overlooked the other lights, but soon Azima found three more lines extending east, west, and north. This implied there were, at the very least, three stones made of the same source material which were bigger than the one in her hand. To her dismay, she noticed the three lines, although thick, actually consisted of numerous dim thin threads.

After Azima reported to Roland, he nodded thoughtfully and said, "In other words, you won't know how far these stones are unless you actually go there."

"Yes."

"In that case, go to the east and then head to the north." Roland immediately made the decision. "It's too dangerous to travel west, as you have to cross the Barbarian Land. If you still can't find the stone when you reach the beach, then head north."

After a moment of hesitation, Azima asked what she had been thinking all this time. "Your Majesty, is this stone... even more precious than gold?"

Since Azima was not a combat witch, she had limited self-defense skills. Azima was concerned that, if news of this precious stone was leaked, the trip would put her in danger. In that case, she would not only fail her mission but also lose her life on the way.

Seeing that Azima was worried about the potential risk, the young king replied smilingly, "In fact, it's yes and no. For people who don't know what it really is, it's just a plain, useless stone. But to me, it's much more valuable than gold. It's the key to the success of the 'Resplendent Radiation' Project."

"Resplendent Radiation? What's that?" Azima wondered, feeling even more confused.

"However, considering the possible variables, I would certainly not let you go alone." Roland pointed to a guard next to him. "This is Sean, your protector. Furthermore, a combat engineer unit from the First Army would come with you. Your top priority is to locate the stones. Therefore, you can instruct Sean to liaison with the local officials to a.s.sist your search if necessary."

"Are you saying... that I can make those lords work for me?" Azima asked in surprise.

"Why not?" Roland shrugged. "They aren't who they used to be. They're obligated to obey orders from the central government." Roland paused for a few seconds and continued. "Since it may take a while to find the source material, I can pay you 30% of the salary in advance and the rest on a monthly basis. That is all for the contract. What are your thoughts on this?"

Azima pondered for a while and asked, "Your Majesty, could you direct the payment to Doris?"

"I have no issue with this," Roland raised his eyebrows, "if that's what you want."

"Then I'll take the job." She bowed. "I'll be ready by tomorrow morning."

Although there were still many things she did not understand, at least... she didn't have to worry about money anymore. Azima couldn't see any problems with the task and believed she would sooner or later locate the stones with the a.s.sistance of the First Army. With the 50 gold royals, life would be much easier for her friends, Azima could not wait to tell Doris the good news.

"Very well." Roland got to his feet. "I look forward to hearing the good news."

After Wendy escorted Azima out, Roland paced back to the French window and sighed deeply while watching the city night below.

"Finally, we've got the ball rolling."

"To create a sun?" asked Nightingale as she revealed herself from the Mist. "You get super excited every time you talk about this project."

"Because it's a path to the sun," Roland remarked impressively. "As of this moment, mankind has entered a new era, an era where we produce our own sun rather than simply admiring it. To me, nothing can be more romantic than such enormous progress." Roland turned around and pointed up at the ceiling. "Do you see a yellow exclamation mark up there?"

Nightingale shook her head in great amus.e.m.e.nt. "I only see a mumbling daydreamer, in his perfect... delirium."

"Ahem..." Roland was almost choked. "Hey, do you have to be so straightforward about it?"

"I'm just trying to be honest with you." Nightingale jerked away her head, putting on an innocent look.

Roland shot her a stare, half annoyed and half amused. He knew Nightingale was joking. In fact, most people would think he was crazy until they actually saw the finished product.

Even Roland himself didn't have the slightest idea of whether this project would succeed or not.

Roland wouldn't have developed such an unrealistic idea had there been no witches. The Manhattan Project, even in the modern society, had cost so much money, manpower, and resources that even the most developed country had found it difficult to afford such monstrous expenses. It would be absolute madness to try and replicate the Manhattan Project from scratch. However, with the a.s.sistance of the various magic powers, he might succeed.

The most distinctive characteristic of his project was the minimal investment it required, as the witches would complete most of the work. Although it sounded like a joke, to produce a nuclear bomb with almost none of the accompanying modern technology, there was still a chance that it might work.

Roland could certainly carry out the project concurrently with the other industrial projects at this stage of development. Even if it did not go well, it would just be a small failure.

In fact, Roland had started to prepare for this project since the day Lucia entered adulthood. After revisiting all the elements on the periodic table, he had asked Kyle Sichi, the Chief Alchemist, to separate Uranium samples from a bunch of extracted elementary substances and store them away.

Uranium was one of the most common elements in nature. It could not only be found in uranium mines but also in granite, coal, and even seawater. Only, due to the limitations of the current technology, it would cost an exorbitant amount, in both time and money, to properly exploit any uranium deposits. However, Lucia could use her ability to directly collect scattered uranium in nature to provide the raw materials required. It thus saved Roland the trouble of separating and purifying the uranium.

Roland knew his eloquent rhetoric in the meeting was simply a political strategy, designed to raise people's morale. Because he had actually left something unsaid. The ambitious dream of creating a sun was just one, surface level reason, for him putting this plan into action. Another, more important reason, was that humanity was now facing the greatest crisis since its genesis, based on what he had learned from the Senior Demon.

What's the origin of the magic power?

Roland did not have the faintest idea.

He took this irrational, unknown power very seriously.

According to the Senior Demon, the demons evolved through upgrades. That was the reason they had evolved so quickly over the past 400 years.

Agatha's proposal of defending seemed to be perfect, but there was actually a ma.s.sive flaw. Under this plan, the enemies would have as much time as they needed, which is probably why the Union suffered such a complete defeat.

If the demons were left alone, defeated the undersea monsters during the third Battle of Divine Will, and once again upgraded themselves, how powerful would they become?

Since the demons could upgrade themselves with their magic power in such an inconceivable manner, Roland had to develop a more aggressive, powerful, and devastating countermeasure as his last resort.