"As much as you can give me, but I can't say that now, can I," she said.
"Yes, I need a lot for what's coming up soon. Not to mention, I need to claim the entire Sea of Demons. My puppets can't properly function within the Sea of Demons' sand, but the cities are an exception."
"A couple thousand would be enough for me. I'll need them to man the weapons and do all sorts of heavy lifting."
"You don't need a fighting force?" I asked. .net
She shook her head, "If puppets take over my own fighters' roles, they'll slack off and be lazy. I need them sharp and ready at all times."
"I see. Then what about their 'Food'?" I asked.
"I've seen how they use their Saint Qi crystals to power up, which brings me to ask..."
"No, not the reactor," I shook my head, "I can give you a simplified version that you can work on. As for the massive ship, you'll have to buy one from me," I said.
She smiled, "I was about to ask the same thing. I wouldn't take the blueprint for the reactor but would buy a readymade one for the ship. I already have the entire dimensions ready," she said as she handed me a small piece of jade.
I quickly scanned it and nodded, "You want it to use Origin Stones?"
"Yes."
"That will be difficult for me. I cannot handle Origin Qi right now," I said.
"Then I'll build it for you, under your guidance," she said.
"That could work then," I said.
"Then let's get to work," she said.
"You mean here?" I asked.
"Of course, unless you have a better forge," she smiled. After all, she is the Blue Sun owner of the largest city of production and metalwork.
I sheepishly grinned and said, "I might. But sadly, I can't take you right now," I sighed.
"If you're worried about the Queen's secret being exposed, you don't have to be concerned. The Lording Sun already predicted this and notified me. I won't say a thing," she made the zip-on-mouth gesture and smiled wide.
Not gonna lie, I almost fell in love right there, but the worry from having a Sun knowing about the Queen kept me in check. Against the Sun, keeping a secret is almost impossible.
"Sure then, if you say so," I said as I asked the Automaton to open a portal for us.
We moved inside the Lord of Lords pagoda and arrived immediately in the smithy area.
The Queen took a gasp, "Oh my, all of these..." she muttered.
"I suppose you're interested in the bellows and blast furnaces," I grinned.
"These are top-notch, all of them. Even I only have a dozen or so sets of this smithy, but what's that? These modifications." She asked as she moved her head left and right.
"Oh, you mean the inscriptions on them. I added them to increase efficiency. Look here for example," I said as I opened a small panel next to the blast furnace where hundreds of thousands of inscriptions showed up.
"Due to the need to reheat metal to mold it better into proper form, it usually loses its durability and efficiency the more you heat and reheat it," I said.
"Yes, I do understand that," she said.
"So what if there is an inscription that coats the metal itself in the same constant heat outpour, allowing you to only heat it once and work it until it's done without it cooling off or losing heat," I said.
"Cute pets," the Blue Sun said.
"They indeed are," I said.
"So, Shen Bao, what are your plans for the Sea of Demons?" she asked.
"Let's talk under that," I said as I led her to the small gazebo in the open plains.
Once we sat down, the automaton brought us hot tea that I poured for her and myself and sat down.
"Thank you," she said as she held the cup with both hands and slowly drank from it.
"Good tea," she said.
I nodded and did the same.
"As for the Sea of Demons, I do plan on taking over but it needs to be a hostile takeover without the need of spilling blood," I said.
"How are you planning on doing that? The self-proclaimed emperor is pretty powerful," she said.
"I would assume so. Even the mighty oak believes it is strong until a man comes along with an ax to chop it down," I said.
She took another sip and said, "You don't have time to grow as strong as he is, and once the Endless Night drops, it will be impossible to shake the stability of the Sea of Demons."
She wasn't wrong. Once that happens, the entire army will be on high alert.
"I understand that, and that's why I'm going in for a quick and hostile takeover," I said.
"What do you mean?"
I immediately snapped my head to the left, grinning.
"Well, I guess this makes my job easier now."
"I'm really confused. Are you dodging the question?" she said as she tried to see what I was seeing.
"Not at all," I sipped my drink, "My goal is to instantly take over every city of the Sea of Demons at once. And that can only be achieved by immense, devastating, and destructive firepower."
"And where are you going to get that? Terrorizing the people will get you hated," she said.
"I'm not planning on killing people. We'll need them for the times to come, but the Snobby Sun is now helping me make more of the rods. Hell, he's even improving them," I said.
She frowned, "He already started construction?"
"Yes, I'm sensing them. Due to his understanding of inscriptions, he thought he could replicate the same weapon. But he never noticed a small trap I have laid in the rods. After they're done being replicated, the entirety of the structure will shape itself into a hidden formation that will only be apparent once the rod is complete."
"An inscription within an inscription?"
"Yes," I smiled.
"And what does that inscription entail?" she asked.
"It hands me control over the rod. So basically, he's using his own resources to make weapons for me. Quite the profitable partner, right?" I grinned.
"You're a scary man," she smiled back.
"Well, I'm just a man who hates having what's his stolen by others, so I always have some form of protection and fallback mechanic on my stuff. Anyway, let me explain my plan on how to obtain the Sea of Demons."