Raphael and his party crossed the vast Algae Sea and finally saw the distant Siren base.
Raphael was incredulous: "How did they get through this Algae Sea to rob Empire merchant ships?"
"Metatron": "You’ll understand when we fly closer."
Is this Guardian God learning the players’ pointless chit-chat?
As they got closer, Raphael adjusted the video recording to the highest detail mode.
Then he discovered what seemed to be a ring-shaped volcanic island. Within the island, there was a lake, and within the lake, a large island, brimming with buildings.
This miraculous landscape really left the chat group in shock: "This is definitely a hidden power!"
Then a woman with eagle wings and a Yellow Name soared into the sky: "Welcome guests, I am the Guardian Siren of Evil Spirit Island."
Gabriel was dumbfounded: "So this is how a Siren looks? Much nicer than I imagined!"
"Metatron" said: "This is the Second Prince of the Empire I’ve brought to visit, the Sage of Gem City."
Then, a gigantic turtle head suddenly emerged from the island in the lake: "Welcome, guests! I am the Old Turtle!"
The chat group exploded: "What?!!"
Raphael and the Second Prince were instantly stunned: "Is this island on a turtle’s back?"
The Siren laughed: "Yes, the Old Turtle can carry the island and move across the Algae Sea, which is how I’ve managed to rob Empire ships many times."
The Second Prince noticed: "That’s my brother’s ship!"
The Siren laughed: "I’ll return it, don’t worry."
Raphael didn’t care about these details: "Lady Guardian, may I take a look around from the air?"
The Siren laughed: "Certainly, I’ll accompany you at any time, feel free to ask any questions."
Raphael noticed many small boats mining around the volcano: "Are those miners on the boats humans? What kind of ore are they mining?"
The Siren laughed: "Since it’s Evil Spirit Island, of course, they’re all Evil Spirits, mining a kind of volcanic crystal ore. Although its purity isn’t high, it’s what we urgently need."
Raphael asked in shock: "But it’s daytime now, there’s still sunlight. Can these Evil Spirits mine in the sun?"
The Siren said in surprise: "Isn’t the sun more convenient for mining?"
Raphael exclaimed: "No, I mean, generally Evil Spirits don’t have that ability. These Evil Spirits must be particularly strong?"
The Siren smiled: "Strong? Then thank you for the compliment, Sage, we’re used to it."
The chat group was amazed: "Truly very strong!"
Raphael saw the Dragon Mother in the central plaza of the street: "Dragon Mother!?"
The Siren said: "Yes, she’s resting. Don’t disturb her."
At this moment, Chun, who was watching the waterball monitor in the control room, also laughed. Sleeping is good, avoiding the Ten Lords’ questions directly.
Then Raphael circled half the island and arrived at the back, discovering a section of vertical, smooth island cliff with iron gateways: "What’s this?"
Chun’s heart tightened! This is truly the Ten Lords; any small anomaly will be noticed.
The Siren laughed: "A rear turret, specifically released to counter pursuing enemy ships."
Chun always felt something was wrong: "If you put it that way..."
Chifanda said: "The goddess didn’t lie to him. It was a turret before, and the cannon can be made ready at any time."
Holy Shit! What level are our island’s cannons?
Raphael also asked in shock: "What’s the power of the island’s cannon?"
The Siren laughed: "I’ve never had a chance to test it because I’ve never been caught."
Then Chifanda explained: "It’s just an ordinary mechanical cannon, the ammunition is insufficient. We considered using divine stone ore crystal for shells, but it seemed too extravagant."
Tifa said: "Of course, crystal ore should be used for magic crystal cannons. I know how to make magic crystal cannons; I can help with the construction if needed."
Chifanda was delighted: "That would be wonderful; we really need it, but we don’t understand magic very well."
Chun remembered that his alternate account had copied a set of Magic Tower blueprints in Shadow Stream City. It’s time to bring it out.
"Little Fa, I have a set of blueprints here for you to use as a reference."
—System prompt: You traded the blueprint for ’Construction Method of the Shadow Stream Magic Tower’ to Tifa.
Tifa was stunned for a moment: "Shadow Stream City?"
Um...
Chun said: "Seized during the chaos."
Tifa didn’t ask further: "It was indeed chaotic. I’ll study it once I’ve debugged the machine."
Hmm, it wasn’t technically lying to her since it was chaotic—though I caused the chaos.
...
At this time, Raphael’s group completed their aerial tour and officially descended onto the street.
Raphael looked around at the shops on the street: "What are they selling?"
The Siren said: "Actually, nothing is being sold. It’s just Evil Spirits pretending to work."
Raphael was puzzled again: "Why pretend?"
The Siren said: "Because it’s the obsession of these Evil Spirits from when they were alive."
Raphael was astonished: "But there are so many goods in the shops!"
The Siren laughed: "Those are various items we looted from cargo ships, displayed on the shelves to fill them. The fuller the shelves, the more satisfied the Evil Spirits feel."
Raphael and the others truly had their eyes opened.
Raphael asked again: "But I just saw the blacksmith shop’s furnace, surely they’re not pretending to work there?"
The Siren laughed with great pride: "Of course not, we have the most skilled master smith on the island, Smith! He helped with the Dragon Mother’s chains."
Raphael was amazed again: "A Grandmaster? I must meet him!"
"This way, please."
As they proceeded, Raphael passed by a large building with a metal sign that read "BANK" in bold letters!
Raphael found it unbelievable: "There’s a bank here?"
The Siren laughed: "There’s not much money, just some coins we gathered from looted cargo ships to fill the cash box, still pretending to work!"
Raphael immediately thought of Uriel’s frozen account: "May I go in and take a look?"