Feng Chou took out his money pouch, counted out 30 small gold lions, and placed them on the counter.
The bartender took the money and quickly prepared a dark red cocktail. He handed it to Feng Chou and tilted his head at him, indicating that he could go up to the second floor.
Feng Chou went up the stairs in the corner behind the bar. The first thing that appeared in front of him was a small lounge. There were a few tables and high stools inside for customers to rest.
In a corner of the lounge, two armored Goblin Bugbears were sitting on a corner sofa.
What surprised Feng Chou was that these two Bear Goblin had the strength of a high-level Warrior. Feng Chou had seen many Bear Goblin, but this was the first time he had seen such a powerful Bear Goblin.
The two Bear Goblin glanced at Feng Chou and then carefully looked at the wine glass in his hand before looking away.
In another corner of the lounge, there was a small bar. Two Goblin bartenders sat at the bar.
Feng Chou walked to the bar, put down his wine glass, and asked, "I want to buy a detailed nautical chart between the Northern and Southern Continents."
One of the Goblin bartenders walked out of the bar and said, "Follow me."
He led Feng Chou through the lounge, pushed open a door, and walked into a corridor.
There were about five or six offices on both sides of the corridor.
The Goblin bartenders walked to the middle of the corridor, pushed open a door, and gestured for Feng Chou to enter.
Feng Chou walked into the office. There was an Earth Goblin in a neat suit sitting inside.
The Earth Goblin looked at Feng Chou and smiled politely. He pointed to the chair in front of his desk and said, "Please sit, sir."
Feng Chou pulled out the chair and sat down.
The Earth Goblin reached out and shook hands with him. "Hello, sir. I am Jack Hill. It is my pleasure to serve you."
The other party's hand was dry and strong, not much different from a human's.
Feng Chou said, "Erik, you can call me Erik. I want to buy a detailed map of the sea between the Northern and Southern Continents. It would be best if all the islands along the way were marked."
Jake Hill said, "We have many detailed maps of different levels. Which level do you want?"
Feng Chou said, "Of course it's the highest grade."
Jake Hill raised his nonexistent eyebrows and said, "The highest level?
Are you sure? "
Feng Chou said, "Of course!"
Jake Hill said, "Alright, the highest-grade nautical map is worth 100,000 Sol. You will also have to sign a Devil's Agreement to ensure that the map will not be spread."
100,000 Sol was 1.5 million crowns. Such a high price stunned Feng Chou, but he hesitated for a moment before nodding. "No problem."
Feng Chou needed a place to settle down and settle down his subordinates, but the Southern Continent was not a good place. Compared to the Northern Continent, which was politically stable, this was an out-and-out chaotic world.
Thus, Feng Chou had no choice but to set his sights on the sea.
His ideal place to settle down was an island like this, preferably near the sea route between the Northern and Southern Continents. This would make it easier for him to accumulate wealth through sea trade, but it could not be too close to the sea route. It would be best if it was more than a thousand kilometers away from the sea route. This way, he could avoid the harassment of pirates.
The island had to be large enough and have sufficient fresh water.
With so many restrictions, such an island was naturally not easy to find. Thus, Feng Chou needed a detailed nautical map. Even if he had to spend a few million crowns, as long as he could find the ideal island, it would be worth it.
Feng Chou's straightforwardness stunned Jake Hill, but he immediately put on a big smile. "That's great, I'll get someone to inform the mages to prepare the summoning ritual … But …"
Jake Hilton paused and said, "Before that, you need to show us that you have the ability to pay."
"Of course," Feng Chou said. He took out an exquisite silk pouch and handed it to the goblin.
The goblin took the silk pouch from Feng Chou's hands and opened it to take a look. There were more than ten mid-grade magic gems inside, the most eye-catching of which were seven or eight translucent crystals the size of pigeons' eggs. They seemed to be soul crystals.
Before coming to the Southern Continent, Feng Chou had already exchanged all the Northern Continent bank notes for gems.
The Goddess of Wealth's bank had not opened in the Southern Continent yet. The Ottawa bank notes that were hard currency in the Northern Continent were useless in the Southern Continent.
Jake Hill estimated that the value of this pouch of gems was indeed more than a hundred thousand sols.
He handed the pouch back to Feng Chou and said, "Please wait a moment."
With that, he left the office.
Ten minutes later, he returned to the office and said to Feng Chou, "Please follow me."
The two left through the back door of the tavern and followed a small path behind the tavern until they reached the back of the courtyard.
Behind the courtyard, there were three huge factories. They formed a triangle around a circular factory with a tall chimney. Huge steel pipes led to the three factories like blood vessels.
This was a typical layout of a steam-powered factory. The steam boiler was located in the center as the power source, providing steam power to the surrounding factories.
The roar of the machines was endless.
The goblin led Feng Chou through the factory on the left and came to the back left corner of the courtyard. There was a fortress-like stone building here.
Two steel-like constructs were guarding the entrance of the stone building.
Qiankun Pagoda told Feng Chou that they were not constructs, but the legendary 'Fel Mecha'!
The 'Fel Mecha' was the pinnacle of goblin engineering. It was the perfect combination of engineering and magic.
It was said that under the control of a goblin, this mecha's combat power was even stronger than constructs of the same level. It was also not as stupid as constructs and could not carry out complex orders.
Qiankun Pagoda quickly took out the results of the analysis of the Fel Mecha.
The outer shell of the Fel Mecha was actually very similar to a construct. The joints were replaced by horizontal and horizontal shafts, and the muscles were replaced by magic energy to power the mecha. The source of its magic energy was also Magic Permanence.
However, the Magic Permanence in this Fel Mecha was somewhat special. According to Qiankun Pagoda's analysis, this Magic Permanence should be a simplified version of the array.
If the true Magic Permanence could only be mastered by a high-grade alchemist, then this simplified version of the Magic Permanence alchemy array might be mastered by a Level Ten or even Level Nine alchemist.
This news made Feng Chou's heart skip a beat. If that was the case, didn't that mean that Qiankun Pagoda could also master this simplified version of the alchemy array?
Of course, the simplified version naturally could not compare to the original. This simplified version of Magic Permanence's magic energy absorption efficiency was only a fifth of the normal version, but the cost was a third of the normal version.
Hence, this Fel Mecha's head, chest, and four limbs were installed with a simplified version of Magic Permanence. There was also a magic energy storage device installed at the lower abdomen. This storage device could store magic energy during normal times and release it during battle to make up for the lack of output of the simplified version of Magic Permanence.
According to Qiankun Pagoda's calculations, this simplified version of Magic Permanence could be used on a small magic device like the Fel Mecha. But if it was used on a magic ship and made into a large array, the cost would be unacceptably high.
This was probably the reason why the Goblins did not use this simplified version of Magic Permanence on large ships.
Another difference between the Fel Mecha and constructs was that the Fel Mecha did not have a soul core.
In order to replace the soul core, the Goblins invented a mysterious alchemy device. This device could use some low-grade spells to combine a Goblin's consciousness with the Fel Mecha's information transmission hub, letting the Goblin replace the construct's soul core and control the Fel Mecha's movements.
This way, letting a weak ordinary Goblin enter the Fel Mecha would allow the Fel Mecha to obtain functions far beyond that of a construct.
For the Goblins, the true advantage of the Fel Mecha was that it could avoid the complicated soul ritual. A Fel Mecha on the same level as an arcane copper construct only needed a Level Ten or Level Nine alchemist to make it!
This had an extraordinary meaning to the Goblins.
Due to their superior intelligence, the number of low-level Goblins was even higher than that of humans. However, due to their poor mental strength foundation and talent, the future of the Goblin Mages was very poor.
There were very few Beginner Goblin Mages who could advance to Intermediate, not even a tenth of the human Beginner Mages. When they reached Advanced, they were even rarer.
Similarly, due to their poor mental strength and high intelligence, almost all Goblin Mages were Alchemists. There were even many Goblin Mages who were Alchemists at a higher level than their Mages!
Among the Goblin Alchemists, those who could craft arcane copper constructs were as rare as a phoenix's fel. However, the number of Goblins who could craft Fel Mechas was not much less than human Alchemists of the same level. After all, the number of Alchemists among human Mages was less than a tenth.
The invention of the Fel Mecha could be said to have solved the shortcoming of the Goblins' lack of high-end combat power. It was regarded as the greatest invention in the history of the Goblins.
In addition to lowering the manufacturing threshold, the price of the Fel Mecha had been greatly reduced because it did not require a soul core. This reduction not only offset the high cost of the simplified version of the Constant Magic Circle, but also made the Fel Mecha much cheaper than similar copper core steel-shell constructs. Qiankun Pagoda estimated that the cost of the Fel Mecha was about two-thirds of the cost of a copper core steel-shell construct of the same level.
In addition, Qiankun Pagoda also emphasized that the pilots of the two Fel Mechas were two high-level Goblin Rogues!
The average height of the Goblins was only 1.4 meters. In terms of physical strength and strength, be it in terms of foundation or talent, they were far inferior to humans. However, they were stronger than humans in one aspect, and that was Agility. The Goblins were born with Agility about 1.3 times that of humans, and the upper limit of their talent was also higher than humans.
Therefore, the Goblins were much more suitable for the profession of Rogue than humans.
Among the ordinary Goblin professions, the proportion of Rogues was very high, and among the Goblin Rogues, the proportion of high-level professions was also much higher than that of humans.
High Agility Rogues were undoubtedly the best candidates to operate the Fel Mecha.
The power of the Fel Mecha came from the powerful magic energy provided by the Constant Magic Circle, and their reaction speed was largely limited by the reaction speed of the pilot himself. Using high Agility Rogues to operate the Fel Mecha could increase the combat power of the Fel Mecha exponentially.
Qiankun Pagoda estimated that the combat power of a Fel Mecha operated by a Level-13 Rogue required two Black Steel constructs of the same type to contend with.
The Fel Mecha was also equipped with a variety of weapons. The one that caught Feng Chou's attention the most was a huge revolver hanging on the back of the Fel Mecha. Its caliber was almost as large as a three-pound cannon.
Qiankun Pagoda analyzed the caliber of the revolver, the precision of the structure, and the complex magic circuits on the revolver. The bullets fired from the revolver were likely to be close to a Level-6 single-target spell.
The power was weaker than Feng Chou had guessed. It could not be helped. Spell levels were always the Goblins' weakness. None of the magic effects attached to the Fel Mecha were higher than Level-5.
In addition to the revolver, a small round shield hung on one of the Fel Mecha's arms, and a large Black Steel Hammer hung on the other thigh.
In order to facilitate combat, the Fel Mecha's arms were very long. It could almost touch the ground when standing. From afar, it looked like a giant gorilla with long arms.
As the technical difficulty of the Fel Mecha was all below Advanced, Qiankun Pagoda only took a short time to scan and analyze the Fel Mecha thoroughly.
Feng Chou followed Jake Hill past the two Fel Mechas and walked into the interior of the stone castle.
A Goblin Wizard had already prepared a summoning spell formation.
The Goblins used a low-level bloodline ritual to transform the Earth Goblin and Bear Goblin. It could only transform the weak bodies of the Goblins. Mental strength involved the soul. It was not something a low-level bloodline ritual could transform.
That was why in the Goblin Kingdom, only the children of wealthy families who did not have the potential to become engineers would be transformed into Earth Goblins in order to obtain better combat talent.
As for the Bear Goblin, it was a transformation that only slaves and the poor would accept. The cost of such a transformation was low, but it would damage the intelligence of the person who underwent the transformation.
This Goblin Wizard looked like an ordinary Goblin, but Jake Hill was very respectful towards him. It was no wonder. A Level-8 Wizard would not have a low status among the Goblins.
The summoning spell formation was set up in a large binding room in the basement of the stone castle.
Before summoning the Devil, the Goblin Wizard took out a confidentiality contract and handed it to Feng Chou.
Feng Chou took the contract and scanned it carefully. He then used a few small spells to check the contract in case there were any backdoors.
In reality, Qiankun Pagoda only took a second to confirm that there were no problems with the contract. However, in order not to be treated like a fool, he had to put on an act and appear to be very familiar with the devil's contract.
After putting on an act, Feng Chou signed his name on the contract.
Such a signature, regardless of whether it was a real name or not, would create a connection between the person who signed the contract and the contract. Once such a contract was judged by the devil, the devil would be able to track down the soul of the person who violated the contract based on the signature. This was a natural ability granted to the devils by the rules of Hell.