985: Great Wizard Jikong Yue and Witch Yekaterina
At the highest level of the White Ice Tower, the structure tapered from thick to thin. Consequently, the top floor was only the size of an attic. This was a secret room hidden within the mana chamber beneath the Ice Tower's Magic Eye, a private sanctum belonging to Great Wizard Jikong Yue that very few knew about.
At this moment, Great Wizard Jikong Yue was accompanied by Witch Rose.
As the two entered the room, Great Wizard Jikong Yue walked toward a large piece of medical equipment resembling a bathtub. He chanted an incantation, and the stone pipes on the tub floated up automatically. The interfaces then pierced through his skin and entered his body. Beneath the tub was a complex, translucent mechanical structure rotating rapidly. Below this mechanical room was a special Magic Plant cultivation chamber housing many Magic Plants of the second-ring level or higher. These plants possessed high-level imaginary roots—not the most common, whisker-like roots that could only anchor in the shallow layers of the Imaginary Sea, but more advanced Star Ring or even Moon Ring level imaginary roots. The Magic Plants in this chamber were constantly drawing from the Imaginary Sea, fishing for special spirit breath to provide azure spiritual breath to the mechanical room. After special processing, this breath maintained Great Wizard Jikong Yue's physiological functions.
Great Wizard Jikong Yue lay back into his bathtub magic tool.
"Forgive me for the sight, Rose. My own life spirit breath has indeed been exhausted. I am merely using these external devices to prolong my life as much as possible."
Witch Rose's expression shifted slightly. She deliberated for a moment, looking around to ensure there were no true sight crystal balls in the room before speaking: "I know some wizards in the Southern Wizard Capital who possess special resources that can help a wizard extend their lifespan as much as possible. Great Wizard Jikong Yue, in a situation like yours, there are plenty of ways to prolong life."
Great Wizard Jikong Yue shook his head.
"I refuse. There is no need to use Necromancy to maintain my life. Doing so would consume the truly precious things within my soul, reducing my chances of breaking through to become a Sun-Ring Wizard or even a Third-Ring Wizard in my next life."
"For high-ring wizards of the wizard civilization, reincarnation is more like starting over. Only Third-Ring Wizards can retain some things, while those below the Third Ring retain nothing and must start everything from scratch. But starting over is already a rare opportunity. I don't want to delay death and cause myself to lose the chance to advance further in my next life, or the life after that, forever."
Great Wizard Jikong Yue continued, "Rose, I've looked at your plan, and it is indeed excellent. As for the current situation, I've publicly claimed I have ten years left, but that's just a theoretical figure—an ideal scenario. In truth, I can only live for five more years. You... are the partner I've chosen. I have only three regrets left. The first is that I cannot find an heir for my Ice Moon Magic. Although the White Ice Tower has many wizards and numerous students, they are all incompetent. I have waited for five hundred years and haven't encountered a single wizard capable of inheriting my Ice Moon Magic."
"The second regret is that in my earlier years, I didn't manage affairs. Too many wizards from the White Ice Tower go out and cause trouble, while too few can act as pillars. I don't know why we've ended up in such a massive conflict with the Tide Great Wizard Tower now. Although my word still carries weight, I don't want to deal with it anymore. Because I can only live for five more years at most."
"I no longer have the energy to manage it."
"Thus, the future survival of the White Ice Tower is what concerns me."
"Young friend Rose, I believe your business plan for the Rose Building is very good."
"And the third regret."
Great Wizard Jikong Yue fell silent.
Witch Rose immediately stepped forward and took out two test rings for marriage rings from her astral ring.
"Respected Lord Jikong Yue, this is the marriage ring designed by my teacher. We all know that when one wizard marries another, their marriage forms a sacred relationship. This sacred bond originates from the resonance between two great souls, which then forms a special connection. A wizard's marriage contains mana. By wearing the marriage ring my teacher created, you can see your beloved once again." Great Wizard Jikong Yue's hands were covered in magic rings. He tremblingly removed a ring from his right thumb and put on the marriage ring.
He fell silent.
Witch Rose said, "The ring can utilize the sacred mana between you and your beloved. Even if your beloved is in another world, as long as the soul has not yet been reincarnated, a connection can be established over time. At first, it will feel as if you can hear the other person speaking, then it will become a telepathic connection, and in the final stage, you will be able to see your wife directly with your naked eyes."
"Of course, it will take some time. I'm not sure how many years it has been since your wife passed away, so calling forth this special mana may take a while."
Great Wizard Jikong Yue curled his lips into a satisfied smile.
"Thank you, Witch Rose."
"Then this third regret has been resolved."
"Now only two regrets remain."
Great Wizard Jikong Yue looked at Witch Rose and asked, "Young friend Rose, do you know who those Black Wizards who attacked your building are, or where they came from?" Witch Rose shook her head.
"I had already set up alerts through the wizards of the White Ice Tower beforehand, but they still managed to infiltrate."
Great Wizard Jikong Yue nodded.
"That new administrative director of the Silver-clad Peach Garden is named Locke Augustine, right? You seem to know him."
"Are you friends with him?"
"Can he be trusted? Could it be that he hired the Black Wizards?"
Witch Rose was stunned for a moment, then shook her head and said, "No, it wasn't him. Um... I suppose we are friends, in a way." Witch Rose changed the subject: "I suspect the Tide Great Wizard Tower more. They have a direct conflict of interest in this matter. Of course, it could also be wizards from outside the wizard lands."
After a moment of silence, Great Wizard Jikong Yue said, "It seems you trust him very much."
Witch Rose explained, "It's not about trust; it's just not his style of doing things. Moreover, that Black Wizard attacked even him earlier, and the blows weren't light. One wrong move and both he and I would have been forced into the Underworld Sky Wheel magic. I don't believe that was an act."
Great Wizard Jikong Yue nodded.
"Witch Rose, my time is short, so I will trust you. Or rather, I don't trust you so much as I trust your Rose Building business plan; it will leave a legacy of capital for my White Ice Tower. Therefore, I will do everything in my power to help your Olaye gain a firm foothold along the Tianjiang Coast. To me, any wizard who is beneficial to the White Ice Tower, I will help her."
Witch Rose bowed to him.
"Of course, Great Wizard Jikong Yue, I will do my utmost to help your White Ice Tower."
"Your support this time has solved my urgent problem and injected new credibility into our Olaye."
"Thank you for your assistance."
Locke spent a long time discussing cooperation regarding the Four-Winged Great Green-Leaf Dragon Sparrow with the high-level wizard mentors from the Tide Great Wizard Tower and the White Ice Tower. Locke agreed to open branch shops of the Silver-clad Peach Garden at both wizard academies, but he did not agree to any so-called exclusive agency or restrictive agency arrangements.
Archilian, a high-level wizard mentor from the White Ice Tower, saw Locke leading the people from the Silver-clad Peach Garden out of the Rose Building after packing everything up. He immediately followed them.
The reason Locke was in a hurry to leave was that this was someone else's territory after all. The damage caused by the Black Wizards here had absolutely nothing to do with him or the Silver-clad Peach Garden.
Furthermore, to be honest, aside from everyone discovering that Black Wizards existed in the wizard lands along the Tianjiang Coast, there were basically no other gains. Because of the bizarre Underworld Sky Wheel Great Magic of the Pale Pilgrimage, any death of a 'neither-living-nor-dead' being allows them to enter the Underworld Sky Wheel directly. As long as those Black Wizards transformed themselves into undead, they could use the Underworld Sky Wheel to create a no-injury scenario regardless of what casualties they encountered.
Locke thought of the being who had used the skeleton of a three-headed magic dragon to create a lich body, and his eyes darkened.
What Witch Rose didn't understand was that the conflict between him and that Black Wizard was even greater than the one between her and the wizard. Of course, letting Witch Rose maintain such a misunderstanding might be a good thing for now; otherwise, given her personality, she might try to exploit the situation.
It was only a matter of time before that Black Wizard realized Locke possessed the Magic Dragon Bloodline. However, in the short term, the opponent shouldn't be able to react.
After all, once he realized this during the battle, he immediately stopped using any powers that might reveal clues, such as the Magic Dragon Bloodline, abyssal power, or the Magic Dragon Rose. The probability of the opponent detecting the Magic Dragon Bloodline in him in a short time wasn't high, unless they had known from the very beginning.
But the Wizard World was vast, with numerous wizard lands. Even if the opponent was a Black Wizard from the Pale Pilgrimage, they likely hadn't returned to the Yunze Wetlands for many years. Moreover, it seemed the Pale Pilgrimage supported several Black Wizard factions in various places; the Black Wizard Alliance in the Southeast Corner Region was essentially a subordinate academy of the Pale Pilgrimage.
He hadn't expected that the Black Wizard Alliance here along the Tianjiang Coast was also supported by them.
At this moment, Archilian caught up, reaching the fiftieth floor of the Rose Building. He said to Locke, "Mr. Augustine, if the White Ice Tower can obtain the exclusive Magic Plant agency rights for your Great Green-Leaf Dragon Sparrow, we can accomplish many things in a very short time. Our White Ice Tower can provide all the funding to build sales points for the Great Green-Leaf Dragon Sparrow for you along the Tianjiang Coast."
Locke watched Archilian as he hurriedly caught up and stood before him making such promises. Locke looked at him with a faint smile and asked, "I noticed that almost half of Olaye's grassroots employees are wizards from your White Ice Tower. Master Jikong Yue's relationship with Rose also seems very good, and since you are so deeply integrated with Olaye, are you sure you want to cooperate deeply with the Silver-clad Peach Garden?"
Archilian suddenly began to cough. He pondered for a moment, thinking about how to answer.
After all, this involved other people's affairs.
In the end, as a high-level wizard mentor, his only responsibility during this opening ceremony day was to purchase excellent Magic Plants or reach cooperation agreements with excellent Magic Plant shops.
As for other matters, they weren't really within his scope of consideration. However, he didn't have the courage to lie or downplay things in front of Locke, a Star Ring Great Wizard. So, Archilian fell into thought, trying to figure out how to answer within his existing authority in a way that satisfied Locke while ensuring Locke wouldn't cooperate with the wizards of the Tide Great Wizard Tower.
Locke glanced at him, and the latter suddenly felt a chill down his spine.
Locke said, "So this is why I didn't want to continue talking with you. Given that White Ice Tower has already entered into deep cooperation with Olaye, Silver-clad Peach Garden will only ever be a backup option. Therefore, I will open a shop here, but as for establishing any exclusive partnership, please have Mr. Archilian find someone who can actually keep their word."
Wizard Archilian said through gritted teeth, "I indeed... have the authority to decide."
A sneer came from behind him.
He turned around and glared, for the ones behind him were the wizards from the Tide Great Wizard Tower.
Ethan Sterling, a Second-Ring Wizard and the leader of the Tide Great Wizard Tower team, bowed to Locke and said, "Lord Augustine, this Wizard Archilian has no good intentions at all. His words carry no weight."
"But for our Tide Great Wizard Tower, Silver-clad Peach Garden is the primary choice. We wish to reach an exclusive agency agreement with Silver-clad Peach Garden. Even if it's not exclusive, we can at least establish regional agency rights for the two major districts of White Ice Tower and Tide Great Wizard Tower."
This was clearly targeting White Ice Tower.
However, it was also evident that the wizards of Tide Great Wizard Tower had become anxious upon learning that Olaye and White Ice Tower had joined forces. Wizard Archilian was instantly enraged and looked at Ethan Sterling with dissatisfaction, "You!"
He warned, "Sterling, don't forget that you are still in our White Ice Tower region. Be careful you don't find yourself unable to leave."
Wizard Ethan Sterling immediately raised an eyebrow and said, "What, are you going to make a move directly in front of everyone? Weren't you the ones who struck first under the table?"
"Relying on the Moon Ring Wizard behind you, you don't even hold our Tide Great Wizard Tower in your eyes."
Wizard Archilian said, "It's not us making a move. It's just that as you've seen, things have been very unsettled lately with Black Wizards everywhere, and there are exceptionally many Black Wizards in our White Ice Tower region. Everyone has seen it; there really are Black Wizards. I'm just reminding you, don't wait until you're attacked by Black Wizards on your return journey to call for our help with your arrogant attitude."
Wizard Ethan Sterling narrowed his eyes. "Rest assured, the number of times Black Wizards attack your White Ice Tower will only be higher."
A water ball appeared in his hand, while an ice tower manifested in front of Archilian. The two spells did not touch, but a coupling reaction occurred, and the water ball turned into a block of ice.
Seeing this, Archilian sneered, looking immensely proud.
But in the next moment, the smile on his face froze because Ethan Sterling's water magic had invaded all his joints. His bones began to ache, and under the influence of the ice magic, the pain only intensified.
Both men looked at each other with solemn gazes.
Locke acted as if he didn't see the two at each other's throats, and Witch Biki beside him was also strictly adhering to her duties—when working for Silver-clad Peach Garden, she would never get involved with the Tide Great Wizard Tower, so she turned a blind eye to it.
Every wizard is a'super individual,' which means it's easier for these individuals to negotiate interests.
Thus, according to unspoken rules, a wizard's work in different academies or different Shop Alliances is generally separated by identity and isolated by Wizard Law.
Currently, Witch Biki was working at Silver-clad Peach Garden and was not acting as a senior wizard mentor of the Tide Great Wizard Tower, so she could not intervene in such a dispute. Furthermore, if she were to intervene, it would be equivalent to Silver-clad Peach Garden taking a certain stance, which would offend Locke and be detrimental to Silver-clad Peach Garden.
Locke ignored the hostility of both parties. "I do not plan to give anyone exclusive agency rights. So you can stop thinking about that. The Great Green-Leaf Dragon Sparrow will be managed directly by Silver-clad Peach Garden throughout. Of course, you have already agreed to my previous proposal regarding the six top wizard academies along the Sky River Coast, where a Great Green-Leaf Dragon Sparrow service station will be set up in each region."
"It's just that Silver-clad Peach Garden's capital is limited, so everything must follow a sequence."
Wizard Ethan Sterling of the Tide Great Wizard Tower immediately said, "Lord Augustine, if that's the case, we are willing to bear all construction costs and expenses for the Silver-clad Peach Garden service station, and provide the best shop location within the Tide Great Wizard Tower's wizard market for free. We can sign a contract. The shop provision term can be two hundred years."
Locke glanced at Ethan Sterling in surprise. Clearly, the man had already contacted the higher-ups at the Tide Great Wizard Tower and obtained quite a bit of authority, which was why he could offer so many benefits now.
The other things aside, two points were very important: the Tide Great Wizard Tower would directly provide the funds for him to build the service station, which was equivalent to them paying for him to go there.
The second point was the two-hundred-year shop location lease.
According to Wizard Law, if a shop occupies a location for more than two hundred years and provides evidence of continuous operation, that shop location effectively belongs to that shop.
Regardless of whether the location was leased or purchased.
Clearly, the Tide Great Wizard Tower had gone to great lengths to attract him.
Locke nodded slightly; this was more like it.
"Very well. If we can successfully sign this contract, the first Great Green-Leaf Dragon Sparrow service station along the Sky River Coast will be opened at your Tide Great Wizard Tower."
Archilian immediately became anxious as well. He wanted to open his mouth to make promises to Locke, but at that moment, he took out a drifting bottle from his astral ring, which was a special method of communication along the Sky River Coast.
Every wizard can connect to the drifting bottle system and send a bottle to its intended target via the Sky River.
Archilian saw the instructions from White Ice Tower. Earlier, in order to complete the business cooperation with Locke as quickly as possible, he had applied to the academy's upper management for some special benefits for Silver-clad Peach Garden.
But now, his expression changed slightly because the letter inside the drifting bottle showed the result of a quick meeting discussed by the White Ice Tower Council: they were to maintain general cooperation with Silver-clad Peach Garden and could do business with them, but they must not get too close, as they needed to stay close to Olaye. Therefore, the council made the following decision: not to give Silver-clad Peach Garden any cooperation benefits beyond the normal range.
Archilian cursed inwardly. After all, the Rose Building was a project negotiated by other wizard mentors, while the business cooperation with Silver-clad Peach Garden was what he was currently negotiating. If it succeeded, it would be his achievement and a credit within his network.
But now, the higher-ups weren't prepared to give any benefits, and there was a Tide Great Wizard Tower on the side watching like a hawk and mocking him. How was he supposed to reach a cooperation with Silver-clad Peach Garden?
Was he supposed to use a spell model from the School of Mind to forcibly control Locke Augustine and make him act stupidly?
How was that possible?
Ethan Sterling immediately broke into a mocking smile.
"What's wrong, Archilian? Are you unable to apply for any concessions? Hahaha... It's to be expected. I imagine about half of the construction funds for this building we're standing in were provided by your academy."
"Where would White Ice Tower get so much money to bet on multiple sides?"
"Lord Locke Augustine, please rest assured. The upper management of the Tide Great Wizard Tower has made up its mind to cooperate with the largest Shop Alliance along the Sky River Coast. Therefore, we can fully provide thirty million magic stones for you to open the first service station."
Locke nodded with satisfaction.
Thirty million... that was just about enough.
In this way, he had almost turned the dead end of Silver-clad Peach Garden into a viable path. Next, as long as it could make a normal profit and hold out for a few months, it would mean Silver-clad Peach Garden's successful transformation. As for whether it could maintain its position as the number one Magic Plant retail Shop Alliance along the Sky River Coast, that would depend on future turnover and profits.
Wizard Archilian looked at Ethan Sterling and said, "Hmph. Wizard Sterling, I hope you can still be this optimistic after you encounter Black Wizards." Wizard Archilian turned to Locke and bowed to him, being extremely respectful without the slightest hint of insolence.
"Lord Augustine, our White Ice Tower still very much looks forward to Silver-clad Peach Garden, as a traditional Magic Plant shop of the Sky River Coast, establishing itself in our White Ice Tower."
"Perhaps we will become the second location."
"In any case, I personally very much hope to reach a cooperation with Silver-clad Peach Garden—no, with you."
Locke did not respond. After all, other wizard academies had also provided him with many concessions during their previous communications.
Only the upper management of White Ice Tower had no real interest in Silver-clad Peach Garden and had not given him any actual concessions in terms of benefits. Not even a little bit.
Locke left the place with the people from Silver-clad Peach Garden.
Once they had left the Rose Building, Witch Biki said to Locke in a low voice, "Wizard Augustine, we truly vented a lot of frustration this time."
Wizard Terence also smiled. "This time, our Silver-clad Peach Garden has been reborn from the ashes and has opened up a new future."
"No one will ever doubt that we might disappear again."
"We are old but strong, and by changing ourselves, we have gained a new future."
Wizard Terence bowed to Locke, his face showing a look of admiration. When he first met Locke, he thought Locke would be just like the previous administrative directors, but who could have imagined that he would bring about so many and such significant changes to Silver-clad Peach Garden.
Locke had directly abandoned the rotten parts of Silver-clad Peach Garden, sacrificing the pawns to save the king, and changed the course entirely.
Thinking back now, Terence realized this was an extremely brilliant move. Changing the course meant that most of the experience accumulated by Silver-clad Peach Garden in the past would be useless. The downside was the risk and lack of accumulation, but the upside was that those scavenger classes no longer existed.
The current Silver-clad Peach Garden was as good as brand new; only the original name remained, but the internal assets and personnel composition were completely different from the past.
And all of this relied on Locke's amazing talent in Breeding Science and his decisiveness in discarding the unusable parts of Silver-clad Peach Garden. Wizard Terence thought back to the past when he privately felt Locke's actions were excessive and extreme, but now he realized his own thinking had been narrow. "Indeed, some parts can never be fixed. Two bad moves on a chessboard, even if you try to connect them, will only result in a larger bad move. What else can be done but to discard them? To dare to discard and not be greedy—this is Wizard Locke's greatest strength. He wasn't misled by the empty prestige of a so-called century-old shop. He's practically a bankruptcy reorganization expert."
Wizard Terence felt ashamed of his previous dark thoughts about Locke.
"I just didn't expect White Ice Tower to directly side with Olaye."
Wizard Terence said to Locke, "In that case, our business in the White Ice Tower region might completely lose out to Olaye." Locke said, "It doesn't matter. If this region won't do business with us or suppresses us, it will only be their loss. They cannot afford that loss. We'll build the first service station at the Tide Great Wizard Tower first."
"As long as that side turns a profit, we can reach agreements with other academies that are more favorable to us, and then continue opening new service stations. My goal is to open the first service station and generate profit within this year, then open one service station every year. After reaching seven stations, we will formulate plans for new service stations based on the situation."
"In my view, the service stations themselves can also undertake a certain degree of commercial gathering function."
"In short, moving forward, Silver-clad Peach Garden can fully shift its focus to the development of the Four-Winged Great Green-Leaf Dragon Sparrow and the Da Ming Li Dragon Sparrow, as well as the apprentice-level Magic Plant, the Great Blue Owl Plantain."
"I will also begin developing a Star Ring-level upgraded version of the Da Ming Li Dragon Sparrow Magic Plant."
Wizard Terence said, "Lord Lock, what if someone copies our methods?"
"Copy?"
Lock looked at Wizard Terence and reminded him, "Then they would need to successively breed the best flight-type Magic Plants among First-Class Wizard Apprentice Magic Plants, first-ring Magic Plants, and Second-Ring Magic Plants."
He had that level of confidence.
The flight Magic Plants he bred at different stages possessed traits that were superior to all Magic Plants of the same stage.
Lock said, "And even if we wait for them to research it, it's a pity that we've already established the ecosystem for these Magic Plants. So even if a flight Magic Plant exists that can rival the Great Green-Leaf Dragon Sparrow or even slightly surpass it, it's unlikely to shake the Great Green-Leaf Dragon Sparrow's status."
Witch Biki, as the current chief designer of Silver-clad Peach Garden, said, "Terence, do you still not understand?"
"Lord Lock's Great Green-Leaf Dragon Sparrow series of Magic Plants will be epoch-making works. Like the Peach Dart Branch, they will rule the Tianjiang Coast for a century. There has been no one like him before, and perhaps no one like him will come after."
Lock glanced at Witch Biki and said, "No one will come after? What a joke. If that were really the case, it would actually be terrible."
"There can be no one before, but there absolutely must be those who come after. With the progress of the era, it is almost inevitable that the Great Green-Leaf Dragon Sparrow will be replaced. It's just that even if it is to be replaced, it will likely be decades from now. Just as the Three-Colored Rose Dart Branch has now replaced my teacher's Peach Dart Branch."
Many of the low-ring wizard Breeders from Silver-clad Peach Garden standing behind Witch Biki didn't actually understand what Lock meant.
Witch Biki, after a brief moment of stunned silence, suddenly felt admiration for Lock's breadth of mind.
Wizard Terence said, "By the way, Lord Lock, what made you think of selling those shops earlier? Had you already considered that the Great Green-Leaf Dragon Sparrow would be so popular? That period really scared me a bit; I thought Silver-clad Peach Garden was effectively going to become a small Shop Alliance." Lock replied, "It's nothing. For a Shop Alliance to never fall, it must perpetually undergo self-innovation. Some things will die if they don't change, but can live if they do."
"Most people turn pale at the mention of change. Even wizards have inertia and develop path dependency. But if things don't change, they will rot and decline. Therefore, change is necessary; it needs to happen at every moment."
Lock opened his palm, and the Tree of Prosperity and the Moon of Evolution could be seen faintly appearing within it.
Wizard Terence nodded, seemingly understanding but not quite. He didn't know this was related to breaking through the mid-level promotion trap, nor did he know it related to Lock's subsequent ideas for forging Great Magic.
Wizard Terence said, "Lord Lock, I was in the Rose Building just now and many former employees of Silver-clad Peach Garden—oh, they are employees of Olaye now—anyway, they contacted me wanting to come back."
Witch Biki raised an eyebrow.
"Isn't that simple? They can just resign from Olaye and apply to Silver-clad Peach Garden again to come back, right?"
Wizard Terence smiled. "They seem to think they are rare commodities, so they don't plan to just resign like that. Instead, they want special guarantees and welfare benefits from us before they'll consider jumping back to Silver-clad Peach Garden."
"Lord Augustine, should we let those people back? One of the wizards was even the person previously responsible for fine-tuning and maintaining the Peach Dart Branch variety."
"He wants us to guarantee that his position and treatment upon returning will be exactly the same as before. If so, he will come back." Varieties of Magic Plants can degenerate as they are grown generation after generation.
Therefore, specialized Breeders are needed to perform backcrossing to ensure that the traits of the Magic Plant do not change with successive generations of planting.
Of course, even so, the current Peach Dart Branch likely cannot compare with the traits of the first few generations; there will be some degree of degeneration. The fact that Magic Plant traits change with time and the number of generations planted is a perennial problem in the entire field of Breeding Science.
When Witch Biki heard the conditions proposed by that wizard, she immediately raised her eyebrows. Although she didn't speak, she clearly did not approve of him.
Lock simply replied with four words: "He's dreaming too much."
Wizard Terence was stunned for a moment, then burst out laughing. "Very well, I will reply to him exactly like that."
"I don't like him either; I only needed to ask you out of respect. Then I'll follow your lead and handle all those wizards who want to come back to work in the same way."
Inside the Rose Building, ever since the Three-Colored Rose Dart Branch was developed, Wizard Davin and others who had been given the cold shoulder were in a corner office on the 57th floor. There were eight wizards in total in the office, all former employees who had resigned from Silver-clad Peach Garden. They were basically wizards with no value or projects, but whom Olaye didn't want to release to aid the enemy.
So they were given idle positions and arranged to be here.
It wasn't just them; wizards in similar situations were everywhere in the Rose Building. Witch Rose's targets weren't just Silver-clad Peach Garden, but a large number of other Magic Plant retail shops. Whether it was through annexation or capital injection, her first step was always headhunting—tricking a large number of wizards into coming over to Olaye.
Seven former designers from Silver-clad Peach Garden immediately looked at the chubby wizard in the gasification stage before them, Wizard Davin. "Wizard Davin, how is it going?"
"Did they agree to let us go back? But even if they agree, what about those non-compete agreements we signed earlier?" "Wizard Davin?"
Wizard Davin's face was ashen.
"Damn it, Terence actually told me—that I'm dreaming."
"They don't welcome us back."
The seven former Silver-clad Peach Garden designers surrounding him were instantly dumbfounded.
"What?"
"Wizard Davin, you were the one who told us to leave together. You said Olaye had better benefits and a future—that it would surely become the largest Shop Alliance on the Tianjiang Coast, while we couldn't get resources at Silver-clad Peach Garden and would only die with it. You led us away from there, so what's happening now?"
"Olaye does indeed have potential and good benefits, but it seems they don't think much of people like us."
An ordinary Official Wizard said dejectedly, "And we're burdened with a bunch of agreements. This is just great. We can't leave, and we can't access core projects staying here; we just eat the scraps others don't want every day. I reckon in ten years, we'll be useless. Once the agreements expire, Witch Rose can just kick us out."
"I think I finally understand. She never cared about us fence-sitters in the first place."
Wizard Davin sat on his stool, his eyes also filled with confusion.
"Yeah, how did this happen? I don't know either. I originally thought Silver-clad Peach Garden was finished. Who knew it would turn out like this." "If I had known... if I had known, I would have waited until Lord Augustine arrived before considering whether to resign. No, given the speed at which Lord Augustine fires people... I doubt we could have stayed anyway."
One wizard looked at him angrily. "We were originally coasting along just fine in Silver-clad Peach Garden. Now look at us. Such good positions, gone because of your 'ambition'."
Wizard Davin slumped in his chair. He sensed a very serious problem: Witch Rose's expectation for them was likely never for them to work for Olaye, but simply to ensure they couldn't work for Silver-clad Peach Garden.
But only by working could one obtain resources.
Yet Witch Rose and Olaye had always excluded them from core projects.
On the other side, Witch Rose arrived at the infirmary of the White Ice Tower. She saw Wizard Joshua lying on a hospital bed, covered in bandages. Wizard Joshua looked at Witch Rose in surprise and said weakly, "Lord Rose, was it you who had the Potion Master save me?"
Witch Rose looked at him with a complex expression.
"Eleven bottles of second-ring potions! Your heart was damaged by Necromancy—that was a heart-gouging spell. So treating you took exactly eleven bottles of second-ring potions. Damn it, I actually advanced the bill for you just to save a 'dog-headed strategist' like you."
"Joshua, you are already pure negative value to me. I can't even figure out why I hired you in the first place!"
Wizard Joshua was stunned for a moment, then he realized Witch Rose was being'sharp-tongued but soft-hearted'; after all, if she hadn't spent so much money to save him, nothing would have happened.
Wizard Joshua asked tentatively, "So, do you still want to drive me away?"
Witch Rose laughed out of anger.
"I originally wanted to switch to a more efficient assistant. Who knew I'd run into a situation like yours? Now, I am your creditor." "Until you pay me back, I don't think I can switch assistants at all."
"Joshua, I'll give you some time to adjust. That data collection method of yours—update it for me, or change it to something else."
Joshua lay on the bed, light shining in his eyes.
"Alright."
"This time I will definitely perform well and will never fail your expectations."
Lock got into his magic carriage and began heading back to the Silver-clad Peach Garden headquarters. Simultaneously, he used a lingzhi magic plant to answer a video call from Witch Yekaterina.
Witch Yekaterina spoke directly, asking, "Have you come into contact with Jikong Yue yet?"
Lock bowed to the Red Dragon Witch and then sat in the carriage, asking in a low voice, "Did Teacher intentionally have me contact Jikong Yue?" He explained the current situation.
Witch Yekaterina was sitting before a vanity mirror while a hair-wizard was styling her hair. She said, "It doesn't matter; you only need to meet him. I just feel that some of his magic might have an inspiring effect on your Moon of Evolution. You don't need to go out of your way to contact him, because Jikong Yue is a man driven by profit."
"As long as Silver-clad Peach Garden grows stronger and stronger, he will involuntarily gravitate toward you."
"You needn't worry about that."
"Lock, there are a few very important things. Let me ask you, have you heard of the Water Surface Starry Sky Dilemma?"
Witch Yekaterina's expression turned serious.
Lock nodded.
"Teacher, I was just about to ask you for guidance."