"What's this?"
On a bright, sunny day, Old Charles sat in his courtyard. When he saw his second and third sons each carrying a metal box inside, he couldn't help but ask in surprise.
"Hehe." The third son placed the metal box on the wooden table and grinned. "This is a benefit issued by the private army camp."
As he spoke, he went inside, took out a cup, and placed it beneath a small faucet attached to the box.
Instead of turning it on immediately, he opened the lid first to let his father take a look.
Old Charles leaned in and frowned. "There's nothing inside."
"That's exactly the point." The third son laughed, closed the lid, and turned the faucet.
At first, nothing happened.
But after two or three seconds, clear water began to flow steadily from the faucet into the cup, quickly filling it.
"This…" Old Charles widened his eyes. Still unconvinced, he opened the lid again—
—and witnessed something astonishing.
Inside the empty box, water was being generated out of thin air!
"This thing is called a Water Generator. It was invented by people under Your Eminence Ron. It consumes mana to produce water."
The third son shut off the faucet, opened a small compartment on the side, and took out a blue Element Potato.
"This contains water elements. Through the magic array on the device, the elements are converted into mana, and then another array turns that mana into water."
"Our Element Gun uses similar principles. These are all exclusive products from Your Eminence Ron—other nobles don't have them."
"For now, this Water Generator is a benefit only for those in the private army camp. It hasn't been widely distributed yet—we're getting early access."
Old Charles opened his mouth slightly, his respect for Ron growing even deeper.
He turned to look at the half-human-height box beside his second son. "Then what's this?"
"This is a Magic Refrigerator." The second son patted the top and opened it, releasing a wave of cold air.
"We can store food inside to keep it fresh longer, so it won't spoil so quickly."
Old Charles nodded repeatedly, smiling so widely his face wrinkled like a chrysanthemum.
"Good, good, good! Sending you two to the private army camp was definitely the right choice."
At that moment, the eldest son suddenly rushed in from outside, shouting, "Dad! Come check our field—something big has happened!"
Old Charles immediately stood up. "What is it? Speak clearly! Is it another beast tide?"
The second and third sons stiffened at the mention of a beast tide and looked at their brother.
"No…" The eldest hesitated, struggling to explain. "It's the wheat in our field… it suddenly grew taller…"
"Isn't that normal?" the third son asked, confused.
"But now they're as tall as two people!" the eldest shouted, clearly panicked.
Instead, Old Charles seemed to recall something and suddenly calmed down.
"Let's go take a look first."
Before they even reached the field, they could already see the towering wheat from a distance.
With just one glance, the second and third sons realized their brother hadn't exaggerated—if anything, he had downplayed it.
At the edges of the field, the wheat was "only" three to four meters tall. But toward the center, the closer it got, the more outrageous the growth became.
The tallest stalks were nearly ten meters high—nothing like normal wheat.
Standing at the edge of the field, Old Charles looked up at the dense wheat and muttered,
"The divine tree has answered…"
In mid-June, after attending the Second Prince's funeral, Ron once again entered the palace to see Emperor André III.
For some reason, Ron felt that the Emperor's gaze toward him was strange.
The Emperor's health seemed to have improved significantly. Even his once pale hair was gradually regaining a healthy black color.
But in Ron's eyes, that rosy complexion seemed… a bit too healthy.
As for the way he looked at Ron—it didn't feel like a father looking at his son, nor an elder looking at a junior.
It felt more like he was looking at something dangerous, with a hint of wariness.
Of course, this was only Ron's instinct—it might not be accurate.
It could simply be a side effect of the Emperor's lingering illness.
After leaving the palace, Puppet Ron didn't return to the flower shop immediately. Instead, he first went to Mia's residence and gave her a lifelike puppet.
Then he stored the puppet in his inventory and brought it back to the flower shop, allowing Mia to remain at her residence while communicating with him through the puppet there.
With both the puppet and the Illusion World, there are two layers of security.
If anything happened on Mia's side, she could notify him immediately.
During this time, the three major northern passes had once again amassed a million troops, seemingly preparing for war.
Other races, seeing the situation escalate toward total conflict, began mediating between the humans and the beastfolk.
Not out of pure love for peace, but because the annual winter wars had always served their interests.
Those wars gradually weakened both the long-established beastfolk and the rapidly rising Human Empire.
But if the Human Empire launched a war of extermination—
That would benefit no one else.
The empire was already vast, its population booming, and it had begun expanding westward. Its overall strength was entering a new explosive phase.
If the beastfolk were wiped out or enslaved, the vast Frozen Tundra would fall into human hands.
Though unsuitable for farming, the region was rich in mineral resources—the very foundation of the beastfolk's survival.
Unfortunately, the beastfolk lacked talent in magic, relying on mining and trade—the least profitable method—to sustain themselves.
Recently, other races had been lobbying both sides, but the results were minimal.
Ron had little interest in these matters. His influence wasn't enough to change the bigger picture.
So he focused on the private experimental zone and Tansen City.
The experimental zone now had over thirty researchers, all talented mages recruited from the Royal Capital Magic Academy and other institutions.
After standardizing assembly line production, Illya delegated those tasks to others.
The zone had already supplied Tansen City with:
3 Element Gun production lines
2 Element Vehicle production lines
5 Recording System production lines
1 Water Generator production line
1 Magic Refrigerator production line
Using these, factories sprang up across the outskirts of Tansen City, producing goods daily.
Meanwhile, plantations based on Chameleon Radish rapidly expanded, along with packaging facilities.
The mining industry revived thanks to Silver-Iron Pine, further boosted by magical machines like excavators and drilling devices.
Additionally, the construction of a large-scale element station in Tansen City had entered its final stages.
This station was over ten times larger than the prototype.
Even if Water Generators and refrigerators were fully adopted across the city, it could supply enough mana for more than a dozen cities like Tansen.
According to Illya, it should be operational by the end of June.
Everything in Tansen City was now on track.
As for the Illusion World, although not yet publicly released, Ron had already implemented many of his ideas.
For example, the "club" system is similar to chat groups.
Users could create private spaces, invite others, and communicate within customizable environments.
Of course, these environments would cost money in the future.
Want a palace-themed club? That'll be 998.
Ron had plenty of monetization ideas—but no rush.
He had also developed online versions of Magic Battle Arena, Legendary Kill, and War of the Gods.
Even a modified battle royale game, "Battle for the Royal Capital," was ready after testing by Mia and others.
Additionally, Ron created a built-in "news platform," embedded in user interfaces, delivering real-time updates.
He handed control of this to Kiel, who curated Royal Capital news—and slipped in ads along the way.
For now, its usefulness was limited.
But in the future, if every citizen used the Illusion World, controlling this platform would mean controlling public opinion.
Ron also planned features like forums, cinemas, and video platforms.
He wanted everything ready before launch.
At that moment, one of Ron's puppets in Tansen City received a report:
A farmland mutation had occurred on the outskirts.
As Puppet Ron rushed over, he learned it was caused by Old Charles—the same man who had bought a scale leaf from the divine tree in the City of Chaos.
"He planted the scale leaf in the soil, and now the wheat has grown several times taller than a person," Ron asked in surprise.
"Yes… Our people have already sealed off the area. No outsiders know yet," the subordinate replied.
"Good work," Ron nodded.
Upon arrival, even he was slightly stunned.
Hearing about it was one thing—seeing it was another.
Old Charles stood nearby, explaining his reasoning.
He had planted the scale leaf, hoping for a good harvest—never expecting such a dramatic effect.
Ron didn't know whether to laugh or cry.
Aside from its healing and faith-altering properties, the divine tree's scale leaf could also cause wheat to grow like this?
"Harvest this batch. Compensate Old Charles at market price, then let him continue planting. I'll provide more scale leaves," Ron decided.
He intended to use this as a test field.
The key question:
Would this wheat inherit the scale leaf's properties?
Could it heal? Influence belief?
Even subtle, long-term effects needed to be tested.
Hopefully, it only increased yield…
At most, improving health would be acceptable…
But if it altered belief—
That would be troublesome.
Then again, if the effect was mild, it might not matter.
After all, no one would suspect their daily bread.
Ron shook his head and stopped overthinking.
Better to wait for experimental results.
Of course, he would fully compensate Old Charles's family.
If the wheat proved safe, Tansen City could solve its food problems—and even export it for profit.
In less than two months, Tansen City had been completely transformed.
It was no longer a decaying resource town, but a place people aspired to live in.
Then, new developments shook the Royal Capital once more.
On June 22, during a court assembly, Emperor André III made a shocking decision—
The First Prince, Eli André, would ascend the throne as Emperor André IV on July 1.
The announcement stunned the entire capital.
And the shockwaves quickly spread in all directions.