Chapter 469 - 348: Philo, Inhumanly Rich as Ever

Chapter 469: Chapter 348: Philo, Inhumanly Rich as Ever

This line of thinking also gave rise to another method of development: sending a clone to infiltrate a New World. The clone would learn that world’s power, integrate it into one’s own system, and finally guide the natives to merge their entire New World into the Real World.

The greatest advantage of this method is that it minimizes losses while maximizing gains. However, its drawback is that it’s extremely time-consuming and highly dependent on talent. This includes not only an aptitude for research and learning but also a talent for leadership; one needs immense personal charisma.

Otherwise, why would anyone follow you?

Consequently, very few chose this method. Most opted for direct conquest, as that was, after all, the simplest approach.

Besides these two, there was actually a third method. However, only Wizards could use it—and only those who had embarked on the path toward a Great Creation. This involved analyzing the rules of a New World, finding its imperfections, and perfecting them. Then, using the feedback from completing these rules, they could pull the entire New World into the Real World.

However, this method’s requirements are even steeper, so very few Wizards choose it. The experiment for a Great Creation is not so easily completed; in fact, the probability of ultimate failure is extremely high, meaning all one’s efforts could amount to nothing.

Therefore, this third method was usually used in combination with the first two—primarily the first—to at least secure a minimum return.

After reading Philo’s guide, Isaac had a better grasp on how to develop the New World, and his thoughts aligned with what he’d previously considered. For operations of this scale, optimal solutions had already been established for most things, leaving little room for improvement. Even someone like Isaac could only opt for a hybrid approach combining the first and third methods.

The guide also included an intelligence report on the New World. The strength of its World Wall was rated at Tier Three, meaning only life forms of Tier Three and below could enter. There was no quantity limit for those below Tier Two—any number could go in. However, the limit for Tier Three was a total of sixty-six people, while for Tier Two, it was six hundred and sixty.

Exceeding this limit would trigger the New World’s self-destruct mechanism.

Of course, advancing to a higher tier while inside is another matter entirely. The slot you occupied would be freed up, but the cost is steep: you would be branded with the New World’s mark. In the future, even after the New World integrates into the Real World, this mark will have a significant negative impact, making further advancement much more difficult!

Therefore, few would make such a choice. After all, starting from Tier Three, every individual theoretically possesses limitless potential. Sacrificing that potential here simply isn’t worth it.

The New World has two power systems. The first and most commonplace is the Knight. Yes, commonplace.

Unlike in the Real World, where Knighthood is an Extraordinary Power almost exclusively for the Nobility, Knights in the New World are extremely commonplace. In many such worlds, there are even common Breathing Skills that circulate among the common folk. As long as you have the aptitude and enough food, you can basically become a Knight.

This level of prevalence means that nearly all their Casters possess some degree of Knight’s Power. In fact, many Casters rely on Knight’s Power to get through their early stages, a stark contrast to the Real World.

This world was no exception. Its strongest powerhouse is a Tier Four Star Knight who is said to wield the power of a Star God. By burning his life force, he can even overcome a Tier Five!

Even if it’s only Pseudo-Tier Five, that’s still astonishing. Even Isaac himself currently lacked power of such pure magnitude. The exclusive Divine Artifacts of his Virtual Deities were still charging; only when fully charged could they unleash Pseudo-Tier Five power.

Still, it wasn’t an impossible fight. He was, after all, only a Pseudo-Tier Five, not a true Tier Five. If a battle were to break out, Isaac’s party wouldn’t need to defeat the Star Knight—they would only need to stall for time. Such immense power, gained by burning one’s life force, could not be sustained for long.

Of course, it would be best to avoid that scenario altogether. That was the only way to maximize their gains!

Besides Knights, the world also had Casters. They commanded the power of the stars, allowing them to shape collected starlight into Summoned Beasts. Compared to the Knights, these Casters—dubbed Star Mages by the Terra Kingdom—were far weaker. Their strongest was only Tier Three. Although this individual controlled a Tier Four Star Beast, the cost to awaken and command it was apparently astronomical. Consequently, Terra Kingdom intelligence did not classify this Caster as a Tier Four Powerhouse.

That was the gist of the useful intelligence. There was other, more detailed information—such as the distribution of powerhouses, individuals on the verge of advancement, and partial intelligence on the Tier Four Powerhouse.

But it couldn’t be considered reliable. Most of this intelligence came from Wizards of the prophecy Sect. And prophecy, as one might expect, is inherently inaccurate—even when it’s a prophecy about the ’present’.

This was also why Isaac, despite wanting to develop his intelligence network, had never seriously considered using the power of prophecy. It was simply too unstable. When it came to intelligence, accuracy was paramount; everything else was secondary.

Isaac closed the book, lost in thought. ’This world... perhaps it’s a good place to attempt a Great Creation. I could start from their Extraordinary Power systems. The Star Mages, for instance, are a very suitable target.’

’First, it’s an incomplete power system. That’s the case for the Casting Professions in most New Worlds. To date, not a single New World has a casting system more complete than that of the Wizards!’

’Second, Star Mages and Star Knights...’

’These two must be related to the Star God. And anything involving a Deity falls right into my area of expertise. It’s worth a shot.’

With these thoughts, Isaac added Demon Eye Soron and Agares to his retinue. Agares’s research abilities were somewhat lacking, but his combat prowess was solid. He could serve as Soron’s bodyguard, allowing Soron to focus completely on his research.

Then there was the Demonic Puppet Legion. Due to the short time frame, even though modifications were proceeding at full speed, he could still only muster a hundred-man squad of Tier Three Demonic Puppets and a ten-man assault team composed of Tier Two Demonic Puppets and Tier Three Golems.

’It’s not perfect yet... But once the war truly begins, the World Wall will no longer be able to stop us. And my Dimension World will be beyond its reach!’

’At that time, my immortal and undying, endless Dimension Apostles should be able to make up for some of the shortfall...’

"Tsk. What am I even thinking?" Frowning in thought, Isaac suddenly chuckled and shook his head. He was falling into his old habits again. This time, three of them were acting together. Although Philo had said no one else from the Terra Kingdom would be involved, that only applied to Tier Fours.

She could still muster plenty of Tier Three combatants, and the same went for Angel. Between the three of them, they had more than enough power.

...

Time passed quietly, and in the blink of an eye, two weeks went by. During this time, aside from meeting with the other two a week prior to set the basic strategy for the development, Isaac had spent most of his time gathering Knowledge about the Star God.

Unfortunately, either because they had grown wary of him or because such information was genuinely scarce, Isaac hadn’t managed to gather much intelligence from the Flesh Sect or the Mad Witch Association. All he found were fragmented odds and ends. Such paltry scraps were of almost no use to his research. He would just have to deal with it later.

Developing a New World required a Star Realm Gate. Constructing one was extremely difficult, not only demanding expensive materials but also a colossal amount of energy for activation. Typically, it couldn’t be sustained by fewer than four or five Mage Towers.

Of course, Magic Crystals could be used in place of Mage Towers, but it wasn’t cost-effective. Using Magic Crystals alone would likely result in a net loss. Thus, besides Mage Towers, there was another method: human batteries!

Namely, having Tier Four Powerhouses personally supply the energy needed to open the Star Realm Gate. This was one of the reasons why most Tier Four Powerhouses chose to jointly develop New Worlds.

Isaac planned to use this method for the future Star Realm Gate in his own domain. He, however, could rely on his Dimension Apostles and Virtual Deities to bear the cost, without having to actually serve as a battery himself.

But as the Eldest Princess of the Terra Kingdom, Philo’s Star Realm Gate was naturally not so shabby. She used a staggering thirteen Mage Towers to power it!

What’s more, all thirteen Mage Towers were newly built, and they were located right in her own duchy!

It was an obscene display of wealth!