DK – Ch 316

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The Dark King – Chapter 316

July 30, cloudy weather.

The air was more humid after the heavy rain. The breeze that blew was cold. The climate change indicated that the terrible black snow season was coming. The square for worship was built and there were a large number of people gathered in the place. The platform was surrounded by the statues. Although the prayer day hasn’t officially started yet, but the pious believers had come for the prayers.

At dawn. The same day.

The main castle of the Scott consortium. A figure entered the secret underground passage from the side of the castle. The man was led to the secret room by another shadow which was waiting for him. The man took out a sign which was familiar to everyone from the nobles to the civilians in the giant wall. The symbol of the Temple of Elements.

The old man in the secret chamber knew the identity of the person who had a black mask covering his face. The old man quickly took the secret report and opened it. There was a short poem of a famous poet at the top. His eyes swept through it and suddenly his pupils shrank. His fingers trembled but he restrained himself. He spoke in a hoarse sound: “Go.”

The shadow didn’t speak but nodded his head. He quickly turned away and left.

The old man watched him leave the secret chamber through the passage. He used another exit and went around a few corridors. The old man reached the basement and twisted the wall. He walked through the stairs of the basement and came to the castle hall.

He looked at the clock on the wall which was more than sixty years old. It was early. He gently sucked his breath in and out. He felt calm as he found a maid: “Get to work, it’s not early anymore.”

“Yes, butler.” The maid respectfully replied to the old man.

The warm sun rays shined through the windows in the castle. Miss Rostov, young master, second generation and third generation members had woken up. Some of the third generation members were still huddled in bed as they were reluctant to get out of bed.

It was seven o’clock. All the ladies and gentlemen were present in the hall. Even the third generation descendants who were eager to sleep were present. The reason was that their grandfather Chai Rostov would be present. The members of the family would always get up on time and crowd in the lobby to enjoy the breakfast. It was the iron rule of the family and their way of life. No one dared to violate this unwritten rule.

However, everyone was anxious and surprised today as after a long time their grandfather had yet to come down. Their grandfather had never been late in his lifetime. It only meant that there were more important things which were related to the consortium that made him come down late.

Everyone in the hall had different thoughts and speculations about the issue.

In Chai Rostov’s room.

Chai Rostov rubbed his eyes as he looked at the secret report the old butler handed out to him. The butler picked up the glasses and gave it to Chai.

Chai put on glasses and slowly opened the secret report. He read through the content and handed it back to the old butler. There was not much of a change on his face. His thick eyebrows gave a majestic feel to Chai’s face. It seemed that Chai was in deep thought and thought about countless ideas. He looked like a man who could see through endless people.

“Master …” butler called out to old Chai.

Chai was silent for a time: “This time we have to get this thing at all costs!”

“Yes.” The butler nodded.

Chai put on his shoes and got out of bed. He put on the clothes and came to the hall as his butler followed after him. The young ladies and gentlemen of the family all stood up as they descended into the hall.

The others sat behind the table according to their seniority after old Chai sat at the top.

Old butler handed the newest newspaper to Chai. He knew that Chai liked to read the newspaper at breakfast. Old Chai found this attitude more efficient and time-saving.

The newspaper handed out to him wasn’t the one which belonged to their own consortium or to the newspapers that belonged to other consortia. It was the newspaper published by the military. He already knew about the information that would be published by the newspaper of their own consortium. Actually, for old Chai, there were two powers which could shake the status and foundation of Scott consortium. The first one was the military while the second was the Holy Church. The border was in a state which made it difficult to predict. He could only rely on his own judgment to understand the process. This war will sacrifice tens or even hundreds of thousands of soldiers. He didn’t care about their life or death but the amount of money which could be made in the process.

He had a famous saying: “There is money to be made in the place where there is a struggle.”

This simple sentence had affected thoughts of a lot of wealthy businessmen. Moreover, it was the reasoning behind his business criteria.

“Military fell into a disadvantage even though they have the geographical advantages and military equipment?” Old Chai thought: “These barbarians seem to have learned using tricks and plans in addition to brute force…Interesting…”

…

…

The other five consortia including Huasheng consortium, Mellon consortium, and Krylov consortium had received the secret reports from the internal staff of the Temple which had ties to them. Everyone was silent at dawn as the information was confirmed.

The daily newspaper published by the Temple of the Elements has been distributed out. The silence was suddenly replaced by an uproar. All the nobles were shocked.

The front page of the newspaper had four very big words imprinted on it: “Architect Dean’s new invention!”

Especially the phrase ‘lightning rod’ was imprinted in color!

The same newspaper was sent to Dudian’s castle. There was a trace of a smile on his face as he read the newspaper. Because of yesterday’s heavy rain, he expected that the results would come out today.

“Mr. Dean is 16 years old. He is the youngest ‘epoch’ medal winner in the history. His third invention is born. Following the legendary item – the new textile machine, four-star item – the military crossbow, this is his third work of art which is – the lightning rod!”

“A lot of people would be puzzled by the name of the product which is called the lightning rod. Everyone knows that Mr. Dean is a member of the wood element faction! I also thought so but Mr. Dean had shown me with facts the difference between the ‘genius’ and ‘extraordinary’! Your guess is not wrong. As the name literally says this product belongs to the lightning faction! Yes, we are now able to mine the most destructive lightning!”

“According to master Eivissa and two other masters the lightning rod has been confirmed as a superior grade four-star item!”

Dudian knew that there were some exaggerated words in the newspaper which have been modified but generally, everything was alright. The thing is that the lightning rod has been graded even higher than his military crossbow!

It was a superior grade four-star item which was very close to five-star items!

Dudian knew why lightning rod was assessed more valuable than the military crossbow. The military crossbow was a military equipment. Although its role was quite large in the war but its use was limited. Moreover, it was a tool for war but the lightning rod is for civilians. It is able to keep safety and protection of civilians. This point alone would offset it from the military crossbow. Moreover, there were many weapons used in the war. The main role of the military crossbow was to be used at middle-range. There could be more excellent weapons which could replace military crossbow in this position. It was valuable as long as it was usable. If there was some other concept that could outdo it then the military crossbow would be deemed useless for production.

“But the lightning rod is different. It is also the first item in so many years that could be used to defend from thunder and lightning. However, they have underestimated its usage as they have rated it as a superior grade four-star item. If they understood the core principles of the lightning rod then it would not be excessive to rate it as a five-star item… Magnetic field…” Dudian whispered.

Moreover, it seemed that the Temple did assess the items not only about its own value but they also evaluated the current situation, environment and other factors in their judgment.

Dudian saw that the second page of the newspaper was dedicated to him!

“The statistics in the Temple have been renewed. Mr. Dean has accumulated enough points to reach senior architect status. From today he has been promoted to senior architect…” Dudian woke up as he read the content. He had forgotten about the point system of the Temple. It was enough to be promoted to senior architect level if he produced two four star items. Most of the architects who had been promoted to senior level had only produced one four star item and relied mainly on producing a large number of two-star items. Or they would rely on three-star items. Moreover, the Temple was rigid in terms of requirements. It didn’t matter how many points you had accumulated. Unless you have made one four-star item then there was no chance to be promoted to the senior architect level.

Similarly, the intermediate architects should have at least a three-star invention.

In addition, to be a master in the Temple, the architect must produce two items which must be assessed as five-star items. Therefore the difference between masters and normal architects was like the difference between heaven and earth.

Nicholas who was standing behind Dudian looked at the newspaper. His eyes narrowed as he was shocked. Although he had little information about the Temple but he had business relations with a primary architect. Dudian seemed to be promoted to a senior architect. Moreover, his status was higher than an ordinary senior architects…

…

…

Church Mountain.

Eivissa’s face had turned ugly as he held the newspaper in his hands. He hadn’t inquired about the inventor of the item before the newspaper was out. Actually, he was too lazy to use his relationships to get information about the inventor. The item wasn’t his so he didn’t care much. Moreover, the item belonged to the lightning faction which was under his command so he thought he would get attention too. But he never thought that it would be ‘this’ person who would be the inventor!

How can it be?

How can a sixteen-year-old boy invent a lightning faction product which was a superior grade four-star item?!
He was from tailor family so it was alright for him to produce the new type of textile machine. It was alright for him to produce a military crossbow if his background (hunter) was taken into account. But an item which belonged to the lightning faction!?? What kind of person is he? A geek? A Devil?

Suddenly, master Eivissa thought about the boy who had first joined the temple. The kid had come to visit him and expressed his wish to be his assistant and participate in his project. But he had refused and didn’t expect that today the latter would achieve such a success. Looking at his resume it was clear that there was no other architect who had attained senior architect level the way Dudian had done.

He bit his lips as he threw the newspaper onto the table.

…

Another castle in the Temple.

Master Arsen was eating breakfast. The butler handed him the daily newspaper to read. He was seventy years old this year and was aware that he didn’t have much time left to live. So he would often remind himself to live every day as a happy day. In fact, there were few things that caused his resentment in the last few years. He didn’t care much even if his inventions failed. In his long life, he had so many failures that he had learned to laugh at it and pass it on. He also taught this mentality to his students as well.

However, the smile on his face stiffened the moment his eyes fell onto the first page of the newspaper.

There was no smile on his face as he had read the content of the news half way down. His mouth twitched for a moment. He took his coat, got up and left the castle.

…

…

Ryan family castle.

Old Fulin looked at the daily newspaper published by the Temple. His eyes shined as he looked at Sander who was next to him: “Do you see now? I knew that he wouldn’t do anything unless he grasped the situation in his hands. The remarks released by the Mellon consortium will have to be swallowed back. I assume by tomorrow the newspapers under Scott consortium will ridicule Mellon consortium. Can a man who spends all his time with a showgirl invent something such as this? All those remarks by them would be discredited.”

Sander laughed out as he heard his father’s joke: “So the most powerful counterattack is to fight back with your own strength!”

“It’s good that you understand it.” Old Fulin spoke in a polite tone.

Sander said with emotion: “It is hard to imagine that a 16-year-old civilian teenager would be in the line of sight of aristocrats every day! Moreover, he has been featured on the first page of the Temple’s newspaper! We shall rename this date as ‘Dean’s day!’”

Old Fulin’s eyes lit up: “Yes, this is a good opportunity. Contact Huasheng and other consortia. As long as the iron is hot we could use it to affect their newspapers. Let them publish in tomorrow’s newspapers today as ‘Dean’s day!’”