The grandeur and prosperity of the imperial capital are beyond the power of words to capture.

Under the radiant might of the emperor, the magnificence of this city. Ephesande, especially before she entered her twilight years, would occasionally bestow miracles upon this city of Celestial that even extraordinary beings would tremble before, as if it were a true deity. Or… perhaps it could be said that every emperor has such behaviors or even preferences.

In this great city standing in the heart of the empire, the Alchemy Association undoubtedly holds a high status.

Although when Ansel stepped into the solemn gate engraved with complex mystical patterns, the alchemists swarmed like madmen, however under normal circumstances, those active within the association would not give any extra attention to others who entered.

For instance, Ravenna, who just stepped into the gate. Even though she is currently a person of great importance in the imperial capital, and many alchemists recognized her, they didn’t show any particular reaction, at most they would take a few more glances.

“Madam Ronger, thank you for your assistance.”

Ravenna slightly bowed her head to the noblewoman standing beside her: “This is far enough.” Ronger Meltsteel, the most formidable force in the Tower of Babel, had escorted Ravenna all the way to the Alchemy Association.

“Do you really not need me to accompany you inside the Alchemy Association?”

The noblewoman with a dignified appearance slightly furrowed her brows: “I’m not comfortable leaving you here alone, Ravenna.”

Ravenna calmly replied: “Hendrick and Professor Nokain have cast five protective spells on me, theoretically there shouldn’t be any problems.”

— Of course, this is only in theory. If a protective spell could prevent assassination from the Etheric Academy, then why would Ravenna need to create so many puppets?

Although due to Evora’s deterrence, the Etheric Academy wouldn’t dare to let high-ranking extraordinary beings make a move, they usually resort to hiring assassins. If one was killed by such an assassin, it would be easy to shift the blame, and it would also indicate that Ravenna was not competent enough.

But as representatives of diverse methods and unpredictable abilities, what sorcerers could do was too much. The theoretically inclined sorcerers of the Tower of Babel could not possibly protect Ravenna with just spells. frёewebnoѵēl.com

After all, Evora had already extracted enough value from Ravenna. Just for such a person, it was not worth it for the haughty Elder Princess to wage a major war against the Etheric Academy, but the Etheric Academy could indeed eliminate a genius who was indeed a threat and extremely hostile to them.

“You… sigh.” Madam Ronger sighed, “Hendrick is very worried about you, Ravenna.”

“He always is, but worry is pointless.”

Ravenna always spoke such indifferent words: “Don’t worry about me, Madam Ronger, don’t waste your time on this, continue with your research, that’s more important.”

The cold beauty with her ash-blue hair tied into a high ponytail said indifferently:

“More important than anything else.”

She walked to the reception desk, and after stating her purpose, someone quickly led Ravenna to the alchemy workshop where the hummingbird production line was located.

“Oh, so you’re Miss Ziegler,” the head of the production chain greeted her, expressing his puzzlement, “Are you personally overseeing our collaboration?”

“No, I’m merely here to assess the mass production status of the Hummingbirds.”

“There are no more bottlenecks… I mean, after resolving the core circuit issue, everything has been smooth sailing.”

The head, arms crossed, casually commented while observing the complex production line within the vast workshop, “Twenty units a day should be feasible.”

“…That’s a bit inefficient,” Ravenna frowned slightly, “Given your resource conditions, the output should be higher.”

“Even with the Association’s resources, the allocation to each project is limited.”

Upon this topic, the head’s mood soured. Judging by his reaction, the resources for the Hummingbird’s mass production… had been reduced?

“Are you implying that the Alchemy Association has cut back on resource allocation for the Hummingbird’s mass production?”

Woman’s gaze swept over the resources piled up in the workshop. The reflection in her glasses flickered. The resources stored in the alchemy workshop were not the issue, which likely meant that the subsequent resource allocation would be reduced.

“The mass production of the Hummingbirds was ordered by the Elder Princess.”

A sense of foreboding rose in Ravenna’s heart, her voice growing colder, “Why would the Alchemy Association reduce resource allocation, and by such a significant amount?”

“Because it’s not just here that’s been reduced.”

The head shrugged, “Most of the workshops have had their resources cut, it’s across the board. As for why even the project designated by the Elder Princess had its resources reduced…”

“Of course, it’s because of that mechanical armor. The Elder Princess seems interested in it as well.”

Mechanical armor… as expected!

Everything was unfolding as Ravenna had anticipated.

She hadn’t expected the Etheric Academy to act so swiftly though… Had they handed over the design drafts to Evora without conducting a thorough analysis of the mechanical armor? She wondered which version of the mechanical armor Hydral had traded, and how detailed the provided drafts were.

The development of the mechanical armor was far more challenging than the mass-produced floating cannons. She and Ansel had spent a considerable amount of time researching it. Apart from the core universal ether furnace, the mechanical armor was the project they had spent the most time on.

It was also one of the few things they couldn’t produce.

But the Etheric Academy didn’t need the Alchemy Association’s help. Their own resources, alchemists, and workshops were more than enough to produce the mechanical armor, which meant…

“How utterly despicable,” Ravenna muttered coldly, then turned to the head, “Has the workshop for the mechanical armor started operations?”

“Not yet, the folks from the Etheric Academy are still arguing with our people.”

It seemed this was the real reason for the head’s displeasure, “That mechanical armor is just a gimmick to fool laymen like the Elder Princess. There are many details they don’t even know how to implement.”

“…Hmph.” Ravenna sneered but said nothing.