"Oh, so that's how it is."

"Yikes, so it was like that."

"Wow, so much has happened?"

Negris and Anthony exchanged information about the Highest Mobilization Order, the Land of Fallen, and the origins of the Gold Tooth Undead squad. Turning around, they almost spat out blood. Ange had once again stretched his hand into the Temple of Rest and started planting vegetables.

"I'm saying, Ange, we are discussing the politics of the planes here, can't you listen in?" Negris said exasperatedly.

Ange tilted his head and asked, "Can I plant vegetables?"

Negris felt a profound sense of powerlessness surge within him, "You can't..."

"Oh." Ange replied with a single word and then returned his focus to his vegetables.

Negris and Anthony exchanged glances.

"I was a bit worried before," Anthony said, "worried that if you knew about these matters, you would get dragged in. But now it seems my worries were needless, right?"

Negris nodded his head, expressing a resigned yet somewhat relaxed sentiment, "Yes, our Lord is only interested in planting. It looks like we won't need to be told about things that have nothing to do with that in the future."

"Uh, speaking of which, I really do have some news related to planting. Humanity is facing a great famine. Do you have any surplus grain, Lord? I'd like to buy all of it."

Humanity had faced famine more than once. Since Anthony was 'human', famines had occurred repeatedly, and after he became Anthony, famines were almost an annual occurrence.

Although resignation often accompanied such situations, during his efforts to rise above them, famines usually presented him with the greatest opportunity to achieve political merits, and he was willing to 'earn' such merits because it could save many lives.

Most famines were caused by uneven distribution. Big landlords and commerce guilds monopolized the grain trade. They would transport grain from low-price to high-price regions, but transportation took time. Natural disasters or other mishaps could lead to a domino effect that would halt distribution, not to mention hoarding.

However, a minority of famines were due to a decrease in grain production, a booming population, and war, among other reasons. The great famine Anthony mentioned referred to the latter.

"The Prime Material Plane has actually been quite peaceful for the past fifteen years; there have been no major wars, and small conflicts haven't affected the bigger picture, so the population has explosively increased. The food supply was already tight in the past few years, and the south faces a predictable decrease in production due to drought this year. Without sufficient grain supply, countless people could die next year."

Anthony said with deep concern, "Our Eastern Diocese is still in good shape; I've built quite a few grain storehouses over the years. But the Western District is in trouble, now that Nikola is dead. If I want to contend for the Pope's position, I have to win the hearts of the people in the Western District. What better way to do that than providing disaster relief?"

"Uh, are you trying to provide disaster relief, or are you trying to win over people's hearts?" Negris asked incredulously.

"Is there a difference? Just because I want to win people's hearts, does that mean the people I save don't count?" Anthony responded as if it were obvious.

"That's true, but you're thinking too much. No matter how powerful Ange is, he is just one person. The grains he plants can't make up for the great human famine, and you can't afford the equivalent exchange anyway," Negris pointed out.

"What equivalent exchange?"

"Soul Flame, faith."

Anthony broke off the connection, no longer mentioning anything about grain because what Ange needed, he truly couldn't provide.

Despite his sincere dedication to the Undead, his life and standing were still grounded in the Church of Light; he couldn't just send followers to Ange, the Church would tear him apart if he did.

To Ange, planting was purely an obsession, and equivalent exchange was no different. Wealth like Magic Crystal Coins meant nothing to him; only Soul Flame was of use to him.

...

The former location of the Dragon Temple, which the sand thieves had demolished, had been cleared of debris, leaving only a flat surface.

Brooks painfully took out materials from his Dimensional Space. These materials, meticulously collected, were many of them precious and rare – nothing less could attract the interest of the Dragon Clan Chief.

They were like the private collection or secret savings of a middle-aged Giant Dragon, being forced to dig them out was truly painful.

"Using such fine materials will create a top-tier Teleportation Array. Even the arrays on Dragon Island aren't made with materials this good," Brooks muttered to himself.

Once all the materials were arranged, Brooks stood in the middle with Magic Power surging. Magic Patterns symbols spread out from him, layered upon each other.

As if these circles were drawing them in, or invisible hands were arranging them, the materials on the ground slowly levitated and moved to their corresponding positions within the Magic Patterns.

All the materials moved into place. Brooks slammed his hands downward, and the Magic Patterns and materials simultaneously descended, a series of dull thumps resonating as a complete Teleportation Array assembled itself.

Sofia's eyes widened, speechless with shock, "This... it's completed just like that? The previous array had the boss hauling materials for years, and it took thousands of us several months to build, my God, he just waved his hand and it was done?"

Naeli smiled and comforted her, "Don't be surprised. If you knew his status, you would understand that this is only to be expected."

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