Chapter 383: The Migrating Elf Tribes
Excited, Donald also participated in the construction of the alchemy factory. Along with Chikofield and Messel—three masters in the field of alchemy—he was in charge of the most advanced and core alchemy laboratory located at the heart of the factory.
This laboratory was not only prepared for the cloning experiments to come but could also support other key experiments!
Whether in the factory workshops or the laboratories, purification arrays were essential. Both experimental water and non-recyclable waste products had to be processed through these arrays to prevent contamination of Dalaran’s land and water sources.
It was because of the convenience of these purification arrays that Donald chose to locate the alchemy factory on the west bank of Moonlight Lake. Otherwise, if it were the chemical plant from his past life—such a heavily polluting facility—he would have preferred to build it far outside the Material Plane!
After the alchemy factory was completed and the first batch of 100 bottles of magical ink for writing scrolls were produced on a trial basis, all mages and apprentices celebrated with joy!
Restoring an alchemy factory from the ancient Arcane Empire was what a tremendous achievement for the mage community today!
Donald immediately granted the mages and apprentices three days of vacation and awarded them some magical items as rewards.
From now on, low-level alchemical potions, small alchemical tools, and some equipment could be mass-produced in this factory. It required little effort from mages—only a few high-level mages to oversee the process, with apprentices handling the operations. These alchemical devices resembled the modern industrial assembly lines on Earth from his past life, except that the machines powered by computers and electricity were replaced with ones fueled by elemental crystals, magic crystals, etc., operating through constructs and arcane arrays!
Of course, higher-tier items still required experienced alchemists to create.
But even just these mass-produced low-level alchemical items were extremely valuable strategic resources for a kingdom.
Donald himself was a master alchemist, and with a powerful high-tier artifact like the Book of Truth, he wasn’t short of advanced tools and equipment. Instead, it was these mass-producible mid-to-low-level alchemical products that could enable self-sufficiency in alchemy and related industries within his territory, forming a complete industrial chain and supporting more people!
On the second day after the completion of the alchemy factory, the half-blood dark elf mage Jerm took Donald’s appointment and headed to the eastern part of the continent. To save time, Donald first used the great teleportation spell to send Jerm to Peaceport, and then the two spent half a day flying over a thousand kilometers from Peaceport to the border area between Gardere and Polin. Since neither of them was familiar with the area, it took them an extra two days to locate the entrance to the underground world. Upon arriving at the entrance, Donald prepared to return—he had only come to scout the area to facilitate future teleportations, leaving the main tasks to Jerm. He trusted this steady yet flexible half-blood dark elf mage greatly. Jerm, who could be considered a sworn brother to Carlisle, was certainly not someone lacking responsibility. His background and energy were perfect for this mission. If it were someone like Chris, a rigid mage who preferred to focus solely on cultivation and research and had little experience interacting with people, he would likely suffer many setbacks in that unpredictable and dangerous underground realm, even if he were strong enough to complete the task. Jerm was merely going to Samas as a preliminary stop. Not only that city, a mage city buried miles underground, but Donald also planned to use it as a hub to expand Dalaran’s interests here, covering most of the areas in the Mage Kingdoms of Polin and Gardere’s east. Both of these countries were brother kingdoms to Selth, descended from the Baned Empire, making them ideal for developing commerce! As for northern Gardere, Siren, and the Kingdom of Kurt to the southwest, they would be covered by the Swordhorn Bay Peninsula. It was believed that Dalaran’s interests would soon spread across most of the continent, rivaling those of the commercial alliance nation of Solon at the southernmost tip! After returning to Dalaran, Donald received news from Elyia, the elder of the Druid tribe. The members of the Elven Council who had mentioned earlier planning to relocate some elves to Dalaran had arrived yesterday! However, Donald had teleported to the eastern part of the continent three days earlier and thus missed them. In the Starlight Town Hall of the Druid tribe, Donald met with the representatives from the Elven Council.
Once again, it was Marshall, the legendary Sun Elf elder from Sun Island, who led the team. Since the Elven Forest Alliance faced less urgent pressure due to a shortage of population, they did not feel as much urgency as the pure-blooded Sun Elves of Sun Island and decided to relocate only a few unimportant ordinary mixed-blood Elf tribes to test things out. Thus, only an elder from that small tribe led the group, and this elder was only at the silver level!
On the other hand, the number of pure-blooded Sun Elves on Sun Island had dropped to less than a hundred. So, seizing this opportunity, they sent twenty pure-blooded Sun Elf nobles and sixty mixed-blooded Sun Elves—this was a team of twenty gold-level and sixty at least silver-level warriors!
It is estimated that only the five major empires and a few high-ranking divine churches in the entire continent could muster so many strong warriors at once.
However, the Elves could field such a powerful force because they inherited extremely strong talents from the High Elves, which in turn made their reproductive capacity extremely low.
The stronger a race, the lower its reproductive capacity—such as the Elves, dragons, and even true gods. Elves have a gestation period measured in years; under normal circumstances, it takes pure-blooded Sun Elves ten years to produce one offspring. Although dragons frequently go into heat, giving rise to many dragon subspecies across the continent, it still takes a pair of dragon couples a hundred years to lay an egg once, and only a few survive from each clutch.
As for true gods, these immortal beings who surpass ordinary mortals must pay a heavy price—such as a decline in their powers—to give birth to a healthy offspring, and success is not guaranteed. Most of the offspring born by true gods are defective or deformed, and they are collectively referred to as “divine abominations!”
This is a rule that all realms in the multiverse must follow. Otherwise, if those powerful races could achieve a reproductive rate like goblins, orcs, and half-orcs—who can get pregnant twice a year, producing at least two or three offspring each time, sometimes even seven or eight—this world would likely be in chaos by now!