The First Magic World War

"A normal city cannot be eroded by the Power of the Evil God,"

"It seems one needs to conquer this small city in order to initiate its maze-ification."
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Charles pondered for a long time, suddenly feeling as if he were the Great Evil God himself, conquering a city, transforming a city into a labyrinth, and then turning its people into Evil Spirits...

He hadn't considered conquering Cappadocia. As the Special Envoy for Total War to the Inglima Empire, how could he explain conquering Cappadocia to the Inglima Empire's officials?

"This is a declaration of war!"

Charles's current problem was, if the High Priest knew this detail and had him maze-ify Cappadocia, it would be a huge "pitfall." If the High Priest didn't know, the problem was even worse — it meant Labyrinth Evil God Agmillar still had another hidden side.

"Unfortunately, there are almost no records of this Labyrinth Evil God on the Old Continent. I really want to take a trip to the New Continent to uncover the secrets of this overseas Evil God."

"Of course, before that, I need to resolve the issue of the arrival of the two Evil Gods first."

Charles tapped on the ground and stood up. Although he had landed, he didn't venture deeply into Cappadocia as he always needed to maintain his Insight Ability to envelop the Bai Cha under its effect.

He decided to set aside Cappadocia for now and go back to the Bai Cha to "quell the rebellion."

A little girl, around eleven or twelve years old, carrying a wicker basket containing a dozen salted fish, walked past the harbor. She wore a patched, coarse dress that had been altered to fit her size, her hair slightly yellowed, her face bearing a reddish hue from the constant sea breeze — not particularly pretty but not ugly either. As she brushed past Charles, he suddenly stopped the little girl and asked in Inglima Language, "Are you selling salted fish?"

The girl gave him a wary glance. Charles, in his Fars military uniform, was distinctly dressed compared to the locals. She didn't trust foreigners and said, "Not selling!"

As the girl was about to bypass Charles, he pulled out a shilling and asked, "Would this money suffice?"

The girl glanced at it. Not recognizing the currency of Fars — since Cappadocia used the currency of the Inglima Empire, pounds, shillings, and pence — she still shook her head determinedly.

Charles, feeling helpless, as diplomats rarely handle their own finances, hadn't exchanged any Inglima Empire currency and now found himself in a pickle.

As the girl was about to leave, seeing Charles standing there looking helpless, she placed a salted fish on the ground, gestured to him, and quickly ran off.

Charles felt quite awkward; he wasn't so desperate as to live off a little girl's "charity"! Besides, he really didn't have anything to barter with, even if he caught up with her to offer something in return.

Charles picked up the salted fish, activated Bloody Glory and gently rubbed it; the fish crumbs fell, and in his hand were several shiny salted fish balls. He smiled slightly and said, "Salted fish flavored 'Drop Dead Balls'."

He wandered around the harbor some more, bought a dozen mulberry papers, and exquisitely wrapped the salted fish balls.

Captain Simon was fervently and vocally rallying his group of over a dozen subordinates when someone knocked on the door, then violently kicked it open.

Charles walked in with a grin, holding a paper package and said, "Take a look at what gift I've brought you all?"

"This is an alchemical Magic Potion. It is said if you eat it without the antidote once a week, there will be a bang, and you'll explode."

"Let's all try it!"

"I hear it tastes quite good."

Simon and the sailors he had incited stared at the paper wrapper in Charles's hand, their faces filled with shock. Alchemical magic potions already sounded sinister, let alone one that could explode after consumption—who would dare to try it?

At that moment, Charles burst in, and Simon, of course, knew that his act of "mutiny" had been exposed. He hurriedly said, "I am willing to continue serving you, with no second thoughts."

Despite his efforts to explain, the more anxious he got, the less coherent he became. The sailors he had rallied even turned against him, shouting, "He urged us to sail away secretly and leave you in Cappadocia. We can all swear that no one agreed to his plan."

These people were all talking at once, each trying to prove their "innocence."

Charles ignored them, stretched out a hand, and lightly touched his forehead. A Flame Hand flew out from behind his head, snatching a passing seabird. He casually stuffed a red, salty fish ball tainted by the Bloody Glory into the bird's mouth, then let the bird fly away.

He then deliberately made an epiphany-like expression and said, "This alchemical magic potion also has a unique feature—if it gets too far from the person who poisoned it, it will explode immediately."

As he spoke, the bird, soaring high, exploded mid-air into a mass of flesh and blood, leaving Simon and all the sailors involved pale, no longer harboring any doubts about the power of the magic potion.

Charles pulled out the Silver Knight, pressed it against a sailor's forehead, and said, "You have a choice, die by my hand, or take the potion?"

The sailor swallowed hard, took the salty fish ball, and put it in his mouth. It tasted horrendously unpleasant and was incredibly salty, but he swallowed it with difficulty.

With one person leading, the rest of them, no longer needing Charles to point the gun at them, also reluctantly consumed their salty fish balls. When it was Simon's turn, he bowed his head, feeling nothing but deep sorrow.

He had just taken a private job to transport Charles and his group to Cappadocia and had never expected Charles to be a "madman" who would soon take over his merchant ship and now force him to take the magic potion.

Simon looked up at the barrel of the gun pressed against his forehead and swallowed the salty fish ball without hesitation.

Under the gun, how could he not submit?

Charles put away the Silver Knight and said indifferently, "I'll be needing a few more ships."

Simon exclaimed in shock, "You want to be a pirate?"

Charles tapped him on the head and said, "Pirate, my foot. I'm a diplomat from the Fars Empire. How could I possibly become a pirate?"

Simon had just breathed a sigh of relief when he heard Charles say, "It's you who'll be the pirate! I'm just a nameless assistant. When your Pirate King flag waves over the ocean, I'll disappear into obscurity, bravely withdrawing from the scene."

Simon was utterly dumbfounded, completely unable to understand Charles's train of thought.

Charles, utilizing techniques from the ancient East, successfully used the salty fish balls as alchemical magic potions to bring the captain to heel, then ignored any minor details. He walked onto the deck, looking out at the sea, feeling a tumultuous surge building within him.

Ever since he had been out at sea, Charles felt that he hadn't changed, but everyone around him, whether acquaintances or strangers, sensed an incredible change in him.

Suddenly, Charles quipped, "The Great Voyage series really is a great game."